Arcadia Round Trip UK Carribean Cruises J819 & J823

[rjms74]

Hi,

 

I have travelled on Arcadia once & am onboard again next week & am contemplating one of the above round trip 20 night + Carribean cruises but wondered how the ship handles rough seas and what I can expect for this cruise which both on the outward & inbound part of the trip to & from UK is about a week at sea? The first cruise is Sep/ Oct & the second is Nov/Dec - am guessing that the better of the two re sea conditions is Sep/Oct? I know re the Bay of Biscay & Atlantic though how unpredictable it all can be! esp having before a couple of times exp. a force 10 on QE2!

 

I only have experience of Cunard crossings & cruises to & from the US & Canada which I know can vary greatly but just wondered if anyone had done this trip before on this ship or any other P& O at these times of year. I have been to the Carribean before and am pretty certain weather in the Islands will be pretty hot during both cruises?

 

Look forward to hearing your advice & comments re the above cruises. I am not even sure if Arcadia has offered such round trip UK cruises before as she is usually based in the Carribean from Nov to March isn't she?

 

Kind Regards,

 

 

RJMS74

[daiB]

Hi,

 

I have travelled on Arcadia once & am onboard again next week & am contemplating one of the above round trip 20 night + Carribean cruises but wondered how the ship handles rough seas and what I can expect for this cruise which both on the outward & inbound part of the trip to & from UK is about a week at sea? The first cruise is Sep/ Oct & the second is Nov/Dec - am guessing that the better of the two re sea conditions is Sep/Oct? I know re the Bay of Biscay & Atlantic though how unpredictable it all can be! esp having before a couple of times exp. a force 10 on QE2!

 

I only have experience of Cunard crossings & cruises to & from the US & Canada which I know can vary greatly but just wondered if anyone had done this trip before on this ship or any other P& O at these times of year. I have been to the Carribean before and am pretty certain weather in the Islands will be pretty hot during both cruises?

 

Look forward to hearing your advice & comments re the above cruises. I am not even sure if Arcadia has offered such round trip UK cruises before as she is usually based in the Carribean from Nov to March isn't she?

 

Kind Regards,

 

 

RJMS74

 

 

Hi rjms74,

 

We have sailed to the Caribbean on Arcadia last October and it was fine, the sea was a little lumpy on the way to the Ponta Del Garda and the ship performed well. Oceana followed a week later and had flat calm.

 

To get to the Caribbean all the ships go well to the south and so miss the bad weather. The QM2 and QE2 travel further north to get to New York and so can hit some bad weather.

 

As for the bay most cruises from Southampton have that pleasure. We have had 11 crossings and 1 bad one.

 

 

 

:) :) Happy Cruising:) :)

 

:cool:

Dai

[Daffydd]

We are also looking at this trip as at the moment we are booked on the Ventura but wanted something longer

David

[old git]

couldn't we all lololol:cool:

[LibraLass41]

Our Canaries cruise in May 06 across the bay was a bit bumpy.. force 7/8 and we were fine, the only problem was the creaking in our balcony cabin, which came from around the balcony door frames. But these door frames need to be flexible so not much can be done about that.

It was rocky enough to send us from one side of the corridor to the other and for the shows to be cancelled a couple of nights, so the performers weren't injured, but we didn't have any sea sickness and she seemed to handle it well.

 

Sue

[Daffydd]

We are also looking at this trip as at the moment we are booked on the Ventura but wanted something longer

David

 

I am still looking at this trip

I have to make up my mind in 14 days as friends want to come with us making 5

Has any one else booked up yet

David

[Daffydd]

Sue

Sue

Double post I am sorry

[Daffydd]

Sue

Sue

Noticed you lived near Bath

I was Born in Bath to Weslsh Parents lived in Weston Bath Westwood Bradford-on-avon

before working my way round the country to retirement in Wales

David

[Daffydd]

Sue

Sue

Triple post Boards playing up

David

[daiB]

I am still looking at this trip

I have to make up my mind in 14 days as friends want to come with us making 5

Has any one else booked up yet

David

 

 

Hi Daffydd.

 

Well we would book this cruise on either of the dates but at the moment my wife still works and cannot take 3 weeks off. It is certainly one of our to do cruises.

 

Going back to the weather you cannot tell with BoB but after that it should be fine.

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[Kindlychap]

To get to the Caribbean all the ships go well to the south and so miss the bad weather. The QM2 and QE2 travel further north to get to New York and so can hit some bad weather.

 

QE2 had far worse weather coming back from the Caribbean last month than she did on the transatlantic.

 

Our Canaries cruise in May 06 across the bay was a bit bumpy.. force 7/8 and we were fine, the only problem was the creaking in our balcony cabin, which came from around the balcony door frames. But these door frames need to be flexible so not much can be done about that.

It was rocky enough to send us from one side of the corridor to the other and for the shows to be cancelled a couple of nights, so the performers weren't injured, but we didn't have any sea sickness and she seemed to handle it well.

 

You were being thrown around in force 7/8??? That's nothing much really.

 

Interestingly, on the tandem transatlantic Queen Victoria (another Vista, like Arcadia) was having problems some of the time, and had to cancel the odd show. We on QE2 were having a ball, the only problem being having to dawdle along at 23 knots.

 

All these "block of flats" ships will be less good at sea than a proper liner. Unfortunately there are only two of the latter still sailing, and only one beyond November.

 

Matthew

[Vampire Parrot]

I was on the same trip across the pond as Dai last October (Hi Dai!), and the weather was actually a lot rougher than most people on the ship knew - it was unusually rough for October in the southern North Atlantic route (i.e. the route between the Azores and the southern Carribbean).

 

We had 3 days of gale force winds (7-9 on the Beaufort scale), and a day of storm force 10. On that day, the wind over the deck was 55-75 mph, gusting to over 80. A very rough day..

 

The seas were interesting - constantly 20-25 feet, with the occasional wave from our starboard beam being somewhat higher than that, over 30 feet on occasion.

 

I've crossed the Atlantic three times by sea, twice on "Traditional Ocean Liners", the wonderful Queen Elizabeth (Not QE2!), the Carinthia (one of the last true Liners built - she was one of Cunard's Saxony sisters and in my opinion, the most beautiful liner ever built), and finally, on the Arcadia.

 

It's true that our trip on the Arcadia wasn't smooth. The Atlantic had been rough for many days, and she'd developed a long period swell, with the distance between the tops of the swells being about 1/3 of a nautical mile. So the Arcadia just rode the swells, as any other ship would.

 

The Arcadia is a truly great ship to cross oceans on, and P&O's deck officers are amongst the best in the world. I'll take a trip on her to anywhere she's sailing to!

 

VP

[Basil.cat]

Hi we're on cruise J819 in Sept/Oct.

 

We sailed back from Barbados on Adonia in March 2005 and it was pretty rough at times. But we were told this was unusual. We were due to stop at the Azores but because it was too rough, we couldn't. I notice that P&O don't seem to stop there any longer.

 

Some people were getting slightly stir crazy after 8 solid days at sea., but we found it so relaxing. Hence we're doing it there and back this time. Don't let it put you off there are plenty of things to do on board, whether you want to attend the talks, just read a book, be pampered in the spa etc.

 

We choose this cruise because we love the West Indies, and have been there a number of times. The weather will be fantastic at this time of year, although you may get what the local call liquid sunshine (rain to the rest of us, but warm rain!).

 

On the trip in March 2005, we had such a terrible flight to Barbados with Monach, that we've decided never to fly cruise again.

 

Hopefully see you on board!

 

Dian