arlowood

We has a similar experience on our 1st May sailing of Arcadia to the Baltic. Had chosen A129 which we thought was perfect for our needs but were contacted by P&O to say they were moving us to a forward cabin on C deck. Not what we would have chosen or wanted.. I did a "dummy" booking for that cruise and established that there were still cabins for sale in the aft section of A deck so contacted our TA who got on to P&O and persuaded them to reallocate us to one of the available cabins, A131, on A deck. (Was a pointless exercise ultimately as P&O canceled he cruise a wok or so later). Why P&O did not do the logical thing and offer us one of those cabins initially I struggle to understand. Try to do a dummy booking and see what cabins are still being offered for sale on your cruise. If there are any that appeal then contact your TA (if you have one) to get you switched to one of those. Otherwise argue thecase directly with P&O.

Just be aware that the Flam Railway is a scheduled service from Flam to Myrdal - it is not a dedicated tourist train. When we were there we bought the P&O excursion but noticed that there were several other carriages used by people travelling normally to Myrdal to connect with the Bergen - Oslo service. I think it is entirely feasible to do the trip independently - you just have to purchase your tickets in advance online or at the station near to where the ship docks. I think it will be a fair bit cheaper than the price P&O charges. If you have the time you can extend your stop at Myrdal and come back on a later train. Maybe go for a walk around the Myrdal station area. On our P&O trip we just had to come back on the next return train leaving only about 30mins at Myrdal. I've attached the Timetables for 2022 that might be of help. https://www.norwaysbest.com/globalassets/pdf/rutetider/rutetider-2022/flamsbana_timetable_2022.pdf

On our recent Arcadia cruise in Lisbon all passengers who took the shuttle had their cruise cards scanned by a P&O staff member before boarding the bus. Those on Select fare would not be charged while those on the saver fare would have the cost added to their on board account. Not sure of the cost off hand as we were on a select fare. Could be between £2.50 and £5 per journey depending on the duration I'm guessing.

I think things may have changed now. The last time we visited Lisbon we took the shuttle and it dropped us in the large square close to the Arco da Rua Augusta just a stones throw from the River Tagus and easily walkable from the ship if you so desired. However this last time we were dropped off some way north of that point as I said in my post above. On our return to ship when we did drive through that square by the Arch and it looked to be largely pedestrianised with limited or zero option for cruise coaches to drop off and/or pick up. Things may be different for other cruises but I sense that the city authorities may have mandated that shuttles drop off elsewhere to avoid the inevitable crowding around the square.

Arcadia docked at Santa Apolonia on our recent cruise there. Shuttle bus drop off point was north west of Dom Pedro IV square, close to the Restauradores Metro station. Consequently it took a bit longer than we had previously experienced - maybe about 15 -20 minutes due to negotiating fairly heavy traffic. In the past my recollection was that we were dropped off at the Arch at the southern end of Rua Augusta. Shuttle was free to Select Fare passengers

Ocean Grill was not open during our cruise. I think I heard someone suggest that they were aiming to have it open in October but I don't know if that is fact or rumour. Sindhu was open and we dined there on 2 occasions during our cruise. Enjoyed it immensely the first night but I was less impressed with my Chicken Korma main meal on our second visit. There is a new system in place (well new to us since last eating at Sindhu). Previously we were just charged a fixed supplement per person to eat at the speciality restaurants. Now the set up is more aligned to a normal situation where each individual dish is priced separately and you are charged a total depending on what you select. Our first visit came to £64 for 2 including a bottle of wine which I think compares well with what you would expect at a decent Asian restaurant onshore. One tip I would give is that if you want to eat at Sindhu, do as we did and make your bookings as soon as you get on board either directly by phone or using the My Holiday app. Within 2 days on our cruise , Sindhu was fully booked with only a waiting list for those hoping for cancellations. Just to confirm your final point, the set dining is now in the Meridian on Deck 3 aft whereas the Freedom Dining is downstairs on Deck 2

Hi there We were on C deck in the mid forward section (C056) and I was never able to log on to the wifi in the cabin. However I'm sure there are also "dead spots" around the ship as I noticed my connection dropping out when just moving from one area of the ship to another. Could be that if you used any of the lifts the reception is poor or non existent. Did make using the app a bit of a lottery so in the end we just went down to the dining room (Freedom Dining section Deck 2 aft) at around 6.30 and opted to share a table. Never had an issue getting in at that time.

Just returned from our J216 cruise on Arcadia (7 night Portugal& Spain) and thought I'd chip in with a few observations following the earlier posts regarding the start up cruise on Arcadia. Firstly, we had a great time and enjoyed the visit to 2 ports that we had never visited previously (Oporto and Vigo). Sadly due to adverse weather conditions we did not get to visit Guernsey (swell conditions outside the safety levels for tender operations). This was our 3rd failed attempt to visit Guernsey due to weather/sea conditions so e have resigned ourselves to the fact that it is not meant to be. Our cabin steward was excellent and very quickly learned our morning routine so that the cabin was always serviced when we got back from breakfast. As mentioned elsewhere, there is now no turn-down service in the evening as I believe the cabin stewards have been redeployed to other duties in the evening. (We did meet our steward one evening near our cabin and he was wearing a white jacket rather than the normal blue shirt so he was probably off to his evening shift somewhere else on the ship). There were a few minor issues that showed how things have been pared back since we last sailed with P&) in 2019. Bulk bottles of shower gel and shampoo fitted to the wall over the bath. No moisturiser or shower cap provided. The menu in the Meridian Restaurant has been shrunk and the always "available items" (salmon fillet and sirloin steak) are now included with another 3 items as main menu options. There seemed to be a preponderance of green beans and broccoli as the vegetable accompaniments to most main courses. No sweet sauces (caramel, butterscotch, chocolate) available to add to your ice cream. Restaurant staff appeared to be struggling to cope on occasions probably due to reduced staffing levels. The "My Holiday" app facility was a bit of a puzzle. We were on Freedom Dining and tried to use the app to join the "virtual queue" for a table. However it stated that the app page had to be kept open to allow you to be notified when a table was available. My issue was that my wifi connection to the app would not work in my cabin and frequently dropped out when moving around the ship. So in order to get the benefit of the virtual queue I realised that, once I had joined the queue, I would have to park myself in a good wifi area and not move from there until I was alerted to come to the restaurant. In my view the idea is a little half-baked at present but may work better with some tweaks. We also spoke to those who had used the app to book sets for the entertainment. Some shows were very popular but they said appeared to be no checks made of those entering the theatre to see whether they had pre-booked or not. So effectively the pre-booking system was a bit of a lottery and you could miss out if those who had not booked got there before you. We had a good time but the various little things that niggled away meant that our enjoyment was eroded by comparison to our earlier experiences on P&O.

Just returned from our J216 cruise on Arcadia and I'd like to update the information on the Library facilities for any others interested. During Library opening hours the book cabinets are open and you are able to browse the books and select what you want to read. There was one cabinet that was always open and contained what looked like donated paperbacks and other books from passengers who had finished reading them and did not want to carry them home. My wife and I made use of this at least once during the cruise. So effectively there is a book exchange system in place though I don't think P&O publicise the fact. During our cruise there were at least 2 jigsaw puzzles on the go that anyone could have a go at completing or adding pieces. There were at least 6 or 7 desktop PC's up and running for those who wanted to browse the free internet options (usually only P&O website or related sites) or search the wider web if they are on a WiFi package and don't want to fiddle with a smartphone or tablet/iPad.

Not only do they not care but they are also staffed by people appear to be strangers to logic. On our 1st May cruise on Arcadia we had booked a select fare cabin in the mid-aft section of A deck (A129). Shortly after we had paid our full balance?????, we had an email apologising but informing us that we were being moved from our chosen cabin to a forward cabin on B-deck. Not a happy camper at that point as we would definitely not have selected a cabin there. I went on to the P&O website and did a "dummy" booking and established that they were still offering cabins on A-deck just slightly further aft of our chosen one. I contacted our TA and after much toing and froing she eventually managed to persuade them to switch us to A137 - pretty close to were we wanted to be. Now what I can't fathom is why they could not have switched me to that cabin in the first place. I would still have been a bit upset at losing our chosen cabin but would have been relatively happy with the A137 alternative. Instead they shunted me to a lower forward cabin. I'm afraid in the end it all proved to be a bit academic as they contacted us in early April to cancel the cruise due to staff being re-deployed from Arcadia to other larger ships. Where logic is concerned I fear that P&O were missing in action at the tutorial

If you are interested in the details of the different tiers and their benefits the PDF below will enlighten you Peninsular-Club.pdf

Yes I'm sure they are not routinely disinfecting all the books that people handle when browsing for something to read. They may disinfect returned books before placing them back on the shelves. However it's a pretty pointless exercise as the scientific consensus appears to show that the likelihood of contracting Covid from surfaces is vanishingly small. If you're looking to do a book swap then it's probably best to just drop the idea into the conversation with other passengers at lunch/dinner etc. That way you may land lucky and find someone on the lookout for more reading material. Could be a bit of a lottery depending on the respective tastes but who knows, you may stumble over an author you would otherwise never have discovered.

Due to board Arcadia in just over a weeks' time and looking forward to it. Much relieved to hear from recent cruisers on Arcadia that Sindhu appears to be open and functioning as normal. Have not heard any comments about the Ocean Grill so I suspect that is still closed but we live in hope. My main query to any recent passengers on Arcadia is about the Library. Is it open as normal and are you able to withdraw books as per pre-Covid days. IIRC there were also several desktop PC's in the library available for passengers to use as required. Are these still there and accessible.

We go on the 30th August and the dress code is showing for our itinerary.

Having briefly read the new Princess Upgrade Bidding system it does not seem to clarify whether you will be able to bid for an upgrade to a specific cabin or just to a higher grade of cabin in an area where these are located. I know that some pax with P&O have fallen foul of the free upgrade system. At the time of booking , if you select that you are open to an upgrade then if you are offered an upgrade, you cannot refuse it and you may end up in a nominally better cabin but in a much worse location on the ship. I was advised not to tick the upgrade box when booking to avoid that issue. If you are bidding and paying hard cash to upgrade then I would hope that you can at least pick which upgraded cabin you are moving to.

Hi there Thanks for the update. Has Sindhu been open every night of your cruise or is it only on selected nights. Any info on ease of booking or is it difficult to get a table. Reason for my question is that our J216 cruise is only for 7 nights and we have a chunk of OBC to get rid of over that short period. My idea was to eat as several times at Sindhu as a means of reducing the size of our OBC credit

Yep - we've just had the "softening up" email from P&O ahead of our J216 cruise on Arcadia departing 30th August. First there is the paragraph about "supply chain challenges" and "global staff shortages" This is then followed by a paragraph stating that "Current opening days and times in our speciality restaurants may be affected as well as service in some bars etc etc......" My heart sank when I saw it as I had hoped that at least Sindhu would be open but I have a dreaded premonition that I could be disappointed. Other posters recently seemed to suggest that Sindhu was up and running on Arcadia but from the email received that situation may have changed.

Log into your My P&O account (cruise letter code, name, DOB) and click on "Booking Summary" At the top of that page is a brief description of your cruise, Cabin No etc and beneath that are 3 blue circles "Check-In" (which should be ticked in your case), "Print E-Tickets" and "Print Luggage Labels". Just click on these in turn to download and print off the relevant docs. Sadly P&O have further penny pinched and left you with labels that are made from the A4 paper you use to print. These pages then have to be folded in a specific way, looped around your case handle and stapled in place. I just hope they survive the luggage handling process or there will be multiple cases looking for cabins after sail-away. Also I'm not sure what people who do not have access to a printer will do.

There are quite a few areas around the ships that we regularly sail on (Arcadia, Aurora) that would not equate to "happy cruising" for my part. For example if I chose an early saver de-luxe balcony, I would be very upset to be allocated cabins on A-deck under the Belvedere restaurant. We were caught out on one cruise when we booked one of those cabins and we were woken up most mornings as the restaurant staff started moving stuff around above our cabin in preparation for the breakfast service. Again proximity to lifts for those with mobility issues can be important. Cabins in the forward section can be very noisy if you are unlucky to run into rough sea conditions. For my part I like to know where I'll be on the ship - so I'm willing to pay the premium

Do you have documentary evidence of the T&C's at the time you originally booked. I'm no legal eagle but I would think it unlikely that P&O can impose new T&C's retrospectively. Normally at the time of booking, you would be sent a booking confirmation with T&C's attached. If you have those and they include the "transfer to ANY cruise" wording then those are the terms that will apply to your booking. Hopefully someone more qualified in these legal matters will be along to support or shoot down my opinion.

We've missed Guernsey twice in cruises over the past 3 or 4 years. On one occasion it was blowing a hooley but on the other it looked relatively calm but the Captain said that the local coastguard had warned of a change in the sea conditions later in the day so the tendering was abandoned in case anyone got stuck on the island. Can't remember getting any compensation in the form of OBC or treats (wine or similar). I think it is just viewed as the luck of the draw where tenders are needed. Hoping for third time lucky as we are due in Guernsey as the first post on our 7 night Western Med cruise on Arcadia departing 30th August

Just for clarification. Do you have to be signed into the ship's WiFi system before you can use the App to book restaurants, theatre slots etc. When last on board Arcadia I seem to remember that to WiFi was offered in 24hr tranches at a fixed price. At the time it seemed a tad expensive to me bearing in mind that you would be asleep or dining or on an excursion etc for a good chunk of that 24hrs. So effectively you were paying in part for a service that you could not use. In the end I think I just signed up for the occasional 24hr time period when I wanted to check emails or contact family at home via WhatsApp. I know you can book for a full cruise coverage but thaere again it seemed a bit of a rip-off in my opinion. So what it boils down to is this. If you want to book things over the duration of your cruise using the App, you are more or less forced to sign up for the P&O WiFi. If you don't want to use the App, can you still book dining slots at the MDR and/or the specialty restaurants by telephone or in person.

Hve a check of this video that gives you a tour of one of the Iona cabins. Looks like there are 2 standard sockets on the dressing table and one by the side of the bed. There are also USB sockets built into the bedside light fittings.

Great news - hopefully we can get confirmation from @Fionboard. Would be a big step forward to have at least one specialty restaurant open on our J216 cruise on 30th August. We have a chunk of OBC to use up ( due to our 1st May cancelled cruise) over a 7 night itinerary and I can't think of a better way to spend that than having a few visits to Sindhu

Have a great cruise. If you can post a few comments along the way it will help myself and OH to live vicariously, as your itinerary is almost exactly the same as the one we had cancelled on Arcadia at 3 weeks notice. That one was due to sail on 1st May but P&O decided that some of the larger family ships took priority and re-deployed staff/crew from Arcadia to make up a shortfall in staffing overall. We are now booked on J216 which sails on 30th August so I am keen to know how things are and if they have improved compared to some indications form pax on the earlier start-up cruises