Any one on Arcadia now

[snaefell]

40 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Can I please ask what time you arrived and if it was fairly near your arrival time allocated?

 

True that there are cruises from the north, Fred use Liverpool, Newcastle, Rosyth and also Belfast as a start or finish port, but I do not think both on the same cruise.  More departure and finish locations with Ambassador, but very few cruises from the north altogether - they do the vast majority of theirs from Tilbury which we consider far worse than Southampton, partly due to it being so near London and we had horrendous embarkation/disembarkation experiences there for a cruise last July.

 

We are happy to do Fred and even travelling to a non local northern port means the roads are quieter than to/from Southampton.and they are pleasant places to spend a couple of nights pre cruise..

 

After our Ambassador cruise last July we would not repeat them, but some people have been very happy with them, especially with their very low prices, but of course you pay for what you get.

 

 

Our arrival slot was from 1415hrs,our coach arrived around 1345hrs.

Liverpool is very close to us but from when I have found a Saga or Fred cruise that sounds interesting the price has put us off.

[tring]

1 hour ago, snaefell said:

Our arrival slot was from 1415hrs,our coach arrived around 1345hrs.

Liverpool is very close to us but from when I have found a Saga or Fred cruise that sounds interesting the price has put us off.

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

Yes Fred has gone expensive unless you are prepared to accept an outside or inside cabin or book late when saver fares are brought out, but must admit we prefer to choose our cabin. 

 

Saga only sail from the south coast and are extremely expensive, but some people want the perks they offer, which are of no use or interest to us.  Fred has started offering transfers to the port on a lot of cruises, but also a big OBC as an alternative, which we will happily take and use.

 

Ambassador are cheap, but as I say not our choice of cruise line, though some like them.

 

I think P & O do process coach arrivals as they arrive but glad it worked well for you.

 

Barbara

 

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by tring

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, Britboys said:

Fred Olsen or Ambassador from Liverpool then...?

If you arrive by car what do you do about the ones that don't return to Liverpool though?

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

If you arrive by car what do you do about the ones that don't return to Liverpool though?

Presumably a transfer is available? Haven't looked into it I must say. Fred Olsen have had a promotion recently that includes door-to-door transport from home...

[tring]

12 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

If you arrive by car what do you do about the ones that don't return to Liverpool though?

 

That is really just for one or two cruises where a pick up or drop off is available in Belfast, normally people from N Ireland would have to travel to a port anyway, (possibly Liverpool if there is a cruise from there that interests them), just like we have to travel to Southampton for some cruises.  Obviously they would not take a car.

 

Fred does do some mini cruises as well, when ships are trans-locating to other ports, (e.g. between Southampton to Liverpool or for east coast cruises) and a shuttle bus can be booked for those at £25 if wanted.  If we do one of those we take the train to the start point, spend some time there, then return by boat, or vice versa.  We have had some good short breaks doing that, but train fares have risen a lot, so not as appealing now.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by tring

[tring]

10 hours ago, Britboys said:

Presumably a transfer is available? Haven't looked into it I must say. Fred Olsen have had a promotion recently that includes door-to-door transport from home...

 

Yes transport to/from port now an option for a fair number of cruises as an option with Fred, but with an alternative of an OBC Of £200pp, so there is an offer which would be of interest to us.

 

That is not offered for short cruises, which is fair enough.  Just need to look at the specific offers on a cruise.

 

[Cheshire Blue]

22 hours ago, snaefell said:

So true,sadly with so much traffic on the road these days getting to & from them can make it seem not worth the effort!😎

The national rail strikes will have contributed to some of this on Friday  - so hopefully not the norm ? 

[snaefell]

Hope you guys enjoyed Amsterdam.

just curious,during the cruise were you able to serve yourself at the buffet or was it down to the crew?

[tring]

Just about to leave our Winchester hotel and head to somewhere nearer to the port and our later embarkation.  Just read that final people being disembarked this morning where called about 9am, so looking good so far for us.  Only Arcadia and Queen Victoria in Southampton today which will hopefully help..  

 

Edited June 6, 2023 by tring

[Ardennais]

My daughter and her friends left their cabin on Arcadia this morning at 6.45 and self-disembarked. They were in the car just after 7.00. 
 

Embarkation was also very quick on Friday - around 2.00pm. 

[Canadian Guider]

Today is June 6 - What is the Acadia like now?  Have there been improvements to the staff shortages and cleanliness issues reported back in April.  We are looking to book a cruise on Arcadia, sailing in September.   

[snaefell]

We came off her last Friday after a 19 night Med cruise,I would take reports about cleanliness with a pinch of salt as other scaremongering on here,we loved Arcadia,no complaints about cleanliness as far as we were concerened accept maybe with rude passengers with unhygenic habits,but you get that anywhere in life.

Shortage of crew,maybe,there were certainly many new & obviously inexperienced people working on board,with the crew serving on the buffet resources could be stretched.

If it wasn't for the people we would be back on her anytime,yes she is battle scarred but we have been on countless ferries as old & older than Arcadia,you can't travel like she has & look brand new,beautiful ship IMO!

[Cheshire Blue]

Assuming the new drinks packages are now in force on Arcadia - could someone post a set of drinks menus for the various venues / bars / lounges - so can see what is included in each package  (and what is still excluded) please. 

 

Also anyone now using the drinks packages - any views / issues ?   is the Deluxe package worth the extra (approx £9 per day) ? 

 

Thank you 

[tring]

We are now on onboard, but need to get back to the ship.  She is looking good imo, and generally ok, though  service variable.  Ocean grill excellent on two nights.  App not used for freedom dining, though we were not told that until we turned up at the restaurant 9pm first night and it had looked as though it was now working, but saying queue full!  We have only been into Freedom restaurant twice and service ok, and we were able to go straight in on a shared table at 6.30pm Friday night.  Will try again tonight, but at a later time as we are leaving port 7pm and we want sail out on the balcony.

 

Weather brilliant and we had a great boat trip to Pulpit Rock this morning.  Weather looks set to stay good.

 

 

 

 

 

[AndyMichelle]

2 minutes ago, tring said:

We are now on onboard, but need to get back to the ship.  She is looking good imo, and generally ok, though  service variable.  Ocean grill excellent on two nights.  App not used for freedom dining, though we were not told that until we turned up at the restaurant 9pm first night and it had looked as though it was now working, but saying queue full!  We have only been into Freedom restaurant twice and service ok, and we were able to go straight in on a shared table at 6.30pm Friday night.  Will try again tonight, but at a later time as we are leaving port 7pm and we want sail out on the balcony.

 

Weather brilliant and we had a great boat trip to Pulpit Rock this morning.  Weather looks set to stay good.

 

 

 

 

 

Very jealous Barbara, have a great time. 

Andy 

[Eglesbrech]

On 6/7/2023 at 11:46 AM, snaefell said:

you can't travel like she has & look brand new,beautiful ship IMO!

Just like me, well travelled and a bit battle scarred!

 

Joking aside what was the issue with the people please?

 

 

[WestonOne]

Could someone on Arcadia or recently disembarked post a quick summary of a daily programme for a sea day?  I know it will vary, but I would find it useful to know a fairly typical 11:00am to lunch slot, a typical early and late afternoon slot and so on.  A photo would be fine and hopefully save you work!

 

Edited June 12, 2023 by WestonOne