TigerB

Thanks for the update.👍 It's a pity about the 6th Street Diner. It's probably the amount of families onboard with kids. Keep persevering; the evening selections aren't that bad. Just a thought, with you being late attendees for breakfast, why not try the 6th Street Diner for a change; they open at 10:00. Can you help me out with something? The past couple of nights I've had trouble getting off to sleep. If you could post again about using the launderette, that would be great; this time with more detail about the washing and drying cycles, your rationale for your selection, and the quantity of detergent and conditioner. That should do the trick!🤭😴

novemberoscarbravo !🤬

I like this but when I have it again I will be ordering two ....or maybe three!🤭🐽 I'm surprised you didn't go for a curry chaser in Horizon after your celebration meal.😉 Another good read, thanks!👍

I've just checked our onboard statement from June; £3.50 for a small pic 'n mix. We didn't buy chocolate bars or crisps, but they were a right price. None of your Home Bargain prices onboard; think multiplex cinema prices to give you an idea. Having gone our with the kids for an afternoon session in the marina area of Hull, the first in a while, I was surprised how much beer prices have gone up; so, the bar prices onboard are reasonable, if you take 🥄🥄🥄 out of the equation. Compared to prices in That London, they will probably be a bargain.

Despite sailing on Arvia twice, and Iona once, we've never attended the cinema. Do you recall if, on the seat map screen, it allows you to select a wheelchair bay and adjacent seat, or are they greyed out?

@tring Sorry, I've just realised you said Aurora. The map was for Ocean terminal, and I'm not sure if Aurora uses that one. Anyway, my comments still stand.🙂

We've used them once, and it was an absolute breeze. As others have written, car taken off us almost immediately after pulling into the car park. Your vehicle is parked about 4/5 miles away. Sad git that I am, I later reviewed my dash cam, and have to say that our car was driven safely and with respect. We would definitely use them again, subject to the price being competitive. Simply drop off your baggage and passengers, then proceed as below:

You may find more comprehensive answers in my posts and some of the replies from when we were on board (here), but I'll try to cover them all here. All four serve dinner, and appear on the app. We intended to eat at all of them, but we sacked off the night we were due to eat in Pearl due to the uninspiring menu; we ate in Olive Grove that evening. Just Pearl, Coral, and Aqua open for breakfast. We tried all of them, but preferred Pearl as we were seated close to the aft windows, apart from the last morning. On sea days, Pearl and Coral are open for lunch; on port days only one was open for lunch; to the best of my recollection, it was Pearl. All the MDRs have tablecloths; no 🥄🥄🥄 wannabees on Iona! Of the three we tried, we preferred Opal as a venue for dinner. I know @DamianG also preferred it. Both the smaller MDRs are much quieter than the larger ones, and who can actually hear yourselves and the music. As you want a six seater for the days you are in the MDR, there were several in Opal, and they were in a good location, right next to the windows on the starboard side.. You may be best placed going early doors at the beginning of the cruise and having a word with the restaurant host about securing a time for the days you intend to eat. You should really try Olive Grove for at least one dinner, and maybe also for a lunch (quieter); we found it much better than the one on Arvia. We usually had pre-dinner drinks in our cabin just before setting out for our early dinner reservations. On the couple of occasions we drank in a bar pre-dinner, it was the Emerald Bar; a good range of drinks and cocktails, and was ideally situated for three of the MDRs, without having to use the lifts. If you fancy the 710 club but haven't booked, you need to be hanging about in the Emerald Bar, waiting for the doors to open so you can get your name down. I have to be honest, we didn't go to any shows in the Skydome as a couple; our lass didn't like it as a venue. The roof doesn't open as it does on Arvia, and the sound quality of vocal acts suffers as a result. One of the acts performing in the theatre accurately described it as 'the leisure centre'. With your cabin being midship, it may be easier for you to use the midship lifts and come off at deck 17, where you can have a view from above. That said, I can't recall exactly, but the glass may be too high for your good lady to see any show. So, you may be better on deck 16. I don't recalled them having any spaces reserved for wheelchairs. The only show in the Skydome that I watched from start to finish was Triboo. A great mix of gymnastics, aerial acrobatics, juggling and martial arts. I'm not really selling it but, believe me, they were really good; much better than anything you would get from the Headliners troupe. They were all proper fit, too! We saw them training one day in the atrium, and they were there for several hours. If they're on, go and see them. You may need to refer to the couple of posts where I specifically referred to the 710 club, and perhaps peruse the Horizons I uploaded. The band in the 710 club are the same throughout the cruise; they perform four sets a night, and take one or two nights off, when (usually) the busker type singer that usually performs in Brodies makes and appearance. Pulse do not perform in the 710 club. When we were on Iona, we didn't see them as often as we had on other cruises, but they did perform late at night at least once in the Limelight Club when we were on Arvia earlier in the year. I can't remember if they did the same when we were on Iona; you may find the answer in the Horizon.

Another great read, thanks Damian.👍 I remember Love Joy from when we were onboard in January; she was on the Sindhu desk at that time. A really lovely young lady and very customer focused.

Meridian: wooden tables, no coverings. Zenith: regular tables with the cushion covers on top, and tablecloths on top of those.

Thanks for another detailed report.👍 Queue jumpers: what is it about some folk who feel so entitled that they think nobody else matters but them? Perhaps they know that, 90% of the time, the crew members won't challenge them, so they carry on doing it. Olive Grove: We didn't enjoy our experience of Olive Grove on Arvia in January, so didn't bother in April. Our experience on Iona in June though was totally different; so much so that we visited three times in total. Your tiramisu though looks nothing like the one we had on Iona... Next to it is the Crema Catalana. If you visit again and it's on the menu, try that; it is fantastic!😋 MDR for breakfast: If any of your party like smoked salmon, see if they have it available to have as Eggs Royale. I often used to have that, but on our three cruises so far this year on the two large ships, it's never been available; the reason cited was supply issues. Instead, I would get plain Eggs Benedict (without the ham), with grilled salmon on the side; not quite the same. The Quays: Nevermind the traditional meat 'n veg in a pudding. What you need to get is a pudding first, then put fish, chips and mushy peas in it. A taste sensation!😋😉 Keep 'em coming 🙂

In January and April it was Meridian that was trying to emulate 🥄🥄🥄 That was by design from the beginning, so I would probably think it would continue. Give it another six months and they may also have the sticky carpet!😄

Thanks for the initial updates.🙂 So, you had an early arrival time, and they gave your 13yr son a much later arrival time, on his own? That strikes me as a massive oversight by P&O, with little regard for safeguarding. I should think so that they allowed him to board with you; I trust he was allowed to the lunch with you too. Nice cabin! Please report back if you have any night-time noise issues, with you being two decks above the Club House. I look forward to your further reports. I hope you have a great cruise, particularly your Ma, on her first one. Incidentally, did you take a pineapple magnet for her door?🤭

Further to what Selbourne says, if you check on your Cruise Planner when the dining reservation options appear (two weeks before your sail date), you may be able to book the early slots.

Now, that is a hot chocolate!😋

That's the only similarity to 'Spoons, I'm glad to stay. At least the tables and carpets aren't sticky!😉

It doesn't really matter as, if you remained on your cabin balcony, you'll view one side going in and the other side coming out of each fjord. In June we had a balcony cabin on deck 15, on the port side, and it was fine. It may be different for your cruise, but for us we docked as follows: Stavanger: port against the quay Olden: starboard against the quay Hellesylt: starboard against the quay (you're visiting Alesund instead) Haugesund: starboard against the quay

@Helenk1234 To assist you, here are a few threads that discuss the dining on Arvia: https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2905927-arvia-ta-k301a-initial-thoughts/#comment-64611149 https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2909585-arvia-dining-expectations-vs-reality/#comment-64692301 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2916637-live-report-arvia-14-nights-from-barbados-18th-feb-onwards/#comment-64852579 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2929233-po-arvia-k307-not-the-experience-we-were-expecting/#comment-65157237 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2931167-arvia-k308-all-aboard/#comment-65211876 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2937460-arvia-adventure-begins-may-2023/#comment-65375268 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2944615-looks-like-po-are-changing-the-way-dining-bookings-are-done-on-arvia/#comment-65562768 If you can ignore the posts where some contributors argue with one another, you should find some useful information.🙂

Hi Helen. Essentially, you have two choices on Arvia: freedom dining, and the speciality restaurants which you pay supplements for. The two main MDRs are Zenith and Meridian; they are exactly the same size, more or less, but the Meridian does not have tablecloths. You can also choose to eat your evening meal in either the 6th Street Diner or Olive Grove, both of which are free. The former also opens for breakfast/brunch at 10:00. For casual dining, you have a wide choice, including the Quays, the Horizon Buffet, and Taste 360; again, all are free. If you wish to dress up the formal evenings, and do not wish to eat in either of the MDRs, you can book ahead for the Chef's Table; it is free and is held in a closed off section of the Horizon Buffet. They have a 20:00 sitting, which may suit you. It has though been a bit 'marmite' amongst contributors on here. Of the speciality restaurants, you can generally book ahead for Sindhu, Epicurean, and Green & Co. You will save 20% by doing so. The other speciality restaurants can be booked once onboard. You have found that the MDRs only allow booking ahead for the early slots. For the time you want to eat, you have a couple of options: - do a walk-in, for which you may be lucky and get in after a few minutes wait, especially if you are prepared to share a table; it's more likely that you may be given a pager and told the wait is up to an hour; - join the virtual queue on My Holiday; this usually opens at 18:30; - if you have a large group, or someone with special needs, go and see a restaurant host on the first day to see if you negotiate a table for the same time and location each evening. P&O would rather you use My Holiday for all dining reservations. When Arvia started sailing there were some reports of really long waits to get a table, up to several hours according to some. We've sailed on her twice and have not experienced that, but we do like to dine early. There has been anecdotal evidence though of there still being a wait of an hour or more for a table. My best advice to you, if you want to eat at 20:30, is to join the virtual queue about 19:30. You do have fifteen minutes grace to get there after it goes off.

That'll be correct; the advance bookings only include Epicurean, Sindhu, Chef's Table, the Limelight Club, and the early slots for the MDRs. Keel &Cow, and the others are only available once you get on My Holiday. I wouldn't be surprised that most, if not all the slots have gone after three days.

Yes, it would have been on the itinerary for us when we originally booked for the maiden season in 2020. One day, maybe.🤞 Here's a link to that waterfall post, to save you searching... https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2943400-not-quite-live-from-iona-g318-fjords-10th-june/page/5/#comment-65551769

I won't repeat what @Selbourne and @Megabear2 have written, which is very useful advice. I can though confirm what Selbourne has written that, as with other ships, there is bar seating right outside the Sindhu on Iona. Further to what Megabear has written about the 710 Club, if you don't manage to secure reservations as soon as you can get on the My Holiday app, you can try a walk-in; further details of that here: https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2943400-not-quite-live-from-iona-g318-fjords-10th-june/page/6/#comment-65557702 Finally, if you really want a reservation in a speciality restaurant at a time to suit you, get on the cruise planner as soon as you can after midnight tonight, and keep refreshing until the dining reservations become available; that is even more necessary if you fancy the Norwegian tasting menu in Epicurean. For us (June) they became available about half past midnight. Remember also, that you save 20% for the available speciality restaurants, and the Limelight Club if you book ahead on the cruise planner.

I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Yes, there will be a fair few kids on board, that may impact on MDR reservations but, of the seven nights I would expect you will likely be eating in speciality restaurants for three of those; twice in Epicurean, with one being the tasting menu, and once in Sindhu maybe. At least you can book ahead on the Cruise Planner for those restaurants, and in doing so, benefit from the 20% early booking discount and also your Peninsular discount. TOP TIP: Make sure you go on the planner as soon as the dining is released, even if it is a little after your bedtime, to secure the tasting menu reservation; as I have previously written, they went very quickly. I know you eat later than us, and will have an expectation of using the app for your MDR reservations; however, as I've previously said, a visit early doors to ask about a six-seater table for the evenings you want may pay off, particularly as there are four MDRs. Unlike Britannia, I don't think you'll have a problem getting into an MDR for lunch with a very short or no wait. I know it is a bit 'marmite' with folk on here, but you may wish to try the Chef's Table, just to say you've done it and so you can write about your experience on here. We didn't like it on Arvia, but some folk have had a better experience of it on Iona. Don't forget also the Olive Grove on Iona is, in my opinion, easier to get into and better than the one on Arvia. If you fancied it for lunch instead of the MDR, you shouldn't find a problem getting in. Good luck with your final planning for that trip. I can't remember if you said you've been to Hellesylt before; I have a feeling you have. If not, approach the top of the waterfall from the left as it will be easier for you pushing the wheelchair.

So, from hereon in you will be known as Unlucky Alf, and your good lady as Unlucky Alice.😄

Another informative and detailed report, young man.👍 It's good to hear you had another good meal in Epicurean, apart from the irresponsible parents with the messy child. The ability to book for the evening after you have disembarked has been an option for us on Arvia and Iona this year; obviously an anomaly of the app. I can't see it being left on just for those that are doing a back-to-back; I wouldn't expect there to be that many of them. Perhaps the fella sat on the helicopter was a crack sniper, ready to take out the noisy brats near you. Unfortunately, he got a 'stand down' at the last moment.🤔 I hope that when you are Iona you are sandwiched between two other accessible cabins; less chance of being disturbed by unruly kids. Enjoy you last breakfast tomorrow; hopefully you will get off easily enough and have a safe and unremarkable trip home.