Arcadia Jottings

[crompton21]

4 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Did it have something to do with cubes of cheese, bits of pineapple, cocktail sticks, black forest gateau and a clown, perhaps?

The clown is the odd one out, it didn’t actually happen.  Do I get the prize?

[crompton21]

2 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

??????  

An altercation on Britannia (?) where as the storyline evolved a clown became part of it, but was an entertaining embellishment rather than a fact.

[kalos]

              Coulrophobia !!!!   

[Josy1953]

13 minutes ago, kalos said:

              Coulrophobia !!!!   

🤡 or on board a ship perhaps 🐠🐠🐠

[Harry Peterson]

36 minutes ago, crompton21 said:

The clown is the odd one out, it didn’t actually happen.  Do I get the prize?

You do. It’s an invitation to a party, and as you know they didn’t actually happen either.

[davecttr]

"A cheese wheel is a wheel or block of cured cheese that is typically still covered in a protective rind. Most cheeses are made in the shape of wheels, with cheese shops cutting out wedges when clients request a particular cheese. Some cheese producers also make smaller personal wheels that are designed to be sold whole, rather than chopped up."

 

sorry to spoil the party 😁

[kalos]

1 minute ago, Harry Peterson said:

You do. It’s an invitation to a party, and as you know they didn’t actually happen either.

 

You could end up with a fine in the post 

[Tablelamp]

Having read all the comments about Arcadia, I also have a friend who has just returned home.  She tells me that in spite of the high price she paid, the accommodation was only very basic, not the expected luxury.   (Whoever heard of a cabin steward hanging a bath towel on the back of the bathroom door so it would dry!   Eg. AND ONLY ONE EXAMPLE.  no tablecloths in the buffet in the evenings.

 

I am due to go on Ventura on a 35 night cruise in March 2023 and am now seriously considering cancelling.  I pay a high price and will not consider going if I am expected to put up with only BASIC accommodation.

[twotravellersLondon]

10 minutes ago, davecttr said:

A cheese wheel is a wheel or block of cured cheese that is typically still covered in a protective rind. Most cheeses are made in the shape of wheels, with cheese shops cutting out wedges when clients request a particular cheese. Some cheese producers also make smaller personal wheels that are designed to be sold whole, rather than chopped up."

 

 So is someone who sells these things a wheeler-dealer? Yess... there just had to be a cheesy joke there somewhere.

[molecrochip]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

Without trying to prise secret financial situation out of you,  is that the break even figure for the actual cruise itself, (ie covering cruise operating costs) or the figure after overheads, interest,  depreciation etc have been taken into account ?

Its the industry wide figure for when a specific sailing becomes profitable. I understand that P&O are within the industry norms.

[molecrochip]

15 minutes ago, Tablelamp said:

Whoever heard of a cabin steward hanging a bath towel on the back of the bathroom door so it would dry!   Eg. AND ONLY ONE EXAMPLE.  no tablecloths in the buffet in the evenings.

Re the towel: this isn't unusual if reusing towels. I also don't remember tablecloths in the buffet in the evening - although they did put out material placemats.

[Selbourne]

7 minutes ago, Tablelamp said:

Having read all the comments about Arcadia, I also have a friend who has just returned home.  She tells me that in spite of the high price she paid, the accommodation was only very basic, not the expected luxury.   (Whoever heard of a cabin steward hanging a bath towel on the back of the bathroom door so it would dry!   Eg. AND ONLY ONE EXAMPLE.  no tablecloths in the buffet in the evenings.

 

I am due to go on Ventura on a 35 night cruise in March 2023 and am now seriously considering cancelling.  I pay a high price and will not consider going if I am expected to put up with only BASIC accommodation.

I have always been slightly amused when people describe cruise ship cabins as ‘luxury’ accommodation. We have been on all the P&O ships (other than Iona) and stayed in outside, balcony, superior deluxe balcony cabins and suites. I would never describe any of them as luxury. Most accommodation is probably more akin to a 3 star hotel, suites nudging 4 star. To be fair, we don’t expect luxury comparable to a good land based hotel as, after all, a cruise ship is a means of transportation with accommodation!

 

We hardly ever use the buffet and certainly never in the evenings, but we have walked through it often and I can’t say I’ve ever noticed tablecloths. They would seem a bit pointless to me. People use the buffet when they want a quick casual meal, without the formality of a main dining room with set tables, tablecloths etc. Personally, I would think that a tablecloth rather contradicts that. 

[Harry Peterson]

19 minutes ago, Tablelamp said:

Having read all the comments about Arcadia, I also have a friend who has just returned home.  She tells me that in spite of the high price she paid, the accommodation was only very basic, not the expected luxury.   (Whoever heard of a cabin steward hanging a bath towel on the back of the bathroom door so it would dry!   Eg. AND ONLY ONE EXAMPLE.  no tablecloths in the buffet in the evenings.

 

I am due to go on Ventura on a 35 night cruise in March 2023 and am now seriously considering cancelling.  I pay a high price and will not consider going if I am expected to put up with only BASIC accommodation.

I’m not sure you could describe any of the accommodation on P&O as luxurious, including the suites. And that includes Ventura. It’s perfectly adequate though.

 

Were there ever tablecloths in the buffets? They’re buffets, and you don’t go to a buffet expecting luxury. That’s what the Epicurean’s for!  The main problem in the buffet though is the behaviour of some fellow passengers. All the staff behave impeccably.

[Guest ccpm]

Is it the Beach House (part of buffet tarted up for the evening) that may have had tablecloths at some point? Never eaten there so unsure but seem to recall having seen  you tube videos where that was the case.

[Tablelamp]

Selbourne,

like you, I have been cruising for years, mostly on Aurora and Arcadia in balcony cabins and I am not comparing a cruise cabin with a hotel room but from my friend it would appear that the little touches which made the cabin look nice have disappeared.  This concerns me when faced with the prospect of a very hefty balance yet to be paid.  Are the nice touches gone for good? Or is it Covid related.

[wowzz]

29 minutes ago, Tablelamp said:

Selbourne,

like you, I have been cruising for years, mostly on Aurora and Arcadia in balcony cabins and I am not comparing a cruise cabin with a hotel room but from my friend it would appear that the little touches which made the cabin look nice have disappeared.  This concerns me when faced with the prospect of a very hefty balance yet to be paid.  Are the nice touches gone for good? Or is it Covid related.

No nightly turn down service. Does that suddenly mean that the cabin becomes basic ?

[snaefell]

I guess I have seen too many programmes about cruise ships being built,I can only think of the cabins as shipping containers spruced up for somebody to live in,they seem to be getting narrower these days too!

[Selbourne]

6 minutes ago, Tablelamp said:

Selbourne,

like you, I have been cruising for years, mostly on Aurora and Arcadia in balcony cabins and I am not comparing a cruise cabin with a hotel room but from my friend it would appear that the little touches which made the cabin look nice have disappeared.  This concerns me when faced with the prospect of a very hefty balance yet to be paid.  Are the nice touches gone for good? Or is it Covid related.

To answer your last question, I believe it’s a bit of both. Molecrochip has stated that the absence of a nightly turn down service is temporary due to staff shortages and will return at some stage. That seems to be the most contentious issue for most people, although it wouldn’t bother us tbh. Little touches like sweets in the cabin seem to be permanent, but I don’t think they are a great loss! 
 

We have noticed a number of things disappear, or become less ‘special’ over the 25 years that we have cruised with P&O, but in reality most of those things had gone by around 10 years ago. None of them are things that would stop us cruising as they are all quite minor. One thing that I hope returns is the ability to leave an unfinished bottle of wine in the MDR so that it is available for you next time. We don’t drink wine in the cabin and having to carry it around the ship would be a ruddy pain, especially within my wife being in a wheelchair.
 

P&O definitely feels like a ‘mass market’ operator nowadays and not the quality operator that it was when we first cruised with them, but we would have to be fair and say that the prices now reflect that. In real terms, allowing for inflation, their cruises are much cheaper now. When we first cruised with them in 1997 we stuck out like a sore thumb as we were in our 30’s whereas most passengers were what you might describe as the ‘wealthy retired’. Nowadays, people who couldn’t have remotely dreamed of affording a cruise 25 years ago now find them within reach, hence the massive increase in capacity. 
 

I do feel that Aurora and Arcadia are somewhat anomalies nowadays though. They feel dated (cabins in particular) and lack the facilities of the larger ships, yet the prices are way above the more modern ships. That being said, the reason that we have been on more cruises on Aurora than any other P&O ship is because it most closely resembles the traditional experience that we enjoy - plus she goes to more interesting ports than the larger ships. Our next two cruises (if we go) are on Iona and Ventura though, so we try to move with the times!
 

 

[Selbourne]

9 minutes ago, snaefell said:

I guess I have seen too many programmes about cruise ships being built,I can only think of the cabins as shipping containers spruced up for somebody to live in,they seem to be getting narrower these days too!

Yes, I’ve seen those programmes. I think they call it modular construction, but your description of shipping containers being bolted together is better!

[Megabear2]

Perhaps the tablecloths were doubling as towels due to the staff shortages in the laundry?

[Tablelamp]

Selbourne,

 

you could be writing for me.  So much of what you say relates to my feelings, especially the wine as I am now on my own.  I still have the old fashioned idea that a lady does not walk around with an opened bottle of wine!    Before we actually took our first cruise, the thickness of the cruise brochure’s pages told us we wouldn’t be able to afford it!   Sadly, now P & O have opened up to the mass market things ‘and behaviours’  have gone downhill.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

Re the towel: this isn't unusual if reusing towels. I also don't remember tablecloths in the buffet in the evening - although they did put out material placemats.

We always use the bathroom door hangers, as well as the rails to hang bath towels to dry  and they are always fully dry by the morning.  And the evening buffet has only used placemats for many years.

[wowzz]

8 minutes ago, Tablelamp said:

Sadly, now P & O have opened up to the mass market things ‘and behaviours’  have gone downhill.

Well, that's a comment to arouse a few hackles. I'm sorry that I have led to the decline of P&O  by cruising with them. 

Edited April 15, 2022 by wowzz

[pete14]

18 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Well, that's a comment to arouse a few hackles. I'm sorry that I have led to the decline of P&O  by cruising with them. 

Don’t blame yourself Wowzz. I am sure you have been cruising since before behaviours allegedly went downhill. Keep cruising and doing your best to set a better example to such alleged poorly behaved people if you trip over some of them.

[Gettingwarmer]

47 minutes ago, wowzz said:

No nightly turn down service. Does that suddenly mean that the cabin becomes basic ?

I thought you had mentioned that some of the furnishings such as curtains and cushions were missing in your cabin.