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P&O Cruises

MV Victoria

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Reviewed by: Ian Battersby
# previous cruises: 7
Date of Trip: January 11, 2002
Itinerary: Transcanal

The Victoria is not a young ship, but has lots of character. It does not carry thousands, as such with only 780 or so passengers it is very friendly. It character comes from the wood panelling and the many painting of old P&O ships. The cruise started in Barbados and finished in Acapulco with a complete transit of the Panama canal, calling at Grenada, Curacao, Manta(Ecuador), Puntarenas and Puerto Quezal. This being the first time the ship had called at Manta. The cruise had a theme of classical music. In all we sailed 4 seas, the Atlantic, the Caribbean, north and south Pacific. It was an interesting and enjoyable cruise, the highlight being the full transit of the Panama Canal which took about 8 hours. Manta was a bit disappointing and we would have preferred an extra day at Puntarenas.

We found all the public areas bright and airy with nice, friendly service.The small side lounge attached to the Carib Lounge was one we used regularly for a quiet rest especially in the heat of the day. The evening shows are held in the International Lounge, with the smaller Princess Theatre being used as a lecture theatre/cinema and concert theatre. The Starlight lounge at the front is the piano lounge and a quiet place to have pre-dinner cocktails, but it did get busy for the syndicate quiz.The ship has an excellent library and reading room ( which doubles as the Riveria Bar at night).

There are 3 pools on board, two outdoor on Lido Deck and the third inside in the spa/gym area. My wife much prefered the spa pool as it did not get as busy as the outdoor pools.

There are plenty of sun loungers and chairs on the open decks, although the sheltered spots went quickly.

The casino is located within the carib lounge and was not particularly busy when ever we passed. It has many slot machines, poker and blackjack tables as well as roulette.

Food was served either on the Lido Deck or in the Coral Dining Room. There were 2 sittings for the evening meal, open sittings at breakfast and lunch. We usually ate breakfast and lunch on the Lido as we enjoy eating outside (especially when it's sunny), but we did have a couple of lunches in the dining room. We found that at lunch time it was easier to eat at about one o'clock when the rush had died down. Both the Lido and dining room served the same main courses at lunch time, but obviously you could eat as much as or as little as you wanted on the Lido. On several days there was a theme to the lunches on the lido, eg Mexican, seafood, barbecue. Good, old fashioned English puddings were served on the Lido deck.

The service in the dining room was good and attentive. We were on a table for eight, including an officer. Silver service was the norm at the evening meal. Each couple was expected to take turns at providing the wine for the meal at night.

We were in cabin R126, an inside cabin on deck 7 towards the stern of the ship. The cabin was very quiet, no noise from the engine room, although you could hear the sun lounger being moved every morning as the cabin was below the Lido deck. Having said that it was one of the quietest cabins we have had.

The cabin had twin beds, one doubles as a day sette, the other folded into the wall. This fold away bed greatly reduced the floor area when left out. The was a proper wardrobe with safe, dressing table with draws and mirror, and a TV. The TV showed films and documentaries during the day and night. The bath room was adequate with plenty of room in the shower and lots of hot water. The shower curtain only stuck to you if the ship swayed from side to side.

The entertainment was very good and varied from big production numbers to classical soirees. The ships theatre company gave several shows in the International lounge from an ABBA tribute to a country how down. Considering the size of the stage these shows were excellent and very enjoyable.

The guest artistes were two singers, both from Liverpool and a comedian, Jimmy Cricket. These all gave a couple of shows each.

As I mentioned earlier, this cruise had a classical music theme and was introduced and hosted by Humphrey Burton. There were 3 singers, a pianist and a duo. Between them they put a couple of concerts each day.

Throughout the day there were numerous activities to keep everyone occupied. The daily deck quoits competition was very popular and entertaining. P&O bingo was also played when the ship was at sea.

Ports of call were Grenada, Curacao, Manta, Puntarenus, Peurto Quetzal and Acapulco. Tours were available at all ports. We did our thing at Grenada, the view from the fort was fantastic (would have been even better if it weren't for the rain). The tour of Curacao was OK, but as you moor up right in the middle of town it's easy to do your own thing.

There is little to do at Manta, except for the tour to the Tagua nut factory and Monticristo for your Panama hat. At Puntarenus go to the mangrove tour, we did and it was one of our best days. Admittedly we had a character for a guide, but he certainly knew his stuff and was very entertaining. The tour is about widlife in the river and mangrove area, so watch out for crocs and birds of prey.

From Puerto Qyelzal we went to the old colonial city of Antigua Guatemala past several active volcanoes on the Pan American highway.

Finally in Acapulco you have to see the cliff divers and visit the Acapulco Princess Hotel, it's another world.

This is not a young persons cruise, certainly not if you children (as far as we could tell, there were only 2 children on this cruise). Many of the passengers were retired, but that did not stop them enjoying themselves.

Everyone was very friendly and many had cruised before. As such many conversations where had regarding different cruise lines and itineraries. A good percentage were P&O stalwarts, with many returning to Victoria over and over again.