Adonia - Yes or No

[simonpjd]

Just back from 10 days on Oriana. On board I was chatting to another passenger and we got round to fav vessels. I said we hoped to go on Adonia one day and he was amazed. Quote 'What on earth would you want to go on that for. There is nothing to do on it'. So I explained about us still cruising to see places and the smaller ships could get in to ports and places that the larger vessels cannot, and we liked the more cosy atmosphere. He came from the large ship school and said they very rarely even went ashore.

 

So in a short sentence what do our forumites think about this. How many of us are BIG ship people, SMALL ship people or happy just to be lucky enough to be able to afford to spend time aboard these great ships. And while we are about it - what is your fav ship EVER. So this could be something no longer around or not even P&O.

 

Mine would be Artemis.

[kersh]

We will cruise on any PO ship in the present fleet. We cruise regularly on Azura and have cruised twice on Adonia with 2 booked on Adonia next year.

Our next cruise is on Monday on Oriana. So big medium or sall makes no difference we cruise for itinerary first.

 

Sue

[Scorpio41]

We are on the Oriana next month but looked at the Adonia too. The TA brought it to our attention there is less to do on the Adonia the our usual Aurora etc. I thought this was a strange thing to highlight.

 

We like you choose the ports, not by the size of the ship and the beauty of the smaller ship is she gets to places the other don't. To me the entertainment is not the be all and end all of a cruise. We don't rush from our evening meal to make sure we get to the show.

 

I've been itching to get on her since she first joined the fleet.

[jeanlyon]

We also choose for the ports, but we did try Azura and did not like it. Too big, too many queues, sunbeds only an inch apart.

 

We enjoyed Artemis when she was part of P&O, have been on two really small ships with Travelscope. The Athena and Van Gogh. Enjoyed them immensely. Also tried Fred O to West Africa last year and thoroughly enjoyed that as well. Made a really good friend and cruising with her again on the Balmoral next January. In the meantime, we are on Oriana for the first time in September, so in general, for us it's smaller ships and itinerary.

[CASPALL]

We were on Adonia for a Xmas/New year cruise with our friends.

Too small for us - just not enough going on.

Loved the ship as she was like a country hotel at sea. Our obstructed view outside cabin was very nice and spacious.It was just the lack of variety for bars and entertainment....

I love a ship with a big theatre too.

 

Caryl

[Britboys]

Both ship & itinerary are important to me but I guess I would not do an attractive itinerary on a ship I really didn't fancy.

 

I have once tried a large ship (Azura) and am really not keen to repeat it at the moment. I like mid-size and small ships. Oriana is my current favourite but I also loved Victoria, which was about the same size as Adonia.

 

Although I like small ships, there is something about Adonia that does not appeal. I do like pools aboard for a hot climate and she only appears to have one very small pool. Even the old Victoria had two outdoor pools and a small indoor!

 

If I could only choose between Azura/Ventura or Adonis though, Adonia would win hands down for me.

[Oliversgrandma]

We have fairly limited experience, one cruise on Adonia (our first) and the second last year on Cunard Queen Elizabeth.

 

We loved Adonia. It is like being in a country house hotel at sea. She is a pretty ship, and it was lovely going to smaller ports. We are planning to go on her again in 2014 to the Baltic, and whilst we enjoyed QE, we much prefer smaller ships. Would definitely recommend.

[dsrdsrdsr]

Arcadia's my current favourite, though Canberra wins overall. Possibly because that was my first cruise. Of non-P&O ships, Edinburgh Castle (which only ran for one year, for Direct Cruises) was an interesting ship, and Southern Cross (CTC, also no longer with us) as well.

[neuphin]

We were a little hesistant at going on Adonia, having only been on the larger P&O ships before.

But, we went on it for Christmas a couple of years ago and loved it. There was always enough to do, and we found the ship to be really friendly, with everyone getting to know each other by the end of the cruise.

[Gothic]

Just back from 10 days on Oriana. On board I was chatting to another passenger and we got round to fav vessels. I said we hoped to go on Adonia one day and he was amazed. Quote 'What on earth would you want to go on that for. There is nothing to do on it'. So I explained about us still cruising to see places and the smaller ships could get in to ports and places that the larger vessels cannot, and we liked the more cosy atmosphere. He came from the large ship school and said they very rarely even went ashore.

 

So in a short sentence what do our forumites think about this. How many of us are BIG ship people, SMALL ship people or happy just to be lucky enough to be able to afford to spend time aboard these great ships. And while we are about it - what is your fav ship EVER. So this could be something no longer around or not even P&O.

 

Mine would be Artemis.

 

I recently considered the idea of a cruise across the Indian ocean aboard Adonia (it is part of her 2014 world cruise) but decided against it as the time spent in the various (very exotic) ports was far too short. I am destination oriented so the ports are very important to me, the idea of taking a cruise and yet not bothering to disembark is, to me, a truly weird concept. However, the ship is a hugely important factor to me and my choice of cruise. Way back in 2000/01 I did a Christmas and New Year cruise aboard Aurora and whilst there were many positive aspects about the ship and the cruise the negative aspects outweighed them and I returned home adamant that I would never sail on such a large ship again, never sail with P&O again and never sail on another Christmas cruise again. Well, OK so I was almost relenting and thinking about sailing with P&O once more, aboard Adonia ( I have sailed on the ship twice before, when she was Swan Hellenic's Minerva II, and I loved the whole experience) better to retain those nice memories rather than have them spoiled by a somewhat lack-lustre itinerary.

As for the idea of there being 'nothing to do' aboard Adonia, well that was certainly part of her appeal - shows and other relentless entertainment does not appeal to me at all. Earlier this year I took a cruise aboard Aegean Odyssey, there were just over 300 passengers and all but no entertainment at all - what total bliss. I'm a grown up and so I know how to entertain myself now. That was a truly brilliant cruise experience with a stunning itinerary. It was one of many wonderful cruise experiences but favourite ships is another thing again, there have been several and I expect most people reading this will go "what? I've never heard of that!" So amongst my most favourite cruise ships are: the original Oriana (certainly not the present one), Seawind Crown, Independence, Enchanted Isle, Saga Rose, Topaz, Sea Cloud, Kristina Regina, Rotterdam (again not the present one) and Regatta.

I have given up my search of a cruise for January or February 2014 as there is almost nothing that holds any appeal that is going where I would like to go and when. Ironic really when there are more cruise ships now than ever before - more ships but less choice.

[KarateMan]

I think it is more of a myth that larger ships cannot go to places small ships can get to. Adonia is technically not a small ship. Unless you plan to go up a river then the above argument should be null and void.

 

What you would need to decide is if you would enjoy Adonia based on what it has to offer compared to the others. Ask yourself what you like best and what you do on a cruise and find out if you can do these activities on Adonia.

 

I personally would not rule a ship out based on size. There is always something to do on a cruise. Its just your personal choices and activities that will dictate if you decide to try it or not.

[Denarius]

I cruise to see and spend time in (hopefully) interesting ports. Itinerary is more important to me than the size of the ship as long as the food, services and facilities are up to scratch. I am not particularly interested in evening entertainment and rarely if ever go to see a show in the theatre, or a cabaret artist, so this aspect of a cruise is not a significant factor on choosing one. As long as there is a bar and intelligent conversation I am happy. The latter does however, seem more prevalent on smaller ships so given the choice of the same itinerary on say Oceana and Ventura I would choose the former.

[simonpjd]

KarateMan says 'I think it is more of a myth that larger ships cannot go to places small ships can get to. Adonia is technically not a small ship. Unless you plan to go up a river then the above argument should be null and void.'

 

Well take a look at D315. Stops at Karskrona, Visby and Sassnitz. I do not believe any of the larger ships have ever visited any of these. Artemis used to call at Visby - we were on her when she did. A long tender trip to get ashore. But not the big boys - they have to stick to the larger ports.

[Gothic]

I cruise to see and spend time in (hopefully) interesting ports. Itinerary is more important to me than the size of the ship as long as the food, services and facilities are up to scratch. I am not particularly interested in evening entertainment and rarely if ever go to see a show in the theatre, or a cabaret artist, so this aspect of a cruise is not a significant factor on choosing one. As long as there is a bar and intelligent conversation I am happy. The latter does however, seem more prevalent on smaller ships so given the choice of the same itinerary on say Oceana and Ventura I would choose the former.

 

 

Whilst I am 'almost' entirely in agreement with you, leaving aside the fact that Oceana is a P&O ship, I would still regard her as being too large for my taste. Adonia (along with her sisters now scattered amongst several owners) is as large a ship as I would consider.

Having said that, there have been times when I have wondered about the possibility of sailing aboard Queen Mary but then reality kicks in (having visited the ship days before her maiden voyage) I remember how far everything is, where ever you want to get to on that ship is a lengthy walk away.

[tring]

We have sailed on the ship twice, once as Adonia and once as Minerva II which was a totally different experience.

 

Adonia we would not want to sail on again. Yes, it can get into smaller ports and you will find that you dock near to the destinations, rather than some port or container base which needs a shuttle bus to the destination, although P&O tend to still do the same old ports most of the time anyway. Apart from that it is thumbs down entirely.

 

The main drawback is fixed sitting meals and NO buffet option on most nights (we had about 3 or 4 nights when the buffet was available out of 17 nights). We tried the Italian restaurant a couple of nights, but were fed a small amount of mediocre food with extremely very slow service. We also like to have a quiet drink in the evenings with some background music and a chance for some dancing if possible (not ballroom), without all the 'Butlin's' style entertainments - quizzes etc. There was nowhwere for that, as P&O insist on scheduling quizzes and things in different venues in a rotation as the evening progressed and also had the PA systems burting out the commentary over a full venue - even if there were only a few people partaking of the event in one corner of the bar used!!! Hence we spent much time wondering round the ship, drinks in hand, looking for somehwere reasonable to sit. So I would no so much say that Adonia does not have enough to do, but has 'entertainments' which cannot easily be avoided. We were not alone in this view as many other people sailed fro the ports, like us.

 

Our favorite ship was undoubtedly the same ship, but under the guise of Minerva II. Open dining + buffet which was well used. Very interesting ports and excellent speakers on relevant topics to the cruise venue. There was also the beautiful observation lounge, (which as Adonia was unusable as that because of the PA and various activities there - by day and night). Artemis comes a close second as our favorite ship.

 

Our experience on Adonia has more or less put us off P&O and we find other cruise companies offer better experiences on smaller ships, which is more our sort of thing, as we sail for the ports, not the 'Butlin's' style entertainments on P&O.

 

It is all personal taste though, the important thing is to choose the cruise line which provides your preferred style of cruising. There are some differences in P&O ships, but not that much really, compared to the different experience you can get elsewhere.

[Freya1]

We went on Adonia last year to the North Cape. It was our first cruise and we couldn't fault it at all.

I believe in reading as much info as possible before booking any holiday.

Everything on Adonia was as expected from the fixed dining, limited buffet in the evening, small entertainment venue, and the dress code.

Everything you need to know is there if you do enough research.

Adonia for us lived up to what P&O advertise it as. A small friendly little ship with a most wonderful crew who looked after us very well.

In fact we enjoyed the experience so much that we are off to the Baltic on Friday..on little Adonia of course. Can't wait!

[tring]

Yes, the Brochure blurb was changed after the first season, but when the ship was in the first brochure, it was advertised as there being a buffet restaurant for the evening, which is why we were compensated by £400 onboard credit for a future cruise we had booked.

 

To my knowledge, there is still no mention that they run quizzes in all bars, so there is no one bar you can spend an evening in, (or part of a sea day in the observation lounge) and not have the bar taken over by an extrememly loud PA to service a few people who may only be in one small corner of the bar. It is possible that way of operating has changed though.

 

I aggree the actual ship is excellent, but the way P&O run it is certainly not to our taste - but some people go on a cruise just for the quizzes etc, rather than the ports (or perhaps want to combine the two).

 

Each to their own.

[Freya1]

I am sorry that you didn't enjoy your cruise on Adonia, and I appreciate your comment that it all down to personal taste.

 

During our cruise there were quizzes in certain areas of the ship, both during the day and in the evening.

 

We did take part in a few quizzes after dinner.These took place in the conservatory, but for those not wishing to take part Andersons Bar and the Crows Nest were quiz free.

 

There were areas where you could go to be away from it all...even on a small ship.

I wouldn't liken any of the onboard atmosphere as "Butlin's Style". If it had been we wouldn't have wanted to book another cruise on Adonia.

 

We booked last year's cruise because of its destination, the sailing date (I have no option but to take my holidays in the school holidays), and following recommendation of P&O. It just happened that the ship was the Adonia so in a sense the ship picked us. We were so pleased that it wasn't a huge ship.

For us the thought on being on a ship with over 3000 passengers would put us off booking a cruise on Ventura or Azura but we do appreciate that for some people they would enjoy the razzmatazz that would go with being on such a large ship.

 

This year we wanted to visit the Baltic ports, especially St Petersberg. Once again the only cruise we could book was on the Adonia, which, following last year's experience, we did with no hesitation.

 

Choice is a most wonderful thing. We all have a choice and I hope that likening Adonia to Butlins will not put people off choosing Adonia and giving her a go.

[Denarius]

There is no reason why P&O could not offer open seating (freedom dining) on Adonia instead of fixed sittings (club dining). She is the sister ship of Azamara's Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest, and Oceania's Insignia, Nautica and Regatta - all these ships offer open seating dining. That they do not is down to P&O who probably believe that their potential clientele would prefer fixed sittings.

Indeed, the above mentioned ships may represent an alternative to those who prefer a smaller ship of Adonia's size but who wish to move slightly more up market. Or who prefer a more relaxed dress code - neither have formal nights!

[gadabout60]

I was on the Baltic cruise on July on Adonia and was not aware of the Conservatory being open only on 3 or 4 nights -it seemed to me that it was open most nights though on checking back through our Horizons I can see that it was often not open.

 

Would strongly disagree that the Italian restaurant had slow service and small portions - we found the opposite, Great value for £5 pp pn.

 

I have never done freedom dining - I like the old fashioned concept of chatting to new people at dinner and getting to know them - I don't want to sit with different people every night

[tring]

Freya1

 

We travelled 2 years ago, leaving late August for a 17 night Med cruise and our experiences where as I stated. We were not alone in our complaints, in fact quite a lot of passengers felt the same way.

 

As you have travelled since then, it is possible that P&O have changed the way things are done. When we were onboard the entertainment staff were grossely overzealous, (although from speaking to certain P&O staff at times I know that P&O have certain policies on how things are run that have to be obeyed). For instance on leaving one Italian port one lovely evening, there was a 'sailaway party' scheduled - there were two passengers partaking of the 'party' and about 3 or 4 entertainment staff shouting and extremely loud music playing, which was very hard to get away from as it is a small ship - it went on like that for about half an hour and I took one of my more memorable photos that evening!! The clientelle onboard were just not interested in something like that and would have preferred to have enjoyed the views in peace, or with quiet music.

 

If the Crow's nest and another bar is genuinely quiz free after both dinner times and there is no other intrusive entertainments going on, then it is a great step forward IMO - we were not the only people complaining about those sort of things. We often sat in the Crows nest after first dinner where there was a very good trio playing who were tailoring their music, to requests and what got people on the dancefloor, yet was not too loud for backgroung music if people just wanted to take in the views, (they also left a decent tape on when they were resting) However, about 10.00pm (or poss a bit earlier) a quizz would start and flatten the really good atmospere that the trio had built up. Many people were greatly upset about it. It was not even possible to sit in the Crows Nest by day as talks and games were taking place there and the PA was very loud over the whole bar area even if, for instance, there were only 2 or 3 people listening to a jeweller's talk. Games were also being run in the crows nest during the day on sea days. As people now say that entertainments are limited on Adonia, all thet may have stopped (although I would advise people to obtain clarification from P&O about that if they want somewhere to sit on sea days). P&O certainly missed out on numerous bar sales to many people like us who just wanted a drink and a chance to take in the views.

 

That is the context on which I likened the ship (and P&O in general) to Butlins, which I understand to be constant, unavoidable, entertainments with strong persuasion used to get people to conform. Those sort of entertainments can, more easily, be avoided on the larger ships as there are quiet areas there.

 

We had spoken to the Executive Purser on Adonia at that time and he aknowledged that there were many complaints - particularly about the self service being closed, but he said they did not have enough accomodation to provide the staff for it to be open, although I would have thought less staff would be needed for self service than waiter service meals. He also admitted it was a monetary thing - presumably they wanted more peolple to use the premium restaurants. That we were prepared to do, but did not want to spend 2-3 hours there just because we wanted a different mealtime, (I admit some people would on occasion). If service and food has improved that would be another step forward IMO. We did not try the Steak restaurant as I am not a steak eater.

 

I have just looked back over this - I did not mean it to be such a long post, but I have let it stand as it indicates how much the cruise was spoilt in our view (and in the view of many other people who we had spoken to onboard). Perhaps P&O have changed their policy on how the ship is run, but we would not want to risk that sort of experience again.

 

We find Swan Hellenic, Fred Olsen and Voyages of Discovery better environments for our liking as they all provide quiet areas and good musical entertainment as well a interesting talks, but I do appreciate that some people like the quizzes and entertainments that P&O are keen on. As I say - each to their own.

[Oliversgrandma]

Interesting viewpoints. We have only cruised on Adonia once(when she was newly acquired by P and O) and once on QE. We enjoyed the smaller ship ambience of Adonia and could not fault the service etc. We do not like buffet dining in any event, so lack of buffet dinner made no difference to us.

 

I keep looking at the cruise websites in case anything takes our fancy and by chance last week came across the January 2015 cruise on Adonia to the Amazon, Orinoco and East Caribbean (28 nights). The itinerary is great - most unusual for P and O, and with very few sea days. It is also a fly-cruise, so no long transatlantic crossing. So we have booked this and are really looking forward to it. Interestingly, according to the cabins left available and when booking through head office, the cruise is very heavily booked already, so P and O may have got something right here. Adonia is going to be in the Caribbean for three months in the winter of 2015. Can't wait.

[daiB]

Adonia is not for us.

 

1. Not scooter friendly.

 

2. We could only book a suite for the scooter. Have you seen the prices on Adonia for suites!! (I do not need an adapted cabin and will not book one. Others need them more than me)

 

3. No casino, this is the deal breaker.

 

4. No disco for my wife, another deal breaker.

 

Otherwise I suspect it would be fine.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[tring]

It is not the self service restaurant for the sake of self service we wanted, but that is the only reasonable way to have a different timed meal on occasions when you are doing something in port which makes a set dinner time totally impractical (i.e. early dinner starting before you are back on ship or very early morning start and you are only able to go into late dinner the night before).

[Host Sharon]

I cruised on Adonia in May 2012 and had a wonderful time. I am not bothered by the lack of a theatre and really enjoyed the "radio" play put on by some of the ship's crew one evening. She is more of a boutique ship and IMO the service etc was a * up on the other P&O ships. My only issue with her was the limited open deck space. There was nowhere to sit and look out to sea other than the promenade deck, which with our many tender ports, was often closed to pax. I finally took to heaving a teak reclining chair from the prom deck up to a corner of the running track as the sunbeds are too low for me with arthritic knees - there were no chairs at all on the sundecks. For this reason I am not convinced she is suited to the Caribbean at all.

 

I am sailing on one of her sister ships, Nautica, next week so it will be interesting to compare the ships and experience.