Arcadia (IV) - Short Break
I like the idea of the seating area outside the pub.  It's like the Golden Lion on QE2 in some ways.  It was past 11am by now and very thirsty work dodging passengers while trying to take photos so time for a drink.  There was a film quiz going on.  I ended up being beckoned over by an elderly man and his son after I knew one of the answers they were stuck on then gave them the Dirty Dancing answer as well.  Well we didn't do too badly but didn't win either but it was fun so we said goodbye and I carried on exploring.  Meanwhile upstairs our toilet was meant to have been fixed but the stink in the corridor was horrific, though not as bad as when we left.  Nose holding time when I returned then!
I got chatting to a lovely elderly couple whose first cruise this was.  They'd read various reviews online before deciding to choose this ship, mainly for being adults only.  Then I headed back to the stench probably worse then the Nile on Egypt Deck!
Surprisingly the new gangway wasn't in use but that was quite good.  Saves walking for EVER to get to the dockside.  We went to have lunch in the Meridian Restaurant and our table companions were quite interesting.  One was a mother and daughter, the daughter being a model.  The other couple were seasoned cruisers and found Arcadia bland after Queen Victoria.  At least they knew Arcadia was meant to be QV, which many Cunard loyalists don't or ignore in their snobbery.  The mother and daughter had sailed Cunard too but it appeared none of the four had been on Lizzie.  We also learnt quite a lot about how Arthur Scargill is hated in many Nottinghamshire mining communities while Maggie Thatcher revered because Scargill cost them their jobs in the end.  Her family had been miners going way back so they were affected by the strikes in the 1980s.  Anyway it stopped raining so we braved the cold and wind for exterior shots only to find the bastards had put up a barricade of containers to stop people walking along to take pictures of the ship!
It was totally ridiculous after all these years.  Bit by bit the Zeebrugge port authority was becoming as bad as cruise ship jobsworths and taking the fun out of photographing your ship.  Even at the other end they had a barrier.  We know the risks and if anyone is stupid then they deserve to drown, simple as that.  Well we were joined by an older couple and as soon as the bloke cut past the containers, I followed but didn't go as far back.  Next thing, a car came zooming towards us and a security guard got out, telling us both to come away because it's too dangerous due to work.  What bloody work???  Never was a problem before.  Knickers to the miserable spoilsports!
It was still spitting on and off and incredibly windy.  The afternoon we went to the quiz in the Rising Sun.  I waited for Rowan to arrive and she did after trying to find her way.  The quiz was quite strange with having to name the film the song was in rather than the film or song title which was far easier.  It took a while giving the answers because we would have singalongs.  I even got up to do the Time Warp with Karen but no one else braved it.  Rowan filmed a little of it on her phone.  Then it was karaoke but after listening to that a while, decided to go to the Great British Sailaway Party on the Lido Deck since it was something different.  As we arrived, they were marching around the pool to Vindaloo, perfect with the World Cup starting on the 11th June.  Announcements for a passenger to go to the nearest phone and dial 5000 were becoming more frequent and desperate until it got to the stage where the lady calling told these two particaulr passengers to call in so the ship can sail.  We have no idea if they did or we left them behind.  We hoped for the latter.  Serve them right!  People know what time they have to be onboard by so if they can't give it plenty of time while considering their fellow passengers, they deserve to be stranded.  We left on time and as we backed up, the wind got worse and it began to rain again.
Time to return to the cabin and get out of the rain.  As I watched from the doorway, I noticed the containers being moved.  So much for work!
It was formal night, another reason we ended up back in the cabin.  We went to the restaurant, explaining we had missed it the night before and were taken to our table.  Our dining companions were an octagenarian couple who were both widowed but had been together for a year.  She would ignore Rowan most of the time, asking me questions about her rather than ask herself.  Both, especially her, were racist.  But at least they agreed the food in the Belevedere was horrible.  Their only redeeming feature!  It was their first cruise too only with motorised scooters, they had no intention of getting off.
The MCP had been turned on but after the land signal from Dover and Calais, it wasn't turned on again.  The Horizons were delivered late and with them in the letter holder was a letter giving us priority boarding for our excursion to Rouen.  If Rowan didn't go, I wouldn't be able to.  She said she'd come and explain she wasn't going so I could but decide in the morning.

My alarm didn't go off again and we began to think it had something to do with the ship since there's never been a problem before.
I had a migraine coming on and my side was murder, while Rowan was having her own problems.  We went to the Belvedere for breakfast since we had to be out twenty minutes before the rest.  She asked a waiter to help her get her food.  It was horrible again, even the orange juice which was watered down gunk.  I couldn't manage a lot anyway since it takes me a couple of hours before hunger kicks in and I felt sick.  Then we got our stuff and headed down.  The queue was enormous and they were all for Paris.  Security opened another gangway which helped and a lady with her Down's Syndrome companion (we later learned his name was Jeremy at karaoke but more of that later) let us in.  To my surprise Rowan did come.  They had a piece of paper on the seat with her name on, which was good.  I'd only ever seen 'Reserved' before.  Then we set off to Rouen and Rowan slept part of the way.  I did doze after an hour.
We had some free time until 11.40 when we would head back to the coach for the trip back.  I bought a Coke while Rowan got water from one seller and a pistachio Cornetto from another.  All but two were on time.  The woman from the couple appeared from the nearby bar to say they were finishing their drinks.  About ten minutes later our escort went and gave them a warning - one minute or we'd leave without them.  I hate people like that.  They know they have to be somewhere at a certain time and can't be bothered.  During the drive back it started to rain.  That meant I would go back on the ship instead of taking photos.  Bugger!

Back onboard we headed for the cabin and passed a maintenance man going in the opposite direction talking on the phone.  We didn't understand what he was saying but clearly heard mention of E185, our neighbours who only ordered room service and we never saw or heard.  What WERE they putting down the toilet to keep blocking the system????
Ordering room service was a huge minus for this ship.  When I dialled the number the waiter answering then gave the phone to someone else who didn't understand what I was asking for.  I ordered a chicken sandwich (which was supposed to come with crisps) for me and mozzarella pizza for Rowan.  He got the sandwich but not pizza and had written something else.  Well nearly an hour later nothing had arrived so Rowan called, only to be told it was on its way.  It came - hooray!  The waiter was very apologetic and loitered.  If he was expecting a tip he was out of luck.  And since when did crisps become tortilla chips?  Well we couldn't fault the food or the amount.  It was excellent compared with the scant amount you get on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and even Cunard (QE2 at least).  Then I saw the order copy.  He had written A167 with E187 in black biro over the top!  Plus we had the yellow copy, which should've been kept.
We decided to try the tea and coffee facilities, noticing the handle of one mug had tried nail polish.  That shouldn't have been allowed out of the kitchen!  Also the kettle had no water gauge so would be easy to overfill.  We filled it using bottled water since we didn't trust the other all the while E185 was having plumbing problems.  One minus for this ship are the lack of UK sockets.  There's just one but two European ones.  That's the problem when you try and have one-size-fits-all ships across the brands - they don't!  They make the odd amendment when really things like that should be aimed at the particular market.  The rain was occasionally squally or would briefly stop completely.  It was looking like I wouldn't stop long enough to be able to go down for photos.

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© Patricia Dempsey 30th May-2nd June 2010
Not to be reproduced without permission