Live Report Arvia 14 Nights From Barbados 18th Feb onwards

[McPhee1]

Great reviews so far, thanks very much for taking the time to post these. We are on board soon and looking forward to it, more so after reading these reviews.  

Did you notice if the shops have a good choice in perfume and how the prices compare to home/duty free?  Just weighing up if to wait until cruise before purchasing or not.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rupert2251]

@InterestedcruisefanHow does the booking for the theatre work, do you get numbered seats etc?

[Interestedcruisefan]

16 hours ago, McPhee1 said:

Great reviews so far, thanks very much for taking the time to post these. We are on board soon and looking forward to it, more so after reading these reviews.  

Did you notice if the shops have a good choice in perfume and how the prices compare to home/duty free?  Just weighing up if to wait until cruise before purchasing or not.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will check

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, Rupert2251 said:

@InterestedcruisefanHow does the booking for the theatre work, do you get numbered seats etc?

Although I do believe the seats are numbered when you book currently you don't get allocated a number

 

That would probably slow down everybody getting seated in there tbh - having to find specific seats 

 

But by only allowing the right number of people to book each night everybody seems to be able to arrive and get  seated easily. 

 

It all works really smoothly

 

There's not really any bad seats in there

 

We've been getting there 10 to 15 minutes max before the start just because we actually like to sit in there for a bit. With the big  screens now there's interactive stuff happening online the screens for most of the shows. And always plenty of seats. Plenty of people arriving just before it starts and easily getting seats as  well 

 

It just seems to work well. No queues outside other than very short queues  at times to give cabin number to the ladies with the iPad's checking you in

 

So much better than the old days IMO where I remember having to get to the theatre 30 mins before the start in case you couldn't even get in for a show

 

Now you can just dine with less time pressure on you or stay in a cocktail bar longer!! No need to rush to the theatre like in the past

 

The apps work very well in that respect

 

It's all very civilised

 

I also booked all our shows at same time in advance so this hasn't been a daily thing to have to worry about

Edited February 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

It was a sea day yesterday

 

It was really hot so we went to watch a movie at 3.15pm to get out of the sun for a while

 

It's just walk ins for the cinema. No charge. And no pre-booking

 

The cinema we were in I would say could hold about 80 people and was three quarters full

 

We watched "See How They Run"

 

Was a decent and fun film and made a nice break in the day for us

 

Nice cinema - lovely comfy seats and obviously air conditioned

Edited February 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

Nice photo from our balcony early evening  last night

[Interestedcruisefan]

17 hours ago, McPhee1 said:

Great reviews so far, thanks very much for taking the time to post these. We are on board soon and looking forward to it, more so after reading these reviews.  

Did you notice if the shops have a good choice in perfume and how the prices compare to home/duty free?  Just weighing up if to wait until cruise before purchasing or not.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

What  I can say without checking is the prices in the sweet shop are astronomical

 

6 pounds for a family pack of malteesers!

 

7.75 for a family pack of dairy milk miniatures!

 

People are paying those prices though (including me)

 

They only had whole nut  dairy milk miniatures left last night!!

 

So they've sold a lot of the normal dairy milk miniatures!!

Edited February 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

And just to show I'm not only saying positive things about Arvia and cruising in general

 

My one big negative is the fact you have to pay for Wi-Fi and the cost

 

I need to keep in touch with work back home (it's my own business) and my wife likes to keep in touch with our  kids and friends etc

 

It's cost us approx 300 pounds between us just to sign up for what they call the essential Wi-Fi package for 14 nights

 

That's a negative which  seems to apply to all cruises that you tend not to have to pay in hotels nowadays

 

Although I realise some hotels especially in US do apply resort fees you have to pay that include getting wifi

 

I will balance it slightly  by saying we also would in the past have to pay similar in tips after a 14 day cruise with the US  ships which is not the case on P and O

Edited February 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

Yesterday as a change to having buffet lunch or lunch from The Quays we went to 6th street  diner.

 

It's a free of charge restaurant on board. Table service.

 

For lunch you can just do a walk in without pre booking

 

It made a nice change. I would say it would be  a big hit for families

 

Pictures below

 

 

[figgy1978]

Can you tell me about your transfer to Maho beach please?  Was it just a taxi at the port?  How long is the transfer?  How did you get the return?

 

Thanks

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, figgy1978 said:

Can you tell me about your transfer to Maho beach please?  Was it just a taxi at the port?  How long is the transfer?  How did you get the return?

 

Thanks

There's lots of minibus shuttles at the port entrance just lined up together that just  go to Maho Beach and back. Big sign advertising Maho Beach/airport beach

 

16 us dollars per person return. They give  you  a wristband on the outward journey to show when you want to come back

 

Takes 20 to 25 minutes

 

And they drop you in a car park next to the beach. You don't  have to book a time to return. As long as it's before 3pm they will be waiting

 

Just head back to the car park (1 minute walk from the beach) there when you want a shuttle back and as soon as 6 people are ready to return they will put you in a shuttle together

 

Easy

 

Ps the best time for the  big planes landing which make the best photos is between 1.30pm and 2.30pm ish normally so that's normally a good time to still be there

 

Some of the US large plane flights to the island come in then

 

There's a surf board at Sunset Bar next to the beach which shows the ETAs of the larger planes written on it

 

There  are smaller planes coming in all the time

 

 

 

Edited February 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

St Lucia today

 

Here's the view from our balcony this morning

[TigerB]

19 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

There's lots of minibus shuttles at the port entrance just lined up together that just  go to Maho Beach and back. Big sign advertising Maho Beach/airport beach

 

16 us dollars per person return. They give  you  a wristband on the outward journey to show when you want to come back

 

Takes 20 to 25 minutes

 

And they drop you in a car park next to the beach. You don't  have to book a time to return. As long as it's before 3pm they will be waiting

 

Just head back to the car park (1 minute walk from the beach) there when you want a shuttle back and as soon as 6 people are ready to return they will put you in a shuttle together

 

Easy

 

Ps the best time for the  big planes landing which make the best photos is between 1.30pm and 2.30pm ish normally so that's normally a good time to still be there

 

Some of the US large plane flights to the island come in then

 

There's a surf board at Sunset Bar next to the beach which shows the ETAs of the larger planes written on it

 

There  are smaller planes coming in all the time

 

 

 

 

It's odd watching the planes taking off from that runway; when you see them going past that clearing it looks like they are not going fast enough to take off, then the next thing you see is them appearing from the tree canopy.

[Interestedcruisefan]

Some more pics of St Lucia from the ship this morning

 

 

[Fionboard]

4 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

St Lucia today

 

Here's the view from our balcony this morning

Lucky you, berthed at Seraphine ( the town side is horrible!). Rum Therapy is the place to go!! 

[Interestedcruisefan]

7 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Lucky you, berthed at Seraphine ( the town side is horrible!). Rum Therapy is the place to go!! 

Arvia and Aurora both docked together in St Lucia today

 

They put size before age and gave Arvia the nicest dock

 

We had a great day today 

 

Joined up with some other passengers and paid 30 us dollars each for a minibus tour to the North side of the island. We stopped at Pigeon Bay or Beach (can't remember) for 3 hrs as part of the tour. Our beach was directly adjacent to Sandals. We did some nice snorkelling (took our own snorkels) saw plenty of fish and a school/shoal of 15 squid!!

 

Fabulous guy selling coconut, watermelon and pineapples filled with rum from a boat

 

Pics to follow

 

We paid 15 us dollars for a watermelon filled with rum and 2 straws (with a free refill included) lol

Edited February 27, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

Note aurora also visiting st Lucia today. They got the short straw having to dock next to all those containers

[Interestedcruisefan]

Plus we had a local beer as well!!

[CliveJ]

Very informative 'blog', thanks. 

Although I'm going to Spain/Portugal on Iona in 5 days' time, & should be quite satisfied with that, have to say I'm pathetically jealous !

Do keep tantalising us !

[Selbourne]

24 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Note aurora also visiting st Lucia today. They got the short straw having to dock next to all those containers

I know that I am sad (before anyone says) but I find it interesting to sit on a balcony watching a busy commercial port in action. All part of the cruise experience for me! I can think of few things more boring or uncomfortable than sitting on a beach in blazing sunshine, but thankfully we are all different 😉 😂 

[Interestedcruisefan]

We are heading to the Limelight Club soon to enjoy dinner (hopefully) and to watch Mary Mac

 

A drag act from Scotland!! Lol

 

That's going to be a first for us. On or off a cruise

 

Will take some pics and report back tomorrow!!

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

I know that I am sad (before anyone says) but I find it interesting to sit on a balcony watching a busy commercial port in action. All part of the cruise experience for me! I can think of few things more boring or uncomfortable than sitting on a beach in blazing sunshine, but thankfully we are all different 😉 😂 

I kind of agree about sitting on a beach in blazing sunshine not being great.

 

We sat/lay in the sea most of the afternoon (which was lovely in comparison), drank rum and watermelon and snorkelled in between

 

 

[showingdiva]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

I know that I am sad (before anyone says) but I find it interesting to sit on a balcony watching a busy commercial port in action. All part of the cruise experience for me! I can think of few things more boring or uncomfortable than sitting on a beach in blazing sunshine, but thankfully we are all different 😉 😂 

 

That's why I love Rotterdam so much

 

 

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

We are heading to the Limelight Club soon to enjoy dinner (hopefully) and to watch Mary Mac

 

A drag act from Scotland!! Lol

 

That's going to be a first for us. On or off a cruise

 

Will take some pics and report back tomorrow!!

 

 

Never heard of her (and I'm Scottish for what it's worth)

 

 

[terrierjohn]

23 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

And just to show I'm not only saying positive things about Arvia and cruising in general

 

My one big negative is the fact you have to pay for Wi-Fi and the cost

 

I need to keep in touch with work back home (it's my own business) and my wife likes to keep in touch with our  kids and friends etc

 

It's cost us approx 300 pounds between us just to sign up for what they call the essential Wi-Fi package for 14 nights

 

That's a negative which  seems to apply to all cruises that you tend not to have to pay in hotels nowadays

 

Although I realise some hotels especially in US do apply resort fees you have to pay that include getting wifi

 

I will balance it slightly  by saying we also would in the past have to pay similar in tips after a 14 day cruise with the US  ships which is not the case on P and O

What's the arrangement for mobile roaming passports in the Caribbean, for Europe we pay £2 per day and then can use our normal roaming, calls and messages as usual. With mainly port days in the Caribbean if the cost is similar it must surely be a cheaper way to stay in contact.

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

What's the arrangement for mobile roaming passports in the Caribbean, for Europe we pay £2 per day and then can use our normal roaming, calls and messages as usual. With mainly port days in the Caribbean if the cost is similar it must surely be a cheaper way to stay in contact.

I'm not sure what the cost for data roaming would be for me nowadays. I know it's been brutal in that past.

 

But I have to have daily access to emails and do some online work daily from my cabin. I can't just do that stuff on port days sadly. I did consider it.