Arvia K309 on ship now.

[Technoman2]

We got to the port at 2.30 and managed to get checked in ans on board in 20 mins. People who were early were being held in a seperate queue and fed in when gaps available. Ship is very busy we booked meridien and olive grove 14 days before departure but could only get times between 5.30 and 6pm. Food on 2 nights in meridien has been nice better than on azura better quality imo. Didnt get tickets for Gary Barlow but people who did enjoyed show. Room on deck 15 seems a bit cramped inside cabin, bathroom tiny, but shower ok. Saw comedy juggler in theatre 2 nights ago he was good and a light and sound display in dome last night which was good but we could here the last show in our room which is below dome. If you are in these rooms then probably dont go to bed before 11pm. In la coruna today and forecast 27c lovely. First impression is ship overcrowded but will probably get used to it. Off for breakfast shortly. The horizon buffet at 10am yesterday was truly awful, to busy abd limited choice. Queue for meridien at 5.45 but only took 10 mins to get seated

[P&O SUE]

Look forward to reading more, that queue looks horrendous!

We don’t have too much trouble with the buffets for breakfast but we are early risers so there long before 10!

[jeanlyon]

That looks like a nightmare.  I'll stick to Aurora 🙂

[Britboys]

19 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

That looks like a nightmare.  I'll stick to Aurora 🙂

Although to be fair Jean, I have seen long queues outside the restaurant on Aurora for breakfast & lunch. Not for dinner though - but then I'm always on Club Dining.

[Megabear2]

I'm glad I booked everything beforehand if availability is going to be bad.  I took pot luck on a MDR and chose Zenith for the Celebration Night.  I assume they are the same.  

 

Interesting to hear Technoman is find it very busy as the "overcrowding" reports from the Easter cruise indicated it was just due to the school holidays. This perhaps is not so clear a reason now.

[Technoman2]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

I'm glad I booked everything beforehand if availability is going to be bad.  I took pot luck on a MDR and chose Zenith for the Celebration Night.  I assume they are the same.  

 

Interesting to hear Technoman is find it very busy as the "overcrowding" reports from the Easter cruise indicated it was just due to the school holidays. This perhaps is not so clear a reason now.

Well done forward booking mb. We have one booking for zenith. Apparently they have tablecloths. Just queued 10 mins for shared table in meridian for breakfast. Good food and service at 9am.

[majortom10]

Never encountered any queues like that on Iona. Obviously the 2 MDRs on Arvia is not working as not everyone wants to go to 6th dinner or Olive Grove.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

Although to be fair Jean, I have seen long queues outside the restaurant on Aurora for breakfast & lunch. Not for dinner though - but then I'm always on Club Dining.

I think it was said by the OP that the queue was 10 mins. Not long, IMHO.

[davecttr]

Last cruise on 16th April did not feel overcrowded to me but I just avoid busy places. We had 200? children aboard and they were no problem, apart from the toddlers with dodgy steering 😁

[Technoman2]

Just been around la coruna. Turned right off ship that a nice walk to small castle. If you go left off ship then nice pavement cafes and a 20 min walk to beach. Go straight off ship and across road and parallel streets for shopping. Time to sunbathe. Plenty of sunbeds at 1pm

[alpha whiskey]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

I think it was said by the OP that the queue was 10 mins. Not long, IMHO.

After the first couple of days, it went down to less than 5 mins for 6-6.30ish dining.

Some people were queuing half an hour before the restaurant even opened 🤷

 

[purplesea]

We are due on Arvia after you, so really interested to read your thoughts.

I have managed to book some dining times in advance, but did not book all as do not really want to eat very early.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, alpha whiskey said:

After the first couple of days, it went down to less than 5 mins for 6-6.30ish dining.

Some people were queuing half an hour before the restaurant even opened 🤷

 

The food must have been really good to warrant queueing that long.😄

[zap99]

4 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

That looks like a nightmare.  I'll stick to Aurora 🙂

10 minutes. A nightmare Indeed.

[solentsam]

why do people queue so early before restaurant opens, we were on Britannia last week deck 8 aft cabin I was gong back to cabin and there was a long queue on the stairs going down (dont know how far it went up) to Oriental deck 6 before the doors opened and that's club dining, seems we British like queuing 🙂

Edited May 2, 2023 by solentsam

[terrierjohn]

5 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

That looks like a nightmare.  I'll stick to Aurora 🙂

 

15 minutes ago, zap99 said:

10 minutes. A nightmare Indeed.

On previous cruises on all ships over the last 12 yrs, except Arcadia which we did not sail on, queues for the MDR in an evening have generally been 5-10 minutes on average. I wonder if the more open queuing areas on the other ships tends to make it feel less crowded?

[Britboys]

2 minutes ago, solentsam said:

why do people queue so early before restaurant opens, we were on Britannia last week deck 8 aft cabin I was gong back to cabin and there was a long queue on the stairs going down to Oriental deck 6 before the doors opened and that's club dining, seems we British like queuing 🙂

Absolutely. I always have Club Dining but usually make my way from whatever bar I'm enjoying a pre-dinner drink in about five minutes after the opening time. I usually can then walk straight in and sit down...

[Son of Anarchy]

14 minutes ago, solentsam said:

why do people queue so early before restaurant opens, we were on Britannia last week deck 8 aft cabin I was gong back to cabin and there was a long queue on the stairs going down (dont know how far it went up) to Oriental deck 6 before the doors opened and that's club dining, seems we British like queuing 🙂

When we were on Arvia last week, it seemed like queuing was the fashionable thing to do.

 

Queues for Limelight Club, the queue for the 2030 theatre show often stretched into Brodies as they didn't seem to open the theatre doors until about 2010ish.  We never queued for the theatre as we sit in the stalls on deck 6, never had to queue there.   I didn't mind queuing for a little while to get into the 710 Club as it is a small venue, and we tended to like sitting near the front.

[Technoman2]

Sample menu tonight for Zenith, Meridien and olive grove. 

[zap99]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

 

On previous cruises on all ships over the last 12 yrs, except Arcadia which we did not sail on, queues for the MDR in an evening have generally been 5-10 minutes on average. I wonder if the more open queuing areas on the other ships tends to make it feel less crowded?

I seem to recall a queue for the fixed time sittings going on for miles. Perhaps memories fade with time. We were on Azura a couple of weeks ago. Short queues, 10 mins or so were the norm.

[Fionboard]

Apart from first night, only queues for fixed dining are those who turn up before they open the doors. Probably hungry as they haven't eaten since lunchtime! 

[solentsam]

the same ones in the the queue at late night snacks lol 😁

[TigerB]

1 hour ago, Son of Anarchy said:

When we were on Arvia last week, it seemed like queuing was the fashionable thing to do.

 

Queues for Limelight Club, the queue for the 2030 theatre show often stretched into Brodies as they didn't seem to open the theatre doors until about 2010ish.  We never queued for the theatre as we sit in the stalls on deck 6, never had to queue there.   I didn't mind queuing for a little while to get into the 710 Club as it is a small venue, and we tended to like sitting near the front.

 

I just don't get why folk have a fixed booking for something, but insist on still getting there thirty minutes early to queue. All they achieve is making the place look untidy and causing the sheep, who see a queue and have a serious case of FOMO, to join it and so make it longer and more untidy.

 

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Technoman2 said:

Sample menu tonight for Zenith, Meridien and olive grove. 

Looks like the mdr menus haven't changed since last summer sadly. If they are still fleet wide, I can only but hope they have a review and change them before this summer...

[Fionboard]

5 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

I just don't get why folk have a fixed booking for something, but insist on still getting there thirty minutes early to queue. All they achieve is making the place look untidy and causing the sheep, who see a queue and have a serious case of FOMO, to join it and so make it longer and more untidy.

 

Maybe they are people who have not pre booked and hope to still get in.