chris (56) and I (52) have just returned from a fabulous 7 night trip on arcadia. contrary to some reviews that we've read, we found it to be nothing like an OAP outing. yes, there were a lot of elderly people on board, but what's wrong with that? virtually all the guests were polite and well behaved, we did not witness any drunkenness or rowdiness that is sometimes associated with a younger crowd. and the joy of not having children running riot around the ship was wonderful! arcadia is a beautiful ship, every area we visited was very clean and comfortable (apart from the uncomfortable loungers around the neptune pool ), with very pleasing decor. our obstructed view cabin was larger than we expected,about the same size as our concierge class balcony cabin on celebrity constellation.there seemed to be plenty of space in all areas despite this trip being fully booked. as with most ships the buffet (belvedere) could get crowded at peak times, but we always got a seat. the main dining experience (meridian) was really good. we were fortunate in that we were seated with 2 very nice couples on our table for 6. our waiters, cajie, mankeesh and bosco were great, as was the food. we didn't feel the need to use the 'supplementary charge restaurants'. room service menu was a bit limited, and much of it incurred an extra charge. entertainment was ok, it would have been nice to have a pre dinner show a couple of nights (we were on 8.30 dinner sitting, so our show didn't start till about 11pm most nights).

PORTS. Bergen-docked about 10 minutes walk from centre. easy to explore on our own (thanks to a bit of earlier research). old part very interesting. funicular (£7 return, £3.50 single) up mountain, fabulous views and lots of walking trails to follow, we walked back down to the centre (less than an hours walk).weather mainly dry and warm. expensive!

Geiranger-took a tender ashore after lunch (rain am, but sunny pm). did ships excursion to mount dalsnibna, good value at £38 each. cruised back out of the fiord for several hours during the evening, we ate our (delicious) meal in the belvedere that evening at a window table to enjoy the sights. expensive! Read more