P&O Cruises
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Honest Review of P&O Arcadia
Stuff that was good: Genuinely overall most of it. Food was fabulous. Really impressed. Best food was definitely from the dine in restaurant (meridian). Lots of varieties and they were really accommodating for all dietary needs. Had a range of alternative milks which was great for us. It was SO EASY and calm to embark and disembark. The check in for when we first arrived was very fast and calm it was wonderful. Very relaxing compared to other modes of transport. This really helped to make the holiday. All the excursions we did were absolutely fabulous. Yes they were expensive but honestly we thought they were definitely worth it. We did 6 excursions out of the 8 days we were there. You got to see so much more and learn lots from the tour guides. Breakfast room service (was free included continental only breakfast) with our trip. Definitely well worth using if you have a morning excursion beats the rush for the breakfast. Deffo enter P&O competitions for free we saw people win great prizes on the cruise especially in the shopping area. The cinema was good but very small. They had a range of bars which were really lovey and lots of seating and live music. WiFi was overpriced but very good. Theatre entertainment in the evenings was really good. Lot of variety. We even had a circus show! Most staff particularly housekeeping and hospitality were absolutely lovely. We had a gorgeous room with a balcony which was well worth paying extra for. Stuff that wasn’t so good; Although the balcony was wonderful the room we had was almost directly above the theatre (which we didn’t know before booking). They’d rehearse during the day and obviously the night shows. We could hear absolutely EVERYTHING and the room almost vibrated with noise. It was very annoying when trying to relax and we couldn’t fall asleep until 11pm because of it which was frustrating. I’m autistic so the noise really affected me. The night manager was SO RUDE and abrupt. It was clear he couldn’t care less and he even said that no guest had complained before. Worst, when we called reception again to complain, they told us to put up with it!! Which is shocking considering how much money we’d paid for the room and holiday! The general daytime entertainment wasn’t great (quite boring actually) and we didn’t join in with much. If you want a more daytime entertainment experience and excitement definitely book a bigger ship with P&O. The drinks package for soft drinks is absolute CRAP don’t waste your money. We could only have cartoon juice and not from bottles. Coca Cola only from the tap not in cans. They had no Fanta or sprite. Some bars didn’t even offer carton juice which was ridiculous considering how much you pay for the package. Even though there were two pools they were very small and got quite crowded. The windows on board the ship almost everywhere (particularly bars and restaurant windows) were absolutely filthy and ruined lots of views. Honestly they were awful with marks everywhere. We went to the fjords so it was rubbish when you couldn’t see out properly whilst eating as that’s a huge part of the appeal with cruising. We used our balcony a lot (lucky we paid for that!). Disembarkment was earlier than expected (they were ready early) and it felt like they wanted you off the ship as soon as possible despite telling you the night before the time you needed to leave. It felt quite rushed which was a disappointing end to the holiday. Overall we would travel with P&O again, but would definitely make some changes next time.