wowzz Posted March 29, 2022 #1 Share Posted March 29, 2022 Not too much data, so a quick update. Arrived at drive through testing at 14:00. (Scheduled time 15:30) Three cars ahead of us. Through in 10 minutes.CPS collected car, test results back quick, and we were in our cabin at 14:45. Don't bother taking your own photo - everyone who had submitted their own photos, like we did, were photographed again. Arcadia looks spruced up from outside, and internally is in good nick. Balconies however are very tired, and loungers still look like the originals ! Steward says new loungers are on order. Our balcony creaked all night - managed to get moved to a midships balcony - helps that ship is about 60,% full. Service levels are a bit shambolic - lots of new inexperienced staff according to a waiter in the MDR. Cabin cleaned only in the morning. No turn down service option. Breakfast in cabin is free, but no hot drinks, and not even a hot pannini option. Compulsory LFT tomorrow. Two days at sea now before Madeira. 11 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Megabear2 Posted March 29, 2022 #2 Share Posted March 29, 2022 Have fun and a great holiday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted March 29, 2022 Author #3 Share Posted March 29, 2022 Official passenger count is 1100. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Megabear2 Posted March 29, 2022 #4 Share Posted March 29, 2022 39 minutes ago, wowzz said: Compulsory LFT tomorrow. Is that for the ship or Madeira entry requirements? Are you being charged if it's the former? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted March 29, 2022 Author #5 Share Posted March 29, 2022 3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said: Is that for the ship or Madeira entry requirements? Are you being charged if it's the former? Not clear one way or the other. But the test is free. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplesea Posted March 29, 2022 #6 Share Posted March 29, 2022 No test was required for Maderia in January, but things change! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRINCESSTHE BEST Posted March 29, 2022 #7 Share Posted March 29, 2022 1 hour ago, wowzz said: Not too much data, so a quick update. Arrived at drive through testing at 14:00. (Scheduled time 15:30) Three cars ahead of us. Through in 10 minutes.CPS collected car, test results back quick, and we were in our cabin at 14:45. Don't bother taking your own photo - everyone who had submitted their own photos, like we did, were photographed again. Arcadia looks spruced up from outside, and internally is in good nick. Balconies however are very tired, and loungers still look like the originals ! Steward says new loungers are on order. Our balcony creaked all night - managed to get moved to a midships balcony - helps that ship is about 60,% full. Service levels are a bit shambolic - lots of new inexperienced staff according to a waiter in the MDR. Cabin cleaned only in the morning. No turn down service option. Breakfast in cabin is free, but no hot drinks, and not even a hot pannini option. Compulsory LFT tomorrow. Two days at sea now before Madeira. I too am onboard. Completely agree with your comments. Service levels are very poor. I don’t know if you were aware there was a fire onboard yesterday (this was not a drill) .All staff were ordered to their muster stations and appeared unsure of what to do. The Captain later came onto the tannoy to state an incinerator room fire had been tackled and sorted by the firefighters. we are in a deluxe balcony cabin which is in a pretty poor state of repair. I have drawn up a list and submitted it, so it will be interesting to see the response. a mandatory LFT tomorrow in the Globe. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zap99 Posted March 29, 2022 #8 Share Posted March 29, 2022 1 hour ago, wowzz said: Not clear one way or the other. But the test is free. Spain have dropped all testing and isolation for land holidays. If you think you have caught Covid, just stay away from folk. As you are still in Corunna, just a reminder, give us a wave about 3.30 tomorrow. We will be watching and promise to wave back. Did you stock up on Rioja today.? Enjoy the rest of your trip. Iona is our next P&O cruise. Perhaps the megamonsters aren't so bad after all.🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmt47471015 Posted March 29, 2022 #9 Share Posted March 29, 2022 Could you tell me which part of the ship you had to be moved from due to the creaking? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britboys Posted March 29, 2022 #10 Share Posted March 29, 2022 Not surprised that there are a lot of inexperienced staff, I would imagine many of the more experienced ones have been deployed on Iona as the new ship. If only 1100 on board, that is barely more than 50%. Hope things improve for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey1959 Posted March 29, 2022 #11 Share Posted March 29, 2022 2 hours ago, PRINCESSTHE BEST said: I too am onboard. Completely agree with your comments. Service levels are very poor. I don’t know if you were aware there was a fire onboard yesterday (this was not a drill) .All staff were ordered to their muster stations and appeared unsure of what to do. The Captain later came onto the tannoy to state an incinerator room fire had been tackled and sorted by the firefighters. we are in a deluxe balcony cabin which is in a pretty poor state of repair. I have drawn up a list and submitted it, so it will be interesting to see the response. a mandatory LFT tomorrow in the Globe. Which Captain do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepingcat Posted March 29, 2022 #12 Share Posted March 29, 2022 Hello @wowzz,, thanks for starting this thread. We have a lot of affection for Arcadia as we spent 51 days on board in 2014 coming back to UK from Auckland and loved the whole thing. Arcadia was moored, visible from our bedroom, in Lyme Bay for long periods during 2020/21, (and btw some gorgeous photos available ) so I ve been thinking we would love to get back on board some time soon. But your reports are not encouraging so I will be following to see how it all works out. Hope you can enjoy the ports even if time on board is less than ideal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arlowood Posted March 29, 2022 #13 Share Posted March 29, 2022 HI Wowzz We'll be on board in just over a month's time. Our cabin is potentially going to be part of the re-allocation process due to the need for quarantine areas on the ship. Just out of interest, is there evidence of these quarantine areas visible at present.eg fire doors dividing off certain cabins on various decks? We originally booked A129 at the front end of the at section on A deck. from posts on another thread, I believe that the A deck quarantine area starts at A131 and goes forward into the mid-aft and mid-ship cabins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare P&O SUE Posted March 30, 2022 #14 Share Posted March 30, 2022 Good to hear from you Wowzz! I don’t know why but I’ve never fancied Arcadia although I loved Oriana and Oceana . I’d just been wondering this week whether to try her and I think you’ve put me off again 😂 Will be following your reports with interest though, hope you have a good time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow Hill Posted March 30, 2022 #15 Share Posted March 30, 2022 16 hours ago, wowzz said: Not clear one way or the other. But the test is free. Maybe a Port Authority requirement before ship can dock in Funchal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmt47471015 Posted March 30, 2022 #16 Share Posted March 30, 2022 The last two cruises we have been on have had terrible creaking cabins ( Queen Elizabeth and Ventura ) and we had to move both times, luckily the ships were nowhere near capacity so plenty of spare cabins, just wondering if its all to do with the ships been laid up for two years as never encountered these kind of problems on these ships pre covid, not due on Arcadia until September so hopefully she will have settled down by then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecttr Posted March 30, 2022 #17 Share Posted March 30, 2022 40 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said: The last two cruises we have been on have had terrible creaking cabins ( Queen Elizabeth and Ventura ) and we had to move both times, luckily the ships were nowhere near capacity so plenty of spare cabins, just wondering if its all to do with the ships been laid up for two years as never encountered these kind of problems on these ships pre covid, not due on Arcadia until September so hopefully she will have settled down by then Could be because they have been out of service maybe all those flexible bits have seized up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howmuch! Posted March 30, 2022 #18 Share Posted March 30, 2022 1 hour ago, davecttr said: Could be because they have been out of service maybe all those flexible bits have seized up Sounds a bit like me, the morning after a days gardening! 1 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted March 30, 2022 #19 Share Posted March 30, 2022 1 hour ago, davecttr said: Could be because they have been out of service maybe all those flexible bits have seized up They might have been out of service but they have all been at sea, mainly at anchor, but commuting back and forth to Southampton. So they will have continued to flex with the movements. Perhaps it's the fact that we have all had 2 years away from cruising and have forgotten how much they creek and groan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmt47471015 Posted March 30, 2022 #20 Share Posted March 30, 2022 Do you mean the ships or the passengers🤣🤣🤣🤣 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollag Posted March 30, 2022 #21 Share Posted March 30, 2022 Can anyone onboard tell us how they done the tests did you have to go back to your cabin until you had the all clear or just allowed to wander round like they did here on Aurora which worked really well🤦♂️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmt47471015 Posted March 30, 2022 #22 Share Posted March 30, 2022 No need to wait in your cabin , unless they ask for you just carry on , and hope!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollag Posted March 30, 2022 #23 Share Posted March 30, 2022 32 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said: No need to wait in your cabin , unless they ask for you just carry on , and hope!!!! Hope you have better luck than we did on here they obviously haven’t learned any lessons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Megabear2 Posted March 30, 2022 #24 Share Posted March 30, 2022 35 minutes ago, Mollag said: Hope you have better luck than we did on here they obviously haven’t learned any lessons Not long till you're home now. Hope things are going better for you past few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollag Posted March 30, 2022 #25 Share Posted March 30, 2022 1 minute ago, Megabear2 said: Not long till you're home now. Hope things are going better for you past few days. Last day tomorrow I will actually be glad to go home to the freezing cold😂. Nothing has changed still a mess lots of the galley staff got it now, spa and shop staff serving in the buffet, B2B passengers haven’t been told what they’ve got to do yet if any are allowed to stay I can’t see how anyone on here can answer the health questions without saying they’ve been a close contact in the last 14 days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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