But what did I think of the ship?
So having already been on both Ventura and Azura, I was not expecting a larger 'glitzy' ship and Arcadia is not these things. Size wise she is a little smaller than the Queen Victoria but takes slightly more guests, so this gave the impression of a lack of space in the public rooms.
The dining room was pleasant, but again a little confined space wise.
I was lucky to get a Mini Suite cabin, BD category. Great for space, plenty of hanging space and a bathroom with separate shower and whirlpool bath, if only my budget could run to this on every cruise! Although, the TV services did disappoint, not interactive and with limited choice, and although not a problem on this short cruise, you could not get your on board account on the TV. A necessity on a longer cruise to check how much you have spent!
Service was up to P&O usual standard as was the food, although the choice in The Belvedere Restaurant at lunch seemed a little limited. Perhaps the effect of the falling sales price is that they have to reduce the spend on the food?
I went to the show on the first night, partly because I remember Jimmy James from my youth, although he had The Vagabonds with him then and also to see the Comedy Juggler, Pete Matthews. I have seen him before and thought he was really funny and he did not disappoint on this occasion neither.
Weather wise, what a roller coaster of a few days. During the last 2 or 3 short cruises the ship has
not been able to get into port on every occasion and we had a few bumps on the way out on Thursday, but managed to get into Zeebrugger for a day in Bruges. On the way back however, the motion of the Ocean was much strong and a number of people succumbed, Faz did turn a funny shade of green at 1 point (and if you know him you will know how difficult this is!)
Arcadia should have gone for a refit in November/December this year but this was postponed because of the refit to Oriana, and I have to say that perhaps she is starting to get a little tired and in need of a little tender care. See my picture of the tiles from the bathroom, just a a little bit of age showing - I am not saying that I though the cabins were dirty though. See picture below:-
Overall I had a good time and enjoyed the ship, but no massive wow factor here - but perhaps that's because of the mini cruise and not having sufficient time to get to know the ship!
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