Reviews
![The ship was too big for us.]()
The room was excellent. it took us over a week to properly book a table for when we wanted to eat at night.There were two people at the point of booking,one the man was very good and tried to help when he could.The other a female was one of the most horrid people I have ever met on a cruise liner.Basically the ship was too big. To say I wont be going back is an understatement.
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![Transatlantic repositioning cruise]()
Flight from Manchester to Antigua for an overnight stay prior to a 22 night sailing via Barbados, St Vincent, St Lucia, Tenerife and La Corunna to Southampton.
Excellent facilities and a helpful crew made for an excellent cruise.
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![Fantastic]()
Cruise to France, Spain & Portugal - absolutely beautiful. I never fly due to fear, but it’s so lovely looking out to sea & relaxing on board with all amenities, as well as the beautiful ports of call to explore.
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![Arvia Caribbean Cruise]()
The Cruise liner took 6500 people- it was full and very difficult/ impossible to find a sun lounger. I have written to the CEO of P & O- with other concerns - been given 28 days to reply- sadly not been given a reply? Will look for another company as this was only my second cruise with P & O
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![First but not last time Cruising]()
I was apprehensive, would it be noisy, crowded, what was the food like, so much more. P&O were very helpful and from boarding to getting to our room was easy. The room Steward (Rocky) was sooo helpful, even providing me with a sharps box. Nothing was too much trouble for ANY of the staff. The food was well-cooked, delicious, and plentiful. Horizon (Buffet) was a surprise so much choice! Our favourite after a day on the Islands was The Quays - delicious fish and chips. Some of the bars are a little noisy but many are quiet, Andersons Bar is a nice place to sit - they have a library and games to borrow, or jigsaws to sit at the table and do. The only thing I would criticise is the drinks packages - some people were drinking 15 shots a night to get their monies worth, bar staff were abused when told they could not have more. I would cut this down to 7 alcoholic drinks per day. Overall we loved it - so much that we are going on Iona in December for Christmas and New Year
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![Relaxing]()
Brilliant cruise from start to finish
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![very well organised]()
Left me wanting to go again soon.
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![Fabulous cruise]()
Great ports, relaxing sea days, beautiful cruise ship.
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![First Med cruise on Arvia]()
We booked for the first time on P&O Arvia Easter holidays for 2 weeks around the med.
2 adults and a 6 year old. Balcony cabin.
Our cabin was a tad noisy, we found the issue after a couple of nights and sorted it out ourselves.
We were on the 9th floor and good location.
the ship is beautiful. We have been on the Iona and absolutely loved it so we thought it would be similar. Far from it. Too crowded but it was the school holidays. We had booked a few speciality restaurants before we boarded . The worst being the beach house, service was awful and the food.
The sindhu was amazing just like on the Iona . Well worth booking and we highly recommend this restaurant. The Epicurean was just as amazing and would definitely book this one again.
MDRs were great also. As you can order as much as you like as many dishes as you like and our little one ate off the adult menu as kids menu wasn’t great. All other free restaurant are great including the buffet we found to be as good.
Kids club is amazing, our little one didn’t want to come out of there. She loved it and the staff are absolutely fantastic.
You need to book early the morning before for the next day.
All stops were great and visited some lovely destinations. Would we book again with P&O? Yes we would. Definitely wouldn’t book the Arvia again especially school holidays. But will definitely book the Iona and other family ships . It’s one of our favourite cruise lines.
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![Worse cruise ever]()
P&O cruise round the med on Arvia. Was the worse cruise over ever done. I found the staff very rude and uncaring. So many things went wrong, yet when I went to reception to tell them, they were not interested at all.
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![Caribbean to Southampton]()
Took off from Manchester to Barbados on NORSE who I thought were not up to standard but boarded ARVIA with no problems. It was a 29 day cruise in the Caribbean back to Southampton. Ship was very clean. The entertainment was on the whole very good and the food everywhere on board was also very good.
Reviews
![Transatlantic Cruise]()
First time with P&O. Very slick transfer from Barbados airport to ship. Chose to fly premium economy which is a good idea as off first when landing. Cabin was balcony one which was very good but the bed was so close to wardrobe you could hardly open it. Cases were not delivered very quickly. Boarded at 4 and got cases at 10. First meal in main dining room wasn’t too great but got better. Loved Epicurean and Sindhi restaurant. Entertainment was ok. Some were very good others were dated. Loved Divas and Cher tribute. Tommy J. The juggler was very good but the comedienne was poor. Liked the days in the Caribbean and the six day crossing was good. Weather was good but very windy so rarely used the pool. Used the adult pool all the time and no trouble with sunbeds. Dining staff were ok but never looked very happy. Room attendant was very good. Loved having the free laundry and managed to most of our washing before we got home. Just had to provide washing materials.
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![2024-01-07 16:29:55]()
Absolutely fabulous cruise on P & O Arvia we loved every minute & can't wait to sail on her again
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![2023-08-07 11:07:41]()
Very bad experience as our cabin and corridor had sewage issues and for 14 day the smell was awful
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![2023-06-18 11:36:35]()
Plus points:
Despite size, very clean in all areas
Particularly pleased with the balcony cabin and storage space. Night light very helpful and useful.
Bathroom small but functional with good shower
Hands-free public lavatory doors - brilliant!
Very friendly and helpful crew
The Captain and Officers were very pleasant and reassuring, we particularly enjoyed Captain's daily broadcast.
Special Coronation meals much appreciated as was the surprise gift.
The Quays.
The Club House
Very interesting and entertaining speaker Ian Murray
Reception staff helpful, friendly and efficient
Minus Points:
Long queues of severely delayed traffic trying to enter port
Forced to join long queue in the cold outside of terminal prior to embarkation
Unable to pre-book dining time for later than 18.30 hrs then having to wait up to 50 minutes upon immediately joining the virtual queue when it opened.
P and O's cutbacks were commented upon by all other regular cruisers we conversed with.
Staffing levels seemed to be too low.
Particularly disappointed with reduced menu choices.
We understand the thinking behind the design of the Atrium but we found it to have a cold and uninviting atmosphere.
710 club always fully booked - one cannot always plan pre-booking prior to embarkation
6th Street Diner cheerful and attractive well presented but poor quality food at lunchtime so did not try again - sad experience.
Our evening meal is very much a part of our holiday which we have always looked forward to in the past, however, the main dining rooms were more like works' canteens - too big and too noisy, some tables positioned in heavy traffic and/or claustrophobic areas, my wife remarked that it was like sitting on the side of a Motorway to eat her dinner - certainly not relaxed and/or peaceful dining. Having said that, the restaurant reception staff did their best to cater for our requirements.
Wanted to eat at the Keel and Cow and Glass House but decided against it as we didn't care for the position on the ship being open to all passers by. The Epicurean was fully booked!
Shopping was an unpleasant experience mainly due to very few items displaying price tags - I assume it was because when the prices were disclosed they were so expensive. Not every guest is interested in buying top-end merchandise - why was there little or no mid- range also the Arvia souvenirs were so outrageously overpriced they were not purchased, we are used to paying a little more than shoreside but you lost sales on principle.
The wine store sold out of many products days before the end of cruise - unbelievably annoying and ridiculous. Half of the store space was unusable due to being taken up with guests' collection of prepaid orders.
Whoever was in charge of procurement should consider their future.
Disembarkation absolute fiasco.
Impossible to use lifts and after waiting over 15 minutes had to use the stairway from deck 14 to deck 8 - painful and difficult.
Staff did not adhere to disembarkation times and kept sending passengers off ship - gangways packed with slow moving guests and the reason was that the baggage reclaim area was over full with people. !5 minutes to find luggage and a 30 minute queue to get to Customs. All in all a potentially dangerous situation with the only priority it seemed was to clear the Arvia of passengers regardless of safety or comfort - disgraceful! It was our worst experience in over 15 cruises.
Reviews
![2023-06-12 19:36:04]()
Had a lovely 14 day cruise on the Arvia. Had a few problems with the App having to book meals and shows etc but we got into the swing of it after a few days.Cabin (inside) was fine but no drawers for clothes and hanging rail quite small but it was kept very clean and it was very quiet.
Big problem on board was people reserving the sun beds all day but P&O never adhered to their policy of putting a note giving the person 30 minutes to be back before clearing their possessions!!!
The staff were in general happy & helpful.
The food in all venues was lovely and always hotif you love 60s music check out the 6th St Diner its brilliant.
The shows were good but some people didnt like the modern digital shows but I thought the graphics were brilliant.
Embarkation and disembarkation were amazing considering the number of people on board.
