This series is mildly pleasant, but it's not exactly compelling. The setting is the biggest draw. Mediterranean scenery and a cruise ship are a nice diversion while one is washing vegetables or emptying the dishwasher. Overall, I question the taste level.
The locations feel fake--long shots of various port cities, with scenes that could all have been filmed in one sunny place. There is a very limited attempt to mention the history or culture of each port in the story, but not much. Sometimes it's heavy-handed, e.g. In the Athens episode, two characters recite every item that might appear on a menu in a greek restaurant. "I must get that recipe for taramasalata!"
As a crime show, the plotting is not great. The suspects are often obvious, the acting too hammy. As a soap opera, it's also tiresome, with the unconsummated relationship of the two main characters dragging on endlessly and implausibly.
The characters one dimensional, and the casting isn't great. I don't get the appeal of Shayne Ward, who plays lounge singer Jack Grayling. He seems like a bit of a slob, and the greased back hair in Season 2 didn't help. The singing is truly dreadful, almost to the point of self-parody. Fortunately, it's at the end of each episode, so I can turn it off or mute it without worry.
I was hoping for something more like Death in Paradise, and there are many similarities. But that show had more wit, at least in the first few seasons, and more interesting "locked room" and "impossible" crimes.
This show is a) good for multi-tasking, as it doesn't take a lot of attention to follow; and b) it shows enough of life aboard a giant, tacky cruise ship to make it unnecessary to take subject one's self to the experience in real life.
