MV Arcadia - a brief appraisal.

[Kindlychap]

Just thought that I would post a few thoughts about the ship, following our two night trip to Bruges last weekend.

 

We were shown to our cabin by a steward, although I got the impression that this was not universal. We were in an AD grade suite at the rear of the ship, at the corner, on C deck. Our first impressions of the cabin were that it was very small, although on thinking about this later we both thought that there was perhaps too much furniture in it - a large sofa, two large chairs and a fair size coffee table make up the sitting area.

 

The bathroom was dingy. Beige plastic is not exciting, especially as some of it was already discoloured. However there were some large boxes of stuff from Moulton Brown, one each for the lady and the gentleman.

 

The balcony was enormous. There were nine chairs on it of various descriptions, and it didnt feel crowded.

 

The ship itself is very busy, although I did not see the evidence of smokiness that I have heard of from others. However there are no real areas for simply sitting and reading a book - which is a provision that is well done on the QE2.

 

The Meridian Restaurant was fair - our meal the first night was noticably less good than that on the second, although the vegetables were universally poor. The wine list was a joke - nothing of any interest at all. I didn't get the impression that the sommelier knew his stuff either - although to be fair I didn't put him to the test.

 

The service from the waiters was dreadful. Rushed, and completely devoid of any personality at all. One waiter at another table was even seen to be chewing gum! There appeared no direction from the Maitre D' and the whole thing was like a sausage factory.

 

The meat on the second night (we both had beef) was really excellent however, although I have never had beef served with a red plastic cowboy stuck in it to remind the waiter which was the rarer of the two!

 

Overall, the only two crew who appeared to have any interest in us were our stewardess and our butler, both of whom were very pleasant. This contrasts with the QE2, when if you meet a member of the crew in a corridor then they will greet you in a friendly manner - it is clearly the Cunard way.

 

Comparisons with the QE2 are difficult. As the QE2 is so much more expensive I think one would expect more, but in point of fact I think that the QE2 is far better value. And when you bear in mind that there are cabins on the QE2 that are far cheaper than the cabin we had in Arcadia, yet which benefit from a great deal of the Cunard class, it is perhaps a little less the fare that is relevant than the line.

 

Our table at dinner was at the very rear of the ship on deck two. As a result the whole of dinner was taken up with a throb from the pods below us. This seems to be a fundamental flaw in the ship.

 

Would we sail on her again? On balance, probably not. Having said that, we are both aware of the fact that a two day cruise is a very different animal to a longer one, and it will be interesting to see the way that Cunard deal with the one night cruise that we are taking in July of this year........