We are seasoned cruisers but had never sailed with P&O before; after experiencing the Adonia, we never will again.
The problem is not that it is a small ship - we tend to choose those - and the itinerary was grand: the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, Hiroshima - astonishing; the layout of the ship was good and the cabins were better than many. So what was wrong?
For us, it was like little more than a faded Victorian sea-side hotel in the off-season: the food was acceptable but old-fashioned, sprouts and carrots served silver-service regardless of what menu option you had chosen; in general, meat was tough and an entire dining room had to send back steaks on one occasion: diners were unable to cut through them. Curries were served almost daily but it was universally acknowledged that they were bland: 'we can't serve real curries; the people wouldn't like it,' staff told.us Only once on the cruise was any tribute paid to the food of the location: Asian night buffet offered sushi and stir fried noodles ... as one would expect, the sushi was chilled - so were the 'hot' noodles dishes. And the dining experience itself was pretentious.