On boarding we were immediately pointed in the direction of what turned out to be our muster station, without any explanation, dragging all our hand luggage with us.
Having duly been duly “ticked off” by the attendant we were then allowed to go to our cabin.
The rest of the so called drill was carried out later over the tannoy , and I have to say not many people were listening over the general hubbub.
Not convinced that this is in any way satisfactory or safe.
The cabin was basic, no frills but acceptable, however the tv had no signal.
I was told by the steward that it was because we were in port, but this was rubbish as I was able to fix it myself the next day.
The bathroom was dated and very plastic with a crack in the sink.
We soon discovered that both the sink and bath plugs leaked significantly, there was insufficient water to run a bath and the water pressure from the basin tap was no more than a trickle the size of a pencil.
We queued for ages at Reception to report this and a promise of a plumber to be sent was made.
But guess what – nobody came.
As soon as we could we found the speciality restaurants to book, only to be told that there was nothing available as all early boarders has taken all the available tables.
This seems quite unfair to those with late boarding times.
The next hassle was the app which was being heavily promoted everywhere which was impossible to load, so another long queue at reception to rectify this ( along with lots of other guests).
In the end it was abandoned as it was unfit for purpose.
We were allocated freedom dining ( not our choice) and were aghast to see very long queues to get into the dining room.
The food was acceptable but not a lot of choice, the service at times was very slow, but the waiters were doing their best with apparently reduced staffing levels.
The waiter service in the bars was quite unacceptable, we waited over 30mins just to get a waiters attention.
Choice of drinks, particularly spirits and cocktails were limited.
Enjoyed the Theatre entertainment except the Irish group who were not to our taste.
Daytime activities however were dismal, with nothing to interest us.
The only thing we would have attended was the speaker but this was very poorly scheduled at 10am when we were still at breakfast! Having sailed on Arcadia previously we certainly will not do so again.
The boat needs refurbishing and service needs improvement.
