Just back from Arvia

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, daiB said:

But it is free, on Arvia, on Iona it is a paying restaurant.

The Olive Grove was free in March on Iona, except for a few "Special Items".

[Interestedcruisefan]

Good to see plenty of positive reports coming back from Arvia now. From very experienced cruisers as well which is a good sign. Seems a long time since we heard of any horror stories with them

 

I do believe they have become a well oiled machine. Providing guests know how to get the most out of the ships. Which is obviously a learning curve for guests just like we all went through at some stage with all cruises

 

I can add to the above that we also had another great 2 week cruise with them In February. 

 

710 club remains by far my favourite entertainment venue on ANY holiday anywhere. It's just spot on what they deliver in there night after night.

 

Mizhuana and Green and Co were great meals. It's great to eat meals and actually feel healthier at the end of the meal than when you started! The experience in those restaurants has actually changed the way I eat at home a bit as well 

 

Epicurean as good as ever. Also lots of great meals in MDR. 

 

Zero issues with queues anywhere. The app worked perfectly all cruise. (Must be a long time now since we heard any issues about the app going down as well)

 

Even Wi-Fi there were no outages anywhere that I saw to allow me to try and claim any of my Wi-Fi spend back like the year before

 

We might not do Arvia or Iona Caribbean next year purely because we fancy going further afield for a cruise. (weve recently done South Africa on Azamara and Alaska with Princess so we are getting around)

 

Azamara from Cape Town really gave us the small ship experience many rave about. The ship could hold 900 passengers approx but we had only 450 on board!

 

And we totally get why people would love the small ship experience. We loved it as well. But then again we always enjoy every cruise regardless. 

 

Princess we were expecting much higher levels and can honestly say we weren't impressed. The fact they charge more than P and O led me to expect a better experience that we just didn't get. We still had a great cruise holiday regardless. If anyone ever cruise from Vancouver please let me warn you that embarkation from there is horrible. Queue after queue after queue. Over 2.5 hrs of queues for us to endure before we got on the ship. You have been warned. (Southampton does it so much better!!)

 

But whatever we do next winter we know we won't get the same value for money as P and O offer on their Caribbean cruises on the big ships thats for sure 

 

The Caribbean cruises on P and O big ships in the winter months IMO remain  the best value Caribbean holiday you could ever do in terms of what you get for your spend.

 

And it's good that the positive reports about Arvia far outweigh the bad on here right now

 

Iona never got the same bad press and I think is now accepted as being a great ship already

 

And arvia offers more choices than iona

 

I would say the more people use apps the more they get out of these ships

 

And many Iona and Arvia guests will be repeat customers now knowing how everything works on board these types of ship

 

Which certainly helps as well

 

 

Edited May 29 by Interestedcruisefan

[Gettingwarmer]

45 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

Princess we were expecting much higher levels and can honestly say we weren't impressed. The fact they charge more than P and O led me to expect a better experience that we just didn't get. We still had a great cruise holiday regardless. If anyone ever cruise from Vancouver please let me warn you that embarkation from there is horrible. Queue after queue after queue. Over 2.5 hrs of queues for us to endure before we got on the ship. You have been warned. (Southampton does it so much better!!)

I think things are improving on Arvia due to people using the App, you either like the ship or you don’t. I’ve been on Iona and have a future cruise booked on Arvia due to ports. Part of your problem on Princess was that you weren’t aware how to use their App to the best, just as you accuse P&O people on Arvia. 
On leaving Vancouver to Alaska you have to go through a type of USA  immigration which cause extra delays and the terminal under the hotel is cramped and leads to the problems you state. The roof is now too low for modern coaches. Alaska can be worth it though. 

[terrierjohn]

8 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Good to see plenty of positive reports coming back from Arvia now. From very experienced cruisers as well which is a good sign. Seems a long time since we heard of any horror stories with them

 

I do believe they have become a well oiled machine. Providing guests know how to get the most out of the ships. Which is obviously a learning curve for guests just like we all went through at some stage with all cruises

 

I can add to the above that we also had another great 2 week cruise with them In February. 

 

710 club remains by far my favourite entertainment venue on ANY holiday anywhere. It's just spot on what they deliver in there night after night.

 

Mizhuana and Green and Co were great meals. It's great to eat meals and actually feel healthier at the end of the meal than when you started! The experience in those restaurants has actually changed the way I eat at home a bit as well 

 

Epicurean as good as ever. Also lots of great meals in MDR. 

 

Zero issues with queues anywhere. The app worked perfectly all cruise. (Must be a long time now since we heard any issues about the app going down as well)

 

Even Wi-Fi there were no outages anywhere that I saw to allow me to try and claim any of my Wi-Fi spend back like the year before

 

We might not do Arvia or Iona Caribbean next year purely because we fancy going further afield for a cruise. (weve recently done South Africa on Azamara and Alaska with Princess so we are getting around)

 

Azamara from Cape Town really gave us the small ship experience many rave about. The ship could hold 900 passengers approx but we had only 450 on board!

 

And we totally get why people would love the small ship experience. We loved it as well. But then again we always enjoy every cruise regardless. 

 

Princess we were expecting much higher levels and can honestly say we weren't impressed. The fact they charge more than P and O led me to expect a better experience that we just didn't get. We still had a great cruise holiday regardless. If anyone ever cruise from Vancouver please let me warn you that embarkation from there is horrible. Queue after queue after queue. Over 2.5 hrs of queues for us to endure before we got on the ship. You have been warned. (Southampton does it so much better!!)

 

But whatever we do next winter we know we won't get the same value for money as P and O offer on their Caribbean cruises on the big ships thats for sure 

 

The Caribbean cruises on P and O big ships in the winter months IMO remain  the best value Caribbean holiday you could ever do in terms of what you get for your spend.

 

And it's good that the positive reports about Arvia far outweigh the bad on here right now

 

Iona never got the same bad press and I think is now accepted as being a great ship already

 

And arvia offers more choices than iona

 

I would say the more people use apps the more they get out of these ships

 

And many Iona and Arvia guests will be repeat customers now knowing how everything works on board these types of ship

 

Which certainly helps as well

 

 

@Interestedcruisefan, can you please revert to shorter posts and fewer topics, with these long ones I need to edit to much out before I reply, which is very fiddly on a phone.😉😎

[Interestedcruisefan]

28 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

@Interestedcruisefan, can you please revert to shorter posts and fewer topics, with these long ones I need to edit to much out before I reply, which is very fiddly on a phone.😉😎

Sorry you know how I get carried away!

 

I'm currently doing so on Princess forum on their gratuity thread!! Lol

[pennib]

ICF if you are wanting to get around a bit more on cruises why not fly to Dubai and pick up a ship there. We have done P&O from there to Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam and the Persian gulf about 6 times. Also done MSC, RCI from Dubai so you have a choice of ships. Dubai is a great hub for Sri Lanka and the Far East as well.

happy travels!!

[9265359]

On 5/28/2024 at 5:47 PM, Interestedcruisefan said:

So MDR lunch is good?

Yes. 
 

The choice is far wider than the full ‘roast meat and two veg’ that the dinner menu is, and for example yesterday I had a delicious beef rogan josh, that had some interesting flavours and obviously had been cooked slow and long so the meat was falling apart. 

[9265359]

On 5/29/2024 at 9:20 AM, Interestedcruisefan said:

Mizhuana and Green and Co were great meals. It's great to eat meals and actually feel healthier at the end of the meal than when you started!

Frankly I can’t see P&O keeping that location with its current menu for the long term. 
 

When I walked past at lunchtime yesterday there were fewer than ten people eating there and at 8pm in the evening there were only around a dozen - and that’s in a venue capable of seating more than a hundred and would be packed as the equivalent Olive Grove on Iona - it certainly isn’t earning its keep. 
 

And that isn’t because people on board are not spending, because I have never seen queues for the bars like it with them being 20 people long - the tills are going ‘brrrr’ 

[Windsurfboy]

2 hours ago, 9265359 said:

Frankly I can’t see P&O keeping that location with its current menu for the long term. 
 

When I walked past at lunchtime yesterday there were fewer than ten people eating there and at 8pm in the evening there were only around a dozen - and that’s in a venue capable of seating more than a hundred and would be packed as the equivalent Olive Grove on Iona - it certainly isn’t earning its keep. 
 

And that isn’t because people on board are not spending, because I have never seen queues for the bars like it with them being 20 people long - the tills are going ‘brrrr’ 

 

Perhaps the queues at the bars are people getting most out of drink package.

 

However, given that extra cost speciality dining is booked very quickly,  I  can't imagine it becoming another inclusive dining venue.  However all P&O ships need a high quality fish restaurant,  which will be very popular. 

[9265359]

52 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

Perhaps the queues at the bars are people getting most out of drink package.

That is still a success for P&O getting people to spend, and spend heavily, as the drinks packages are damned expensive. 
 

54 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

However, given that extra cost speciality dining is booked very quickly,  I  can't imagine it becoming another inclusive dining venue.  However all P&O ships need a high quality fish restaurant,  which will be very popular. 

A high quality fish restaurant being popular? No chance - there are damn all of those in the UK, so it is incredibly unlikely such a restaurant would appeal to those onboard, the same as a vegan/vegetarian restaurant isn’t. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

9 hours ago, pennib said:

ICF if you are wanting to get around a bit more on cruises why not fly to Dubai and pick up a ship there. We have done P&O from there to Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam and the Persian gulf about 6 times. Also done MSC, RCI from Dubai so you have a choice of ships. Dubai is a great hub for Sri Lanka and the Far East as well.

happy travels!!

We've done a 7 night cruise from Dubai with RCL a few years back 

 

But didn't get as far as any of the places you mention there but would certainly like to 

 

Will take a look

[Interestedcruisefan]

3 hours ago, 9265359 said:

That is still a success for P&O getting people to spend, and spend heavily, as the drinks packages are damned expensive. 
 

A high quality fish restaurant being popular? No chance - there are damn all of those in the UK, so it is incredibly unlikely such a restaurant would appeal to those onboard, the same as a vegan/vegetarian restaurant isn’t. 

Green and Co was more than half full when we visited

 

Mizhuana only small and was full

 

However, you are also allowed to order Mizhuana courses in Green and Co as part of your menu

 

I think the longer it goes the busier it will get

 

We would definitely dine in both next time we do Arvia

 

And first time we did Arvia we only did Mizhuana

[Eglesbrech]

3 hours ago, 9265359 said:

A high quality fish restaurant being popular? No chance - there are damn all of those in the UK, so it is incredibly unlikely such a restaurant would appeal to those onboard, the same as a vegan/vegetarian restaurant isn’t. 

The sushi restaurants on Celebrity and MSC are always packed out.

 

Sky Princess has a speciality fish restaurant, the catch by Rudi which is also always booked out (personally I don’t rate it as I am used to really fresh, caught the same day fish).

 

The alternative restaurants on Arvia would actually attract me to try the ship (but only during quiet season).

[Windsurfboy]

50 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

 

 

The alternative restaurants on Arvia would actually attract me to try the ship (but only during quiet season).

 

Agree. If it wasn't for  alternative restaurants on Arvia we  wouldn't be going. Have  Epicurean,  Sindhu,  Mizuhana, and Limelight booked to cover every night. But would like a fish restaurant . These restaurants plus the entertainment makes Arvia an interesting proposition  will see how it goes

 

I  note that now 8 days out,  Epicurean is only after available 8.30 every night and only after 9.00 many nights. Very popular. 

 

[Waju]

Well, I put my big girl pants on and had a go at booking the entertainment for my fast approaching Arvia cruise.  Can someone kindly confirm that I can only book Headliner shows at the moment and the guest entertainers need to be booked once on board?

Also, is the 710 club the same - only bookable after boarding?  and I'd be interested in approximate cost for this please?

 

Many thanks 

 

 

 

[Leomins]

1 minute ago, Waju said:

Well, I put my big girl pants on and had a go at booking the entertainment for my fast approaching Arvia cruise.  Can someone kindly confirm that I can only book Headliner shows at the moment and the guest entertainers need to be booked once on board?

Also, is the 710 club the same - only bookable after boarding?  and I'd be interested in approximate cost for this please?

 

Many thanks 

 

 

 

Keep looking at the entertainment available to book as the guest entertainers on our Arvia January cruise appeared a few days after the Headliners.

710 club is free and needs to be booked as soon as you board the ship or possibly when you’re in a holding queue to board. There have been some reports that 710 club is only available to book from 4pm but this seems variable so keep checking.

[Waju]

3 minutes ago, Leomins said:

Keep looking at the entertainment available to book as the guest entertainers on our Arvia January cruise appeared a few days after the Headliners.

710 club is free and needs to be booked as soon as you board the ship or possibly when you’re in a holding queue to board. There have been some reports that 710 club is only available to book from 4pm but this seems variable so keep checking.

Thanks for your speedy reply Leomins!

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 5/31/2024 at 8:36 PM, Windsurfboy said:

 

Agree. If it wasn't for  alternative restaurants on Arvia we  wouldn't be going. Have  Epicurean,  Sindhu,  Mizuhana, and Limelight booked to cover every night. But would like a fish restaurant . These restaurants plus the entertainment makes Arvia an interesting proposition  will see how it goes

 

I  note that now 8 days out,  Epicurean is only after available 8.30 every night and only after 9.00 many nights. Very popular. 

 

And it's a big version of Epicurean for P and O

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 6/1/2024 at 8:45 AM, Leomins said:

Keep looking at the entertainment available to book as the guest entertainers on our Arvia January cruise appeared a few days after the Headliners.

710 club is free and needs to be booked as soon as you board the ship or possibly when you’re in a holding queue to board. There have been some reports that 710 club is only available to book from 4pm but this seems variable so keep checking.

If you cant get the slots for 710 you want on certain nights then get there about 25 mins before the show starts and give your name in as they hold 6 places back every night plus later let people in for no shows. 

 

It's a nice place to sit with lovely drinks even whilst you wait for a show

 

If you can I suggest you book multiple shows on boarding and then after the first show in the event you don't love the place  (most do) you can cancel to free your places up

 

On Caribbean cruises that have people who board on Fridays and Saturdays for the same cruise it's well worth booking Friday departure just to have first chance at booking 710 club

Edited June 2 by Interestedcruisefan

[zap99]

On 5/31/2024 at 4:26 PM, 9265359 said:

That is still a success for P&O getting people to spend, and spend heavily, as the drinks packages are damned expensive. 
 

A high quality fish restaurant being popular? No chance - there are damn all of those in the UK, so it is incredibly unlikely such a restaurant would appeal to those onboard, the same as a vegan/vegetarian restaurant isn’t. 

It's PC to have a veggie restaurants. If they made it free with a smaller selection,all the veggies could eat there and we could have a few more items on the MDR menus . There is a fish restaurant in the quays and some fish items on the MDR menu.

Edited June 2 by zap99

[zap99]

On 6/1/2024 at 8:40 AM, Waju said:

Well, I put my big girl pants on and had a go at booking the entertainment for my fast approaching Arvia cruise.  Can someone kindly confirm that I can only book Headliner shows at the moment and the guest entertainers need to be booked once on board?

Also, is the 710 club the same - only bookable after boarding?  and I'd be interested in approximate cost for this please?

 

Many thanks 

 

 

 

Book 710 as soon as you get onboard. Sometimes you can get myholiday in the terminal, but in April we wizzed straight through.

[9265359]

On 5/31/2024 at 8:29 PM, Interestedcruisefan said:

Green and Co was more than half full when we visited

Well it isn’t on this cruise, and half full on some cruises and less on others is hardly a success. 
 

On 5/31/2024 at 8:29 PM, Interestedcruisefan said:

I think the longer it goes the busier it will get

And how many years has Arvia been sailing…

[Windsurfboy]

40 minutes ago, zap99 said:

It's PC to have a veggie restaurants. If they made it free with a smaller selection,all the veggies could eat there and we could have a few more items on the MDR menus . There is a fish restaurant in the quays and some fish items on the MDR menu.

 

There is a fish and chip shop in quays.  Sorry NOT a fish restaurant. 

 

But I agree the number of veggie items on MDR menu is out of proportion to number of veggies in UK 14%, and less than that average in older cruising demographics 

[Interestedcruisefan]

46 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

Well it isn’t on this cruise, and half full on some cruises and less on others is hardly a success. 
 

And how many years has Arvia been sailing…

It's not about Arvia it's about the world changing and people's dining habits changing 

 

Which is happening

 

Even epicurean doesn't fill all its seats (on purpose) despite being sold out every night once a cruise starts

 

They work with spare capacity

 

I don't see Green and Co being taken away

 

We didn't use it first arvia cruise. Didn't appeal but now we've tried we will use every time we cruise at least one

 

Same with mizhuana

 

Which is very much fish based albeit sushi fish

 

Which we love but doesn't appeal to all

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

48 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

There is a fish and chip shop in quays.  Sorry NOT a fish restaurant. 

 

But I agree the number of veggie items on MDR menu is out of proportion to number of veggies in UK 14%, and less than that average in older cruising demographics 

Arvia will have youngest demographics of any P and O ship

 

Think I saw somehwere that the average age cruising on Arvia last year was 49 years old?

 

Can't remember where though