Arcadia J218 In search of the Northern Lights.
Arcadia Cruise Review
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 11
Helpful Votes: 213
Norwegian Fjords
Sail date: October 06, 2022
Ship: Arcadia
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
Too many sea days. Not our best cruise but ok.Embarkation
Not too bad. Un-observed covid test taken at home. There was no requirement to prove this and aside from a 20 minute wait the embarkation was relatively smooth at the Mayflower terminal.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Food in the MDR was excellent and the service 1st class. Every meal was superb and staff couldn’t have been friendlier or more professional. We had 1 meal in the Ocean Grill and this was amazing. Sindhu was not open on our cruise due to staffing issues which was a shame. The buffet was terrible. Food luke warm which was exasperated by too few tables. Many people took a table for 4 as a couple then put coats, books and trays etc onto the adjoining seats to put them out of service. By the time you’ve found somewhere to sit the food is cold. Passengers could also be quiet aggressive in the que by pushing in and tutting when queuing behind you as if they’d never see food again. One older gentleman that we met in the MDR said he felt intimidated in the buffet and wouldn’t go.
Onboard Activities
Lots of bingo, pub quizzes and bridge. The pool is undercover in cold weather and people did happily use this along with indoor hot tubs. Good enrichment talks and some fairly new films in the screening room and theatre. The usual sales talks flogging watches, jewellery, art etc. A little pedestrian for our taste.
Entertainment
Pulse as usual with P&O were excellent. Mostly in the Globe they really rocked the place. A good comedian and good work as usual from the headliners.
Service and Staff
Can’t say anything bad about the staff. They are brilliant. Superb service from every department.
Ship Quality
Feels a little dated, underwhelming and could probably do with some TLC in the public areas but it was spotlessly clean everywhere. We had some rough seas and she handled them really well. Very stable.
Cabin / Stateroom
Firstly, spotless. Very clean and remained so thanks to our cabin steward Erylin. A good size and comfortable. Full length windows which surprised us in an ocean view. Good sized bathroom with a shower over a small bath. We’ve been spoilt by newer ships and are used to an interactive tv. In this aspect it felt like we’d gone back in time. No features and satellite based so little or no service for part of the cruise. Just news and the odd film channel.
Ship tip
Don’t expect the onboard experience to excite. Its a more sedate cruise experience but pleasant none the less.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
A Norwegian town. Our tour took us around some residential areas then to the top of the mountain via a cable car in some pretty bad weather. The clouds did clear a little in the end. Can’t say we were bowled over. Billed as an overnight by P&O we departed at 00:30. An unexpected extra sea day and we sailed out of the Fjord’s in the dark. We’d departed Tromso at 01:00 so both Fjord cruises were in the darkness.
Surprised us. Thought we’d just walk around a bit. Instead we bought a return ticket for the cable car independently of the cruise line. It’s right by the key side and appears pretty much new. A smooth ride to the to afforded spectacular views and the freshest air imaginable.
Arrived early morning. Took the free shuttle into town. Pleasant to walk around. If you like a walk cross the bridge (it’s a long one) and then visit the church on the other side. In the evening we went on a northern lights tour but due to bad weather we had limited success. It was still good fun.
Pleasant enough. Most shops closed on a Sunday but the HO-HO bus was running so we paid on board and took the tour which lasted around 45 minutes.
Disembarkation
Relinquished our cabin by 8am latest but happily due to our peninsula level we have priority boarding/disembarkation so had a meet time of 830am in the globe. Lots had later but seemed to all be in the glove by 8am so quite a que to disembark but happily we were off by 9am. Luggage was exactly where it was supposed to be. Glad we weren’t relying on taxis because there were none in the ranks and a huge que.
Traveler Photos
