I have cruised with P&O several times in the past and have always recommended them above the likes of Royal Caribbean because the service has traditionally been so much better. Not this time. It may well have been that particular ship, the Arcadia, but had that of been my first cruise with P&O I would be in no hurry to go back.

There was sickness on board (Norovirus) that was very badly managed. The previous cruise had the same problem, and our cruise (J233) was delayed enabling a 'deep clean'. Within a day of departure people were falling ill but preventative measures such as no self-service in the buffet were not put in place till the last day of the cruise. More than that, the Captain in an announcement blamed passengers for poor hygiene and bringing it on board!

The Arcadia is an old ship, and it shows. The cabin pluming was bad, by the time we finished a shower, we were standing in 3 inches of water. There were tide marks around the flat screen TV where it had replaced a larger picture. The balcony door latch did not work, I had to lock it to keep it closed. Dust under our bed was disgusting and clearly no vacuum cleaner had seen that area of carpet for a very long time. Read more