Arcadia. What is your opinion?

[yorky1]

Thinking of booking Arcadia cruise.   I’m a bit concerned about recent online posts regarding leaks, blocked toilets and speciality dining g venues being shut.  Can anyone who is onboard or who has travelled recently provide any updates 

Thanks 

[yorkshirephil]

21 minutes ago, yorky1 said:

Thinking of booking Arcadia cruise.   I’m a bit concerned about recent online posts regarding leaks, blocked toilets and speciality dining g venues being shut.  Can anyone who is onboard or who has travelled recently provide any updates 

Thanks 

We were on for 40 nights in Nov/Dec and loved the cruise. Arcadia is a lovely old lady of the sea, quite traditional. We didn't have problems but were aware that there had been an issue with blocked toilets. Sindhu was closed on the first week of the cruise, assuming they did not have food stocks while in Southampton? Ocean grill was open for the duration. 

[wowzz]

Sorry - old, cold and tired in our opinion. Mrs W won't let me book a cruise on Arcadia again.

[showingdiva]

Haven't been on board post-covid, but have had many cruises and many happy memories on board her.   Not glitzy, but has one of the most coherent layouts of any cruise ship (and for the avoidance of doubt, I've worked on dozens).   Standard balconies are a good size.  Suites are big.  No kids!  Whilst I'm currently not looking at P&O until some things are addressed, I was delighted to read that some investment is being put into both Arcadia and Aurora.

 

Last year, on my doorstep, on an impromptu visit due to the weather.   Passengers all seemed happy enough, despite the desecrated itinerary.

 

 

[wowzz]

12 minutes ago, showingdiva said:

Haven't been on board post-covid

I think that is a key point.

We have been on her pre and post Covid, and imho, the difference in the experience is markedly worse now.

[Goosebear Mum]

We were last on her pre covid, and we won’t book on her again.   Arcadia had too many issues.
 

e.g. 

 

Too few tables for two in the buffet, mainly tables for 6, which were being hogged by 2 people who would not share.  I think our cruise was exacerbated by being in the fjords and an unusual large number of non Brits were on board, who did not understand they shouldn’t sit in a buffet all day with a drink, enjoying the view, pretending all their table for 6 was ‘taken’. It was way too stressful, with many people trying to find somewhere to sit down and eat. Lunch time was dreaded.  Never had this on Aurora or Azura. 

 

Also, we suffered from the Arcadia outdoor sewage smell.  Beautiful millpond North Sea, and for a few hours, our balcony was unusable. 
 

We just did not fall in love with her. Unlike Aurora, who we have returned to 

 

 

[showingdiva]

31 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I think that is a key point.

We have been on her pre and post Covid, and imho, the difference in the experience is markedly worse now.

 

And part of the general reason I'm not booking P&O at present. 

 

I'm hoping that post-much needed attention, to do a couple of short cruises - in the name of nostalgia - on both Arcadia and Aurora.   I'll stick to the bright shiny lights of MSC Virtuosa for the foreseeable.

[gsmt47471015]

We were on her for 30 nights in September and overall we were happy with the condition of the ship , one or two niggles but would agree that some of the toilets were out of action at various times , Sindhu was open but used very little and the ocean grill was closed for the majority of the cruise and only opened in the last few days of our trip, the main criticism was the temperature of the ship which I have mentioned on previous posts and also to senior P and O management , it was just too cold to enjoy many of the venues, I don't know if we would go on her again if it wasn't for the fact our world cruise is on her, if the temperature is the same again we will not be looking to cruise on her again

[Hampshire Steve]

We have enjoyed Arcadia 5 times pre covid and only sailed on Ventura since Covid, however we are on Arcadia to the Med this week and have 3 more booked at present including a Transatlantic this year and next year, there are issues with Arcadia as you would expect from a ship coming up for it's 18th Birthday but in our opinion, so far, nothing that stops us going again.

 

The coming few weeks I can share up to date opinions if these are of use, unless of course there are informative postings from passengers coming off the Worldie this week.

 

Hopefully we enjoy this cruise and continue with our other bookings!

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, Hampshire Steve said:

, there are issues with Arcadia as you would expect from a ship coming up for it's 18th Birthday

True, but that is no excuse for continual sewage and temperature issues.

[Angel57]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

True, but that is no excuse for continual sewage and temperature issues.

Absolutely. I remember the “whiff” back in 2008….!

[mike x ftc]

There's anther thread entitled 'Arcadia - Tell me about it', I posted this as we were on the Christmas cruise.  We would not go on Arcadia again, there are far too many other ships out there that are so much better, for example the older ships on Marella put her (and P&O) to shame.  

 

Hi, we were on the Christmas cruise and to be honest it was a bit of a mixed bag. We like Arcadia, this was our 4th time on her but we had issues this time. Our toilet kept not working, all day Christmas Eve it was not working from 9am through to 6pm. There was Noro virus on board and the Captain kept announcing not to use public washrooms and use the one in your cabin - but we couldn't!!  No apology from anyone, it was out whole corridor that was out not just us. Our friends toilet backed up and they had to vacate for a whole day while the cabin was sanitised. There were buckets everywhere around the ship. 

We went to Sindhu and it was so cold in there we had to go back and get jumpers and COATS just to eat the meal, again, no apology from anyone. Guest relations were just useless and frankly quite rude. It's like P&O have given up with this ship. On the plus side we had a lovely table in fixed dining with lovely wait staff, the ship generally looks good (definitely a case of paining over the cracks!).  As it's an  adults only ship the passengers were very old - we're mid fifties and our friends early 60's and we were like the kids on board and the entertainment (certainly for the Christmas cruise) was obviously geared to match the average age of the passengers - 95!!  The pianists and singers only did slow (dull) songs and there was nothing much late to see or do.  It was all very sedate and I know a lot of people will like this and it will suit them so I'm not knocking it, entertainment is very subjective.  I'm no disco bunny but we could have done with something a bit more lively.  The food was good, the bars are nicely done and comfortable with plenty of seating and the staff friendly, we had no problem being served anywhere.  Freedom dining was very busy early with pagers all the time but if you were prepared to eat after 8pm you could get seated straight away. I hope that helps.

[snaefell]

We are on Arcadia on May 14th,why,we usually go somewhere for our Birthdays(me 26th March & my Wife May 14th),in the past we have had limited time for these trips due to work commitments,now we are both retired we are free for longer trips so finding a cruise leaving around my Wife's Birthday going to places we haven't been to or are on our bucket list,leaving from the UK was reason enough.

When we booked I did notice that Arvia was doing a similar,shorter, itinerary on the same day but I have serious reservations about the new ships,nothing to do with size,our last cruise was on RCI's Quantum Of The Seas,beautiful ship,quirky artwork,light,bright & airy & never felt crowded even though she was near capacity.

Having had a standard balcony cabin on Britannia where we found the balcony way too small we were attracted by reports on CC  of decent sized balconies on Arcadia along with the fact that her itinerary was slightly longer.

As for Iona & Arvia videos I have seen have done nothing to attract us,the Conservatory Balcony Cabins on Deck 8 look awful & as for the atrium area to me it looks like a multi storey shopping mall,not welcoming or in any way impressive,but then we are all different!

[Lyndylou57]

On 4/10/2023 at 7:43 AM, Hampshire Steve said:

We have enjoyed Arcadia 5 times pre covid and only sailed on Ventura since Covid, however we are on Arcadia to the Med this week and have 3 more booked at present including a Transatlantic this year and next year, there are issues with Arcadia as you would expect from a ship coming up for it's 18th Birthday but in our opinion, so far, nothing that stops us going again.

 

The coming few weeks I can share up to date opinions if these are of use, unless of course there are informative postings from passengers coming off the Worldie this week.

 

Hopefully we enjoy this cruise and continue with our other bookings!

We are on Arcadia on May 14 and would really appreciate hearing of your experiences on the ship. Hope a great cruise.

[reece.twiggwhite]

We were on her for a cruise in November and thoroughly enjoyed her. Yes somethings need updating, refreshing etc but all in all it was good and would 100% cruise on her again. Staff were friendly, no issues with toilets, everything we wanted to drink was in stock. Plenty of room in communal areas. 

 

Only downsides were:

 

MDR was so busy, they had withdrawn set dining and given everyone on board freedom dining and it just didn't work. But we were quite happy to have a pager and go for a couple more drinks. 

 

Sindhu was closed - again not a problem for us as we are not totally keen 

 

Ocean Grill - Was one of the worst meals I have had at sea. Service wasn't great and the food was well below par. The worst piece of lobster I have ever had. 

 

 

 

[Hampshire Steve]

I am rather hoping that the world cruise has had time to settle back into routine, we tend to frequent Ocean Grill & Sindhu so fingers crossed!

 

Fully expecting tomorrow to be a problem as I am sure it will be a massive restock time and not everything will be ready first night, we have a 12.00 boarding and have already been told to be 45 minutes late due to volume of baggage coming off, loyalty reception cancelled for the same reason, not too fussed about that anyway.

[Red Ray]

We are on her on 2nd May - great little ship with the very much added attraction of being adults only. Just hope Sindhu is open as that is our favourite restaurant, but if not, hey ho we will dine somewhere else!

[Fionboard]

On her again next month. Lovely ship, apart from the plumbing! 

[jessybell]

Never again.  Most disappointing Xmas cruise….food poor….Xmas dinner a joke…..leaks everywhere. Poor entertainment.  We have done several cruises on Arcadia in past including a World Cruise…..such a shame the standards have dropped so much.  Fred Olsen here we come.

[Hampshire Steve]

Currently on Arcadia at first port of call - La Coruna

 

Opinion so far....

I think this is our sixth time on Arcadia so we have a slight soft spot for the ship and our opinion may be a little in the past!

 

However -

Embarkation was the worst example of an outing to a brewery we have experienced.

Suite guest so our arrival time was to be midday, advised to turn up 45 minutes late, which we did.

No longer are there porters to take your cases, i think this was lost at restart from Covid. We then queued for some time at the baggage pods, which were closed. There were a number of P&O staff wondering through the queue advising "Its because of the world cruise and all the bags to come off" however there were no people hanging around to collect bags.

Having dropped the bags we entered a queue with many many other priority boarding clients, mostly outside in damp conditions.

Check in was a doddle, show you printed boarding pass and passport, get rubber stamped and then instead of joining the ship you are asked to take a seat, by the time they started the boarding around 2.00pm the hall was full, so if you are still concerned about Covid - P&O aren't!

We got to our cabin about 2.30, it was made up ready and in perfect order, on the way we saw some still being made up.

Got onto the MyP&O app quite quickly and booked the Ocean grill for that evening. Have struggled since with the App though.

Had a couple of drinks in the crows nest, all seems okay here in terms of staff and stock, a little colder than elsewhere on the ship but we are hoping that it will warm up as we move south.

 

Out suitcases didn't get to the cabin until 7.40pm, by which time we had cancelled our booking in the Grill and settled for room service.

 

Day two we tried for lunch in the Intermezzo which has become a mini Glass House during the day, very short selection of hot mini dishes which come out of the Ocean Grill kitchen however we didn't stop as they serve just two white wines and were out of stock of one of those (which we wanted), they also have just two reds and one beer, no flights of wine etc on the menu here. Not tried night time yet as the cocktail bar it normally is.

 

Ocean grill last night and have to say it's the best steak I have had onboard and Mrs S was equally impressed with the Lamb, have made many more bookings!

 

Not yet experienced any issues with plumbing, have seen a bucket on one deck but it wasn't catching drips at the time so not sure about that, no odd smells either.

 

Lots of rust outside and plenty of new painting going on at Southampton, no different to most ships I guess.

 

so far staff all friendly, helpful although some newbies a little unsure at present. Advised 150 new crew at Southampton.

 

If anyone wants anything in particular looking at feel free to ask - You never know !

 

Will report more in a day or three

 

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2023 by Hampshire Steve

[Cheshire Blue]

Am looking at booking an Arcadia cruise (18 nights) later in the year (November) so would be interested as to any further insights you (or anyone else) can offer on this ship.  We have cruised on Aurora and Britannia before but not Arcadia.  Most recently cruised on Celebrity Silhouette - where we enjoyed the speciality dining restaurants and the access to the martinis and cocktails via the drinks package.  I assume P & O / Arcadia will not compare with this (sadly) but would welcome thoughts 

 

If I may ask a few specifics : 

 

Age range.  We are late 50s / early 60s.  How will that compare with the people on board (I suspect April will have similar clientele to November) ?    Does it matter ?   Does everyone go to bed at 10.30 ?   We are normally up to about 12.30 ish ?  

 

Only two speciality restaurants on Arcadia - are they both open ?   How difficult to book ?   Are they any good ?  How much are they charging ? 

 

Noticed you mentioned a mini Glass House ?   What is this ? 

 

Could you let me know what cocktails would be available on board (and which fall within the Package limit - which I think is still £6.95) ?   I understand Champagne is outside the package limits - so a real shame you cannot simply pay the difference (which would seem a fair way). 

 

More generally, is the ship well stocked for drinks ?  I like nice reds with dinner ? 

 

References elsewhere to the ship being cold ?   We are sailing in November - so would like there to be some heating ! 

 

References to queues / wait times for the main dining room ?   Is this a problem ?   Are we better on fixed dining (probably do 8.30) or Freedom ?  

 

Thanks for any help

 

Sorry to intrude on your holiday - do enjoy  

 

 

[CarlaMarie]

On 4/15/2023 at 9:46 AM, Hampshire Steve said:

Currently on Arcadia at first port of call - La Coruna

 

Opinion so far....

I think this is our sixth time on Arcadia so we have a slight soft spot for the ship and our opinion may be a little in the past!

 

However -

Embarkation was the worst example of an outing to a brewery we have experienced.

Suite guest so our arrival time was to be midday, advised to turn up 45 minutes late, which we did.

No longer are there porters to take your cases, i think this was lost at restart from Covid. We then queued for some time at the baggage pods, which were closed. There were a number of P&O staff wondering through the queue advising "Its because of the world cruise and all the bags to come off" however there were no people hanging around to collect bags.

Having dropped the bags we entered a queue with many many other priority boarding clients, mostly outside in damp conditions.

Check in was a doddle, show you printed boarding pass and passport, get rubber stamped and then instead of joining the ship you are asked to take a seat, by the time they started the boarding around 2.00pm the hall was full, so if you are still concerned about Covid - P&O aren't!

We got to our cabin about 2.30, it was made up ready and in perfect order, on the way we saw some still being made up.

Got onto the MyP&O app quite quickly and booked the Ocean grill for that evening. Have struggled since with the App though.

Had a couple of drinks in the crows nest, all seems okay here in terms of staff and stock, a little colder than elsewhere on the ship but we are hoping that it will warm up as we move south.

 

Out suitcases didn't get to the cabin until 7.40pm, by which time we had cancelled our booking in the Grill and settled for room service.

 

Day two we tried for lunch in the Intermezzo which has become a mini Glass House during the day, very short selection of hot mini dishes which come out of the Ocean Grill kitchen however we didn't stop as they serve just two white wines and were out of stock of one of those (which we wanted), they also have just two reds and one beer, no flights of wine etc on the menu here. Not tried night time yet as the cocktail bar it normally is.

 

Ocean grill last night and have to say it's the best steak I have had onboard and Mrs S was equally impressed with the Lamb, have made many more bookings!

 

Not yet experienced any issues with plumbing, have seen a bucket on one deck but it wasn't catching drips at the time so not sure about that, no odd smells either.

 

Lots of rust outside and plenty of new painting going on at Southampton, no different to most ships I guess.

 

so far staff all friendly, helpful although some newbies a little unsure at present. Advised 150 new crew at Southampton.

 

If anyone wants anything in particular looking at feel free to ask - You never know !

 

Will report more in a day or three

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to write a review so far. I hope you are enjoying the cruise.

[tring]

2 hours ago, Cheshire Blue said:

Am looking at booking an Arcadia cruise (18 nights) later in the year (November) so would be interested as to any further insights you (or anyone else) can offer on this ship.  We have cruised on Aurora and Britannia before but not Arcadia.  Most recently cruised on Celebrity Silhouette - where we enjoyed the speciality dining restaurants and the access to the martinis and cocktails via the drinks package.  I assume P & O / Arcadia will not compare with this (sadly) but would welcome thoughts 

 

If I may ask a few specifics : 

 

Age range.  We are late 50s / early 60s.  How will that compare with the people on board (I suspect April will have similar clientele to November) ?    Does it matter ?   Does everyone go to bed at 10.30 ?   We are normally up to about 12.30 ish ?  

 

Only two speciality restaurants on Arcadia - are they both open ?   How difficult to book ?   Are they any good ?  How much are they charging ? 

 

Noticed you mentioned a mini Glass House ?   What is this ? 

 

Could you let me know what cocktails would be available on board (and which fall within the Package limit - which I think is still £6.95) ?   I understand Champagne is outside the package limits - so a real shame you cannot simply pay the difference (which would seem a fair way). 

 

More generally, is the ship well stocked for drinks ?  I like nice reds with dinner ? 

 

References elsewhere to the ship being cold ?   We are sailing in November - so would like there to be some heating ! 

 

References to queues / wait times for the main dining room ?   Is this a problem ?   Are we better on fixed dining (probably do 8.30) or Freedom ?  

 

Thanks for any help

 

Sorry to intrude on your holiday - do enjoy  

 

 

 

 

We will be on Arcadia in June, but have not been on her since 2019, so cannot give updated news.  The drinks on P&O are not expensive though, so a drinks pack is not really the way to go unless you are really big drinkers.  If you want quality wines, surely you would be better buying drinks as you go.  We have had a couple of good wines in the Glasshouse on other P&O ships over this last winter.  We have never gone to bed at 10.30pm on any ship and have travelled on other child free ships previously, including Aurora last November.

 

We have not been on Celebrity, but as you seem to want a comparison to that, may I suggest you start a new thread asking about that comparison in the title, which may give more replies which are of use to you.  There are no suggested tips to pay on P&O and no extra service charges on the drinks you buy on the ships, which I think may make a fair difference to the US based lines.  I suspect that, like us, other passengers do give some staff something, but not at the level expected on other ships.

[sogne]

On board now 1st time since 2013  have no problems so far. (Usually  cunard) condition seems fair staff excellent. No buckets seen apart from cleaners and toilet fine.

 

[True Devonian]

On 4/15/2023 at 9:46 AM, Hampshire Steve said:

Currently on Arcadia at first port of call - La Coruna

 

Opinion so far....

I think this is our sixth time on Arcadia so we have a slight soft spot for the ship and our opinion may be a little in the past!

 

However -

Embarkation was the worst example of an outing to a brewery we have experienced.

Suite guest so our arrival time was to be midday, advised to turn up 45 minutes late, which we did.

No longer are there porters to take your cases, i think this was lost at restart from Covid. We then queued for some time at the baggage pods, which were closed. There were a number of P&O staff wondering through the queue advising "Its because of the world cruise and all the bags to come off" however there were no people hanging around to collect bags.

Having dropped the bags we entered a queue with many many other priority boarding clients, mostly outside in damp conditions.

Check in was a doddle, show you printed boarding pass and passport, get rubber stamped and then instead of joining the ship you are asked to take a seat, by the time they started the boarding around 2.00pm the hall was full, so if you are still concerned about Covid - P&O aren't!

We got to our cabin about 2.30, it was made up ready and in perfect order, on the way we saw some still being made up.

Got onto the MyP&O app quite quickly and booked the Ocean grill for that evening. Have struggled since with the App though.

Had a couple of drinks in the crows nest, all seems okay here in terms of staff and stock, a little colder than elsewhere on the ship but we are hoping that it will warm up as we move south.

 

Out suitcases didn't get to the cabin until 7.40pm, by which time we had cancelled our booking in the Grill and settled for room service.

 

Day two we tried for lunch in the Intermezzo which has become a mini Glass House during the day, very short selection of hot mini dishes which come out of the Ocean Grill kitchen however we didn't stop as they serve just two white wines and were out of stock of one of those (which we wanted), they also have just two reds and one beer, no flights of wine etc on the menu here. Not tried night time yet as the cocktail bar it normally is.

 

Ocean grill last night and have to say it's the best steak I have had onboard and Mrs S was equally impressed with the Lamb, have made many more bookings!

 

Not yet experienced any issues with plumbing, have seen a bucket on one deck but it wasn't catching drips at the time so not sure about that, no odd smells either.

 

Lots of rust outside and plenty of new painting going on at Southampton, no different to most ships I guess.

 

so far staff all friendly, helpful although some newbies a little unsure at present. Advised 150 new crew at Southampton.

 

If anyone wants anything in particular looking at feel free to ask - You never know !

 

Will report more in a day or three

 

 

 

 

We are due on Arcadia so have found your post very useful. Are you able to confirm which deck freedom dining is in the MDR. Thank you.