Review of Arvia cruise K416 6th Aug 2023

[Helenk1234]

Although we are not new to cruising there were quite a few firsts for us on this cruise. It was our first time on a ship as big as the Arvia, the first time we had travelled from Southampton on a long cruise, the first time we had done freedom dining and the first time we dared to travel during a school holiday. It was actually a great cruise.

 

We were surprised at how easy the embarkation process was. We arrived half an hour before our allocated time and were not surprised to see a big queue. What was surprising is that staff called out people close to their allocated time and moved them forward so we didn’t need to queue at all. The whole process was quicker than we had experienced on smaller ships and we were on the ship in less than an hour of our arrival at the port. The new practice of sending people to their muster stations immediately on boarding the ship was also great as it ensured the safety aspects were dealt with immediately and we could get on with our holiday.

 

The only thing that didn’t go smoothly was the delivery of our luggage to our cabin. After being on the ship for 6 hours one of our cases hadn’t turned up at our cabin. We asked our cabin steward for help and also went down to Customer Services to report it missing. Luckily we have a set of very distinctive looking cases so we were able to show staff a photo of our missing case. It was found in front of the lifts on a totally different deck to ours. But it delayed our first evening's enjoyment by quite a time.

 

Having not done Freedom dining before this was approached with some trepidation. I am quite IT literate so I loaded up the app and booked onto the queue for the main dining room we wanted to visit. But then nothing seemed to happen so I wasn’t sure if I had done it right. Once it got to 9 o’clock with the restaurant closing at 9.30pm we went along to the restaurant to ask and were immediately shown to a table. The next night I tried again only to find that there was no space left in the dining room. So I went along to the restaurant to ask what happens when there is no space and was told that sometimes queues are closed temporarily but they will then reopen when the queue has gone down a bit. They gave me a pager which didn’t go off so once again we went to the restaurant at 9pm and were shown to a table. Third time lucky I thought the next time. I joined a queue and kept refreshing my phone to see the number in the queue going down. That was until the app completely crashed and refused to do anything. I had to switch my phone off to clear it  and we had lost our place in the queue. Off to the restaurant at 9pm again. The app did crash for me a few times and there was a ship wide system crash on the second formal night and an annoucement was made telling people to go to their restaurant of choice and book manually.

 

Eventually I did manage to use the app – I found that after booking into the queue I couldn’t do anything else (no checking emails and sending WhatsApp messages) or even refreshing the screen. Don’t touch it and eventually you get a message saying your table is ready. Then the problem becomes what time shall we join the queue. We treated it like playing Deal or No deal on TV – when is the best time to go into the queue if you want to eat at 9pm. It was impossible to judge – one night there were 63 people in the queue so we expected at least a 30 minute wait but we were called five minutes later. Personally I prefer a booking for an 8.30pm sitting rather than freedom dining. But we booked our cruise late and freedom dining was definitely better than the 6.30pm time we would have been allocated on a fixed dining time cruise.

 

Our overall dining experience was good. We ate in the buffet restaurant for breakfast and lunch every day and were very pleased with the selection of food. And we were very surprised that despite the number of passengers on the ship we never had a problem finding a table which we have on smaller ships. As well as the main dining room we also ate at the American diner, the Beach House, the Olive tree and Sindhu. Plus we did the Captains table on the first formal night. The meal in Sinhu’s was excellent  - welll worth the extra charge. There was an extra cover charge at the Beach House as well (£9.50 per person) which we didn’t know about until we got the bill (there was information saying there was an extra charge but the only charges mentioned on their menu were those over and above the cover charge) but it was a nice meal worth the extra. The Olive Tree was included and we had a really lovely lasagne the first time we went. But when we returned the menu had changed. My lamb shank was good but my husband had the beef and it was just a lump of gristle  and fat and he had to send it back.

 

Staff on the ship worked really hard but there were not enough of them. It was impossible to get served a drink in the buffet restaurant at lunch time. I found someone to take the order on embarkation day after asking someone in uniform but when I asked someone in uniform the next  today where I could find a wine waiter she just pointed to the bar outside the restaurant and said I could get one there. So that is what we did every other day – we got two glasses of wine at the bar and took them in with us.

 

Service at all of the bars was very well organised and usually quite efficient with one person taking orders and someone else fulfilling the orders. There was also some table service in most of the bars. Special mention goes to Jaikumar, Silence, Joshua and JJoseph.

 

Standard of cleaning very good generally. Anil our cabin steward did a good job. And a special mention to Sibongila who cleaned the toilets in the Sky dome and always greeted me with  lovely smile each morning.

 

Entertainment in the Club House was a high standard especially the comedian and the impressionist. The silent discos were really good fun and the night they turned the Sky Dome into a nightclub was exceptional. I was very disappointed with the shows offered in the theatre. I normally like to see a West end musical /Hollywood musical type shows but there was nothing like this offered. The shows mainly were special affect based shows or a solo performance from a former member of ELO which I didn’t fancy although i was told it was very good. And the headlining Take That based show “Greatest days” was just boring with the actresses shrieking as they portrayed obsessed Take That fans. We stuck it out for the whole performance but i think many other people also didn’t like it judging by the number of people who walked out when the show had to be stopped as the sound system broke.

 

Overall we had a great experience and would sail on the Arvia again.

[cuatbar58]

Thanks for your positive review. You had more than enough setbacks to upset a lot of people but you got on with having a great time. We will always carry on cruising while there are people like you sailing

[purplesea]

Thank you for your review. We sailed on Arvia in May and can relate to a lot of the things you described. We had problems with the app crashing.

[Windsurfboy]

Basically  apart from app and getting dining time you wanted and the odd show everything was pretty good. Presume ship was completely full, with all the extra beds in use.

 

Did you manage to book Sindhu on board?

 

Things have improved since launch,  interesting to see if things get better again after summer holidays are over.

[Helenk1234]

12 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

Basically  apart from app and getting dining time you wanted and the odd show everything was pretty good. Presume ship was completely full, with all the extra beds in use.

 

Did you manage to book Sindhu on board?

 

Things have improved since launch,  interesting to see if things get better again after summer holidays are over.

Yes ship was pretty full - we heard there were 1200 children but they were mostly well behaved and no problem. Yes we booked Singhu on board via the app (we booked all restaurants via the app and other than the initial issues with the MDR everything else worked fine. We had a great time.

[Windsurfboy]

With 1200 children on board, assuming most were in extra beds in parents cabins, then that's a lot of extra seats needed in dining rooms. If system can cope with extra 20% numbers, then it bodes well for out of holiday service  on even a nominal full ship.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

We sailed on arvia on 20th aug for two weeks. I was going to write a review but if you dont mind will add to yours. 

Check in, nice and easy, put the cases through the hole in the wall and no need to tip anyone as seems to be the case in the states. Waited 5-10 mins then called foward to check in. Was super fast and easy. 

 

Ship, nice well lit ship with neutral colours. We had an inside room deck 5 and was fine for us. Clean, tidy and a good size shower. The shower door opened both ways. 

 

The ship was full as expected with school holidays. Most of the kids behaved tbh, with the odd parent letting themselves down esp in the pub when watching the football. 

 

Food was good in the pay restaurants, sindu and the keel and cow? was amazing. Beach house again good but a surprise at the cover charge when told just as we sat down.

Never went to the main dining room.

Buffet, was ok. The meals were repetitive tbh. Needed more variety over the two weeks. Breakfast pastries were the same every day, esp when we went. Pool snacks were good. Dribks easy system to order and never had to wait long. 

 

Entertainment, emmm yeah some were good some average and agree with the poster, greatest days, complete let down. No fault of the singers but it follows the film which if you have seen will make the show understandable. I honestly thought it would be a take that tribute show. Was poor tbh. 

 

P&O, so i am still confused as to P&O indentity. They are not Cunard yet they are not Royal. They seem to be in the middle. Now for us with children i would say the ship needs more. Water slides are a must. The sky dome, yes great for shows but a lot of the area was wasted when no shows on. The stage area for example. Use it for shows yes but got to have a better way of covering the area. The pool would close between 4-6pm to prep for the shows. Which were good. 

 

Sun loungers. Never had a problem getting a lounger on the open decks. Near the pool on a sea day no chance. P&O let you grab towels and not sign them out like other ships. Which is great except for the lazy people who would leave the sunbed but not take towel and place it away. Lots of sunbeds with just a towel left on it. Very annoying and lazy. Come 5 pm its a towel covered empty sunbed as far as you could see. 

 

Shops. Well as standard very very expensive. Also lacking the usual tat stuff, magnets etc. Maybe just lack of deliveries but still the prices were way too high. 

 

App. Ok so the app is good to a point. They need to put more on it esp the horizon. I didnt want to carry around the horizon paper all day telling me whats on. Should be on the app. Booking for meals, was difficult as most were fully booked before got on board. Space did open up still hard ro get in places. 

 

Conclusion, would i sail P&O again 🤔. If i didnt have a 10 year old then yes i would. As i have a 10 year old i want more family stuff to keep her happy. So would look at ships with water slides and other family stuff. That said we are booked on azure in Aug 24 but that is simply down to the port visits not the ship or company. After 24 we will mostly focus on ships as been to most current Med port stops. 

 

[Helenk1234]

3 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

We sailed on arvia on 20th aug for two weeks. I was going to write a review but if you dont mind will add to yours. 

Check in, nice and easy, put the cases through the hole in the wall and no need to tip anyone as seems to be the case in the states. Waited 5-10 mins then called foward to check in. Was super fast and easy. 

 

Ship, nice well lit ship with neutral colours. We had an inside room deck 5 and was fine for us. Clean, tidy and a good size shower. The shower door opened both ways. 

 

The ship was full as expected with school holidays. Most of the kids behaved tbh, with the odd parent letting themselves down esp in the pub when watching the football. 

 

Food was good in the pay restaurants, sindu and the keel and cow? was amazing. Beach house again good but a surprise at the cover charge when told just as we sat down.

Never went to the main dining room.

Buffet, was ok. The meals were repetitive tbh. Needed more variety over the two weeks. Breakfast pastries were the same every day, esp when we went. Pool snacks were good. Dribks easy system to order and never had to wait long. 

 

Entertainment, emmm yeah some were good some average and agree with the poster, greatest days, complete let down. No fault of the singers but it follows the film which if you have seen will make the show understandable. I honestly thought it would be a take that tribute show. Was poor tbh. 

 

P&O, so i am still confused as to P&O indentity. They are not Cunard yet they are not Royal. They seem to be in the middle. Now for us with children i would say the ship needs more. Water slides are a must. The sky dome, yes great for shows but a lot of the area was wasted when no shows on. The stage area for example. Use it for shows yes but got to have a better way of covering the area. The pool would close between 4-6pm to prep for the shows. Which were good. 

 

Sun loungers. Never had a problem getting a lounger on the open decks. Near the pool on a sea day no chance. P&O let you grab towels and not sign them out like other ships. Which is great except for the lazy people who would leave the sunbed but not take towel and place it away. Lots of sunbeds with just a towel left on it. Very annoying and lazy. Come 5 pm its a towel covered empty sunbed as far as you could see. 

 

Shops. Well as standard very very expensive. Also lacking the usual tat stuff, magnets etc. Maybe just lack of deliveries but still the prices were way too high. 

 

App. Ok so the app is good to a point. They need to put more on it esp the horizon. I didnt want to carry around the horizon paper all day telling me whats on. Should be on the app. Booking for meals, was difficult as most were fully booked before got on board. Space did open up still hard ro get in places. 

 

Conclusion, would i sail P&O again 🤔. If i didnt have a 10 year old then yes i would. As i have a 10 year old i want more family stuff to keep her happy. So would look at ships with water slides and other family stuff. That said we are booked on azure in Aug 24 but that is simply down to the port visits not the ship or company. After 24 we will mostly focus on ships as been to most current Med port stops. 

 

Thanks for your comments. You covered things I forgot to mention - eg sunbeds. I am glad I wasn't the only one who didn't know about the cover charge at the Beach Club - it isn't clear at all.

[DamianG]

21 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

P&O, so i am still confused as to P&O indentity. They are not Cunard yet they are not Royal. They seem to be in the middle. Now for us with children i would say the ship needs more. Water slides are a must. The sky dome, yes great for shows but a lot of the area was wasted when no shows on. The stage area for example. Use it for shows yes but got to have a better way of covering the area. The pool would close between 4-6pm to prep for the shows. Which were good. 

 

I think that P&O is confused about its own identity at the moment, for example posting a dress code in the Horizon every day which was largely ignored on Arvia when we were onboard. I agree about the activities for children on board as well, a half hearted attempt on Arvia in my opinion.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

On 9/7/2023 at 8:44 PM, Helenk1234 said:

Thanks for your comments. You covered things I forgot to mention - eg sunbeds. I am glad I wasn't the only one who didn't know about the cover charge at the Beach Club - it isn't clear at all.

I know the food was lovely and staff nice and friendly but yeah was like, pardon say again moment. Lol. 

I do think the most frustrating was rhe virtual queue. You could have been waiting 5 mins or 50 mins and that kinda messed up your evening plans with shows etc. 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

22 hours ago, DamianG said:

 

I think that P&O is confused about its own identity at the moment, for example posting a dress code in the Horizon every day which was largely ignored on Arvia when we were onboard. I agree about the activities for children on board as well, a half hearted attempt on Arvia in my opinion.

Totally agree. They could do so much more. MSC will take a big chunk of the loyal P&O family market with their more fun ships. 

One thing i did notice, steps into the pools all vertical on P&O, didnt see any assisted crane at all. Royal have assisted cranes, MSC Virtuosa had steps into the pool with a hand rail. 

I have to say the formal nights avout 80-90% were dressed up. 

[Mike Senior]

1 hour ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

One thing i did notice, steps into the pools all vertical on P&O, didnt see any assisted crane at all.

 

Swimming pools

The following ships have a pool hoist available. They all feature a chair hoist and have a weight limit 136kg.

Britannia	Riviera pool the Serenity pool (both in the shallow end)
Azura	Aqua Pool (deep end)
Arcadia	Neptune Pool (shallow end)
Aurora	Crystal Pool (shallow end)
Iona	Every guest pool / Whirlpool
Arvia	Every guest pool / Whirlpool
Ventura	Laguna Pool (shallow end)

[Gettingwarmer]

2 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

 

One thing i did notice, steps into the pools all vertical on P&O, didnt see any assisted crane at all.

 

47 minutes ago, Mike Senior said:

 

Swimming pools

The following ships have a pool hoist available. They all feature a chair hoist and have a weight limit 136kg.

Britannia	Riviera pool the Serenity pool (both in the shallow end)
Azura	Aqua Pool (deep end)
Arcadia	Neptune Pool (shallow end)
Aurora	Crystal Pool (shallow end)
Iona	Every guest pool / Whirlpool
Arvia	Every guest pool / Whirlpool
Ventura	Laguna Pool (shallow end)

I believe you have to ask and book times on the ships. On Iona we saw crew bring the hoist and set it up in the setting. It was later taken down. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 9/6/2023 at 7:08 PM, cuatbar58 said:

Thanks for your positive review. You had more than enough setbacks to upset a lot of people but you got on with having a great time. We will always carry on cruising while there are people like you sailing

Totally agree

[Helenk1234]

3 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Totally agree. They could do so much more. MSC will take a big chunk of the loyal P&O family market with their more fun ships. 

One thing i did notice, steps into the pools all vertical on P&O, didnt see any assisted crane at all. Royal have assisted cranes, MSC Virtuosa had steps into the pool with a hand rail. 

I have to say the formal nights avout 80-90% were dressed up. 

The Arvia pools did have cranes. The one at the Beachcomer Bar provided the best entertainment of the fortnight watching 7 crew members trying to set it up. It took them 2 hours. We nearly missed lunch wanting to see if they actually got it working but gave up eventually and left them to it.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

2 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

 

I believe you have to ask and book times on the ships. On Iona we saw crew bring the hoist and set it up in the setting. It was later taken down. 

It was never set up and never saw anyone using it tbh. As above prob had to ask and wait for the set up use and take down. Bit poor for those with mobility issues i feel.