Back From Arcadia

[Izabelle]

Hi everyone,

 

We are back from our short and sweet cruise on Arcadia we had a wonderful 2 nights and leaving from Outer Harbour in Adelaide was really special.

 

We were lucky to be upgraded from C Deck inside to a balcony on A Deck the 2 couples we cruised with had also booked for an inside and were waitlisted right up till a week before we sailed so they had to wait till booking in to know what cabin they had, there were squeals of delight when they to had been upgraded to balconies on A Deck and all close to each other.

 

After we all calmed down we were on the ship in 5 minutes and in our cabins, it was time for lunch and we all headed to thr Belvedere buffet which was just above our cabins so very easy to find.

 

CABINS

The cabins were very nice with lots of storage space and a bathroom with a bath and lots of temple spa toiletries, there was a kettle with tea and coffee making and packets of shortbread biscuits, complimentary bottles of mineral water in the fridge and a nice flat screen TV, a coffee table with fresh flowers and a silver bowl with assorted lollies was another nice feature along with a sofa to gaze out at the ocean, it wasn't hard to feel right at home.

 

FOOD

We ate at the buffet for our lunch and breakfasts and the food was plentiful with the buffet set out well with great views there was also the Neptune grill on the same deck but we didn't try that, the main dining room was The Meridian and was set out on two floors we were on the lower deck and I found the table a bit cluttered with all the cutlery I liked the princess way of replacing cutlery with each course, service was ok but I felt it was a bit hurried and there was no basket of fresh rolls on the table to help yourself to but a waiter came leaving one on each plate, I personally liked the service and the food better on Dawn Princess.

 

THE SHIP

The ship is not even 4 years old yet and was refitted for the Maiden world voyage you could tell the carpet was new throughout the ship, the colour scheme throughout was browns and cream and I thought it was a bit dull but overall the ship was spotless and had a lot of nice cosy places to sit and relax, there was no main atrium and so no main hub where you could sit and see other passengers so again it didn't seem very lively at times but Arcadia is a child free boat so I think I was missing the laughter of kids having a good time. The prices on board were British Pounds but I didnt think drinks were to bad and they had cocktails of the day for 2 pound 50 which is around $6 a beer was around the same.

 

 

 

It's hard not to compare ships seeing as we just came off Dawn Princess 2 months ago and although Arcadia is a very classy elegant ship and we enjoyed the experience of cruising on her, if given the choice of a cruise on either of the ships it would be Princess for us as we liked the layout of Princess better and it was a lot brighter than Arcadia, so that's another cruise over for us but 5 weeks today we will be packing for our back to back on Rhapsody of the seas and we are really looking forward to that.:):)

[Ela 2]

Great review Izzy. Thank you. :):)

Evon.

[S&D]

Thanks Izzy,

 

we were wondering what the ship was like, glad you enjoyed it...thanks for posting!!!

 

Enjoy the Rhapsody!!!

 

S&D

[MargnGrah]

Hi Izzy,

 

Thanks for letting us know what you thought about the Arcadia.

Hope you have a great time on the ROS.

[Guest012]

Thanks for the review Izzy.....we are looking at her for 2010 cheers Shiona

[Lestel]

Hi Izabelle

 

How lucky were we all to score balcony cabins!! have also posted my review/short story which has many similarities to yours.

 

Very jealous you are going again in 5 weeks, I am not coping with no countdown!!! Will be interested to hear your opinion of R.O.S. as we are considering her in December.

 

Enjoy.

 

Lesley :)

[Kinkacruiser]

Hi Izabelle,

I'm so pleased to hear you say you enjoyed the Dawn Princess atmosphere more. How fortunate you were to experience a reasonably new ship...just 4 years young. You review was very good too. Thanks for sharing.

Anna

[Kinkacruiser]

Ooops, I almost forgot to welcome you back S&D. Hope you had a stupendous and raspberry fizzy time.

Happy homecoming...and planning the next adventure.:D

Anna

[Izabelle]

Oh I forgot to mention that when we docked in Melbourne the Sun Princess was already there, it was so good arriving and to berth opposite at Station Pier, a wonderful end to the cruise :p:)

[LuckiePuris]

I have heard mixed answers...is Arcadia a child free cruise ship??

[kaseyoz]

That is certainly one great upgrade, well done, shame it wasnt a longer cruise so you could take more advantage of it.

 

The arcadia is a child free ship

[Izabelle]

Yes it is child free but I really like seeing kids around the place as their laughter and joy is contagious I think I missed that :o

 

Karon I'm not sure if you posted anything on your great December cruise, I was looking forward to seeing how it all went :)

[kaseyoz]

I did write a review but I posted my photos and no one seemed interested so I thought I had better stick to only Aussies cruises on this forum.

Hope that doesnt sound bad.

If you want to read it, email me and i will send it to you

 

kaseyoz@hotmail.com