snaefell

We are all different & I thought the glass skylight over the atrium was beautiful! You meet so many on board who 'know' exactly what the future holds,for some she is old,doesn't fit in & is 'on her way',others claim she is definitely having a major refur b in September 2024 & is 'here to stay',given that she is due to leave early September for the USA that just shows how definite these ideas can be!😮

Agree,looking at other cruises on her & they seem pretty expensive,no 7 nights for £499 like I see advertised for Arvia & Iona,attracting many oldies I hear but to me speaks volumes about which is the nicer ship to cruise on!

Typical CC,the negative reviews get noticed,the positive ones get ignored seemingly. We have recently returned after a 19 night Med cruise on Arcadia,our first time on her,we loved the ship & would love to go on her again. Yes she is 18 years old(so is my newest car!),you can't t expect her to look brand new with the travelling she does,that just isn't practical,we have travelled on many ferries of a similar ages or older so don't really notice the wear & tear,to us she seemed a classy ship,more so than Arvia or Iona from what I have seen. The Rising Sun is a fabulous room,as is the Crows Nest,The Palladium Theatre is a lovely venue,same with the Globe,the MDR is a classy room with tables not on top of each other,the Ocean Grill & Sindhu were both outstanding with amazing staff. I cringe when programmes appear on TV describing cruising as the height of luxury,those days are gone,reflected in the price you pay these days,head off with that idea in mind & you WILL be disappointed!😎

We came off her last Friday after a 19 night Med cruise,I would take reports about cleanliness with a pinch of salt as other scaremongering on here,we loved Arcadia,no complaints about cleanliness as far as we were concerened accept maybe with rude passengers with unhygenic habits,but you get that anywhere in life. Shortage of crew,maybe,there were certainly many new & obviously inexperienced people working on board,with the crew serving on the buffet resources could be stretched. If it wasn't for the people we would be back on her anytime,yes she is battle scarred but we have been on countless ferries as old & older than Arcadia,you can't travel like she has & look brand new,beautiful ship IMO!

It is I guess a matter of opinion what cider is supposed to taste like,I agree the fruit ones can be sweet & taste like the fruit they are supposed to be,when I drank cider I loved the taste of Strongbow as it wasn't too sweet,for me many ciders taste just like Apple juice with a kick!

Yes Lucky Saint is a nice one,even better as you can get it on draught,my favourite is Adnams Ghost Ship,on Arcadia there was Heineken Zero in cans,seemed very gassy compared to bottled,they also had Kopperberg Mixed Fruit cider,a bit sweet for my liking but preferable to how gassy the Heineken was! Never ceases to amaze me as to how in supermarkets the AF gin seems to be as expensive as the alcoholic version!

Hope you guys enjoyed Amsterdam. just curious,during the cruise were you able to serve yourself at the buffet or was it down to the crew?

Yes things have changed in recent years,there is a huge variety of AF drinks these days,as an ex real ale drinker I still love the taste of beer so that is good news,IME many beers have a sweet aftertaste which isn't to my liking,but some compare very favourably with the best real ales I ever tasted. What isn't so pleasing is the pricing in bars of AF beers,anything up to £8 a pint,a joke when a pint of Stella is £4,not a great incentive to not drink & drive,don't know if that applies to AF wines in bars.

Our arrival slot was from 1415hrs,our coach arrived around 1345hrs. Liverpool is very close to us but from when I have found a Saga or Fred cruise that sounds interesting the price has put us off.

Love predictive text! Embarkation was a breeze,we were dropped off at the entrance,led straight to a check in desk,security & were on board in minutes, once on board we were directed to our muster station,read the rules,had our boarding passes scanned & we were free to go,15 minutes at the most.

So true,sadly with so much traffic on the road these days getting to & from them can make it seem not worth the effort!😎

Getting off the ship was a nightmare yesterday but we were on our coach back to Cheshire & mobile by 0945hrs,that was when things really went pear shaped,Southampton seemed quite quiet but we soon joined the M3 queue & from there on did a wonderful tour of Britains Motorway Car parks,finally getting home around 1900hrs,my Wife won't fly anymore & after yesterday I have no chance of getting her to go to/from Southampton again,looks like Blackpool from now on!

Jealous as hell because we love the Netherlands too,got two sea days left to find somewhere to hide until she sails! Enjoy

Noticed all the left over sprouts,must have been a bad evening all round,after good food so far last night my steak was incredibly dry!

Absolutely, we are on Arcadia now & love it,could be wrong but I get the impression that some are still mired in the old cruise image,times have moved on for good or bad,take what you find & not what you wish/hope to find,enjoy!

Last time I saw photographers on a cruise they looked like a bunch of students,not very professional!😙

When it works!

We are on Arcadia now,we used the buffet the first couple of nights,then it changed to the crew serving so we tried the MDR,we went at our normal 1845hrs,there was a large queue, all receiving pagers,on our turn we were told 45 minutes to an hour so went to the buffet. The following night as advised we were there at 1730hrs,were given a ticket,doors opened 1800hrs & we have done that most nights since,hated the idea at first but it seems to work!

Certainly for the current cruise the speciality restaurants were not bookable until on board,strange how the first night was seemingly still pretty full as soon as we got on board. Booking with the app can be challenging as it sometimes isn't working.

It certainly was 0900hrs today Selbourne

I read similar about Arcadia,we have travelled on so many ferries over the years that have been as old if not older than Arcadia so I am used to battle scarred ships,Arcadia looks great to me,more classy than dated IMO. We would all love hotels & cruise ships that look like new but that isn't practical,for one thing idiots disrespect them too much!

Yes,we ate there last Saturday,it was superb,just getting ready for a second visit tonight! Sindhu & OG were not available to book before we sailed,all the more annoying that when we boarded we tried to book OG for the first night & were told it was full,a bit of persistence got us in!

Just to show it is a game of two halves,we are also on Arcadia right now,just birthed in Genoa,we too are on C deck,sorry some are not having a great cruise but it is quite the opposite for us. The food has been great,the entertainment good to brilliant(the 4 Harps were superb but sadly left the ship in Valencia),love the ship & would really like to get back on her. The buffet is packed for breakfast(people don't want to get up early for the MDR! ) & lunch,having the crew serve can be a bit of a pain as some are not keen or cut out for it!

I didn't think proposing to someone was a good idea,I think my Wife might object!

Something else that will bore the pants off you too then, this evening we had a BBQ by the Neptune Pool,not challenging cooking wise but for the more simple of us it made a nice change & was fun,just what we look for on any holiday!👍