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Arcadia - Voyage To Venice |
| Reviewed By: Harold, STEVENAGE on 13th May 2008 |
| Cruise Line: P&O Cruises |
Times cruised before: 3-5 |
| Cruise Ship: Arcadia |
Sailed:
May,
2007 |
| Destination: Mediterranean |
Age: 36-45 |
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Arcadia - Eastern Mediterranean
I took a 17 night cruise on P&O's Arcadia - the "Voyage To Venice". Despite having seen various negative reviews about the ship before I went, it was the best of the cruises I've taken with P&O. I'm 36 and was definitely one of the youngest on board.
I took language lessons and Tai Chi every day. Used the hydropool once (free with my New Horizons pass), which I thought was enough. There is a free steam room/sauna thing too near the larger pool and free gym facilities as well. Decor is very tasteful and I liked it a lot - but I'm not a SHOUTY type.
There's an excellent selection of art and some of the public rooms (the theatre, Orchid Bar and dining rooms for example) are quite lovely.
My C deck balcony cabin was spotless, spacious and had the best balcony I've seen - nicer than those on Oceana and the old Adonia. LCD TV too and full size bath. Only lasting disappointment was with the limited golf facilities (no simulator.) Some of the things that annoyed me about other P&O cruises have been sorted out (the art auctions are less intrusive, the photography better, the alt dining now worth the money).
The food was excellent, both in the Meridian and in the alt dinning. We had both lunch and dinner in each of Arcadian Rhodes and Orchid and each experience was exquisite. The food in Arcadian Rhodes was best but the service was best in Orchid (it definitely pays to befriend the waitresses there - we got some extras!) In Arcadian Rhodes be sure to try the English sparkling wine they have on the menu (Chapel Down). I didn't use the buffet dining much but it seemed like the food was good enough, if you don't want the ambience of the other dinning options.
The shows were a mixed bag, the high point was the Cirque D'Arcadia. There were excellent comedians on in the late evening.
I'll definitely cruise on Arcadia again.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Ate in Meridan and each of the "prestige" dining rooms. | | Entertainment |  |
| Best show was the Circus themed one; other's fine it you like musicals... | | Shore Excursions | |
| Venice was the best - starting from the beautiful sail in | | Staff | |
| Our waiters were terrific - really characterful and flexible | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities |  |
| The New Horizons programme works well - I did a number of language lessons | | Cabins | |
| Cabin was spotless and a decent size for the money | | Overall Rating | |
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