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Would we be a good fit for P&O?


Hflors
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We are an older couple.  We are looking at the Arcadia world cruise for 23 or 24.  We like quiet entertainment and quieter venues.  We have been looking at hal of princess for their world cruises, but their pricing seems to go up every day.  We like to meet people from all over.  Living in Florida USA we get to meet people from all walks of life.  For our one and only world cruise we want a nice atmosphere, good food and a nice clean ship with a wide promenade for walking.  I see reviews that p&O is primarily British, so would you think an American couple would fit in for a 99 day world cruise?

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3 minutes ago, Hflors said:

We are an older couple.  We are looking at the Arcadia world cruise for 23 or 24.  We like quiet entertainment and quieter venues.  We have been looking at hal of princess for their world cruises, but their pricing seems to go up every day.  We like to meet people from all over.  Living in Florida USA we get to meet people from all walks of life.  For our one and only world cruise we want a nice atmosphere, good food and a nice clean ship with a wide promenade for walking.  I see reviews that p&O is primarily British, so would you think an American couple would fit in for a 99 day world cruise?

From your description of your likes and dislikes, Arcadia should be a good fit for you.  It won't be as plush as a HAL ship, nor as glitzy as Princess, but it will offer laid back entertainment and quiet bars. You will be outnumbered by Brits, but generally we do enjoy meeting Americans on holiday  so you should enjoy the company.

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Hello - welcome to the P&O boards!  I’m not sure how much help I can be wrt your queries but it seemed only polite to make some sort of response.

 

I’m mostly a P&O cruising Brit, though I’ve cruised Princess several times, both from UK and to Alaska ex San Francisco.  We’ve also travelled to the US on business, in the past (New England, Chicago, Tampa & Atlanta)

 

Arcadia is a nice ship but lacks many of the whizzbangs of the third millennium focussed lines trying to tempt new cruisers.  That’s fine by me, though she’s not my favourite.

 

I don’t know how many non Brits plump for a worldie on P&O.  I suspect not many.  We’ve only met a few North American’s on P&O but they’ve all been very nice, world-focussed people.  Princess is more universal.  I haven’t sailed HA so can’t comment

 

There’s a Yank (pardon me - just lazy shorthand) planning a solo worldie on  P&O who posts here. Sargasso Pirate, I think.  Can you make contact?

 

Anyway.  That’s my contribution.  As I said, I’m not much help.  I hope you get your cruise organised and I hope it’s truly wonderful

Happy travelling!

 

 

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2 hours ago, Hflors said:

we want a nice atmosphere, good food

Obviously the food will  be very much geared to British tastes. Probably not an issue over 14 days, but after 90 days you might be missing Mac n Cheese, and American style pizzas! 

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Worth noting Onboard prices are in U.K. pound, not the USD.  Not sure if they change for world cruises but can’t imagine they do. 
basically the cruise will be a little Britain sailing around the world so very little will be in place to accommodate Non U.K. passengers. 

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On a P&O Worldie you will find mostly Brits on board with a smattering of other nationalities. My last world cruise on Aurora for example had quite a few Dutch on board.

For the Australian ports and a week either side of them you will find quite a Aussies on board for a few days or a week or two which tends to make the ship a tad more informal for a few weeks. That’s been my observation but others may disagree.

A cruise is what you make it though.

Have fun deciding what to do.

Gill 

 

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5 hours ago, Hflors said:

We are an older couple.  We are looking at the Arcadia world cruise for 23 or 24.  We like quiet entertainment and quieter venues.  We have been looking at hal of princess for their world cruises, but their pricing seems to go up every day.  We like to meet people from all over.  Living in Florida USA we get to meet people from all walks of life.  For our one and only world cruise we want a nice atmosphere, good food and a nice clean ship with a wide promenade for walking.  I see reviews that p&O is primarily British, so would you think an American couple would fit in for a 99 day world cruise?

You sound like a good fit for P & O. If you have cruised with HAL then you may well have been on a sister ship of Arcadia so you know roughly what the ship will be like. She does have a nice promenade deck and sun decks and some lovely public rooms. Daytime activities are talks, quizes, art classes etc. No doubt a lot more is put on for World cruises. And although the menus are designed for British tastes they are all pretty international- anyway I guess if you are looking at P&O then you are happy to try something different. Lots of live music. The ship is not glitzy like Princess but very stylish with beautiful glass sculptures.

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14 hours ago, Dorset cruise fan said:

You sound like a good fit for P & O. If you have cruised with HAL then you may well have been on a sister ship of Arcadia so you know roughly what the ship will be like. She does have a nice promenade deck and sun decks and some lovely public rooms. Daytime activities are talks, quizes, art classes etc. No doubt a lot more is put on for World cruises. And although the menus are designed for British tastes they are all pretty international- anyway I guess if you are looking at P&O then you are happy to try something different. Lots of live music. The ship is not glitzy like Princess but very stylish with beautiful glass sculptures.

Yes Eurodam is a Vista class sister of Arcadia

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On 5/9/2021 at 9:20 AM, Hflors said:

We are an older couple.  We are looking at the Arcadia world cruise for 23 or 24.  We like quiet entertainment and quieter venues.  We have been looking at hal of princess for their world cruises, but their pricing seems to go up every day.  We like to meet people from all over.  Living in Florida USA we get to meet people from all walks of life.  For our one and only world cruise we want a nice atmosphere, good food and a nice clean ship with a wide promenade for walking.  I see reviews that p&O is primarily British, so would you think an American couple would fit in for a 99 day world cruise?

 

There are several good discussions on the World Cruising board.  A world cruise has been on my bucket list for years and I've done quite a bit of research .  I also ran across an excellent book about a world cruise on P&O titled Chasing The Dawn.  It's a chronicle and not a how-to book, but helpful nonetheless.

 

With almost 50 cruises under my belt, I have a pretty good idea of what my cruising needs are - and after several long distance motorcycle trips where I camped out about half the time, my actual needs are pretty simple.  I also like to stretch the cruise dollar and don't care to spend on "all inclusives" drink packages, or amenities that I won't use.  When She Who Must Be Obeyed travels with me, I book a balcony because she uses it as her private sanctuary.  When I cruise alone, I book an inside and save $$$.

 

After much research and putting the pencil to it, I booked a solo World Cruise on P&O.  My cost per day for an inside with the single supplement is around $230.  I have found that I don't spend much time on the balcony when I book a balcony cabin, so why pay and extra $200-300 per day for less than an hour on the balcony?

 

It's really all a matter of what fits your needs.  Even a bad day at sea is better than a good day at the office.

 

 

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3 hours ago, wowzz said:

That's fair enough, but for those of us who like to socialise in the bars, or have a glass or two with dinner, the bar bill can soon reach the debt level of Greece !

And whilst P&O does have a supposed drinks policy with regards to bringing alcohol on board, this appears to be very loosely enforced, if at all.

Very True - a wine that we used to drink regularly on P&O for £18 a bottle was $60 on Queen Elizabeth.

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6 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

Very True - a wine that we used to drink regularly on P&O for £18 a bottle was $60 on Queen Elizabeth.

Good grief. That’s a huge mark up...... it’s enough to turn one tee-total 🤣

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