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We have also experienced other cruise lines, Celebrity, Princess, P&O and Royal Caribbean and whilst they are obviously commercially aware, we found the staff courteous, efficient and very friendly. (I guess interpretation of behaviour can be very subjective) Minerva was our first experience of cruising on a small ship, but I would not let that put me off cruising on small ships again. I'm sure there are small ships that have modern, comfortable, purpose built facilities, e.g a theatre and quality entertainment. There was certainly no razzamataz onboard Minerva, that's for sure. Whilst we found Royal Caribbean can be a little over the top in this respect, Swan Hellenic lacked any quality entertainment, save for Absolutely Opea, who were fantastic. Certainly for us, the best part of the cruise were the all-inclusive excursions, the excursions to Massawa on the Red Sea, the Valley of the Kings and Petra were exceptional. This was particularly true given that given that we picked up the fly/cruise package at a bargain price. I think you may have misread my comments regarding the food. My critisim was based on quality, not quantity. I'm sure there was sufficient quantity of food onboard Minerva to match even the most gluttonous person's needs. However my issue was with the quality of the food that was served; as generally the evening meal was absolutely appalling. Again, this is possibly a subjective view as it must depend on individual standards. (For me, Bisto gravy is not "fine dining") Whilst one should never say never, I think it unlikely that we will cruise with Swan Hellenic again.