Arcadia - Balconies

Hello,

We are considering booking a cruise on Arcadia.

Could anyone tell me if there are any decks with larger balconies. We have previously sailed on Ventura and Azura C deck.

Also we have read various reviews about the ship, some good and some poor.

Has anyone been on the ship lately who could let us know if the ship is OK and not as bad as some people are making out.

I realize that this is down to personal opinion and expectation but any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Hello,

 

 

 

We are considering booking a cruise on Arcadia.

 

 

 

Could anyone tell me if there are any decks with larger balconies. We have previously sailed on Ventura and Azura C deck.

 

 

 

Also we have read various reviews about the ship, some good and some poor.

 

 

 

Has anyone been on the ship lately who could let us know if the ship is OK and not as bad as some people are making out.

 

 

 

I realize that this is down to personal opinion and expectation but any help would be appreciated.

 

 

 

Many thanks

The only larger balconies are at the back. The ship is fine. But remember it is an adult only ship. The only way to know is to try it for yourself.

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Balconies along the sides of the ship on E deck are a bit bigger than those on the decks above - just 25/30 cms or so. There's an illustration below. You can see that the balcony extends outwards a bit further than those on the deck above.

In general the aft-facing balconies at the stern are bigger. However, be aware of the aft-facing balconies on D deck: they're huge, but they're also very dark. Here's another image, of cabin D187. A huge size, but from inside the cabin it was a bit like looking down a long dark tube, and there was little light in the cabin.

Finally, here's a review from a cruise we did on Arcadia in 2012.

I have been impressed when I have cruised on Arcadia. She is a nice ship, big enough to have decent facilities and amenities but not so huge as to be crowded and impersonal. Balconies on the aft of the ship are larger than those on the sides and have the advantage of being able to see on both sides of the ship, especially preferable if on a fjords cruise to Norway where there are often things to see on both sides. Adult only is a bonus.

I have booked 3 balcony cabins on E deck for the family as I read somewhere they were slightly bigger, so thanks for the pics.:cool:

:eek::eek::eek: I have just discovered our 3 cabins have metal frontage. this was booked a while ago so the chances of getting 3 different cabins together are probably zilch. I was so pleased to get E deck because of the bigger balconies:(:(:(

We always have the Tokyo suite on the rear quarter. The balconies for these rooms are insanely huge and you can easily get 20 + people out on one.

:eek::eek::eek: I have just discovered our 3 cabins have metal frontage. this was booked a while ago so the chances of getting 3 different cabins together are probably zilch. I was so pleased to get E deck because of the bigger balconies:(:(:(

I'm not clear what you mean by 'metal frontage'. Which cabins are they?

They are E deck 1 -43 approx and near the front port and starboard. Instead of the glass balcony frontage they are metal/steel, so when sitting down you can't see the water and I would assume will make the cabin appear a little darker too.

:eek:

They are E deck 1 -43 approx and near the front port and starboard. Instead of the glass balcony frontage they are metal/steel, so when sitting down you can't see the water and I would assume will make the cabin appear a little darker too.

:eek:

You're absolutely right - I hadn't spotted them before. I've just been looking at a picture of Arcadia that I took early one morning in Southampton, and in fact they're clear to see. Here are a couple of images. The first is the whole picture of Arcadia, the other is a 100% magnification of the bow section from the same image, and this one shows the metal balconies. At least the rail is no higher in these balconies than in the ones further aft.

Thank you Tom for the photo. It is just a 2 night cruise but the first time son and daughter have had a balcony but I am sure it will be fine.:cool:

Thank you to everyone who has replied to my question about Arcadia.

Has anyone stayed in the aft balconies on B or C deck? Would these balconies be larger than balconies on the side of the side and also would they be as dark as the one pointed out on D deck.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thank you to everyone who has replied to my question about Arcadia.

 

 

 

Has anyone stayed in the aft balconies on B or C deck? Would these balconies be larger than balconies on the side of the side and also would they be as dark as the one pointed out on D deck.

 

 

 

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Yes and I would think yes. Unless you are in a suite on the corners.

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Thank you for your reply.

I would like to try an aft cabin on Arcadia but love the sun. Does anyone have any suggestions about which decks/cabins would fit the bill?

I'm also reading about possible noise from the propeller but unsure which deck this affects so any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you to everyone who has replied to my question about Arcadia.

 

Has anyone stayed in the aft balconies on B or C deck? Would these balconies be larger than balconies on the side of the side and also would they be as dark as the one pointed out on D deck.

 

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

I'm pretty sure that B & C deck aft balcony cabins are nowhere near as dark as those on D deck. The real problem with the D deck balcony is that not only is it very long, it's almost completely covered by the balcony above. I haven't got a picture to hand but if you look at pictures of Arcadia's stern, you can see that one deck looks noticeably darker than the rest, and that's D deck. So the other decks may well be better. In fact, looking at the deck plans it appears that as well as not being overhung, the aft balconies in B and C decks are not as long as those on D deck. So not only is there more chance of direct sunlight onto the B and C deck balconies, more light will get back to the cabin as well.

Tom,

Thanks for your help.

Does anyone know if E deck aft balconies are OK or are they also affected like D deck?

Has anyone stayed in an E deck aft balcony?

We didn't like Arcadia much at all :eek: She doesn't have a 'heart' with a staircase filling the area up through the ship from reception and we found it very overbearing. Also, because she is an adults only ship, there was mostly only one age group - wrinklies!! We are not young, but the general feeling was so much older than our age; its one thing to be old but if we have to get old, we prefer to be old and young-at-heart. :D

We had planned to book on her round the world cruise this year while we were cruising the fjords last year, but soon changed our minds more or less as soon as we boarded Arcadia on the first day.

We didn't like Arcadia much at all :eek: She doesn't have a 'heart' with a staircase filling the area up through the ship from reception and we found it very overbearing. Also, because she is an adults only ship, there was mostly only one age group - wrinklies!! We are not young, but the general feeling was so much older than our age; its one thing to be old but if we have to get old, we prefer to be old and young-at-heart. :D

 

 

 

We had planned to book on her round the world cruise this year while we were cruising the fjords last year, but soon changed our minds more or less as soon as we boarded Arcadia on the first day.

The age of the passengers is often determined by the type of cruise. We went on a 23 night trip it the Caribbean and back and were presently surprised be the age range on the ship. It was no where near the oldest group of people with whom we have cruised.

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I am sure the age range will be younger on our 2 night mini cruise as hubby and I are sailing with 28,28,25, and 21 year olds.:cool:

Nice photos and great information. :):):):)

Just left Arcadia last week after one leg of their world cruise. I would agree that the average age is probably a little high but this is due to the fact that it's mainly retired passengers that can allocate 3 months out of their schedule to sail around the world! This had concerned us a little before travelling but we loved the itinerary. Happily, we had the most wonderful time. Arcadia is a fab ship; absolutely loved it. But we also love the Azura, which is different. Each ship has something to offer.

A major bonus on Arcadia atm is the Cruise Director, Dom Hones. He is a wonderful entertainer and any passenger who attends one of his 'Name that Tune' sessions will be guaranteed a great time. We only attended one Sailaway party during our trip as we tend to avoid them, but under Dom's direction it was the best ever. Not a single Rule Britannia in sight, just fun, fun, fun!

We were on the same cruise as Nautical Miss but for 2 segments,. We boarded in LA and disembarked in Dubai. 50 nights on board and loved every single minute of it. We experiences Christine Noble as CD and the after NZ it was Dom. Dom is a fantastic new CD and very up to date with his thinking as well as being open to suggestions.

Getting back to the original post we were in an aft cabin on B deck. B150 and the balcony was about 3 times the size of a standard balcony. There was plenty of sunlight and little noise from the aft. A very quiet area of the ship.