P&O Cruises

Southampton

Barbados

Europe - British Isles & Western

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Spain

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Mediterranean

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Europe River

Europe - River Cruise

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Douro River

Average

Very Good

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Excellent

Terrible

Britannia

Ventura

Azura

Arcadia

Aurora

Iona

Arvia

Ok, but could have been better

We picked P&O because we went on Britannia 5 years ago and had a fantastic time. Since then, we’ve been on 10 cruises with different cruise lines.

The ship is beautiful and clean and the itineraries are great. However, the food is absolutely awful. If you want half decent  food you have to pay for the restaurants. Even then they are just ok. I honestly think this is the first time I’ve cruised and not gained any weight purely because there is nothing decent.

The service is terrible, our cabin was only serviced once a day, normally you get turndown service at night, and it is only serviced if you put your sticker on the cabin door, which we were not told. The restaurant service is so disorganised, we asked several times for bread and drinks at the table and they still didn’t come. We paid for The Glass House and the food came out stone cold. The waiter came over to the table and asked if everything was ok, I said it was cold and he said ‘i know, that’s why I came over to ask’! Why serve it if you know it’s cold?! On formal night in the main restaurant the menu consisted of a chicken wing, turbot and vegetarian options. The food was so bad we didn’t eat it. The potatoes were raw and again, it was cold.

We bought the deluxe drink package where we thought everything would be included. When we wanted a few cocktails in the evening, only a small handful were available on the deluxe drink package. I don’t understand why you have to pay more for nice cocktails.

We flew Maleth Aero which was an absolute sham, I can’t believe P&O would actually take the mick out of us and put us on this airline. Take entertainment and food!

The food on P&O was never 5 star but now I would give it 1 star. The service previously was great but it really lacks personal touches and no one seems bothered to make your cruise special. 

We won’t be booking another P&O which is a shame as the ship is beautiful and the fellow passengers are very friendly. The staff in the kids club are amazing and the kids really enjoyed it. However, I would say this ship is suitable for under 8’s only. Anything above that age will be bored.

Beautiful ship but service and food are awful

Skagway

This was our 6th cruise and 6th cruise line.  We booked it because the ship (Arvia) was new (and large), but primarily because the itinerary visited a few places we had not been to before.  Overall I would rate this as 3.5 out of 5.  

The itinerary was 14 days from Bridgetown, Barbados visiting

Road Town, Tortola BVI

La Romana, Dominican Republic

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

St. John’s, Antigua

Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis

Fort-de-France, Martinique

Castries, St. Lucia 

Bridgetown, Barbados (overnight)

Plus we had 5 sea days.

We booked via Cruise1st and P&O include flights in the package.  We wanted to spend more time in Barbados, so we travelled 4 days earlier.  Unbeknown to us at the time, this switched us from the TUI and Air Malta chartered flights on to BA from Gatwick.

The ship was excellent.  It is enormous with 19 decks and 5,200 passengers.  We only got lost a couple of times, which is amazing given the size of the ship.  It still felt brand new and had a modern feel to the decor throughout.  The 17th floor has an odd layout, as you can’t easily walk it end to end, making places like the Crow’s Nest hard to find (Tip walk from your room to the front lifts and take these to the 17th floor).

There are quite a few pools, and various locations with sun loungers, but on sea days these can be hard to nab near the pools.  On port days, even if you do a half day excursion or just pop into the local town to get a feel for the vibe, you pretty much have the pick of the loungers when you come back onboard.  We prefer to sit in the shade and these are even tougher to find.  One day we didn’t get any all day, but did start to notice that a few people had secured loungers in the sun and shade and alternated between them.  For shade, head for the promenade areas by the front lifts on deck 18, but secure your loungers by 8-9am.  The main pool is under a retracting roof and when closed the area is air conditioned.  It can be very noisy in here, not so much because of the people, but more so because of the volume they use for the entertainment.  Aside from a show one evening, we only went in here to go to the restaurants.  The ship obviously has a very British vibe to it, but we felt this made it feel like we weren’t abroad while on board.

The ship has a ton of restaurants and we tried most of them.  

Horizon is the buffet, with lots of seating.  We found the selection uninspiring compared to Princess and Celebrity, which is a real shame as it is the easiest option for eating at odd times. 

Meridian and Zenith are the two main dining areas and from what we could tell, the main difference is that Zenith has tablecloths and usually a slightly longer queue.  The food here is good, but again not as good as Princess and Celebrity.  The Olive Grove (Mediterranean) was OK, but uninspiring.  6th St Diner is nicely decorated, but the food was a bit limited and seemed to change a lot.  I would have preferred more options each day.  Taste 360 (pizza, burger) was OK.  I was surprised that it closed so early. As there is no option for late night pizza.

The Quays has a large seating area, with a small dessert buffet area and three serving areas for fish & chips, Asian and roast dinners.  It also serves different breakfast options.  We found the Asian to be good, never tried the roast (it was 30 degrees outside) and found the fish and chips overcooked, although when we walked through on other days it looked OK.

Then there are lots more restaurants that were not included.  On the whole we found the extra costs to be reasonable, but given we were not too keen on the included options, it felt a bit bad to have to pay for something decent.  We tried The Keel & Cow (Gastro Pub) which we felt was the best meal we had on board.  The Epicurean is the top dining option and was good, but not outstanding and a very poor wine selection.  The Glass House (Olly Smith wine bar with food) was good.  Sindhu (indian) was a nice experience, but we felt that it was trying too hard and probably needed some more standard options on the menu.  The Beach House (Caribbean & South America casual) was OK too.   The two ice cream cafes were excellent and pretty reasonable.  We had a few better meals off the ship.

There are also lots of bars to choose from.  We didn’t go with a drinks package, primarily as we booked quite a few excursions and spent £300-400 less than the cost of the alcohol package.  The best bar was Anderson’s, which is lively and has its own distillery for gin and rum.  In Brodie’s pub, you could be in the UK.  It has live football, entertainment and pub quizzes.  Both of these bars can get very busy and like some of the pool bars, seem to lack adequate staff.  The Club House has a bigger stage and has some of the other entertainment options like Pulse (the house band) and the comedians..  If you want something a bit quieter, try The Crow’s Nest, which has a pianist and is a great place to look out of the front of the ship.  There was a really nice drink with shaved coconut on top that we got on day one, but they ran out of ingredients and that was the last we saw of it.  It is also odd that only the pool bars serve margaritas.  

The entertainment was quite varied and very good quality.  Our favourite was the tiny 710 Club.  The band are very talented and we went 10 times.  It can feel hard to get in, unless you go to the midnight show.  However after chatting to the lady on the door, we just started turning up 35-40 minutes before the show.  The doors open 30 minutes before hand and there are always some free seats, as 6 seats aren’t bookable and their system doesn’t know when a couple books a table for four.  We also paid extra to see Kevin Simm at The Limelight Club. This comes with dinner and the food was as good as The Epicurean.  The show was great.  Another great show was Jeff Dingle as Bruno Mars.  In the Amber Lounge we always tried to catch the Caribbean Sounds if we were free, as they got the crowd up dancing.  The Silent discos were a blast.  They also have a pianist and 

Some trapeze artists.  Holly Morwenna played guitar some nights here and in Brodie’s.  She was very good and takes requests.  In The Crow’s Nest we had Elena Safonova.  We also saw a couple of shows at the Headliners, Greatest Days and Festival.  I enjoyed them both, but my wife was less enthusiastic.	

Being a new ship, the tech was pretty good.  We bought the standard wifi package for 2 devices and I believe they now use Starlink, as the service was the best I have had on a cruise.  It was always logging us off though, which was a Biot irritating,.  All of the bookings for meals, entertainment and excursions can be found on the My Holiday web page (even without the wifi package).  I would have preferred an App, as if you accidentally close the web page, you need to somehow find it again.

The staff were all very good.  Our cabin was kept very clean.  You need to stick a magnet outside your room each day or they will not clean it.  

One of the things we were not interested in participating in were the two black tie evenings, as I would struggle to get all the gear in may suitcase, but there are plenty of places on the ship that do not adhere to this.  I even saw some people in shorts.  

Given it was a school week, there were not many children on the ship, although there are quite a few facilities for them.

We did quite a few excursions, mainly to explore places we had never been to before.  Our favourite excursion was Antigua Island Sights and in particular Nelson’s Dockyard and the view from Shirley Heights.  We also did the chocolate making in St Lucia, which was a great experience, but the 90 minute drive particularly on the way back,took the shine off of it.

We bought the Bon Voyage package which was great value for champagne, dressing gowns, slippers, flowers, chocolates, breakfast in bed and a photo.  You have to call room service to get some champagne flutes.  The breakfast in bed was poorly executed, as no one seemed to know too much about it, so we ended up with a breakfast (chosen by us), followed by a more extravagant one 30 minutes later.

We were not too keen on the disembarkation day setup, where you are out of your cabin by 9, but not called to disembark until four or so hours before your flight.  We had 7 hours to kill, but it was probably better being in Barbados with our suitcases.

We booked to travel in November, which is the tail end of the rainy season.  We were lucky as we had 29-32 degrees every day and a few days with short showers.  Embarkation day was the worst and it rained for a few hours.  It is quite a walk from the main terminal to the ship via the warehouse they use for security.  Most of the walk is uncovered, but we were inboard before the rain arrived.  

Once we add up everything (base price, wifi, excursions, drinks, extra food), I am not so sure that this entire trip was superb value.  We loved all the places we visited, but all in all, we felt that the food really let the overall experience down the most, followed by the struggle on sea days to find a nice place to relax.

It has left us not wanting to go on a P&O cruise again, but instead we will look to try out some other new ships.

Great ship, but the food lets it down

Just returned from the latest two week booze cruise around the Caribbean. Arvia is a magnificent ship and a cut above Iona, but it is a great tragedy that it is playing host to the type of people who should not be within a continent of it. As a result it is already showing signs of wear - with P&O infamous for cutting costs to the bone any non-essential system on the ship that breaks is ignored. So you get toilets and wash basins out of action for the whole cruise, letters and signs missing, coffee machines not working in the buffet, no trays. Whilst there are nowhere near enough staff on the ship to provide a proper cruise experience. Word though for what few there are, the cabin stewards, and restaurant staff work so hard and are the real stars of the ship who make your cruise what it is. P&O please recognise their hard work and respect them more.

Food is fantastic apart from the 6th Street Diner which should be avoided at all costs unless you want to be ill. Also why is the Olive Grove open so little and therefore impossible to visit. The MyHoliday app remains unfit for purpose and a total waste of time. Just give your new Starlink wifi free to all cruisers and stop being so tight P&O, although even that apparently does not work very well.

Rules on the ship are just ignored by P&O. So dress standards in the main restaurants are abysmal. Surely people who want to dress in tee shirts and tracksuits can be asked to eat elsewhere, if I wanted to look at such fashion faux pas I would choose to eat in Wetherspoons not posh dining areas. Not what I spend my money for. This needs to be resolved as otherwise normal people like myself and my wife will find another cruise line. Put the scruffs all in one place and do not offend my eyes or reduce the cost of my cruise for having to put up with that. As for trying to get a sunbed, get up at 6.00 in the morning and don't expect anyone on the ship to impose their so-called rule about towels on sunbeds for more than one hour.

What does make the cruise through the Caribbean worthwhile of course is the islands. Quite magnificent. Flying out was well organised, and we did three shore excursions which were excellent.

What I would say is you get what you pay for. So do this cruise now whilst it is available before the corner cutting and rock bottom pricing forces P&O out of business. You can't keep prices this low and alienate loyal cruisers like myself whilst attracting a lowest common denominator of booze cruiser without something eventually breaking. If you really think P&O that the tattooed thugs with their so cute man buns taking in too much sun and drink with too few braincells are going to keep coming back to your ships then think on. And if they are, then decent people will simply avoid your ships - people who want nothing other than to walk around looking hateful and asking for fights are a danger on a cruise ship and it is likely that very soon a tragedy will occur. 

Give cruising back to the proper cruisers, I would certainly pay more to be on such a lovely ship if I could be on it with people who know how to behave and can dress themselves properly. There is no wonder other nationalities do not like us when they see huge ships like this turning up in port to deposit another group of idiots. 

All a bit sad.

Great ship shame about the clientele

Kusadasi

As always I start my reviews with - this is my viewpoint on my holiday, others will no doubt have had a completely different experience and disagree with what follows.

Sadly Arvia does not have the wow factor for me.

In my opinion the focal point of any cruise ship is the central Atrium - Arvia's is very ordinary and plain - granted it's very spacious with a flowing staircase but simply nothing that makes you go ' Wow ' when you first board some other ships.

The ship itself is massive and definitely too big for us - sometimes bigger is not better.

Cabins

Pros -Adequate - very modern, very clean, the bed was nice and comfortable and very big.

Lots of storage space but no drawers.

Bathroom was space was ok with a good shower.

Cons- Our air con was not working properly and it took two days to repair, noise from ship structure movement very loud throughout our trip which if you are a light sleeper you could have a problem with.

Dining - good with loads of choice from the numerous onboard restaurants etc - even the Horizon dining area was fine and we never struggled for a seat even on sea days but at times people were walking around like chickens with no heads.

In the evening we opted for any time dining knowing that there was a high probability that we would have to wait for a table. It was simply just a matter joining the table queue at the right time.

Bars and Lounges - we bought a drinks package simply because that's what we always budget for on any cruise. Win or lose 

However we were very disappointed with the cocktails that were on offer very poor choice.

The drinks in most of the bars were very Rum and Gin orientated both of which are not our drink of choice.

Good selection of beers and wines though.

Here again we never struggled for somewhere to sit in any of the bar or lounge areas.

Entertainment

The show team were average at best with one show I'm still wondering what it was all about.

The speciality shows such as The Privateers, ROXX and The Flyrights were excellent though.

I couldn't tell you what the 710 club was like because it was fully booked for ,3 performances per night for the whole trip. 

One reason to make full use of the app well before you sail.

Something that I have never had to do on any ship is book a seat in the theatre, however I think that you could turn up without a booking and if seats were available you could get in.

Activities - although we didn't take part in any there seemed to be plenty to do during the day.

Staff  - As always were superb always polite and helpful.

One piece of advice - the lifts are always packed during the day so if a lift comes whether going up or down get in and stay in until you get to where you want to go.

Sunbeds - I did hear tales of people reserving sunbeds before 5am in the morning ( if true what sad people are they ), however we never struggled to find one later in the morning. 

It also didn't help things that only half of the ship got sun every day for most of the trip.

The pools always had a lot of people in them - not unexpected given how hot the weather was.

We enjoyed our trip on Arvia however would I travel on Arvia again -   'No ' - as I've said the ship was simply too big for us.

I would travel on a smaller P+O ship.

Arvia good but not for me

We have done 24 cruises on different lines over the years. We chose this as there were a lot of sea days and we thought there would be lots to do. Wrong. If don't you like line dancing and being given presentation on thing they are trying to sell you then you are left with little else.

The ship is simply too big and the outside spaces and pools too small.

There is a queueing system for everything that I don't like. I like my holiday to be a little more spontaneous We only ate in the main dining room on three night one night we had to wait 1.45 hours for a table and then only got one as I went to complain.

Parts of the ship are dirty in Horizons the carpets and soft furnishing could do with a good clean.

We ate in the pay for restaurants and in three had to send food back as it was so bad. Epicuren was the best. We cancelled chefs table as everyone we spoke to said that it was not good.

There is a lovely adults swim up bar and in front a small infinity pool this is not adults only but by afternoon it was overtaken by kids even though this was a transatlantic sailing falling outside of school holidays.

Some of the staff were lovely and very accommodating and some were very glum and some rude. When I asked for a coffee in the main dining room in the morning the waiter said to me why don't you just say tea Alexa !

There were a number of people put off the ship for fighting and inappropriate sexual activity in the whirl pools.

Some sad individuals even put chocolate in the dryers in the laundry.

It was impossible to get a sunbed on sea days and there were too many of them much more than any other transatlantic we have done we knew this of course but I refer to my opening comments.

People kept saying it was okay for the money they had some extremely cheap last minute bookings. Ours was not one of these so to us it was not value for money.

We made the best we could and blurred it a bit with a few stiff drinks.

I would not return and in fact would in the future avoid these very large ships they are not for us.

In one port because of the size of the ship and there were 2 others in there were 10,000 deposited on a small Caribbean island.

Fur coat and no knickers

My wife and I chose this cruise because we had cruised across the Atlantic before and enjoyed it but wanted more time in the Caribbean. Boarding in Southampton was quick and easy, we found the ship to be clean, obviously pretty big but not at all glitzy. Lots of places on board to eat and drink and generally OK. The Beach House and Keel and Cow were good as was the Olive Grove, the Epicurean and Sindhu were not as good as we have experienced on other P&O ships. The virtual queueing system kind of worked but was a bit of a joke really, we often just went to the restaurant concerned and were usually able to get in. The effect of the ongoing programme to reduce costs means that many of the little touches which made the cruise enjoyable just aren't there. Also there aren't enough staff in some areas, we waited half an hour for a drink in Andersens, the waiters were working as hard as they could but there just weren't enough of them.

Entertainment was patchy, generally in the theatre the sound team seemed to work on the basis the louder the better which detracted from some of the shows. There was a wide range of ages on Arvia but there were also incidents of very bad behaviour and several people were put off the ship. For us Brodies was a no go area.

All not too bad until we talk about our flight home from Antigua. The problems started before departure when we were advised on the 19th September, just over 5 weeks before boarding, that our premium seats which we had booked in January were cancelled and we were flying with Maleth Aero in an economy cabin with no entertainment. We eventually, after a lot of stress and hassle, managed to book some seats in row 12 on the aircraft, one adjacent to the emergency exit with extra legroom, and one on the opposite side of the aisle at a total cost of £140. The airport in Antigua was a shambles, there was no information regarding our flight on their system, and there was a complete absence of either P&O or Maleth aero staff to provide any guidance or assistance. On boarding the plane we found to our horror that there was a toilet between row 12 and the emergency exit, the extra legroom for seats 12A, B and C simply did not exist. This arrangement was not as shown on the P&O website when we booked the seats on the 3rd October at 00:37! The plane was old and tatty, the seats were narrow and uncomfortable so that the flight home was the worst that we have experienced. 

P&O you have lost our custom we think your treatment of loyal customers has been atrocious.

Nice ship but...

Cruising back to Barbados after a long stay in the UK is a wonderful way to relax after a hectic visit. 

Arvia is a beautiful ship. The design and finishes are superb - modern and stylish but not too glitzy in the way that some cruise ships become an assault on the senses. 

The quality of the food, entertainment and service on board was really good and the value for money was incredible. The only thing I can really complain about is that one or two of the other guests were very miserable (probably all the time and possibly since birth) and did not appreciate the excellence provided.

For such a large ship with so many people on board it was very easy to find a quiet spot to relax and enjoy a good book or some other quiet activity.

We deliberately booked a midship lower deck inside cabin to avoid any issues of movement crossing the Bay of Biscay. While sea conditions in the first couple of days out of Southampton were not exactly smooth, we were pretty comfortable. We opted for extra space and there was no problem accommodating our huge amount of luggage.

The food offer is wide-ranging and designed to suit all tastes. The main dining room was a civilised place for breakfast, lunch and dinner but when we used other venues such as the Horizon buffet , Sixth Street Diner or the Quays we found the quality very good. The Sindhu Indian restaurant and the Epicurean are both superb and the Glass House is great for a light meal and nice wine. The Olive Grove (no extra charge) also gives a chance for something different with a casual environment and Mediterranean menu.

One other great thing about P&O is that they don't charge silly prices for wine and other drinks (unlike Royal Caribbean who charge high-end restaurant prices for very ordinary wine).

Anything to complain about at all? Hard to think of any major issue, but the AC was set at a very low temperature in many of the public areas early in the cruise and a few degrees warmer would have been a comfort. Also, P&O don't serve the large helpings of Stilton with after dinner coffee that they did a few years ago. Otherwise, there are only the miserable minority among our fellow travellers but I suspect P&O can't do anything about them!

Cruising home

After cruising on Azura in January (excellent), I was excited to be on the PandO latest and she didn't disappoint.  I didn't notice the more than 5,000 other passengers (we were fully loaded) but I'm glad I learnt from my January experience to pre-book EVERYTHING we wanted to do as soon as bookings opened.  I am a planner by nature so this was great for me!  We were worried about our cabin as we had seen it voted on a youtube video the worst on the ship, but as the weather was pretty awful all the way (storm babette) the lack of privacy for our balcony didn't affect us.  It was spacious, well appointed and our cabin steward, Francis, looked after us very well.  We tried almost every eatery on board (there's 30 of them so didn't make it to one or two), all were fabulous with Green & Co being my favourite.  We went to every show in the theatre and some in the Skydome, all were exceptionally good.  La Voix in the Limelight Club was standout and the 3 course meal included in the cover charge was superb.  

My only complaint for the entire voyage is yoga and Pilates classes in the gym - at 15 GBP per class it's not 'a nominal fee', it's outrageously expensive.  After attending the first one I requested (and received) a refund and wouldn't continue even with the GBP 64 package.  At the very basic standard of teaching currently provided these classes should be included free of charge.

Exceeded expectations

We are a pair of sisters in our 20s, and this was our first-time cruising in several years. We had a very pleasant two-week break cruising from Southampton to Spain. 

Room

         We had a Standard Balcony cabin on deck 9. Originally, we were placed in a room on deck 8, which after looking at deck plans, we realised was directly on the promenade and overlooked the whirlpools and sunbeds. After noticing this on our booking, we rang P&O and they changed our room without problem. These balcony cabins had very little privacy, so if this might be a problem for you, try and change your cabin well in advance. 

          The room was appointed to an excellent standard. Our steward was brilliant! The room was always immaculately clean, and he ensured our toiletries were topped up daily. The room has around 3 British plug sockets and a USB plug under each lamp. The beds were so comfy and had very soft linen. The TV had a good selection of films, but the television channels were often repeats of the same show or obscure shows that we weren’t that interested in. The wardrobe and cupboards were quite noisy when travelling through stormier weather, so next time we would probably bring some tape to tape them shut. 

Food/Dining

	Overall, the food was… average. We didn’t expect too much given that it was a ship trying to provide for over 5000 people, but there were a few disappointments regarding some of the food venues. 

The Horizon buffet was quite unpleasant, mainly because of how busy and uncontrolled the common areas were. There was two separate parts to the buffet, but one side was always closed, forcing more people into one of the small areas. There was quite a small selection of food in the buffet, and it was mostly curries, fish in a sauce, or roasted meat and potatoes. The food was generally quite cold, and after having stone cold eggs one morning, we didn’t go there for breakfast again. 

	The main dining rooms, the Meridian and Zenith, provided a nice breakfast. There was a changeable menu at dinner times. Dinner was quite hit and miss, with most food quite obviously being zapped in the microwave. We never waited more than half an hour in the online queues for the main dining room, so it was usually easy to get a table at a time we wanted.

	Arvia is not short of dining destinations, however. There are included dining venues, such as 6th Street Diner and The Olive Grove. We enjoyed both meals. The Quays was a bit of a saviour – the breakfast was always good and piping hot, and the fish and chips were delicious! 

There are also dining venues for “a little extra cost”. This is where you will find the nicest food. Our favourites were Green & Co ft. Mizuhana (flavourful small plates and the best sushi), The Glass House (delicious tapas, better than one we had in Spain!), The Keel and Cow (rivals Miller & Carter steak), and Sindhu (our favourite meal on board). If you are a foodie, it is worth paying the extra for these surplus restaurants, they made dining on board a much more pleasant experience. 

	The Limelight Club was a mixed experience for us. There was a £25.00 surcharge for the evening, which felt like a lot of money for the standard of the meal we received. However, the entertainment (Cassidy Janson) was first class and really made up for the meal. A venue where they could make changes to bring it more up-to-date and improve on the food, but worth it for a special night if there is an act on you want to see.

Drinks

	We didn’t purchase a drinks package, and after adding up costs at the end of the cruise, we realised we hadn’t spent enough money on drinks to make a package worth it. We took a litre of alcohol each on board with us and numerous canned soft drinks. We used the glasses in our room to take drinks out with us and it saved us a lot of money overall.

	If you were ordering drinks, it took quite a long time to get served in some of the bars on board. It didn’t seem like there were enough staff to provide a table drinks service, and there was only one or two members of staff behind the bar. In our experience the bars wouldn’t make drinks that were not on the menu, which is worth noting if you are purchasing a drinks package. 

	The 710 Club was a real favourite. A lovely atmosphere with great drinks. We saw American Vinyl play and they were brilliant. Unfortunately, it books up quick, so book this as soon as you see it available!

Entertainment

       Each night at around 18:00pm, the Horizon magazine is delivered to your cabin outlining the following day’s activity schedule. There was always something happening on the ship: bingo, lectures, exercise classes, quizzes, music lessons, wellness and beauty talks, live music, etc.

       We would highly recommend going to the variety of lectures and talks – all were interesting and of a really high standard. We went to quite a few quizzes which were always fun. They sometimes seemed to be geared towards an older audience, but we still managed to participate, nonetheless. Quizzes were often held in venues that seemed too small to accommodate the number of people who wanted to attend, so it is worth getting to them early. We participated in a wine tasting course with The Glass House, which was an extra £15 per person, but was an exceptional service. We received 4 (relatively large) glasses of wine, small bites of food, and an intimate talk with a wine specialist – definitely worth doing (not advertised In the Horizon so make sure you ask!). We did want to go to a Pilates exercise class, but when we arrived, they said it was an extra £15 to attend! We did not believe this was a ‘nominal fee’ as advertised and didn’t think they should be charging this much extra for an hour-long class.

       We were really impressed with the entertainment on board. We went to all the Headliners Theatre shows. The singers and dancers were brilliant, and we thought the shows were of an excellent standard for a cruise ship. A particular favourite was Andrew Browning, the George Michael tribute – he was outstanding!

Facilities

	Arvia’s onboard facilities are great. You are never short of whirlpools or hot tubs to bathe in. It is however almost impossible to go in the main pool, as it is typically full of children, but this was not unexpected as you get this on board any family cruise. There are plenty of sunbeds on board and there were always ones available to use (but we were travelling in October). 

	We booked 2 hours in the Thermal Suite at the spa at £30.00pp. Here there is a small pool, sauna, cold room, rainfall showers, hot beds, and relaxation areas. This was a nice retreat from the busyness of the ship, but only something we would want to do once, as it is quite a small area. We both booked in for a head massage and hair style in the salon. Unfortunately, we would not recommend – it was £59, and the quality of the hair style was not great at all. I came out with greasy hair, hair straightener lines, and a sore head. On the other hand, my sister had a Swedish back massage which she said was amazing!

	A big talking point on P&O is the infamous app on which you book and schedule most of the entertainment and dining on board. I imagine it would be quite difficult to navigate your booking schedule without having the app, but there was an option to book things over the phone in your cabin. It was a webpage and worked through the ship’s wifi (it did not require you to have bought a wifi package). The app worked smoothly for the most part, but the virtual queuing and need to book for things well in advance, did take a lot of the spontaneity out of cruising. It was something we got used to over the course of the cruise.

Overall:

      There are a lot of hidden extras and costs onboard Arvia. In our experience most things are usually worth the extra spend but be vigilant as some things definitely aren’t! We had a great holiday overall sailing on Arvia. Being a relatively new ship, there are places where things could be improved. For the original price of the cruise, we thought it was very good value overall. The staff on board were excellent, and we really appreciated how much we heard from our Captain, Robert Camby. Would we sail on P&O again? Maybe not as sisters in our 20s, but we would highly recommend for young families.

A Mixed But Enjoyable Arvia Cruise – 3.5 Stars

We have just returned from an amazing western Mediterranean cruise on the new Arvia. This is our 7th cruise and 5th with P&O.

Arvia has to be one of the best cruise ships  we have  experienced with P&O cruises. 

Arvia is a beautiful luxury ship, with so many open spaces,  so it doesn't feel like there are nearly 6000 passengers onboard. We felt the smaller ships in the fleet felt overcrowded.

The crew are absolutely brilliant, with a great friendly, helpful and professional manner.

The entertainment is great, but could be organised a little better, so the same type of entertainment isn’t at the same time across all entertainment venues. They have even introduced a night club experience in the skydome (which opens up) called Eclipse, utilising the latest lighting and video technology.

Food is good with more choices than a similar cruise earlier in the year on Iona.

All in all an amazing experience for all ages with a moderate budget.

Amazing Ship & Crew

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