Arcadia NOT leaving fleet - confirmed..

[libra-sue]

Today, on cruise connections/ onboard forum/Adonia a member who is onboard Arcadia at the moment posted the following....

 

Anyway here goes again, at the Portunas do last night prior to dinner, Captain Steve asked if anyone was present from Cruise Connections and I responded Aye Aye Sir to which he went on to state that some stories about Arcadia leaving the fleet were not true to say the least. When Ventura comes into the Fleet that will leave oportunities for other ships to call into ports anew. That sounds good to me to look forward to places not already visited.

So, straight from the Captains mouth.... Arcadia is not leaving the fleet!:)

 

Hoorah!

and... the new balcony teak furniture is now in place with blue cushions, replacing the old white plastic chairs and tables.

 

good news for Arcadia fans

 

 

Sue

[MrSofty]

Call me a cynic but anything coming from a ship's captain always tow's the party line. Ask him if there's been much Norovirus about and he'll certainly say "the odd case here and there !".

 

Arcadia is a lemon. It's design is ridiculous at best, the buffet area is an absolute farce and there are no relaxing private rooms or bars. It has one market and that's for the 50s - 90s which is just fine. If P&O can sustain the ship with that specific age group then more power to their elbows. Personally, I don't believe a word. I would imagine that so many people are avoiding the Arcadia that the budgeted bookings across the fleet are now all unbalanced and causing P&O a lot of grief. Ventura coming in may help to rebalance things (if they get this ship right !) but I'm still of the opinion that Arcadia is destined to be sold off.

 

Your captain just ain't gonna tell you that is he? I mean come on, can you imagine the papers the next day ? "Captain Steve quotes, Arcadia is leaving P&O ! " He'd be sacked for gross mis-conduct, releasing news before P&O's own press office, probably lose his captaincy too !

I'm afraid the PR spiel, dumbing down and softly softly are all critical and mandatory elements of the captain's job I'm afraid.

 

Change is coming ! Embrace it.

[Vampire Parrot]

the buffet area is an absolute farce and there are no relaxing private rooms or bars

 

At lunchtime, I'd walk around the buffet because there was a large choice - I'd then choose what I'd like (usually the Indian or Chinese food!). I never have a problem finding a place to sit where I could watch the sea go past....

 

We found some very nice quiet private rooms, and the Orchard bar was a wonderful quiet place to play a very private game of poker....:rolleyes:

 

The Arcadia isn't perfect, but what ship is?

 

James

[daiB]

Call me a cynic but anything coming from a ship's captain always tow's the party line. Ask him if there's been much Norovirus about and he'll certainly say "the odd case here and there !".

 

Arcadia is a lemon. It's design is ridiculous at best, the buffet area is an absolute farce and there are no relaxing private rooms or bars. It has one market and that's for the 50s - 90s which is just fine. If P&O can sustain the ship with that specific age group then more power to their elbows. Personally, I don't believe a word. I would imagine that so many people are avoiding the Arcadia that the budgeted bookings across the fleet are now all unbalanced and causing P&O a lot of grief. Ventura coming in may help to rebalance things (if they get this ship right !) but I'm still of the opinion that Arcadia is destined to be sold off.

 

Your captain just ain't gonna tell you that is he? I mean come on, can you imagine the papers the next day ? "Captain Steve quotes, Arcadia is leaving P&O ! " He'd be sacked for gross mis-conduct, releasing news before P&O's own press office, probably lose his captaincy too !

I'm afraid the PR spiel, dumbing down and softly softly are all critical and mandatory elements of the captain's job I'm afraid.

 

Change is coming ! Embrace it.

 

 

You are a cynic.

 

You clearly have a down on Arcadia and you make wild assumptions about what other people do and think.

 

Arcadia was full on J625 and the following J626 and from my experience everyone enjoyed the ship.

 

So what is your problem?

[Glenndale]

The fact that the ship was full is not an accurate guide to it's popularity, merely the level of discounting.

If the price was right and the itinerary I would travel on Arcadia again, but this does not mean that I particularly liked the ship.

[forest_]

Call me a cynic but anything coming from a ship's captain always tow's the party line. Ask him if there's been much Norovirus about and he'll certainly say "the odd case here and there !".

 

Arcadia is a lemon. It's design is ridiculous at best, the buffet area is an absolute farce and there are no relaxing private rooms or bars. It has one market and that's for the 50s - 90s which is just fine. If P&O can sustain the ship with that specific age group then more power to their elbows. Personally, I don't believe a word. I would imagine that so many people are avoiding the Arcadia that the budgeted bookings across the fleet are now all unbalanced and causing P&O a lot of grief. Ventura coming in may help to rebalance things (if they get this ship right !) but I'm still of the opinion that Arcadia is destined to be sold off.

 

Your captain just ain't gonna tell you that is he? I mean come on, can you imagine the papers the next day ? "Captain Steve quotes, Arcadia is leaving P&O ! " He'd be sacked for gross mis-conduct, releasing news before P&O's own press office, probably lose his captaincy too !

I'm afraid the PR spiel, dumbing down and softly softly are all critical and mandatory elements of the captain's job I'm afraid.

 

Change is coming ! Embrace it.

 

Some people make you laugh a lemon indeed!!! So you could not work out the buffet area??!!! Have to say it is far better than the other P&O ships. As a younger crusier I found Arcadia a great ship with some great desgin and colour used. Arcadia is not destined to be sold off.

 

My friend is a shipping agent and bookings for certain ports confim a stay up to 2009 at the very min. So go and suck your lemon!!

 

The word on the street is that Auroa is on her way to Costa.

[Janey]

Hi Forrest, yes you have to laugh don't you? I thought the buffet area was fairly simple to be honest as was the layout of the rest of the ship! I must be the only person on the planet who came back last month and promptly booked to go again. Cannot beat Arcadia, lovely big statements and huge balconies and no screaming children. So it doesn't have any plants or a massive Atrium, so what? Nor does it have a lively night club thank goodness. Don't go on a cruise ship to sit in a noisy night club, nothing better than sitting on the Lido deck at night with a drink just listening to sea and watching the stars, much more relaxing. Perhaps these people should stick to Carnival Destiny or something like that.

[libra-sue]

I also booked my Arcadia cruise about a fortnight after disembarkation, a big step for us at the time, as the first one (Canaries) was supposed to be ' a trip of a lifetime, one off', ummmm, well just come off Aurora weekender, and now as I say, we will be back on Arcadia 6 months tomorrow for The Med. AND she now has new balcony furniture, - teak with blue cushions, replacing the white plastic chairs and tables ! HOORAH.

 

 

Sue:)

photos on : www.sveale.photosite.com

[MrSofty]

Well there are certainly a few Arcadia fans out there aren't there? , well, 5 at any rate !

 

Clearly there are always going to be people who love specific ships and of course every ship will have a number of avid fans. Arcadian fans however appear to be in a minority. You get this impression from talking to many people throughout a number of cruises where they either tell you that they don't like Arcadia or they tell you that they have spoken to other people who don't like her.

 

Now, if I sit down and think about all I have heard about all the P&O ships I honestly can't remember anyone saying to me that they hated Aurora, or Oriana or for that matter Oceana or Artemis. They may express an opinion that they favour one over another for a whole raft of personal reasons but I have never heard anyone specifically say that they hated these ships and would never travel on them again.

 

Conversely I have heard a number of people say just that about Arcadia. So, yes I can see that Arcadia has a following but I think it's a minority and as I said in my first posting, I don't think that following is strong enough to sustain Arcadia's continued presence in the fleet.

 

P&O change their itineraries every year so eventually we all have to choose a different ship or choose a different itinerary. Personally I'd sail with Aurora every time if I could but that just isn't possible. This New Year for example it had to be Oriana. I found Oriana ok, a little old, tired, shabby in places with pitted and faded decor, old and poor bathroom fittings etc, but all in all she was ok and I would sail with her again. I would not do the same for Arcadia I'm afraid, mostly because of the abnormally high age group of pensioners and also because of the lack of sectioned off private lounges and bars. Many other people share these sentiments. So, we will just find a different cruise and leave Arcadia to those that like her. If there is enough of you to keep her filled 365 days a year then I'm sure she'll stay in the fleet.

Interesting however, that P&O are in fact introducing 2 more new ships (Ventura and the other as yet unnanmed). Is demand really so high that they need 3 new ships and can fill them all ? Or has demand for the new Arcadia not met expectations and so they need to swap it out sharpish ? Who knows ? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, enjoy whatever ships float your boat !

[cruisebore]

Mr Softy

 

I believe that Arcadia has never been a long term option for P&O. Why? because of the very low quality materials and fitting out of the public rooms. To me it resembles a 3* finish rather than the 5* appearance of other new ships.

IMO this ship was foisted on P&O by Carnival until the Ventura comes along. Accordingly P&O did not want to spend mega bucks on it. I believe it will go back to HAL after a complete refit.

 

Regards

 

Cb

[cruisebore]

Registering previous message

[Lancastrian]

Another big Arcadia fan here. I thought the buffet was the best of any ship we have been on. Such a fantastic choice. Bags of room too.

[mancunian]

I cannot comment on what Arcadia is like ... yet. We are booked on our first cruise on her in December. What does strike me reading this and the other thread on Arcadia, is that for all Mr Softly is saying there appear certainly on these two threads to be more in favour than against her. I also think that when you are on board any ship you tend to hear the againsts from other passengers rather than the fors. They are too busy having a good time and enjoying themselves and the ship.

[cruiseluvva]

We have cruised on all the current P&O fleet with the exception of Artemis, and I have to say Arcadia is my favourite by a mile. The tasteful, subtle decor, the well laid out design, the spacious cabins, with the glorious aft suites, the theatre, the buffet is cleverly designed, the excellent spa and many other factors are all wonderful.

 

Now Oriana...we simply hated her, too clautrophobic and dark...no thank you, no matter where she was going!

 

It doesn't mean anyone is right and anyone is wrong, we just like different things! Whatever P&O have planned, and NONE of us know for sure what, I HOPE Arcadia stays.

 

Gill

[mancunian]

Thanks for that. We are looking forward to our trip on Arcadia. To be honest of the 12 ships we have been on we have not strongly disliked any of them. We have favourites of course. Arcadia might be a little large for us generally having been on ships of under 1000 passengers, but we have been on Artemis and we think some of the criticisms of her are a bit unfair. She is a nice size and we were more than happy with the food and entertainment. Yes she is older than the others, but I think the upgrades they have made, and presumably more to come will put this right.

 

I agree we all like different things. I think it is interesting and important that everyone puts their point of view for and against, what I do not like is when the same people go on and on about how terrible a ship is, particularly when that ship has obviously got a good following with a lot of people.

[mancunian]

Thanks for that. We are looking forward to our trip on Arcadia. To be honest of the 12 ships we have been on we have not strongly disliked any of them. We have favourites of course. Arcadia might be a little large for us generally having been on ships of under 1000 passengers, but we have been on Artemis and we think some of the criticisms of her are a bit unfair. She is a nice size and we were more than happy with the food and entertainment. Yes she is older than the others, but I think the upgrades they have made, and presumably more to come will put this right.

 

I agree we all like different things. I think it is interesting and important that everyone puts their point of view for and against, what I do not like is when the same people keep writing about how terrible a ship is, particularly when that ship has obviously got a good following with a lot of people.

[cruisebritannia]

I'm going to come out pro-Arcadia on this one. There may be faults there (let's face it, any ship intended to be one thing then hastily adjusted to fill a hole mid-build is bound to have a few flaws), but I think she still shines through as a modern and contempory cruise ship.

 

(Although I will say as a huge Cunard fan I think they made the right decision and the new Victoria will be something special)

[ukcrusing]

Can't comment on the other ships in the P&O Fleet, as we only have experience of Acadia, but I must say we loved Acadia. From what I have heard it is very different in layout from certainly Oriana and Aurora, but I think it suits the style that P&O are trying to push with the ship. On out two fly cruises i would say there has been a spread of passenger ages, though we were usually amonst the youngest (at 31 & 27) of people we met, but this adds the the expereince, of meeting people with different views, and experiences. I will be interested to see what the age profile is like on our upcoming Med trip ex Southampton, I am sure it will be older than the fly cruises :) The non flying is something I am certainly looking forward to, having sworn off going on fly cruises with P&O until they do something about their awful charter flights. One of the reasons that for christmas we are going to Australia with princess (scheduled flights!!!!0

 

Just my thoughts

[daiB]

The great advantage that P&O has is that there ships are all different:).

 

We are having great fun trying them all.

 

Remember the :)"best P&O ship is the one you are on":)

 

:)Happy Cruising;)