Mandy suggested I post a sort of trip report on my recent cruise - so here goes:
We booked this cruise because of the ship, which we really love, and the timing, so we went with very few expectations. What a treat we were in for we had a wonderful time!
The weather was superb except for the last couple of days, and even then we sat on the balcony wearing trousers and a fleece. We were lucky to be chosen to sit on the Captains table again. Keith Dowd and his partner, Mandy, are lovely people very easy to chat to and completely natural. I knew a couple on the table from the P&O message boards and we jelled very quickly. We also had a cruise journalist who was great fun, though she left at Madeira. The Captain and Mandy joined us most evenings and with a few others, came to our suite for drinks on Tonys birthday something that we hadnt actually expected him to do.
We found the quality of food in the main restaurant to be very good, it was always hot and as always the service from our waiters was excellent. We didnt use the buffet restaurant, too much of a scrum, preferring to order room service which was free of charge whether from the room service menu or from the restaurant menu.
The stern suite was fantastic! Although not really what Id call a suite, more a very large cabin, we were extremely comfortable and the massive wrap around balcony was really great even with a few passengers looking down from the Aquarius deck it wasnt a problem at all. In fact, we raised a glass to them once or twice while eating our pre dinner canapés and drinking a glass of bubbly! Sharma the butler was a wonderful luxury. He did all sorts of things for us and made all the arrangements for Tonys birthday, including decorating the whole cabin and sending a hand made card. He also took us to see the Midships suite we have next year for our Transatlantic crossing the suite itself is larger than those at the stern but obviously the balcony doesnt compare and Im glad we have booked one at the stern for the Panama Canal.
The retractable roof over the Neptune pool was a great advantage on the one rainy day we had. The entertainment was what you would expect on a cruise, neither better nor worse than we have seen/heard before. The theatre is extremely well designed and very comfortable.
We bought a cruise pass for the Thermal Suite and felt it worth every penny. Lying on the heated beds every day was a treat. I had a reasonably good, if rather expensive, massage. Sadly we missed the Cirque dArcadia as we were dining in Arcadian Rhodes that night Gary Rhodes restaurant at sea. He was onboard for the last 4 nights. It was a special 7 course fixed menu to celebrate the 1st anniversary, with a cover chargeof £22.50 ( for a meal that would be well over £100-150pp ashore). The whole experience was superb. The food was outstanding, the service excelled anywhere we have been and having Gary Rhodes actually cook and then spend quite a long time with every table was an experience we were more than happy to miss the show for.
We dined at the Orchid Oriental Restaurant too (£10pp cover charge) and that was lovely but Arcadian Rhodes was an entire experience and although in no way better it was certainly more of a fine dining restaurant.
The ports were all enjoyable.
Vigo - we wandered around and Tony climbed to the Castle to the top to see the view.
Lisbon we berthed very close to the centre so walked in and spent a couple of hours walking around then took the tram ride some of which was interesting and some completely pointless.
Cadiz a real gem. We walked around here too, climbing up to the top of the bell tower for a fantastic view. Some excellent restaurants here.
Tenerife Tony did the Whale and Dolphin watching trip and saw a pod of Pilot whales and a few Dolphins. He thought the resort that the trip departed (Playa de las Americas) from was hellish but enjoyed the day overall. I stayed on board all day.
Grand Canaria we did our own thing here. Went to see the extremely crowded beach and looked around the town.
La Palma Tony did the Forest Trek which he enjoyed. I stayed on board in the morning while he was out and then we went into town later.
Madeira we took the cable car to the top of the hill and the Toboggan down. Then we walked back to the town my legs ached for a couple of days after the steep walk down and unfortunately it really played havoc with my sciatica worth it though!
All in all, we had a great time, great weather, great company, fantastic accommodation with all the perks that go with it including the extra privte parties. We even had a tour of the Medical Centre courtesy of the Nurses and Doctor we met at a private party. We LOVED the round trip from Southampton so much, we booked another for September this year unfortunately not on Arcadia this time as exactly the same cruise on Oceana was over £500pp cheaper so we really had to go with that.
Back to reality now!
Gill
http://www.gdancyger.photosite.com/J608/
We booked this cruise because of the ship, which we really love, and the timing, so we went with very few expectations. What a treat we were in for we had a wonderful time!
The weather was superb except for the last couple of days, and even then we sat on the balcony wearing trousers and a fleece. We were lucky to be chosen to sit on the Captains table again. Keith Dowd and his partner, Mandy, are lovely people very easy to chat to and completely natural. I knew a couple on the table from the P&O message boards and we jelled very quickly. We also had a cruise journalist who was great fun, though she left at Madeira. The Captain and Mandy joined us most evenings and with a few others, came to our suite for drinks on Tonys birthday something that we hadnt actually expected him to do.
We found the quality of food in the main restaurant to be very good, it was always hot and as always the service from our waiters was excellent. We didnt use the buffet restaurant, too much of a scrum, preferring to order room service which was free of charge whether from the room service menu or from the restaurant menu.
The stern suite was fantastic! Although not really what Id call a suite, more a very large cabin, we were extremely comfortable and the massive wrap around balcony was really great even with a few passengers looking down from the Aquarius deck it wasnt a problem at all. In fact, we raised a glass to them once or twice while eating our pre dinner canapés and drinking a glass of bubbly! Sharma the butler was a wonderful luxury. He did all sorts of things for us and made all the arrangements for Tonys birthday, including decorating the whole cabin and sending a hand made card. He also took us to see the Midships suite we have next year for our Transatlantic crossing the suite itself is larger than those at the stern but obviously the balcony doesnt compare and Im glad we have booked one at the stern for the Panama Canal.
The retractable roof over the Neptune pool was a great advantage on the one rainy day we had. The entertainment was what you would expect on a cruise, neither better nor worse than we have seen/heard before. The theatre is extremely well designed and very comfortable.
We bought a cruise pass for the Thermal Suite and felt it worth every penny. Lying on the heated beds every day was a treat. I had a reasonably good, if rather expensive, massage. Sadly we missed the Cirque dArcadia as we were dining in Arcadian Rhodes that night Gary Rhodes restaurant at sea. He was onboard for the last 4 nights. It was a special 7 course fixed menu to celebrate the 1st anniversary, with a cover chargeof £22.50 ( for a meal that would be well over £100-150pp ashore). The whole experience was superb. The food was outstanding, the service excelled anywhere we have been and having Gary Rhodes actually cook and then spend quite a long time with every table was an experience we were more than happy to miss the show for.
We dined at the Orchid Oriental Restaurant too (£10pp cover charge) and that was lovely but Arcadian Rhodes was an entire experience and although in no way better it was certainly more of a fine dining restaurant.
The ports were all enjoyable.
Vigo - we wandered around and Tony climbed to the Castle to the top to see the view.
Lisbon we berthed very close to the centre so walked in and spent a couple of hours walking around then took the tram ride some of which was interesting and some completely pointless.
Cadiz a real gem. We walked around here too, climbing up to the top of the bell tower for a fantastic view. Some excellent restaurants here.
Tenerife Tony did the Whale and Dolphin watching trip and saw a pod of Pilot whales and a few Dolphins. He thought the resort that the trip departed (Playa de las Americas) from was hellish but enjoyed the day overall. I stayed on board all day.
Grand Canaria we did our own thing here. Went to see the extremely crowded beach and looked around the town.
La Palma Tony did the Forest Trek which he enjoyed. I stayed on board in the morning while he was out and then we went into town later.
Madeira we took the cable car to the top of the hill and the Toboggan down. Then we walked back to the town my legs ached for a couple of days after the steep walk down and unfortunately it really played havoc with my sciatica worth it though!
All in all, we had a great time, great weather, great company, fantastic accommodation with all the perks that go with it including the extra privte parties. We even had a tour of the Medical Centre courtesy of the Nurses and Doctor we met at a private party. We LOVED the round trip from Southampton so much, we booked another for September this year unfortunately not on Arcadia this time as exactly the same cruise on Oceana was over £500pp cheaper so we really had to go with that.
Back to reality now!
Gill
http://www.gdancyger.photosite.com/J608/
They very kindly called me (as they always do) while drinking a glass of wine setting sail from Southampton 
)
