Great Cruise and Weather - BUT Arcadia is poorest P&O ship
We booked this cruise because it was the only one we could do with P&O in the time slot we had available. The more we thought about it, the more we thought it would be interesting to do, but we didn't expect great weather, and given the type of cruise, we expected an aged clientele and a sedate atmosphere. We weren't disappointed with regards to the latter, of which more later !! I must add at this juncture that we are loyal P&O clients and have only ever cruised P&O, on all the ships (apart from Adonia).
THE WEATHER - We didnt expect great weather and the cruise got off to a poor start with torrential rain for embarkation and sailaway. It was the worst rain in the south for some time. Sailaway was a washout with most passengers staying indoors and only a handful braving the elements, although they might still have been settling in and unpacking due to the delays in embarkation (of which more later). However from the next day onwards we were SO lucky. The weather was with us all the way. I was able to wear shorts all the time, we had plenty of sun and good weather, with only a bit of rain on 2 days. Some days were incredible (especially Shetland which was glorious), and a great deal of sunbathing and swimming was done at the Stern Aquarius Pool. The good weather was the talk of the ship and mentioned by the captain at every sailaway. (5/5 rating)