Ship: Insignia

Date: July 23-August 6,2007

Itinerary: 14 days from Venice to Barcelona

 

We boarded the beautiful Insignia in Venice after a short day of sightseeing in 36C degree weather and unbelievable crowds.

The welcome was calm and easy. It was like coming home finally.

We had a stressful start to the trip as our baggage never arrived into Heathrow and we were told not to expect it at all on this trip, so our last two days were spent shopping and limited sightseeing.

 

The ship is very tasteful and elegant in style, with a very comfortable ambiance throughout.

Our room , was on one of the lower decks, yet I never felt like I was in the bowels of the ship. We had a porthole and still felt the room was well lit and very comfortable.

 

Our room steward met us shortly after we arrived and questioned where our luggage was. We explained our situation and he immediately suggested that we talk to concierge to see about tracking our bags. I explained that we did our air separately but that did not matter , he was very insistent that we talk to concierge.

We had a couple pairs of men’s dress pants that needed to be hemmed which I thought I would do with my little sewing kit, however, our room steward promptly talked to his supervisor and arranged for the ship’s tailor to measure and hem the pants. This was done within the hour, what service!

We were also told that the ship would do our laundry for us everynight complimentary. There is a Laundromat on board, but I think on the second week it was pretty busy, so this really helped us out.

 

The highlights of this cruiseline for me were the small ship, 674 passengers, the unique ports of call, the fantastic service and the food and the dining options.

 

Because the ship is smaller we were able to go into ports that the larger ships don’t such as Portofino, Corsica , Almafi & Port Vendres. No crowds from other ships to contend with!

You may dine whenever you please, where you want and with who you want. Reservations are required for the two specialty restaurants, Toscana, the Italian one and The Polo Grill , a fine steakhouse. We found if we just showed up , they usually had a table for two. No extra cost for this either.

Our favourite place to dine was up in the “Tapas on the Terrace”. It is the buffet restaurant which we did not mind as where we sat made up for this. We usually had a table for two outside at the back of the ship. We were usually out there right at sunset and pulling away from our port. It doesn’t get any better than that! The second week everyone caught on to our secret and it was a little more crowded but by then we had made so many friends and usually sat together.

The Grand Dining room is also very beautiful, and you can be seated at any table size you like, even a table for two, no reservations are necessary.

 

Afternoon tea is a must if you can pull yourself away from the pool deck. The Insignia quartet played beautiful music as we dined on crustless sandwiches and very tasty sweets.

 

There was never a problem with deck chairs by the pool as the ship discourages people claiming a chair by putting personal stuff on it and then not being there for hours. It is monitored so everyone has a chance to enjoy the pool deck. I really enjoyed the pool as it was a heated salt water pool.

Another highlight was an evening of dancing under the stars. The band set up poolside and we danced until the about 11pm, then the dancing moves to the nightclub.

 

There is so much more to talk about so please feel free to call me. I would be happy to share more of my experience or answer any questions you may have.

 

Our experience overall was fabulous. I love this cruise line, it is a stepping stone into the luxury market.

 

Cheers,

Krista