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More on P&O's Arcadia from our new book Great Passenger Liners 1950-60:




Tony Ralph, a keen ship enthusiast from New Zealand and former cruise liner staff member, recalled his very first P&O cruise, aboard the Arcadia, in 1966. It was a short cruise from Auckland to Pitcairn and Tin Can islands. "She was a great ship with a colonial country club style," he remembered. "She was lighter in style and decor than, say, the earlier Himalaya. The Arcadia got away from the traditional dark woods favored by P&O for their earlier passenger ships. There was indirect lighting and ceiling designs onboard the Arcadia as well."



Life onboard in the 1960s was quite different as Tony Ralph remembers from today's hotel-like, activity-filled cruise ships. "Daily life on P&O liners, even in the 1960s, had its rituals. These rituals were part of P&O's sea-going culture. A cup of tea and a biscuit was served each morning to all passengers in their cabins, for example. This was a pre-breakfast tradition. Lunch was always offered in the restaurant, down on B Deck, whereas a buffet lunch on the open deck was considered an event and might be offered only once during an entire cruise. Everyone was very punctual at meal times, especially at dinner. Travel by ship, even in the 1960s, was still very special to Australians and New Zealanders. Yes, it was all very ritualized."




Photo: An triumphant poster from 1954 of the Arcadia & her near-sister Iberia.


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Tony Ralph also remembered: "On the Arcadia, after dinner in the restaurant, coffee was served in the lounge and it was very much a separate event. There were lots of conversational areas in the lounges and so you met more passengers over the course of the voyage. Formal entertainment was minimal. A film was the only offering some nights. Then there was an Easter Parade of Hats, Frog Racing and Tombola on others. Cabaret shows were unheard of back then, but a big, high spirited disco on an aft, open deck was a big, well attended event! There was no television or even radio in the cabins on the Arcadia so that reading the printed daily news sheets was also an activity."