Short Break Arcadia

[paulatsea]

Hi - has any one done a short break on Arcadia or Aurora ? Looking at the 3 nights in May on  Arcadia - is it a frenzy or civilised ! ?

are they worth it ?

 

thanks

Edited March 28, 2022 by paulatsea

[showingdiva]

I last did a 4 nighter on Arcadia in November 2017, my tenth cruise in total on her.   It was perfectly civilised.   She has no atrium to speak of, so none of the usual crowding around in one place.  Went to Amsterdam (in the days they docked in Amsterdam, not Ijmuiden).   My favourite P&O ship, always has been, so perhaps a little biased here.   Standard balconies are a really good size on her.   She doesn't have the glitz of some her fleet mates, but she does have a wrap around promenade deck and a sensible layout.   Favourite bar is the Crow's Nest.

[paulatsea]

Thanks showingdiva 

[Angel57]

58 minutes ago, paulatsea said:

Hi - has any one done a short break on Arcadia or Aurora ? Looking at the 3 nights in May on  Arcadia - is it a frenzy or civilised ! ?

are they worth it ?

 

thanks

I’ve done a short break on Aurora and I would say it is much more of a party atmosphere. Where one might pace oneself on a 14 night break, you cram it all into the three nights. There were several hen parties on board and the bars were packed with people were dancing until at least 4am (certainly not normal for Aurora!).

I don’t think they work as a taster for new cruisers as not a true representation of a fortnight at sea, but they are fab as a short break for those that know the routine.

[paulatsea]

49 minutes ago, Angel57 said:

I’ve done a short break on Aurora and I would say it is much more of a party atmosphere. Where one might pace oneself on a 14 night break, you cram it all into the three nights. There were several hen parties on board and the bars were packed with people were dancing until at least 4am (certainly not normal for Aurora!).

I don’t think they work as a taster for new cruisers as not a true representation of a fortnight at sea, but they are fab as a short break for those that know the routine.

Thanks Angel57.

[paulatsea]

We have been  on Arcadia several times and are booked for this Christmas (3rd time lucky as cancelled last 2 years) 

 

Thanks  for the comments - we have never done a short one before but need to get away soon ! 
 

I’ve booked it now - good price balcony saver fare.

 

[Stokie33]

We’re booked on the 3 nighter on Arcadia in May and haven’t been on her before.  We’ve done the 2 nighter on both Aurora and Britannia before and surprisingly Britannia was the more rowdy weekend where we expected Aurora to be.  
I feel it’s safe to safe no one knows what it will be like as it depends on the passengers as we found out.

We just go with no expectations and like you just need to get away so will make the most of it and enjoy ourselves anyway

[paulatsea]

36 minutes ago, Stokie33 said:

We’re booked on the 3 nighter on Arcadia in May and haven’t been on her before.  We’ve done the 2 nighter on both Aurora and Britannia before and surprisingly Britannia was the more rowdy weekend where we expected Aurora to be.  
I feel it’s safe to safe no one knows what it will be like as it depends on the passengers as we found out.

We just go with no expectations and like you just need to get away so will make the most of it and enjoy ourselves anyway

Midweek so maybe less rowdy ! Yes same as you - we will make the most of it.
Arcadia and Aurora are our favourite ones.

we will do maybe 2 nights hotel before the cruise to extend the holiday a bit.

I hope you like Arcadia as much as we do.

 

[Selbourne]

We did a 2 nighter on Aurora as a back to back with a 7 night cruise that we had already booked. There were a number of hen parties on board and the ship felt very busy, especially as we didn’t manage to dock in the sole port of call (Zeebrugge) due to high winds, so it was a cruise to nowhere. However, the entertainment was excellent (and we aren’t usually fans of P&O’s entertainment). In fact, the entertainment offering over the two days was far better than the 7 day cruise that followed it. Also, on the 7 night cruise there was a huge group of friends who were incredibly noisy, far more so than any of the hen parties on the 2 nighter, so I wouldn’t be put off by the ‘party cruise’ tag that these short cruises tend to be labelled with. 

[paulatsea]

42 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

We did a 2 nighter on Aurora as a back to back with a 7 night cruise that we had already booked. There were a number of hen parties on board and the ship felt very busy, especially as we didn’t manage to dock in the sole port of call (Zeebrugge) due to high winds, so it was a cruise to nowhere. However, the entertainment was excellent (and we aren’t usually fans of P&O’s entertainment). In fact, the entertainment offering over the two days was far better than the 7 day cruise that followed it. Also, on the 7 night cruise there was a huge group of friends who were incredibly noisy, far more so than any of the hen parties on the 2 nighter, so I wouldn’t be put off by the ‘party cruise’ tag that these short cruises tend to be labelled with. 

Thanks Selbourne - that’s good to know.

[P&O SUE]

6 hours ago, showingdiva said:

I last did a 4 nighter on Arcadia in November 2017, my tenth cruise in total on her.   It was perfectly civilised.   She has no atrium to speak of, so none of the usual crowding around in one place.  Went to Amsterdam (in the days they docked in Amsterdam, not Ijmuiden).   My favourite P&O ship, always has been, so perhaps a little biased here.   Standard balconies are a really good size on her.   She doesn't have the glitz of some her fleet mates, but she does have a wrap around promenade deck and a sensible layout.   Favourite bar is the Crow's Nest.

I believe they are docking in actual Amsterdam again now 😊

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, P&O SUE said:

I believe they are docking in actual Amsterdam again now 😊

That’s good news. Whilst I’m not a great fan of Amsterdam (having been mugged there years ago) it’s always nice to be able to walk into a city centre without the need for a shuttle bus. I also enjoyed the cruise out of Amsterdam in the dark past all the office buildings and apartments. It reminded me of the Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window! The passage through the sea lock was also very interesting. All of this was missed with the ships stopping short of the city. 

[P&O SUE]

7 hours ago, Selbourne said:

That’s good news. Whilst I’m not a great fan of Amsterdam (having been mugged there years ago) it’s always nice to be able to walk into a city centre without the need for a shuttle bus. I also enjoyed the cruise out of Amsterdam in the dark past all the office buildings and apartments. It reminded me of the Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window! The passage through the sea lock was also very interesting. All of this was missed with the ships stopping short of the city. 

Sorry about the mugging 😞

Most of (if not all) the Amsterdam cruises are overnight too! Really enjoyed that and wanted to go back but was put off by them going out of town.

The one we went on was overnight but left midday and it was sunny and blue skies and it was October! It was fascinating watching going through the lock. 
 

I’ve seen pictures on ‘other social media’ of the ships in Amsterdam and they’ve definitely been in the centre.

[P&O SUE]

16 hours ago, paulatsea said:

Hi - has any one done a short break on Arcadia or Aurora ? Looking at the 3 nights in May on  Arcadia - is it a frenzy or civilised ! ?

are they worth it ?

 

thanks

I haven’t been on those ships , I was nearly on Aurora but it was cancelled due to her refit! I have been on a 4 night cruise on Oriana which was adult only like Aurora and Arcadia though and it was definitely civilised! Would have loved to have gone on her again but sadly not with P&O anymore.

 

The two nights on the weekend did have a bit of a ‘booze cruise’ reputation but I think P&O cut down on that a bit by banning T-shirts with slogans etc.

 

Having said that I’m booked on the 3 night on Britannia over Easter so we’ll see!

[P&O SUE]

I’ve now looked at the 3 night on Arcadia and I see it goes to Guernsey. Just so you are aware ships don’t always get to dock there- there are notorious currents there. As long as you treat it as a floating hotel break you’ll be fine but if you really want to get off I wouldn’t choose the Guernsey one. 
 

Some people are lucky but I’ve done 3 cruises that should have called at Guernsey and we didn’t dock once! Luckily there were other ports on the cruises.

[Bazrat]

Our first cruise was to Guernsey on Arcadia, the captain told us that we would be calling in on Saturday because the weather was looking bad for Sunday, we tendered ashore had a brilliant day and Sunday it rained and high winds, so we are going again.

[Stokie33]

We’re looking at it  as a 3 night seacation and if we get off it’s a bonus 😂😂 

[P&O SUE]

6 minutes ago, Stokie33 said:

We’re looking at it  as a 3 night seacation and if we get off it’s a bonus 😂😂 

 
Exactly that’s what I would do but I know in the past in the pre C days there were lots of people annoyed on here when that happened!

[paulatsea]

49 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

I’ve now looked at the 3 night on Arcadia and I see it goes to Guernsey. Just so you are aware ships don’t always get to dock there- there are notorious currents there. As long as you treat it as a floating hotel break you’ll be fine but if you really want to get off I wouldn’t choose the Guernsey one. 
 

Some people are lucky but I’ve done 3 cruises that should have called at Guernsey and we didn’t dock once! Luckily there were other ports on the cruises.

Thanks Sue - schedule says tender for Guernsey ? 

[paulatsea]

10 hours ago, P&O SUE said:

I believe they are docking in actual Amsterdam again now 😊

Yes they are.

[paulatsea]

46 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Our first cruise was to Guernsey on Arcadia, the captain told us that we would be calling in on Saturday because the weather was looking bad for Sunday, we tendered ashore had a brilliant day and Sunday it rained and high winds, so we are going again.

I’ve booked the sightseeing excursion for Guernsey - have walked around the town before once.

[paulatsea]

I’ve noticed now that no drinks packages are available on 3 nighters - only 4 and above - perhaps this may reduce the booze cruise pull ?

I hope this works out well - if it does we will do it again as it’s a good way to get away and back to sea for a short break and get the at sea fix we need.

it’s a similar price to a dinner bed and breakfast hotel we were looking at.

 

thanks for all your comments.

[P&O SUE]

1 hour ago, paulatsea said:

Thanks Sue - schedule says tender for Guernsey ? 

Yes, that’s one of the reasons you can struggle to get in port as they have to launch the tenders and it’s difficult in choppy conditions! We watched the pilot boat bobbing about almost vertical at one point! 

[P&O SUE]

1 hour ago, paulatsea said:

I’ve booked the sightseeing excursion for Guernsey - have walked around the town before once.

You’ll be one of the first off if you’ve got a tour! Castle Cornet if you like castles is right on the sea front. I’ve been there not on a cruise! Very nice sitting with coffee and cake at the outdoor tearoom watching the boats.

[Selbourne]

6 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Yes, that’s one of the reasons you can struggle to get in port as they have to launch the tenders and it’s difficult in choppy conditions! We watched the pilot boat bobbing about almost vertical at one point! 

We’ve only been to Guernsey once on a cruise (as part of a Baltic cruise on Oriana, for some bizarre reason) and luckily the tenders were able to operate. However, there was a thread on here a few years ago about this subject and it appeared that a sizeable proportion of planned calls here were cancelled. Whilst Guernsey is pleasant, it’s a shame that cruise ships can’t get into Jersey, which is much nicer IMHO.