Hampshire Steve

Currently 2 days out of Southampton on the Sky en-route to Boston, Seas are bumpy but not too bad, Captain advises good weather from tomorrow

One previous cruise with Princess

Hi Yes there is a shuttle bus, not sure how late into the evening it runs though, I think 10.00pm or 11.00pm, plenty of taxis though if you get stuck

Having just booked our second Princess cruise I noted that my Wife had shot straight to Platinum level on their Captains Circle and I had not 🙁 Now this may well be old news to many of you but I had read it that P&O cruises booked after the end of 2017 no longer count towards the Princess loyalty scheme and it was therefore closed to old P&O history, what I had failed to realise was that Princess are still happy to add pre 2017 history to their scheme, spoke with them on Friday and today I also popped up to Platinum. So anyone who like me didn't realise, its worth a couple of minutes on live chat with them!

We were on Arcadia just a couple of weeks ago, the deals available are often improved over booking whilst at home with the typical deposit is £50pp for the shorter cruises, we booked Ventura 35 night for 2025, no lower deposit because of the duration but got an extra £600 obc compared with the offer on the website. Also booked Arcadia again for the Med this November, Deposit 50pp plus an extra £550 obc compared with the website.

That's good to know, I do still need to keep up with work so good for the Transatlantic times. Have now booked the Sky Princess for this one.

We booked this cruise on Arcadia 11/4/22 ED cabin, aft facing £8926 with £400 OBC. Noticed and changed on 10/4/23 to exact same cabin for £7858 with £580 OBC When we thought there was a possibility of Arcadia going we also invested £100 in this princess option during September 2022 it was £10918 for a superior Deluxe balcony, dramatic drop now then! (We cancelled this when the announcement of investment in the two old girls from P&O) Have spent all day today pondering changing once more to a guarantee cabin on Sky for around £4300 with no frills, then porting our P&O deposit forward to some other cruise with them. We like Arcadia and have not been on any of the Royal class ships yet, have sailed with Princess to Canada & USA before, was ok but wasn't star struck by the operation. Enjoyed the ports though, hence keen to go back. Just not sure about Sky, looking pretty full and not knowing what to expect.

We did say we were in a suite when we called room service but got the impression the person on the other end of the phone just thought we were showing off, system works on Princess so I guess there is a connection to cabin number with them?

We ordered once via room service on our cruise a few weeks ago and were charged, when we discussed with our butler the following day he looked into it and came back and said thats what happens if you order direct, no refund offered. Have since decided that suite benefits are just not worth the extra. Breakfast at Sindhu on Arcadia just wasn't that special on several occasions and gave it a miss on the second half of this cruise. Canapes no longer daily (although generally awful anyway) reached a new low on our first dress night where they were served as guacamole with a salad cream drizzle or tomato ketchup - Yes genuinely just ketchup, couldn't believe it!. First fruit bowl that arrived on day two, we sent back there and then as it was the level of maturity that we would have thrown out at home, needless to say it didn't get better. Apologies to whoever traveled in our suite on the next cruise because I dropped a Chicken Tikka on the carpet, called housekeeping for assistance in cleaning, they never came, called the butler who came with a cloth and rubbed it in and said it would get cleaned the following day, it never did so the stain was still there on departure day. Even with the negatives we enjoyed the cruise and have booked five more since, including some back on Arcadia but no more suites.

Sorry, just trying to find a work around, I can view them perfectly on my machine but the upload changes the resolution

I was asked on another thread to get copies of the current onboard drinks menus, thought they might be useful out on their own. (From Arcadia but will be similar fleet wide) Deck Bars.... Piano Bar..... Globe.... Crows Nest... Restaurants..... Rising Sun..... Room Service....

Should also mention Guest Speaker, Priscilla Morris, very funny if you get a chance some other time.

Things are looking up....a little Tomorrow on Arcadia Ben Shephard, star of Tipping Point, Ninja Warrior etc is guest speaker introducing the new P&O Quiz show called Wavelength. More info to follow. Vocalist onboard tomorrow is Tom Ball runner up from Britain's Got Talent

Yesterday when we got back from a tour the announcement was - advised to, this morning in our brief outing to breakfast every passenger we saw had a mask on, one crew member did not, hopefully P&O will fall in line with government advice. In my first post on the other Arcadia thread I mentioned our arrival at the Southampton terminal being herded into a hall full of people, many of us left a seat space between the next family group and were all told to move up to use the spaces, so no social distancing, so I don't understand this move.

First couple of days on this cruise staff were evident enforcing washing, even to walk through the buffet without stopping you needed to wash, now I see even staff just cruising through, of course that might have changed today again, not been up there yet.

Yes not convinced on the point myself when governments say get on with it. For example we are in Alicante in 2 days, the Spanish government has no requirement for mask wearing on public transport now but P&O will have on the coaches, so who is correct? Are we to get on with it or not?

Really subjective to personal tastes and opinions, we have spoken with plenty who like the ship and others who would prefer a newer ship with more to do.

On board now, no issues with cleanliness, just the usual little bits of wear and tear that you would expect, we are happy to come again. Yesterday a number? of Covid cases are reported so we are back to wearing masks. No big surprise as there is no social distancing, very little evidence of people using the hand gel dispensers and likewise don't see many people using the wash stations at the buffet. We have to learn to live with this.

We regard the cruise as a means to get to the destinations rather than it becoming the holiday destination, perhaps that's why we are content with the older ships, much rather spend a couple of hours over dinner and then people watch in the bar with some easy music. Rushing to a show and being crammed in is not us, perhaps if they had a venue or two like Ronnie Scotts?

Good Morning from Malta We arrived early this morning (about 1.30am) in order to beat some rough weather, impressed the Captain did that rather than miss this nice and first for us, port. There are no officers parties at present. Lecturers - We have had some presentations by David Russell on the second war relevant to the seas around us and Malta, these have been in the main theatre. No doubt there will be more in the coming days, this may well be a change over port. No evening turndown unless you are in a suite. No chocolates, Still the french biscuits Musicians playing in all venues on and off during the evening as before including a singer in the Ocean Grill and an opera singer in the Globe I think afternoon tea is only in the Belvedere buffet. Menus in the specialty restaurants are unchanged. MDR menus look to have a fair selection and Steaks and Chicken are nearly always an option.

Ages onboard are in the main over 60's as you might expect from an adult only ship, we are mid 50's and usually feel a generation behind the majority, not sure this matters though. Not a party ship but you wouldn't be lonely at 12.30 unless the seas are rough. Glass House is a foodie bar that many like on the other ships and they have trying to fit one in Arcadia, so the mini version is part way however it's all about managing your expectations and this is a step forward. Ocean Grill and Sindhu both open and fully functioning, they are reasonably busy and you will have to make reservations on the App when onboard. Cover charges apply, OG is £15 per head plus extras for some dishes. Wine and Cocktail selections are not available the same in every venue, one bar agreed to a cocktail for me not on the list where another bar refused. Had a few drinks in the Piano bar last night, that was quite pleasant listening to some popular piano music. Whilst we were there heard one couple discussing how awful the show was and another couple saying how good it was, like most things in life you will have to make your own mind up! Most on the menu cocktails would fall in the package but it's not for us, we may have a couple of cocktails each per day plus a bottle of wine with dinner but have never considered a package as a saver. Sorry can't tell you much about MDRs as we tend to prefer a slower pace for dinner and choose to spend our OBC in the specialty places. It's not for everyone but despite our day one reservations we are continuing with our future cruises booked on Arcadia, might change in the next couple of weeks though 🙂 Plumbing - Still no signs of problems where we have been but no doubt minor things around due to age, did notice a cabin being wet-vac'd but don't think that was plumbing related.

Currently on Arcadia at first port of call - La Coruna Opinion so far.... I think this is our sixth time on Arcadia so we have a slight soft spot for the ship and our opinion may be a little in the past! However - Embarkation was the worst example of an outing to a brewery we have experienced. Suite guest so our arrival time was to be midday, advised to turn up 45 minutes late, which we did. No longer are there porters to take your cases, i think this was lost at restart from Covid. We then queued for some time at the baggage pods, which were closed. There were a number of P&O staff wondering through the queue advising "Its because of the world cruise and all the bags to come off" however there were no people hanging around to collect bags. Having dropped the bags we entered a queue with many many other priority boarding clients, mostly outside in damp conditions. Check in was a doddle, show you printed boarding pass and passport, get rubber stamped and then instead of joining the ship you are asked to take a seat, by the time they started the boarding around 2.00pm the hall was full, so if you are still concerned about Covid - P&O aren't! We got to our cabin about 2.30, it was made up ready and in perfect order, on the way we saw some still being made up. Got onto the MyP&O app quite quickly and booked the Ocean grill for that evening. Have struggled since with the App though. Had a couple of drinks in the crows nest, all seems okay here in terms of staff and stock, a little colder than elsewhere on the ship but we are hoping that it will warm up as we move south. Out suitcases didn't get to the cabin until 7.40pm, by which time we had cancelled our booking in the Grill and settled for room service. Day two we tried for lunch in the Intermezzo which has become a mini Glass House during the day, very short selection of hot mini dishes which come out of the Ocean Grill kitchen however we didn't stop as they serve just two white wines and were out of stock of one of those (which we wanted), they also have just two reds and one beer, no flights of wine etc on the menu here. Not tried night time yet as the cocktail bar it normally is. Ocean grill last night and have to say it's the best steak I have had onboard and Mrs S was equally impressed with the Lamb, have made many more bookings! Not yet experienced any issues with plumbing, have seen a bucket on one deck but it wasn't catching drips at the time so not sure about that, no odd smells either. Lots of rust outside and plenty of new painting going on at Southampton, no different to most ships I guess. so far staff all friendly, helpful although some newbies a little unsure at present. Advised 150 new crew at Southampton. If anyone wants anything in particular looking at feel free to ask - You never know ! Will report more in a day or three

I am rather hoping that the world cruise has had time to settle back into routine, we tend to frequent Ocean Grill & Sindhu so fingers crossed! Fully expecting tomorrow to be a problem as I am sure it will be a massive restock time and not everything will be ready first night, we have a 12.00 boarding and have already been told to be 45 minutes late due to volume of baggage coming off, loyalty reception cancelled for the same reason, not too fussed about that anyway.

Having said that our cruise this week will be on Arcadia A deck, we fully expect noise from above, so perhaps it's about state of mind and knowing there will be noise will make it more acceptable, especially if the overall deal suits.

We have had aft suites on Ventura and Azura and have listened to R Deck suite occupants at breakfast discussing noise from above and the somewhat sheltered balcony, can't fault the rear suites but if you choose E deck be wary of the nightclub noise from below on the port side, we have had starboard as a last minute only choice and that was fine. A friend had a port side suite on E and got quite a large refund after moaning at reception.