mike x ftc

We love Fred but we accept when we cruise Fred we have a window as balconies are far too expensive, when we cruise P&O and other lines on bigger ships we have a balcony as it is cheaper but we know dining, service etc will not be the same. It's all about choice, where you're going and for how long. As someone has said Fred's drinks packages are very cheap and more often or not they have an offer and they are free, our 2025 Northern lights cruise included one. This is worth quite a bit of money on a 10 night cruise. Other lines drinks and drinks packages are prohibitively expensive.

Lovely photos, thank you.

Thanks very much for your replies - Britannia Club it is then!!

Does anyone know if you are guaranteed a table for 2 if you book club dining on QM2? If not - what's the benefit of doing it?

We did our first Fred cruise in November and we were really impressed, we felt it was everything P&O used to be and should be, it's all the small touches that make it a bit more special.

Interesting, thank you. We are booked on her in November and we're just not sure the crowds and queueing is going to be our thing - but we'll go with an open mind.

We've cruised on all the main lines many times, we're rapidly going off P&O - the cut backs are just too obvious. We are booked on our 3rd Marella cruise in May, we love them. We accept its not the most polished cruise product but its just really good! The staff are amazing and so friendly, the food is good - especially if you pay for the specialty restaurants - they are superb. The ships are older but are not dated at all (well maybe the cabins a bit!) but they are kept immaculately clean. Where Marella win massively is the flights (they are always good times) the transfers, the departure day where you just stay on the ship and continue to use all the facilities etc until your you get called for your flight is just brilliant, its just seamless. For some reason we find passengers on Marella far more friendly and upbeat than other lines, I think this comes from the warm, friendly nature of the staff - it seems to spread!

Thank you.

Does anyone know how easy / difficult it is to get from Newcastle train station to the cruise port, is there a local train from the main train station is it easier by Taxi? We're coming from the south coast and not sure whether to drive or get the train. Thanks

We have friends who boarded on Sunday, they were staying in Venice so it was relatively easy for them to get to the check-in in Venice cruise port then they were taken by coach (2 hours) right to the ship and boarded almost straight away. So following a couple of days of worrying about it they said it was really smooth. I don't know how the people got on disembarking in a different port??

We're from the UK and did it in May, we just used our Uber App and it worked really well, it was about $65 which is good as its quite a long way.

Are they upgrading the buckets catching all the drips??? 😁

HI, they are definitely larger, they are a bit strange as they have just added the standard cabin fittings, they are just oddly spaced out! They could have made much better use of the space or made them family cabins. It was great to have the extra space but they are dark, there is no natural light at all from the window, you can't see anything except the lifeboat, just a slight glimpse of the promenade deck below. I don't have any photos i'm afraid, maybe someone else has?? They are definitely much larger than any standard cabin I have ever stayed in. I hope that helps.

Why indeed?? We've just done our first fly cruise since the pause - it was with Celebrity and to be honest we had forgotten just how good they are, it really put our Christmas cruise on Arcadia into perspective. We have now decided we will never cruise on an older P&O ship again. We were on the Celebrity Millennium and you would think you were on a brand new ship - and she's 5 years older than Arcadia!! Literally everything has been updated - Arcadia is old, tired and dated with many many plumbing issues. We have booked Iona next year to give P&O one last try. But there is just so much better out there.

If you are nervous about the site you can just email the Hotels directly, I have done this successfully in the past, the airport hotels are used to this sort of thing.

Looking forward to following along, we're boarding after you on the 6 May.

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.

Hi, we were on here 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.

Perhaps their trying to secure some bookings before they announce they're selling her and cancel them.....

What was the alcohol free beer, does anyone recall?? I find it helps me pace myself!!

We have also just booked Bolette for our first Fred experience, do they have formal nights??

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.

Arcadia looks good in the bars etc but there have been plumbing problems for years that have just never been dealt with properly - yes she is an older ship - but not that old!! Other lines seem to maintain their older ships far more efficiently. We had no toilet on 3 separate occasions - one of them was Christmas Eve and it was not working for the entire day, it started working again about 6pm after a few pointless visits to reception - they really need to work on looking like they care! Our friends had dirty water coming up out of their toilet on boxing day, it took a while but eventually it was fixed and sanitized. You just lose faith a little..

We were on Arcadia, got back this morning, we were supposed to be in Bruges yesterday but could not berth safely so we made our way back to Southampton early, it was a bit wild out there so it was nice to have the evening tied up and calm! We missed the 2nd day in Amsterdam as well on the 27th as the wind was getting up we would not have got out of the locks - so 2 port days turned into 2 rough North Sea days!

We were on Marella Explorer earlier this year and we thought she was lovely, she is smaller than Ventura and doesn't have the large atrium but the bars and spaces like the coffee shop are modern and well fitted out. The cabins are, like Ventura's, are a bit older but she was built for Celebrity and you can just tell she is a 'quality' ship that was very well built. Personally we now prefer Marella to P&O, their whole experience is just friendlier and better. We'd love to share a taxi with you but unfortunately we can't make this one!! I hope you book and enjoy.