Arcadia Northern Europe and Scandinavia Cruise June 2025

[CaroleF]

It's been a very smooth cruise so far. Today we were supposed to dock in Klaipeda in Lithuania. We were getting ready to go to breakfast when there was a broadcast from the Captain telling us he was sorry but we wouldn't be able to stop in Klaipeda due to technical reasons. That's all he said. We are due to have a sea day tomorrow and then dock in Stockholm on Wednesday. The Captain said he would see if we could arrive in Stockholm a little earlier. As you can imagine there's been moaning and theories banded around. I saw on FB someone says that Google says GPS jamming Kaliningrad. No idea what this means. Any way it's sunny and the sea is flat calm, the entertainment team are planning additional activities. I expect it will be the chat of the day.

It's been a good cruise so far. The weather's been good, if not particularly warm and we had a very smooth journey up the North Sea. The new menus are really good and we have had some really good meals in the MDR. First Formal Evening well attended. My sister-in-law and I are on second sitting on a table of 8 in Club Dining. It was interesting to see that by far the majority of the men on our sitting were wearing black tie. Lots of very glamourous dresses too. Yes there are things missing but so far I think it's been a good cruise. It's my sister-in-law's first cruise and she's very impressed. We are in a suite so she's seeing all the extras and I have explained that this is because we're in a suite. It'll be interesting this evening to hear everyone's ideas as to why we've missed Lithuania.

Carole

[oldbluefox]

Have a great cruise Carole 🛳

[Meg 50]

It's been a very smooth cruise so far. Today we were supposed to dock in Klaipeda in Lithuania. We were getting ready to go to breakfast when there was a broadcast from the Captain telling us he was sorry but we wouldn't be able to stop in Klaipeda due to technical reasons. That's all he said. We are due to have a sea day tomorrow and then dock in Stockholm on Wednesday. The Captain said he would see if we could arrive in Stockholm a little earlier. As you can imagine there's been moaning and theories banded around. I saw on FB someone says that Google says GPS jamming Kaliningrad. No idea what this means. ..... It'll be interesting this evening to hear everyone's ideas as to why we've missed Lithuania.

Carole

The cynic in me blamed 'Vlad' - then read on and thought 'heavens!'

Just googled it and looks like a possibility.

We're on a similar itinerary to this next year - and the political situation has crossed my mind a few times., but I had told myself off for doom-mongering....

[CaroleF]

Update from the Captain: He said that there was a problem with our GPS but it has now been sorted.
We are now heading for Stockholm and will dock there tomorrow morning at 9am.Just to clarify today we were supposed to be in Lithuania, tomorrow was due to be a Sea Day, Wednesday we were due to dock in Stockholm, stay Wednesday night and leave on Thursday afternoon at some point. Now we will be staying Tuesday and Wednesday night and leaving on Thursday as planned. The tours department have managed to create more tours for tomorrow which is certainly quick work. As you can imagine there is a lot of chat around the ship and the political situation in Lithuania has certainly been mentioned. I think P&O have done well to manage to be able to dock in Stockholm a day early, put on activities for today and to arrange for tours to be available for tomorrow.

[Ray B]

Never been to Stockholm Carole, so please paint a picture in your next post on how enjoyable the city is.

[Whynd1]

How fortunate to have extra time in Stockholm.
Such a lovely city.
Can throughly recommend the Abba museum.what fun.

Lindsey

[Meg 50]

Far worse places to be stuck in than Stockholm. We overnighted there last year, but spent most of our time looking for pharmacies for a poorly OH - so that was partly why we booked the Baltic next year - to go to Stockholm again.
There's a wonderful range of museums etc, which we will book online before we sail

[oldbluefox]

Last time we were there we went to the Vasa (Wide Range Blue Book 6 I believe ) museum which was absolutely amazing. Highly recommended and you can get a tram there although it's a nice walk for the more mobile.

[CaroleF]

So now we have nearly three full days in Stockholm. I agree there are worse places to be stuck. The tours department have done a sterling job putting on tours. I'm amazed the Captain has been able to secure a berth that quickly. We are docked in a very industrial part so not many beautiful views from the balcony. At dinner last night everyone was very understanding about the change, no moans, not from our table anyway. According to reports on FB there is an announcement from Saulius Skvernelis, the Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament on Tuesday saying that Recent GPS signal disruptions affecting aircraft and ships near the Lithuanian seaport of Klaipeda are linked to Russia's efforts to shield its Kaliningrad exclave from potential airstrikes.

I've been to Stockholm several times and now I have walking problems and am using a scooter I don't know how much I'll get to see of the city. My Sister-in-law has booked some tours, her first cruise so understandably she feels safer doing P&O tours and of course P&O won't allow scooters on their tour buses so we'll see. Maybe on Thursday we'll go off together and use the shuttle bus. Meanwhile it seems a very happy ship. We went to the show last night which was the Headliners doing a tribute to Burt Bacharach which was quite good although some of the female singers do tend to screech. A couple of nights ago they did a Circus Act which was excellent. It was meant to be a Sea Day today so it was designated a Formal Night and that's what it's going to be. I don't know if some people will have decided to eat ashore. None of our table are so we'll all be there tonight.
We had a meal at Ocean Grill the other night and I'll comment on that. I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected. I remember when Gary Rhodes was there and that was an exceptionally excellent meal.

[Happydays]

Carole I'm enjoying reading your review. Makes a lovely read no moans hope you continue to have a good time

[CaroleF]

Good morning from Stockholm, for those of you who don't like the heat that I understand some of you have at the moment you'd enjoy being here, very overcast, high of 20C forecast, 17C at the moment. I have a query for the technical minded. I have the apps of BBC Sounds and Audible on my phone and have things on both that I wanted to listen to, plus I wanted to add some things to Audible. I have WiFi and was unable to access either Audible or BBC Sounds. When I tried got a page that said, 'There was a problem during loading' on BBC Sounds. When I tried with Audible the page said 'Error It looks like something went wrong. Please try again later. Go to Library' When I went to the Library it would let me play something I had been listening to previously but I couldn't access anything else. I messaged my daughter who had set up the whole Audible thing for me. Eventually she suggested I turned off WiFi and try again just using 4G. When I did this I could access both Audible and BBC Sounds. She downloaded two other books for me onto Audible and I was able to access both of those. Last night when I wanted to listen to something on Audible again I had to take the phone off WiFi in order to do that. Anyone know why this is?

We had another lovely meal in the MDR last night, Formal evening and again the majority of men in DJs and some very glamorous evening dresses around. There seem to be quite a few younger people on board, by younger I mean people in their 30s and 40s. My sister-in-law and I decided to treat ourselves and we opted for a main course from the Signature Selection where you pay an additional cost. We had Roasted and Carved Prime Grass-fed Beef Fillet which came with Truffle and Parmesan Chips, Roasted vine cherry tomatoes, Portobello mushrooms, Broccoli Florets and roasted banana shallots with a choice of sauces, Red Wine, Sauce Diane or Blue Cheese. I asked for mine medium rare and my sister-in-law wanted hers medium. I was most impressed. Both were cooked exactly as asked. Mine had 5 reasonably thick slices of beautifully tender steak, and the other items were well cooked. We both enjoyed it immensely. It does cost £11.95 which I know some people won't want to pay when there are other things on the menu which are included. I thought it was excellent and I must say far better than the meal I had in the Ocean Grill the other evening.

This is the first thing that I've found on Arcadia that was disappointing. I prebooked so it cost me £12 each which is a small cost. I went down to the restaurant using my scooter which I know is a nuisance for the staff having to find somewhere for me to put it but I was made to feel a nuisance. We were shown to a seat just inside the restaurant. Now we should have asked to be moved to a table over by the window at the other side of the restaurant as there were about five empty but we didn't and that's our fault. We felt apart from the rest of the room. There was no warm welcome when we arrived. Eventually a waiter came and gave us menus. We both chose what we wanted and then a waiter came and asked if we wanted drinks. For various reasons we both wanted soft drinks so I asked what soft drinks they had. I don't think he understood what I meant because he seemed to be saying no soft drinks. Anyway he did understand and I had an Elderflower Spritz which was very pleasant. The restaurant was reasonably full when we arrived at 7.45. There just didn't seem to be much atmosphere in there. I chose a Crevette Cocktail, like a Prawn Cocktail really. It was in one of those popular wide champagne saucer shaped glasses. There was a lot of shredded iceberg in the bottom but it didn't seem to have any sort of dressing on it. Then there was a good amount of crevettes in a Marie Rose sauce with I think Paprika on top, a beautifully fanned cucumber and some tomatoes. It was ok but nothing special and I think needed more sauce. I then had a sirloin steak, asked for medium rare and it was well cooked but there was a lot of sinew going through it which made it difficult to cut. It came with tomato, mushrooms and onion rings, and then Marco's special chips, not sure what was special about them. For pudding I chose a rhubarb and custard cheesecake which came in a tumbler, I think what is called a deconstructed cheesecake which was tasty. My sister-in-law had a trio of puddings which comprised a smaller version of mine plus a chocolate tart and an Eton Mess, a meringue with a toffee sauce, cream and I think nuts. She enjoyed that. For and extra £12 it was ok but the standard of the beef fillet I had plus several other meals we've had in the MDR have been really good and I just expIected better in Ocean Grill. I've eaten in the Ocean Grill on Arcadia before, the first time when it was Arcadian Rhodes with Gary Rhodes as the chef and that food was in a different class. The standard of what we ate didn't even begin to compare with, for example, the Epicurean which I know is more than double the price which I'd have been happy to pay. I've never understood why neither Arcadia nor Aurora have an Epicurean or a Glass House, both of which I would have thought would go down well with the passengers. While we were eating another couple came in and were shown to a seat even nearer the entrance than we were and they immediately asked to be moved to a better table. Initially they were moved to a table just at the edge of the main part of the restaurant and then I assume asked to be moved again and they ended up at a window table. I'm not sure what that was about. For us the whole evening was just disappointing, it wasn't awful I don't mean that, just not what I expected. I had booked two different evenings so we could sample both menus but I'm going to cancel the second. We feel we are being very well served in the MDR.

There is a good atmosphere around the ship and the staff certainly seem happy. There is a local folk singing and dancing group coming on this ship this evening and will be performing in the theatre so we intend going to that.

[david63]

I have a query for the technical minded. I have the apps of BBC Sounds and Audible on my phone and have things on both that I wanted to listen to, plus I wanted to add some things to Audible. I have WiFi and was unable to access either Audible or BBC Sounds. When I tried got a page that said, 'There was a problem during loading' on BBC Sounds. When I tried with Audible the page said 'Error It looks like something went wrong. Please try again later. Go to Library' When I went to the Library it would let me play something I had been listening to previously but I couldn't access anything else. I messaged my daughter who had set up the whole Audible thing for me. Eventually she suggested I turned off WiFi and try again just using 4G. When I did this I could access both Audible and BBC Sounds. She downloaded two other books for me onto Audible and I was able to access both of those. Last night when I wanted to listen to something on Audible again I had to take the phone off WiFi in order to do that. Anyone know why this is?

I am guessing that you have the basic wi-fi package on P&O and as far as I can recall that does not allow streaming - which both BBC Sounds and Audible are. Not sure how Audible works but I suspect that you download onto your device so once it is there it stays there but you are not able to download anything else.

[Meg 50]

there was an article in yesterday's Telegraph about the strategic significance of the Baltic and in particular Gotland ( where Visby is situated) which is 200 miles due (ish) north of Kaliningrad)

[CaroleF]

We had a very picturesque, if somewhat windy sail out through the Archipelago yesterday evening and a beautiful sunset. Today we are in Visby, an island on the Eastern Coast of Sweden. It's much brighter today, sunny eve n but a chilly wind and a temperature of 18-20C. I'm very happy with that as I've had a text from my daughter who lives in Surrey who says the temperature in her back garden yesterday was 33C! I don't like high temperatures so happy not to be there, especially as in my absence my sitting room is being repainted and by the time I get home all the furniture,pictures etc will be back in place. How's that for good organising!
On Sunday is the Caribbean lunch. I was Baltic level but not having cruised, apart from 4 nights, since 2019. I wasn't intending going to the lunch as I assumed that as it's my sister-in-law's first cruise she wouldn't be invited but when the invitation asking if I wanted to attend came it said if I was sharing with someone who hadn't been invited I could add the person's name and they would receive an invitation as well, which she has. I didn't realise they did this.
On Wednesday evening I was getting ready for bed and cleaning my teeth when suddenly the water went off. No water in the bathroom basin, shower or bath but the toilet was working fine. I phoned reception and they said someone would be up. After 20 mins, midnight by this time, no-one had appeared so phoned again and they said they were sorry and it would be on again by 4.30am. When we left the theatre on Deck 2 that evening there had obviously been some sort of problem as the driers were out in parts of the corridor leading from the theatre. There was also an unpleasant aroma. I don't know if that had anything to do with it. Anyway, sure enough it was on again by 4.30, at least it wasn't on at 3.30 as I got up to go to the loo and it wasn't back then. Talking to the others on the table at dinner it sounds as if it was ship wide but whatever it was it was sorted quickly so that was the main thing.
One thing that maybe has gone a bit far with cost cutting was when I went to the shops and bought some perfume for myself and my daughter and was asked if I wanted a bag, I said it would be helpful as I could put it over the handlebars of my scooter rather than trying to carry two boxes. I was told that it would be 20p for a small bag, 25p for a medium bag and 30p for a large one! Considering the bags are paper not plastic I thought this was going a bit far.

[CaroleF]

Sorry the page disappeared and loaded before I could do anything. I then bought some Pandora charms for my grandaughter but there I was given a paper bag with the Pandora logo printed on the side of it. 20p for a paper bag P&O really! However, I must say that in our suite is a dish of sweets that I thought had disappeared.
We have a new Captain. They changed over in Stockholm. The one who left was, I think, Matthew Nicholls and the new one is Yulian Kostov. I think before P&O he was a Deputy Captain on Queen Anne. I've not come across him before. He certainly has a good sense of humour if his first broadcast is anything to go by. We leave Visby at 5pm and are on our way to Riga in Latvia. Hopefully we won't have any more GPS problems.

Carole

[cruisin_duo]

Thank you for posting about your cruise Carole. Really enjoying reading about it.

[jacksparrow]

Just curious to know, what with the water problems, whether Arcadia recently had a refit. There seems to be heck of a lot of changes over the past few years

[david63]

Just curious to know, what with the water problems, whether Arcadia recently had a refit. There seems to be heck of a lot of changes over the past few years

The last refit was November 2024 - https://www.pocruises.com/blog/arcadia-refit-in-focus

[CaroleF]

Well this is certainly proving to be an eventful cruise. Not that it hasn't been enjoyable it has and most people I've spoken to have enjoyed it. We had a power failure few days ago but it didn't last long and the emergency lighting soon came in. We missed Lithuania but had an extra day in Stockholm which was good instead of having an extra sea day. Yesterday there was an alert about cases of gastroenteritis so extra precautions were put in place, serving in the buffet etc. Then yesterday when the Captain did his evening briefing as we were leaving Riga he warned that there might be a question mark over our stay in Warnemunde, due on Monday, sea day today. The people in the weather centre in Southampton were concerned about the winds and apparently heavy wind can make getting in to Warnemunde can be difficult. This morning we woke to fairly flat seas and some sun but during breakfast the Captain broadcast again to say that a decision had been taken that it would be too difficult to get into Warnemunde so we would miss the stay there but instead of a sea day it has been possible to get an early visit to Copenhagen where we were due on Tuesday, our last port before two sea days then Southampton on Friday. So now we are heading straight for Copenhagen and are due there about 9am tomorrow. The new Captain has certainly had an eventful beginning to his spell of duty. Today we are going to the Caribbean lunch so that'll be interesting. The last loyalty lunch I went to was a Baltic one, I assume this will be very much the same. Unfortunately tonight is formal night with a Celebration Menu so we'll have to pace ourselves.

[Portsmouth]

I am enjoying reading your review....shame about missing Warnemunde but at least you get a bit of extra time in Copenhagen

[Meg 50]

again, there are worse places to be stuck than in Copenhagen

[CaroleF]

We had the Caribbean lunch yesterday which was enjoyable. Unfortunately the Gastro bug going round meant that there were some last minute cancellations for the lunch. I don't think cases of the bug have increased, nothing has been said by the Captain for the last 24 hours. I'm sure if people were going down with it he would have said something. None of our table of 8 in the evening have been affected. We were supposed to be on a table of 6 apparently at the Caribbean lunch but there were only four of us. The other couple said they preferred to be on a table for 2 which didn't lead to very good conversation although we did try! The meal was good. I had a salmon starter which was beautifully presented. We were given glasses of sparkling wine for the starter and then red or white wine for the rest of the meal, although I did notice one of the waiters carrying what looked like a glass of larger for someone so presumably you could ask for other drinks. For the main course I had a stuffed breast of chicken which was delicious and it came with mashed potatoes, mushrooms and spinach with a lovely jus as they called it, a delicious sauce. For pudding I had what they called a chocolate brownie with chantilly cream and icecream. This was very rich but tasty but was more like a chocolate sponge with chocolate ganache on the top. Then coffee and chocolate truffles. The lunch was well attended despite a few being absent. My sister-in-law and I were quite abstemious and only had the fizz, we said with the formal evening coming up we definitely needed to pace ourselves.
There were some glamorous dresses at last night's formal evening. All the formal evenings, this was the third, have been well attended with as I think I've already said, the majority of the men in DJs. I don't know if the first sitting has been the same and obviously I don't know about Freedom Dining. The meal was lovely, in fact we both think that the food on this cruise has been exceptionally good. My sister-in-law, whose first cruise this is, says she's been surprised at how good the food it.
At the Palladium theatre last night was a comedian, John Evans, billed a The One Liner Comedy Club. This was his second performance and those who attended his first performance seem to have enjoyed it. He was said to be funny without swearing or vulgarity. I don't tend to go to see comedians so I can't give an opinion. Tonight was supposed to be the Headliners with Blame it on the Boogie, classic 70s floor fillers. However, at breakfast this morning it was announced that they would be presenting this tomorrow evening instead. Tonight a singer who was on a few nights aigo has filled it, Vocal entertainer Benjamin Moss who was on 'The Voice UK'. Wpre didn't see him but I have heard from various people that he wasn't that popular but that's only hearsay. We have been impressed with the Headliners. Because I haven't had a 'proper' cruise, more than 4 nights, since 2019 there are lots of Headliners performances that I haven't seen before.
We've just docked in Copenhagen, 25 minutes from the city centre by shuttle bus. I imagine we are so far out as this is an extra day in Copenhagen. Whether we would have been nearer the city centre if we'd arrived as expected, tomorrow I don't know.
I know the breakfast that's available in the restaurant for Suite guests doesn't affect everyone but I feel I must praise the toast! This may seem an odd thing to say but those of you who have experienced P&O toast in the buffet or the main restaurant will know what I mean. On occasions we have had toast in the MDR that seems as if it might have been shown to the toaster for a minute or two but that's it. We have both had brown toast up in Sindhu each morning and it's toasted right up to the edges and it's crisp! Actually crisp but not burnt. Delicious! I can't believe that it was done in a toaster, maybe a grill. If it's a toaster then it's better than any toaster I've ever had.
The Tours people have been able to put on various extra tours today. The weather outlook isn't that good. The Captain has just said that it's likely to get windier as the day goes on with the possibility of rain and even thunderstorms so not brilliant. My sister-in-law has a trip booked for tomorrow so has decided in view of the fact that it's about 25 mins to get to the centre then one and a half to two hours on the hop on, hop off bus then the shuttle back to the ship which makes nearly a three hour trip, she'll stay on the ship today.
One aspect of the ship that has disappointed me is the Library, which actually is now shut for the remainder of the cruise because of the bug, which no longer seems to have a librarian and the books are no longer sorted in alphabetical order which means to find any specific author is difficult. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't do away with the libraries altogether but this may not be the case. I would have still used the library if I found it easier to use my Kindle. I think this text may already have printed, so apologies if this is the case.

[Meg 50]

oh no - no library measns no jigsaw for sea days!


When in Copenhagen last year we were in the newly built cruise port/ industrial port a fair distance out - no longer the quay within walking distance of the (very) Little Mermaid

[CaroleF]

Whether we would have been docked in a different place had we arrived when we were expected which was this morning I don't know. It's a mixture of rain and shine this morning. We've just had a full crew emergency exercise. Passengers are always told if they wish they can report to their muster station as part of the exercise; I've often wondered if anyone actually does. Hygiene precautions are still in place but the whole gastro bug hasn't been mentioned again by the Captain so I assume cases haven't increased. In Sindhu, the suite breakfast restaurant, the only thing we've noticed is that there is no longer salt and pepper on the table. The little pots of Bonne Maman preserves are still there and we still have butter on a little slate slab but I assume this is because you have your own table for breakfast so the only person or people you are eating with are the ones in your cabin. Butter in the MDR is now served with tongs by one of the waiters. Apparently in the Belvedere, buffet, everything is still being served by the staff. I've heard people complaining about this but surely they can understand why. We now have another ship docked in front of us. I can't tell from the picture on the TV whether it's Ambassador's Ambience or Silver Spirit. Apparently Independence of the Seas is also in but it's certainly not her.
After today we're on the last stretch, two sea days before Southampton on Friday. Last Formal Night tomorrow. Most people seem to be saying they've really enjoyed the cruise despite the not brilliant weather, but it's not been awful weather, it could have been so much worse. It's really only in the last couple of days that we've had actual rain, plus one afternoon previously I think. I'll give my overall thoughts once I'm home. There is no doubt that things, even on a traditional ship like Arcadia, are not what they were when I started cruising with P&O back in 2005. Cruising is a whole different experience but I'm glad to see that our Club Dining, second sitting, has seen full tables, people adhering to the dress code and enjoying the company of their fellow passengers. My sister-sin-law, whose first cruise this is has said that she always thought that dining with other people was what cruising was about. She has thoroughly enjoyed herself, raves about the service from the crew and the quality of the food.
There are an immense number of wind turbines in Copenhagen, in fact in many of the places we've visited there have been many of them. More later.

[CaroleF]

Now I'm back home. As I said previously it was a different kind of cruise for me. It's the first proper cruise without my husband who died in 2020. I did a four night one in 2023 with one of my daughters just to see how I felt being back on a cruise ship; I did enjoy it apart from the fact that on that sort of cruise there tend to be a lot of new cruisers, stag and hen nights etc. However, this was 16 nights so a 'proper' cruise. I was travelling with my sister-in-law, we married brothers, it was her first cruise so she had no idea what to expect. I had treated us to a suite so we had the extras that it gives. This cruise was also different as I had to take my scooter because of mobility problems due to arthritis in my back and ankles. I can walk but not long distances and certainly not the long distances like walking from one end of the ship to the other, from the MDR to the theatre and back to the cabin. So because P&O will not take scooters on any tour bus, not even accessible excursions I had really decided that I probably would stay on the ship. I wanted my sister-in-law to take some tours which she did. For me the holiday was being on the ship, not having to lift a finger, having company which, living on my own, I really enjoyed.
Embarkation: I had obviously registered for assistance. We had a suite so 12.15 boarding time. We went to the Assistance Desk where they checked I was on the approved list and then, instead of going to the main Check in, there was a desk next to the Assistance Desk and we checked in there then directed just round the corner to Security and there we were directed on a special pathway that filtered us in at the head of the queue so it was all accomplished incredibly easily. It was then straight on the ship, going to the Muster Point to have our boarding form scanned. From there it was to the Meridian Restaurant where we had a lovely sit down lunch at a table with six