After two nights in San Francisco we boarded Arcadia for our voyage through the Pacific to Sydney. First impression was that the staff looked worn out. I do understand that change-over days are hectic & tiring for them all. All went reasonably well for the first four days & the food was quite acceptable but then my wife developed what we were to find out was called "Arcadia Cough", I got it a couple of days later. There were hundreds of passengers affected & the ship's shop had run out of stock of cough syrup before reaching San Francisco! Fortunately we were able to buy some from the medical section.

This cough really did spoil our holiday in many ways. My wife was reluctant to go to theatre shows knowing she would most likely have a coughing fit. We chose not to join a dining table with other guests for the same reason, & we normally like to have interaction with others.

The menus soon became repetitive & the entertainment just mediocre. Our grade EA deluxe balcony cabin, number A106 on deck eight, was reasonably well appointed but no bathrobes supplied. Last year on Aurora in the same cabin grade they were supplied. Also it was not possible to switch off the air conditioning, just turn it up or down; we're sure Arcadia Cough must be something to do with the air-con systems on this ship. Read more