Arcadia Jottings

[wowzz]

Not too much data, so a quick update.

Arrived at drive through testing at 14:00. (Scheduled time 15:30) Three cars ahead of us. Through in 10 minutes.CPS collected car, test results back quick, and we were in our cabin at 14:45. Don't bother taking your own photo - everyone who had submitted their own photos, like we did, were photographed again.

Arcadia looks spruced up from outside, and internally is in good nick. Balconies however are very tired, and loungers still look like the originals !

Steward says new loungers are on order.

Our balcony creaked all night - managed to get moved to a midships balcony - helps that ship is about 60,% full.

Service levels are a bit shambolic - lots of new inexperienced staff according to a waiter in the MDR.

Cabin cleaned only in the morning. No turn down service option.

Breakfast in cabin is free, but no hot drinks, and not even a hot pannini option.

Compulsory LFT tomorrow.

Two days at sea now before Madeira.

[Megabear2]

Have fun and a great holiday.

[wowzz]

Official passenger count is 1100.

 

[Megabear2]

39 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Compulsory LFT tomorrow.

Is that for the ship or Madeira entry requirements?  Are you being charged if it's the former?

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Is that for the ship or Madeira entry requirements?  Are you being charged if it's the former?

Not clear one way or the other. But the test is free.

[purplesea]

No test was required for Maderia in January, but things change!

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Not too much data, so a quick update.

Arrived at drive through testing at 14:00. (Scheduled time 15:30) Three cars ahead of us. Through in 10 minutes.CPS collected car, test results back quick, and we were in our cabin at 14:45. Don't bother taking your own photo - everyone who had submitted their own photos, like we did, were photographed again.

Arcadia looks spruced up from outside, and internally is in good nick. Balconies however are very tired, and loungers still look like the originals !

Steward says new loungers are on order.

Our balcony creaked all night - managed to get moved to a midships balcony - helps that ship is about 60,% full.

Service levels are a bit shambolic - lots of new inexperienced staff according to a waiter in the MDR.

Cabin cleaned only in the morning. No turn down service option.

Breakfast in cabin is free, but no hot drinks, and not even a hot pannini option.

Compulsory LFT tomorrow.

Two days at sea now before Madeira.

I too am onboard. Completely agree with your comments. Service levels are very poor. I don’t know if you were aware there was a fire onboard yesterday (this was not a drill) .All staff were ordered to their muster stations and appeared unsure of what to do. The Captain later came onto the tannoy to state an incinerator room fire had been tackled and sorted by the firefighters.

we are in a deluxe balcony cabin which is in a pretty poor state of repair. I have drawn up a list and submitted it, so it will be interesting to see the response.

a mandatory LFT tomorrow in the Globe.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Not clear one way or the other. But the test is free.

Spain have dropped all testing and isolation for land holidays. If you think you have caught Covid, just stay away from folk. As you are still in Corunna, just a reminder, give us a wave about 3.30 tomorrow. We will be watching and promise to wave back. Did you stock up on Rioja today.? Enjoy the rest of your trip. Iona is our next P&O cruise. Perhaps the megamonsters aren't so bad after all.🤣

 

[gsmt47471015]

Could you tell me which part of the ship you had to be moved from due to the creaking? Thanks.

[Britboys]

Not surprised that there are a lot of inexperienced staff, I would imagine many of the more experienced ones have been deployed on Iona as the new ship. If only 1100 on board, that is barely more than 50%. Hope things improve for you.

[mickey1959]

2 hours ago, PRINCESSTHE BEST said:

I too am onboard. Completely agree with your comments. Service levels are very poor. I don’t know if you were aware there was a fire onboard yesterday (this was not a drill) .All staff were ordered to their muster stations and appeared unsure of what to do. The Captain later came onto the tannoy to state an incinerator room fire had been tackled and sorted by the firefighters.

we are in a deluxe balcony cabin which is in a pretty poor state of repair. I have drawn up a list and submitted it, so it will be interesting to see the response.

a mandatory LFT tomorrow in the Globe.

Which Captain do you have?

[sleepingcat]

Hello @wowzz,, thanks for starting this thread.  We have a lot of affection for Arcadia as we spent 51 days on board in 2014 coming back to UK from Auckland and loved the whole thing.  Arcadia was moored, visible from our bedroom, in Lyme Bay for long periods during 2020/21,  (and btw some gorgeous photos available ) so I ve been thinking we would love to get back on board some time soon. But your reports are not encouraging so I will be following to see how it all works out.  Hope you can enjoy the ports even if time on board is less than ideal. 

[arlowood]

HI Wowzz

 

We'll be on board in just over a month's time.

 

Our cabin is potentially going to be part of the re-allocation process due to the need for quarantine areas on the ship.

 

Just out of interest, is there evidence of these quarantine areas visible at present.eg fire doors dividing off certain cabins on various decks? We originally booked A129 at the front end of the at section on A deck. from posts on another thread, I believe that the A deck quarantine area starts at A131 and goes forward into the mid-aft and mid-ship cabins.

[P&O SUE]

Good to hear from you Wowzz! I don’t know why but I’ve never fancied Arcadia although I loved Oriana and Oceana . I’d just been wondering this week whether to try her and I think you’ve put me off again 😂

 

Will be following your reports with interest though, hope you have a good time.

[Snow Hill]

16 hours ago, wowzz said:

Not clear one way or the other. But the test is free.

Maybe a Port Authority requirement before ship can dock in Funchal. 

[gsmt47471015]

The last two cruises we have been on have had terrible creaking cabins ( Queen Elizabeth and Ventura ) and we had to move both times, luckily the ships were nowhere near capacity so plenty of spare cabins, just wondering if its all to do with the ships been laid up for two years as never encountered these kind of problems on these ships pre covid, not due on Arcadia until September so hopefully she will have settled down by then

[davecttr]

40 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said:

The last two cruises we have been on have had terrible creaking cabins ( Queen Elizabeth and Ventura ) and we had to move both times, luckily the ships were nowhere near capacity so plenty of spare cabins, just wondering if its all to do with the ships been laid up for two years as never encountered these kind of problems on these ships pre covid, not due on Arcadia until September so hopefully she will have settled down by then

Could be because they have been out of service maybe all those flexible bits have seized up

[howmuch!]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

Could be because they have been out of service maybe all those flexible bits have seized up

Sounds a bit like me, the morning after a days gardening!

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

Could be because they have been out of service maybe all those flexible bits have seized up

They might have been out of service but they have all been at sea, mainly at anchor, but commuting back and forth to Southampton. So they will have continued to flex with the movements.

Perhaps it's the fact that we have all had 2 years away from cruising and have forgotten how much they creek and groan.

[gsmt47471015]

Do you mean the ships or the passengers🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Mollag]

Can anyone onboard tell us how they done the tests did you have to go back to your cabin until you had the all clear or just allowed to wander round like they did here on Aurora which worked really well🤦‍♂️

[gsmt47471015]

No need to wait in your cabin , unless they ask for you just carry on ,   and hope!!!!

[Mollag]

32 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said:

No need to wait in your cabin , unless they ask for you just carry on ,   and hope!!!!

Hope you have better luck than we did on here they obviously haven’t learned any lessons 

[Megabear2]

35 minutes ago, Mollag said:

Hope you have better luck than we did on here they obviously haven’t learned any lessons 

Not long till you're home now.  Hope things are going better for you past few days.

[Mollag]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Not long till you're home now.  Hope things are going better for you past few days.

Last day tomorrow I will actually be glad to go home to the freezing cold😂. Nothing has changed still a mess lots of the galley staff got it now, spa and shop staff serving in the buffet, B2B passengers haven’t been told what they’ve got to do yet if any are allowed to stay I can’t see how anyone on here can answer the health questions without saying they’ve been a close contact in the last 14 days