Golden Sun Cruises

mts Arcadia

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Operator: Golden Sun Cruises
Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1969 /1991
Length / Tonnage: 357 / 5,200
Number of Cabins / Passengers: 130 / 256
Officers / Crew: Greek / Greek
Operating Area: Greek Islands

Note: Before reading the rest of this review please check out our comments at the bottom of this page under "Heavy Word".

From the shipyards at Union Naval del Levante at Valencia, Spain came two sisterships of an intended class of overnight ferries for the Compañía Trasmediterranea, Spain's major sea link to its overseas islands. One of the two ships that were built was the VICENTE PUCHOL which was delivered to her owners on January 8, 1969. Like her sister ANTONIO LÁZARO, she was conceived in 1966 to operate on slower secondary Mediterranean services as well as on the overnight service to the Canaries. Beginning her maiden voyage from Valencia on the 21st, she called at Ibiza, Barcelona and Alicante, she was quickly transferred to the Malaga to Melilla route and then in December was put on the Palma to Barcelona run. Two years later she went back to work from Malaga. The passing years soon saw both sisters overtaken in terms of size, speed and capacity by newer units built expressly for the eventually state-owned Trasmediterranea. Neither sister really fit into Trasmed's plans and in 1983, the VICENTE PUCHOL and her sister were offered for sale.

With no buyer immediately popping up to grab these sisters, the VICENTE PUCHOL took her last voyage for Transmed in 1985. Cyprus' Sol Lines planned to buy both sisters as well as the SANTA CRUZ de TENERIFE but before plunking down any money, they took a very close look at these ships. Inspection of the ANTONIO LÁZARO convinced those prospective buyers that the two sisters were not right for them and bought only the SANTA. By 1987 the VICENTE PUCHOL was in Cía. Trasmediterranea's history, and she was sold that year to Greece's Attika Shipping Company. She was renamed ARKADIA (and in Greek is still spelled with a "K", for that language's alphabet has no "C"). She soon debuted as a handy little cruise ship, a product of Greek designers and workmen at the famous Perama shipyard. First to operate her was Italy's Starlauro Cruises of Naples who took her under the terms of a two year charter and put her into Mediterranean cruise service as the ANGELINA LAURO. With her hull painted blue and with Starlauro's white star on the outer sides of her little funnels, she worked seven day cruises from Venice to Greece and Turkey during the warmer months of the two years of the contract. Attika Shipping got her back in 1991 and since then has pretty much operated her independently, combining forces in 1997 with Dolphin Hellas Shipping to form Golden Sun Cruises.

We think she's a very neat ship..."neat" as in "neato", "spiffy", "keen", "swell" … We like her, and we imagine you've figured that out already. We admit she's not much to look at from the dock or a passing ship…she's kinda funny looking in her hybrid way…some think she's an ugly little lady…and maybe she is but don't let her exterior fool you…step onboard and you will discover her for what she really is. She's a warm and welcoming little ship and her crew is...friendly, efficient and happy to serve you. We'll tell you right here, the ship is attractively decorated in the style popular among cruise ships designer in the late 1980s…so her décor may strike some as a little dated, but you're not going to LIVE here, just vacation and enjoy yourself Need to know her color schemes? Get a brochure...trust us on this one, inside, this small cruise ship is a charmer...In common with other ships her size, and these days there are precious few cruise ships in the 5,000 ton range which don't charge a fortune for a cruise…the ARCADIA is a ship on a human scale and people do get to know each other on her cruises…even when she does short weekend outings and four night voyages instead of seven nights or longer, the crew you come into contact with is really there for you. We, and most other passengers we meet agree, feel that on small ships there is an unbeatable interpersonal relationship that vastly enhances the "cruise experience". We like the relaxed, casual feeling here…don't be surprised to see Captain Vangelis Panayiotakis sitting in the sun, chatting with passengers, the ARCADIA is the type of ship where you get to feel at home, and Captain Vangeli loves his ship and enjoys his passengers. Like a number of other Greek ships, the ARCADIA has the advantage of long-serving crewmembers. Chief Steward Elias Kapeleris has been with her for nearly a decade as have a number of others. What a gracious man he is and how well he runs a steward department! A real charmer here is receptionist Eleni, a handsome Greek woman who delights in seeing her passengers happy and contented. And don't let me forget Chief Purser Leonidas Pannayiotopoulos, a real Greek teddy bear of a man and veteran of years with Royal Cruise Line. Look for him and say hello, tell him we sent you.

Up topsides, reached by some stairs to a metal catwalk and down some more steps is a solarium, an open sun deck with windows to the sides…a neat retreat for relaxing, it is one of the surprisingly spacious deck spaces on the ship. A deck below, overlooking the small outdoor pool, is another sunning area, complete with lounge chairs as well as tables and chairs. Descend one flight and you're on Promenade Deck, aft. Surrounding the pool on three sides are tables and chairs and along the rails are more deck chairs. At the forward end is the buffet setup and the entrance to one of the lounges. Flanking the deckhouse all the way forward to the main lounge are broad open promenades and a covered promenade nearly circles the house below. This little ship has an amazing amount of deck space and that's another reason we so like her. Within the deckhouse on Promenade Deck, the aft lounge, the Princess Lounge, is a multi-purpose room…it's an eatery for buffet participants, a lounge, a bar, a night club, a disco and even a card room.

Just forward is the casino, equipped with both slot machines and gaming tables. A throwback to an older style, the midships section on this deck is fitted with six passenger cabins, all TA grade, and forward is the Queen's Lounge, a big room that can generally seat all passengers at once. The main cocktail bar is in here and many congregate here for cocktails at any time. Floor to ceiling (almost) windows on either side flood the room with light, and during afternoons at sea it's a good place to come with a book or friends. Two decks below is the ship's library, a room furnished with a videoplayer/TV. Movies are shown in here and sometimes, should the number of passengers require, it can be used as an annex to the dining room. During one cruise where the number of passenger almost required two sittings, we lobbied for its use as a smoker's dining room…but nothing came of the plan and all 180 of us fit comfortably in the Coral Restaurant, just aft. The ARCADIA is also fitted with a very small gym, just sufficient for most people's exercise needs, but not a spot for serious body builders…she also has a boutique and a hairdressing salon.

Her dining room is windowless, but it's the food in here that's the big attraction. Long serving chef Theodoros Trezos is a big man who likes to eat and likes to cook…and he does it so well…some of the food he dishes up is marvellous… Admittedly, some dishes miss, but we think that is more the fault of the menus the line has set up for him to prepare…which reminds me, if you sail in the ARCADIA, and they still offer Chinese style sweet and sour chicken at one dinner, order it without sauce…it shows up as fried chicken tenders and goes very well with rice! At the gala buffet, don't miss out on the tree of shrimp…Mediterranean chefs present them head and all…and the roast beef is delicious! There are no elaborate menus offering many choices of any course, but this isn't one of those coffee shops with a couple of hundred menu items where the cheesburger reigns supreme anyway....Consider the menu here table d'hôte...you can always order off the menu if you don't see something that appeals...We'll also tell you that in our long decades of sailing in Greek ships and hundreds of nearly identical menus for the Greek Dinner, the tastiest was right here on board the little ARCADIA…we had forgotten that Greek food could be so good!

Watch out when lunches or dinners are served in "open sitting"...get there early or you may just face a long wait for a table...of course you could take your food from the buffet...but American passengers, in particular, fond of breakfast and lunch buffets as they are...seem to shy away from dinner buffets when they are offered. They call this buffet area the Trattoria del Sole, but I would call it the Trattoria del Sole e della Sombra....the sun and shadow....because GSC has thoughtfully provided a great awning to shelter diners from a sweltering midday sun. But take heart for those of you who cannot eat without letting your skin broil....there are quite a number of tables exposed to the rays. At lunch time, the main meal for many Italians as well as many Latin Americans, expect to see both at the buffet and the dining room the full range of menu items you would expect for a major meal. But watch carefully, and you will see that Italians rarely combine soup and pasta in the same meal...and pasta is not generally a main course in Italy. Typically, an Italian will begin his meal with a pasta, and will then have a meat or fish entree accompanied by a contorni...the accompaniments....which are vegetables and most often potato. Italian food is a good deal more than spaghetti and meatballs.

That same GSC emphasis on quality is as evident here as in the dining rooms of her fleetmates. In general the food is very good and the Italian dishes were superb...Like each of the GSC ships, the AEGEAN SPIRIT's kitchens have specialties...but since I don't know if you plan to sail in her in Mediterranean or southern Africa...I don't presume to suggest to tell you which dishes will please you most.

Ranging in size from a compact 108 to a reasonable 156 square feet so, yes, the ARCADIA's cabins are small. There are NO suites nor deluxe rooms here, nor is there an iota of pretension… each is so well maintained, well thought out and executed, and with enough storage space for a cruise of a couple of weeks…fully air conditioned, with private facilities, there is piped in music, though neither television nor video recorder...and there is a telephone...Fans of high ticket cabins won't be thrilled with the ARCADIA's standard cabins, but even famous cabin diva Goldberg was comfortable enough to spend three weeks in this ship without grousing about his surroundings…ok, we'll tell you, he was in cabin BR 6, a TA category room on Bridge deck midships. Funny thing, though, the TA cabins aren't the biggest ones on the ARCADIA. Largest rooms here are some of the lowest priced rooms, the twenty B grade rooms down on C Deck…though technically outside cabins, the B cabins might have metal plates covering portholes if sea conditions suggest such protection…Of the ship's cabins, there are but 24 inside rooms, and except for a window or porthole, are pretty much like the outside one

You'd be surprised who some of the ARCADIA's past passengers are…but we'll give you a glimpse…During May 2000, a religious organization devoted to helping families of prison inmates chartered the ship. Guests of honor on that one week sailing were Jack Kemp and Chuck Colson. Mr. Kemp ate in the dining room and Mr. Colson ate in the library, set up as a dining room. Because of the ship's size and limited numbers on board, Mr. Colson had the chance to take a meal with almost every single passenger! People choose the ARCADIA for her itineraries, and for the summer season of 2000, she is one of the only ships operating a 7 night cruise from Greece that includes a call in both Israel and Egypt…but they come back for the ship herself. Passengers include people on all-inclusive package tours and well traveled folk…We guess it's her size and the generally port intensive nature of her wanderings that keep the bulk of the party hearty crowd away, but we know that even teenagers have liked their trip in this little lady. During the warm months of 2001 and 2002 she will be cruising the Great Lakes and we expect quite a friendly mix of passengers on those trips.

As we said, the summer of 2000 has a schedule of 7 night cruises. From Piraeus on Friday afternoons, the ARCADIA sails for Rhodes, Ashdod (Israel), Port Said, Egypt, Herakleion and Santorini. One October cruise is planned for her to go to Thessaloniki, Kavalla and Dikili as well as Istanbul and some of Greece's islands, but two such cruises planned for May didn't operate as planned. When she was supposed to go on that run for May 5th, she ended up taking the AEGEAN 1's itinerary, as the company had so much 3 and 4 day business that week they couldn't spare that ship to do the Istanbul run, and on May 18th she ran a charter for Prison Ministries Fellowship. GREAT LAKES CRUISES, Inc. of 217 E. Waukesha Ave. in Waukesha, Wisconsin (tel: 877-777-2870) will take her on charter in the spring of 2001 and from Piraeus offers a cruise to London and then in May has a 17 night transAtlantic trip via some GREAT ports to Toronto. Once there, the ARCADIA will operate a series of 3, 4 and 7 night cruises, some of which will take this ocean liner as far west as Duluth, Minnesota! Look for us on at least one of her Great Lakes trips…they look to be interesting journeys and the charterer tells us that they plan extensive menus and some special features for passengers.

Until recently this cruise line and ship provided a solid product at a very affordable price. Unfortunately, over the past few months (summer 2001) the quality of the product and operation of these ships has degraded to such an extent that we can no longer recommend anyone sail on these vessels.

From Cruise News, July 9 2001: Golden Sun Cruises mts Arcadia was detained by the Coast Guard last week after the ship failed a series of health inspections by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The ship, which is being chartered by Great Lakes Cruises, Inc was being promoted as the first cruise ship in 35 years to offer a full season of cruises on the Great Lakes. While no stranger to health inspectors - the Arcadia has consistently received sub-standard health inspection scores over the past few years - the charter company had hopped that standards had improved since the ship was cited for a long list of problems during a May inspection in Greece.

Unfortunately, when the ship was inspected last month in Detroit, she received a score of 59 out of a possible 100. A score of 86 is required to pass the inspection and as a result of the low score the CDC recommended that the ship not carry passengers until the problems, which included food being stored at improper temperatures and soiled pots and pans, were corrected. For some reason, the CDC's recommendations were ignored and the ship left Detroit and headed to Windsor, Canada where she boarded passengers and proceeded to sail on in Canadian waters.