P&O Cruises Adonia - - Profile, Photo Tour and Interview with Managing Director Carol Marlow

Adonia is one of eight jewel-like ships that were originally built for Renaissance Cruises. After Renaissance went bankrupt the eight were dispersed amongst various cruise lines and now after a period of nomadic wandering have settled with two being owned by Azamara Club Cruises, three by Oceania, two by Princess Cruises and one, Adonia, by P&O Cruises. Despite their difficult beginning, the eight have gone on to achieve a very good reputation amongst cruise connoisseurs.




I am not particularly partial to small ships. However, I thought the 30,000 gross ton Adonia was a charming ship when I first saw her back in the days when she was the Royal Princess of Princess Cruises.. With its wood paneling, cushioned furniture, and traditional art work, the interior has the charm of an English country house. The ship is nicely laid out as well. The designers were able to include most of the things one would expect on a modern cruise ship - - specialty restaurants, a spa, a pool, shops, bars and lounges, etc - - within a relatively small space.



When the ship was transferred from Princess to P&O Cruises earlier this year, very few changes had to be made. P&O serves the British market and the ship already had a British decor. Consequently, all that had to be done was modify a few public areas so as to include some of P&O’s signature venues. Of course, the existing specialty restaurants which were signature Princess restaurants, also had to be changed. For that task, P&O turned to celebrity chef Marco Pierre White to create a new restaurant for Adonia. The other specialty restaurant was developed in-house by P&O.



To mark Adonia’s arrival at P&O Cruises, I asked P&O Cruises’ Managing Director to give us her thoughts about the line’s new ship. She discussed how the ship came to P&O Cruises and what the line plans for the ship. That article is posted at: http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Adonia-Marlow.html



I’ve also created a Beyondships profile of Adonia that includes copies of daily programs, menus from the restaurants, and other information about the ship. http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Adonia-Profile.html. As always, there is a photo tour and commentary about the ship. http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Adonia-Tour-1.html