The Norwegian Fjords were fantastic, probably made more so by the warm and sunny weather. The ports of call were interesting and varied. The Norwegian people were friendly and welcoming. The excursions were good. Unfortunately, two of our pre-booked excursions were cancelled at 48 hours’ notice due to lack of numbers. The first of these gave us sufficient time to look at alternatives, and we chose well. The second, in Stavanger, gave us little time to choose an alternative, and we found the excursion desk staff to be unhelpful. In hindsight, we felt that we were persuaded to choose an expensive alternative.
Arcadia is now looking past its best. Metalwork is corroded in places, leaving sharp, jagged edges. Throughout our cruise, the crew were frantically applying white paint, which only masked the real problem and caused unpleasant fumes. The public areas were pleasant and tidy, but the cabins were in desperate need of total refurbishment, and our cabin hadn’t seen a duster for a long time. The crew were diligent but appeared distant, very rarely being seen to mingle with the passengers. The Captain’s heavy accent made him difficult for some guests to understand. The staff appeared constantly under pressure, indicating that they were short-handed. Whilst some were cheerful and chatty, the majority were uncommunicative, and some were just downright miserable. Generally, the food was good but nothing special. The biggest problem in the restaurants was the lack of suitable seating. In the main restaurant, we had to wait an hour and twenty minutes on one occasion for a table for two. In the buffet, passengers were constantly wandering around looking for a vacant table, some of them elderly and carrying hot food.
Entertainment and activities on board were plentiful and very good.
