Arvia Appreciation Thread

[Smiler67]

Hi,

 

Great review and thanks for posting.

Ive just booked myself and 14 year old son for this Nov/Dec cruise.

It will be my first ever cruise and we are both looking forward to sailing on the Arvia, she looks magnificent!

Did you try any excursions?

I have been to Barbados a few times so I know how to get about there.

St Lucia is one island that I would like to see via an excursion.

Thanks.

[Interestedcruisefan]

8 hours ago, Smiler67 said:

Hi,

 

Great review and thanks for posting.

Ive just booked myself and 14 year old son for this Nov/Dec cruise.

It will be my first ever cruise and we are both looking forward to sailing on the Arvia, she looks magnificent!

Did you try any excursions?

I have been to Barbados a few times so I know how to get about there.

St Lucia is one island that I would like to see via an excursion.

Thanks.

Lots of excursions

 

In no particular order:

 

We took the ferry to a nice beach and went jet ski-ing in Martinique (tip - leave the ship early to avoid big queues for the ferry)

 

Snorkel trip just off Boatyard Beach in Barbados (great value)

 

Oistins Friday Night Fish Fry in Barbados (brilliant)

 

A jet ski tour St Kitts I think (best excursion ever)

 

Mini tour and beach in St Lucia (very nice)

 

(I may have got the above 2 mixed up and it might be opposite excursion in  each place)

 

Trip to a fake Mediterranean Village with fake amphitheatre in Dominican Republic (lot better than it sounds)

 

Taxi to Maho Beach (the airport beach) in St Maarten (great fun. Your son will love it there)

 

Cane Garden Bay/Beach in Tortola (that's the only one I wouldn't recommend) was too crowded - too many cruise passengers go there

 

Details of all those should be in my live thread (Arvia 18TH Feb)

Edited March 18, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Smiler67]

14 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Lots of excursions

 

In no particular order:

 

We took the ferry to a nice beach and went jet ski-ing in Martinique (tip - leave the ship early to avoid big queues for the ferry)

 

Snorkel trip just off Boatyard Beach in Barbados (great value)

 

Oistins Friday Night Fish Fry in Barbados (brilliant)

 

A jet ski tour St Kitts I think (best excursion ever)

 

Mini tour and beach in St Lucia (very nice)

 

(I may have got the above 2 mixed up and it might be opposite excursion in  each place)

 

Trip to a fake Mediterranean Village with fake amphitheatre in Dominican Republic (lot better than it sounds)

 

Taxi to Maho Beach (the airport beach) in St Maarten (great fun. Your son will love it there)

 

Cane Garden Bay/Beach in Tortola (that's the only one I wouldn't recommend) was too crowded - too many cruise passengers go there

 

Details of all those should be in my live thread (Arvia 18TH Feb)

Hi,

Great post, thanks for the details and tips, will definitely be doing some of the trips you suggest.

The beach trips & jet ski will be right up his street.

I have looked in the forum index for ‘live’ threads, any chance you could post a link?

My fav beach on Barbados is right by Oistins, Miami/Enterprise beach. Some good waves for boogie boarding, Mr Delicious snack bus & Little Arches rooftop bar to watch the sunset with a cold Banks.

Thanks.

Edited March 19, 2023 by Smiler67

[Gettingwarmer]

2 hours ago, Smiler67 said:

have looked in the forum index for ‘live’ threads, any chance you could post a link?

Here it is

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2916637-live-report-arvia-14-nights-from-barbados-18th-feb-onwards/

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

3 hours ago, Smiler67 said:

Hi,

Great post, thanks for the details and tips, will definitely be doing some of the trips you suggest.

The beach trips & jet ski will be right up his street.

I have looked in the forum index for ‘live’ threads, any chance you could post a link?

My fav beach on Barbados is right by Oistins, Miami/Enterprise beach. Some good waves for boogie boarding, Mr Delicious snack bus & Little Arches rooftop bar to watch the sunset with a cold Banks.

Thanks.

Book the 90 minute Jetski safari without snorkelling. It's cheaper to share a Jetski (one on the back of each other - you can swap over at any stage)

 

As it happened my wife got scared and so went on back of the tour guide so I got a Jetski to myself

 

We went top speed and for miles and miles along the coastline

 

Really exhilirating

Edited March 19, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

3 hours ago, Smiler67 said:

Hi,

Great post, thanks for the details and tips, will definitely be doing some of the trips you suggest.

The beach trips & jet ski will be right up his street.

I have looked in the forum index for ‘live’ threads, any chance you could post a link?

My fav beach on Barbados is right by Oistins, Miami/Enterprise beach. Some good waves for boogie boarding, Mr Delicious snack bus & Little Arches rooftop bar to watch the sunset with a cold Banks.

Thanks.

Worth checking if you are overnight in Oistins on a Friday?  For fish fry after the beach?

[Smiler67]

9 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Worth checking if you are overnight in Oistins on a Friday?  For fish fry after the beach?

Absolutely, you don’t need to be in your Sunday best for the fish fry.

[Smiler67]

On 3/19/2023 at 10:12 AM, Interestedcruisefan said:

Book the 90 minute Jetski safari without snorkelling. It's cheaper to share a Jetski (one on the back of each other - you can swap over at any stage)

 

As it happened my wife got scared and so went on back of the tour guide so I got a Jetski to myself

 

We went top speed and for miles and miles along the coastline

 

Really exhilirating

Thoroughly enjoyed your live thread!

Decided to book the Antigua 90 minute jet ski trip, pity my lad is just not old enough to steer it.

I have booked it for mid morning, I’m wondering what time you are allowed to disembark in the mornings while in port?

Have looked on P&O to see the times of arrival but can’t see anything.

I realise the Islands are quite small so taxis from Port to beaches etc should be pretty quick.

[Interestedcruisefan]

28 minutes ago, Smiler67 said:

Thoroughly enjoyed your live thread!

Decided to book the Antigua 90 minute jet ski trip, pity my lad is just not old enough to steer it.

I have booked it for mid morning, I’m wondering what time you are allowed to disembark in the mornings while in port?

Have looked on P&O to see the times of arrival but can’t see anything.

I realise the Islands are quite small so taxis from Port to beaches etc should be pretty quick.

Yes it took about 15 minutes to the beach for Jet skiing. Loads of taxis waiting at the port

 

Nice beach as well. 

[Smiler67]

4 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Yes it took about 15 minutes to the beach for Jet skiing. Loads of taxis waiting at the port

 

Nice beach as well. 

Thanks for that.

Roughly what time does the Arvia arrive at each port, do they have a set time pattern?

just trying to plan some trips out.

Thanks

[Interestedcruisefan]

11 hours ago, Smiler67 said:

Thanks for that.

Roughly what time does the Arvia arrive at each port, do they have a set time pattern?

just trying to plan some trips out.

Thanks

I think pretty much every morning we could have left the boat as early as 8am if we wanted to

 

Certainly never later than 9am

[sandancer]

On Arvia now and this thread is probably the best place to post my comments. Firstly I have to say that there are very few things we don’t like about this ship. 
The first is the people moaning about the ship being too big and too many passengers. How is it possible that they didn’t know that before booking. 
Second is those awful anti theft hangers in the wardrobe. I really don’t have room in my luggage for stolen hangers P&O and they drive me insane. 
Third point is the lack of drawer space. Not one draw. None. Nada. 

We LOVE everything else. The food is good. Epicurean and Sindhu especially. The entertainment is good. The crew are lovely. We don’t lie out in the sun so lack of sun beds is not an issue for us and we have a great aft balcony. 
This ship is way bigger than any other ship we’ve sailed but we knew that beforehand and came with an open mind. We’ve been blown away. We are not P&O regulars but we’ve already booked 2 more cruises for next year on Arvia. 

[Clodia]

Having loved Iona so much despite the negative reviews ( mine has been published today in the review section) I am very happy to consider Arvia for next year.

[alpha whiskey]

1 hour ago, Clodia said:

Having loved Iona so much despite the negative reviews ( mine has been published today in the review section) I am very happy to consider Arvia for next year.

We were exactly the same. We thought Iona added a breath of fresh air and something different to the fleet. We are booked on Arvia in a few weeks time, and very excited 😊

[Interestedcruisefan]

One benefit of the large ships is the number of steps you can get in walking from cabins to bars to restaurants to pools to gyms to entertainment etc

 

It's actually good for people

 

I could understand less mobile guests struggling with the size of ships

 

But as I've said before you  can only be in one place at a time in a ship

 

Once you are actually in  situ in a place it really makes no difference how big the rest of the ship is. You are enjoying your time in your place totally regardless of how many others are on the ship elsewhere

 

That's how I see it

 

And the bigger ships give you a wide range of places and activities to enjoy

 

For those who go on cruises to create friendships and relationships etc during their holiday then I again understand why smaller ships may be better for them

 

 

[cheshire]

Having been on Arvia it’s evident they want 30 somethings with designer stubble and CK clothing. No refinement onboard in many areas. Poor food in MDR. Epicurean was superb but you need to book before you go. Go again?  Not unless it’s a last minute heavily discounted offer which is what they have filled the ship with this year and I can’t see that improving next year. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

2 hours ago, cheshire said:

Having been on Arvia it’s evident they want 30 somethings with designer stubble and CK clothing. No refinement onboard in many areas. Poor food in MDR. Epicurean was superb but you need to book before you go. Go again?  Not unless it’s a last minute heavily discounted offer which is what they have filled the ship with this year and I can’t see that improving next year. 

They filled the ship from a standing start 

 

And off the back of covid pandemic

 

The majority who have had a good deal would do it again and no doubt tell their friend

 

Now they don't have to fill from s standing start

 

You've found faults  with the cruise but even you would do again at the right price

 

Even surrounded by 30 something's with stubble!

 

Lol

[alpha whiskey]

2 hours ago, cheshire said:

Having been on Arvia it’s evident they want 30 somethings with designer stubble and CK clothing. No refinement onboard in many areas. Poor food in MDR. Epicurean was superb but you need to book before you go. Go again?  Not unless it’s a last minute heavily discounted offer which is what they have filled the ship with this year and I can’t see that improving next year. 

Oh Crikey. We have some CK clothing, but are not in our 30's, and only one of us can grow stubble. Hope we are not denied boarding in a few weeks.! 🤣

[cheshire]

P&O have identified the market they want. Good luck to them.  We met more people who wouldn’t return than would even friends who were just back last week.  Overall consensus was a lack of refinement and cut backs in areas we find attract us to a cruise. It’s a party ship. Many first timers will like it I’m sure. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

3 hours ago, cheshire said:

P&O have identified the market they want. Good luck to them.  We met more people who wouldn’t return than would even friends who were just back last week.  Overall consensus was a lack of refinement and cut backs in areas we find attract us to a cruise. It’s a party ship. Many first timers will like it I’m sure. 

What exactly do you mean by lack of refinement?

 

 

 

[cheshire]

22 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

What exactly do you mean by lack of refinement?

 

 

 

People making out in the hot tubs

shorts and casual attire in MDR

Horizon glorified bun fight

Brodies at night like a Wetherspoons 

club lounge looked like a holiday camp resort. 
make sure you have your beach towels out by 7am

no more afternoon tea

 

positives

crows nest bar

Epicurean

limelight club

710

Andersons

keel & cow

 

I’m sure many will like it but the difference in cabins is little. We had a deluxe balcony. Nice but not worth it. 

 

 

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, cheshire said:

P&O have identified the market they want. Good luck to them.  We met more people who wouldn’t return than would even friends who were just back last week.  Overall consensus was a lack of refinement and cut backs in areas we find attract us to a cruise. It’s a party ship. Many first timers will like it I’m sure. 

Strange how we are all different, we met far more people who loved Iona last cruise, in fact I dont remember anyone we met and talked to over meals or in the bars or clubhouse, who were not positive about their experience.

I wonder why that was?

[zap99]

9 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Strange how we are all different, we met far more people who loved Iona last cruise, in fact I dont remember anyone we met and talked to over meals or in the bars or clubhouse, who were not positive about their experience.

I wonder why that was?

I'm the last year we have been on 4 cruises. 2 P&O, 1 RC and 1 Celebrity. We are on Azura again in a couple of weeks. We must walk around with blinkers as we have enjoyed them all.  We spoke to lots of folk who felt the same.

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, cheshire said:

People making out in the hot tubs

shorts and casual attire in MDR

Horizon glorified bun fight

Brodies at night like a Wetherspoons 

club lounge looked like a holiday camp resort. 
make sure you have your beach towels out by 7am

no more afternoon tea

 

positives

crows nest bar

Epicurean

limelight club

710

Andersons

keel & cow

 

I’m sure many will like it but the difference in cabins is little. We had a deluxe balcony. Nice but not worth it. 

 

 

My question back would be why did you go to the places you didn't find refined? You've listed numerous places you enjoyed. So why even worry about the places that you didn't like?  Brodies was just somewhere I walked through to get to places I preferred. The Club House I went in once to watch Ukebox play their second evening. Was nice enough atmosphere in there on that night. Apart from that those places made zero difference to my cruise at all as I never used them.

 

Never even looked at what people were doing in the hot tubs to be able to comment. Never went in MDR. I don't find the meals interesting enough in there to spend too much time waiting to be served

 

Epicurean twice including booking whilst I was on the ship. 

 

Also genuine question. I love food on holidays. But how was it ever possible to be on a cruise and eat breakfast, lunch and dinner plus find any appetite for afternoon tea as well? 

 

And which cruises have you been on where the best sunbeds don't get taken early?

 

I can't believe there are any where it doesn't happen tbh?

 

No matter what the price and however refined the passengers. The best sunbeds wherever you go on holiday get taken early. Simple as that. 

 

Am I wrong?

Edited March 29, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Camberley]

2 hours ago, cheshire said:

People making out in the hot tubs

 

Please don’t judge me: that was just a misunderstanding - my OH and I were simply searching for the hotdog we dropped.