Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

Reports about cruises on Arcadia
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frintonite
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Location: NE Essex

Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

#1

Post by frintonite »

Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

The cruise
A  24 night Southampton to Southampton cruise to the Caribbean, calling at Ponta Delgada, Antigua, Tortola, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados and Horta

The Ship
Soon to have a major refit, with the introduction of single cabins etc. I think the old girl is begining to show her age, as in port alongside other ships, she did look a bit tatty on the outside. 

The weather 
Once we had left the calm waters of Southampton ,the sea swell was high, and continued that way until we reached Ponta Delgada 3 days later, as I said in my blog, I have not known it last that long on any cruise we had done before. After leaving Ponta Delgada, the weather steadily improved, and the sea calmed. The weather around the islands was typical Caribbean, very hot, with showers. The return trip has been much better with flat seas, although the Captain did say when we left Horta that conditions were going to deteriorate, so if it does get lively, I will let you know.
 
Entertainment 
Headliners
Unusually for us, we only went to see two of their shows, as I have said many times before, the shows do get repetitive, year after year. They were an OK troupe, but I personally did not "click" with them, but that's probably me rather than them.
Quizzes
One of our favourite pastimes but no wins for this cruise, they also seemed to repeat the format every few days, there also seemed to be less quizzes in the day.
General
I can only assume that it is very popular, but Karaoke seemed to have been in the Rising Sun a lot lot more than I remember from previous cruises.
The Village Fete seems to have been a hit, Sue said it was heaving around the Neptune Pool. I did not attend as I was laid up in the cabin with the ships cough. 
We did not see any of the speciality acts, with the exception of The Beatles Experience, who were OK, nor attend any talks, so unable to comment. 
One of our favourite pastimes of an evening ( in the warm weather ) was just to sit under the stars on the aft deck with a drink in hand PERFECT .


Films
They have run some very recent films in the afternoon in the theatre, which has been good for sea days. I have never understood the logic in Arcadia's last major refit when a cinema was installed with 30 odd seats for a ship that holds C2000 passengers 

Crew
As always P&O's greatest asset, but I do feel that some of them are being pushed to the limit workwise. This, plus my observations below, IMHO is P&O trying to minimise costs in what must be a very competitive market place. ( Also I don't like the new biscuits )

Ports of call
With the exception of Tortola and Horta, we had been to the other ports before. I think we both fell in love with Tortola, but all the islands have their own character, and if you have never been to the Caribbean, you don't know what you're missing and it really is a must see. Some say, when you have seen one island you have seen them all, but it's an argument I do not agree with. 

Food
As always the food in the MDR was OK if not a bit repetitive, with a lot more offal on the menus ( never seen tongue before ) . But on the whole I would class it as uninspiring but adequate. On three evenings we ate at the buffet in the belvedere, all three occasions it was Indian cuisine, and I have to say, it was jolly good, and a nice change from the MDR.
We also ate twice in the Ocean Grill ( both menus ). Both Sue and I agreed, that we prefer the menu that has the salt marsh lamb on ( not for Sue of course). The belvedere for breakfast and lunch was OK, we did use the Neptune Grill for lunch, and also the sandwiches there.


Observations
Some things I have never seen on a P&O cruise before
Face cloths in the cabin with holes
Towels in cabin, where it was obvious they had seen better days, 
Cracks in mugs in the Belvedere
Cracks in dessert bowls in the Belvedere
Stains on table cloths in MDR
Having to order your dessert at the beginning of the meal
And the above were not a"one off"

Conclusion
Did we enjoy the cruise ? YES SIR, things I would have liked to have changed ? Well the first three days of weather, and catching the "cruise cough ".
I think the P&O product is changing, but nowadays we are in a very competitive market so it has to with a squeeze on margins etc. Still we can't think that it's that bad as we booked 2 for 2014 whilst on board.
But we are about to try Fred Olsen, so P&O beware

Until the next time

Ray & Sue,m
AKA Ray & Sue

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Kendhni
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Joined: January 2013

Re: Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

#2

Post by Kendhni »

Thanks for the report Ray. I have got the 'cruise cough' on both occasions we have been on board Arcadia.
Hopefully P&O address some of the issues you mention.

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Onelife
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Re: Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

#3

Post by Onelife »

HI Ray,

It’s this type of review that P&O could gain valuable information from, and make changes/ improvements where highlighted....nicely balanced/presented review Ray.

Regards

Keith

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Topic author
frintonite
Second Officer
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Posts: 296
Joined: January 2013
Location: NE Essex

Re: Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

#4

Post by frintonite »

Ken

the ship cough turned into something a bit more, so it was a diversion on the way home to the GP, and I'm now on a course of Anti B's and off work
AKA Ray & Sue

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jacksparrow
Senior Second Officer
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Re: Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

#5

Post by jacksparrow »

Hi there

I was on this cruise too and having never been to any of the ports, I did enjoy it. One thing that was not mentioned was the incident on D deck starboard aft, which occurred after we had left Barbados.

An announcement was made that there was smoke in this area and that it was being dealt with, this was the area of my cabin. I went up into the stairwell of this area and got there just as the fire crews did and saw the amount of smoke in the corridor outside my cabin as they entered. This was scary, however, all the cabins had been evacuated and the matter was looked into. It turned out to be an air conditioning problem which left us without air/con for a considerable amount of time and for periods during the day thereafter.

I for one cannot fault the way that P & O dealt with this matter although I do have certain reservations in relation to what happened afterwards.

Due to the way that P & O deal with their emergencies and enquiries I made afterwards it does make one wonder why the way emergencies are dealt with is not universal within the whole of the Carnival fleet. If this were to be the case perhaps those poor souls who lost their lives whilst being involved in the Costa incident may still have been with us.

Anyways, whilst I was told never to do a cruise after a ship has been on a worldie, I did enjoy it.

Jack :crazy:
The pesky scarfaced pirate

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Topic author
frintonite
Second Officer
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Joined: January 2013
Location: NE Essex

Re: Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

#6

Post by frintonite »

If you want it day by day, please check out my blog
AKA Ray & Sue

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jacksparrow
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Re: Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

#7

Post by jacksparrow »

Sorry............
The pesky scarfaced pirate


rogerrovers
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Re: Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

#8

Post by rogerrovers »

Many thanks for the review and blog. We both hope you are feeling better. I agree Garden Cane Bay is a little gem, we took a taxi there Oh I wish I was still there . The only news we heard was when Arcadia goes in for a refit they are putting new TVs on the cabin walls. The new cabins on sun deck will be ready but not the single ones marked out for the Disco area. Have to agree she is looking a bit tired and the wooden furniture needs replacing. We had an Officer on our table and he did move pretty quickly when his pager went off re the air conditioning, but I thought the Captain was very good announcing soon afterwards the problem. Like you and Sue we both enjoyed the cruise.

Regards
Jenny & Roger.


arcadialover
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Re: Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

#9

Post by arcadialover »

I enjoyed reading your review about my favourite ship. Chipped/cracked mugs/plates are totally unacceptable and I would have made my comments to the officer in charge of the dining venue.

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Dancing Queen
Senior First Officer
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Location: Derbyshire

Re: Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

#10

Post by Dancing Queen »

Good review Ray, I actually enjoy the sea days on the Caribbean crossing, even the first 2 or 3 which more often than not is a bit bumpy when we do it in December.

Ohhh for some Caribbean sunshine, hope the cough is improving :(
Jo

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Mo2013
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Joined: January 2013

Re: Arcadia J302 Cruise Review

#11

Post by Mo2013 »

Ray, I enjoyed reading your comments. I have sailed on Arcadia three times, but all the cruises were in its early days when the ship was brand new. Although you enjoyed your cruise I felt sad to read about the unacceptable things that you found, and that they have been allowed to happen. A shame.

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