Sovereign of the Seas to Bahamas

When she first emerged in 1988, the Sovereign of the Seas was the biggest purpose built cruise ship in the world; the lead ship of a trio that would change cruising forever. She created a sensational splash at the time and, afterwards, nothing would ever be quite the same.

By 2006, she had long since been superseded by larger tonnage and, like her twin sisters, Sovereign found herself sailing on the short, three and four day cruise circuit from Florida to the Bahamas and Key West.

Inside, the ship is neatly divided into zones; the cabins are in the forward half of the ship, stacked up like the layers of a cake. Aft, the public rooms follow a similar pattern. In between the two is a sleek, shimmering five storey high atrium lobby, a beautiful space etched in glass, sheet marble and gleaming brass handrails, that acts as a kind of focal point. It's a great area for people watching, or just relaxing over an after dinner coffee.

Inside and outside cabins alike are small- some of the smallest afloat, in fact- but just about adequate for a short, port intensive three or four day cruise. If you must have more space, some larger suites and balcony cabins were added to the upper level during a refit, just below the level of the main pool deck. I'd have concerns about how much noise those cabins endure during busy sea days.

Food as a whole is well put together, and served up with flair in each of two lower deck dining rooms. The menu in each is the same. For daytime snacking or a casual dinner, or even a late night snack, there's an upper deck, forward facing buffet that also offers round the clock pizza.

The pool deck, with two large pools, two hot tubs and a couple of bars, seems enormous, but in fact it gets packed when the ship is at sea and, unless you're really lucky, it's quite hard to find a sun lounger in a good spot on deck at all.