Sue Kersh live from an Arcadia Christmas

[Dennis The Menace]

1 st Sea Day on the way back to Southampton

A very rough night as the Captain put his foot down and as the alcohol wore off my cold got worse during the night making sleep impossible.

An overcast morning so we did some packing and once again reported the fridge not working. An engineer arrived fairly quickly this time. He took the fridge out, turned it upside down and assured us it was now working but would be a few hours before it would get cold.

The Interview with the Captain clashed with Battle of the sexes but as I had seen this interview on a previous cruise I gave it a miss and went to the Battle of the sexes quiz where the ladies lost again. It has certainly been the most boring battle of the sexes I have attended on any of the ships. There is no variation at all just general knowledge questions 10 points for a win and 5 for a steal so no chance of catching up the men.

By lunch time the weather had cleared and it was warm enough to sit out on the balcony and get some fresh air whilst drinking Hot Toddies for medicinal purposes.

We realised that the fridge was not getting any colder so once again reported it to reception and asked them to get it sorted or I wanted to speak to the Hotel Manager. They decided that they would replace the fridge and three workmen arrived to do this just as I had got out of the shower and trying to dry my hair. We had waited 48 hours for them to complete a 5 minute job but at least we have a working fridge to cool the champagne and wine for our balcony party tomorrow which may end up being held in the cabin depending on the weather.

After dinner we had some time to kill before the show so we went to the Piano bar and used our sailaway champagne vouchers which we had forgot to use at the last sailaway party. We were not sure if they would be accepted but they were without a problem.

The Headliners show was Killer Queen. They were brilliant and definitely the best entertainment of the cruise. High Energy show with fantastic Pyrotechnics.

There was dancing in the globe after the show but the ship was moving around far too much to risk it.

Cocktail of the Day - Planters Punch. Dark Rum, orange juice, lime and Grenadine.

[Dennis The Menace]

2nd Sea Day and my Birthday.

A very rough night but I slept through most of it probably due to the alcohol. I was wakened by things flying off the dressing table due to the motion of the ocean. A couple of small pottery dishes were smashed but at least the Whisky and Gin survived.

I opened my cards and presents before breakfast. A lovely tanzanite bracelet from Garry.

The Bob was very choppy and it was difficult to walk round the ship. The sun was shining though and it looked a lovely day as long as we stayed inside looking out. When we did venture onto the balcony it was extremely windy although not cold.

I did Battle of the sexes where the ladies performed better today only losing by 5 points.

After a light birthday lunch in the restaurant it was time to prepare for my birthday party. Garry had organised a cake, champagne and 10 friends on board to share it with us. They all arrived with more fizz to drink and we had a lovely afternoon. The sun continued to shine all afternoon although still to windy to use the balcony.

We went to the Ocean Grill select dining for dinner. Another excellent meal and I opted for the soft shell crab followed by the lobster. It was huge and delicious as was Marco's special trifle the Wally Ladd.

A Gary Barlow tribute act was performing in the theatre but we were too late to see the first show and after dinner I was so full I didn't want to sit in the theatre for the 2 nd show so we finished the evening at the formal night ball in the Globe.

I had a fabulous birthday on board ship and next year we will be doing the same again as we will be on Arcadia for the world cruise.

Cocktail of the day Cube Libra - Bacardi, Cola and lime.

[Suekersh]

Re: Arcadia J521 Xmas and New Year in the Caribbean
Hi all,

We arrived back home at approx 2 pm. I will save DTMs arms and tender the last seadays post myself.

Final Sea Day

We woke to find we were almost through the BOB and the sea conditions had improved although still rocking around. The Captain has slowed the ship considerably to only 10 knots. He managed to get in front of the worst of the storm and we now have a leisurely day at sea ahead and the packing to look forward to.

In the middle of packing we joined our friend for coffee and chat. It was busy everywhere inside the ship but we managed to find a quiet corner to to talk through the cruise highlights and say our goodbyes. I do hope we are on a cruise with him again soon.

Battle of the sexes where the ladies finally won a round but far too late to make any difference to the final outcome.

After lunch we finished the packing and although too cool to sit out the sun was streaming through the windows into the cabin.

I played the final session of Jackpot Bingo where the final prize money was nearly £1,300. I was no where near but well done to the winner.

Our final dinner in the MDR where we said our goodbyes to our waiters. Although we are freedom dining we have dined at the same table for 17 nights of the 23 night cruise. We have had excellent service and the food has been exceptionally good.

We didn't go to see the Comedian for his first show and after listening to the reviews from pax who did we decided to give it a miss.

Cocktail of the day Strawberry Daquiri

[Suekersh]

Disembarkation today was as chaotic as embarkation 23 days ago. Lots of luggage to get off but they should learn to manage pax expectations better. None of the priority pax were given a disembarkation lounge. We were just told to disembark whenever we were ready from 08:45.

When we arrived there at that time along with many many others there was no sign of any disembarkation. We asked them where we should wait but all the lounges were full of pax who had been given designated areas to wait. No option but to wait on the stairs and passage ways for nearly 3/4 hour.

We had a fantastic cruise. Yes minor hiccups but nothing that spoil our enjoyment at all. Lots of moaners and whingers but we avoided those. It was great to get some winter sun in the Caribbean and the weather on the way back was superb.

Thanks to all who read and or commentated on my posts. Thanks to DTM for his sterling work tendering over.
Back to the diet after a fish supper tonight and 9 weeks this weekend before our next cruise which is a back to back on Oriana. 52 nights in total.

Sue

[Suekersh]

Always interesting, Sue ... and detailed.

The tough part to understand however is why anybody with your cruising experience strives to save a few pence by rushing off to a Supermarket to buy a few cans of Schweppes Tonic Water given that they are readily available on the ship.

Hi Mob, that is the problem they no longer are available on ship. We always used buy them 9 at a time from the cabin steward but for the past 2 years they now only sell Britvic tonic. It's okay if desperate but if I can buy Schweppes ashore I will do. We often take off a wheely bag just for this purpose.

We found Scweppes tonic in the Duty free in Barbados but in Tortola we could only get Canada Dry Tonic which actually wasn't bad.

Sue

[Suekersh]

When you say hot what temperatures have you been getting ? weather.com is saying 26 - 28C so high seventies / low eighties which sounds OK to me.

It got into the 30 s on the port days. Very hot in the sun but generally a nice breeze to keep it bearable.

Sue

[Manoverboard]

Always interesting, Sue ... and detailed.

The tough part to understand however is why anybody with your cruising experience strives to save a few pence by rushing off to a Supermarket to buy a few cans of Schweppes Tonic Water given that they are readily available on the ship.

Hi Mob, that is the problem they no longer are available on ship. We always used buy them 9 at a time from the cabin steward but for the past 2 years they now only sell Britvic tonic. It's okay if desperate but if I can buy Schweppes ashore I will do. We often take off a wheely bag just for this purpose.

We found Scweppes tonic in the Duty free in Barbados but in Tortola we could only get Canada Dry Tonic which actually wasn't bad.

Sue

Hi Sue, so sorry about that .... standards are deffo dropping.

ps ... I would have done the same as you in the circumstances.

[Gill W]

Thank you Sue for your reports, which I really enjoyed, particularly as I was on Arcadia last Christmas, although it was a much shorter cruise. It must be quite strange to go away when everything is 'festive', and come home when Christmas has been forgotten for another year.

Thanks also to Dennis for posting the reports.

[qbman1]

Great reports, thanks, Sue - almost seems like I was there myself !!!

Did you happen to meet up with my quiz pal Elaine and her husband Jim in your cabin parties ?

[Suekersh]

Great reports, thanks, Sue - almost seems like I was there myself !!!

Did you happen to meet up with my quiz pal Elaine and her husband Jim in your cabin parties ?

Yes QB Elaine and Jim were part of the cabin party. You would also have been most welcome. I did ask Elaine if there was a very Inteligent man doing the syndicate quiz who won every night. She didn't tell me that you were on the same team. Lol.

[qbman1]

Didn't manage to get to any of the Syndicates this time. It is always a problem with second sitting - either too much of a rush to get away from the table or it clashes with the shows we want to see. I tend to content myself with the Individual. Elaine and I did manage to win a few of the morning themed quizzes and afternoon music ones, though. Lovely lady.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Didn't manage to get to any of the Syndicates this time. It is always a problem with second sitting - either too much of a rush to get away from the table or it clashes with the shows we want to see. I tend to content myself with the Individual. Elaine and I did manage to win a few of the morning themed quizzes and afternoon music ones, though. Lovely lady.

Actually Cubie there are so many disparities between your reports and those of others on this cruise, and Blod didn't catch sight of you at your planned date, so frankly I'm starting to think you really were barred from boarding for turning up too early wearing nothing but your goldie slippers and badge. 28 days, next case.

[qbman1]

Fair cop, guv. I actually spent 3 weeks in the embarkation lounge at the Ocean Terminal !