We flew to Southampton a day early so that we could have a stress free embarkation the following day, this gave us the opportunity to have a look round the city.
Embarkation was extremely smooth and we boarded Arcadia early. When we first saw our cabin we were concerned where all of our clothes and possessions were going to go but in fact there was plenty of storage space and we were able to put everything away neatly and were quite happy with our "new home" for 2 months. This was our first cruise so being on a ship was totally new to us and we were very impressed.
Our preferred dining option became the Meridian restaurant where we had club dining, which was on a fixed table in the second sitting. We initially thought this was a bit late (8.30pm) but in fact it worked out very well for us. Our waiter for the duration of the cruise was fantastic as were all the other staff, they work so hard and have some difficult passengers to deal with.
The cabin was small but had plenty of storage. The beds were so comfortable and we slept really well.
We were taken to various beaches and also shown around the island. A very nice day out on the back of an open bus.
We spent the day in port, having a swim in the gorgeous sea and a delicious fish taco lunch.
At last we saw whales and so many of them! A great trip.
We felt our walk round Muir Woods was very rushed and we only had around 45 minutes. We could have spent at least a couple of hours there.
It was very easy to catch a local bus to Pearl Harbour and Waikiki Beach.
We saw some lovely scenery but felt that it was slightly rushed. We were dropped off at a store in Nadi to buy souvenirs.
We caught the bus to Lemon Beach and visited the aquarium ourselves.
We disembarked in Sydney. It was really easy to get around and take trains to the Blue Mountains. We spent 4 days here and will return one day.