Arcadia vs. HAL Vista Class Ship

Hi Everyone,

In viewing the deck plans, photos, etc. of the new Arcadia, I cannot help but notice how strikingly similar it is to the Vista Class ships of Holland America Line. Has anyone noted the same?

Perhaps hearing from anyone who has been aboard can differentiate the décor, etc.

Have a Great Day!

Arcadia is built on the same hull as HAL's Vista class.

Before P&O took it over, it had been assigned to Cunard as Queen Victoria. They did some tweaking of the deck plans.

Arcadia is exactly the same as the HAL ships.The names of the rooms have altered and a pub has been added.

Arcadia is exactly the same as the HAL ships.The names of the rooms have altered and a pub has been added.

bayofbiscay - could you point me to the Orchid Bar/Restaurant on the Westerdam? No? Well, its not there - so ARCADIA is not exactly the same as other Vista class ships...I think the question was what are the differences in decor...

Peter

The most interesting difference between P&O's Arcadia and HAL's Vista class ships is the reduction in the suites which increases the passenger capacity by 60. The two Penthouse suites are eliminated on Arcadia and the number of S suites is reduced and substituted with more veranda staterooms. Apparently P&O believes that the British market is less interested in luxury than the American market (or less willing to pay for it).

From a careful study of P&O's website which has a lot of info on Arcadia, it appears that the decor is much lighter and brighter than the HAL ships which I consider to be very dark and poorly lit.

The other difference is that P&O prices for European cruises are considerably higher than HAL prices for similar itineraries once the conversion to US dollars is made.

P&O are now charging for room service on Arcadia

Charges vary from £1.00 for a pot of tea to £2.50 for a sandwich.

Also the charge for the thermal suite is £10.00 for 2 hours sure HAL don't charge so much

CHARGING for room service???

Is it only Arcadia, or the whole fleet?

Vic

It hasn't been extended to the rest of the fleet YET!! But you can bet if people are prepared to pay for it on Arcadia they will extend it to the other ships. I have a copy of the room service menu, but as I have never used room service except for tea I've not really let it bother me. From this summer all the fleets self service food areas will be open all day. I suppose if you don't want to pay for it then you take yourself off to the self service eatery and get something there for nothing. I think it's all about choice!! Some may not be too worried about paying a room service for food delivered to their cabin. Others quite rightly are kicking up a stink!! Do any of the cruise lines based out in the US charge for room service (carnival, princess, HAL, Royal Caribbean, celebrity)????

Elaine

Elaine

Hi Elaine

I think the only lines over here that charge for room service are NCL, and Royal Carib. The others you mentioned charge nothing.

Maybe it's only on Arcadia because P&O wants to pay off the

loan sooner??

:rolleyes:

;)

This certainly is a new tack. No additional charges were levied on the old Arcadia for room service. Although I must say the options were very limited any way. Last cruise on Millenium was an eye opener. We were CC but I assume all cabins had the same level of room service. Breakfast choice was huge as was dinner. You could have virtually the same as served in the main restaurant and then choose from some other dishes as well.

I suspect as stated P & O are exploring possibilities for the future. Lets hope if they are charging the selection gets a bit broader.

Andrew.

Howdy Andrew!

On reading your last line, it never occured to me that they might be charging that service in order to make improvements.

Like you said, a broader selection.

What I'm wondering is, how other lines can increase selections, no matter where you're staying, without having to create an additional expense.

:confused:

Take HAL.... I was on Oosterdam in Feb, and they actually did a great job in making the room service menu more appealing.

More hot dishes for lunch and dinner .... and no extra fee involved. And I was in a standard, obstructed view cabin.

Guess ordinary Joes like us will never understand.....

:rolleyes:

No I'm not having much luck. To be honest I've never really used room service only for afternoon tea. I certainly wouldn't pay £1 per person for it and would have to relent and use the in cabin facilities. The most expensive item I can see on this list is £2.50. I haven't really looked at the room service menu in the cabin before. I know you can get basic sandwiches. Some of the items on the room service menu are:- Soup £1, Chicken Liver Pate £1, Farfalle pasta with chicken and chives £2, Classic Salmon Nicoise £2.50, multi deck burger with chips £2, Arcdaias chicken and bacon sandwich £2, Roast beef and horseradish baguette or sliced brie and cranberry jelly baguette £1.50. These are all available 11am to 11pm. 11pm to 7am you can have omelette with a choice of fillings £1.50, croque monsieur £2, baguettes as before £1.50, shredded chicken and shrimp caesar salad £1.50

Obviously the way they are described in the room service menu makes them more appealing. Feedback from passengers that have used this service has been good, but most comments made are the fact that they have been introduced.

As P & O head office say, food is available 24 hours a day in the self service restaurant.

Elaine

P&O tried charging £2.00 for cabin continental breakfast on Arcadia. But this was challenged as it contravened the brochure and they withdrew it. Sadly I suspect that they will include it in the next, or a future brochure, and then start charging for it on one or more ships. All the room service charges are of course designed to cover the cost of the delivery labour (plus a healthy mark up no doubt) not the actual food. P&O cabins have tea/coffee making facilities so that is not an issue.

The solution I fear is not to take up these things and therefore not to pay on principle. The more that people accept extra charges the more they will be levied.

Ultimately the cruise lines have to be competitive, and although I prefer P&O, should they get too audacious with charging for extras I would certainly start shopping around for an alternative.

I thought it interesting to note that in its P&O incarnation, Arcadia does have laundromats for passenger use.

That has been a continuing complaint about HAL's Vista class - no laundromats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think what caused most of the problems was the fact that they were charging for tea/coffee delivered to the cabin £1 Elaine

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought P&O provided tea & coffee making facilities in the stateroom, if so why would anyone pay room service for it????

I thought P&O provided tea & coffee making facilities in the stateroom, if so why would anyone pay room service for it????

Hi Terrierjohn

P & O do supply tea/coffee making facilities in the stateroom, but I personally do not like using them. Having said that I'm not sure whether I would/would not pay £1 to have it delivered by room service either. I think I could count on one hand the amount of times I've had tea delivered to my cabin in the past. I tend to just go up to the self service area and get one for free and they supply tea pots in there too!!

Elaine

Hi Everyone,

 

In viewing the deck plans, photos, etc. of the new Arcadia, I cannot help but notice how strikingly similar it is to the Vista Class ships of Holland America Line. Has anyone noted the same?

 

Perhaps hearing from anyone who has been aboard can differentiate the décor, etc.

 

Have a Great Day!

Just back from P&Os new Arcadia after a 'weekender' taster to Brugges. Fellow Lister Steve (nice to meet you!) was on board and I'm sure he'll post a voyage report so I just wanted to post something about the differences between this ship and the Zuiderdam of Holland America - which I was lucky enough to sail a week earlier.

The most obvious difference is the addition midships, above the panoramic lifts of an extra two levels. This enables the P&O ship to have spaces called the retreat and kinetics - which are very secluded, relaxation and exercise based spaces. With this part of the ship and the 'New Horizons' enrichment/ lecture programme P&O are clearly hoping that new age is now mainstream with Yoga classes, sessions on your 'colour personality' and the like. The space itself is fitted like the rest of the ship in very pale colours and with some Yoga mats, lovely reclining chairs etc. Kinetics contains some very unusual fitness equipment in a rather small room. The panoramic lifts continue up through this deck (10) to the Orchid Bar and Restaurant level above. These asian themed spaces are again fitted out in gentle colours and the bar has lovely views to the sides and forward over the Neptune pool area. The Orchid restaurant is a supplementary dining venue with Asian fusion food. P&O have also cleverly opened the roof space to provide yet more secluded sun deck high up on Arcadia.

The most noticeable difference within the main body of accommodation is the attempt to open out several spaces within the ship to create a more open plan feel. For example where Zuiderdam has her Queens room, Arcadia has the Globe. The wall separating this from the starboard arcade has been removed bringing much needed light and space into the room - presumably though this means it can't operate as a cinema.

Further forward where Zuiderdam has a Sports Bar, some slot machines and the Piano bar, Arcadia has the single rising sun pub. I must say that I find this area particularly tacky but I'm not in general a pub fan. The worst part is that rather than have a single flowing kitsch divider separating this from the Casino, they've actually extended a small box into the Casino space cutting right across the corridor. The effect is one of after thought and mess.

Up in the Crows nest again there are fewer walls and the starboard side is part of the main room, albeit slightly secluded from the rest of the space. In general these changes surprised me since I thought conventional wisdom said us brits like fewer, smaller rooms than American market - but these ships demonstrate the precise opposite in action.

Arcadian Rhodes is in the space occupied by the Pinnacle Grill on Zuiderdam. Unlike Pinnacle, in Arcadian Rhodes the wall to the atrium is solid wood effect with no windows or views. The effect is to make the atrium like little more than a hole in the floor which one passes by. There is also no bar at the base, just a cream sofa bench. Whilst the ceiling light is colourful and bright its out of keeping with the other pieces on the ship and mostly unnoticeable unless you sit on the atrium bench. At the upper level the curtain theme from the atrium is repeated in the bar off to the starboard side.

There were some other changes which were minor but rather unexpected - for example the control box for the magadrome roof switched sides between ships, the tenders on Arcadia are slightly different (I had a cabin with a 'tender' view on both ships so woke up to them each morning!). Also the safety drill processes were completely different - Zuiderdam ordered passengers to don life jackets before leaving cabins and proceed to the lifeboat number assigned on the jacket. Arcadia forbids you from donning the jacket and you take it with you to an assigned public room. Zuiderdam has a roll call, Arcadia have a 'search procedure' which means this is unnecessary (according to the captains announcement). Given that these are essentially the same ship operating for the same parent company I was a little surprised by the differences.

In general I liked Arcadia and the modern art collection. She struck me as a ship which it would be difficult to feel passionate about one way of the other - except about service etc - but generally a very clearly targetted P&O push younger. I hope their marketing people make that push work - because if not then Arcadia won't last too long in the fleet in her present form in my opinion.

As for the decor - well where Zuiderdam is Turquoise and 70s, Arcadia is pale, restrained like a posh Japanese restaurant in places. In general the ships spaces hang together much much better than Zuiderdam with each having an obvious decorative style which is continued throughout the ship. She showcases early 21st Century British art. With the exception of that pub I'd say they did a pretty good job overall.

I found Arcadia 'OK' but I am afraid the service cuts and additional charges have led me to cancel my 2 cruises on her next year. I now prefer the Millennium class ships of Celebrity.

Ian