Arcadia

[spf]

Good morningI am shortly to travel on Arcadia for the first time although I have cruised on all the rest of P&O fleet.

Arcadia offered me the itinary for the dates I needed so what can I expect: Best bar, sunbathing spot, viewpoint and any other tips. This is the first time I have sailed adults only too. Thanks

[Hols4]

Hols4

We have been on Arcadia four times so can give you our thoughts on the ship which may not be everybody's thoughts.

Positives:

Larger cabins than other ships, Nice theatre, Never seems to crowded, Crew always polite, food o. k

Negatives:

Very small film room ( book a seat in advance),

Most of the outside seating is at the back of the ship and it can be a bit windy.

Not much going on between 730pm and 930pm if you don't go to the theatre.

The Crows Next is nice to

relax in.

We prefer Auror a which is changing to adult only next April.

We hadn't been on Arcadia since her recent refit We would go her again aI am sure you will enjoy her.

[silkworms]

Have just got off Arcadia, Venice, Croatia etc.

Wonderful cruise, thoroughly enjoyed except for one thing. Their organisation of freedom dining is appalling.

We tried 7.00, 7.15, 7.30, 7.45, 8.00 pm. Every single time we had to have a pager and wait nearly an hour.

That is NOT freedom dining. Arcadia seems to have a problem we have not encountered on any other of their ships.

 

We had a word on two occasions with the restaurant manager who seemed very aware of the problem but had no solution.

 

We have two more cruises booked on Arcadia and we have now changed our dining option to club dining.

 

Food was excellent, staff superb, lovely ship.

[wowzz]

Just to say that on our return trip to the Caribbean at the end of last year, we only had to wait once for a table in freedom dining, eating between 7 and 8:30, and then only for 10 minutes. Admittedly we usually ate at tables of 6 or 8, but even on the odd times we wanted a table for two we never had to wait.

Perhaps it depends on the passenger mix in different cruises.

 

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[silkworms]

Yes Wowzz you are right, most elderly on this cruise and they were queuing up for freedom dining at 5.45!!

Why they did not go for 6.30 sitting I do not know.

 

We were always happy to share, in fact we never had a table for two, I could well understand it if that was the case. We were also told that there were loads of tables free for the 8.30 dining.

 

I am wondering if freedom was over allocated, whatever,

it did not spoil our cruise but glad we are able to change

to club for October cruise.

[Hols4]

Hols4

I think a lot of people like to eat at around 6pm so they do not have to rush to the theatre for the 8.30 show, I admit we are one of those as we like to eat early.

[daiB]

I think a large number of people want first sitting but cannot get in therfore they go for freedom and turn it into a first sitting. Therefore it is difficult to eat at 7.00 as these people are still eating.

 

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[Mrs Tinkywinky]

We had no problem at all on freedom dining on Arcadia. We varied our times and sat on tables of 6-8. Perhaps more people are choosing freedom for one reason or another. We also were not bothered about going to the entertainment. On the one occasion we went at 6:00 , the queue was down to the photo gallery. I also can't understand why those who want to dine early every night don't go on the 6:30 sitting.

[Florry]

Arcadia is most definitely one of our favourite ships, our cruising friend once said ‘she has a little bit of everything’ and I think this is a very apt way of summing her up. For some reason we have always found the service better on Arcadia, I wonder whether it’s because of the typically older-child free culture. She has a prom deck, nice theatre, a small cinema but films are screened elsewhere, a great crows nest (if you can get a seat), a thermal suite (I would say buy daily passes rather than whole-cruise because whilst not guaranteed they always seem to be available), the buffet is nice, the layout is intuitive, there is n Icean Grill (my absolute favourite P&O restaurant get there early for a window seat), not too big, orchid bar is lovely. We tend not to sunbathe or sit around the pool but there are plenty of lovely spots. The aft bar is also very nice. The bar outside the ocean grill does nibbles before dinner. Have a wonderful time, I hope you like her.

 

 

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[dides]

We went on a short mini-cruise on Arcadia in July last year (obviously before her refit) and loved her - here is a link to a blog post (with pictures) that we did at the time. Hope to do a longer cruise on her at some point.

 

Sandra