Like other reviewers, I was a bit concerned about the negative reviews that the Eden had received. We had previously been on 2 P&O cruises, one out of Sydney and one out of Freemantle - on slightly larger ships (the Dawn and the Sun). However, we were pleasantly surprised by the Eden. It has been refurbished (yes it's an old ship - but like many of us over the age of 50 - there's still plenty of go left in us!!) The refurbishment is fabulous - fresh and colourful. In detail - took the train to Outer Harbour and checking in and boarding was easy. Cabin was fine - no horror toilet or shower issues (in fact the shower was great). I wouldn't have an interior cabin again (no daylight is very disorientating in the mornings when you wake up thinking it's the middle of the night). We arrived to find two single beds - no dramas, our cabin steward changed it around for us. Plenty of coat-hangers (I always take spares but didn't need them). Bit light on with toiletries - shower gel, shampoo and conditioner, but no shower caps or body lotion. Hairdryer took a bit of finding - in bottom drawer in main room. Beware the bathrobe - if you take it out of the wrapper it's yours for $25! Can't take any water on board with you but you can take a limited amount of soft drinks (still trying to work that one out). I took an empty drink bottle which is difficult to fill as you can't use the water barrels to fill bottles. However you can drink the water on the ship and there's plenty of water stations.

Dining. Probably the most criticised thing on most cruises. There is good and bad. The Mosh Pit (the Pantry) is a better idea than the buffet - you can still have what you want and as much as you want - but it's often luke warm and the vegetarian choices are limited. The biggest issue for me with this style of eating is that it is difficult to find seating. So we tend to use the restaurants. The Waterfront - couldn't fault it - from breakfast to dinner, the wait staff are pleasant and the food is hot and good variety and it you want a bit extra or to change something on the menu - no problems at all. They only do bookings for 5 pm and 5.15 pm and after that you have to take pot luck. However, the longest we waited was 30 minutes and they give you a buzzer so you can go and have a drink. Angelo's Italian - disappointing. The food was lovely (what there was of it). Very small portions (the smallest schnitzel I have ever seen in my life)! When we asked for 2 entrees the Waiter was very shocked and told us we could only have one. My partner and I don't eat desserts - so what's the difference with having 2 x entree instead of entree and dessert?? I'm guessing a few people left Angelo's to go to the Mosh Pit. Dragon Lady - don't go when you're hungry. My entree consisted of 2 tiny pieces of sushi and my green fish curry barely covered the bottom of the bowl. Again we were told to choose one item from each course of the menu. When we said we didn't eat dessert we were still not allowed to have another entree. When I complained after the meal about my tasteless curry we were offered another meal - but to be honest the restaurant has no atmosphere (I felt like we were an imposition just being there) so we just wanted to get out of there. However, overall, you won't starve and the food is well prepared with a lot of variety. The fish and chips in the Mosh Pit is to die for - seriously - everyone was raving about it.

Entertainment was good (Pacific Players). The quizzes are popular so get to the venue early otherwise you won't get a seat. Negatives - smoking (will they ever do a smoke free cruise?) The smoking deck was right outside our room - every time we went back to the room we had to walk through the pervading smell of smoke drifting into the corridor - yuk. If you're a non-smoker avoid deck 6 PORT. Also deck 6 is the deck you can walk all the way around the ship - not sure why P&O would then make this the smoking deck????? However it was great that there was no smoking on the Lido Deck by the Pool (The Pacific Sun allowed smoking on this deck and it was awful). Read more