We were a bit concerned that we had done the right thing for our 30th wedding anniversary by booking a P & O cruise to the western Med for 14 nights June 2008. We found the queue to embark at Southampton long and it was a tiring 3/4 of an hour wait, but it was very well organized and after registering our credit card and going through the security checks, were on board soon enough, and shown to the Belvedere dining lounge for lunch. Our cabin was then ready and we went down to E deck and found our luggage had been delivered very efficiently. I must say it was more enjoyable than flying and far less tiring at the end of the day. We did not have far to travel to the docks so that most certainly helped in our case. We found the Arcadia a lovely ship, very large, and it most certainly took us several days to get accustomed to it all and where to find places on the ship. Our ports of call were Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Santa Margherita, Rome, Alicante and Gibraltar. We booked 6 shore excursions and found most of them very good value and good fun. We went to Elche when at Alicante and although it is not mentioned in the itinerary of the trip, we were finally taken to a shoe factory for a film show.. all very fast, so not much time to browse at the shoes!! Rome was very warm, and we just did a one stop tour of it. Dining on the Arcadia is very good, we found the standard of catering en masse surprisingly hot. Breakfasts can be either waiter served in the Meridian, or buffet style in the Belvedere.This is the same arrangement for lunches or dinner. Even though you are allocated a dinner table in the Meridian you can choose to dine in the Belvedere buffet, or pre book the Arcadian Rhodes or Orchid Restaurant at extra cost which we did on our anniversary, and the wine and extra charges came to £55 extra. We found all service on the Arcadia very good, the staff are of course trained to a high level in the restaurants and we found the Arcadian Rhodes restaurant even more efficient and polite! It certainly is above what we expected..and having read a lot of reviews before we went I was really quite concerned that we were "doing the right thing" but after a day or so we both agreed we had never expected it to be so lovely as we were experiencing. Entertainment in the Palladium was truly excellent and I suppose I was expecting a cirque act as according to many reviews that it all that was mentioned, but in our case we had a wonderful group of extremely talented young singer/dancers for the whole two weeks along with Carlos Santana of Paper Lace fame who entertained us one evening and a comedienne magician on another night. Anyone that dances should have a wonderful time to the big band sounds in the Crow's Nest or disco. We found our cabin very comfortable, two single beds, but these can be put together if you so wish and a small balcony. We found our cabin adequate in size for the time you spend there, as there is alot going on all over the boat throughout the day and for anyone that enjoys art auctions,or jewelry shows, beauty shows, ice sculpting, internet lessons, and much more beside the deck games, golf etc. We took our own laptop but was unable to connect to the internet, we waited for an assistant for half an hour then gave up. If you use their computers, they are expensive, and at the start of the cruise it was £8.50 for only 15 mins. I had an Indian/Balinese head massage in the therapy room, followed by a wash and blow dry £55. I must say I did not like the oils used for the "massage" if you can call it that, as it was for me very sore indeed, and I was very pleased when it was over, which was not long thank goodness. The hair "do" was very quickly done, as it was a "formal night" and I guess they were very busy in there... however I was back combed and sprayed, which I haven't had in years !!! Maybe they are only used to much older clients !!!!!!! I am 55. Anyway it gave my hubby a laugh when he saw my Cilla Black hair do as he called it. I went again a few days later just for a wash a blow dry and had a young man who was more switched on and it looked really nice when he had finished. My advice on that one is to be very strict about what you would like done and refuse to be bullied into anything else. Regarding the massage thing, make sure you know what they intend as if you have any tender bits it can really hurt for a few days afterwards as it did in my case.

We found the disembarkation a bit long winded, but when you consider how many people have to get off, it has to be done by Decks and as we were on E deck our time for going was 9.25 am. Others of course were before starting at 7 am. You have to vacate your cabin by 8 am. (Big suit cases are collected the night before so you have to have your clothes to dine the last night in which is a smart casual night and to go home in) We just about made it 7 am taking our hand luggage down to breakfast, had breakfast, then waited to be called to disembark, which was done very quickly and we had a taxi waiting so we were relieved not to be stopped in the customs hall on the way out.

We will be cruising again soon!!