Magellan Review

3.5 / 5.0
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Service run down for the early winter

Review for the British Isles & Western Europe Cruise on Magellan
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Dennis cousins
2-5 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Oct 2019

We knew someone who had enjoyed a Seine river cruise from Newcastle on the Fred Olsen line and they had enjoyed it immensely. So when this cruise came up with C & M and sailing from Liverpool we jumped at the chance because we always use C&M.all of the other cruises (4) have been brilliant from Accommodation, Food, Staff (except 1 last year) and the trips ashore at the ports. We are a couple 15 minutes in a Taxi from the Cruise Terminal at Liverpool which is handy and we know all about the improvement in the city over the past 20-30 years.

On day 1, the boarding went very smoothly and we were on board within the hour and sitting in our favourite Taverner's Pub.Our room and our Steward were very good throughout our trip. The ship could do with a little TLC this winter for next season but not too bad really. Our first problem came at the Raffles Bistro were we noticed that the meals were not up to the usual standard. The Beef and the Lamb were pretty tough and little things like vegetables were under-cooked to still firm.The breakfasts were dire all the way through with the Bacon being too salty to eat most of the week and the Scrambled egg was like light yellow Porridge and very runny. I will say though that the Soup; of which there was always two varieties was always very tasty and I survived on that and Puddings( except the Bread and Butter pudding, which was on pretty much every day but if you like that, lucky you). The entertainment was pretty average for this boat but we did have a couple of excellent nights with the Staff late night quizzes and games, 10/10. The service was slower than normal as the Staff seemed to be working 2-3 bars at the same time, ( the Taverner's Pub/the Sinatra Bar and the Captains Club) were all slower service than you normally would expect), this was very disappointing when trying to get served.We did have some very good waiters and Bar staff but they were rushed off their feet all of the time.

Going ashore was a nightmare as they operated a ticket system for boarding the buses into the Town centers, form A-Z. We got Y on the first trip to Rouen and never got on the bus until 17:30 and into the Town Center at 18:30 because of the Rush Hour and there were more buses coming from the ship behind us. To cap it all everywhere, except the Bars was closed,it was pitch black and pouring with rain(can't blame the company for that though!). we stayed for a drink and got the next bus back.The next day we sailed down the river to Honfleur and we got the letter H. To be fair they organised more buses this time and it appears a good time ashore was the norm, though I don't know what time the last people got to Honfleur after us.we were at sea for almost the next two days until we reached Dublin. Guess what? there were no tickets and loads of Double Decker Buses and everyone got off within the hour. We did enjoy that day very much, except for my wife and I getting lost and walking for miles until we caught the next to last bus back to the Ship. That was my faultas the Wife said.

Cabin Review

We had the best cabin below the Suites and it was very comfortable. It was well looked after by our Steward Amiis.She was very nice and never in your face, unlike the one we had on the last trip in August 2019.

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