This instalment in the successful franchise is set aboard a cruise ship touring the Mediterranean. Wellington Crowther is the captain of the ship and he believes the key to his success is having a crew who have served together for many years and all know how each other operate... which is a bit of a problem when he discovers his First Officer, Doctor, Chef, Steward and barman have all been replaced. They don't create a great first impression either; the chef suffers from seasickness, the barman doesn't know how to mix the captain's favourite drink and he walks in on the doctor and a female passenger and finds them in a compromising position... this being a Carry On it is all a misunderstanding of course. As well as the crew there are some passengers of note; Flo and Gladys, a couple of young ladies, Bridget Madderley, a slightly batty older woman and an unnamed gentleman who spends most of his time propping up the bar. Over the course of the cruise the crew will come together, there will be many misunderstandings and one couple will fall in love.
The most obvious weakness here is the shortage of regular Carry On characters; Sid James plays it fairly straight as the captain, Kenneth Williams is his usual self as the First Officer and Kenneth Connor is the shy doctor; they all put in decent performances but I can't help feeling this would have been quite a bit better with two or three more of the regular team. Liz Fraser and Dilys Laye were fine as Glad and Flo, although for the most part they were involved in the romantic subplots rather than providing the laughs. Some of the best laughs from the non-regulars came from Esma Cannon who played Bridget Madderley; her character was very much a female Charles Hawtrey! The gags were funny enough and it lacked the unnecessary smut of the later outing which wasn't a bad thing. There was one major flaw though... it didn't feel like they were at sea! Apart from a few establishing shots as they went into port it felt very firmly land based. Over all it is an okay way to pass the time, there is nothing to offend and there are enough laughs; there are no classic moments either though which is a shame.
The most obvious weakness here is the shortage of regular Carry On characters; Sid James plays it fairly straight as the captain, Kenneth Williams is his usual self as the First Officer and Kenneth Connor is the shy doctor; they all put in decent performances but I can't help feeling this would have been quite a bit better with two or three more of the regular team. Liz Fraser and Dilys Laye were fine as Glad and Flo, although for the most part they were involved in the romantic subplots rather than providing the laughs. Some of the best laughs from the non-regulars came from Esma Cannon who played Bridget Madderley; her character was very much a female Charles Hawtrey! The gags were funny enough and it lacked the unnecessary smut of the later outing which wasn't a bad thing. There was one major flaw though... it didn't feel like they were at sea! Apart from a few establishing shots as they went into port it felt very firmly land based. Over all it is an okay way to pass the time, there is nothing to offend and there are enough laughs; there are no classic moments either though which is a shame.