P&O Arvia January 2023 Caribbean Cruise Advice Needed

[Azamarian]

Caribbean on Avria in 2 weeks from Bridgetown.  My first cruise on a large ship.  50+ Azamara cruises with 600 pax, free drinks and easy access dining for all meals.  Am I being naive to think I can just go to a civil buffett breakfast and casual buffett lunch at any time and have  a no reservation dinner experience in the non-speciality restaurants??  Should I make advance dinner reservations for the included restaurants.  I'm sailing on Arvia from Bridgetown in 2 weeks.  Please some advice for a Mega=Ship newbie.

thanks

[carlanthony24]

You can go for a breakfast, lunch, dinner in the buffet. If you want to go to a speciality restaurant it may be best to book sometimes you can only book once onboard they do fill up pretty quick and can put you on a waiting list.

 

Most places onboard after 6PM you can not be in shorts will be confirmed more onboard with the dress code etc.

 

 

[wowzz]

6 hours ago, carlanthony24 said:

Most places onboard after 6PM you can not be in shorts will be confirmed more onboard with the dress code etc

I thought the "no shorts" dress code was not as strictly enforced in the Caribbean? 

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

I thought the "no shorts" dress code was not as strictly enforced in the Caribbean? 

Not at dinner. Okay for breakfast/lunch - no mens sleeveless tops at any time.  There was some leeway first couple of nights re shorts but I believe probably due to the massive flight delays.

[wowzz]

16 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Not at dinner. Okay for breakfast/lunch - no mens sleeveless tops at any time.  There was some leeway first couple of nights re shorts but I believe probably due to the massive flight delays.

Sorry, yes I know shorts are not acceptable in the MDR, but whereas shorts are meant to not be worn in public areas of the ship after 6pm normally, I thought the rule was relaxed in the Caribbean?

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Sorry, yes I know shorts are not acceptable in the MDR, but whereas shorts are meant to not be worn in public areas of the ship after 6pm normally, I thought the rule was relaxed in the Caribbean?

I am sure I saw shorts in the Quays area in the evening on Iona in the Canaries in October, and I always thought shorts were acceptable in the buffet in an evening anyway.

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Sorry, yes I know shorts are not acceptable in the MDR, but whereas shorts are meant to not be worn in public areas of the ship after 6pm normally, I thought the rule was relaxed in the Caribbean?

Shorts were being worn everywhere except the MDR and Crows Nest at Christmas.  Those venues were trying very hard to keep the dress code.  Ss I said elsewhere any gent in a sleeveless top was sent to change to one with sleeves which in all truth seemed silly at breakfast as long as it wasn't a vest.  The ladies seemed to be very scantily dressed but nothing was said.

 

I thought the dress code only applied in the MDR and Crows Nest on my last few P&O cruises both in the Med and Caribbean to be honest.

[carlanthony24]

6 hours ago, wowzz said:

I thought the "no shorts" dress code was not as strictly enforced in the Caribbean? 

It might have changed but when we did it we couldn't be in the Glass house after 6PM even when we are just finishing our drinks before heading off to get ready.

[Host Sharon]

Please don't turn this into yet another dress code thread. The OP wasn't even asking about dress code.

[Azamarian]

Thanks Sharon…dress code is not my issue.   Ability to dine when I feel like it and where I want without reservations was my query 

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Azamarian said:

Thanks Sharon…dress code is not my issue.   Ability to dine when I feel like it and where I want without reservations was my query 

We were on Iona in October and used the P&O app to join the virtual queue of a restaurant of our choice while we were getting ready to dine, and it worked fine. A couple of times the app told us our table was ready when we still felt we needed more than 15 minutes to get to the restaurant, so we cancelled then almost immediately re booked and that worked well.

BUT Arvia does not have the 2 smaller MDRs so it might make wait times a little longer. Hope you enjoy the cruise.

[Britboys]

Wow - that's some jumping of ship, from Azamara to P&O Arvia. Really hope you enjoy the experience.

Please do come back and let us know how you got on.