Grand Alaska cruise on Arcadia

[englishgal]

Hi there, Has anyone booked this cruise? We have and I am so looking forward to it

[suite2009]

Hi

 

We have booked this cruise but I am getting second thoughts as the reviews for this ship seem to be bad. Not sure I could stand 72 nights with mediocre sloppy food as reported!

[Elderflower]

Hi

 

We have booked this cruise but I am getting second thoughts as the reviews for this ship seem to be bad. Not sure I could stand 72 nights with mediocre sloppy food as reported!

 

We recently returned from the transatlantic USA/Canada cruise. The food in the main dining room was always excellent and very tasty. In the Belvedere self service, although tasty, was invariably just luke warm. We ended up just eating in the MDR (even for lunch) or the specialty restaurants. This was our first sailing with P&O, being used to smaller ships at the "luxury" end of the market. Only mentioning this so that you can see we are used to good food on some ships and over all, the food on the Arcadia was pretty good.

 

On a cruise of 72 nights, I would find the launderette problem on the Arcadia of more concern. They now have 4 launderette rooms although only 3 show on the deck plans. Still unable to get a machine free even on a port day. When we spoke to the future cruise person we were told it's a problem for the officers too as they only have one machine between them. Reason being, this ship was intended for short 1 or 2 week cruises when built and so, provision of laundry facilities was not considered a priority. Now the Arcadia is undertaking longer cruises, there is a real problem.

 

We found the decor to be very nice, despite several reports to the contrary. The chairs in the reception area look very elegant but are not comfortable to sit on.

 

All in all, we had a good time although some of the tour organization could have been improved. It was the main area we had a few concerns over. That and the noise levels of much of the live music and DJ. Impossible to have any conversation in some of the bars when certain bands were playing. Totally unneccessary to have the volume so loud. One evening, people were really enjoying themselves in the Globe when the good band on 60/70s night finished and the DJ took over. Most people then left because the noise level was so much and my insides started to shake. What a mistake. They were always trying to get people to stay up later (and presumably spend more in the bars). When will they ever learn that most people of the age group that sails on adult only ships, on this type of cruise, do not like this over the top volume. Many other people in the lifts were complaining about it too.

 

However, all things considered, we enjoyed it so much we have booked a full world cruise for 2012 (on the Oriana). Booked this ship for the itinery but had we preferred the one on the Arcadia world trip, would have tried negotiating some free laundry as part of the deal.

 

Hope this reassures you about the food.