Aged 67 and 63 we has a first time on this small ship and will return . We are very experienced cruisers mainly with smaller ships. The food was notably very good indeed, varied and of excellent quality. Choice of 3 soups, great salads and cheese board. British/European not American food all seemingly cooked from scratch. And service was professional. Open dining. Both Restaurants had character.

CABIN Our outside cabin was well furnished and very clean -(except for a tea and coffee maker although it is only 1-2 decks to the coffee machine). Balcony cabins seem very good if you did want to pay more.

GUESTS: A very pleasant well travelled group of people mainly 60- 80. Many had been on Minerva before. We were one of the 30% new guests. Yes we met the proverbial Vice Admirals widow (who was very interesting) as well as most of the other 250 guests. An intelligent educated middle class crowd made for good conversations. We has a great time on board and the size of the ship and informality made getting to know people easy. Some Canadian/ US passengers as well. As this was gardening themed it was easy to converse. Some people preferred Minerva to Regent and Seabourn or Braemar. Read more