In a jubilant ceremony, the 47,900 ton Mistral was officially christened at her building site at St. Nazaire, France on June 25th, 1999. Operators of the new ship are Festival Cruises, better known in the "New World" as First European Cruises. The story of this Greek cruise company is a successful one. Founded by the Poulides family in 1993, when "Greek" cruising was mostly left to somewhat "doubtful" small operators, Festival Cruises was the first cruise line in the Mediterranean to obtain the prestigious ISO-9002 certification. Starting eight years ago with just one small ship, the 15,000 ton Azur, the company added more tonnage over the years, and is now operating four ships, with two near-sister ships of Mistral about to enter the cruise scene.

Just three days after the christening ceremony back in 1999, Mistral arrived in the beautiful city of Antwerp, Belgium to be shown off to travel agents and press. I had the chance to attend a gala pre-inaugural overnight party aboard the ship, which attracted a crowd of local onlookers during her stay in port. But then it was a truly fascinating sight: the brand-new shining Mistral docked in the heart of the old city with its renaissance buildings and winding alleys.

My first impression of Mistral was not a particularly good one. The weather was quite miserable and embarkation was s-l-o-w (due to late arrival of the ship), with long lines in the reception area to get hold of the key cards / charge cards. Some guests were allocated cabins that were already occupied ("room mate a la carte"), but luckily my friend and I encountered no such problems. We received our personalized key cards and found our (unoccupied) cabin on deck 9, Brussels Deck. Cabin 9168 is one of 116 H-grade cabins, good-sized twin outside cabins with walls done in light wood veneer and equipped with all modern comforts. Both inside and outside cabins feature ample closet space, an interactive TV that comes with a PlayStation unit (extra charge), an in-cabin safe hairdryer, beds that can be made up as a double bed (available in all but the lowest grades), and a small bathroom with shower and toilet. If the cabins aboard Mistral look vaguely familiar, it's because they were designed by the same company that did the cabins on the Celebrity ships. However, cabins (and especially bathrooms) on four-star Mistral are a little smaller than on their five-star counterparts. All standard inside cabin grades and standard outside cabin grades are the same. It's only the location that makes for the price difference, so why not book the lowest category?