Arcadia recent reviews

[RoseGab123]

Hope someone can re-assure us. Will be cruising on Arcadia to Baltics towards end of July but have become very anxious after reading recent reviews especially one posted in the last few days!!! ' more like a nursing home,' uncouth, drunken, beer swilling obese people,' 'decks marred by a permafog of cigarette smoke'. We have not been on a P& O cruise before so did not know what to expect but to read this has made us think of cancelling although we will lose the cost. A few reviews posted earlier weren't wonderful but no too bad.

[wilson2579]

I am going on Arcadia next month and I am not the least worried. I have been on 4 other P and O ships and none have been like you have described. I have read bad reviews about all the ships I have been on and I have had a fab time every cruise. Forget what you have read and go and enjoy yourself.:cool:

[kersh]

Our favourite ship. Some people post bad reviews just to get a reaction. Go with an open mind and review when you get back.

[Mysticalmother]

I would second that! I recently went on Azura with huge reservations but despite all the bad reports I had read, had a really good time. I have now booked on Arcadia for next year - again despite all the bad reviews. There are good ones too.

There are a lot of people on this forum who moan about anything and everything and it makes you wonder...but I have never been on a bad cruise. Yes , occasionally things are not quite as good as you expect, things go wrong (I have posted somewhere about a swimming pool in my cabin - which although caused a few problems did NOT ruin my cruise) this is reality. Food is very much down to personal taste, but if you get served something in the MDR you don't like - just ask for something else.

If someone smokes on the balcony next to you and it affects you - report it. They are not allowed to smoke on balconies any more. "Drunken" episodes are nearly always confined to 2 day party cruises. There may (well actually will!) be a few Beer swilling obese people lurking around but it's easy to avoid them as they will always be in the "pub".

There will be some older clientele who one might think should be in a nursing home but hey they are trying to have a good holiday- and Benidorm is not their choice. (Not mine either but that's -another story) Many of them are actually lovely people if you take the time to talk to them. (Some of them aren't of course. But that's life!)

You will have a lovely time on your Baltic cruise - we did this itinerary about 3 years ago and the ports of call are wonderful - and Arcadia is a lovely ship. She isn't everyone's cup of tea as she is Adults only which affects the clientele you find on board, but there will be a good mix of ages guaranteed . Go with a positive attitude and you will have a fabulous time.

BTW - I am not old.....nor young....and am really looking forward to my cruise to the fjords next year.

 

Have a wonderful cruise - and come back and let us know how you got on.

[Travellingtaff]

We did the Baltics cruise on the Arcadia in May this year.

Smoking was a slight issue for us with people smoking in non-designated areas such as on the Sun Deck where our cabin was, but no permafog!

Plenty of people in their 60s and 70s but no obese beer-swillers that we saw.

The itinerary, which is 80% of the reason why we go on a cruise, was excellent. Wall to wall sunshine for 12 of the 14 days with temperatures in the 80s F in St Petersburg.

Must say that after seeing on the P&O promotional video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar02r5Zjacg we were expecting great things but were rather disappointed with result. Although, it must be said that we hadn't been on the Arcadia pre-refit so it was, no doubt, an improvement on before.

On the plus side the shows were superb, we loved the Crows Nest which was near our cabin and great for pre and after dinner drinks and a late-night quiz. It's a good venue for live music from classical piano and harp to jazz and swing and easy listening.

We went for the select dining option and found the food was as good as any cruise we had been on before. The roast partridge and lamb shanks were particularly memorable (sorry if you are vegetarians!). If you have any particular queries please don't hesitate to ask.

[dsrdsrdsr]

If you believe these review, you must have some funny nursing homes round your way. Either your nursing homes are full of uncouth drunken obese beer-swilling old folk who smoke like chimneys, or else these reviews don't make coherent sense. I suspect the latter.

[the english lady]

Hope someone can re-assure us. Will be cruising on Arcadia to Baltics towards end of July but have become very anxious after reading recent reviews especially one posted in the last few days!!! ' more like a nursing home,' uncouth, drunken, beer swilling obese people,' 'decks marred by a permafog of cigarette smoke'. We have not been on a P& O cruise before so did not know what to expect but to read this has made us think of cancelling although we will lose the cost. A few reviews posted earlier weren't wonderful but no too bad.

 

We were on her april/may this year and again later on in the year.

Did not see any of the above on the 26 days we were on her earlier.

Did not see any permafog of ciggie smoke. Did see people smoking in the wrong place, but it was outside so no fog.

If you have a balcony and smell people smoking report it-it is banned now.

Go on her -you will have a lovely time. She is a lovely ship. We loved her.

I take most reviews with a pinch of salt-people are always more likely to post if they did not enjoy themselves, than if they did. Also in a lot of cases it is a case of picking the wrong ship for the person.......

Report when you come back and let us know how much you enjoyed yourself.

[jeanlyon]

If you believe these review, you must have some funny nursing homes round your way. Either your nursing homes are full of uncouth drunken obese beer-swilling old folk who smoke like chimneys, or else these reviews don't make coherent sense. I suspect the latter.

 

Ha ha, I was just about to say the same!!

[balcony queen]

Hope someone can re-assure us. Will be cruising on Arcadia to Baltics towards end of July but have become very anxious after reading recent reviews especially one posted in the last few days!!! ' more like a nursing home,' uncouth, drunken, beer swilling obese people,' 'decks marred by a permafog of cigarette smoke'. We have not been on a P& O cruise before so did not know what to expect but to read this has made us think of cancelling although we will lose the cost. A few reviews posted earlier weren't wonderful but no too bad.

 

 

We had paid for 99day world cruise 2013 when I read similar reports and we were first time with P&O.It must have done something right because after 60 days on board we booked for 2014 94 day world cruise(don't know why we waited so long lol)

she is a beautiful ship perfect size with very happy staff .She does not have an atrium but the plus side is there is no crowding in the middle .You also have a proper Promenade Deck.I am sure if you go with an open mind Arcadia will work her magic on you too. The Baltic Itinerary is fabulous.Enjoy your cruise

 

 

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[Host Sharon]

I would never ever consider cancelling a cruise because of a poor review. I have had fabulous cruises on lovely ships and then seen a review of the same cruise where people complained about everything. Were they on the same ship I wonder??

 

What suits one person will not suit another and OK - they may have had specific problems like a cabin flood but the only way to decide if YOU like a line or a ship is to try it with an open mind.

 

Have a great time on Arcadia.

[Spikey M]

The thing with reviews is that people are much more likely to leave one if they've had a bad time. What you need to think is the size of the ship. There will be between 1500-2300 people on board (conflicting numbers brought up in a google search) if only 1% of those have a bad time and post about it that's 15-23 reviews.

 

Meanwhile of the vast majority that had a good time most will not think to post a review.

 

Just ignore it, get on board and have a good time.

[the english lady]

Having read this post I thought I would read the reviews on this site.

The first one with one star, my thought on reading it was here is someone that did not look into the different ships before booking. They are quite young and an adults only ship always has an older demographic than the family ones. Also the destination would always attract older people.

I thought it very insensitive to complain about people in wheelchairs etc messing up their meal times and getting off the ship.

If they did not want to sit anywhere near a disabled person they could ask the MD to be moved ..would not even have to give their reason.

They will also be old at some stage and one hopes that they will still be able to bounce off the ship as easy as they do now.

The next one down I felt was moaning for moanings sake.

[Cristaltips]

I think we're on the same Baltic cruise. We ARE over 60 (just) , I'm a little bit on the cuddly side and OH likes a beer or two. We don't smoke and I don't consider us to be uncouth!!!! We've done a number of cruises and this is the first on Arcadia. I'm looking forward to it and I'm sure we'll all have a lovely time (as always):)

[the english lady]

I think we're on the same Baltic cruise. We ARE over 60 (just) , I'm a little bit on the cuddly side and OH likes a beer or two. We don't smoke and I don't consider us to be uncouth!!!! We've done a number of cruises and this is the first on Arcadia. I'm looking forward to it and I'm sure we'll all have a lovely time (as always):)

 

Enjoy her, the reviews I read do not match up to the 26(?) days we were on her earlier.

The crows nest is a lovely place to sit and watch the world open up before you.

I thought the buffet was set out much better than on other ships. If you go down when everyone else does ,yes it is very busy, but due to the way it is set out not a problem.

We loved her.

I am also cuddly, even more so when I got off after 26 days!!!!!!.

As I said people who picked the wrong ship, for them, moaners, etc. are always more likely to post than someone who loved it.

We ate on 2nd sitting and the 2 different couples we had sat next to us (b2b) were both lovely.

Please post when you return to let us know how you got on.

[southcoastsounds]

We have just come back from one week on Arcadia - Norwegian Fjords and thought the ship was fantastic, and the people sailing on her were just fine. Wide range of ages so not all "elderly" by any means (and those who were seemed pretty lively anyway). No signs of obesity - we were impressed by the large numbers of people who chose healthy options for meals - lots of people having fruit and grains for breakfast for example.

 

Smoking in the covered area of the Neptune Bar is allowed but I suppose you have to have one open-air area where people can have a cigarette. Just move further aft and you're clear of the fug. Didn't see any smoking anywhere else.

 

I would be very surprised if you leave Arcadia with anything other than a tinge of sadness that it's all over.

Edited July 11, 2014 by southcoastsounds

[Monorail Orange]

Another vote for "favourite ship" here.

 

Of the three I've been on, she's by far the best, and has a wonderful flow to her layout.

 

In terms of the age issue, I felt there were more older folk on the Oceana this summer than when I've been on Arcadia.

[tifftoff]

Please ignore this review we were on this cruise and had a delightful time. After reading the review we wondered if he was on a different cruise. Yes, an 'adults only' ship, but a fair number of younger adults were on board. We have seen far more wheelchairs and mobility scooters on ships that are not 'adults only'. Look forward to it and enjoy it.

[ivygirl]

I have only been on Arcadia once, for 52 nights! Loved every moment. The ship was wonderful, food wonderful, crew wonderful we had a great time and I'm sure you will.

[RoseGab123]

Many thanks for all your positive feedback from my concerns over the Arcadia review. I am now back in 'looking forward to my cruise holiday' mood thanks to all of you and will let you know how it went on return

[Flo71]

I'm doing a 3 night short cruise on her and its nice to her such positive things. :)

[Sikwemu]

We were on her in January and are on again next month so she can't be that bad:)

[Ataraxia]

It is best to read between the lines of these reviews - there is usually some underlying reason for these people to complain - usually finding out the fare was lowered after they had paid or a problem early on in the cruise that was not resolved. They then look at everything in a negative light, and it's a downward spiral from then on.

[cliffy97]

I will be taking my first P&O Cruise on the Arcadia in Dec. Whilst I like to read the reviews, I always go in with an open mind. If I didn't do that I would have never tried Costa or MSC which I loved.

 

I do wonder though and maybe some of you experienced P&O Cruisers can tell me. If we choose not to dress up for dinner is the buffet still available to us?

 

We have chosen this cruise as one of the people in our group does not fly (we normally cruise NCL as they have no dress code).

 

We are happy to "dress" up for dinner i.e. trousers button up shirt etc, but wondered if we just wanted to wear jeans if we could eat somewhere else.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Dan

[the english lady]

I will be taking my first P&O Cruise on the Arcadia in Dec. Whilst I like to read the reviews, I always go in with an open mind. If I didn't do that I would have never tried Costa or MSC which I loved.

 

I do wonder though and maybe some of you experienced P&O Cruisers can tell me. If we choose not to dress up for dinner is the buffet still available to us?

 

We have chosen this cruise as one of the people in our group does not fly (we normally cruise NCL as they have no dress code).

 

We are happy to "dress" up for dinner i.e. trousers button up shirt etc, but wondered if we just wanted to wear jeans if we could eat somewhere else.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Dan

 

Yes you can eat in the buffet on formal nights. There may be some bars you are not allowed into if you are not following the dress code.

 

It is quite likely that a good 90% of people will be following the dress code,just so you are aware.

[cliffy97]

Yes you can eat in the buffet on formal nights. There may be some bars you are not allowed into if you are not following the dress code.

 

It is quite likely that a good 90% of people will be following the dress code,just so you are aware.

 

Thanks for letting me know. Kinda what I thought but thought I would check. :-)