P&O CRUISES has taken delivery of the £200m Arcadia prior to its naming by Dame Kelly Holmes on Tuesday.
It's a childless ship (rather than an adults-only liner) and follows a highly successful two-year marketing trial by its predecessor of the same name where under-18s were banned.
There are no signs in the (many) bars on the age limit for selling alcohol and even the ship's two large (by cruising standards) swimming pools don”t have shallow ends. No toys in the shops and a lot more public space with the usual large children”s area eliminated. Very noticeable are a series of elevators on the outside - amidships. It remains to be seen if these are allowed to be operational in heavy seas (or more to the point would one want to use them). The 83,000 ton 1,952-passenger ship is the world's first large liner to be built for this market. P&O is also converting the former Royal Princess into a no children operation as Artemis, the ship joining the fleet later in the summer.
Incidentally Arcadia”s Italian builders tell us that a circuit of the promenade deck is 540m, or in Dame Kelly”s language 1 minute 18 seconds at gold medal 800m winning speed. ABTN reckons one lap is a good ten minutes walk. With Garry Rhodes offering exceptional cuisine in an on board restaurant clearly the deck will be needed by many for an after meal stroll.
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