The railway station in Mestre (on the mainland) is close to the Marghera Fincantieri shipyard and from the train, I had a glimpse of the ARCADIA ex-QUEEN VICTORIA. I could clearly see that this vessel is equipped with a radar mast very similar to that of QE2 and a yellow single funnel moulded like QE2's funnel, minus the wind deflectors. Several vertical openings have been cut into the upper part of the funnel.
I wonder : will ARCADIA sail with these "Cunard" fittings ?? Of course, most people will never notice such similarities but for shiplovers, the new vessel is likely to offer a strange sight : a poor mixture actually of a Vista-class vessel with a Cunarder look, painted in P&O traditional colours...

For those lucky enough to stay even a few days in Venice, the campanile of San Giorgio Maggiore's church offers - for a very affordable price of 3 Euros - superb opportunities to watch cruiseships and Minoan Line ferries entering or leaving the Giudecca Canal.
On the contrary, the Cruise terminal is not easily accessible for pedestrians but several lines of the well-known "vaporetti" and "motoscafi" pass not far from it and from the ships berthed on the Giudecca Canal's side. Curiously, the numerous companies involved in sightseeing roundtrips in the Laguna area don't propose ships'sightseeings, as it is the case in most European harbours. But it is true that there is so much to see in Venice !

Heres a scan (sorry for the large size):

[ 07-23-2004: Message edited by: Keitaro ]

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Originally posted by Champlain:
I had a glimpse of the ARCADIA ex-QUEEN VICTORIA.

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The "ex-Queen Victoria" in your post is inappropriate. The ship was never named Queen Victoria, so she should not be referred to in that manner. She will be christened Arcadia and that will be her first name, just as "Spirit of London" (later Sun Princess) was the first name of the ship that P&O took off NCCL's (as NCL was called then) hands while she was under construction..

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Originally posted by Brion_O:
The "ex-Queen Victoria" in your post is inappropriate.

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quote:

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Originally posted by RobHolland:

It never was her official name but we all know what Champlain intends to say.

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Of course, we all know what Champlain meant, but the way it was phrased was inappropriate.

She still hasn't been named, so if P&O change their mind about her name and name her something else, ex-Arcadia will also be inappropriate.

I wonder if she truly had/has a Cunard funnel and mast, she could also had the letters of the name Queen Victoria welded onto her hull. I guess we won’t find out (especially not via official Cunard or P&O channels)

Looks like it will be a Cunard funnel

If anyone wants to see some interior renderings, let me know and i will scan it

[ 07-25-2004: Message edited by: Keitaro ]

Onno

Learned from a well-informed Carnival employee :
it seems that ARCADIA will sail equipped with the radar mast and funnel built originally for "QV1" and so will keep her incongruous "Cunard look".
So, Onno, you were right !

There is a big difference in utilising an existing funnel shape for it’s good function then simply reusing a shape to make it a brand logo, that’s why it is so cheap for Arcadia to keep the original Cunard logo funnel. Cruise companies spend huge budgets on PR and advertising to create a distinctive look. It only clears the fact that most cruise companies belong to the Carnival family.

It doesn’t bother me that Arcadia was shifted to the P&O fleet but what does bother me is that consistency is kept and broken when it suits Carnival. First this ship passes for a specially Cunard designed ship that is so typically and distinctly Cunard and when it doesn’t suit Carnival to have this ship in the Cunard fleet at this time then suddenly it simply can pass for a P&O ship with out any/much alterations. It doesn’t sound and look credible. Why bother simulating some sort of difference between one fleet and the other if it doesn’t really make much difference?

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Originally posted by TCSsa:
Hello!!
Keitaro,can you please scan the deck plans of the ARCADIA and the ARTEMIS from the brochure? I ordered a brochure from P/O and they never sent me one,funny they used to before the Carnival takeover.

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