The ship was beautifully maintained and clean throughout. The ship was full but did not feel overwhelmingly busy which was one of my fears before boarding.
My family shared a 4 birth inside cabin on 'P' deck that was ample large enough for us all, plenty of wardrobe and drawer space.
The food especially in 'Plantations' was excellent. We found there was always plenty of choice in menu's; indian, mexican, spanish. We ate once in 'The Bistro'which was well worth the extra money.The meal & service were perfect.
We enjoyed all the entertainment, particularly the shows in the Marquee and the Moon Show.
All the staff that we encountered were very helpful and polite. There seemed to be no shortage of staff on board, always ready to take orders for drinks, clear tables etc.
The cruise met all our expectations; excellent accomodation, service , meals and beautiful ports of call.

Ship
Ship was very clean, spacious, and as described in the brochure. Easy to navigate round, with plenty arrows, etc for the uninitiated like me.

Cabin
We had a 2 berth outside cabin on deck 5, and we were very impressed. I am so glad we picked the option of an outside cabin, as I can imagine waking up without some sunshine blazing through the window each morning could be quite a claustrophobic experience. Cabin was clean, spacious, and was exactly as described in the brochure. Also our cabin (P168) was in a perfect position on the boat, near to all facilities.

Restaurants
We did not eat in either the Bistro or La Luna as these involved an extra cover charge, so I cannot comment on these. We ate all our meals in either Plantations or Waterfront, and were very impressed with standard of food on offer. We did tend to opt for Waterfront in the evenings, as it seemed a little less hectic, although we found the found was not served very warm on more than one occasion. One down side was watching the gluttony of several of the other cruisers, particularly in Plantations – Surely, you don’t have to pile EVERYTHING on your plate just because it was there!

Bars & Entertainment
We only had one drink in The Oval during our time on the boat, as we found this lacking a bit in atmosphere, but could see how it suited other people who preferred things a little quieter. We took in a couple of shows in The Marquee but they seemed to be over almost as quick as they started, I think each was one hour maximum. We spent most evenings in Connexions bar, but had to make sure of getting there early to ensure a seat for the evening – particularly on comedy nights. The 2 female singers were pleasant enough, although one of them, Portia, looks like she needs to pay a few more visits to the eating facilities to fatten herself up a bit. There was one resident male singer called Darren, and he was quite awful – but my girlfriend said he looked cute so it didn’t matter!

Staff
Very impressed by them. There was the odd miserable one, particularly the northern girl behind the cash desk in the casino at bingo time. In the bars and restaurants they were very attentive, emptied ashtrays quickly, and very quick to ask if you wish a drink refill.

Destinations
We did not book any excursions as we prefer to do our own thing, these are our experiences, but everyone we spoke to on board experienced them differently!

La Goullete, Tunisa – If you have not booked an excursion then stay on board. This place is a hell-hole, it smells and you get hassled by the locals as soon as you reach the exit of the port.

Naples, Italy – Quite a dirty city but plenty to see. We took an open top bus trip which you can get details of in the terminal, followed 3 routes with English commentary, and cost €20 for a day ticket which you can hop on/hop off all day on all 3 routes.

Livorno, Italy – What a contrast to Naples, this place was very clean. There is a free shuttle service from the ship to the town centre. Sufficient shops and cafes to keep most people amused.

Monaco, Monte Carlo – The best destination we visited. Ships tender will take you into town for this one. Plenty to see and do here on foot without booking the OV expensive excursions. Go and see the Casino and Royal Palace.

Minorca – Ships tender again for this one. A nice enough little town, lots of souvenir shops, bars, etc, but we got the impression the boat stops here so to ensure it gets back to Palma in time for the next cruise the day after.

Summary
This was our first time cruising, and for us the “informal” approach of the Ocean Village suited us well. We spent the first week in the Punta Del Mar Hotel in Santa Ponsa, and then were transferred to the ship for the 2nd week on the Frescoes and Frascati cruise leaving 21/6/05. We would however have preferred instead to go cruising the first week, and spend the 2nd week in the hotel to get over the hussle and bustle of the cruise, but the Ocean Village booking system did not allow for this option.

Before I start can I remind people that Ocean Village is a free-style cruising experience aimed at the 25-50 market. From reviews that I have read many people do not read the brochures or extensive publicity material. We have sailed on OV 3 times (as had many of our fellow travellers) and it does exactly what it says on the tin!

Previously, we had done the Caribbean twice (had a fantastic time)and fancied a change. Two weeks in the Med. was wonderful, but if you 'see more, do more, be more' as it says on the side of the ship you will return to work needing a holiday!

We packed in a full day out every day. Rome was by far our favourite, but Florence, Pisa, Pompei, Ibiza,Barcelona, Majorca, Minorca, Sorrento, Cannes & Monaco were all well worth a visit(be careful in Naples very crime-ridden, ship docks here) Many of our fellow travellers didn't bother to disembark in Tunisia- preferring a 'lazy day' on board, but why travel all that way and then miss out on a different culture?

Some of the trips seem expensive, however, although you could do some cheaper, we found that it is often more enjoyable to be with others on an organised tour.
Generally, we found the trips to be good value. They were certainly well organised and very professional. You also know that the ship won't leave without you if you are late!

The ship is lovely, we have been upgraded three times to an outside cabin. Rooms are massive and extremely clean and comfortable. Staff are friendly and helpful.

I personally dislike the day at sea because it is too crouded on top deck. The entertainment crew try their best to help you to have fun, but it is very difficult. Lots of people do like it though. We met many experienced cruise people who loved OV, one couple had done 60 cruises - including a P.O world wide cruise and they loved it.

Food in the Plantation is lovely (oriental self- service) wasn't as keen on the Waterfront,but it is just personal choice, food was good quality, but tended to be more on the 'safe' side.

The Bistro and La Luna are both excellent value and lovely. Service is with a smile. If anything I preferred La Luna rather than James Martin's restaurant , but only because the food was too rich for me, the quality was faultless.

Wine was about £12 for an Aussie red, bar prices were the same as (North-West) pubs. Didn't feel ripped off at all.

The majority of the entertainent is good. Most of the tribute acts were enjoyable. The Abba tribute was magnificent (had to watch it twice) The Blues Brothers were pure class too. The Comedy acts were mainly very good and varied.

I could go on waxing lyrical about how much we love OV. Have bored my work mates to death. We will book again, looking forward to OV 2.

If you like a relaxed informal atmosphere, good food, modern entertainment and can actually manage without flunkies, OV is for you. If not, dig deeper and pay more than double for a P.O or Cunard Cruise (don't forget your £300 minimum compulsary tip though-tipping is entirely optinal on OV- although they all deserve recognition)
Thankyou OV- and thank-goodness for this new modern informal approach to cruising for young (or young at heart people!)

We sailed with Ocean Village in June 2005. This was our first cruise and we were a little apprehensive but there was no need. The ship facilities were fantastic and incredibly clean. The destinations were great. The food was okay in the general restaurant but in the Bistro and La Luna, with a small surcharge, was excellent. The staff were incredibly friendly, as were all the other cruisers. We had a fantastic holiday, we met loads of lovely people and will definitely cruise with Ocean Village again! Hopefully round the caribbean next time!

This ship is NOT cruising. I have been cruising for 41yrs and it is by far the worst ship I've ever been on. Staff? Where are they? Ash trays are never emptied, tables never cleaned, and
whilst by the pool on several occassions we had to travel down 5 decks to get a bottle of beer because stocks at the poolside bar had run out!
Oh and don't bother with cocktails they are a complete rip off.
Queues for food are long and the food is disgusting,(unless you like chicken burgers). Food in the Bistro is of excellent standards, but you need to pay extra.
Evidently children as young as three can now enter the casino, run wild, and even go on the stage during shows gone 11 at night, and even go to sleep on the chairs in the night club. One thing I will say about the on board DJ - he is a complete amateur!
Hope you don't like Jacuzzis, you can't use it because of naff circus acts practising their show all day.
I suppose something positive should be written - this is a beautiful ship with spacious cabins. Please make her back into the great ship she was when she was Arcadia.

We started the trip by flying from Gatwick to Barbados with Thomas Cook airlines. Didn't book the premium seats on the plane and found the leg room not too bad even thought I'm quite tall. Plane food some of the most disgusting I've had in years (pre-booked a low fat meal but couldn't eat it so has a regular meal)and not a good choice of in-flight entertainment for a couple who go quite a lot to the cinema - but all in all, everything ran very smoothly.
Arrived in Barbados at around 2pm and were transfered dirctly to the ship from the plane by bus - no need to go through arrivals which was quite nice. Issue of ship IDs was very quick and after a quick photo with a pirate, went on board!
Booked an inside cabin on E deck which was quite roomy and clean with lots of wardrobe space. A hairdryer was included and there is a launderette where ironing boards and irons are set up, so no need to take a travel iron with you. Also has a safe for valuables.
The ship is generally very clean with the staff very friendly, especially the girls who clean the cabins!
The restaurants serve good food in my opinion and the Waterfront was our particular favourite as opposed to Plantations. One or both are open for breakfast which has a large range of food to suit everyone from smoothies to cereals, pastries to cooked breakfasts.
At lunchtime there was usually a BBQ on deck 12 with salads, burgers, hotdogs, chicken wings, etc. as well as Plantations offering a lunch menu or pizza at La Luna (which has a cover charge of £5 I believe for evening dining, although we didn't eat there at night). There is also the Bistro restaurant for evening meals which has a £12.95 cover charge - again we didn't eat here but others said it was really good!).
There were themed nights in Plantations and The Waterfront for the evening meals and we found these to be very good with lots of choice and lovely desserts!
Entertainment in my opinion was good, although this opinion is not shared my many others on the forum. The Freddie Mercury/Brian May tribute act was really good and made us laugh a lot. Also saw a Robbie Williams tribute guy who was also good, the Crash show also quite good and the Moon show good too. There was also a choice of bars to visit which had various singers/comedians on - can't really comment on these as I'm not a big drinker and spent lots of time watching films at the cinema - not such a good selection, but managed to see quite a few that we'd missed at the cinema back home!
I had a fantastic time on the Ocean Village and although it was my first cruise, I would definately go back!

The most important part of the review - destinations and trips - just got carried away talking about the food!!
All in all the destinations were great - particularly liked Tortola and would recommend the Baths of Virgin Gorda trip - lovely beaches with giant boulders and caves. Took the Sail, sightsee and swim excursion in St Lucia which was also very good as you sailed around the island, visited the drive-through volcano and botannical gardens and then went to a nice beach for a swim. Also took the Highlights of Dominica tour to Trafalgar Falls and the Emerald Pool which was nice - they were due to be filming Pirates of the Carribean 2 with Johnny Depp at the Emerald Pool the day after we visited!
Generally, I would say to do the trips yourself as you can get taxis at the ports and they will take you on tours for half the ships prices. Agree the price beforehand though as we had one or two drivers who tried to bump the price up!!
Beaches to recommend would be Palm Beach in Aruba, Pigeon Point in Tobago and Grand Ance beach in Grenada!
Generally had all day in each place (8am - 5.30pm) apart from Curacao which was probably my least favourite place anyway. On days at sea there seemed to be plenty of sunbeds on the leisure deck for you to sunbathe on too. All in all, an excellent trip!!!

We have travelled on Ocean Village twice now last being the transatlantic crossing to Southampton. The ship was very clean, even my fusy eater husband says the food was great with choices for everyone. Staff were very polite and friendly, one memeber of staff in restaurants remembered us from our previous trip a year ago, something you would not expect with such a large turnaround of holidaymakers. Onboard facilities and entertainment were good liked the choice of dancing, just watching a show,or lazing no pressure to join in. Not too impressed with the art sales but not my type of thing. Overall we are pleased we even sent my parents last September for their 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary, they loved it. We are going to book again this year for Carribean cruise, with my parents. Age range myself 50 husband 52 father 73 mother 69.

We booked the Calypso and Coconuts cruise for the first week in February 2005. We had never been to the Caribbean before and thought this would be a great way to see the islands.

We found out from another passenger while flying over to Barbados that we should have been sent the brochure giving us information about the excursions - so being able to book beforehand. Thank goodness the excursions we decided on were not full!!

We found the best way to see the islands was to find a minibus taxi which worked out to $15-20 per person for a 2-3 hour tour. In Trinidad we made the mistake to pay $80 to a taxi because he said this was a set price for everyone just to go to the beach and back!!

My husband is a keen scuba diver and went on two diving excursions which were first class. We also went on the river tubing in Dominica - be sure you have a tube with a wooden bottom as my husband's was soft and could have easily had a couple of sore cheeks going over rocks.

The ship's staff were all fantastic except for one female by the name of Claire on the Information Desk. We were not sure about the beaches nearby etc and I walked over to the desk. She was reading some papers but kept me waiting for a good few minutes before looking up and saying "Yes Madam" with no smile and a look which was not the friendliest. I asked her if she could recommend any of the beaches or other places of interest for our day ashore. She said, no she couldn't but the taxi driver would be the best person to ask! I had more response from the oriental and asian female staff on the reception desk, they even remembered my name when my husband happened to go over for a question a few days later.

PLEASE LET US DANCE ON OCEAN VILLAGE. After having a delicious meal we were looking forward to sitting ourselves at a table, listening to music and having a dance - but dancing was nowhere to be found!!

The marquee area was really for an audience although they did allow you to dance near the end of the performances.

SUGGESTION: As the Bayside night club does not open till 11.00 pm could this be used as a dancing area for the less younger generation who do not want to wait until then to dance. We both actually did go up to the nightclub a few times to see if there was any dancing going on around midnight but it was DEAD - WHAT A WASTE OF A LOVELY DANCEFLOOR.

Entertainment was first class except for the ABBA show - the girls were too quiet unless the drummer was too loud!!

All in all we had the most fantastic, magical holiday of a lifetime and hope to be able to come on board again in the not too distant future. (By the way we had an NN grade inside cabin and was exceptionally spacious and clean, not noisy E194.)

My partner and I have just returned from the Carribean, we did the Calypso & coconuts route, it was the first time both of us had cruised. On arriving at Barbados Airport, no problems infact excellent on the way everything was handled, from taking our luggage at Gatwick to arriving at the ship. We were straight off the plane onto a waiting coach to take us directly there, no entering the airport terminal at all.
We arrived at the ship and within one hour our luggage was delivered to our cabin, we were very impressed.

Ship overall was very clean, must say in certain places though it was very cold at night. The connexions bar was very cold, the Marquee had a tendancy to be a bit chilly.
There were plenty of sunbeds, so no problem there. They also supply you with a clean beach towel every day, so no need to take your own.
For anyone thats not keen on kids, i must admit we didn't see many (well occupied)!!!

As far as the excursions go i would honestly say not one of them was worth the money and some are quite misleading. They say you will do certain things on these trips and you tend not to. If we had known what we know now, we would have got a taxi just outside the port and paid them to take us wherever, its much much cheaper.
They also tend not to dock near any beaches, Trinidad was the worst port we had seen. It was a working dockyard full of grungy dirty tankers, half sunken ships, very murky water, absolutely disgusting for a cruise liner to be docking there. Not what we expected at all.
Antiqua was the best island absolutely glorious, stunning beaches. We made the mistake of booking 2 trips that day cos thought we may be a bit bored (think again). I do recommend the Wet and Wild trip for that island, that was the best trip overall. Stopping at Nelsons dockyard for 20 or so mins, great souvenier place, also an hour on a private beach to snorkel or sunbathe.
The worst trip was Best of Barbados, stopping at uninteresting places with nothing to do, anything worth taking a picture of they just sailed right past.

Best food in my opinion was the Waterfront for evening meal. Plantation was great for everything else, everything you could think of for breakfast, mid afternoon snack there was chips, burgers, hot dogs, jacket potatoes etc, only problem is if you wanted anything other than tea/coffee or water you had to pay for it. It would have been much better to have at least soft drinks included in the price.
We didn't go in the bistro as we had already paid for food, we refused to pay again.

Entertainment, well i can't really say anymore than what everyone else has said, it was very poor. Saying that we did enjoy The Replicators, the Crash show and the Ocean Village dancers were great, alot of effort put in there, but apart from that not much to keep you up at night.

Be warned if you buy a bottle of duty free alcohol on board and you want to drink it in your cabin, you have to pay an extra £2.50 to be able to do so, and anything bought ashore they will take off you till you go home. We did find that you could take cans of soft drink on, which is well worth doing as all drinks on board are pub prices (not duty free). There is a fridge in every cabin, so make the most of this when going ashore, stock up on your cans of coke etc.

Above all we did have a good time and is worth doing, we did find one week wasn't long enough. Yes I would do this again but knowing everything i know i would do things slightly different and go my own way when reaching the islands.

I did the Sugar&spice / Calypso&Coconut on the OV in January 05 with my partner.

This was our second cruise and we went with an inside cabin but in retrospect I should have going outisde as it is strange waking up in pitch black regardless of whether it is midnight or morning - that didn't help the jetlag! But I cannot fault the cabin - spacious with a comfy bed, plenty of wardrobe/ draw space and all you need. Most cabins have 1 UK and 1 US plug so a 3-way or 1 us adapter may well come in handy!

I would watch out for deck 4 - its where the gangplank is and the entire boat may walk past your cabin at 8 in the morning!

But I have jumped the flight; a long flight but we went with premier seats (£100 extra each). Its basically first class - more leg room, and more comfy seats, a tv screen in the seat in front (choice of 6 movies and some cartoons/ tv series), plus you get free drinks with your meal and free headphones. The best bit is not having to go through the airport on arrival - just hop straight onto the waiting minibuses!

My next concern was food - I am vegetarian. I wasn't dissapointed. There are 2 free restraunts for dinner, 3 for lunch (la luna does pizzas free at lunch). Both are buffets but its all very smart when it comes to table cloths and nicely arranged cloth napkins and all that (which I missed on the Thomson Spirit buffets) - but you can wear more or less anything, short of swimming costume! They do different food so you may have to go for a walk around to look at the menus which are posted outside the restraunts! Each place normally does 1 dish suitable for vegetarians, plus also side dishes which you could make into a main course so in all theres lots of choice. The veggie food is based on locally available veg so lots of courgette, peppers, sweet potato, squash etc etc, plus rice and potato and pasta dishes as you would expect. They do chinese nights, indian nights, the odd local dish - its great!

Only criticism is that drinks can take a while to come - so if its Indian night you might want to grab a glass of water! (there are water machines in the restraunts)

Entertainment - our cabin was deck 8 close to the marquee so we got to preview a lot as we were walking past (not that we could hear any of it in our cabin, which was great!) (D108 in case you were wondering!). Some if sounded quite nasty (Robbie Williams Inpersonator - My boyfriend thought it was karaoke but no, it was him!), some was good (Police impersonator), and some was REALLY good; the moon show and mostly ELLIOTT FRISBY - A perfect voice!!!!! Theres a good cinema too, and movies in your cabin. Oh, and the webcam on the front of the boat is shown on TV too, for people in inside cabins!

There are also a good selection of bars with fairly good drink prices (including a swim up bar - yey!) and 2 very nice swimming pools (clean and big enough for swimming, not like the ones on the Spirit which I didn't like the look of!) and jacuzzis.

PLACES - All the islands were good but some were better than others - Isla Margarita was dissapointingly barren, and dont expect white sand beaches and palm trees everywhere! Dominica, Antigua and St Lucia were my favourites. The Ocean Village excursions were all good except Dominica River Rafting which - under the wrong weather conditions which we had - turns from a gentle float to horrifying white water and rocks everywhere!!! While not expensive they are also not cheap, and our best times were had by getting into taxis - normal cars for 2 or 4 people, or minibuses but remember you'll have to sit there until the minibus if full!

The taxi drivers were great, they take you to the big sites but also little view points, and they stop to show you trees, plants, animals, whatever and tell you all about these things. The driver (or in minibuses the guide) will show you around. Prices vary hugely - some places have set prices, if not just don't get the taxis closest to the port - they are usually more. I paid between $25 and $50 for half a day tour per person, but one person wanted $100 for 2 hours, so just say no and keep trying if its more than you want to pay! I never had a bad taxi tour, and looked forward to them more that the Ocean Village trips! And don't worry about taxi availability - there are hundreds at EVERY port. Also I'm sure crime can be an issue but at the poorer islands the local police turned up in force around the boat area, so stick with your taxi driver/ group and you won't have a problem.

Theres a 1 legged bloke in Dominica who is a guide in a minibus. I HEARTILY recommend him - you wont go wrong if you jump in the minibus with him!

And if anyone - like us - is insane enough to want to go cycling, before the cruise you are only told about 1/2 and full day tours. On the boat you will be offered 2 and 3 hour much shorter "city tours", as well as more detailed information about which are the easiest. Don't worry about it filling up - there aren't many mad people onboard!

Shopping - there are probably 2 main things - jewelery (sp?) etc and tourist nick-nacks.

Jewelery there are "Diamonds International" shops not far from the boat on a few islands. I dont know how good the prices are. The boat do a "spot the fake ring" competition that is really hard so I'm guessing you could be easily ripped off elsewhere!

Tourist stuff is for sale a few metres from the boat on EVERY island EXCEPT grenada which only sells a few necklaces and *loads* of spices. Little colourful street stalls set up and turn into organised chaos! Prices vary hugely - especially for T-Shirts. If you want to buy Tshirts for people at home don't wait for Barbados. About 3 Islands (no more) do Tshirts 3 for $10 (you can't miss the signs). BUY WHEN YOU SEE IT! The next Island may sell the identical Tshirt (just the island name changes) for $10 or $20 each! I held off on buying mine then no where did them cheap!

My last comment is save enough money for Grenada. They were the only island hit by Hurricane Ivan and they are still a long way from recovery. All they have to sell is spices and they will try to sell you these everywhere - sometimes its hard to say no (the taxi driver will take you to little huts where they give you interesting talks on the spices, but it makes it hard not to buy any at the end. Its all top quality, though, and well priced).

For anyone who has made it to the end of this review; well done! I hope it was helpful!