After suffering two disastrous cruises with P&O over twenty years ago we vowed never to cruise again. However, having reached our fifties, we researched it again in a lot of detail, and we decided to give Seabourn a shot with a seven day Venice-Athens run on the Odyssey in early September. In short, though expensive, it was the best holiday we have ever had...and we have already booked up again for next year.

All the worries we had about cruises from previous trips - i.e. lack of space, poor food, bad maintenance, downmarket entertainment, compulsory black tie, enforced shared tables and chain smoking everywhere - dissolved within a day on the Odyssey. It's in sparkling condition. Nothing feels dated and even though the cruise was fully booked it felt very roomy. We'd booked an Owner's Suite up front as we wanted space to retreat to (we're quite private) and it had just been completely refurnished to a very high standard.

It's now decorated in muted greys, beiges with champagne-coloured chair backs and a much better sofa than that shown on the current website. I wonder if it's the same furniture as used on the Encore? It was certainly very well appointed. It was all the private space we needed with an enormous verandah, so we had breakfast there most mornings. The new beds are INCREDIBLY comfy too and Kudzie, our Suite Stewardess, was an angel. More premium liquor provided than even I knew what to do with. Read more