Arcadia - tell me about it

[Cheshire Blue]

Am looking at booking a cruise in early November on the Arcadia.  Have sailed on Aurora, Oceana and Britannia before - but not the Arcadia (but we have no choice this time as we want a cruise from Southampton that include my wife's 60th birthday).

 

Bit concerned that there is not much on here relating to Arcadia - seems to be the Cinderella ship of the fleet.

 

We are early 60s - like a drink (and usually go all inclusive on other lines - Celebrity) and also sometimes like to eat in the Speciality Restaurants.  Bit concerned (from what I've read) that the AI package on P & O may be a bit of a let down compared to Celebrity or Princess (restricted choices etc) and also that there only seem to be two speciality restaurants ?     

 

Would welcome comments on the above and also more generally from anyone who has sailed on Arcadia recently and so can advise if we should go ahead  (or perhaps bite the bullet and fly somewhere - but would really like to avoid hassle of airports etc). 

 

We will probably be in a normal balcony cabin - but not sure how the Retreat works ?   What you get and how much to upgrade to it etc 

 

Thanks for any help  

[Gettingwarmer]

Not much on Arcadia at the moment as she is on World Cruise. 

[Cheshire Blue]

1 minute ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Not much on Arcadia at the moment as she is on World Cruise. 

Thanks

understand that - but hopefully some people on here have been on her in the past 12 months or so and so can give me some insight ?  

[mike x ftc]

Hi, we were on here Christmas cruise and to be honest it was a bit of a mixed bag. We like Arcadia, this was our 4th time on her but we had issues this time. Our toilet kept not working, all day Christmas Eve it was not working from 9am through to 6pm. There was Noro virus on board and the Captain kept announcing not to use public washrooms and use the one in your cabin - but we couldn't!!  No apology from anyone, it was out whole corridor that was out not just us. Our friends toilet backed up and they had to vacate for a whole day while the cabin was sanitised. There were buckets everywhere around the ship. 

We went to Sindhu and it was so cold in there we had to go back and get jumpers and COATS just to eat the meal, again, no apology from anyone. Guest relations were just useless and frankly quite rude. It's like P&O have given up with this ship. On the plus side we had a lovely table in fixed dining with lovely wait staff, the ship generally looks good (definitely a case of paining over the cracks!).  As it's an  adults only ship the passengers were very old - we're mid fifties and our friends early 60's and we were like the kids on board and the entertainment (certainly for the Christmas cruise) was obviously geared to match the average age of the passengers - 95!!  The pianists and singers only did slow (dull) songs and there was nothing much late to see or do.  It was all very sedate and I know a lot of people will like this and it will suit them so I'm not knocking it, entertainment is very subjective.  I'm no disco bunny but we could have done with something a bit more lively.  The food was good, the bars are nicely done and comfortable with plenty of seating and the staff friendly, we had no problem being served anywhere.  Freedom dining was very busy early with pagers all the time but if you were prepared to eat after 8pm you could get seated straight away. I hope that helps.

[gsmt47471015]

1 hour ago, mike x ftc said:

Hi, we were on here Christmas cruise and to be honest it was a bit of a mixed bag. We like Arcadia, this was our 4th time on her but we had issues this time. Our toilet kept not working, all day Christmas Eve it was not working from 9am through to 6pm. There was Noro virus on board and the Captain kept announcing not to use public washrooms and use the one in your cabin - but we couldn't!!  No apology from anyone, it was out whole corridor that was out not just us. Our friends toilet backed up and they had to vacate for a whole day while the cabin was sanitised. There were buckets everywhere around the ship. 

We went to Sindhu and it was so cold in there we had to go back and get jumpers and COATS just to eat the meal, again, no apology from anyone. Guest relations were just useless and frankly quite rude. It's like P&O have given up with this ship. On the plus side we had a lovely table in fixed dining with lovely wait staff, the ship generally looks good (definitely a case of paining over the cracks!).  As it's an  adults only ship the passengers were very old - we're mid fifties and our friends early 60's and we were like the kids on board and the entertainment (certainly for the Christmas cruise) was obviously geared to match the average age of the passengers - 95!!  The pianists and singers only did slow (dull) songs and there was nothing much late to see or do.  It was all very sedate and I know a lot of people will like this and it will suit them so I'm not knocking it, entertainment is very subjective.  I'm no disco bunny but we could have done with something a bit more lively.  The food was good, the bars are nicely done and comfortable with plenty of seating and the staff friendly, we had no problem being served anywhere.  Freedom dining was very busy early with pagers all the time but if you were prepared to eat after 8pm you could get seated straight away. I hope that helps.

I would agree with the majority of what mike x ftc has said and would confirm that the ship does feel cold and despite numerous requests it never appeared to warm up , the crows nest was,  for the most of our month long cruise, too cold to use and we spent a considerable amount of time walking around various venues to find the warmest. On our return I raised the issue with guest relations as we are due to go on the 2024 world cruise on her , the reply was not exactly reassuring and having just returned from a long cruise on Aurora would much prefer her 

[wowzz]

We had our second cruise on her last year. The whole ship was freezing cold,  and she was showing her age.

We won't cruise on her again !

How about Iona or Ventura from Southampton instead? 

Edited March 22, 2023 by wowzz

[Selbourne]

Arcadia is the only P&O ship that we didn’t like. Our aft corner wrap suite was lovely (but dated) but there were several things that we didn’t like. The main dining room has a major walkway around it that, if you end up alongside it, is like dining on the hard shoulder of the M25! It’s the only ship we’ve been on where they handed out pagers for lunch some days (the MDR seemed badly organised when we were on her). We like a quiet drink before dinner and the bars nearest the MDR were used for quizzes that were so loud that it was impossible for anyone else to use them. We didn’t like the theatre layout. Our meal in the top quality restaurant (Ocean Grill?) was ruined by a live singer performing in there, which we had not been alerted to when we made the reservation. We agreed that we wouldn’t go on her again. Whilst Aurora isn’t perfect, we much prefer her to Arcadia. 

[MrsTW]

15 hours ago, Cheshire Blue said:

Thanks

understand that - but hopefully some people on here have been on her in the past 12 months or so and so can give me some insight ?  

We were on her for 40 nights in November/ December last year and had an amazing time! None of the negatives I’ve been reading happened to us! 
 

The only “ let down” is her lack of an atrium and the Vivo cafe in a dark gloomy corner of the ship! 
 

Love her beautiful wrap around prom deck and the large open deck at the back. No Retreat on Arcadia.
 

Other pluses include the wonderful Crows Nest, the Palladium theatre, a dedicated cinema, lovely library and the Piano bar. Dedicated pub too! Oh and a covered pool. Many cabins have baths. Of course she’s adult only so a higher age on board than family friendly ships but there were several under 40s enjoying all that Arcadia offers.
 

The dining room is two tier….set dining top, freedom bottom with a central stair case so is open and airy. Only 2 paid for eateries. Drinks package isn’t worth it for us.
 

Have sailed on her several times and would happily sail on her again. 
 

Hope this helps! 
 

Edited March 23, 2023 by MrsTW

[yorkshirephil]

1 hour ago, MrsTW said:

We were on her for 40 nights in November/ December last year and had an amazing time! None of the negatives I’ve been reading happened to us! 
 

The only “ let down” is her lack of an atrium and the Vivo cafe in a dark gloomy corner of the ship! 
 

Love her beautiful wrap around prom deck and the large open deck at the back. No Retreat on Arcadia.
 

Other pluses include the wonderful Crows Nest, the Palladium theatre, a dedicated cinema, lovely library and the Piano bar. Dedicated pub too! Oh and a covered pool. Many cabins have baths. Of course she’s adult only so a higher age on board than family friendly ships but there were several under 40s enjoying all that Arcadia offers.
 

The dining room is two tier….set dining top, freedom bottom with a central stair case so is open and airy. Only 2 paid for eateries. Drinks package isn’t worth it for us.
 

Have sailed on her several times and would happily sail on her again. 
 

Hope this helps! 
 

We were also on this cruise and had a wonderful time, we didn't have any issues but are easy going and glass half full types. We were aware that some had niggles, I have never been on the perfect ship but also never been on a ship I wouldn't go back on. Horses for courses.

[MrsTW]

24 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

We were also on this cruise and had a wonderful time, we didn't have any issues but are easy going and glass half full types. We were aware that some had niggles, I have never been on the perfect ship but also never been on a ship I wouldn't go back on. Horses for courses.

Glad you did too! 
Niggles are that……just niggles. We had a light go in our bathroom which wasn’t fixed for hours…….I suppose I should have gone  to reception and stamped my feet as it wasn’t fixed within 10 minutes! 

[jh1809]

I went on Arcadia pre-Covid and quite liked her, though not as much as I like Aurora. However I was surprised someone mentioned the "dedicated cinema" as a plus, as when I was on her it was just a tiny alcove off the library for which pre-booking was essential if you wanted a seat.

[GOQ]

I sailed on Arcadia last October to Norway, after what I had read on the internet I expected the ship to be quite tatty where in fact my cabin looked relatively new with , I guess a 40" TV. I didn't notice any scruffiness about the ship, maybe I didn't look hard enough, and I didn't feel particularly cold.

 

However I did have a few problems with the cabin, the air con was a bit screwy with the temperature exceeding 25C, this was promptly fixed but went wrong again during the cruise. From the start I had no hot water in the shower, the cabin steward told me I was not operating it correctly, but it was broken and again it was promptly fixed when I reported it to reception.

 

There never seemed to be a big queue at reception, like the other ships, and they were polite.

 

 

 

[Fionboard]

20 hours ago, GOQ said:

I sailed on Arcadia last October to Norway, after what I had read on the internet I expected the ship to be quite tatty where in fact my cabin looked relatively new with , I guess a 40" TV. I didn't notice any scruffiness about the ship, maybe I didn't look hard enough, and I didn't feel particularly cold.

 

However I did have a few problems with the cabin, the air con was a bit screwy with the temperature exceeding 25C, this was promptly fixed but went wrong again during the cruise. From the start I had no hot water in the shower, the cabin steward told me I was not operating it correctly, but it was broken and again it was promptly fixed when I reported it to reception.

 

There never seemed to be a big queue at reception, like the other ships, and they were polite.

 

 

 

Arcadia has always had plumbing problems. Apart from that she is still my second favourite after Aurora.

[MidShip45]

On 3/22/2023 at 6:29 PM, mike x ftc said:

Hi, we were on here Christmas cruise and to be honest it was a bit of a mixed bag. We like Arcadia, this was our 4th time on her but we had issues this time. Our toilet kept not working, all day Christmas Eve it was not working from 9am through to 6pm. There was Noro virus on board and the Captain kept announcing not to use public washrooms and use the one in your cabin - but we couldn't!!  No apology from anyone, it was out whole corridor that was out not just us. Our friends toilet backed up and they had to vacate for a whole day while the cabin was sanitised. There were buckets everywhere around the ship. 

We went to Sindhu and it was so cold in there we had to go back and get jumpers and COATS just to eat the meal, again, no apology from anyone. Guest relations were just useless and frankly quite rude. It's like P&O have given up with this ship. On the plus side we had a lovely table in fixed dining with lovely wait staff, the ship generally looks good (definitely a case of paining over the cracks!).  As it's an  adults only ship the passengers were very old - we're mid fifties and our friends early 60's and we were like the kids on board and the entertainment (certainly for the Christmas cruise) was obviously geared to match the average age of the passengers - 95!!  The pianists and singers only did slow (dull) songs and there was nothing much late to see or do.  It was all very sedate and I know a lot of people will like this and it will suit them so I'm not knocking it, entertainment is very subjective.  I'm no disco bunny but we could have done with something a bit more lively.  The food was good, the bars are nicely done and comfortable with plenty of seating and the staff friendly, we had no problem being served anywhere.  Freedom dining was very busy early with pagers all the time but if you were prepared to eat after 8pm you could get seated straight away. I hope that helps.

Totally agree with what you said and would go further and say that the ship is very old and there are many issues that need fixing. 99% of the people on board are over 65. Food is mediocre to say the least, but it depends what you are used to.

[GOQ]

57 minutes ago, MidShip45 said:

Totally agree with what you said and would go further and say that the ship is very old and there are many issues that need fixing. 99% of the people on board are over 65. Food is mediocre to say the least, but it depends what you are used to.

I don't care, I do my own cooking so it's an improvement ☺️,I am in my 70s and I quite liked this ship.

[davecttr]

Having just returned from Aurora it will be interesting to see how Arcadia compares next month, especially as Arcadia is 5 years younger so should be in just as good condition as Aurora, 18 years is not old for a ship which if looked after can last up to 30 years.

 

Arcadia seems to lack an Epicurian, Glass House and Beach House. It does have Sindhu and Ocean Grill with an ersatz Glass House in the Spinnaker bar at lunchtime. Where could you put a real Glass House, I suggest the Retreat which used to be the kids club. How much revenue does that generate? Sindhu one deck above has a galley and you don't need a large galley for the Glass House. Will P&O invest the money? 

[davecttr]

8 minutes ago, GOQ said:

I don't care, I do my own cooking so it's an improvement ☺️,I am in my 70s and I quite liked this ship.

I do my own cooking as well and not being a gourmet am happy with the food aboard. I have not been in a main dining room for years as well.

[gsmt47471015]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

Having just returned from Aurora it will be interesting to see how Arcadia compares next month, especially as Arcadia is 5 years younger so should be in just as good condition as Aurora, 18 years is not old for a ship which if looked after can last up to 30 years.

 

Arcadia seems to lack an Epicurian, Glass House and Beach House. It does have Sindhu and Ocean Grill with an ersatz Glass House in the Spinnaker bar at lunchtime. Where could you put a real Glass House, I suggest the Retreat which used to be the kids club. How much revenue does that generate? Sindhu one deck above has a galley and you don't need a large galley for the Glass House. Will P&O invest the money? 

Doubtful, unless somebody realizes how much revenue the Glasshouse generates on other ships, same with the beach house to a lesser extent