How does Arcadia rate by Australians?

[Sundowners]

Hi,

Just this morning my wife and I booked aboard P&O's Arcadia for the San Francisco to Sydney leg of its 2015 world tour.

Even though we've already taken the plunge, I'm keen to hear what any other Aussies have to say about this mostly British ship.

Cheers,

Rob

[icat2000]

I let you know on 28 February after I get off the ship after a two day stint. a

[The_Big_M]

Looking at your history, I'd say it's more like QM2 or Volendam than Carnival Spirit. ;-)

[Sundowners]

Looking at your history, I'd say it's more like QM2 or Volendam than Carnival Spirit. ;-)

That would definitely be a good thing.

 

Thanks Big M.

Rob

[kiwipete]

We sailed Auckland to San Francisco on Arcadia early last year. We found her to be a good ship with great crew. You shouldn't have any complaints but remember she is set up for a British market so a little different to the American details which we are probably more used to down under.

Someone said that she looked like QM2. Not surprising because, as we were told on board last year, when she started to be built she was to be QM2 but Cunard couldn't take delivery at the proposed completion date so P & O took over the build and she became Arcadia and QM2 followed her out of the same yard.

[Sundowners]

We sailed Auckland to San Francisco on Arcadia early last year. We found her to be a good ship with great crew. You shouldn't have any complaints but remember she is set up for a British market so a little different to the American details which we are probably more used to down under.

Someone said that she looked like QM2. Not surprising because, as we were told on board last year, when she started to be built she was to be QM2 but Cunard couldn't take delivery at the proposed completion date so P & O took over the build and she became Arcadia and QM2 followed her out of the same yard.

 

Thanks Pete,

I looked that up on Wikipedia. This is what I found.

Arcadia was ordered by Holland America Line in 2000 as their fifth Vista class vessel. In 2003 she was allocated to Cunard Line to become their Queen Victoria. Shortly before her launch the decision was made to transfer the ship to the P&O Cruises fleet.[2] As a result, Arcadia has a Cunard style mast similar to those found on the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 and the RMS Queen Mary 2. She also sports a modified QE2 style funnel (with cowling removed) instead of the traditional P&O style funnel found on the purpose built Oriana and Aurora.[7] Arcadia along with Oriana and Adonia are adult only ships.

[Pushka]

QM2 was always going to be the ship she now is (ordered 2000) so not sure where the staff got their info.

[NSWP]

Hi,

Just this morning my wife and I booked aboard P&O's Arcadia for the San Francisco to Sydney leg of its 2015 world tour.

Even though we've already taken the plunge, I'm keen to hear what any other Aussies have to say about this mostly British ship.

Cheers,

Rob

Hi Rob

 

We were on Arcadia for 49 days, World Cruise -Sydney to Southampton, via Asia/Africa in March/April 2012. We are also on her again in April this year, doing the Med.

 

She is a good size ship, 2000 pax, plenty of public room and deck space. Cabins are good, outside cabins have a small bath and shower, plus a small sofa. Cabins have small fridges. Coffee/tea in cabins. She has just had a refurb with new TV's and carpets, plus alterations to public areas. Food was good, excellent salads and curries. Wait staff mostly Indian, as India is a major recruitment base for P&O, but service staff were very good and officers friendly.

 

You can take on board what alcohol you like, beer, wine spirits. Drink prices on board are not too bad. P&O UK also provide complimentary shuttles out of the ports. Ship's tours you book on their cruise personaliser and have to pre pay, but are refundable. Entertainment reasonably good. The 'Great British Sailaway parties' are fantastic.

 

However on our trip, there was a massive outbreak of noro, I copped it and after reporting to medical centre was confined to cabin for 4 days, crook as Rookwood I was.

 

You will be cruising with mostly British pax, who are a little different to us, a few snobs on board and dress codes a bit more formal than Princess, they have black tie nights, Jacket nights etc.

 

Otherwise, we were happy with the ship, however I still have concerns about the hygeine standards on the ship.

Edited February 8, 2014 by NSWP

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Hows the packing going for your next cruises Uncle Les? :D:D

 

 

[Sundowners]

Thanks for that Les. Its much appreciated.

 

Good news about the small fridge and tea brewing gear. My ex-Brit wife will be extra pleased on that point.

 

How gastric complaints didn't break out on the last cruise we were on beats me. The standard of hygeine was woeful when compared to others. Here's hoping that with Arcadia, "once bitten, twice shy" rules.

 

I just looked up your profile and noticed that you're just up the road in the Bay. Moruya for me....in your backyard

 

Once again, thanks for the heads up.

 

Cheers,

Rob

[KarateMan]

I think the cruise line is an excellent choice if you are Australian or not. Individual ships reviews will rise and fall but Arcadia like Aurora and Oriana that have visited here are all outstanding ships and good to cruise on. They have a very relaxed atmosphere that the yobbo mob tends to avoid. Entertainment is always outstanding.

 

A word of warning..."dress code" Australians may be singled out if they dare to try and wear singlet tops, shorts and thongs on those ships. I kid you not that on the last World Cruise segment I did on Arcadia there were lengthy announcements by the cruise director in the morning detailing all the public rooms that passengers not dressed appropriately were not permitted to enter.

 

Generally I find the British and Australians get on well. I probably prefer the British style over the American style.

 

Best comparison I could give is the British version of the Princess ships operated by America but nothing like the Sun, Dawn and Sea Princess out of Australia so forget comparing to those ships.

[icat2000]

So what public areas can you not wear shorts and t shirt. I understand the dinning rooms you have to be dressed appropriately,. Maybe you could clarify.

 

Just read dress code on po site. Doesnt seem too much different to what is expected on Princess with formal nights and I always wear cocktail dress or appropriate formal wear.

Edited February 8, 2014 by icat2000

[NSWP]

Hows the packing going for your next cruises Uncle Les? :D:D

 

 

Starting to get organised David, leave soon for Souh America, pre cruise travels in Chile/Argentina.

Edited February 8, 2014 by NSWP

[NSWP]

So what public areas can you not wear shorts and t shirt. I understand the dinning rooms you have to be dressed appropriately,. Maybe you could clarify.

 

Just read dress code on po site. Doesnt seem too much different to what is expected on Princess with formal nights and I always wear cocktail dress or appropriate formal wear.

Sarah, there were a couple of bars where on formal nights you needed to be dressed in formal gear, one was the Crows Nest, high up, forward, plus a bar opposite the Marco White restaurant. The dress codes for various areas are signed and in daily news sheet. Shorts and T shirts with footwear are fine for MDR at breakfast and lunch in the Lido buffet and public areas around the ship.

 

Apart from the jacket nights extra, dress codes are not dissimilar to Princess ships overseas. You will find the British World cruisers will be dressed posh, many of them doing the full 3 month WC take half a dozen suitcases on at Southampton, we had one lady on our table on Arcadia, she had 10 evening gowns and her husband had 3 dinners suits (tuxedos) of various colours. Her husband had to send his company truck down to Southampton to convey their 8 big suit cases back to Cheshire.

 

Enjoy Arcadia ! We board Arcadia in Southampton on 13 April, the day she returns from her current world cruise.

Edited February 8, 2014 by NSWP

[OzKiwiJJ]

I've always jokingly said that even if I could afford the World cruise on one of the UK ships, I probably couldn't afford the clothes :D

[NSWP]

I've always jokingly said that even if I could afford the World cruise on one of the UK ships, I probably couldn't afford the clothes :D

No worries with that mate, get some good bargains on the WC sectors, cost us $5300 each for 49 days, Sydney-Southampton, outside cabin. Plus a dark business suit from Lowes for me these days, no more Tuxedos.

[icat2000]

Thanks Les. Only on 2 nights but really wanted to sample British style cruising.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Sarah, there were a couple of bars where on formal nights you needed to be dressed in formal gear, one was the Crows Nest, high up, forward, plus a bar opposite the Marco White restaurant. The dress codes for various areas are signed and in daily news sheet. Shorts and T shirts with footwear are fine for MDR at breakfast and lunch in the Lido buffet and public areas around the ship.

 

Apart from the jacket nights extra, dress codes are not dissimilar to Princess ships overseas. You will find the British World cruisers will be dressed posh, many of them doing the full 3 month WC take half a dozen suitcases on at Southampton, we had one lady on our table on Arcadia, she had 10 evening gowns and her husband had 3 dinners suits (tuxedos) of various colours. Her husband had to send his company truck down to Southampton to convey their 8 big suit cases back to Cheshire.

Enjoy Arcadia ! We board Arcadia in Southampton on 13 April, the day she returns from her current world cruise.

 

I've always jokingly said that even if I could afford the World cruise on one of the UK ships, I probably couldn't afford the clothes :D

 

 

 

We were on a sector of the P&O (the real one) World Cruise and there was one lady who was the talk of the whole ship. She was on for the full cruise and came to the Dining Room in a different outfit each night.

 

We were also in the Crows Nest one evening after dinner and a young Australian girl was dragged yelling and screaming by security out of the room a she was not in the correct attire.

 

[NSWP]

Thanks Les. Only on 2 nights but really wanted to sample British style cruising.

No worries, P&O UK even have beetroot for their excellent salads in the buffet and of course plenty of G & T's in the bars.

 

Above all, enjoy !!

Edited February 8, 2014 by NSWP

[Sundowners]

No worries with that mate, get some good bargains on the WC sectors, cost us $5300 each for 49 days, Sydney-Southampton, outside cabin.

Les,

You're definitely correct about the WC sector bargains.

Our Frisco to Sydney 20 nights, 6 ports, trip is part of the '14-'15 world cruise. Our outside cabins cost us just $2,300 each.

The timing of this trip is perfect for us.

We'll be returning from witnessing our Daughter & Son-in-Law renewing their wedding vows in a tacky Elvis wedding in Vegas. (And babysitting our grandsons while they whoop it up in the Casinos)

My wife has an aversion to flying and gets out of it wherever she can...this cruise fixes part of the problem. Now all she has to do is get through the flight over there. Easy for most, but a real chore for her.

Cheers,

Rob

Edited February 9, 2014 by Sundowners

[Sundowners]

I've always jokingly said that even if I could afford the World cruise on one of the UK ships, I probably couldn't afford the clothes :D

My wife and I did a trans Atlantic Crossing on the QM2 a few years ago. There were far too many formal nights (3 out of 6 comes to mind) but we went along with it all anyway. We shared a table with 2 other couples. One American and one English. The guys were OK, both obviously VERY wealthy and, unlike their wives, not snobbish about it. The American lady was quite a bit like Martha Stewart and the English lady was a dead ringer for HRH ERII. Right down to her voice. Both of them looked down their noses at us, and each evening we went back to the cabin laughing about how up tight they were. The amuzing thing about it all was that we, my wife and I, looked far better in our "less expensive" clothing than they did in their swish Saville Row cut stuff. Still, It was an "interesting" table, with American, British and Antipodean views on all sorts of subjects.

[icat2000]

Money can't buy class or a half decent personality.

[NSWP]

Les,

You're definitely correct about the WC sector bargains.

Our Frisco to Sydney 20 nights, 6 ports, trip is part of the '14-'15 world cruise. Our outside cabins cost us just $2,300 each.

The timing of this trip is perfect for us.

We'll be returning from witnessing our Daughter & Son-in-Law renewing their wedding vows in a tacky Elvis wedding in Vegas. (And babysitting our grandsons while they whoop it up in the Casinos)

My wife has an aversion to flying and gets out of it wherever she can...this cruise fixes part of the problem. Now all she has to do is get through the flight over there. Easy for most, but a real chore for her.

Cheers,

Rob

Rob, yours looks a good trip, yes some good deals on the P&O UK ships. I will do a review of Arcadia in the Med and Golden Princess - South America on CC, for the benefit of yourself and other cruisers when we return to OZ in mid May.

 

I can understand your wife's aversion to flying, I am not keen on it myself, but have done plenty. This time we have LAN to South America, Air NZ LAX to London Heathrow and lastly Qantas, LHR - Dubai - Sydney.

Edited February 9, 2014 by NSWP

[Sundowners]

I will do a review of Arcadia in the Med and Golden Princess - South America on CC, for the benefit of yourself and other cruisers when we return to OZ in mid May.

Thanks Les,

I look forward to reading your reviews.

Bon Voyage.

Rob.

[OzKiwiJJ]

No worries with that mate, get some good bargains on the WC sectors, cost us $5300 each for 49 days, Sydney-Southampton, outside cabin. Plus a dark business suit from Lowes for me these days, no more Tuxedos.

 

Yes, that's what we'll probably do one day but I've always had the dream of doing a whole world cruise. Still, you never know. Dreams do come true sometimes ;)

 

Also I'm past the age of worrying about having the latest fashion in clothing so maybe I could afford the clothes as well these days LOL. I do actually have some really nice evening wear that doesn't date and always looks good. And DH likes wearing a tuxedo and suits.