snaefell

One other thing that comes to mind is so called special foods for diabetics,i.e. Ice cream or sweets for diabetics,for my Wife at least they turned out to have laxative properties.

Just to add my Wife was given a blood sugar monitor from the start,she got a little fixated with it at first but now checks 3 times a day,the monitor she has now tells her how many units of insulin to take given the reading. You have to have a treat now & then,otherwise life isn't worth living,just don't overdo it! This thread brought up one thing I had forgotten,finding out some surprising things which are not good for diabetics,notably fruit,amazing how many people I have known been diagnosed as diabetic & given up alcohol & hit the Orange juice or Pineapple juice,we all know that's healthy don't we!?!

Just an observation as we are not avid cruisers,any we choose to do it tends to be chosen by the itinerary. We are soon to depart on our 2nd Royal cruise,on Anthem,our one previous Royal experience was on Quantum from China to Singapore in 2019,loved the ship,we should have done more cruises with Royal but IME they kept changing itineraries after we booked,very annoying. Itineraries aside the issue I have with Royal price wise mainly is the cost of speciality dining,we did try Chops one night on Quantum,good food & service,the big disappointment was the mean portions with the sides. That is something we won't be repeating on Anthem,last year we had a 3 week Med cruise with P&O,we enjoyed our best ever meals at sea in the Ocean Grill,all for around £30,the Indian themed restaurant Sindhu,gave us almost equal quality for a similar price,service & portion size were excellent in both,drinks on board were a similar price to what we would pay in bars at home,without 18% added on! Our cruise planner is currently showing Chops available at the bargain price of £55pp,tempted,you must be joking! We could be seeing a lot of the Windjammer on Anthem if the MDR turns out to be as bad as it was on Quantum!

As scary as it is being diagnosed as a diabetic really isn't the life ending event that some would have you believe. My Wife was diagnosed with Diabetes in 2001,she was terrified at first,we went to many meetings & seminars,one valuable piece of advice we were given was that it was a condition,not an illness. I have known people quit work & quit enjoying life as soon as they were diagnosed,travelling & generally enjoying life was very much the order of the day for us,my Wife carried on work until she retired two years ago,& it was a physical job,we have continued travelling,it sometimes isn't easy but life isn't,she finds plenty of choices when it comes to food & drink without asking for special diets,luckily she loves the type of food that dieticians tell us is good for her,great credit to her for not letting it ruin her life,being sensible is often what is required. Hope this helps

P&O have that in the UK

If you have a particular cabin or area that you want I guess the sooner the better. Royal changing the itinerary after you have paid the deposit can IME be annoying but could happen anytime up to & after the sailing date!

We were on Quantum OTS a few years back & after a disappointing experience in the MDR we stuck with the Windjammer,loved it,brilliant selection & we really loved dining outside at the stern,that might not be so much fun in cooler weather!

On our Britannia cruises I used to love the Kedigree on the buffet,always tasted that much better than it looked,kept hoping for it on Arcadia back in May but in nearly 3 weeks not a sign!

On Arcadia back in May/June breakfast saw the buffet packed as the dining room finished too early,nobody wanted to be up that early when on Holiday!

Certainly agree there,glad your flight turned out to be a pleasant experience after all the speculation!

The cynic in me thinks your positive report isn't half going to disappoint some posters!😂😂

We were on Arcadia in May/June,two days into the cruise we were told of an outbreak of Gastric Enteritus(just know I have spelt that wrong!),for the rest of the cruise the crew served on the buffet(although some chose to help themselves & some chose to dodge the handwashing),we missed our Villefrance stop as a consequence,spending a night in Barcelona instead,no compulsory disambiguation but finding your way around the ship with many areas closed off for deep cleaning was a challenge! Reports on the progress fighting the problem were confusing,but like Covid(!),our Intercruise coach left with reduced n numbers due to one passenger being one of 4 transferred to hospital that morning. No complaints about Arcadia,loved the ship,we saw buckets twice for short periods during the 19 nights,no smells,no cold rooms,have booked her again for May 2025.

I agree to some extent,the prices RIC charge just show that when they are on a cruise some people seem willing to pay whatever silly prices the cruise lines want to charge. Almost all the RIC shore excursion prices are well into 3 figures too,some are sold out,another offer I can refuse!😎

We have booked PE with Virgin from Manchester to New York in April 2024 for a TA,that was an extra £750,bit different to a flight we had in 1989 from Manchester to Honolulu with Hawaiian Airlines,a 20 hour trip which cost £60 for First Class,those were the days!😎

Completely agree with the comments on Ocean Grill & Sindhu,my feelings are further endorsed by being reminded what great value for money they are. We are booked on a Royal Caribbean cruise in April & are flatly refusing to book their Steak House option,Chops,we tried it on our last RIC cruise,the food & service were really good but the portions were rather meagre,they are priced at £90+,over 3 times the price of Arcadia's Ocean Grill,looks like we will be seeing a lot of Anthem Of The Seas' buffet!

On the Etihad Dreamliner we flew to Bejing in economy in 2019 my 6' 4" meant that my knees were up against the back of the seat in front of me meaning she couldn't recline her seat. ..not a happy bunny!😕😕

I remember flying Manchester to Orlando with Monarch on a 757,with a single aisle & either the drinks trolley,the food trolley or the duty free trolley blocking the aisle getting around was fun...not!

In 2019 we did a repo cruise on Quantum from China to Singapore,she was heading into drydock for a month(I think) for a Refurb which developed 'a bit',due to the pandemic she ended up staying in Singapore for a couple of years! The repo cruise was superb,no food shortage or quality problems,couldn't believe she needed that much work as she looked almost like new,she obviously had been well looked after.

The discomfort on old seats comment made me smile,IME seats on aircraft in the old days had far more padding than modern ones,we flew on new Etihad Dreamliners to & from the Far East a few years ago,2 8+ hour flights in each direction on flimsy plastic seats with hardly any paddin g,we were in pain for days after!

It wasn't just the room itself which didn't feel right for us,we had been used to the guy on the piano on Britannia which for us gave a nice relaxed ambiance,on Arcadia it wasn't bad one night we were there & there was a busker on but other nights there was a band on who were quite loud & really changed the whole feel of the room.

We first visited the USA in 1980 & became regular visitors & we too had the Visa stamped in our passports,when the passports expired I asked if we could have the new passports stamped & was told that if we thought we needed a Visa somebody at Immigration would 'smell a rat' & you would likely be detained/delayed!

Sorry to change the subject back to alcohol but depending on what you drink it may be cheaper to buy it on board! We drink Jamesons Irish falling over water,a litre is currently normally £33 in our local supermarkets,sometimes down to £25,when we were on Arcadia in May we could ring room service & get one delivered to our cabin for £20!!

My Wife had the Lobster twice,enjoyed it but the jury was/is out on whether or not it was worth it,the Lamb Cutlets were amazing though!

We sailed on Britannia the first year she was in service,at the time these forums were full of people complaining about her size & how they wouldn't go on anything that big,here we are years on & Britannia seems to have many fans & when you see her next to Iona or Arvia she looks small. For us we liked her eventually,found her a bit dark & gloomy inside with some questionable,IMO,artwork,not the easiest to navigate but the Crows Nest is wonderful & Brodies is a wonderful room spoilt by the fact that there nearly always seemed to be Bingo,Pub Quizzes or Kareoke going on,all of which we hate! We had a 19 night cruise on Arcadia earlier this year & loved her,I had read so many bad reviews on here making reference to her age mostly & wondered what the hell we would find but we loved the ship,we have travelled on many ferries at least as old if not older & didn't really notice anything age related,loved our balcony cabin,thought the Pub was a wonderful place to be,something about the Crows Nest that really didn't hit the spot for some reason & yes there is a shortage of places to eat but it wasn't a problem for us,made more so maybe by the fact that the food & service we received in the Ocean Grill was so good,probably the best we have ever had at sea,Sindhu wasn't far behind,perhaps the biggest problem with a small ship is that it isn't that easy to get away from people wining about nothing apart from the fact that it seemed to keep them happy! I have seen pictures of the Atrium area on Arvia & Iona & think it looks awful,a bit like an airport/shopping mall food court,not something that attracts me to either of them. Just to show that I am not entirely against big ships IMO the best ship we have travelled on by some way was RCI's Quantum Of The Seas,a beautiful ship,quirky artwork,always seemed light & airy wherever you went & despite being full never seemed crowded. . We are booked on her sister ship Anthem OTS in April next year & Arcadia the following April just to mix it up a bit!

Thanks again guys,the cruise I am looking at is for May 2025 & I see there are limited 'C' deck cabins available already,obviously popular,cheers guys!