P&O Cruises' Arvia Arrives in Southampton Ahead of Maiden Voyage

(10:08 p.m. GMT) -- P&O Cruises' newest cruise ship, Arvia, arrived in Southampton on December 18 ahead of its maiden voyage on Friday, December 23, 2022 to the Canary Islands.

Arvia -- a 5,200-passenger follow-up to P&O Cruises' successful Iona -- will reposition to Barbados to offer sailings from its Caribbean homeport through March 2023. The LNG-powered ship will then return to Southampton for the 2023 summer season.

P&O Cruises president, Paul Ludlow, was onboard Arvia for its arrival into Southampton, where the ship had sailed from the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

"As the latest evolution in the P&O Cruises experience, Arvia embodies the newest trends in travel, dining and entertainment and is the epitome of a sunshine resort sailing year-round to the warmest climates," said Ludlow.

"It takes its sister ship Iona’s design aesthetic and general arrangement but provides new and exciting outside and inside spaces which make the most of Arvia’s deployment to the Caribbean and the Mediterranean."

The exciting new addition offers a raft of new-to-the-line features, including the first rum distillery at sea, a swim-up bar, a Take That musical, the line's first escape room and for the kids an exclusive link up with Aardman, the creators of the popular Wallace & Gromit animated features.

Arvia also boasts a brand-new top-deck activity zone, Altitude, featuring an aqua zone at Splash Valley; Altitude Skywalk, a 54-metre-high ropes course, and Altitude Minigolf, a nine-hole course located below Altitude Skywalk.