P&O Cruises, Arcadia, Eastern Mediterranean Review

Arcadia, Eastern Mediterranean

Our first cruise on Arcadia, though not the first on P&O. We prefer to travel on an adults only basis, which Arcadia is. We also prefer traditional ships, they are usually a bit more quirky, and Arcadia had a lot of character. She was also in need of a refit, especially the cabins, which seemed dull and a bit shabby, although certainly being of a good size and quite comfortable. (We could envisage having enough space in our balcony cabin to cope with a longer cruise on this ship). Freedom dining was problematical, and some other dining venues weren't open on our cruise, due we believe to logistical problems after bringing the ship back into service after a long hiatus. No reason to assume this will be the case in future. The food was great in the main dining room, not so brilliant in the self-service venue. Public rooms are really good - lots of bars with differing atmosphere, and pianists in most, which was very good. Enjoyed the shows and lots of space available in the theatre at the late show, never too crowded. Itinerary was good, but on a longish trip with not too many ports of call, missing out on one of the Greek Islands was hard to take. Deck space is largely around the pool (OK but no views) or at the stern (frequent loud music). There is quiet space toward the front of the ship (but no shade from the sun). We only took 1 shore trip which took us to a resort where we were then on our own: very good, lots of time available to spend at the resort and reasonable price. We bought the full drinks package which was the right thing to do on a trip where a high percentage of the holiday were sea days and if you are likely to drink 6+ alcoholic drinks over the course of a 24 hour period (which actually isn't many, especially if you also add in other drinks such as hot chocolates etc) Overall, we liked this ship and would consider travelling on her again if the itinerary was right.