Growler5010

That was my picture of the D-deck aft cabin on Arcadia. As the image suggests, the balcony is massive and the sunlit area is quite small. What the picture doesn't show is how gloomy it makes the cabin - unlike a typical balcony cabin where the balcony is bathe in daylight and therefore passes light into the cabin, on those D deck aft cabins you get this effect of a long dark passage with some brightness at the end of it. I seem to recall that we had the cabin light on quite a lot of the time.

 

I did a post here in my blog (http://tomscruiseblog.co.uk) about balcony cabins on Arcadia.

Thank you Tom, your blog & photos are really helpful. May have to rethink as I hate staying in a dingy cabin.

Thank you everyone for your replies & the link to the photo. Will now think about which deck to choose!

Angie

I apologise if this question has been asked before. Due to the slope on the aft of Arcadia, can anyone tell me if the aft cabin balconies have more sun than shade or do they differ dependant on the deck? I ask because I can't sit in full sun due to a health problem & we are thinking of booking an aft cabin on a world sector in 2018. Thanks.

Thanks Jasperado. On Azura they did the classes out on deck at 8am - it was a lovely relaxing way to start the day. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that they have them.

We are going on Azura in April & it is 3 years since we were last on her. I enjoyed joining the Tai Ch'i classes & wondered if they still do them?

I have booked the the very same with Alla, but considering asking for a change to Grand tour, do you think the comfort tour is adequate? The dilemma is missing out on some things with comfort tour or packing in too much on grand tour.

We did the Grand Tour with Alla 3 years ago. If you are able bodied & can walk around the museums, parks etc without any help then the Grand Tour is the best. We had a group of 16 in a 16 seater mini bus & we were on the go all day each day but it was well worth it. If you are worried about being too tired make sure you don't arrange an evening trip on the overnight stay - you will have chance to recharge your batteries with an early night! We went to the ballet that evening so it was a rush to get changed, eat dinner & be back out again in 90 minutes but we managed it (aged 54 & 63)!

Having been ill for 5 days on one cruise and my husband ill for 4 days on another, totally different things and nothing to do with the ship, we would not even do a drinks package as we would have wasted it. We sometimes have only 2 drinks one day and maybe a lot more on another. I think I like "drink as you go".

I agree with Jean - we have both been ill for 3 days in a storm on a transatlantic cruise - the AI would have been well & truly wasted if paid for. My husband doesn't drink alcohol & only has a soft drink with his dinner although he has 2 speciality coffees a day, the rest of the time he drinks tea & coffee from the buffet or made in our cabin. I have, at most, 3 alcoholic drinks a day (not cocktails) and the rest of the day I drink herbal teas or water. We don't drink fresh fruit juice, we prefer to eat fresh fruit, so it would definitely not be worth it to us to go down the AI route. Also, should the premium brands not be covered, it would be a great waste of time for me because my only spirit tipple is a good cognac.

I hope they wouldn't increase the price of 'individual' drinks as Insanemagnet mentions. My husband doesn't drink alcohol so I only have a glass of wine with dinner, a pre-dinner drink & an after dinner drink. It's not worth it to me to go AI but I would be truly fed up if my drinks bill increased just to sell more AI to other passengers.

And she's away.....

Just heard over the Port Miami webcam that Oriana is hoping to leave Miami at 8am (Miami time) so hopefully they will be on their way again in 90 minutes.

Our friends are on this cruise & we should have been with them but we had to cancel due to family illness. Hope they don't miss too much of their itinerary - should have been in Key West today.

I don't know if it's the norm but on one of our cruises it opened on the first evening as we sailing down the Solent!

Hi Leany,

Just google Crows Nest Cruise & the website will come up. We have a group for X508 so please join - the more the merrier.

Angie

As for transporting it - hubby uses a lightweight suit carrier that I purchased at TKMaxx for £19.99 - was originally £69.99! Easy peasy....

The ones we have had (on most of the fleets ships) have been cold enough to nicely chill sparkling wine.

Not all the cruises have a choir - sometimes it depends on the duration of the cruise & how many sea days there are. Out of 6 P & O cruises so far we have only had 2 choirs onboard. I think it also depends on whether they have an Ents Officer who is talented enough to run the choir as two of our cruises were 17 night Med ones (Adonia & Azura) and they had no one who could run the choir. Bit disappointing as I love the ship's choirs - after the first choir it gave me the courage to join our community choir at home & the second choir (35 night transatlantic) had 90 members & we put an hour long show on in the theatre (Oriana) - 14 songs to a packed house, it was brilliant.

Hope your cruise has a choir & don't worry about your voice - once blended with everyone else you will all sound amazing!

The Indoor Market is worth seeing too. Beautiful stained glass window depicting fishermen & wonderful food stalls. It's a 10 minute walk from the port entrance.

Just a thought - it may be cheaper for them to contact you from a landline instead of you ringing them. Could their aunt not ring your mobile at a given time from your landline (especially if she's staying at your house to care for your children). We used to do this when in Australia - my parents would check our house & ring us at the same time - worked out a lot cheaper & we still paid the phone bill.

The buffets are usually on the Sundeck & if you time it right you can miss the scrum. However, some of the Themed Buffets in the evening are very popular - particularly the Indian buffet - so if you are happy eating early I would get in there just after the doors open!

'Beat the clock' - guess how many minutes/hours until the sunbathers turn over to baste the other side.

'The Lift Challenge' - guess how many fit & mobile people will be in the lift when the doors open.

'Spot the Anal Retention' - guess which one at the quiz will know more than the Quiz Master & challenge the answer as being incorrect (and then check the Internet afterwards).

'Dodge the Medical Bore' - guess which passenger not to sit next to so you don't have to listen to their ailments & surgical stories over dinner.

I would have wanted to know where the 'top' up wine came from. Was it the dregs of another bottle left over from those ordering by the glass? Not the service I would have expected.

I & my hubby are retired Police Officers with 55 years service between us - we wouldn't expect to get any favourable discount or entitlements from P & O because of this but I fully agree with our Forces Personnel getting them. We are proud of their service to the country & I don't see why they shouldn't be shown the nations gratitude in this small way.

Thanks for the information so far.

 

Positives and negatives are appreciated as everyone has different opinions.

 

We are considering P&O and the Arcadia because we are tied to Summer Holidays (Wife a Teacher), Thomson don't do the itinerary we wanted and we want "adults only" for a change.

 

Regarding "dress code" is it "formal" for the restaurant or "smart casual"?

 

Keep the advice coming.:)

They have different dress codes - some nights it will be Formal ie. suit/dinner suit for men, long or cocktail dresses for ladies. The Formal nights average 1 per week & are adhered to in the MDR, some bars & some theatres. Another dress code is Smart Jacket required - average 2 per week & again, adhered to in the same places. The third dress code is Casual & this is for the remaining nights of the cruise - no jeans or beachwear allowed. So a 2 week cruise would probably be 2 Formal nights, 4 Smart Jacket nights & 8 Casual nights. Of course, if you don't want to dress up you can eat in the buffet.

Having done several P & O cruises & 1 Thomson cruise I agree with most of the comments. We love P & O for the newer ships, more elegant surroundings, more choice of restaurants, larger cabins. Thomsons we loved for the fantastic entertainment & the more relaxed ambiance. The food on both, for us, was roughly the same quality. We equate Thomsons to being 'a comfy old slipper that you enjoy wearing at the end of the day' whereas P & O are the 'favourite pair of shoes you like to go out in'. For me, what would sway my decision is the itinerary, cost & ability to have a balcony & be Adult Only although our Thomson cruise was to the Baltic &, due to the itinerary, there were no children on board.

Cadiz - we did the P & O excursion to Seville - well worth doing & as it's a good 90 minute coach journey an excursion is the best way to see it.

Catania - we did the P & O excursion on the train to the bottom slopes of Etna including a lovely lunch. Etna had erupted a few days before & was still smoking - wonderful scenery.

Corfu - on our first cruise there we did a P & O excursion to Paleokastrisa which is beautiful. Second time there we just got the shuttle into the town & had a wander - Corfu old town is lovely.

Korcula - only a small island so easy just to wander on your own. Again a beautiful town.

Dubrovnik - first time we did a P & O excursion to Cavtat - lovely place. Second time just got shuttle into town & wandered - lovely old town with great walls to walk around. Good market too.

Venice - we visit here on a regular basis on land holidays as well as cruises so have never needed to do a P & O excursion. Venice is a lovely place to wander around on your own & you can get a day ticket to get a vaporetto & spend as much time on the canals as you want.

Gibralter - first time we did a P & O excursion to the WW2 tunnels - interesting if you are a war/military buff. Visits after that we have just walked into town & done a bit of shopping - good duty free to be had here. Haven't bothered doing the rock & the apes.

Never tried booking excursions with other agents in the Med although we do on the Baltic cruises (St Petersburg) and on the USA/Caribbean cruises as they are better value than the ship's excursions.

Have a wonderful time.

As far as pricing is concerned P&O would have to make no less profit than they are now. I suggest something near £30 per day would be logical. Much less than that and people are getting the drink too cheap.

 

They could do what 'T' do and use the package as a booking incentive. Book a select fare and get it free. Or later on at a reduced price like a cruise I am considering where the package costs £70 per week which is still a bargain.

 

I can't see all drinks being included, especially wine by the bottle and some really expensive single drinks. Costa coffee may be excluded as well where they have a franchise.

It wouldn't work for us. I like to drink Prosecco with friends - we take it in turns to buy a bottle & I'm sure it won't be included in a drinks package. I also like a good Cognac after dinner - again probably not included. Hubby doesn't drink alcohol but drinks copious Costa coffees which wouldn't be included in the package. If our last transatlantic cruise is anything to go by, we had 10 days of terrible weather coming home so didn't feel like drinking so that would be a waste of money if we had paid & couldn't drink what we had paid for!