What shall we say about the good and bad ship Columbus?

The muster drill started the cruise off badly for us - unlike any other cruise we've been on they held it on the promenade deck, making us stand for ages by the open edge of the ship which wasn't acceptable to Virginia. I felt it didn't teach anything so much as just tick some administrative box.

Our cabin was a decent size, and well provided with drawers and hanging space. There was a UK electrical socket, the kettle was plugged into an European style socket. Water did drain away rather slowly in the shower unit. I confess I spilt water on the floor and blanket one night while watching a film on my iPad, sorry.

The staff work very hard and very long - our cabin steward Florian was pleasant and spoke to us, the entertainers were energetic, waiters talked as well as waited. We enjoyed eating in the Grill restaurant twice (a supplement was required) I'm a fan of French onion soup. The second time I ordered white wine which was red when poured into the glass - confusion caused by the same wine being available in both colours.

We had our evening meals mainly in the Waterfront restaurant which was laid out nicely, the space broken up by dividers and walls, though in some seats you were trapped by other diners. We were on a table for 4 but mostly it was just Virginia and me - towards the end of the cruise we were bemused by a couple we hadn't seen who sat down with us, they had transferred from the second sitting. The first sitting was too early at 5.45pm, the second sitting too late at 8.30pm.

Hemingways on deck 5 wasn't a bad place to sit and have a chocolate and almond muffin and read a book - though one waiter was overly talkative. We tried our hand at the quizzes, not winning anything but once or twice being within one point of the winners. I was proud to get "chad" and "Dorothy Parker" as answers. The quizzes are not good to take too seriously, you get people in groups of 6 or more pooling answers and some people apparently looking up stuff on their phones.

The laundrettes are a decent size with plenty of space to be in. Unlike some cruise lines which shrink the laundrettes to get more cabins for more passengers.

The evening shows were held in the Palladium lounge but to get a decent view you had to be there an hour beforehand, otherwise you just saw the back of other people's heads. The shows we saw were average, pass the time, less staged than on other cruise lines.

Overall less minor frills than other cruise lines, no chocolates in the cabin in the evening for instance. But these minor frills create an illusion of luxury which we like. The library was poor, not really sorted, books stacked in front of books. Spelling mistakes like vegeterian, or £14,90 instead of £14.90.