P & O and Arcadia

[kazover40]

Just returned from Simply carribean on Arcadia. What a disappointment! My only other experience with P & O was on Adonia and we loved it. Although we have cruised with several other company's we really did love Adonia.

 

Firstly we requested 2nd sitting dinner. Our travel agent assured us that 1st sitting was pretty full up but we where sure to get 2nd. Not the case! Spoke to the Restaurant Manager on the 1st day. He told us there was around 80 people before us on the list to be moved over!

 

The following day we spoke with a couple on 2nd sitting who wanted to move, so we went along to see if we could swap. Perfect solution hey! NO we were told "That's not the way we do it" You know, just like the TV commercial for a well known building society.

 

Then we spoke to a couple who were going to be eating in Rhodes 1 evening and thought Great! we will go and see if we can eat at there table for 1 evening. Guess What! You got it "That's not the way we do it"

 

The first night we ate in the Orchid Restaurant, OK but nothing special. 2nd night we tried Rhodes which was terrible, 3rd night Belvedere - disgusting. 4th night Room Service - Allelujah Best meal we had had. 5th night back to Orchid, change of menu and very good! 6th night, salad in Belvedere, not a wine waiter in sight! 7th night - Yes! Yes! We got the call, we now have a table for you in Meridian 2nd sitting! The food in Meridian was a great improvement on the so called speciality restaurants and it was nice to sit with some very nice Company!

 

Don't know about Gary Rhodes, they would do better to get Jamie Oliver to sort out the school dinners in the Belvedere!

 

The entertainment was pretty dire too! Although there where 1 or 2 exceptions.

 

As for the delays with charter flights, it really is time P & O found more reliable connections! Our return Monach flight to Gatwick was delayed by 7 1/2 hours; which made us miss our Niece's wedding, arriving in time for the speeches. We where delayed sailing by a day due to the late arrival of a flight from I think Manchester. But the worst must have been the passengers returning to Leeds/Bradford who left the ship at 1 p.m. only to return to the ship at 9.p.m. to stay overnight as there flight had been diverted to Antigua due to "Hostile fire off the coast of Barbados" The ground crews words, not hearsay! I believe the passengers on the incoming flight had to sit on the tarmac till the following day as there was no hotels available and the crew where out of time!

 

Cruise P & O "I don't think so!!!!

[daiB]

Well you have had a bad time.

 

We were the ones who were delayed getting back to Manchester. We were lucky we did not leave the ship.

 

I am surprised about your meals in the Orchid and AR as we found them to be superb on J625, in fact like all those I spoke to and who have reported on various boards all had wonderful times.

 

A lot of your complaints seem to be outside P & O's control, more people wanting 2nd sitting for example. Planes being late, planes being shot at. Yes that was reported by one of the passengers on the flight.

 

I think you have been very unlucky in your cruise experience but I do not see how it is the fault of Arcadia or P & O.

[Glenndale]

Dai,

Where did you read this? Sounds incredible!

We are due to cruise on Arcadia in a week or so.

We seem to be unusual in that we prefer early seating so it is not usually a problem for us getting the seating we prefer, however one cruise on the Aurora we had to have second seating and often paid extra to dine at Cafe Bordeaux where the food was great.

I can understand the OPs annoyance but seating preference is dictated by when you book so the earlier the better if you require a specific seating.

One should never assume that you will be able to swap on board.

It is a pity that they could not get their preferred seating but I hope they didn't let it affect their overall enjoyment of the cruise.

As you say the flight problems were outside P&Os control, but I do think they should have another look at their choice of carriers, I am not looking forward to a flight to New Orleans on Thomsonfly - although they seem to have a better reputation than Monarch and Thos. Cook.

[daiB]

Hi Glenndale,

 

The comment about the missile was on the P&O CC site.

 

We came home with Thomas Cook, and apart from the delay, were fine. Mind you we were in the front end, we had paid for the upgrade on the plane.

 

Have a great cruise, Arcadia is a wonderful ship and you must go to Arcadian Rhodes and the Orchid.

[Janey]

Hey must reply to this one! We had a superb cruise, got upgraded from CI to CA (super cabin with massive balcony cos we were at the end) and got our 2nd sitting after 1 night wait list. The Meridien Mgr spent ages trying to contact us to see if we still wanted to move from 1st. Food in the Meridien was superb so no need for Rhodes or Orchid (we had excellent waiters), breakfast in the Belvadere excellent and lunch in Belvadere and Neptunes excellent too. We left Aracadia at 1pm and flew to LEEDS BRADFORD at 4pm arriving Leeds 4 am and got home at 6.30am. Thomsonfly were excellent, we arrived in Barbados on time too. Cannot fault the ship at all, great weather, great food, mostly great people. Will definitely go again. P&O organised the whole thing brilliantly, we got everything we asked for and more.

[Vampire Parrot]

My wife and myself were on cruise J625 on the Arcadia, and had a terrific time and some wonderful meals.

 

Our waiter (Tito) was exactly as attentive as he should be - never "in your face", but always there when we wanted something. The customer-facing management, i.e. Lance (Head waiter) and John (Restaurant Manager) kept things running very smootly indeed.

 

Not every meal was absolutely perfect, for example, the grilled salmon was rather overdone for my taste, and I prefer stronger flavours in vegetarian meals. The lobster was perfect, and every other dinner was very, very good, and many were truly excellent.

 

We only ate at the Arcadian Rhodes just once, basically because we ran out of time! In our opinion, it was well worth the extra charge. Our only comment was that there was just too much food :o

 

We ate at the Orchid restaurant twice, and on each occasion it was a truly fantastic experience, combining the best of far eastern cuisine.

 

We also enjoyed the food in the Belvadere each lunchtime, with just one exception which was when a pan had been kept on the hotplate for too long - and that was easily fixed.

 

What was the entertainment that was so bad? I thought that in general, the Arcadia theatre company did an excellent job, apart from "Bollywood Nights" which was neither one thing or the other.

 

On J625, there were two commedians, Stu Francis ("I could crush a grape") was one, and although his jokes were truly awful, he really engaged the audience and had pretty much the whole auditorium corpsing with laughter at various points. Both Pat and myself really enjoyed his shows, and we hope we get to see him again in the near future.

 

I don't remember who the other commedian was - his style wasn't one I enjoyed, so I didn't bother. But from the comments other people made to me, he certainly tickled a few funny bones!

 

I didn't really enjoy the solo singers, but they aren't my cup of tea. There was plenty of other things to do on those evenings!

 

----------------------------

 

I travel a lot by air, and learnt many years ago to never assume that any flight will be on-time. If I've got an extremely important appointment to get to (such as a wedding), I'll give myself at least 12 hours' slack. It only takes one person to fall ill on a flight for the aircraft to be diverted, and then the crew can run out of hours...

 

James

[cruisebore]

James

What was the music like around the ship? groups, piano bar etc.

TIA

 

Ray

[iamwhatiamnot]

Hi All

 

I absolutely agree with Kazover40. Have just returned and we were bored stiff with the entertainment on most nights. If you like quizes thats fine. If you like an hour of ballroom dancing great. The 1 - 1 1/2 hour shows three times a week were not west end style. Kareoke in the Rising Sun (I could do that at home if I wanted to). Daytime entertainment where was it. Captains cocktail party was 1 glass of wine. The only saving grace was the on deck theme nights which were good.

 

Meridian restaurant food was not of a high standard. Sent a steak back twice as I asked for it to be Blue and it arrived twice well done so I gave up. All food was served at best warm most of the time it was cold.

 

Belvader was a canteen.

 

Most of the waiters and bar staff were extremely unhappy looking, abrupt and surley with the exception of a couple who actually smiled.

 

Once your account is closed on board you become a non person in the staffs eyes.

 

You have to be out of your cabin a 9am no matter what time your flight home maybe. We should have left the ship at 3pm for a 5.30 flight but had an announcement that we were delayed by 8 hrs. We had a very elderly lady with us who had walking problems and a curvature of the spine. We had to really create to get her a cabin to lay down in for a while this we were given at 5pm and had to go to an early dinner at 6pm not very good. We were also informed that we could have free juice thoughout the day from the Belvader. Pity this information was not passed onto the restaurant as they refused to allow us this. Even after I had spoken to an officer at reception and heard her phone the restaurant giving them this instruction.

 

At one of the ports they had the security scanner at a higher level with a full flight of steps down and a ramp at a lower level. You can disembark at either but try getting back on at the lower ramp. My 87 year old mother who had wheelchair assistance to get on was told by security to use the steps. My husband had taken all out bags up the steps so all we had was my mother, me a walking stick and a towel and still I had to really argue with the security to get her up the ramp.

 

If this is P&O's caring policy and overall standard onboard then I most certainly will not be using P&O again.

[antigua]

Hi All

 

I absolutely agree with Kazover40. Have just returned and we were bored stiff with the entertainment on most nights. If you like quizes thats fine. If you like an hour of ballroom dancing great. The 1 - 1 1/2 hour shows three times a week were not west end style. Kareoke in the Rising Sun (I could do that at home if I wanted to). Daytime entertainment where was it. Captains cocktail party was 1 glass of wine. The only saving grace was the on deck theme nights which were good.

 

Meridian restaurant food was not of a high standard. Sent a steak back twice as I asked for it to be Blue and it arrived twice well done so I gave up. All food was served at best warm most of the time it was cold.

 

Belvader was a canteen.

 

Most of the waiters and bar staff were extremely unhappy looking, abrupt and surley with the exception of a couple who actually smiled.

 

Once your account is closed on board you become a non person in the staffs eyes.

 

You have to be out of your cabin a 9am no matter what time your flight home maybe. We should have left the ship at 3pm for a 5.30 flight but had an announcement that we were delayed by 8 hrs. We had a very elderly lady with us who had walking problems and a curvature of the spine. We had to really create to get her a cabin to lay down in for a while this we were given at 5pm and had to go to an early dinner at 6pm not very good. We were also informed that we could have free juice thoughout the day from the Belvader. Pity this information was not passed onto the restaurant as they refused to allow us this. Even after I had spoken to an officer at reception and heard her phone the restaurant giving them this instruction.

 

At one of the ports they had the security scanner at a higher level with a full flight of steps down and a ramp at a lower level. You can disembark at either but try getting back on at the lower ramp. My 87 year old mother who had wheelchair assistance to get on was told by security to use the steps. My husband had taken all out bags up the steps so all we had was my mother, me a walking stick and a towel and still I had to really argue with the security to get her up the ramp.

 

If this is P&O's caring policy and overall standard onboard then I most certainly will not be using P&O again.

I have just returned from simply caribean and totally agree with all the negative comments we felt we were on no better than a ferry to put it bluntly.

The food in the Belvedere resembled a works canteen lacking presentation and variety and it was a case of walking round in circles to find a complete meal. I found it hard to believe that a ship of this standard hadnt trained the waiters how to present silver service they just plonked the food on the plate in a way the vegatables covered everything else .

On two separate occasions we had letters left in our cabin to say our balcony would be out of bounds between the hours of 9 to 5 because of maintainance work , first occasion to install water sprinklers and the second to varnish the rails , surely these works should have been done while docked . We felt this totally invaded our privacy as men were working outside the patio doors , as you can imagine this annoyed us extremely , we even had to call in the cleaners to clear up metal fileings left behind on the balcony.

To top it all off we were the unlucky passengers that arrived a day late after nearly a 23 hour delay and also a 4.30 hour delay back home , NEVER USE THOMAS COOK AIRLINE.

Since arriving home we have cancelled our forthcoming cruise to the Panama with p&o and have booked a more reputable cruise line . Sorry for such negative comments but this was a bad experiance from start to finish.

[antigua]

I have just returned from simply caribean and totally agree with all the negative comments we felt we were on no better than a ferry to put it bluntly.

The food in the Belvedere resembled a works canteen lacking presentation and variety and it was a case of walking round in circles to find a complete meal. I found it hard to believe that a ship of this standard hadnt trained the waiters how to present silver service they just plonked the food on the plate in a way the vegatables covered everything else .

On two separate occasions we had letters left in our cabin to say our balcony would be out of bounds between the hours of 9 to 5 because of maintainance work , first occasion to install water sprinklers and the second to varnish the rails , surely these works should have been done while docked . We felt this totally invaded our privacy as men were working outside the patio doors , as you can imagine this annoyed us extremely , we even had to call in the cleaners to clear up metal fileings left behind on the balcony.

To top it all off we were the unlucky passengers that arrived a day late after nearly a 23 hour delay and also a 4.30 hour delay back home , NEVER USE THOMAS COOK AIRLINE.

Since arriving home we have cancelled our forthcoming cruise to the Panama with p&o and have booked a more reputable cruise line . Sorry for such negative comments but this was a bad experiance from start to finish.

I would also like to remind future passenger to take shampoo and hair conditioners as p&o do not supply them in bathrooms, most strange another sign of penny pinching.

[Vampire Parrot]

Meridian restaurant food was not of a high standard. Sent a steak back twice as I asked for it to be Blue and it arrived twice well done so I gave up. All food was served at best warm most of the time it was cold.

 

Did you speak to Lance (The head waiter) or John (The Restaurant Manager)? Part of their job is to solve such problems and provide customer satisfaction.

 

Belvader was a canteen.

 

It was too crowded at peak times, and the solution was to eat at non-peak times.

 

Most of the waiters and bar staff were extremely unhappy looking, abrupt and surley with the exception of a couple who actually smiled.

 

I guess we were lucky with our waiter (Tito).

 

Once your account is closed on board you become a non person in the staffs eyes.

 

Very true. I was told we would be able to buy items from the shops and bars after our account was closed if we paid cash, and that they would be open on the last morning. They wern't.

 

We were also informed that we could have free juice thoughout the day from the Belvader. Pity this information was not passed onto the restaurant as they refused to allow us this. Even after I had spoken to an officer at reception and heard her phone the restaurant giving them this instruction.

 

A firm and polite "I have been informed by (name of officer) that juice is free at this time" would have been my reply to the waiter who attempted to stop me getting juice. On the first day, one waiter tried to tell me that I needed my dining room card before I could go to my table, however I already knew what my table number was and where the table was, and I'd confirmed with John (Restaurant Manager) that I didn't need the card. I politely but firmly told this to the waiter who let me past with no further comment.

 

At one of the ports they had the security scanner at a higher level with a full flight of steps down and a ramp at a lower level. You can disembark at either but try getting back on at the lower ramp. My 87 year old mother who had wheelchair assistance to get on was told by security to use the steps. My husband had taken all out bags up the steps so all we had was my mother, me a walking stick and a towel and still I had to really argue with the security to get her up the ramp.

 

That is completely unacceptable. If security won't be reasonable, then one solution would have been for one of you to board the ship via the steps, and to go to the front desk and explain the situation. The folks on the front desk are trained to deal with such situations in the proper manner.

 

I would also like to remind future passenger to take shampoo and hair conditioners as p&o do not supply them in bathrooms, most strange another sign of penny pinching.

 

There was Moulton Brown shower gel/shampoo in our cabin but no conditioner.

 

James

[antigua]

Did you speak to Lance (The head waiter) or John (The Restaurant Manager)? Part of their job is to solve such problems and provide customer satisfaction.

 

 

 

It was too crowded at peak times, and the solution was to eat at non-peak times.

 

 

 

I guess we were lucky with our waiter (Tito).

 

 

 

Very true. I was told we would be able to buy items from the shops and bars after our account was closed if we paid cash, and that they would be open on the last morning. They wern't.

 

 

 

A firm and polite "I have been informed by (name of officer) that juice is free at this time" would have been my reply to the waiter who attempted to stop me getting juice. On the first day, one waiter tried to tell me that I needed my dining room card before I could go to my table, however I already knew what my table number was and where the table was, and I'd confirmed with John (Restaurant Manager) that I didn't need the card. I politely but firmly told this to the waiter who let me past with no further comment.

 

 

 

That is completely unacceptable. If security won't be reasonable, then one solution would have been for one of you to board the ship via the steps, and to go to the front desk and explain the situation. The folks on the front desk are trained to deal with such situations in the proper manner.

 

 

 

There was Moulton Brown shower gel/shampoo in our cabin but no conditioner.

 

James

Yes James i have to admit there was bath/showergel in the cabin but im quite sure theres not many ladies that would use that on their hair.

[iamwhatiamnot]

I have just returned from simply caribean and totally agree with all the negative comments we felt we were on no better than a ferry to put it bluntly.

The food in the Belvedere resembled a works canteen lacking presentation and variety and it was a case of walking round in circles to find a complete meal. I found it hard to believe that a ship of this standard hadnt trained the waiters how to present silver service they just plonked the food on the plate in a way the vegatables covered everything else .

On two separate occasions we had letters left in our cabin to say our balcony would be out of bounds between the hours of 9 to 5 because of maintainance work , first occasion to install water sprinklers and the second to varnish the rails , surely these works should have been done while docked . We felt this totally invaded our privacy as men were working outside the patio doors , as you can imagine this annoyed us extremely , we even had to call in the cleaners to clear up metal fileings left behind on the balcony.

To top it all off we were the unlucky passengers that arrived a day late after nearly a 23 hour delay and also a 4.30 hour delay back home , NEVER USE THOMAS COOK AIRLINE.

Since arriving home we have cancelled our forthcoming cruise to the Panama with p&o and have booked a more reputable cruise line . Sorry for such negative comments but this was a bad experiance from start to finish.

 

 

Sorry that you were on the late TC flight rotten way to start what should have been a fab holiday. Yes we had our balconies closed for 2 days for the same reason as you varnishing and sprinklers. We got our cabin stewardess to open the dividing door between our mini suite and mums stateroom to give us all access to each other. The balconies are so narrow that we had to move all the furniture to one corner so that it gave us a walking space. As we had booked a mini suite we got two sun loungers as well as a table and chair (yes just one chair - not enough room for two). The width of the balcony was not enough to put both loungers side by side and if you put one in front of the other you had to climb over one to gain access into the cabin. Not something they state in the brochure or when you look at the picture of the cabin and mini suite layout. They show lots of room.

 

Did you get any compensation for late arrival?

[iamwhatiamnot]

Just returned from Simply carribean on Arcadia. What a disappointment! My only other experience with P & O was on Adonia and we loved it. Although we have cruised with several other company's we really did love Adonia.

 

Firstly we requested 2nd sitting dinner. Our travel agent assured us that 1st sitting was pretty full up but we where sure to get 2nd. Not the case! Spoke to the Restaurant Manager on the 1st day. He told us there was around 80 people before us on the list to be moved over!

 

The following day we spoke with a couple on 2nd sitting who wanted to move, so we went along to see if we could swap. Perfect solution hey! NO we were told "That's not the way we do it" You know, just like the TV commercial for a well known building society.

 

Then we spoke to a couple who were going to be eating in Rhodes 1 evening and thought Great! we will go and see if we can eat at there table for 1 evening. Guess What! You got it "That's not the way we do it"

 

The first night we ate in the Orchid Restaurant, OK but nothing special. 2nd night we tried Rhodes which was terrible, 3rd night Belvedere - disgusting. 4th night Room Service - Allelujah Best meal we had had. 5th night back to Orchid, change of menu and very good! 6th night, salad in Belvedere, not a wine waiter in sight! 7th night - Yes! Yes! We got the call, we now have a table for you in Meridian 2nd sitting! The food in Meridian was a great improvement on the so called speciality restaurants and it was nice to sit with some very nice Company!

 

Don't know about Gary Rhodes, they would do better to get Jamie Oliver to sort out the school dinners in the Belvedere!

 

The entertainment was pretty dire too! Although there where 1 or 2 exceptions.

 

As for the delays with charter flights, it really is time P & O found more reliable connections! Our return Monach flight to Gatwick was delayed by 7 1/2 hours; which made us miss our Niece's wedding, arriving in time for the speeches. We where delayed sailing by a day due to the late arrival of a flight from I think Manchester. But the worst must have been the passengers returning to Leeds/Bradford who left the ship at 1 p.m. only to return to the ship at 9.p.m. to stay overnight as there flight had been diverted to Antigua due to "Hostile fire off the coast of Barbados" The ground crews words, not hearsay! I believe the passengers on the incoming flight had to sit on the tarmac till the following day as there was no hotels available and the crew where out of time!

 

Cruise P & O "I don't think so!!!!

 

Hi

 

Hubby and I were the ones that joined you for the Rum Punch party! Did not see you at the airport - sorry to hear that you missed the wedding. Have you heard how the others got on were they on the Manchester flight that got taken back to the ship just after we got to the airport.

 

Hope you ordered the Bollinger with your meal - we did also a round of drinks and liquers after and I know that a few other people did as well after the treatment we received I think they owed us that at least.

 

My letter to P&O and Monach is being looked at by the legal department in my office and will be going off asap.

 

Hope you got back home ok.

 

Kind regards

 

Rum punch rebel rousers.

[antigua]

Sorry that you were on the late TC flight rotten way to start what should have been a fab holiday. Yes we had our balconies closed for 2 days for the same reason as you varnishing and sprinklers. We got our cabin stewardess to open the dividing door between our mini suite and mums stateroom to give us all access to each other. The balconies are so narrow that we had to move all the furniture to one corner so that it gave us a walking space. As we had booked a mini suite we got two sun loungers as well as a table and chair (yes just one chair - not enough room for two). The width of the balcony was not enough to put both loungers side by side and if you put one in front of the other you had to climb over one to gain access into the cabin. Not something they state in the brochure or when you look at the picture of the cabin and mini suite layout. They show lots of room.

 

Did you get any compensation for late arrival?

yes we did get some compensation for the loss of a day a fifthenth of what we paid , so no not really compensation but a letter as gone off allready. We did have a really small balcony , one of the chairs got broke after the installation of the sprinklers , we went without a chair for 2 days , i find it hard to believe they had no spare chairs , but at least we got it back mended lol

[Vampire Parrot]

Due to the Star Princess fire and the subsequent report and recommendations from the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch, all 674 balconies on Arcadia were required to have an infra-red flame detector and external sprinkler system installed as soon as they were available. Once the detectors and sprinkler systems were available, the only choices P&O would have would be to either do the work during the next cruise (which meant passenger inconvenience for one or two days), or to take Arcadia out of service for a period of time (which would have meant either shortening or cancelling a cruise).

 

All cruise ships with external balconies are currently having infra-red flame detectors and external sprinkler systems installed, and the vast majority of this work is being done with the ships remaining in service.

 

I must say, the engineers really shouldn't have broken your chair... :eek: !!!

 

BTW, I refuse to fly longhaul on Monarch or Thomas Cook... we flew back from Barbados by scheduled airline (Virgin Atlantic).

 

James

[antigua]

Due to the Star Princess fire and the subsequent report and recommendations from the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch, all 674 balconies on Arcadia were required to have an infra-red flame detector and external sprinkler system installed as soon as they were available. Once the detectors and sprinkler systems were available, the only choices P&O would have would be to either do the work during the next cruise (which meant passenger inconvenience for one or two days), or to take Arcadia out of service for a period of time (which would have meant either shortening or cancelling a cruise).

 

All cruise ships with external balconies are currently having infra-red flame detectors and external sprinkler systems installed, and the vast majority of this work is being done with the ships remaining in service.

 

I must say, the engineers really shouldn't have broken your chair... :eek: !!!

 

BTW, I refuse to fly longhaul on Monarch or Thomas Cook... we flew back from Barbados by scheduled airline (Virgin Atlantic).

 

James

Quite right james since arriving home we have booked a princess cruise through the panama and they choose to use British Airways or Virgin this was a must for us.

I still think they should have told us if it was sceduled work and we should have been compensated in some way for our inconvieniance , 2 days out of 13 amounts to quite a bit balconys dont come cheap, what they did with the chair , you can only guess, step ladder comes to mind lol .

But what about the day for varnishing , well i suppose you live and learn.

[antigua]

Quite right james since arriving home we have booked a princess cruise through the panama and they choose to use British Airways or Virgin this was a must for us.

I still think they should have told us if it was sceduled work and we should have been compensated in some way for our inconvieniance , 2 days out of 13 amounts to quite a bit balconys dont come cheap, what they did with the chair , you can only guess, step ladder comes to mind lol .

But what about the day for varnishing , well i suppose you live and learn.

James any chance you work for P&O sorry it was just a thought i had.

[iamwhatiamnot]

Quite right james since arriving home we have booked a princess cruise through the panama and they choose to use British Airways or Virgin this was a must for us.

I still think they should have told us if it was sceduled work and we should have been compensated in some way for our inconvieniance , 2 days out of 13 amounts to quite a bit balconys dont come cheap, what they did with the chair , you can only guess, step ladder comes to mind lol .

But what about the day for varnishing , well i suppose you live and learn.

 

We done a Princess Cruise line a couple of years ago on the Sun Princess. All I can say is fantastic - The serving / waiting staff are mostly Phillipinos and laugh and smile all day long. They know you and what you drink with 24 hrs and there it is waiting for you on the bar. Unlike Arcadia's staff. The shows and night life are fantastic although the humour is very american so don't expect to laugh too much at the comedians!! The ship was very glitzy with a full 5 or 7 story marble/glass and brass absolutely stunning.

 

You will have a fantastic time.

 

We flew Virgin and did not even upgrade the seats as they have lots of leg room and we had a games consol, telephone and screen on back of seat in front of us. Could not fault them.

 

Regards

 

iamwhatiamnot

[iamwhatiamnot]

Quite right james since arriving home we have booked a princess cruise through the panama and they choose to use British Airways or Virgin this was a must for us.

I still think they should have told us if it was sceduled work and we should have been compensated in some way for our inconvieniance , 2 days out of 13 amounts to quite a bit balconys dont come cheap, what they did with the chair , you can only guess, step ladder comes to mind lol .

But what about the day for varnishing , well i suppose you live and learn.

 

We done a Princess Cruise line a couple of years ago on the Sun Princess. All I can say is fantastic - The serving / waiting staff are mostly Phillipinos and laugh and smile all day long. They know you and what you drink with 24 hrs and there it is waiting for you on the bar. Unlike Arcadia's staff. The shows and night life are fantastic although the humour is very american so don't expect to laugh too much at the comedians!! The ship was very glitzy with a full 5 or 7 story marble/glass and brass absolutely stunning.

 

You will have a fantastic time.

 

We flew Virgin and did not even upgrade the seats as they have lots of leg room and we had a games consol, telephone and screen on back of seat in front of us. Could not fault them.

 

Regards

 

iamwhatiamnot

[iamwhatiamnot]

Quite right james since arriving home we have booked a princess cruise through the panama and they choose to use British Airways or Virgin this was a must for us.

I still think they should have told us if it was sceduled work and we should have been compensated in some way for our inconvieniance , 2 days out of 13 amounts to quite a bit balconys dont come cheap, what they did with the chair , you can only guess, step ladder comes to mind lol .

But what about the day for varnishing , well i suppose you live and learn.

 

We done a Princess Cruise line a couple of years ago on the Sun Princess. All I can say is fantastic - The serving / waiting staff are mostly Phillipinos and laugh and smile all day long. They know you and what you drink with 24 hrs and there it is waiting for you on the bar. Unlike Arcadia's staff. The shows and night life are fantastic although the humour is very american so don't expect to laugh too much at the comedians!! The ship was very glitzy with a full 5 or 7 story marble/glass and brass absolutely stunning.

 

You will have a fantastic time.

 

We flew Virgin and did not even upgrade the seats as they have lots of leg room and we had a games consol, telephone and screen on back of seat in front of us. Could not fault them.

 

Regards

 

iamwhatiamnot

[Vampire Parrot]

Antiga,

 

No, I don't work for P&O..... but I am the sort of person who likes to know what their rights are, I like to know what goes on "behind the scenes", and I like my life to run smoothly, especially when I'm on holiday!

 

I a professional interests in the safety and technology of passenger transportation by air, and that has led me, purely out of interest, to becoming somewhat knowledgable about the safety and technology of cruise ships.

 

The supervisory and mangerial staff on P&O cruise ships have generally reached the position they have because they can deal with customers and their problems, they have a pleasant personality, and a "can do" attitude. Politely pointing out issues that I've had works wonders... and when I have had issues, firmness combined with a smile and a willingness to listen to what they are saying has always resolved the situation.

 

Two out of thirteen days banned from you balcony should, by my reckoning, result in a refund of 2/13 x the price difference between an inside and balcony cabin - and I'd use the "paid for" prices, not the never-used brochure prices. I would estimate that would be about 1/15 of the total price difference between an inside and balcony?

 

James

[Vampire Parrot]

double post..

[antigua]

We done a Princess Cruise line a couple of years ago on the Sun Princess. All I can say is fantastic - The serving / waiting staff are mostly Phillipinos and laugh and smile all day long. They know you and what you drink with 24 hrs and there it is waiting for you on the bar. Unlike Arcadia's staff. The shows and night life are fantastic although the humour is very american so don't expect to laugh too much at the comedians!! The ship was very glitzy with a full 5 or 7 story marble/glass and brass absolutely stunning.

 

You will have a fantastic time.

 

We flew Virgin and did not even upgrade the seats as they have lots of leg room and we had a games consol, telephone and screen on back of seat in front of us. Could not fault them.

 

Regards

 

iamwhatiamnot

Thanks iamwhatiamnot for your reply your rewiew sounds most promising , im sure we ll have a great time , problem is its 15 months to wait , i wanna go now sounds so good lol. Did you find the Arcadia really bland and uninviting like we did? we found it really hard to take any pictures around the ship.

We went on the queen Mary 2 last november and i really expected the same standards and wow factor, we got home and thats all we spoke about for months . this time we ve got nothing to say , well positive that is. Thanks again excitment has returned.

[antigua]

Antiga,

 

No, I don't work for P&O..... but I am the sort of person who likes to know what their rights are, I like to know what goes on "behind the scenes", and I like my life to run smoothly, especially when I'm on holiday!

 

I a professional interests in the safety and technology of passenger transportation by air, and that has led me, purely out of interest, to becoming somewhat knowledgable about the safety and technology of cruise ships.

 

The supervisory and mangerial staff on P&O cruise ships have generally reached the position they have because they can deal with customers and their problems, they have a pleasant personality, and a "can do" attitude. Politely pointing out issues that I've had works wonders... and when I have had issues, firmness combined with a smile and a willingness to listen to what they are saying has always resolved the situation.

 

Two out of thirteen days banned from you balcony should, by my reckoning, result in a refund of 2/13 x the price difference between an inside and balcony cabin - and I'd use the "paid for" prices, not the never-used brochure prices. I would estimate that would be about 1/15 of the total price difference between an inside and balcony?

 

James

James i do hope i didn t come across as rude or abnotchious i was just looking at what seemed like inside knowledge, i do apologise for this and my spelling lol.