Hope you are prepared for this! We started well, a very quick check in and cases already in cabin when we arrived. Windy and cold when we left so no real sail away party. Usual lifeboat drill, with cabin cards being checked to make sure everyone attended (a bit of a shambles in the theatre with some people who didn't show their card and never got asked for it). Then back to complete unpacking and ready for dinner. First sitting on table for six and delightful table companions. One couple had been upgraded to a suite so at that point felt quite jealous.... First night a little windy but nothing untoward however it gradually increased - force 7, force 8, until one evening yes, you guessed it force 10..... (so glad I had taken my seasick tablets!!) However I felt Arcadia coped well, although the bangs, bumps and creaking did cause several comments. I no longer felt jealous of , our now friends , in the suite as it was situated at the stern right over the propellers and very very noisy and bumpy in their cabin. It was five days before we could really venture outside safely. No swimming pool neither - far too dangerous. But it was lovely being rocked to sleep each night. Finally got into New York which was extremely busy and very hot (Donald Trump and United Nations in town!!!!!) Very high security everywhere and lots of roads closed off to traffic so our taxi driver had to drop us off in the middle of the road. Then the fun started again, New Port missed because the hurricane was catching up, made Boston safely in the pouring rain but Bar Harbor missed because again bad weather catching up. Eventually got safely into Halifax where we had a trip to Peggy's Cove which was far too short - about 40 minutes there- then back on board ready to leave. BUT NO - a rope tight around asipod so we were stuck! So instead of sailing away for Saguenay we stayed in Halifax and the next day we wandered into the quayside. By the way, we had to berth much further down than usual so we had to use a shuttle bus just to get out of the secure area where we were. Then we had to miss Saguenay and straight on to Quebec for our two day stay-Wrong Again we didn't arrive until 9 pm the first day so one day there missed. Second day in Quebec was lovely. Bright and sunny. THEN as we prepare for sail away the captain informed us that instead of going on to Sydney we were going to head BACK to Saguenay as that was a much nicer port sailing up the fiord . If anyone does go to Saguenay, the "La Fabuleuse " show is not to be missed. It is absolutely amazing, brilliant, wonderful..... However by this time many people were very unhappy as missing out on tours, disappointed at missing seeing relatives and often general lack of information. Personally, hubby and I felt the captain did the best he could and the excursion staff went all out to rearrange tours and put on additional ones for people where possible. Total of three ports missed and shortened stay in Quebec. Of course this further change to the itinerary meant six days at sea coming home instead of five. However P&O did compensate a bit with the odd bribe here and there..... BUT FOR US the icing on the cake was on the third day into the cruise whilst in the middle of the Atlantic we booked a further cruise -ON ADONIA! Eight days later we joined a large queue of people trying to find a new cruise to book...honestly the loyalty manager didn't even know about the sale of Adonia.. Arcadia is still a good ship although perhaps a little tired in places. Unfortunately several couples had to move cabin because of leaks etc - one couple three times, but she is going in for a full refit in November when all these problems will be solved (hopefully). The food in the MDR was excellent. Plenty of choice and as much as you wanted if you asked. The Headliners on this cruise were the best we have seen on any cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed the shows. The entertainment manager was also brilliant and really worked hard as did his team. Other entertainment varied but I always feel it is personal choice - I didn't like the second show by the comedian but hubby did! I loved the local dance team brought on -but hubby didn't. The usual Art and Bridge classes were well attended and there were plenty of interesting talks etc every day. Overall I think it was a good cruise despite lots of problems and as usual all the P&O staff on board were brilliant and couldn't do enough for you. Can not say the same for the shop staff who are often quite rude and pushy. Next cruise in May is on Oriana for the first time but we will certainly go back to Arcadia as soon as possible. Read Less

Embarkation well organised, onboard for late lunch. Deluxe balcony cabin very clean, plenty of space but needs decorating and new bath fitments. Food was consistently good both in meridian restaurant and Buffett. Cabin steward, waiters etc and reception all great. Toilets often out of service around ship which was a nuisance. Headliners in the Palladium were fantastic, better than Broadway! Entertainment team real fun. So why the disappointment? Would have all been ok really if it was a 7 day trip but for 24 days the variety in daily activities was limited and evenings were not really organised to occasion with the lamentable DJ one of the problems.One passenger said "its a cruise for the oldies, what did you expect"? Whilst it was adults only we did expect more. Gym was ok but all the talks in there were repeated and limited knowledge- just a marketing ploy. New York stop went fine although immigration took a while. We booked our own trips as ships too expensive. Had to cancel Bar Harbour and then Quebec one as only 1 full day there. Information from the Captain was limited - we were told due to the hurricane weather Newport stop bypassed as it was a tender & would not be safe - ok. Onto Boston. Bar Harbour & Sidney - also tender ports cancelled although we found out later other ships had no problems using them. Propeller problem gave us 2 days in Halifax which is lovely, but due to lack of info we all rushed back at 4 pm to be told we had the extra time. Quebec only 1 full day and then a right mix up for the excursion team again when backtracking to Saguenay instead of Sidney! Too many days at sea a not enough port stops! We did have Champagne that the family had organised for our Anniversary - but delivered 6 days late! We were given onboard spending but bought things we didn't really want in the expensive onboard shops so they got it back. Also advised we would have money off future trip but when we enquired were given very misleading info so won't bother for a while. To us the ship was not really big enough for a long trip and was more geared to seniors more senior than we are. Saying that, there were some great ones onboard! Read Less

Food and service was the poorest I have ever encountered in over 3 decades of cruising. Arcadia are obviously putting cost first and trying to attract a new breed of cruiser who are not that particular. The food in the MDR was more like you could expect in a budget holiday camp, I actually LOST weight on the cruise, The food in the self service was even worse. Our cabin was totally inadequate for a disabled cabin, the wall at the bottom of the bed had been badly damaged by previous occupants as there war insufficient room to get a wheelchair through,, not that it mattered as the bed was at a 45degree angle to the dressing table meaning my wife couldn't use it. The carpet was full of stains and the cabin was dirty. On arrival there was a vase with a single flower in it which died, we decided to see if the cabin boy would throw it away or replace it... I threw it away at the end of the cruise 24 days later. Entertainment was poor to say the least, the cheapest berths in ports were obviously taken up... all in all a poor cruise. Sorry P&O you have lost a customer Read Less

Having sailed on Arcadia a couple of times before I don't know why I decided to read any reviews of the ship but having done so I was a little worried of what to expect. Well after 24 nights on board my wife and I where impressed with most things.The entertainment was 1 st. class the staff and crew very professional and accommodating the food I have to say was only average [but not all bad].The shore excursions seemed well organised and not has expensive as some of the other lines we have sailed with.The price of the wine and drinks was certainly cheaper than the American Cruise lines with no added service charges. The ship is not as sparkling bright and crisp as some of the newer liners but it does have a nice feel and it is due for a refit early next year. We would both sail on her again and had a wonderful holiday. The ports of call where all on the north east of America and Canada and were some of the nicest we have been to in the world.I would recommend the New York up to Newfoundland cruise to anyone. Hope you found this review useful. Read Less

SHIP we've been on it before and we like it because its very easy to get around. CABIN excellent position on the ship beside the glass lifts on deck 8,no lift noise at all and in the middle of the ship,everything was in easy reach not far to walk from any of the bars in the evening. STAFF no complaints at all they were all very pleasant,SUSET kept us nice and tidy,MARCO---JAY stopped us from starving and had a laugh with us at the same time,CLAYTONE for keeping our glasses full in the Riseing Sun and remembering our names and drinks after the first night. FOOD plenty to eat and variety in both the Meridian and Belvidere,despite the way some people thought there was going to be a food shortage in the Belvidere at times. ENTERTAINMENT shows were good plenty going on in other bars in the evening,usual quizzes and talks through the day Read Less

We have cruised on Arcadia several times but could not help noticing how some standards on the ship have declined on the last cruise. This did not alter the fact that overall we enjoyed the experience. Our first moan was that we had to wait for at least 20 minutes in the car before we could unload the luggage. It appeared that this was due to there not being enough drivers to park the car. Our last cruise was on Celebrity Eclipse in May and the unloading/parking method used then would eliminate this wait. We drove up to the unloading point, our luggage was removed, we parked the car and walked back to the ship, making a note of where we parked the car. This made it a lot easier when we arrived back as we did not have to search for the car. The reception was very good. As we are Portunus Gold Members we more or less booked straight in, straight through security and were directed to the Orchid Restaurant where we had champagne and light bites before going to our cabin -â€" a deluxe balcony cabin which we have had before. The carpet was not clean, although the rest of the cabin was fine. This time there were no slippers or bath robes as had been advertised in the brochure, only a small gerbera in a silver vase which lasted less than a week and a few boiled sweets. Storage space is adequate but would be a tight squeeze for a World Cruise. We made extra space by removing the wooden hangers provided, storing them in a suitcase under the bed, and used our own plastic hangers. The TV was tiny (14 inch) and very difficult to read even from a short distance. A good supply of tea, coffee and biscuits was available. The bathroom was adequate - a fair amount of storage space but the shower is over the bath with a horrible curtain which inevitably sticks to you. My DIY husband remedied this by fixing a rope across. Would it be too much to have a fixed screen, I ask? The balcony was roomy, plenty of space for two loungers and two small tables. We did not meet our cabin steward till the evening of our first full day when we mentioned the carpet. Her reply was that she did not have a vacuum cleaner! Well on top of that and our first lunch in the Belvedere (see below) I made a complaint at reception. All the points I mentioned were attended to : the restaurant manager phoned me as did the accommodation supervisor and there were no more queues at lunch time and our steward got her vacuum cleaner but not without a reprimand for telling us too much! Our dinner was in the lower Meridian restaurant but the standard of service, which was very slow, and the variety of food choice were of a lower standard than on previous cruises. The wine service was the worst we have ever had -â€" the white wine was served warm every time we had it, in spite of us asking the wine waiter to make sure it was cold and the red wine seemed as though it had come out of the oven! Because of the slow service the only time we had a full dinner was on the nights when we decided not to go to the theatre and we could enjoy the coffee and petit fours. We had a most enjoyable dinner in the Orchid Restaurant -â€" excellent service, including the wine, and excellent food but that comes with a cover charge. Other nights we had dinner in the Belvedere (buffet style) which had much improved since our last cruise on Arcadia with places being set at the tables with glasses and cutlery, and water was served by a waiter. The wine service was good and the wine was served at the correct temperature. Tea and coffee were also served at the table. We had lunch once in the Belvedere as the experience on our first day was not enjoyable. I had to queue for 10 minutes to get salad as only one side of the buffet was open. I fancied some chips with my salad but I took one look at the queue where the hot food was served and did not want another 10 minute wait. I went back to our table where my husband was waiting. He got me some chips as the other side of the buffet had opened but they were stone cold and soggy as they were any other time we tried them. When we went to make our tea there were no teaspoons and no milk!! Instead of lunch from then on we had afternoon tea which was a more enjoyable experience with a fair range of choice. I was also disappointed to see that as there was no check on the entrance to the Belvedere to ensure that everyone used the hand sanitising gel. Very few people did in fact use it. Could this have been the reason that so many passengers had colds? The theatre is lovely, better than some West End ones, but to be sure of getting a good seat it looks as though you have to leave dinner early which is a shame as dinner should be a sociable occasion. In Celebrity Eclipse dinner was 15 minutes earlier and the theatre started, I think, at 9pm which we found to be more relaxing. Like a lot of others who have sailed on Arcadia a few times we were getting bored with the resident group "The Headliners", same old performances, good dancing but awful singing. The guest artists were, with one or two exceptions, very good. We thoroughly enjoyed the classical concerts but the piano was at right angles to the audience with the result you could not see the pianist's hands. In fact the pianist was in silhouette most of the time! We spoke to the pianist and she too was unhappy with the position of the piano. When I asked her if she had mentioned it to the Cruise Director she said she had not met her! Surely, the Cruise Director, Tracy Clegg, should have met all the Artists? Her deputy, Magic Martin, did not help matters any, when, one night as he was introducing the pianist said, "Welcome to the Globe Theatre" when in fact we were in the Crow's Nest and to make matters worse he did not call for an encore which is standard practice. I think these two would be better suited to organising Bingo! The Ports were on the whole very good. We organised all our own excursions but I would only recommend doing that if you were accustomed to cruising and had done a fair bit of research beforehand. It rained on our first day in New York (the only port where we had rain) but we still enjoyed our stay there. We walked to Central Park on our second day and had a great time but as we were too exhausted to walk back hailed a yellow taxi with little effort and the fare was only about $7. Bar Harbor was the port we enjoyed most -â€" absolutely picturesque. It is a "must see"! As the fog was very thick in St. John, New Brunswick, we stayed on board and were later told there was not much to see. We had a tremendous start to our stay in St John's (Newfoundland & Labrador) where we had the best welcome party yet - two girls and two men in ancient military uniforms, two mounted police on lovely black horses and to top it all one gi-normous Newfoundland dog and a black Labrador. Not much to see there but enjoyed the walk. The send-off we received was also worthy of mention -â€" soldiers in ancient military dress were high up on Signal Hill where they fired their muskets as we sailed away with the sun still shining. This coincided with our early dinner time which we decided to forego and dined in the Belvedere. The food, Indian buffet, was good but as usual was lukewarm. We paid for 14 days at the thermal spa which we always enjoy and it is the only draw which would make us return to Arcadia unless there is a complete makeover. There are plenty of other ships which are much better managed. After the long walks we had on shore days it was so relaxing to have a soak in the hydro-therapy pool and then lie on the thermal beds looking out to the sea, allowing our tired muscles to recover at leisure. The public rooms and bars were all satisfactory but I do wish that there was more space for those who want simply to read without being bombarded with canned music or other noise. We spent a fair amount of our morning time in the Spinnaker Bar mainly because it now serves Costa coffee with some of the muffins seen in UK. One rather weird event which happened during our stay in New York - we noticed that the muffins were not on show as usual and when we asked the waiter why he replied that the American port authorities considered the selling of the muffins as unhygienic! Why should they have any control over what we eat on board? We and the waiter thought that the selling of food on the New York streets was more in need of criticism! Read Less

Having read quite a few poor reviews of Arcadia, we approached her with some misgivings, but an open mind. We were very pleased and surprised with what we found. She has massive open decks on Lido Deck with a lovely Prom Deck that you can sit on and not be bothered by people jogging or walking. It's wide enough for that. Our cabin was an inside twin in a Queen Config. It wasn't large, but perfectly adequate. Cases all went under the bed. Checkin was simple, we arrived at 1.pm and were on board having lunch at 2.30. That was from driving in. The entertainment on this cruise was truly excellent including the Headliners, Brian Conley etc. Only one very poor comedian spoilt an excellent run, but that didn't matter. Service and food were both excellent. We dined every night in the Meridian and didn't feel it was necessary to try either Arcadian Rhodes or the Orchid. Neither did any of our table for 8. I would definitely sail on Arcadia again. this cruise was truly a delight and the sail down the St Lawrence Seaway is a must, even if it was deja vue for me as I last did in 1969 when I emigrated. Read Less