That British Bulldog breed!

Our sailaway from Southampton last night on P&O Arcadia was just a little different to ones that we have experienced at home. Most of our sailaways in Australia have been warm with no inclement weather to prevent people from getting out onto the upper decks - but last night we sailed at 6PM in mid-winter, pitch black night in light rain with a temperature of around 1C combined with a breeze which made it feel sub-zero. But did this stop the Brits onboard from getting out onto the open Promenade Deck to celebrate their departure with Champagne?? -- NO WAY!! And Christine and I joined in with them - but I did notice that I didn't see many of the Aussies onboard out there. We did enjoy the sailaway - and it will be memorable for us. Southampton had the largest number of ships in port for 50 years - six of them,
Queen Elizabeth (who sailed out ahead of us), Queen Victoria, Black Watch, Balmoral and Saga Ruby - plus of course, us! On the wharf we had a Military Brass Band playing all the usual tear jerkers (like Land of
Hope and Glory and Auld Lang Syne), strobe lights, large confetti dispensing machines, colourful air socks and a big fireworks display (which we stopped in mid-stream in Southampton Water to watch). Considering the weather, it was quite a sendoff - and something that I had heard rumours of and hoped would come about. It was definitely the closest thing to that done for cruiseships of old that I have ever seen. We haven't had a chance to make any assessments or judgements regarding Arcadia yet - except to say that it is noticeably "newer" than Oriana, but with a definitely different character. Somebody said last night that they felt like they were inside a large luxury hotel rather than a ship - and I can probably see where they were coming from. The Belvedere Restaurant (Buffet) is definitely a stepup in "class" above the Conservatory on Oriana - at night, it takes on the feeling of a very nice Asian influence with all dining places set up by staff. I nicknamed the Conservatory Buffet on Oriana as the " The Shove and Shovel" - but at this time, the Belvedere appears far superior.

You can view a video of our first week on P&O Arcadia here