Arcadia 29th August - 14th September a brief review

[Sarah1974]

I am so impressed with those who blog daily whilst on a cruise and I love reading reviews.  I’ve been home for over two weeks and just got round to writing a brief review!

 

Before we sailed I had read several reviews of Arcadia and heard about declining standards and issues with the ship.

 

I have cruised twice before with P&O - Oriana in 2016 and Britannia in 2019.  I’ve also cruised several times with Royal Caribbean.

 

We were a group of 3 ladies in a deluxe balcony cabin. 
 

Our allocated boarding time was 2.15pm.  We arrived at the Mayflower terminal in Southampton at 2.00pm and joined the short queue for check-in.  Photos were taken and we went through security.  Onto the ship and straight to our muster point.  Then up to our cabin and our luggage was already on our floor by the lifts.  Very speedy.

 

The cabin was a reasonable size and had lots of storage.  My friend who had the sofa bed said it was very comfortable.  Although the cabin is only serviced once a day (in the morning) the steward would come into the cabin each evening to set up the sofa bed.  The cabin was kept very clean.  
 

Food - always a personal opinion! One of my travelling friends is gluten free, the other gluten and soya free.  There was a letter waiting in the cabin inviting them to a meeting the next day to discuss their dietary needs.  At dinner each evening they were given the lunch and dinner menus for the next day and made their choices.  Some days had a very limited selection of options they could eat but alternatives were offered.  We had breakfast and lunch in the buffet and were impressed with the labelling of all items, the only issue we had on occasion was finding a table for three.  We had freedom dining in the evening.  Some evenings we were given a pager and never waited longer than an hour (we always opted not to share), a couple of evenings we went straight in.  A few times we requested a window table when we got our pager and were granted those requests.  Food was  always hot and presented nicely although some portion sizes were a bit small.  
 

Entertainment - we are 49, 60 and 69 in age and have reasonably similar tastes.  We loved Pulse, playing most nights in The Globe and tried to make at least one of their sets per night.  Each night the music had a different theme - 60s, 70s, 80s, rock, country etc.  On the formal / celebration nights there seemed to be a lack of entertainment that interested us - ballroom dancing in the Globe was not our thing and other venues those nights didn’t have much on.  We went to the theatre shows some evenings and particularly liked the Whitney Houston tribute and the Astonishing illusion show.  We loved the silent disco!  The furniture and carpets in the bar venues all looked very new - I’d seen a comment before travelling that it was worn.  
 

Lectures - we attended the lectures on photography, Norway and Iceland which were all very informative.   
 

Maintenance - as usual work is going on around the ship to keep things updated.  When our cabin was due for balcony clean / Wi-Fi installation / light on life jacket change we were given written notice of these works.  
 

The ports we visited were Skjolden, Alesund, Reykjavik Isafjordur, Akureyri, Edinburgh and Newcastle.  For the Norway and Iceland excursions we booked through P&O.  All were very well organised, although it may have been possible to do them with other providers for less money.  
 

Fitness pass - I pre-paid for 3 fitness classes with the aim of using the pass for the tour de cycle classes.  I was a bit disappointed that a couple of these sessions were scheduled for port days eg 9am the day we were in Edinburgh and wanted to be off exploring.  
 

Disembarkation - we had to vacate the cabin by 8am with a departure time of 8.45 - 9am.  A very smooth process, luggage located quickly and on our way home.
 

Overall this was a fabulous cruise and I wouldn’t hesitate to sail with P&O again.  

 

 

[Sarah1974]

Beautiful Skjolden - our first port 

[Sarah1974]

Fabulous cocktails!

[Sarah1974]

Picturesque scenery

[CarlaMarie]

Thank you for sharing your review with us and the wonderful photos too. Arcadia is my favourite ship and I'm so pleased you enjoyed your time on her! 

[SarahHben]

1 hour ago, Sarah1974 said:

Picturesque scenery

Beautiful! I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise 😊

[Ardennais]

Looks good and sounds good. Many thanks.

[jaydee6969]

Nice to hear you had a great cruise, and the ship is not as bad as most social media sites etc would have us believe.

 

We will be boarding Arcadia later this month to hopefully see the Northern Lights, 6 of us and all of our first time on Arcadia.

[paulatsea]

Thanks for the review - good to know Arcadia is all ok.

[Sarah1974]

2 hours ago, jaydee6969 said:

Nice to hear you had a great cruise, and the ship is not as bad as most social media sites etc would have us believe.

 

We will be boarding Arcadia later this month to hopefully see the Northern Lights, 6 of us and all of our first time on Arcadia.

Hope you have a lovely cruise and get to see the Northern Lights 

[Junction2]

Pleased you enjoyed your cruise on Arcadia. Three of us have just booked to do the same cruise in June 25 although we visit Iceland first and Belfast instead of Edinburgh and Newcastle. 
I'm glad the sofa bed was comfy as that will be mine for the duration. 
Have you any recommendations for the P and O excursions in Iceland? Thank you. 

[JeanieC,Aston]

19 minutes ago, Junction2 said:

Pleased you enjoyed your cruise on Arcadia. Three of us have just booked to do the same cruise in June 25 although we visit Iceland first and Belfast instead of Edinburgh and Newcastle. 
I'm glad the sofa bed was comfy as that will be mine for the duration. 
Have you any recommendations for the P and O excursions in Iceland? Thank you. 

Hi

It would be a shame to go to Iceland and not do the Golden Circle tour,,,it’s on the must do list.

There is private tours that do it,,my time it was Saga Travel Iceland,,,,8 in a 12 seater mini bus.

[Junction2]

Thank you. I’ll take a look. I always think it’s a shame P and O don’t give some examples of the excursions that might be offered at each port instead of posting the details closer to the date of the cruise and then you can only view them if you’re actually booked on said cruise. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

4 minutes ago, Junction2 said:

Thank you. I’ll take a look. I always think it’s a shame P and O don’t give some examples of the excursions that might be offered at each port instead of posting the details closer to the date of the cruise and then you can only view them if you’re actually booked on said cruise. 

https://www.pocruises.com/shore-experiences#northern-europe

 

This link might work

 

From there look for digital port guide link and put the cruise number in

 

(Dont think you need to be booked to take a look at the excursions) 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Junction2]

Thank you ICF I’ll take a look. 

[Sarah1974]

5 hours ago, Junction2 said:

Have you any recommendations for the P and O excursions in Iceland? Thank you. 

On day 1 in Reykjavik we did the introduction to Iceland tour, this was in the morning so in the afternoon we got the free shuttle bus into the city centre and wandered about.  On day 2 we did the golden circle tour - highly recommend this 8 hour trip.  In Isafjordur we did the best of tour - in these few hours we were shown so much of the local area it was great.   In Akureyri we went whale watching.  
 

All of the tours were booked through P&O but I think other companies would offer something similar and possibly cheaper.  We wanted the security of booking through P&O

[thornegirl]

We are looking at this cruise for next year,  can I ask if you went to any of the speciality restaurants?

 

Arcadia is the only P&O ship that we haven't been on, good to hear that you enjoyed the ship and the cruise.

[Sarah1974]

On 10/3/2023 at 8:10 AM, thornegirl said:

We are looking at this cruise for next year,  can I ask if you went to any of the speciality restaurants?

 

Arcadia is the only P&O ship that we haven't been on, good to hear that you enjoyed the ship and the cruise.

No, we didn't.  There are fewer speciality restaurants than other ships.  We met a couple who said the Ocean Grill was amazing, and their food pics looked fab.  There's a Sindhu and on sea days a pop-up Glass House in one of the bars

[thornegirl]

1 hour ago, Sarah1974 said:

No, we didn't.  There are fewer speciality restaurants than other ships.  We met a couple who said the Ocean Grill was amazing, and their food pics looked fab.  There's a Sindhu and on sea days a pop-up Glass House in one of the bars

Thanks for your reply, will do some more research 

[jh1809]

25 minutes ago, thornegirl said:

Thanks for your reply, will do some more research 

I was on Arcadia in August, and agree that the Ocean Grill was superb. Sindhu was also very good, though perhaps not quite as good as the one on Aurora. The pop-up Glasshouse wasn't on every sea day and was only at lunch-time, as it used the Ocean Grill's kitchen, and I don't think it was bookable.