TigerB

9 hours ago, Bin man said:

Mini golf is free on arvia ,you had to book mission control and the rope walk but thought that was free as well

The rope walk was free for the first few cruises....

...then, because it was so busy, the bean counters saw a revenue potential with it.💰💰

1 hour ago, daiB said:

We found the 6th st diner to be excellent we. Went for 2 breakfasts 1 lunch and 2 dinners over 28 nights. The food and service was excellent each time. As for the Green and Co. I would agree that it is underused however the food on offer was excellent, we are not vegetarians. With regard to the Olive Grove it was what I expected as I knew about the changes. But it is not trying to be the same as on Iona. A number of people I have talked to think that what is on offer on Arvia is better than on Iona, overall Interestingly they Olive Gove is now open for the MDR breakfast which i cannot remember if that was the case on Iona. I mean the venue not the Olive Grove.

It's funny! When we first sailed on Arvia, on her maiden Transatlantic cruise last year, we went to the 6th Street Diner for breakfast, with it bigging itself up as serving 'the most authentic American breakfast' at sea, or some similar promise.  Anyway, we found it to be just so-so, and nothing like the breakfasts we have had in the US.  I mean, when I asked the waiter for my eggs to be cooked over medium, I totally lost him!🤭  Consequently, we didn't visit again for the remainder of that cruise.

It was only when we cruised on her again in April last year that we gained an appreciation of the food on offer in an afternoon and evening.

I wholeheartedly agree about Green & Co....great food but underused.  I fear they'll give it a few more months, maybe a year, and turn it into something else. Perhaps at the next dry dock refurbishment.

As for Olive Grove on Iona; we've sailed on her three times, and I'm quite certain it didn't open until lunchtime.

If you do a search on this forum for 'Arvia AND review' you will get a wealth of information back.

Here's a few to get you started...

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/3010778-just-back-from-arvia/#comment-67438635

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2960207-my-arvia-review/#comment-65999213

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2961820-review-of-arvia-cruise-k416-6th-aug-2023/#comment-66050018

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2912128-quick-arvia-review/#comment-64748001

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2936055-arvia-k308-why-after-that-cruise-we-decided-not-to-go-on-future-cruises-with-po-at-least-for-a-while/#comment-65343298

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2969118-just-back-from-arvia-k320/#comment-66273143

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2905927-arvia-ta-k301a-initial-thoughts/#comment-64611149

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2904671-k301a-arvia-ta-inside-ada-cabin/#comment-64581082

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2931167-arvia-k308-all-aboard/#comment-65211876

So, make yourself a brew and start reading 🙂

Welcome home Andy & Michelle, and the rest of the gang. I'm glad you had, in the main, a great cruise.

1 hour ago, Waju said:

I've booked the Chefs Table for our up and coming cruise on Arvia thinking I was getting something special 😇 Do you think we'd be better sticking with the MDR Selbourne?

 

 

I know what his answer will be, same as mine:  YES!

Some folk like it, but many more don't.  We've done it just the once, and won't bother again.

But if you like getting dressed up to eat in a canteen, where you are right on top of your neighbouring table, then go for it!😉

39 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

That's definitely the prices we have been paying. 

Just spoke to a beverage manager, he said he is unaware of any upcoming price rises, but described himself as a ' mushroom', so wouldn't be told anyway😂🍄. 

Andy 

That's good.  It was the Assistant F&B Manager on Iona that told me in February the next increase will be in May/June time and it would be 'across the board'.

19 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

So drink prices are creeping up, but definitely not jumping up. A pint that I think was £5.10 last year is now £5.30, so not enough to break the bank. 

I can still get a pina colada for £7.50, cheaper than many land based outlets. 

Andy 

Thanks Andy👍🏻

Those are the same prices as February, so it looks like the anticipated price rise on drinks hasn't happened yet.

Mind you, you may wish to check the physical menus too; in October we encountered a problem where the prices on the My Holiday app/non-app were showing old prices, whereas the physical menus reflected the September price increases. That was a fleet wide problem.

2 hours ago, Clodia said:

I literally cannot stop laughing at the thought of a queue of cats waiting to board....

3 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

Steve Terry. 

Started off with a load of misogynistic jokes, nobody laughed so he went into a barrage of 1 liners that were so old the audience were shouting out the answers... 

I like corny old jokes, but he was really scraping the barrel. 

Andy 

If you are really early they may direct you to the 'naughty queue' and you will have to wait your turn.

If you are no more than about thirty minutes early they may send you straight in; it will probably depend on how busy it is and who it is you first encounter.

If you have someone in your party that requires special assistance, and if you all need to stay together, you should be directed to wait inside the terminal, or may even be directed to proceed directly to check-in.

Either way, you can drop off your luggage and return, if that suits.

Here's hoping you and your gang have a great time. Will you be walking about barefoot to really benefit from that new carpet experience?🤭

I have one request, if you don't mind; can you please report back on food and beverage price increases, which should be happening about now, if not already?  Perhaps, if you're able to, post a couple of photos of a physical bar menu or a screenshot from one on the My Holiday app/non-app.  Ta muchly 🙂

Again, have a great time.

Welcome to the boards @CharlieNo 👋🏻

Regarding Sindhu, you choose what you want from the menu, at the prices shown. When you get your bill, all food will be discounted by 20%. They then further discount your bill by the £10 pp pre-payment.

You won't find drinks prices away from the ship. Perhaps someone onboard now may be able to photograph and post one of them for you. Mind you, if they haven't already, prices should be increasing about now.

@84k, bear in mind that they only charge for the first two trips in each port; handy if you are in port for a while and wish to make multiple trips into the centre. However, I'm not sure if that extends to overnight stays, or if the clock restarts on the second day.

When we were in Stockholm in 2022, the shuttle buses dropped off and picked up on Strömgatan, outside the opera house...

From there it was a steady thirty minute walk to the Vasa museum.  

In Helsinki we were dropped off near to a ferry terminal...

50 minutes ago, MyriamS said:

Hi everyone, I read that Olive Grove must now be booked onboard Iona. What are our chances to secure a spot for lunch or dinner on the second day of our cruise (it is a sea day and celebration night)? We don't have loyalty with P&O so are expecting to be some of the last people to board the ship.

If you do have late boarding, and are waiting at the terminal for your slot, you can access the My Holiday app/non-app there to make any bookings.  You need the last six digits from your boarding card to do so.

8 hours ago, roomba920 said:

Has anyone here tried the Norway Tester Menu dinner in Epicurean?

What did you think?

I'll second what @Selbourne wrote. I really enjoyed it, and thought it represented good value for money, more so if you pre-book.

There are two menus, a meat/fish one and a vegetarian one. You can pick individual dishes from each; that suited me as I am a pescatarian and had a fish dish from that particular menu.

A typical day at P&O Towers.....

"Hey lefty, what are you doing"?

"It's a secret righty, what are you doing"?

"I'm not telling you".

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

That all makes sense, just not what P&O say... 

For £42, I hope Ray Quinn is gonna sit on my knee and serenade me😂

For £42 I bet you're secretly hoping that will include a bit of twerking while he's sat on you!🤭

I am quite sure that when he was on Iona in February the onboard price was about £36.  So, an increase of almost 17% more or less confirms what I wrote in the other thread about the Assistant F&B manager previously telling me about price increases across the board.

@cuatbar58 quoted Epicurean as now being £35 onboard, that being another price hike of almost 17%.

It will be interesting to hear from those who are onboard now, or cruising in the next few weeks, what the other increases are on food and drinks, and if almost 17% is going to be the standard increase for all items.

In February, during a conversation with the Assistant F&B Manager on Iona, he did say that in 

May/June time there will be another price increase, but it won't be just on drinks; it will be across the board.

That would explain the price hike for Epicurean; an increase of almost 17% though is quite a hike!😯

I don't know what's going on with Limelight though, with the inconsistencies that folk have encountered, and the response from P&O about the venue never attracting a 20% discount, as quoted by @AndyMichelle on the other thread

We have had a discount on pre-booking Limelight previously, albeit that was in 2022, but it was exactly 20% as far as I can recall; it was rounded up or down to the nearest pound.

27 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Beach house availability is interesting, we booked on board and could only get an 8:15 slot. I kept checking,  on the app that isn't, but no luck, so went to the beach house desk one lunchtime to see if I could go earliet, and the answer was,  "of course what time would you like, is 7:00 OK, certainly sir". 

So always best to talk to a human.

I've found that too with the app/non-app, not just with Beach House either. Politeness and a smile with an actual human goes a long way.

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

We only paid £9.20 on our recent Iona cruise.

.

That's strange as on our February cruise it was £9.50 onboard.  As I replied to Andy, the OP paid £7.60, which is 80% of £9.50.

You've had me second guessing myself, so I've just checked our credit card statement, which confirms the full price was £9.50; we paid £7.03, which is 20% off that, and then the Peninsular discount applied.

2 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

Thank you, it's a lot of typos, every night shows £9.20.

I assume the 20% does not apply to the Limelight? We got our loyalty discount but nothing else. 

A discount also applies to Limelight, Andy; or at least it did.  It wasn't exactly 20% though, it was rounded to the nearest pound. As I recall when we booked it once, the price quoted online was £22 each, and onboard it was £28.

The price of £9.20 shown for Beach House is strange; the OP paid £7.60, which is 80% of £9.50, and it was that price on Iona in February.

2 minutes ago, emam said:

 

I would say after your meal as it depends on what you eat.

You pay the discounted price upfront.  Any additional charges when you dine are applied to your onboard account.

If it is showing as £9.20 online, then that is a typo; the full price should be £9.50.

But, as @happy v correctly states, you get 20% discount for pre-booking, hence £7.60.

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

I wish that all my other shares in the past had been as lucrative 😂 

After paying over £6 for just a regular bottle in Lidl the other day, I did wonder how my shares in the Genco Pura Olive Oil Company are performing these days.🤔

On 4/4/2024 at 5:07 PM, smj777 said:

Can anyone tell me what are the birthday special dinners on p&o. It says 'special dinner in a restaurant of your choice'. I'd like to know what to expect, what does special mean? Has anyone paid for and experienced the birthday package?

As @Lee117five0 writes, it's a regular meal in a speciality restaurant. We ate in Epicurean, which I booked before the cruise to make sure we got the time slot. Our son and daughter-in-law joined us, so I changed it to a four-person meal when we were onboard; I used the voucher for the birthday girl and I, and the pre-booking took care of the kids.

If you get the cake delivered to your cabin, you can expect something like this...

I was called on her birthday by Room Service to ask what time I wanted it delivered.

To make the day even more special we had breakfast in Epicurean, good value at £8.50 each.