Not at all the holiday I had hoped for!

October – Northern Lights, First, you can’t see them without special equipment or a suitable camera even if they are there. Second, 6 port days of 11 turns out to mean only 4 port days and 7 seadays (too many in poor weather) due to P&O’s very ambiguos marketing, third, P&O’s hopeless dining app arrangements make a nightmare of dinner (although the food was fine), fourth, Sindhu Restaiurant closed due to no staff, Fifth, bars poorly stocked and several lines unavailable, Sixth, weather very miserable (not P&O’s fault). Seventh, 2 of 3 excursions effectively cancelled, not all P&O fault. Eighth, two of four port days were Sundays with most things closed. Nineth, Staff shortages, but those present were good. Tenth, the ship was cold for the first half of the cruise and the Crows Nest bar was really too chilly to use, which was a pity. All in all not the holiday we had hoped. The main problems were mostly down to P&O and their apparently bad management and planning. Arcadia is now dated but still potentially a lovely ship but modifications to the Atrium to incorporate Marco Pierre White’s grill have not improved the feel and look of the Atrium which, sadly, is amongst the most unimpressive I have seen.