caber Posted March 25, 2015 #1 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I am looking at a cruise on Arcadia in the summer. Can anyone who has been on her recently give me an idea of how the experience was, food, service etc. We were on Ventura recently and were a bit disappointed with it compared to previous cruises. I am hoping a slightly smaller ship may be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson2579 Posted March 26, 2015 #2 Share Posted March 26, 2015 I am looking at a cruise on Arcadia in the summer. Can anyone who has been on her recently give me an idea of how the experience was, food, service etc.We were on Ventura recently and were a bit disappointed with it compared to previous cruises. I am hoping a slightly smaller ship may be better. We did a mini cruise on Arcadia last year and really enjoyed the ship. As it was a mini cruise we had lots of queues for main dining room on the first night which we have experienced on other short cruises. We booked E deck balconies (3 in a row) and had great balconies. Apparently the largest on the ship at no extra cost.:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorset Cruiser Posted March 26, 2015 #3 Share Posted March 26, 2015 (edited) I am looking at a cruise on Arcadia in the summer. Can anyone who has been on her recently give me an idea of how the experience was, food, service etc.We were on Ventura recently and were a bit disappointed with it compared to previous cruises. I am hoping a slightly smaller ship may be better. Just completed a WC sector Sydney to Hong Kong. Food in MDR and buffet was fine with a good selection. Had a meal in Sindhu which was superb. No time to try Ocean Grill as it was closed until quite late in the sector due to staffing problems. Nice selection of reasonably priced wines. Entertainment was okay with a good Headliners group. Cabin was showing signs of wear but was clean. We had a balcony cabin and were surprised that P&O had done away with the net/voile curtains so we were open to view when docked on the starboard side. We had a cabin on Egypt deck aft with the slightly bigger balcony. The cabins on Egypt deck forward are metal fronted. One nice touch was that we found we could order from our steward an ironing board and iron for use in our cabin. Think this might be available only on world cruises/sectors though. We had a great cruise and found Arcadia to be better than Aurora but we missed the tiered aft decks. Be forewarned - P&O now provide nasty, cheap Digestive biscuits with their cheeseboards rather than McVities 😱 Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Edited March 26, 2015 by Dorset Cruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet- Posted March 26, 2015 #4 Share Posted March 26, 2015 I am looking at a cruise on Arcadia in the summer. Can anyone who has been on her recently give me an idea of how the experience was, food, service etc.We were on Ventura recently and were a bit disappointed with it compared to previous cruises. I am hoping a slightly smaller ship may be better. We were on Ventura last summer and have just returned home from Arcadia. For me Arcadia won hands down. We had freedom dining and never had to wait for a table. The food was hot, well cooked and nicely presented. I'm a bit fussy with vegetables but never had any problems with swopping them between the various main course options. Service was just as expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the english lady Posted March 26, 2015 #5 Share Posted March 26, 2015 We were on her for nearly 3 weeks April/may last year and again for over 3 weeks in November, plus we are booked on her later this year, so you could say we like her!!! Food we thought was very good, never had any problems with it. We were 2nd sitting set dining in the. MDR. Entertainment, we went to a couple of the shows. I guess they were alright, like all the other headliners shows. Tons and tons of quizzes. The pub onboard was always busy. We loved the revamped crows nest. On formal nights the overwhelming majority stuck with the dress code. Size wise I think Arcadia is the largest I would like to go. I liked the set out in the buffett ,always found a seat. I think on a normal cruise you would only get an iron etc if you are in mini suite or above. As she is adult only she probably has an older age demographic, but I never found her too quiet Try her, you may grow to like her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_uk Posted March 26, 2015 #6 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Here are links to reviews of a couple of cruises we've done on Arcadia. First, and most recently, we were on her over this last Christmas; ; and second we did a 13 night Canary Islands cruise on her in 2012. cruise on her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PORT ROYAL Posted March 26, 2015 #7 Share Posted March 26, 2015 I am looking at a cruise on Arcadia in the summer. Can anyone who has been on her recently give me an idea of how the experience was, food, service etc.We were on Ventura recently and were a bit disappointed with it compared to previous cruises. I am hoping a slightly smaller ship may be better. Check the Arcadia per diem against Cunard for late bookings as you may find Cunard being almost identical. Hopefully you will find Cunard attractive.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the english lady Posted March 27, 2015 #8 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Check the Arcadia per diem against Cunard for late bookings as you may find Cunard being almost identical. Hopefully you will find Cunard attractive.:D Except that with Cunard everything is priced in dollars so have to be good at maths to work out if what you spend on board with Cunard will work out more/less than on P and O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caber Posted March 27, 2015 Author #9 Share Posted March 27, 2015 With the dollar rate as bad as it is just now we were trying to steer clear of those cruises, hence P&O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the english lady Posted March 27, 2015 #10 Share Posted March 27, 2015 With the dollar rate as bad as it is just now we were trying to steer clear of those cruises, hence P&O. If you like people watching sit in the spinnaker bar of an evening. You have the tide going one way as everyone dashes to dinner, heavens knows why- they will not start with out them. After a while the tide turns and they all dash to the theatre... Again don't know why, we always got a seat no problem. Then a while later the next tide as 2nd sitting go in. I love people watching, and as most adhere to the dress code they all look really really lovely. I also love the outside lifts midships. Going down into the bubbly depths, not really,before you get that low down you cannot see outside. I also loved walking round the whitewall gallery,and as we had such a lot of OBS for both trips, enjoyed spending there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorset Cruiser Posted March 27, 2015 #11 Share Posted March 27, 2015 We preferred Intermezzo before dinner - lovely 'nibblies' with our pre-dinner drinks 😄 Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the english lady Posted March 27, 2015 #12 Share Posted March 27, 2015 We preferred Intermezzo before dinner - lovely 'nibblies' with our pre-dinner drinks 😄 Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD That was the one next to spinnaker wasn't it😯 As long as the bat served alcohol and had comfy seats I was happy. What was the one with the sqishy settees that's the one we liked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorset Cruiser Posted March 27, 2015 #13 Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) That was the one next to spinnaker wasn't it😯As long as the bat served alcohol and had comfy seats I was happy. What was the one with the sqishy settees that's the one we liked! Yes, along from Spinnaker, outside Ocean Grill. We found Spinnaker a bit noisy. Lots of nice bars - East and Crows Nest were nice as well :D Edited March 27, 2015 by Dorset Cruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the english lady Posted March 27, 2015 #14 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Yes, along from Spinnaker, outside Ocean Grill. We found Spinnaker a bit noisy. Lots of nice bars - East and Crows Nest were nice as well :D OH loved going up to East ,as he loved their spicy nibbles. I found them too hot so could only have one or two. most times it seemed quieter up there as fewer people seemed prepared to walk that far. I remember on our april/may cruise last year near the end of the cruise-like 2 nights to go..we were coming out of the crows nest , and some ladies were going in. They had only just discovered it there and thought it was wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caber Posted March 28, 2015 Author #15 Share Posted March 28, 2015 They sound good. We found that Ventura didn't have a really comfortable lounge. Years ago we were on Oriana and loved Andersons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NauticalMiss Posted March 28, 2015 #16 Share Posted March 28, 2015 We did a WC sector on Arcadia last year. Loved her. We had Freedom Dining and we had a table for two, immediately; never had to wait. The food and service was excellent on each occasion. Ate in Ocean Grill one night; it was okay but we did not consider it any better than freedom. East was also okay; disappointingly the curtains had been closed despite it being early evening. We loved the East bar; best Rose Petal Martinis ever! And the views of the setting sun were superb, so we enjoyed pre-dinner drinks here on a few occasions. The Rising Sun pub was always busy and we had lots of fun here with the entertainment team. The drinks service was also spot on. Would sail aboard Arcadia again in a heart beat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovethe7seas Posted April 8, 2015 #17 Share Posted April 8, 2015 My husband and I have been on Arcadia many times and just love her. She is a very spacious ship, with plenty of opportunities to sun bathe or relax indoors with a good book. The choice of restaurants are excellent and perhaps we are easily pleased, but we found the food delicious in all of them. The cabins have everything you need and are very comfortable. We enjoy the lectures and find plenty of choice for entertainment. Personally we never have any trouble with the staff and any problems are very quickly sorted. Do give her a try - you won't be disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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