Worst cruise ever on Arcadia

[jessybell]

Very very disappointed with Arcadia Christmas cruise 2022.  Apart from bad weather which you can’t blame P&O for, the food was average with much smaller portions than we have had on there before, the daytime entertainment was lousy with no alternatives for the outside deck sports they kept advertising and couldn’t put on as the weather was bad, there were buckets everywhere collecting leaks, many toilets did not work and the ship just felt as iif it needed a major update.   We have travelled the world on Arcadia so we know how it should have been.  My OH says he will not go on P&O again as apart from all above there were many cutbacks such as no photographers onboard, no mints with after-dinner coffee, no toiletries in bathroom except for shower gel etc etc.   Shame as we have been P&O customers since 1978…

[Britboys]

Sorry to hear that you had such a poor experience. The Arcadia Christmas cruise does seem to be getting bad reviews. Hopefully P&O will remedy the physical problems but sadly I feel the cutbacks are here to stay. Having done away with gratuities and offering lots of very keen prices, some things had to go...

[Camberley]

What a real shame you experienced this, especially after all the cruises you’ve taken with P&O.
 

Sadly, I think you’re absolutely right to go elsewhere: they frankly do not deserve extra chances (and your money) if you feel they missed the mark.

[LondonLad60]

"... there were buckets everywhere collecting leaks, many toilets did not work..." Hmm... that's interesting. I had a lengthy exchange of emails with P&O's shoreside customer services regarding the state of Arcadia back in late 2021, and the subject of buckets and broken toilets (along with corridors flooding) came up. I was assured that all the plumbing problems had been fixed. Either I had been misinformed, or perhaps the problems weren't fixed as well as they should have been...

Edited January 16, 2023 by LondonLad60

[Megabear2]

Every review I've read bar one refers to this.  It has put me off sailing on Arcadia and I rejected a section on the 2024 world cruise as a result.

[binman2]

We sailed on her on 2015 and 2018 and those problems were there then . Our 2018 cruise toilet didn't work on the  first flush ,engineers called out to fix 

[silkworms]

And yet we had a fab cruise to the Greek islands in October 2022.

No problems whatsoever and never saw any sign of leakages etc.

 

Terri

[showingdiva]

Arcadia has had intermittent plumbing issues from the outset.  I wonder if it's just her, or is this something that has also affected similar Vista / Spirit hybrid classes, a few of whom are / have been in service with Holland America.

[yorkshirephil]

3 minutes ago, showingdiva said:

Arcadia has had intermittent plumbing issues from the outset.  I wonder if it's just her, or is this something that has also affected similar Vista / Spirit hybrid classes, a few of whom are / have been in service with Holland America.

I think you may be right, I remember many years ago when Thompsons took Celebration from HAL they had major problems for months, we were aboard when one of the two vacuum systems went down, fortunately this didn't affect us.

 

Maybe we are lucky as we were on the 40 night Arcadia cruise before the OP cruise. We had no issues with the plumbing nor did we speak to or hear of anyone that did. We asked the cabin steward who brought us body lotion and hair conditioner. We did notice a couple of buckets outside the pub on the last couple of nights of the cruise. We did have mints/coffee creams after dinner, these were intermingled with shortcake squares which were pretty tasteless and those little almond things that you had to dunk to avoid breaking your teeth.

 

We spent most of our time either out and about or on deck as we were in the Caribbean so didn't really notice what was going on inside, always a shame when people don't enjoy their cruise but we had a great time as did the people we met.

[Britboys]

19 minutes ago, showingdiva said:

Arcadia has had intermittent plumbing issues from the outset.  I wonder if it's just her, or is this something that has also affected similar Vista / Spirit hybrid classes, a few of whom are / have been in service with Holland America.

I don't recall seeing mention of such issues for the Queens Elizabeth and Victoria...

 

Maybe she's such a bad girl because she knows no-one wanted her when she was being built... 😉😀

[showingdiva]

8 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Maybe she's such a bad girl because she knows no-one wanted her when she was being built... 😉😀

 

Awwww ... I'll always love her  ❤️.

 

Originally planned for Holland America, with a Cunard funnel.   She's special.   Just wish her owners would love her a bit more.

[Tablelamp]

Unfortunately, it’s not just technical problems onArcadia.  There are major cutbacks over all the P and O ships.  unfortunately I am booked on Ventura for a 35 night cruise at the beginning of March. How I wish I had known about all these cutbacks before I had paid my final balance.   I would have sacrificed the deposit.

[jessybell]

Friends are currently on the World Cruise (we cancelled this earlier in year as weren’t sure we would need to wear masks) and they endorse everything I have said plus there is norovirus aboard and they had to abort call to Bahamas as the ship wasn’t allowed to dock.   Pleased we are not on it but it’s a shame for all those who have paid lots of money to be on there.

[showingdiva]

1 hour ago, Tablelamp said:

Unfortunately, it’s not just technical problems onArcadia.  There are major cutbacks over all the P and O ships.  unfortunately I am booked on Ventura for a 35 night cruise at the beginning of March. How I wish I had known about all these cutbacks before I had paid my final balance.   I would have sacrificed the deposit.

 

I have walked away from a very small deposit on Iona in April.   Was a bit reluctant because of the good price I got at the time on one of the extended balconies.  However, the cruise line I am going with solved that by changing me to one of their extended balconies, with the price (including drink package) hundreds of pounds cheaper than either the price I got the P&O cruise at (or the price now).   Are they some sort of wonder cruise line who gets everything right?   No.   But I love the ship.   Cabins still serviced twice daily (admittedly not a personal game changer).   

There are clearly cuts across the cruise industry for numerous reasons, and I'm sorry that the OP has experienced problems on Arcadia, and that it's not just confined to teething problems in Iona and Arvia.    She's still a ship that holds many happy memories.

However, as I've alluded to previously, I work on and with many cruise lines in my home port, pre and post-pandemic.  It appears that P&O have an above average amount of issues that need sorting one way or another.

Edited January 16, 2023 by showingdiva

[Purdey16]

It is a shame the op had a awful time on her weather wise and all but we had a lovely cruise on her in October 19 days , never any problems with buckets or toilets, had mints and fudge with coffee after dinner and we had chocolate on the bed in the morning and liquid soap in bathroom sink , all staff and dining was good we have sailed on her 4 times now and have another 2 booked but I think that will be it for Arcadia as she is showing her age and a few things needs replacing now .jessybell sorry you didn’t enjoy your cruise.

[purplesea]

My friend was on this cruise and said it was the worst cruise she has been on and was glad to get  home.

[Red Ray]

We are on her in May - my favourite ship and looking forward to it. No photographers is a bonus, I don't care if I don't get after eight mints, and we take our own toiletries anyway.  Obviously I hope the plumbing is sorted out!

[jessybell]

Wish you a great cruise Red Ray but don’t say you haven’t been warned………

[Red Ray]

8 minutes ago, jessybell said:

Wish you a great cruise Red Ray but don’t say you haven’t been warned………

😉

[Trevor Fountain]

2 hours ago, Red Ray said:

We are on her in May - my favourite ship and looking forward to it. No photographers is a bonus, I don't care if I don't get after eight mints, and we take our own toiletries anyway.  Obviously I hope the plumbing is sorted out!

The direction P&O are heading you'll be taking a tent with you soon.

[mike x ftc]

We were on this cruise and completely agree with everything, our toilet stopped working at least 4 times, on Christmas Eve it wasn't working all day until 6pm.  The cutbacks are just so obvious. Very limited menu and small portions.  I know the weather wasn't P&O's fault but I do think they could have worked harder to find us somewhere to go for the last couple of days, a day in Amsterdam and a day in Bruges were replaced with 2 sea days bobbing up and down the North Sea in a force 8 gale!!  What about Rotterdam, Cherbourg, Le Havre, even Dover!!  It has certainly put us off P&O.

[Happy afloat]

3 hours ago, Trevor Fountain said:

The direction P&O are heading you'll be taking a tent with you soon.

Having read the reports re the plumbing, it's more likely to be a bucket I'd take.

[Fionboard]

As previously said, Arcadia has had plumbing problems for a long time. However, I enjoyed my three cruises on her last year and out of order public loo's did not spoil them. Have seen buckets and carpet driers on other ships too,  particularly Ventura.

[Harry Peterson]

I remember the time when Travelodge was the go to budget hotel chain. Cheap, clean , decent well maintained rooms. Never any problems with them over many years.

 

Then they decided to stop maintaining their hotels to save money, and the older ones fell into a pretty poor state.

 

Premier Inn came on the scene and really cleaned up.

 

A lesson there for P&O? The Travelodge of the cruise industry.

[Fionboard]

1 minute ago, Harry Peterson said:

I remember the time when Travelodge was the go to budget hotel chain. Cheap, clean , decent well maintained rooms. Never any problems with them over many years.

 

Then they decided to stop maintaining their hotels to save money, and the older ones fell into a pretty poor state.

 

Premier Inn came on the scene and really cleaned up.

 

A lesson there for P&O? The Travelodge of the cruise industry.

Good point