Would welcome hints on Arcadia

We are currently looking to book Arcadia next summer for a Baltic cruise. We have previously cruised with F.O on Balmoral but fancy a change. Arcadia looks a suitable alternative, would be grateful if any one has any suggestions that would help us make up our minds.

We are in our very early 60's

I'm in my late 50's and Arcadia is my favourite ship. What info do you need?

Was all ready for booking and decided to read reviews on this website. The majority of the recent ones are not very complimentary with complaints of shabby interiors,noisy cabins and disappointing food. Would value your input if you have recently sailed with P &O

We are currently looking to book Arcadia next summer for a Baltic cruise. We have previously cruised with F.O on Balmoral but fancy a change. Arcadia looks a suitable alternative, would be grateful if any one has any suggestions that would help us make up our minds.

We are in our very early 60's

Thing is most people who make the effort to write a review, just want to get something off their chest. The 1000's of us who have been on her, and loved her, don't bother doing a review.

We were on her twice last year ..23 days in April/may , and 28 days in November.

We loved her both times.

She has recently had a refit, so no idea where the shabby interiors are. We did not see any.

Noisy cabins you can and do get on any ship, depending on its position.

We have never had a problem, but we are always careful about the cabins we book.

Food....I think p and P's food has really improved over the past year.

Thing is all these people who always eat 5* food at home obviously expect the same with mass catering, which of course it never is. It has improved a lot though.

We are on her again this year for 14 days.

Age demographic may on the older side, but that is because you do not have young families bringing it down.

Book the cruise, go with an open mind and make up your own mind as to whether you enjoyed it or not.

We've been on Arcadia a few times. Here are a couple of links to my reviews of the two most recent:

A) last Christmas - 7 nights around the channel and near-Baltic;

B) October 2012 - 13 nights to the Canary Islands.

Any issues we had were with the itineraries rather than the ship.

We were on her 3 times last year. All fabulous cruises. We feel the food was even better last year than previous years. The crew are so helpful, nothing is too much trouble. Our cabin was clean, tidy, well kept, no problems with it. We are back on Arcadia in a few weeks for 17 nights.... counting the days now!

Arcadia is an easy ship to navigate around, we love the glass lifts and enjoy all the different places to eat and drink.

Was all ready for booking and decided to read reviews on this website. The majority of the recent ones are not very complimentary with complaints of shabby interiors,noisy cabins and disappointing food. Would value your input if you have recently sailed with P &O

Did 23 days on Arcadia in February and no complaints at all. Ship was very clean and the food was excellent 😄

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We were on Arcadia in November 2012 and loved the ship. Can anybody tell me if the re-fit included the addition of a Beach House/Trattoria to the buffet area for the evenings - as on Azura, Ventura & Britannia?

Thanks

Gill

We were on Arcadia in November 2012 and loved the ship. Can anybody tell me if the re-fit included the addition of a Beach House/Trattoria to the buffet area for the evenings - as on Azura, Ventura & Britannia?

 

Thanks

 

Gill

Short answer is no-I didn't see anything with those names when we were on her post refit. As I haven't been on the 3 ships you mention I don't have an area I could say was similar.

We were on Arcadia in November 2012 and loved the ship. Can anybody tell me if the re-fit included the addition of a Beach House/Trattoria to the buffet area for the evenings - as on Azura, Ventura & Britannia?

 

Thanks

 

Gill

We were on her over Christmas just gone, and I don't remember anything like that. The main focus of the refit had been the Crows Nest, now a lovely room; a glass screen separating The Globe from the public walkway; the conversion of the Orchid Restaurant to Sindhu; changes to the shops; a new deckhouse behind the Crows Nest containing a dozen or so new cabins, including some singles; and various minor points all over the ship e.g. new carpets in public areas. Nothing in the Belvedere buffet, however.

Thanks for your replies English Lady & Tom uk, though I was hoping for a positive answer lol.

Gill

Arcadia was going to be called Queen Victoria before assuming the Arcadia name. Those of you familiar with cruise ship design will notice that she is a Holland America Vista Class design who originally were going to have the ship before Cunard took her over then passed her on to P&O. I have always thought the Vista Class design is a bit like Victoria and Queen Elizabeth in a loose sort of way and cunarders should in theory like her more than the other P&O ships if they tried a P&O cruise. Because of this you should notice the Cunard style mast and funnel which is a bit different to the P&O type. Eventually P&O ended up using the vessel and I recall watching her sailing from Southampton while I was on Oceana and I am pretty certain that was her "maiden".

Regards John

For some reason Arcadia is the only ship I haven't been on apart from Britannia. Just booked a cruise on her for next summer for my daughter and me. I'm not worried about her being the only 20 year old as a friend of hers is also going with her family. These comments are very reassuring!

Just done 29 nights on the arcadia, loved the ship. The food was good however the enterainment was poor. 6 quizes a day was to much for me.

Hello everyone,

We are new to P&O and will be sailing on Arcadia soon. Where, other than the buffet, can we get something to eat on boarding? What other hints/tips can you give us for P&O and Arcadia 'newbies'? Any help would be appreciated -for example, we can bring wine onboard, correct? (there are no 'drinks packages'??). Muster drill? Sailaway? Unknown hints for ship? Etc.Etc.

Thanks very much in advance. We are soooooo excited.

Hello everyone,

We are new to P&O and will be sailing on Arcadia soon. Where, other than the buffet, can we get something to eat on boarding? What other hints/tips can you give us for P&O and Arcadia 'newbies'? Any help would be appreciated -for example, we can bring wine onboard, correct? (there are no 'drinks packages'??). Muster drill? Sailaway? Unknown hints for ship? Etc.Etc.

Thanks very much in advance. We are soooooo excited.

Hi

On boarding unless you are in a suite, the only place to get a meal will be the buffet.

You can bring any drink onboard with you (within reason). Cabins will not be available until 2ish though, so you will either have to wheel /carry your hand luggage around until then. Ofcourse if you board after 2pm you would probably be able to go straight to your cabin.

You can purchase a wine package once onboard. We have done it once, however if you are fussy about your wine probably better to purchase by the bottle as you go..and if you do not finish the bottle they will keep it for you until the next night.

Muster drill -you must attend. You will probably meet in one of the lounges.

Sailaway..people seem to have fun at them, but I try and avoid.

Was all ready for booking and decided to read reviews on this website. The majority of the recent ones are not very complimentary with complaints of shabby interiors,noisy cabins and disappointing food. Would value your input if you have recently sailed with P &O

It is generally those people who had a gripe who write the uncomplimentary reviews as they need to get things off their chest! I think sometimes (but not always) when one thing has gone wrong they then cannot see the good things about their cruise and it clouds their whole judgement. Occasionally you do find a cabin that has been "well used" but that can be said for hotel rooms too. And in reality, the same as our homes, cabins are not refurbished every 3 months! If they were none of us would be able to afford to cruise! And Arcadia is some 10 years old now.

We are going on Arcadia in July (same cruise as The English lady) and we are really looking forward to it. I am ignoring all the reviews and am going with my glass half full (well, almost completely full!) and am sure we will have a wonderful time. So if you like the look of the itinerary and the timing and price are right, just go ahead and book it. But choose your cabin location wisely - do ask here if you need any tips.

Hi, we have cruised with FO and find P&O much better. Arcadia is lovely following her refit and she is a favourite of ours because she seems to have everything. We prefer her adult only environment and find the food to be of sufficient standard to gain 7lbs each whilst onboard [emoji51]