My Arvia Review

[jrphotog]

3 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I would argue that cruises are designed and staffed and priced for when  they are full and that's the standard cruise

 

Those people able to book outside of the full/peak times just get the benefits and advantages that come when cruising with less passengers on board?

 

 

 

 

If that’s the case then Arvia was either designed very poorly, or very thoughtlessly.

[Interestedcruisefan]

9 minutes ago, jrphotog said:

If that’s the case then Arvia was either designed very poorly, or very thoughtlessly.

Yet Arvia and Iona are absolutely  flourishing in terms of bookings and numbers of guests using them every week?

 

Which is a tough ask for such big ships unless they are getting far more right than  they get wrong

 

Let's be honest?

 

 

[Ardennais]

7 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I would argue that cruises are designed and staffed and priced for when  they are full and that's the standard cruise

 

Those people able to book outside of the full/peak times just get the benefits and advantages that come when cruising with less passengers on board?

 

 

 

 

It’s possible to argue that, I would agree, apart from the fact that they’re not adequately staffed for when they are full. If they were, there wouldn’t be a problem. 
 

I feel strongly about this because it’s only fairly recently that I’ve been able to sail outside the school holidays (after teaching for 33 years). I still feel for those who haven’t got the choice, and understand their frustrations, unlike many on here! 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Ardennais

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Yet Arvia and Iona are absolutely  flourishing in terms of bookings and numbers of guests using them every week?

 

Which is a tough ask for such big ships unless they are getting far more right than  they get wrong

 

Let's be honest?

 

 

Quite likely many will be new cruisers taking advantage of some low priced offers, it remains to be seen how many of these are turned into regular repeat cruisers, which is what Arvia and Iona need.

[CarlaMarie]

29 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Quite likely many will be new cruisers taking advantage of some low priced offers, it remains to be seen how many of these are turned into regular repeat cruisers, which is what Arvia and Iona need.

 

You are right. This next season which is about to begin will be very telling on whether the new cruisers actually come back. Until then you cannot determine their popularity or whether they are flourishing. Currently, their decision to cruise has been heavily influenced by prices, advertising etc.... but what will determine if they come back or not is whether they actually enjoyed cruising, enjoyed what P&O had to offer, the activities and amenities for children and the itineraries for example. 

[alpha whiskey]

1 hour ago, CarlaMarie said:

This next season which is about to begin will be very telling on whether the new cruisers actually come back

We were all new cruisers once, and we all came back again for another go, and haven't stopped since! 😊 

Edited September 20, 2023 by alpha whiskey

[FamilyCruiserUK]

1 hour ago, CarlaMarie said:

 

You are right. This next season which is about to begin will be very telling on whether the new cruisers actually come back. Until then you cannot determine their popularity or whether they are flourishing. Currently, their decision to cruise has been heavily influenced by prices, advertising etc.... but what will determine if they come back or not is whether they actually enjoyed cruising, enjoyed what P&O had to offer, the activities and amenities for children and the itineraries for example. 

Having recently been on Arvia and Royal Carribean Oasis of the seas i would always go with Royal. However when you factor in the price difference and sailing ports then P&O will stay very Popular. More choice from Southampton and the prices on Arvia & Iona are a lot more attractive than Royal from southampton. With the added costs of flights to Europe to go on the fun ships Oasis class with Royal it can become very expensive. 

So financially for most families i would imagine, the diffence in price makes up for the difference in activites and service. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

3 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Quite likely many will be new cruisers taking advantage of some low priced offers, it remains to be seen how many of these are turned into regular repeat cruisers, which is what Arvia and Iona need.

Iona's been around a while now

 

How long do they need to keep being fully booked until we accept that new cruisers aren't just going on them once and not enjoying them?

 

My next cruise in Feb will be the 3rd time In a year I've cruised on them. And I've cruised plenty more cruises on different P and O and RCL and Carnival to compare them to.

 

I've never rebooked for same ship so soon either 

 

We get discount with a travel agent when we book who we met on Arvia. She was on as a friend of a cruise blogger on YouTube. They've cruised many lines and ships and they both loved Arvia. And want to repeat as well.

 

If people can return time and again to Britannia etc they can return  time and again to Iona and Arvia IMO

 

One major reason being the value the cruises on Arvia and Iona offer compared to land base holidays and travel home and abroad

 

They offer huge value compared to traditional holidays right now

 

Hence why we are cruising more

 

Might even do Iona fjords again in May time because the price is so attractive compared to other holidays we can book

 

Not even compared to other cruiselines or ships

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[frozenflowers]

We’re repeat cruisers on the big P&O ships - we’ve been on Iona twice (and have a further two weeks booked on her in 2025) and are booked on Arvia in 2024. We like them, for all they do have faults!

[Megabear2]

16 minutes ago, frozenflowers said:

We’re repeat cruisers on the big P&O ships - we’ve been on Iona twice (and have a further two weeks booked on her in 2025) and are booked on Arvia in 2024. We like them, for all they do have faults!

That's lovely to hear.  Are you happy with the itineraries being the same every year  presumably yes.  Were you cruising before these ships arrived and if so is it just the facilities you like onboard.

 

Not just P&O, most of the other cruise lines leaving Southampton are just repeating exactly the same itineraries year on year so do you think you'll be happy with those itineraries, shows onboard etc in say three years time?

 

Please don't think I'm picking on P&O, I'm not, I've noticed a lot of the lines' itineraries are shorter in ports and with little variety.

[frozenflowers]

28 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

That's lovely to hear.  Are you happy with the itineraries being the same every year  presumably yes.  Were you cruising before these ships arrived and if so is it just the facilities you like onboard.

 

Not just P&O, most of the other cruise lines leaving Southampton are just repeating exactly the same itineraries year on year so do you think you'll be happy with those itineraries, shows onboard etc in say three years time?

 

Please don't think I'm picking on P&O, I'm not, I've noticed a lot of the lines' itineraries are shorter in ports and with little variety.

This is a good question! We had been on cruise pre-pandemic (on Azura, to Norway). We love Norway so quite happy to have gone on more or less the same itinerary multiple times now, although actually we’ve been to one previously unvisited port on each trip so there’s a tiny bit of variety! 
 

The Med on Arvia next year will be a change for us: I’m not sure how often I feel that itinerary will bear repeating: I guess I’ll have a better idea once we have done it once. 
 

At this stage in our lives repetitiveness is a positive boon - we have stressful busy jobs and a young autistic child so knowing what to expect is actively helpful! I doubt we will feel that way forever and as our daughter gets older I think we will want to spread our wings a bit. I do wish that there was a bit more variation in what P&O offer. 
 

In terms of why we like the ships: I like that Iona (and I assume Arvia) feel very modern and not dated. I also like that standard balcony cabins all have sofa beds - I’m not keen on Pullman beds or having to sleep in separated singles to accommodate the pull down beds so it’s a bonus not to have to shell out extra for a deluxe cabin to get that. I like that there is a wider choice of places to eat than on the smaller ships. I like the massive windows in the atrium! 
 

Ultimately for us P&O offer a good value proposition, and the opportunity for a nice holiday abroad without flying and with relatively little hassle. I’d happily try other cruise lines but they all seem a lot more like expensive, and at the moment we’re happy with the product we get for the price we pay. 
 

[Ardennais]

We did Northern Europe on Iona in February (Rotterdam, Hamburg and Zebrugge) and have booked Iona again for the Fjords next year. On the February cruise, the crew were preparing for 27 successive weeks to the Fjords and were trying out their new mitts one evening in the open air bar. They told us that they didn’t really like the Fjords as it was too cold for them!

 

Iona has done well this year if she’s been able to fill 27 successive weeks to the Fjords. Personally, we liked Iona but after we do the Fjords next year, I won’t be wanting to go there for a while yet. Her other cruises seem to be longer ones to the Canaries, so it’s a shame that she isn’t able to do a few other 7 nighters with some variety, 

[jrphotog]

On 9/20/2023 at 1:20 PM, terrierjohn said:

Quite likely many will be new cruisers taking advantage of some low priced offers, it remains to be seen how many of these are turned into regular repeat cruisers, which is what Arvia and Iona need.

OP here. That’ll be us. Now we’ve been home for a couple of weeks, and had time to reflect, I can safely say that we won’t be going on a cruise again for at least a couple of years. And certainly never with P&O until their passenger to space ratio dramatically improves. 
On a side note, we probably wouldn’t go from Southampton again. We’d prefer a more mixed crowd when we go on holiday rather than 95% British. For us it’s part of the fun (and break from the norm) to be with different people and different cultures. 

Edited September 22, 2023 by jrphotog

[jaceyar]

We did Arvia's first TA out to the Caribbean this January. We had lots of FCC from Covid cancellations so spent it on a Premium balcony cabin on the aft. No complaints about the cabin, it was comfortable and being aft had a huge balcony. We couldn't believe when walking around how awful some of the cabins were with totally exposed balconies that people walking by could look into. The MDR was awful - you felt you had to be out of there asap. So so noisy too because so many hard surfaces. The Olive Grove we liked above the others, the other Diner type not so fond of. We loved the Quays and often lunched there and liked the chairs and tables just outside. Many would find having to book everything on an app difficult but P&O don't care at all about their traditional customer. It was made clear to us that we were not their target customer. The Dome is a complete waste of money. The acoustics are shocking and chairs sparse and uncomfortable. As somebody else said, remove it and make it an outside deck. There was definitely a shortage of staff onboard too - the younger ones not too bright. I mourn the cruises we've loved on P&O - the fabulously funny sailaways, the cheese board trolly, the quoits competitions etc etc.

We now cruise mostly on Azamara. We followed the lovely Adonia and love each cruise with them - inclusive drinks, amazing itineraries and fabulous food and beverages. P&O you've lost your way....

[doog442]

1 hour ago, jaceyar said:

We did Arvia's first TA out to the Caribbean this January. We had lots of FCC from Covid cancellations so spent it on a Premium balcony cabin on the aft. No complaints about the cabin, it was comfortable and being aft had a huge balcony. We couldn't believe when walking around how awful some of the cabins were with totally exposed balconies that people walking by could look into. The MDR was awful - you felt you had to be out of there asap. So so noisy too because so many hard surfaces. The Olive Grove we liked above the others, the other Diner type not so fond of. We loved the Quays and often lunched there and liked the chairs and tables just outside. Many would find having to book everything on an app difficult but P&O don't care at all about their traditional customer. It was made clear to us that we were not their target customer. The Dome is a complete waste of money. The acoustics are shocking and chairs sparse and uncomfortable. As somebody else said, remove it and make it an outside deck. There was definitely a shortage of staff onboard too - the younger ones not too bright. I mourn the cruises we've loved on P&O - the fabulously funny sailaways, the cheese board trolly, the quoits competitions etc etc.

We now cruise mostly on Azamara. We followed the lovely Adonia and love each cruise with them - inclusive drinks, amazing itineraries and fabulous food and beverages. P&O you've lost your way....

 

I recall reading on here about many issues last Dec/ Jan across the fleet and elsewhere. We are booked for next January and on my casual musings of the forum things appear to have improved dramatically.  

 

That said we're simply doing it for the itinerary which I think is excellent. We are regulars in the Caribbean on land based holidays (go next week to Antigua) yet the value this cruise offers is exceptional compared to land based offerings in January. It will basically be all inclusive for us with the OBC covering alcohol, aft cabin booked, shareholder credit covering restaurant upgrades, nothing can touch it really

 

Like you however if expectations don't meet our needs and they consider us not the target audience we'll vote with our feet simply because we can. 

 

 

[jaceyar]

Our main bugbear with P&O is the endless repetitive itineraries - particularly those in the Caribbean. We have rather overdone the Caribbean cruises over the years and have enjoyed most of them on the lovely Azura although also once on Britannia and a 28 day bean feast on the lovely little Adonia. We've visited the ABC Islands, Grand Cayman, Trinidad & Tobago, Isla Margarita, the Amazon, Ocho Rios and  the St Maarten, St Lucia, St Kitts bunch (repeatedly). Often we booked a B2B  - 15 day islands then a few islands and back to Southampton. Now of course there is no variety between concurrent weeks so not much joy in a B2B.

To add to all this anyone flying from Gatwick(?) or Manchester will fly in an old plane with no in seat entertainment. We've enjoyed the alcohol laden TUI flights in their lovely Dreamliners immensely. Perhaps P&O now realise why most cruiseliners don't include flights. I think that's possibly on the cards.¹

Edited October 9, 2023 by jaceyar

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 10/9/2023 at 4:39 PM, jaceyar said:

Our main bugbear with P&O is the endless repetitive itineraries - particularly those in the Caribbean. We have rather overdone the Caribbean cruises over the years and have enjoyed most of them on the lovely Azura although also once on Britannia and a 28 day bean feast on the lovely little Adonia. We've visited the ABC Islands, Grand Cayman, Trinidad & Tobago, Isla Margarita, the Amazon, Ocho Rios and  the St Maarten, St Lucia, St Kitts bunch (repeatedly). Often we booked a B2B  - 15 day islands then a few islands and back to Southampton. Now of course there is no variety between concurrent weeks so not much joy in a B2B.

To add to all this anyone flying from Gatwick(?) or Manchester will fly in an old plane with no in seat entertainment. We've enjoyed the alcohol laden TUI flights in their lovely Dreamliners immensely. Perhaps P&O now realise why most cruiseliners don't include flights. I think that's possibly on the cards.¹

I predict the Maleth flights will be equally alcohol laden