thornegirl

We disembarked Arvia today with 6200 onboard which included 1200 children. It was very, very busy. An experience which we will not do again. We were on Arvia last Easter holidays and I don't remember it being this busy.

If you want to book speciality restaurants before you go you have to pay for them at the time of booking. Included dining you don’t pay for.

We are on this cruise, our second cruise on Arvia. We did exactly the same Easter cruise last year in the same superior deluxe cabin at the rear of the ship. These are my observations on this years cruise comparing them to last years cruise. We have to travel during school holidays as our daughter is a primary school teacher and we take and pick up her children to and from school and also look after her red fox Labrador puppy ( the pup is a lot more hard work than the kids are). As I said before these are our observations, so don’t shoot the messenger. Ship very busy again. 6200 passengers with 1200 children onboard. To be fair the children are well behaved. Last year the Keel and Cow was open for food all day, we used to go for breakfast most mornings and sometimes lunch as well. This year even though it says all day dining it’s only open from 5.30 pm. Same for the glasshouse, asked why the reply was the ship is full! Well it was full last year and was open. There are only 2 outlets open in the quays which means less choice. 6th street diner is almost impossible to get in at any time. We went to Epicurean for the celebration night which we pre booked , it was ok husband had the smallest scallops ever and filet steak with 3 chunky chips, 1 stem of tenderstem broccoli and 2 leaves of spinach. He had a filet steak the night before in the Keel and Cow and he said that was much better. I had rack of lamb which consisted of 2 lamb cutlets and an inedible lamb belly with 2 tiny potatoes and the same tenderstem broccoli and spinach. The couple who sat next to us also had the scallops and he said that he was on Arvia in October and these were half the size as they were back then. . The staff in there were as always superb. Overall there is not enough choice for food options and cutbacks in portion sizes and quality is now very noticeable in the included dining venues. we have been loyal P&O customers for the last 15 years but I think now might be time to jump ship as the prices for the smaller ships are getting very expensive. We are looking at a cruise to Iceland and the difference between the saver and the select fare is £1000 to choose the cabin, you do get £500 obc but it’s still your money being paid out. Love the modern ship and the room we have is fabulous, two of the waiters in the glasshouse recognised us and came over to say hello which was lovely. But they are the only staff that we recognise from all the other ships that we’ve been on. Would we cruise on Arvia again , no I don’t think so.

So how many times is that this year 2 or 3?

That's the one that we use, and as you say it's not as drying as the gel ones.

Take some heated hand and foot warmers. We were on the 2019 northern lights cruise and did the Alta trip, my hands were like toast as I had bought a really good pair of gloves but my feet were so cold. I had to keep going into the tent to get my feet warm. I’ve since bought some really good sheepskin lined boots as we hope to go to the northern lights again in 2025.

We have been in an aft balcony on Arvia on deck 14, no noise or vibration at all. Booked the same cabin for our next cruise to the Med in March '24.

Thanks for your reply, will do some more research

We are looking at this cruise for next year, can I ask if you went to any of the speciality restaurants? Arcadia is the only P&O ship that we haven't been on, good to hear that you enjoyed the ship and the cruise.

Bit similar on Aurora, beach house cesar salad no croutons and no Parmesan cheese. Told by the manager “that’s how beach house does it”. Also eggs Benedict in MDR the sauce was the consistency of single cream! Horrible.

I put some cash on our grandchildrens cards when we were on Iona last year. Went to reception desk and paid in cash there and put that as their limit.

It’s a good idea to book Epicurean and the Limelight club before boarding as they get booked up pretty quick. You can’t prebook the Keel and Cow or the Glasshouse you can join the virtual queue for those restaurants but we didn’t have a problem with the queue when we were in Arvia at Easter.

Arvia is all freedom dining, no set dining.

Yes they will have, and that's the price that they have to go with.

You should have been given the cost at the date of your booking, not what the cost is now. I would go back to your travel agent and remind them of that.