Filter by rating
4.1 Add your review to help your fellow cruisers
Based on 47 reviews
5★
22
4★
12
3★
9
2★
3
1★
1
Reviews 2023-06-04 10:12:31
2023-06-04 10:12:31
If you are traditional cruisers who enjoy some style and luxury, Arvia may not be the ship for you. The 5000+ guests make it impossible to find a quiet corner, avoid queueing for dining, go to a show or speciality restaurant without booking days in advance, or find room to sit in public indoor spaces on sea days. This may not be a problem for younger cruisers who've travelled extensively on larger ships and for whom this situation represents the norm, but for those who can sacrifice some of the glitz in favour of a bit of peace and quiet, it's probably better to travel with Aurora or Arcadia. There are wonderful public rooms, the Sky Dome had some great shows (but was hopelessly inadequate for the numbers who wanted to attend), there seemed to be sufficient sunbed spaces at least somewhere on the ship, although always very crowded . The cabins were well equipped but ours was apparently a 3-berth (though not advertised as such), with a ginormous sofabed dominating the room making access to everywhere difficult. The ports of call were well-managed and enjoyable, though if you wanted the free shuttle back to the ship in Barcelona you would have to join a 1/4mile queue in town. The food was acceptable, but often only warm, and in the famous Sindhu it was such a poor meal the four of us had our money refunded. The cruise was priced very well and on the face of it was great value for money but, as always, you get what you pay for. For us this didn't compensate for the inadequacies of mega-ship sailing.
3
P&O Cruises Arvia
Reviews 2023-06-02 16:55:04
2023-06-02 16:55:04
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.
3
P&O Cruises Arvia
Reviews 2023-06-02 16:50:35
2023-06-02 16:50:35
This cruise fitted our itinerary, but on reflection the ship was just too big. With dining mainly at the aft end and entertainments at the front the amount of walking was huge. Food was OK but not up to the standard expected. Drinks prices are OK but drinks packages are way too expensive. Shore excursions were good but expensive, if you could get on them, many of the popular ones were sold out 2 weeks before departure ! The buffet was chaotic so only used when all else failed. Booking of dining options was complex with the online app and many older travellers took the view that they would just stand at the restaurant entrance until the staff let them in. Back to Fred Olsen next time.
4
P&O Cruises Arvia
Reviews 2023-06-02 15:14:49
2023-06-02 15:14:49
A new ship but with some areas needing attention, ie, lots of basins in washrooms were out of order. Whilst we found the food onboard very good with plenty of choice we were frustrated at the difficulty in reserving a table in the main dining room, and at times waited for over an hour. Entertainment venues were fully booked before we boarded. On the whole we enjoyed our cruise and would sail on the ship again.
4
P&O Cruises Arvia
Reviews 2023-06-02 15:12:33
2023-06-02 15:12:33
A new ship but with some areas needing attention, ie, lots of basins in washrooms were out of order. Whilst we found the food onboard very good with plenty of choice we were frustrated at the difficulty in reserving a table in the main dining room, and at times waited for over an hour. Entertainment venues were fully booked before we boarded. On the whole we enjoyed our cruise and would sail on the ship again.
4
P&O Cruises Arvia
Reviews 2023-06-02 14:07:09
2023-06-02 14:07:09
To many people and children had to book for dining and shows had to use shuttle buses and tenders chaos getting on and off in ports to bigger ship not enough trained staff never again for us would be ok for young families not my way to enjoy cruising
2
P&O Cruises Arvia
Reviews 2023-06-02 13:14:36
2023-06-02 13:14:36
As a first time cruiser, we were very unsure whether or not it would be our thing, well all I can say is thank you very much P & O we’re now addicted to cruising, Arvia is an absolutely beautiful ship, the crew were so friendly and helpful, brilliant entertainment, I’ll stop there just know everything was amazing.
5
P&O Cruises Arvia
Reviews 2023-04-03 08:28:32
2023-04-03 08:28:32
A good value overall cruise package. Unfortunately there was no library onboard and no ballroom or Latin dancing . There is a beautiful space in the middle of the atrium but it is not utilised to its full potential .
4
P&O Cruises Arvia
Reviews 2023-03-28 16:08:01
2023-03-28 16:08:01
Very disappointing. There are major issues with the motivation, training and supervision of staff. It's only been operating for three months but the vibe is depressing with many staff doing the minimum needed with no interest in making improvements. There's obvious sexism amongst staff within the main restaurants that is not challenged. Many staff need further training. Why do things properly if you can fake it? The ship is too big and they are slowly destroying the islands that they visit with their parent companies relentless dash for growth. Too many people landing at a time. We had to suffer poor quality charter flights and once home, we discovered we'd contracted COVID! Never again!
2
P&O Cruises Arvia

Add a review of your last cruise for a chance to win £100 in Amazon Vouchers

Leave a review for Arvia
Arvia

Arvia

Arvia is a mega ocean ship sailing with P&O Cruises.

Back to Arvia