Arcadia

[seb530]

hi all - we have been on most of the P&O fleet on the grand class ships and above but never on arcadia .
Due to bereavement we had to cancel our planned cruise in september and looking for a filler in november but due to my wife working for NHS theres a limited window and the only cruise available is a very short one on Arcadia.

The only thing thats in question here is whether arcadia has an older clientelle than the likes of britannia/iona etc - i.e. is everyone in bed by 10pm!?
My other half likes the onboard entertainment and if this cruise isnt really for us we would rather not go

[showingdiva]

If the cruise you are looking at is a short one, they have a different vibe to any longer ones, irrespective of the ship.   I've done 11 cruises on Arcadia, of different lengths - and she's still my favourite P&O ship.   For what it's worth, I'm not "older".  The only time I'm in bed by 10pm on a cruise ship is if we've decided to have room service / movie night.   She has one of the nicest theatres at sea, the smaller Globe, a little cinema and there's certainly been plenty people around in the Crow's Nest.

 

If the price is good, a port to stop off in ... go for it.   I also work in the NHS in Scotland.   Any cruise and a bit of respite from it all is definitely worth it.

[wowzz]

I think it very much depends on the cruise, and it is difficult to generalise. 

We did a round trip Caribbean and had a great time,  with lots of people around well after midnight.

This year the ship was like a ghost ship  late at night, not helped by only being  half full, and the temperatures in the bars being set to sub zero temperatures !

[Cruise Puss]

1 hour ago, seb530 said:

hi all - we have been on most of the P&O fleet on the grand class ships and above but never on arcadia .
Due to bereavement we had to cancel our planned cruise in september and looking for a filler in november but due to my wife working for NHS theres a limited window and the only cruise available is a very short one on Arcadia.

The only thing thats in question here is whether arcadia has an older clientelle than the likes of britannia/iona etc - i.e. is everyone in bed by 10pm!?
My other half likes the onboard entertainment and if this cruise isnt really for us we would rather not go

We have been on all P&O ships, including those no longer with them. We've been on Arcadia 7 times since 2007 and she is one of our favourites.

 

Have to say that on all her cruises we have never been the only ones up after 10pm! In fact, we've never experienced that on any P&O ship.

 

She is a lovely ship with a great atmosphere.  It does depend on the cruise as to the age group you will get, with cruises to colder climes generally appealing to an older clientele, and warmer cruises appealing to a younger clientele, but obviously that is a generalisation, and it has never adversely affected any of our cruises on her.

 

The only thing she lacks is a Glass House, which she would definitely benefit from.

 

The entertainment is the same on all P&O ships, so that shouldn't be an issue.

 

Why not try her, if it's a short cruise what's there to lose?  If you like her you've gained a ship to go on;  if you don't, you've only wasted a small amount of money and time.

 

IMHO you will like her. 😊

 

 

[david63]

1 hour ago, showingdiva said:

he has one of the nicest theatres at sea

As long as you avoid the pillars

[seb530]

Thanks - looks like its worth a conderation we love to get away and we have a good time wherever we are/whatever we do. Short cruise, less risk 😉

[lindyloo22]

Been on her 5 times, last time we were on a lot of people in their 20/30s

lovely ship going on her again next year.

[wowzz]

Just now, lindyloo22 said:

Been on her 5 times, last time we were on a lot of people in their 20/30s

lovely ship going on her again next year.

Unfortunately showing her age. Could do with a mega refit.

My wife won't cruise on her again. I think we've been spoilt by the more modern Princess ships.

[jeanlyon]

Don't know what makes people assume that if you are older you go to bed early.  My OH is 83 and I am 75.  We never go to bed before 1130 at home and later on the ship.  The late show doesn't finish until 11.30 or later.

[Fionboard]

Was on her in August to Baltic. Great cruise, no complaints. 

[Son of Anarchy]

Only been on Arcadia twice.  One time, the ents staff hosting the karoake moaned at us that we were keeping them up late.  Mind you, it was 02:00 in the morning!

[Splice the mainbrace]

Our first cruise on Arcadia will be in 2 weeks time, it will be our first cruise on P&O since 2015 so will be interesting to compare to Cunard and Princess who we have cruised with since then. As Wowzz says Princess have also impressed us, apart from a 10 days Australia cruise which was full of partying Aussies and was rather raucous.

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

full of partying Aussies and was rather raucous.

Not exactly surprising !

[Purdey16]

4 hours ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

Our first cruise on Arcadia will be in 2 weeks time, it will be our first cruise on P&O since 2015 so will be interesting to compare to Cunard and Princess who we have cruised with since then. As Wowzz says Princess have also impressed us, apart from a 10 days Australia cruise which was full of partying Aussies and was rather raucous.

As you know from the roll call we’re on the same cruise, she is a old ship we like her but I do prefer sky princess to her and I’ve never been on a Cunard ship , the time we were on her for 30 days to the Caribbean was lovely but this was some 5 years ago and couldn’t fault anything but as wowzz said who’s been on her after that she’s looking tired and could do with a refurbishment, I love our cabin we’ve booked right at the front of the ship so we can see where we are going at all times and get to have one big wrapped around balcony that not a lot of people use , it’s a bit private and you have to have strong mussels to open the two doors to go out but we do that every morning when coming into dock and have a cup of tea out there , but last in is your responsibility to close the doors shut and I love the hot stone beds in the spa looking out to see instead of four walls and pool .

[wowzz]

23 minutes ago, Purdey16 said:

As you know from the roll call we’re on the same cruise, she is a old ship we like her but I do prefer sky princess to her and I’ve never been on a Cunard ship , the time we were on her for 30 days to the Caribbean was lovely but this was some 5 years ago and couldn’t fault anything but as wowzz said who’s been on her after that she’s looking tired and could do with a refurbishment, I love our cabin we’ve booked right at the front of the ship so we can see where we are going at all times and get to have one big wrapped around balcony that not a lot of people use , it’s a bit private and you have to have strong mussels to open the two doors to go out but we do that every morning when coming into dock and have a cup of tea out there , but last in is your responsibility to close the doors shut and I love the hot stone beds in the spa looking out to see instead of four walls and pool .

Purdey, I'm sure you'll have a great trip. Sounds like you have a great cabin. 

Our last time on Arcadia, our cabin creaked so much, that we were moved to a cabin near the external midship lifts. Great location,  but, oh so worn out . 

Our next cruise is on Sky (again) which we love. 

[Purdey16]

We’re on sky two times next year, one to Iceland and one in September to Spain/ Italy she’s just a bit more glamorous but not over the top sort of way .

[bbtablet]

"you have to have strong mussels to open the two doors"

 

love it!