Please help....

[neenee61]

I have booked B2B for March 2012 Dubai and India cruises on RCCL Brilliance of the Seas. Having read the reviews things don't look too good. Now I have found a cruise from Fremantle (Aust) to Cape Town - 26 nights on The Arcadia. I am 50 years young and travelling solo. Not into the party scene, however enjoy good dining options and a good drop or two of red wine. The casino is where I also spend a lot of time and money on my cruises. I suppose my question is how does P & O UK compare to RCCL. I have sailed on RCCL, Carnival, Princess, Holland America and P & O Aust and have enjoyed all cruises. This RCCL B2B will cost $6000 so want to make sure I am making a good choice. Anyone out there that has sailed on both? Would love to hear how The Arcadia is compared to RCCL. Any advise or infom would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

[tom_uk]

I can't offer much advice on the other points, but in general P&O ships have quite small casinos. For some reason, Brits just don't gamble while at sea. So while there is a casino on Arcadia, it's about half the size of the casinos on similar ships.

 

(You might be interested to learn that P&O filled the space left over on Arcadia with a pub, the Rising Sun. Brits do like to drink on cruises....)

[daiB]

I have booked B2B for March 2012 Dubai and India cruises on RCCL Brilliance of the Seas. Having read the reviews things don't look too good. Now I have found a cruise from Fremantle (Aust) to Cape Town - 26 nights on The Arcadia. I am 50 years young and travelling solo. Not into the party scene, however enjoy good dining options and a good drop or two of red wine. The casino is where I also spend a lot of time and money on my cruises. I suppose my question is how does P & O UK compare to RCCL. I have sailed on RCCL, Carnival, Princess, Holland America and P & O Aust and have enjoyed all cruises. This RCCL B2B will cost $6000 so want to make sure I am making a good choice. Anyone out there that has sailed on both? Would love to hear how The Arcadia is compared to RCCL. Any advise or infom would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

 

I do not know what bad things you have heard bit I would not take everything as gospel. Look for more reviews I am sure you will find they are not all bad

 

I would never advise any one to change cruise lines just on a few bad reviews.

 

I find Arcadia's casino to be fine but on a world cruise I am not sure how busy it would be.

 

Gan canny

 

Dai

[suesie]

We have been on the RCCL Dubai cruise last year and it was very good - in fact much better than we were expecting. The Casino was good. Haven't been on Arcadia but have been on Oceana and the Azura and the casinos are much smaller and as a result much more crowded. No craps tables and fewer machines.

The food is broadly comparable on both but I would say neither as good as Holland America or Celebrity. Still it was good and we had great table companions. Would sail with RCCL again but be aware of their smoking policy which seemed to be that you could smoke any where!!!

I'm sure you'll enjoy whichever- the middle east is fascinating.

Susan

[suesie]

Sorry should also have said that people on the P and O ships tend to be mainly British.Oon RCCL there was an international mixture, and thats something I prefer

[Morgans]

The drinks are much cheaper on P & O. Not long completed a sector on Arcadia on the voyage to Alaska via the Caribbean and in the main, the clientele tended to be older than I would imagine you would find on RCCL. The ship was lovely - quiet and tasteful. We thought it was a very restful ship, no fighting for sunbeds and some excellent food and dining. If you want a more lively cruise then perhaps RCCL would be your choice. We would have no hesitation in going on Arcadia again (and have another cruise coming up in the next few weeks.)

[Princess123]

I was thinking of doing the Dubai cruise in March next year and was surprised to read bad reviews of Brilliance. I've sailed on her before and really liked her (sister ship to the Jewel which I also like) and would not be put off by the reviews. The ship is a nice size for one of the larger (but not mega large) ships and I found her in good condition, nice cabins and lots to do. I'm not sure whether the Arcadia cruise you mention is part of the world cruise, in which case there could be an older crowd on board, whereas on a B2B you will probably get younger passengers as they won't need to take as much time off work as for a 28 nighter (assuming the majority are just taking one of the two cruises). Drinks are more reasonably priced on P&O ships and they still have silver service in the dining room but I'm not sure that P&O yet does My Time Dining on all/any of its ships, whereas this is available on Brilliance. P&O operates in sterling and RCL in US$ so the exchange rate might make a difference to you too.