Almost live from Arcadia en route to Caribbean

[hansol1966]

Capn there is still a lot of snow about, a foot plus anywhere but the roads.

On sky this morning there were road closures on major routes near Portsmouth/Southampton....A3(Hampshire) M275. local roads hard going as of last night. Today is a clear day with no snow predicted as of the next few days so the roads should clear. Sky are predicting more snow on Sunday in the South so could be more problems. Temperature is to remain during the day around freezing for the forseeable future so any snow that falls will stick around. Keep you posted as we get nearer Sunday when the predictions become more accurate.

Nice post by the way.

Fred.

[Johnthed0g]

Thanks for the update I do enjoy them!..never fear they will bring out the trestle tables soon..last sea day I reckon. I think the Azores are probably quite a good place for a holiday as are Cape verde islands. Hope the weather is OK in Vigo, I quite like it there now but never had very warm weather, don't suppose you will either at this time of year.

[ovccruiser]

Thanks for the update as usuall Cap'n a joy to read. As regards the weather in the UK, we have had a fair amount of snow, but worst of all, the night temperatures drop well below -7C. This is the temperature at which previously salted road freeze again. There is also more snow forcast for the weekend.

[LibraLass41]

Captain P

Weather is horrible here, it was -10 this morning when hubbie went to work at 7am , and -8.5 for me walking in the snow at 8.45am this morning trying to get to work. Snow upto 3' deep in Scotland, and we here have about 5".

 

On cc there is a thread about people worrying how they will get to Southampton tomorrow (8th) to meet Oriana..one lady was on the outskirts of Carlise hoping to meet a eavesway coach pick up point... she had 3' snow outside her door, and lived on a hill where taxis couldn't get too to take her to Carlise for the pick up

... then even if she gets to the coach it leaves on the day of sailing, who knows what delays the coach will have on that long Journey from Carlise to Southampton, all planned for normal road conditions, when surely the journey will take twice as long or more. They are bound to be late and keep the ship waiting. On the news today soliders are helping dig out cars and even tractors were having problems clearing the roads, where farmers had been trying to help. You have a chilly shock ahead of you as weather set to stay with us for at least another week with more snow this weekend. Enjoy the reasonable temps while you can!

[capnpugwash]

The white horses are back with a vengeance and as the portside bow of the ship cuts into the rolling wave it breaks and flies into the air where the near gale catches it and whips it over the ship like a cheap combover. There is not that much of a sea running but this ship is like a yogurt pot bobbing around like a plastic duck in the bath. I can't tell you how bad the ride is, you wouldn't believe it.

 

 

The ship is 5 years old apparently and the design of it is terrible. The Belvedere Buffet runs for about 100 feet on both sides of the ship, there are plenty of passing places and wide walkways but there is only about 30 feet of serving area so there are queues and bottlenecks at many of them. They could comfortably increase them and it would be wonderful.

 

 

There is an area of about 30 yards length on Deck 3 where during the recent refit they fitted a 35 seat cinema and a coffee bar. Strangely the coffee bar is a dark windowless space whereas the cinema is well lit by natural light from several windows, these have heavy curtains for precluding the light spoiling the film. If the roles of these adjacent rooms were reversed, it would be so much better. There are 3 bars in the centre of the ship on decks 2 and 3 and none of them has any atmosphere whatsoever. The nicest bar, again without atmosphere is the Orchid Bar on Deck 11 in the centre. Very few people go there apart from Orchid Restaurant customers and as there is a supplement to eat there, not many people use it.

 

 

The lifts have minds of there own and often take an age to arrive, I think that the problem stems from the fact that there are only 12 lifts for over 2000 passengers. There are 4 glass external lifts which are great fun as they serve most decks but they suffer the same delays as the rest.

 

 

We have spoken in the past about the lack of reasonable sized public rooms which force the cocktail parties and receptions to be held around the swimming pool under a plastic roof which ensures that it is unpleasantly humid and smells strongly of chlorine. How very unpleasant is that. There is plenty of space on board but it is poorly designed and laid out, considering it is Italian it has none of the style or attributes that one normally associates with design from that country.

 

 

The pools are ok, I have only used the stern open air one the other one gets crowded as the roof opens and closes but the motion of the ship imparts a washing machine like circular action on the water and hurls gallons of it, together and people caught up, against the side of the pool and then up and out onto the surround. Ideal for old people? I don't think so!

 

 

It is midnight now, instead of the quiz I entered the “Who wants to be a millionaire” programme. I was chosen from the hat to go first, and failed on the 250,000 question, I used 50/50 and stupidly I did neglect to use “phone a friend” and the lady I had partnered actually knew that one of the two remaining answers was incorrect. Without making any comment, she is an attractive unattached blonde lady and she received a few extra clues from the questionmaster. After all the drama the winner only received the bog-standard bottle of P&O wine. Quite a disappointment, for participating I got a pen and keyring which in my view is the best prize aboard and one that I have long coveted. So all was not lost.

 

 

The ship is rocking really badly tonight as the wind is very strong and whilst there are stabilisers on this ship, they seem fairly ineffective. It seems that most people have taken to their beds because of the weather, so the ship seems almost empty. It will be a relief to get to Vigo tomorrow although we might be in for some fun on Saturday as we cross the Bay of Biscay heading up to Ushant, The English Channel and Southampton.

 

 

I realised this morning why the rocking had increased I had somehow forgotten or ignored our arrival at the much shallower Continental Shelf surrounding the European Coastline. The shallower water encourages choppier seas. It doesn't help deal with the rolling but at least I know why I am stumbling about. We are arriving at Vigo and it is dark and rainy, mind you it is dark and rainy in Vigo most times that we call here.

 

 

I have just had breakfast in the Buffet and as a treat I had Black Pudding, big mistake, it had no taste whatsoever. It looked like it should but that is where the similarity ends.

[Johnthed0g]

A poor day sailing beats a good day ashore

 

Starting to sound like it's not Captain!! We like Arcadia but we are aware of the problems with the Neptune pool & other things you mention, we find queues in the buffet, but it is quite a big area. People making tea at the hot water points don't help. I have mentioned the aged passengers before elsewhere but I am apparently wrong..ageist!!

[lord of the seas]

Who wants to be a Keyringaire indeed. :)

[tom_uk]

Well, Vigo looks very nice at the moment (2:30), bright and sunny. We enjoyed our call there last year on Ventura - we walked up to the old castle above the town and enjoyed the sunshine & warmth. Not so warm there today, however - just 8 degrees it says.

[Johnthed0g]

Agreed it does look pleasant, a lot more pleasant than here!! When we 1st went there we thought what a grim place, but as you get to know the place we rather like it now!

[patwell]

Hi Jim....Along with so many of your Cunard friends I have enjoyed following your enjoyably written account of this trip. As always the vignettes you describe are entertaining and it sounds as tho this has been a trip of many contrasts. Not the least of which will be when you have to disembark into that nasty weather we keep hearing about over there. Safe travels home....

hopefully not as bad as it's been sounding. Thanks again for your always fun reports.

 

Cheers, Penny

Penny’s Affair to Remember QM2 Review

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=471053

November 10,2007...the “Affair” continued...did it ever!

 

October 16,2008...the “Affair” goes transatlantic as we sail in tandem with the grand QE2 on her final transatlantic voyage...what a thrill!

 

December 9, 2008....the “Affair” resumes again....Life is good!

 

July 30, 2009....transatlantic again...some “Affairs” just get better

 

August 7, 2009....the “Affair” goes on...this time “home” to Norway

 

Feb 2010....the “Affair” takes a sunny detour...

 

2010....the “Affair” is indecisive, but back to QM2 for 14 days somewhere

[LibraLass41]

We are having foul weather in Europe so its not surprising the ship is rocking and rolling on a January winters night.... I think Arcadia is pretty stable and have had much worse rides, especially on Aurora and Oriana.

 

''I realised this morning why the rocking had increased I had somehow forgotten or ignored our arrival at the much shallower Continental Shelf surrounding the European Coastline. The shallower water encourages choppier seas. It doesn't help deal with the rolling but at least I know why I am stumbling about''

 

So, even Queen Vicky may have had trouble sailing over this then? She is after all very similar in design to Arcadia?

[Johnthed0g]

I must agree that we have always found Arcadia quite stable, especially compared with Oceana

[capnpugwash]

I hear what you say about stability but even when there is no significant sea the Arcadia is thrown about. Every one I speak to has the same view on board.

 

The sun shone all day in Vigo and it was very cold, although slightly warmer in the direct sun. The engineers were testing all of the lifts this morning for two hours so it was good exercise getting around the ship, all those stairs must be good for you. Because of “ice on the roads” the trips to Santiago de Compostela by coach and car were cancelled, seems to be Health and Safety gone mad again. The ship was nice and empty with all the passengers ashore. I actually sat on the promenade deck for an hour around noon and out of the slight breeze it was warm enough for a while, not sun tanning weather but certainly acceptable for early January.

 

 

All in all it was a relatively quiet and relaxing day.

 

 

This evening is the last formal evening of the cruise and we are not going to the restaurant for dinner but we quite fancy the seafood buffet up in the Belvedere so that we don't need to dress too formally. Another hidden bonus is that we miss Nigel Travis, the Cruise Director performing as he introduces the Parade of Chefs. It is nice to thank them but they should vary the format and the script sometimes. We tipped our waiters last night as I hate the ritual after dinner tomorrow and I didn't want to stress them when we weren't there tonight, they might have thought that we had run off and were not going to turn up and tip them tomofrrow. Apparently it is over 10% of passengers who do this horrible thing. On this 23 day cruise it is the massive amount of £36.80 each that they are stealing from their hard working waiters. This is on a cruise that cost at least £2500 each. They should be named and shamed.

 

 

We slipped our mooring at 5.30 and the Commodore announced that he expected a calm crossing of the Bay of Biscay overnight and tomorrow. Obviously that will be nice but I think I remember him saying that yesterday morning, maybe not. It is now 12.30am and the ship is performing exactly as expected, it is jumping about as it normally does. It is not as severe as yesterday but it is not what you expect on a “calm” sea. The quiz tonight was disasterous for us. We got 9/20 which is the lowest score ever for us. Tomorrow night is the last quiz of the cruise, it doesn't really matter in the scheme of things but we would like to do well again.

 

 

The seafood buffet was excellent with a great choice of cold and warm dishes. There wasn't a great array of choices but what was on offer was very tasty and well prepared.

 

 

The night passed without incident and we are midway across the Bay of Biscay. The sea has settled and the ship seems to be running like a train with a few bumps on the track and the occasional wobble from side to side. Much easier to deal with. We only have 24 hours to go before we are due in Southampton so today is that dreadful packing day. “Please make sure to leave your suitcases outside your cabin by 1 am”. “Remember not to pack the clothes you need to wear tomorrow”. All very sound advice of course. I normally try to get most of it done this afternoon and put the last bits in just before we head to bed tonight.

[haggis]

Followed your daily posts with great interest and enjoyment from, as already mentioned a very cold but at the moment, very sunny Sunbury.

I really hope you have a safe journey home. Forecast is snow tonight but hopefully it will get a bit warmer if it does snow.

M25 has been open throughout as has the M3. Petersfield had it bad on the A23 but has now opened apparently. Thanks again.

Jimmy

[Johnthed0g]

Another interesting post..thanks, so no problems with not dressing formally in the buffet then? I really wish they would make this clear, I am thoroughly confused now, what do we tell people when they ask about dress code? Weather here very cold most MAIN roads OK but the pavements & minor roads are treacherous.

[Beckyfaye-2008]

Copy of EMail from P&O some months back.

 

Thank you for your email.

 

I can advise that depending on the number of nights your cruise is will depend on which evenings will be which on board, the evenings are split up in to three categories, formal, semi formal and smart casual. The number of nights for each dress code will be confirmed upon receipt of your tickets, which will be sent to you 2 - 3 weeks prior to your departure. The order in which these nights take place is determined on board by the Cruise Director and then advertised each day in the ship's newspaper. It is not compulsory to join in on the theme nights, for example, western or 60's. The dress code for each night is applicable to all passengers in all areas of the ship except for the 24 hour restaurant, so if you did not feel up to dressing up that particular evening, this is always an option.

Formal: This is the opportunity for ladies to wear formal evening wear such as an evening dress, trouser suit or a cocktail dress. For men, a dinner jacket or tuxedo are the norm, otherwise a dark suit and tie or a kilt and jacket is fine.

 

Semi-formal: Ladies can wear anything from tailored trousers to smart separates or an elegant dress, while men are required to wear a smart shirt and trousers with a jacket.

 

Smart casual: Stylish resort or leisure wear, e.g. casual separates, dresses or smart jeans for ladies and open-neck shirts, polo shirts and trousers or smart jeans for men. Attire such as shorts, trainers, tracksuits and football shirts should not be worn in the evenings.

 

I hope this information has helped to answer your enquiry and look forward to welcoming you on board soon.

:eek::eek::eek:

[lord of the seas]

You know that you're on the wrong ship when "smart jeans" form part of the advertised dress code.

[Johnthed0g]

Derek...I remember that email & I quoted it myself but the problem is they say one thing in a individual email but something else online/in brochures. I think it's a shame to mix dress codes. Have you got your Millwall shirt for Thomson yet??

[LibraLass41]

You know that you're on the wrong ship when "smart jeans" form part of the advertised dress code.

 

You are on the wrong cruise line thread, Seabourne is that'a way.....:D

[GlasgowGuy]

Hi capnpugwash,

 

I have followed your cruise log with great interest after our cruise on Arcadia over the festive period last year. For anyone wanting a review of a Christmas & Hogmanay cruise on her last year just click below.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=51328

 

Have a safe trip home.

 

GG

[hansol1966]

Shame we are coming to the end of a humorous blog (cheap combover, rubber duck, great analogies). Thanks for taking time to post and lighten a miserable New Year in the South.

John and Haggis have it about right . Very cold, snow has not moved from last Tuesday night apart from the Main roads, paths and minor roads still poor. Grit and salt is to be cut by 25% to conserve supplies as snow (they say it could vary in the South) is due Sunday and Monday with further freezing weather.

At the moment all major motorways near us are ok ( A3..A3M..M27).

Fred.

[lord of the seas]

You are on the wrong cruise line thread, Seabourne is that'a way.....:D

 

If only you could spell Seabourn.:rolleyes:

[capasamari]

We were on Ventura and met up with and then sailed along parallel to Arcadia late on New Year's Eve with the ship's sirens blaring while we all danced on deck!

 

We were then both berthed in Barbados, them for one day and us overnight. We went off the ship for dinner at the Pisces restaurant on St. Lawrence Gap on the evening of New Year's Day, a spectacular setting and meal.

 

We have now been home since last Sunday morning, all washing done (just the ironing to go) and have already been to the travel agent to book for next New Year!!

 

Carol x

[capnpugwash]

I have packed everything except the clothes I need for this evening and tomorrow and it is only 12.30. This is a record for me. Planning to have a relaxing afternoon in preparation for our homeward journey tomorrow. It is quite windy today and there are a few snow flurries every so often. I have never seen snow at sea before, all of the decks are closed because of the windy conditions so the ship is full of people sitting everywhere, so the only real place to relax is in the cabin, ours lacks a window so it is not the greatest place to relax. I suppose that it is an ideal opportunity to finish up the champagne that is left.

 

 

It is ironic that when we visited Iceland we were wearing Teeshirts and here we are having visited the Caribbean we encounter snow.

 

 

So we soon head into our last dinner and the evening will then be full of farewells and handshakes and other last things, last cocktails, last quiz and possibly last dance.

 

 

We are set to arrive at Dock 46 at 6am and then another adventure begins.

 

 

In spite of all the worrying the roads were clear, we picked our cars up from the CPS Car Park at 10.45am and 75 minutes later I pulled into our garage. And I was delighted because some kind person has cleared and gritted our driveway.

 

 

Thanks to him and to you for your good wishes and the weather advice. I enjoy writing these little things and as long as you like to read them I would like to continue. I wish you and yours a safe and prosperous 2010. I hope to meet some of you on board somewhere in the future.

[capnpugwash]

Just a quickie re the instability of Arcadia, even people who had sailed on her before noticed it. The consensus was that the refit of the stern cabins has adversely affected and altered the wind signature and the way she rides. I can't think of any other reason, but it was not good.