Fitzplumbago

I’ve spotted a couple so far… 

 

On the ‘grown ups’ ship Arcadia soon, so will have a hunt for more to see if the rumours are true… 

 

They are usually accompanied by a message “Hidden by the Bloggs family, please take home and keep, or re-hide on another ship” or something similar. 

 

I have never hidden one myself, but thinking of hiding one onboard a Cunard (or should I say Canard?) ship… That’ll blow people’s minds! 😝

3 hours ago, majortom10 said:

We have made the mistake of booking an aft balcony cabin on Arvia. Just in the process of changing it because of splashing water on decks below.

The picture I included was taken from one of the port/starboard infinity whirlpools on deck 18. That said, I have no idea if the aft pool issue has been rectified. I'd have thought lessons would be learnt from Iona, but with P&O maybe not! 

32 minutes ago, Leomins said:

But this article refers to whirlpool baths which are filled with tap water and emptied after each use. The hot tubs on the ships are like the pools, not emptied all the time and are chlorinated.

I was also going to mention that there were staff with testing kits and chlorine constantly looking after the hot tubs during the day. Personally I would imagine there being a far higher risk of becoming ill through eating on the ship! 

 

Anyway, becoming a little off topic with talk of hot tub hygiene. I just wanted to mention one small benefit (for some) of Arvia (and Iona) over the other ships as a consideration when booking. Personally I enjoy cruising on any of the P&O ships 😊

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

What do you do in a whirlpool?  

I do as most folk do. Relax and watch the world go by. As I've had muscle problems over the past couple of years, a little hydrotherapy does me well too. Plus on Arvia you have the added bonus of infinity views (I'm hoping I have attached the photo correctly) ! 

 

As for the extra 16, it simply makes it much easier to find an empty one! 

On 4/19/2023 at 12:30 PM, SarahHben said:

I have been looking at two Med cruises in August 2025:

Britannia goes to Cadiz, Mallorca, Cagliari, Ibiza, Cartagena & Gibraltar.

Arvia goes to La Caruna, Malaga, Alicante, Toulon, Barcelona & Cadiz.

 

The only port we will have been to before then is Cadiz, we're going there this summer on Ventura.

 

I think the Britannia itinerary is appealing to me more.

I am looking at those cruises too. Having just been on Arvia, she is a fab ship with plenty of things to do, places to eat... and, importantly to me, 16 more whirlpools than Britannia! However, the latter does have the more appealing itinerary. 

 

I have a dilemma though. I am due on a short cruise at the beginning of June, so still within the 'introductory offer' period. All being well, I could book on board with lower deposit and higher inboard spend. But the risk being that lower grades sell out, or they simply put the prices up beforehand. Decisions... 

Personally, I find formal wear a little uncomfortable to wear. But I do enjoy the traditional ‘experience’, which is what I believe to be the reason the formal nights exist today. My DJ and trousers cost the princely sum of £23, but I don’t feel as though I look out of place! One day, the experience may cease to be, but I still see many people enjoying themselves on these nights. In fact, the wait for the restaurant on these nights seems to be longer than others. 
 

Most rebellious person I’ve seen on a formal night was a gentleman wearing a Beatles t-shirt… It was black and white with the zebra crossing design though, so partially observed the requirements! 

Not just P&O. I had the same with Cunard (a Carnival UK thing maybe?), being  moved cabin the week before sailing. 
 

I tend to chose my balcony cabin based on noise levels and much prefer being sandwiched between cabin decks, rather than being close to any venue. I was ‘upgraded’ to beneath the promenade deck to a cabin with an interconnecting door, so completely the opposite to what I had booked in regards to noise.
 

It seems as though ships are implementing the covid isolation cabins ‘off the cuff’, rather than to a set plan… 

As others have said, just make sure your phone is connected to a non maritime network before switching roaming on, and always switch back off after use to be on the safe side. I was actually surprised how well roaming worked for me in Norway. Be careful though as one of the local networks is Telenor, which is fine for roaming , but has the same name as the ship’s maritime network, Telenor Maritime.
 

I find that as long as I can see land from the ship and am near that side, I can usually manually hunt for land signal and switch over from the maritime network. But that is usually to satisfy my wanting to identify nearby ships! 🤓 

Another minor Arvia fire reported a few days ago…

From  CruiseMapper…

 

P&O UK's newest cruise ship Arvia suffers minor fire at Meyer Werft's Papenburg yard 

I booked an Iona cruise whilst onboard Arcadia a couple of weeks ago….
 

7 days in 2024  for £749 in a balcony cabin (not the dreaded deck 😎 + £220 pp OBC… Currently £849 + £165 pp OBC, so still #winning for the time being! 

On recent cruises… Straight to your  muster station as soon as you board… It only  takes a minute now… They basically scan you in,  explain  that is your muster point and request that you watch the safety video on your cabin TV before the ship departs.  Simples. 

I was on the recent Arcadia cruise to the fjords and an extra £75 pp OBC was added without any prior email notification. 

21 hours ago, molecrochip said:

Why would that be a joke? These things happen occasionally but often the automatic system have already dealt with before human intervention is required. Best the crew be alerted and check though, right?

 

As for the original post. In a ship build there is so much welding, small fires are not unusual, and dealt with swiftly. What appears different here is that there is a strong suspicion of arson.

My comment was made in jest, since I would expect fire to be detected in a so called incinerator room! 
 

Always best to be made aware of potential hazards, despite what time the announcements are made… Although I’m sure there would have been some moans and groans about it… 

I always felt that the front of the Grand Class ships look like the shape of a toilet bowl. They even have the gap between the seat and the rim… Once you see it, you can’t un-see it! Fantastic place to watch the ship depart port though, if a little breezy… 

 

I agree that it really doesn’t matter what their image is as  long as you enjoy the experience on board ..

 

To stay mildly within topic… I was on the sister ship Iona’s second maiden season voyage to the Scottish isles,  and at roughly 3am  a message was transmitted into the cabins… A fire had been detected by a heat sensor in the incinerator room… I don’t know if that was supposed to be some kind of joke! 

9 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

The point is OBC costs P&O absolutely nothing.  If it's near the end of the cruise, half the people wouldn't even spend it.

That OBC would certainly  already have been eaten up at the point it was added to my account! It only equates  to roughly 2-3 drinks per person, per day. I’m sure many people would have already accrued that on their accounts, which would be discounted at the end of the cruise. That could  roughly be a £250K loss, judging by the number of cabins , so not exactly nothing, even though it’s a drop in the ocean (no pun intended) for Carnival. 

An extra £50 per person received for my Oct 22nd cruise on Ventura… Can’t grumble at that! 

I too have received extra OBC of £75 for my August fjords cruise on Arcadia (No St Petersberg on original itinerary). I am guessing that customers are concerned that these cruises may also be shelved and are cancelling or rebooking to other ships. I've actually thought about it myself! 

One thing I learnt was that when a main dining room wasn’t available to join on a queue on the app, it meant that there wasn’t a queue at all. I always headed for the Pearl MDR on deck 6 at around 7pm and never had to queue once. Ventura was often a half hour wait. I felt  the food was better on Iona than on any of the P&O ships I had been on previously, mainly due to there being  more choice.

 

It was good to be able to view the bar menus for every venue  on the app. But I agree, it would be nice if they had the MDR menus (Lunch and dinner) integrated too. Saves having to wander down to the rear of deck 6/7 every day and snapshotting  the led screen before it flicks over! 

I’m sure I’ve had French onion soup on a P&O cruise too. In fact I think the soups I’ve consumed on P&O ships are usually thick and tasty. 
 

Also, pancakes and waffles with maple syrup and crispy (yes crispy!) bacon can be ordered from The Quays for breakfast on Iona. 

I am due on Arcadia in the summer to the Fjords, so I hope she is still in service by then. Last year’s voyage to the Fjords on Aurora was cancelled, so hopefully second time lucky as have never visited there… Arcadia is also the only ship in the current fleet I haven’t stepped foot on. 

 

As for the other ships in the fleet, I feel lucky that I’ve enjoyed every ship I’ve sailed on so far, including Aurora,  Oriana, and also the bigger ships  including Iona. There are pros and cons to every ship and I honestly couldn’t chose a favourite or least enjoyed vessel. 

As mentioned... The Beach House... Missing the lava rock fillet on the current menu! 

 

Also, ice cream sundaes in the MDR! 

 

Hopefully both will be back... 🤞 

I have noticed something recently from pictures. It appears as though most of the upper public decks and the promenade deck has 6+ foot plexiglass behind the hand rails, front and sides. Only lower plexi at the rear and directly outside the atrium (Dining?). Obviously they don’t want anyone escaping! Slightly disappointing for people like me who like taking photos of sunsets, etc. Could be wrong, although that’s how it appears from the images...

 

Luckily I booked a balcony for summer. :) 

 

 

First time P&O cruiser here on Ventura (N531) and loved her. Having been on smaller Thomson ships, Ventura looked like an absolute monster from the dock. But once on board she didn't feel overly larger. She could be slightly confusing to navigate, but I feel that's always part of the fun. Interestingly Ventura juddered a lot more than other ships I had been on (possibly due to the Bay of Biscay crossing!) and the cabin creaked loudly because of it. Luckily, I always carry a pair of emergency ear plugs. Pity P&O couldn't control the weather! :rolleyes:

Obviously I have no other P&O ships to compare with, but I am already looking to book another cruise, probably on P&O, for next year. :D