Yes, Merlins made a lovely noise, but not when you were sat between them, for hour after hour. On each occasion I flew on the Argonaut, my ears were still buzzing two days afterwards!
I wonder if another reason why the Argonaut lasted until the Britannia finally came into service, was that the much more widely ordered Constellations were easier to sell on. The only other airline to operate the Canadair was TCA, where it was known as the North Star.
In addition to the Wright Cyclones on the Constellation, the P & W Wasps on the Stratocruiser were also troublesome. The Strat was often seen limping in on three, perhaps having had to turn back from well out in the Atlantic. PanAm ditched one in the Pacific with a prop which wouldn't feather, the drag making all the PNR and ETP fuel calculations irrelevant. The ditching, next to a ship, was so skilful that the only fatality was an unfortunate dog in the hold, as I recollect.
As regards, the food served aboard, yes it was of amazing quality. You also have to remember that in Britain we were just coming out of food rationing and the stuff served up in restaurants was generally dire. The meals were prepared in flight kitchens. BOAC had its own catering unit at LHR, right up to fairly recent times. Down route, the job was usually contracted to a local hotel, the quality of whose preparation was subject to regular checks. The meals were heated up on board. On the Argonaut, the pantry units were either side of the main passenger entrance door and were discreetly covered during boarding and disembarking. You have to take your hat off to the cabin crew who delivered the service out of that confined working space.
All the water came from an onboard tank, which was replenished at each stop from a bowser clearly marked Potable Water. This also was subject to regular quality checks and treatment, if necessary. Again, you have to remember that this was the fifties. We didn't know to drink wholesome water in the quantities that we do now and I'm sure that most water drunk aboard was either as tea or with whisky! The previously mentioned Cairo - Khartoum fuel plan has an allowance of 173 lb. for domestic water discharged overboard at the rate of 40 lb/hr. This would be from the two washroom sinks and pantry unit and isn't permitted nowadays.