How full does Arvia get?

[LA30]

I know there is no set answer to this, but I am looking at a repositioning cruise from Barbados to S'ton in March 2025.  It's not in school holidays and I quite fancy the itinerary.  But I don't fancy being onboard with 5000 others!  Have never sailed on the big ships.  Any opinions?

[Selbourne]

5,000 is about the minimum that Arvia will ever sail with, as P&O will heavily discount prices in the 3 months before departure if numbers are still below that level. We haven’t been on Arvia but we’ve been on sister ship Iona with 5,750 others and it felt extremely busy, but these ships can go up to around 6,200 I believe if all upper berths are occupied. Those who have been on these ships with around 5,000 to 5,200 passengers have reported that it’s been OK. I should think that the repositioning cruise would be OK as there will be hardly any kids and those cruises aren’t popular with everyone, hence the lower prices. 

[thornegirl]

We disembarked Arvia today with 6200 onboard which included 1200 children.  It was very, very busy. An experience which we will not do again.  

We were on Arvia last Easter holidays and I don't remember it being this busy.

[Bartender1]

We were on Arvia Oct. 23 for the TA to the Carribbean. We expected that the ship would be busy due to the many sea days but all I can say is thank heavens we were in a balcony cabin so we could escape the crowds.

On the whole we did enjoy the ship but we had to be organised to ensure we didn't miss out on things like dining choice and entertainment etc. 

On our cruise the sunbed issue was a problem, people started putting towels out from 06:00 with most being taken by 09:00 unfortunately they weren't occupied until much later.

The experience didn't put us off sailing with p&o again but we wouldn't book another TA.

[snaefell]

We have done 2 repo cruises so far with another coming up soon,all have been sold out so whoever says repo cruises are not popular is telling porkies or the last minute sale prices are working well!😁😁

[Selbourne]

11 minutes ago, snaefell said:

We have done 2 repo cruises so far with another coming up soon,all have been sold out so whoever says repo cruises are not popular is telling porkies or the last minute sale prices are working well!😁😁

I said that these cruises “aren’t popular with everyone” which is factually correct. A repositioning cruise wouldn’t remotely appeal to us as we try to avoid long runs of sea days. For this reason, these cruises are usually keenly priced to start with. I also said that prices will be adjusted to get the numbers up if needed, as is the case with every cruise, which is why most cruises always run at, or close to, the quoted capacity. It’s also worth bearing in mind that ‘sold out’ on Iona and Arvia can mean around 5,000 - 5,200 passengers, as all cabins may be sold. However, these ships can, and do, accommodate 6.200 passengers in school holidays, which is a world of difference in terms of on board experience, which was the specific question that the OP had. So no porkies here!

[sandancer]

22 hours ago, LA30 said:

I know there is no set answer to this, but I am looking at a repositioning cruise from Barbados to S'ton in March 2025.  It's not in school holidays and I quite fancy the itinerary.  But I don't fancy being onboard with 5000 others!  Have never sailed on the big ships.  Any opinions?

We did this same cruise in 2023. It was our first “big ship” in the P&O fleet. Since then we have been on Iona twice and the Arvia TA was certainly the least busy. In the interests of clarity I should say that we don’t eat much in the buffet or MDR and these are generally when you would notice the crowds. There were a lot of young families on our recent Iona cruise, many with under 5s so school holidays were not an issue. Being realistic, if you choose a ship with that capacity you are looking at a busy cruise. 

[LA30]

Hmm...   The alternative is Britannia, which has a slightly less appealing itinerary, and, I understand, no promenade deck.  As I normally walk 5 miles a day (at home, or on Arcadia or Aurora) I don't fancy that either!  Maybe I'm just too fussy, or maybe we will just have to fly home from our stay in Barbados!