Arvia reviews

Yes a large ship! but we found ourselves asking where is everybody? With so many venues on board we had no issues with queing. Ships crew were all very attentive.

Embarkation & disembarkation were all very well organised & efficient. All crew were polite, although did not get to know waiting staff so well as no regular table / sitting area in dining rooms. Meals were good, but lacked offer of vegetables & abit bland on occasion

We would consider ourselves seasoned cruisers now and have to say we were disappointed on our first Arvia cruise this time. If this had been our first cruise, I feel that we would have loved it but the cabin we were "upgraded" to was poorly laid out (bed directly under the air con so that I spent my nights being alternately too hot or too cold and the wardrobes difficult to access). If this was an upgrade, what was the cabin we booked like. However it was really well positioned within such a large ship and easy to find. We missed two ports due to Trump bombing Venezuela and the airspace being closed which was disappointing but understandable and at least we avoided all of the confusion suffered by the passengers due to leave or arrive on the Saturday. The Horizon buffet was a disappointment as dinners were always over loaded (it seemed) with very spicy food (noticed this on Britannia last time too) and the decaff coffee (kept in insulated pots rather than sachets as before) was almost undrinkable as it was over strong (always needed watering down) and luke warm. However the food in the other eateries was very good, especially in the Quays and the main dining rooms. Most of all, for us, there were too many passengers and too few crew. A cruise used to be a luxury experience but sadly this now seems to have been downgraded with cabin stewards having far too many cabins to attend to and the bars on board having long queues. The crew were all lovely despite having such tough jobs, with my standout member of staff being Imogen (or Immy) from Creative Waves particularly battling on on her own with no colleague to help her! Again, for first time cruisers, facilities on Arvia are good with several pools, one being adult only (although it was like a scene from Titanic on sea days with so many people in there!); the theatre, the cinema, the clubs all good. We will sail again with P&O as they have always been good with their organisation but will have to consider more carefully which ship to travel on.

Extensive dinning and entertainment options as you would expect on a larger ship. Cabins are comfortable, plenty of storage space and reasonable sized bathrooms for a cruise ship. Crew are helpful and generally cheerful. As a large ship it can feel busy, particularly on sea days when loungers on the sun decks are at a premium.

Very overcrowded. far to many charged extras. poor customer service. misinformation bordering on lies. Blaming everyone else not taking responsibility for their decisions. Reception manger never available. 1st time with P&O and the last.

Arvia was beautiful, but expensive

Food not brilliant. Rush for lifts when returning to the ship or getting off the ship was not good. A number of them were out of order.

Room - Ship is VERY big - over 5,000 guests plus over 1,000 crew. Although big it can feel incredibly packed especially on sea days (towels on beds at 6 a. m. !!) Cabin - good but some of the storage is small and really pointless. TV was good with lots of shows and live sport (if you like that or there's a rainy day). Balcony was a godsend. The person who cleaned our cabin was really really nice and helpful. Extra tip given. Standard - very clean everywhere. Bars - quite a few bars As expensive as a night out. Some required long trousers although we did see some people in shorts. Restaurants - lots. Horizon buffet seemed quite small for so many people and not much space at food stations The Quays did really really nice fish and chips, as well as indian and korean and roast dinners. Recommend the waiter service at the Meridian and Zenith restaurants. Really nice food and efficient waiters (extra tips for 2 here). Again some required long trousers but this was not strictly adhered to. Black tie nights were nice and special. Entertainment - recommend the 710 Club. A bit like a jazz club with a resident band doing covers. quite nice atmosphere here. The sessions could be longer. Would book as it gets quite full but as there were only 2 of us then we could ask if space and would get in. Theatre shows were quite good especially the professional shows. Talks in the Theatre during the day were interesting. The trips from P & O were expensive and could be bought cheaper elsewhere. We complained about the one trip as it was very very poor but the excursion staff weren't interested. Reception staff were surly on the verge of rude. Overall, ship was quite good but not brilliant.

Loved the ship Food , entertainment, and cabin were all excellent The crew work extremely hard and are lovely Staff need to police the subbed issues otherwise would have been 5*s

2nd time on arvia however there has been changes I booked freedom dining as before but it was often chaotic and twice they ran out of glasses at drink machine. Another issue despite pre booking meals both ways only one of us received correct one. Both flight crew and staff at p and o reluctant to accept their errors. On excursions distance from ship to coach too long for people another ship provided buggies for their guests who were Americans. Drinks package too expensive and not worth money we both don't really drink alcohol so didn't use all onboard credit