Arcadia Jottings

[wowzz]

Yet another formal night tomorrow. 3 in 7 days. Too many ! Having to dress up every other night just to eat in the MDR is overkill.

So, eating out in Funchal tonight at a favourite restaurant of ours, and  then the buffet tomorrow night.

[Megabear2]

13 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Yet another formal night tomorrow. 3 in 7 days.

That should please the traditionalists who aren't keen on the Iona/Arvia plans.

 

Have a great evening.

[lincslady]

Have  a great dinner, wowzz - and maybe include a glass of Madeira?  Three formal nights in seven does sound too much.

[gsmt47471015]

Like the formal nights but totally agree that is overkill, we had two per week on our recent 35night cruise and that also felt like too many, mind you there were 24 sea days !!!!

[Britboys]

6 hours ago, wowzz said:

... Perhaps we have been spoilt by our cruise with Princess last year - Arcadia just seems a little tired and worn out in comparison...

Was your Princess cruise on one of the newer ships? If so, probably not surprising that Arcadia looks tired. If you go on a ship that is only two or three years old, one that is 15/20 years old is bound to look tired by comparison...

[terrierjohn]

5 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Was your Princess cruise on one of the newer ships? If so, probably not surprising that Arcadia looks tired. If you go on a ship that is only two or three years old, one that is 15/20 years old is bound to look tired by comparison...

It needn't if it has had regular upgrades. That is my main grievance with P&O, they do not seem to refurbish the cabins, except for an occasional new carpet.

[Megabear2]

Queen Elizabeth was almost Arcadia and she gets big thumbs up from those sailing on her. 

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Queen Elizabeth was almost Arcadia and she gets big thumbs up from those sailing on her. 

Surely you mean Arcadia was almost Queen Victoria.

[Britboys]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

It needn't if it has had regular upgrades. That is my main grievance with P&O, they do not seem to refurbish the cabins, except for an occasional new carpet.

I've obviously been quite lucky with Oriana and Aurora cabins in that apart from an odd, small mark on carpets, they've always been in a perfectly acceptable condition.

[Megabear2]

16 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Surely you mean Arcadia was almost Queen Victoria.

I did indeed - auto correct decided I meant something different as usual.  Same point applies though. Be interesting to see what Victoria comes back from her dry Dock and freshen up like.  Certainly QM2 is getting high praise after her foray to the beauty parlour.

[lindyloo22]

4 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

We were also on Azura in 2019 and felt much the same.  

 

We really enjoyed the food, and the crew were very helpful, but felt the ship interiors were very worn. We also smelt the 'pong' in a certain area of the ship.  

 

However, it was really enjoyable cruise, with good weather, so I do remember it fondly as the last before you know what happened. 

We were also on Azura 2019 and yes the ‘pong’ was terrible. The first week I was either at reception or on the phone to housekeeping as the toilet was blocked or would not flush this was happening every day. I did find out it was due to baby wipes being flushed down the toilets.

[wowzz]

Cloudy and damp in Funchal today.

Had an excellent meal out in the old town last night - sounds awful but it was good to eat off the ship.

As an observation, as we know, wine bottles are no longer stored for you if not empty. Thus there are loads of people carrying half empty bottles around.

We now no longer bother with ordering glasses of wine -we order a bottle and carry it around various venues, and ask for glasses at each venue.  Means we can have exactly how much we want, and it works out cheaper!

 

[Selbourne]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Cloudy and damp in Funchal today.

Had an excellent meal out in the old town last night - sounds awful but it was good to eat off the ship.

As an observation, as we know, wine bottles are no longer stored for you if not empty. Thus there are loads of people carrying half empty bottles around.

We now no longer bother with ordering glasses of wine -we order a bottle and carry it around various venues, and ask for glasses at each venue.  Means we can have exactly how much we want, and it works out cheaper!

 

Great idea and if, as a result of this, bar revenues drop, they might dispense with this idiotic new rule and revert to the system that they had before, which was something that we always used and appreciated. 

[paulatsea]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

Great idea and if, as a result of this, bar revenues drop, they might dispense with this idiotic new rule and revert to the system that they had before, which was something that we always used and appreciated. 

I’ve Just added “cork” to my packing list.

Edited April 2, 2022 by paulatsea

[wowzz]

And of course, if you felt so inclined, you can decant wine you buy ashore into your P&O empty bottle.

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, paulatsea said:

I’ve Just added “cork” to my packing list.

We drink the cheap screw top house red, so no problem.

[Selbourne]

7 minutes ago, wowzz said:

And of course, if you felt so inclined, you can decant wine you buy ashore into your P&O empty bottle.

Are you Scottish by chance? 😂 😉 

[Britboys]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

...As an observation, as we know, wine bottles are no longer stored for you if not empty. Thus there are loads of people carrying half empty bottles around.

We now no longer bother with ordering glasses of wine -we order a bottle and carry it around various venues, and ask for glasses at each venue.  Means we can have exactly how much we want, and it works out cheaper!

 

I sincerely hope that this is a 'Covid Procedure'. If it is not and continues it will be yet another thing to add to the list of things that are reasons to give up cruising with P&O. I only drink wine at the dinner table so certainly don't want to carry it around all night or have to rush back to the cabin to drop it off before, say, going to the theatre. Wines by the glass are often very limited, so that's not an option either...

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, Britboys said:

I sincerely hope that this is a 'Covid Procedure'. If it is not and continues it will be yet another thing to add to the list of things that are reasons to give up cruising with P&O. I only drink wine at the dinner table so certainly don't want to carry it around all night or have to rush back to the cabin to drop it off before, say, going to the theatre. Wines by the glass are often very limited, so that's not an option either...

We have found wine by the glass is freely available for most wines, only the very expensive wines are not available by the glass.

[purplesea]

3 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I sincerely hope that this is a 'Covid Procedure'. If it is not and continues it will be yet another thing to add to the list of things that are reasons to give up cruising with P&O. I only drink wine at the dinner table so certainly don't want to carry it around all night or have to rush back to the cabin to drop it off before, say, going to the theatre. Wines by the glass are often very limited, so that's not an option either...

In January we were told it was, but will have to wait and see!

[Britboys]

12 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

We have found wine by the glass is freely available for most wines, only the very expensive wines are not available by the glass.

It must have changed since I was last sailing with P&O then - or maybe they offer a wider choice on the bigger ships?

[Megabear2]

3 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

We sailed on QE last August on her very first Seacation and our cabin especially the blacony, windows and furniture were filthy. We then sailed on her again in a Princess Grill Suite in November and the draw in the desk where the hair dryer is normally stored was hanging of its runners and staff knew about it because they had removed hair dryer and put it on a shelf by the safe. There was also a wall light literally hanging off the wall so it is not only P&O that is shabby in places as Cunard also has its problems.

I do not question your experience, I was merely pointing out that the Cunard forum does not appear to have anywhere near the number of disgruntled passengers discussing the condition of the two ships sailing. Most are very complimentary whereas unfortunately the P&O board is littered with people reporting problems. The same applies to the physical condition of the Princess and Celebrity ships members have sailed on, very little complaint on their state of repair.

 

I am not due on Queen Mary 2 until August so cannot comment personally. 

[Britboys]

39 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Oriana before she was sold leaked like a colendar , the last time we went on her many of the public toilets were out of order and there was that many buckets catching water and heaters trying to dry out carpets that were wet.

Yes,  I have heard similar stories but I have always been lucky. The most I've seen and experienced is the odd bucket in a corridor and maybe one set of loos being out of action for around 24 hours. It must be difficult as ships age - after all, they have literally miles of water pipes...

[P&O SUE]

13 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

We have found wine by the glass is freely available for most wines, only the very expensive wines are not available by the glass.

Yes we’re lightweights nowadays and tend to buy a glass at a time 😆

Edited April 3, 2022 by P&O SUE

[P&O SUE]

Thanks for your further reports Wowzz, keep them coming!