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P&O Cruises

MS Arcadia

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Reviewed by: Ken C.
# previous cruises: 10 to 20
Date of Trip: January 1, 2006
Itinerary: Transcanal

We were on P&O Arcadia's New Year cruise out of Acapulco through the Panama Canal to Barbados. Here are some observations from that cruise.

Embarkation was probably the easiest we have ever experienced. This however was more due to our timing than P&O or Mexican efficiency. We had travelled independently to Acapulco, arriving the day before embarkation. We reached the port around 11.55am and personally saw our luggage disappear into the ship. We were the only passengers in the terminal and were in our stateroom where our luggage was waiting for us by 12.15pm!!! Other passengers arriving throughout the day had less pleasant stories of delayed charter flights, unscheduled stopovers and 8 hour delays in receiving their luggage.

While Phill unpacked, I went to see what were the chances of changing from first to second dinner sitting. The queues and pre-printed notices announcing that second sitting was full soon gave me my answer. I queued to no avail for at least an hour to see the Maitre'd and the queues were even longer when I left. In all I would estimate that at least half the first dinner sitting wanted to be on second sitting but there was no flexibility at all just a wait list. So for us the whole cruise began to unravel. Dinner at 6.30pm is one thing but having to start preparing around 5.30pm (the time of each and every sailaway) and the interminable time to kill between finishing dinner at 8.00pm (or after the first show ending at 9.30pm) until any sort of night life occurred became too much. We were often in bed eating chocolate and watching a movie on TV by 10.30pm. For us and a large number of people on the sailing this was a major problem and would definitely preclude us from sailing Arcadia again

The ship's interiors are also supposedly designed to appeal to 'British taste', but they fail miserably and many conversations I overheard compared Arcadia unfavourably with Oceana (originally a Princess ship which was described as 'much more luxurious'!!!). The layout of the ship is 99% identical to Holland America's Vista class but without their rich finishes and expensive designer furniture. Everywhere there is a surplus of brown and beige so much so that when you come across a colour it stands out as if your eyes are suffering colour deprivation. The main difference to the HAL ships are the Orchid Bar and Restaurant on Sky Deck which were designed to be the Queens Grill and Lounge when the ship was designated as Cunard's Queen Victoria. The Orchid is a charming restaurant and the food and service were the best on the ship, but it is sadly underused and appears to be a bit of a white elephant in its current guise. If P&O have any sense they will use it as another 'normal' dining room (perhaps for suite passengers - or is that too Cunard) and help alleviate the demand for second sitting. We were unable to get reservations, other than at very early times, at Arcadian Rhodes when we tried during the second week, so we decided not to bother.

The two level Dining Room layout is very spacious (probably a cause of the shortage of second sitting space) and we sat at an entertaining table of six (all of us preferring to be on the late sitting). Having read the reviews beforehand, I had no great expectations of the food and I wasn't disappointed. It was all very nicely presented but it was all very bland and unimaginative. In two weeks there were probably only one or two occasions when I was spoilt for choice - at least twice I had steak off the menu because I didn't fancy anything else. Much has been said about silver service on P&O but, no matter how well it is done, when it's serving carrots six days out of seven (I joke not) and undercooked potatoes everyday then give me the plated service of QM2 every time. The casual dining Belvedere also had a limited repertoire (including fish and chips or meat and two veg available at practically every meal) which became rather repetitive after a few days. The whole dining experience brought home to me what the corporate concept of 'A British Cruise Experience' means and I didn't like it!

We were in a CF grade balcony cabin on deck 6 which on first inspection bore the appearance of a standard modular cabin. Somehow, considering that this was the 4th Vista class ship built and P&O's considerable experience in commissioning new cruise ships, it was disappointing to find irritations such as no drawers (apart from tiny bedside units), shallow wardrobes where clothes had to be angled, the cheapest of plastic hanger supports which allowed the hangers to constantly drop on the floor (we noted that these were being replaced wholesale as we disembarked) and the tiniest non-adjustable flat screen TV I have ever seen.

The state of the art Piccadilly Theatre was packed for most shows which I suppose were again intended for 'British taste'. Tom O'Connor, a perfectly charming man, didn't appeal to either of us years ago and was even less likely to now - so we gave the headliner a miss. We love production shows but P&O have done a strange thing with their chorus line. They combined the talents of circus acrobats, Las Vegas showgirls, West End hoofers and Eastern European ballroom champions - all very talented individually but together???? The choreography, production and costumes were penny dreadfuls and the disharmony of the various 'talents' was self evident in the routines. The culmination was a turkey called 'Bombay Dreams (or was it Nights?)' - I haven't laughed so much at anything so unintentionally funny in years. It was like a church hall version of Aladdin and I still wonder what relevance the tango has to Bombay??? The second on the bill was a has been winner of a 1980's TV talent show who liked to dress in large amounts of silver lame (someone should have told her it was too close to Christmas) and bad mouth the talents of Cilla Black and Jane MacDonald (who it should be pointed out aren't flying round the world on charter flights to sing on cruise ships). These were probably amongst the worst shows I have ever seen - certainly on a ship.

The saving grace of the cruise was the itinerary. The spectacle of new year celebrated in Acapulco Bay is probably a once in a lifetime experience. The dignified poverty of San Juan del Sur and Puntarenas were admirable. To transit the Panama Canal for the first time - some 80 years after my seafaring father, was thrilling. We revelled in first time calls at Curacao, Tobago and St Lucia and thoroughly enjoyed our excursions at each one. Mayreau was a lovely relaxing beach but they don't warn you how rough the tendering can get!!!

For me Arcadia was a disappointing experience, especially as it was her alone that tempted us to try P&O. Ordered as a Holland America ship, changed to a Cunarder and then finished for P&O she would not fit well into any of these fleets, least of all P&O. I assume she is not 100% typical of P&O past but who can vouch for P&O future? She would have made Cunard a very inadequate Queen Victoria given the grumbling over the vastly improved version due in 2007. If the reaction of veteran P&O cruisers is anything to go by, I wouldn't be surprised if Arcadia left P&O at some time in the not too distant future. I won't be in a hurry to sail P&O again largely due to their concept of 'the British Cruise experience' (I find it all so patronising and a bit Billy Butlin!). I much prefer the 'International British' style of Cunard and given the cost of this cruise I defy anyone to criticise the rates or value for money on QM2 which, for me, is streets ahead in style, comfort, food, service and amenities offered to the 'British market'.

The photo album for this cruise can be found at: http://community.webshots.com/album/547290872QxMCab