Overall Score

BERLITZ'S RATING
	Possible	Achieved
Ship	500	430
Accommodation	200	150
Food	400	258
Service	400	297
Entertainment	100	81
Cruise	400	295

How this score is created

Cuisine/Dining. The Meridian Restaurant, located aft, is two decks high (the two decks are connected by a spiral staircase); it has 11 superb glass/fibre optic ceiling chandeliers (created by Neil Wilkin), and a podium with grand piano graces the upper level. There are two seatings in both restaurants, and tables are for two, four, six, or eight.

Alternative (extra charge) restaurants. Arcadian Rhodes (£15 per person), and the Orchid Restaurant (£10 per person) provide smaller, more intimate dining settings as an escape from the main dining rooms. Arcadian Rhodes is Gary Rhodes’s first seagoing restaurant, and he created the menu and the chefs/cooks were trained in his London restaurant. The decor is rather uninspiring, however, and banquette seating doesn’t suit fine dining. The Orchid Restaurant (on Deck 11) has fine panoramic views, and is an alternative, eatery with Asian-fusion (heavy on the spices) cuisine, and its own bar for pre-meal drinks. Reservations are required in both venues.

For casual meals and snacks, there’s a self-serve 24-hour food-court-style eatery (Belvedere), a section of which becomes another dining venue at night, featuring Indian cuisine. There’s also an open deck Neptune Grill (for burgers and other fast food items), and Caffe Vivo (for coffees and pastries, at extra cost).

Berlitz Guide © Apa Publishing 2008