Aparthotel HSM Madrigal

Ocean Village Two Caribbean Cruise
Coral & Calypso, Sugar & Spice, 09/01/08 – 23/01/08
It really annoys me to see negative comments about this cruise. It was fantastic and really over-exceeded our expectations.
If people had done their homework before they went on this cruise, they would have known why it was renowned as “The cruise for people who don’t do cruises”.
The idea is that it is very relaxed and informal – no need to dress up in tuxedos and evening dresses. If they want that kind of thing, they should have booked on another ship.
The food (and there was lots of it) was delicious. There are four restaurants to choose from. We mostly ate in the Plantation restaurant. They had a certain type of food for each night of the week (Chinese, Indian, Mexican, American, Best of British etc), the staff are so friendly - nothing’s too much trouble for them; and the whole ship was spotless. I saw one of the cabin staff wiping the skirting boards and handrails. How often do you see that? There was even a sign under the bed saying, “Yes, we even clean under her.”
We stayed in an inside cabin on deck 6, just by the art gallery. The room was more than adequate. Very clean and nicely air conditioned and a very powerful “power shower”. They had Molton Brown shower / hair gel in the bathroom and clean towels were plentiful. I was so impressed that they also supplied clean towels every day for us to take to the pool or the beach.
The entertainment programme was good. Although the acts were only on for 30 – 45 minutes at a time, one act immediately followed another.
The bar prices were the same as you’d expect to pay in the UK. However, spirits were measured in 35 ml instead of 25 ml shots.
The only things we could think of in ares of improvement was the announcements kept interrupting the singers when they were preparing to "sail off" and the food and "top deck entertainment was repeated the second week. It would have been better to have a programme for 14 days instead.
Nevertheless, we had a fab time. Those people complaining must have nothing better to do. We’d definitely recommend it and are thinking of doing it again in the Mediterranean.