J416

[Sybella]

Arcadia J416 Western Mediterranean
Another lovely cruise! Weather was much better than we expected for mid-September. Temperatures were mostly in the 30’sC.
We drove down on the day of the cruise and traffic was fine, the new roadworks seem to be progressing nicely and as long as you follow the signs and not the satnav it was fine.
We arrived at Ocean Terminal just before noon and the car was picked up by CPS. We were quickly checked in as we had priority due to our cabin being a mini suite. Once on-board we were directed to the Meridian restaurant for a lovely lunch. Starting with a glass of bubbly is a lovely way to start a cruise.
Our cabin B87 was the same one as on our last cruise a few weeks ago and the room was laid out exactly as we had asked, impressive! It is a lovely spacious cabin with lots of wardrobes and drawers. The balcony is lovely, a large table, a small table, 2 upright chairs and 2 recliners with foot stools and still space to walk about. The bathroom is large, 2 sinks, a separate shower and a Jacuzzi bath this shower over it. We had Macqueen as our cabin steward for the first 3 days and he was so lovely, then Celeste took over our care and did a good job too. The extra touches are so nice in a mini suite, the flowers, chocolates and champagne, the daily canapés and the never ending bowl of fruit.
The Bay of Biscay in both directions was as calm as a mill pond!! I do miss the band on the quayside as we sailed away from Southampton, it’s a pity that has stopped. But the other sailaways were lovely by the pool led by the Entertainments team. Cruise director Jon Bartram was excellent throughout the cruise. In particular the Great British Sailaway with was on the afternoon immediately after the Scottish vote so it was quite emotionally charged and had excellent choice of music. The weather joined in too… thunder and lightning with style!!
We need to use an adapted shuttle as mum uses a rollator and needs to roll onto the vehicle not use the steps and this was the first cruise we have done where this was available at nearly every port. Consequently we got off the ship everywhere except Gibraltar. All the staff on these shuttles were incredibly helpful and this gave mum lots of confidence to be a bit more adventurous than we normally are.
The food was excellent; we were on Table 60 in Lower Meridian second sitting. Superb waiters and Robert the Head waiter who saw to Mum’s allergy each evening was so helpful and considerate of her needs. Our table companions-table of 8- were a delight and we were often rushing along the ship to get to the theatre before the show started – we were talking so much we had to miss coffee some evenings!! The entertainment was very good, great Headliners troupe and good ‘stars’. We loved Tom O’Conner, Roger Wright and Jimmy Lowe – Elton John tribute, we thought he was the real deal!!
All in all it was another excellent cruise and we are looking forward to next year’s already.

[barney]

Thanks for your review Sybella

So glad that you had a nice time.

Can't wait to get back on Arcadia again.

Was there much evidence of the refit?

[Sybella]

The Crows Nest looks better, nice colours. The TV s in the cabin are rather large and still not interactive. The doors on the Globe do keep the noise inside. Lots of new carpets.

[Gill W]

We're on Arcadia for the week's cruise over Christmas, so I'll be looking forward to seeing the changes.

I was interested to read how well they took care of your mum, as this will be my first cruise as a 'special diet' person

Thanks for posting your report

[Sybella]

Gill, they are brilliant with special diets. Each evening the head waiter will bring you the next days menus. You choose what you want to eat and they will make it suitable for you. They will even make things that are not on the menu. One night mum did not fancy anything so they made her a lovely omelette.

[gilly88]

great report, looking forward to meeting up with arcadia in early December hope the weather is still as nice!