Did you experience Alabasta in anime format? Because in the manga, that arc is clean, pacing-wise. Even the old man digging for water in the desert is used for an elegant pay off.
I like post-time-skip One Piece way more than most, but Alabasta and Skypiea in the manga are just such clean, beautiful arcs to read. Bonus points if its the official color.
Toei was much more respectful with the source material back then, but even then the difference was night and day.
Now, the manga's gotten a good deal worse, but the anime has gotten much better. So it goes.
I like Elbaph a lot, but I've accepted I'll probably never get the feelings I did from Alabasta and Skypiea again, going forward. And that's okay. Oda's old, and one of the reasons the quality has dipped, is because he's just spent so many years drawing this manga.
I guess that's why I'm so enamored with Cross Guild and the idea of Vivi returning. The hope it brings me those feelings, again.