P&O ARVIA ship - (& general Cruise Qu's)!

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Has anyone been on this ship please?
Never cruised before but have 2 older teens & it looks good?
Can anyone tell me about the High Ropes & Submarine features?
Are they expensive extras? Are they good?
Is it expensive to get to onto shore?
Is it expensive to go on excursions?
If you are eating on the basic package, do you get much choice of meal times or food please?

Sorry for 20 Qu's but my Travel Agent couldn't answer any of these Qu's. & it's a lot of money to pay with all this outstanding.

Going on shore can be as expensive as you like. You can just get off the ship and wander around wherever you are. What’s the itinerary. We can advise when we know where you’ll be. Ship run excursions can be expensive but you can go it alone - you don’t have to go with ship excursions. Again we can help with an itinerary.

Food wise, usually there is always the buffet which can be vast. There is the main dining room. Don’t know about p&o but usually there are two seatings at around 6.30 and 8.30 but also some sort of free style dining where you just show up. You might have to wait for a table with free style dining though. There will also be places like coffee shops and premium dining that come at a supplement such as a Thai restaurant that might cost £20 pp extra. Again you don’t have to do premium restaurants. For us the buffet and the main dining room are just fine.

P&O hasn’t been a cruise line I have considered with my teens as I have found myself drawn to other cruise lines so I can’t comment on them for a holiday.

Extras you need to consider are internet and alcohol. I believe with P&O that their drinks package isn’t that great so it’s often best to pay as you go. Other cruise lines offer much more within their packages and can be worth their weight in gold.

Hi @stalecrayon thank you!

it is: la Caruna, Cadiz, Barcelona, Alicante, Cartagena, Marseille.

Travel agent said we'd have to pay to get off the ship at all but couldn't say how much. Didn't say internet was extra or drinks package (tbh, we don't drink alcohol but a 'mocktail' or fancy coffee would be nice, best to buy as you go?)

Very happy to eat on a 'drop in buffet / cafe' style basis (two teens with ASD)

I don't know how to find out if the ropes etc is included though.
I guess I could phone P&O.

Have a read of the website called Cruise Critic as it has lots of useful information on there for first time cruisers along with cruise lines.

Official p and o excursions are expensive, normally start at around £40 each and go up to £300 depending on what you want to do. But you can get off the ship and go and explore yourself. This website is great for planning your own trips.

www.whatsinport.com/

Some ports may require a shuttle service to get you from the boat , and out of the actual port. I'm not sure with p and o but depending on the fare you booked ( saver or select) it could be free or it could be a few euros each.

There are p and o groups on Facebook and they are super helpful and if you search your cruise number and date then you may well even find a dedicated group to talk to people who will be on your specific cruise.

One to though. Don't take or wear anything with flamingos or pineapples

Check out Emma Cruises on youtube. She does a good review of the ship and cruising in general.

OK thanks everyone - this is really helpful!
@WitchyBits flamingos & pineapples? (taste free zone or some sort of weird cruise swinger code?)

Also I am in Scotland so need to travel to Southampton by train.
Is the port miles from the station I wonder?

You do not have to pay to get off the ship. The only thing I can think of is a there may be a charge to use a shuttle bus from the dock to the town you are in. Palma do this but so many you just walk off the ship and head off an explore.

Id say water, tea and coffee and possibly juice in the restaurants will be included. Like diluting juice type drinks. Cocktails and fizzy drinks are likely to cost extra but you charge that to your room so you don’t need cash onboard.

I also recommend cruise critic and there is likely to be a Facebook page for your actual sailing. You tube is also a good shout.

@pinboard

Yes it's swinger code. You can identify swingers by the clothes they wear and they often decorate the cabin doors with pineapples.

You only pay if you go on the escorted trips, which aren't always good value. We stopped at Madiera, La Palma, Teneriefe & Lanzarote, the trips weren't good value, we far more enjoyed if we went on our own.

We went on our first cruise at Christmas - something I would never have known, you pack your bag the night before you leave and leave it outside your room. Ds had to travel home in pj shorts as I forgot to leave him out a change of clothes 🙈

Food wise if you eat in the main restaurant, the cafe which was in the Atrium, the pizza bar by the pool or had the morning coffee & cake or afternoon tea it was all included in the fare. I had breakfast in the main restaurant, then mid morning in the Atrium, then lunch in the restaurant, pizza in the afternoon, then dinner in the restaurant & sometimes the midnight buffet. Everything else goes on your cruise account that you settle the day you leave. If you like Indian food, I can recommend the lunches, I had a different curry each day of the cruise. Dinner is usually 5 courses if you can manage it all.

I‘m on P&O Iona at the moment and it can’t be that different. Don’t bother with the drinks package unless you can get through like 15 alcoholic drinks per day - prices aren’t that far off high street prices anyway. There’s plenty of choice for food, the buffet has a huge variety and is pretty much open all day apart from when they’re clearing breakfast and getting lunch out for instance. There is one restaurant you pay a surcharge for (but again I’m on a different ship). Can’t comment on the activities you’re asking about but there are lots of videos on YouTube by guests and if you search for the Arvia I’m sure you’ll find info.
excursions are more expensive booked through P&O and I think most can be booked direct with a bit of googling. Every town we’ve visited has had hop on hop off buses and land trains doing the rounds of the attractions.

We have done a few P&O cruises, no kids with us though, they are my cat sitters🤣

I don’t think P&O are the most ‘fun’ ships, royal Caribbean and the like have huge water slides and all sorts in their larger ships which P&O don’t have but Arvia is more family oriented.

Having said that, they have kids clubs and lots of entertainment that teens may enjoy.

You get access to everything meals wise except speciality restaurants which are extra and there is a decent number of included options.

You would only pay for shuttle buses if they were in use and you were on a saver fare, they are included if you have a select fare where you select your room. Costs more though!

We do a mix of own thing and excursions dependent on where we are. Our last cruise to Croatia and Italy, we just did our own thing ant every port and it was fab.

Arvia is a large ship, I prefer smaller ones but everyone is different. Our next cruise is on P&O aurora which is about half the size of arvia!

We love cruising, have done 3 and have about 5 more booked. Great way to holiday.

One thing I would recommend is travelling to Southampton the day before and staying overnight in a hotel. If there are travel delays the ship will not wait! We had a cruise with MSC and there was the option at each port for a shuttle into the port which was chargeable but I think there was also the option of a hop on / hop off bus at each port which cost slightly more than the shuttle but gave you a tour of the port town as well.

While the port is technically walkable from the (surprisingly small) train station, it's a 20-30 minute walk, and obviously longer if you're dragging suitcases. On my visit I saw couples having major fallouts at the side of the road because one of them had insisted on walking.

If you do decide to get a taxi, allow extra time as my taxi driver said Southampton is weirdly underserved by taxis at busy times.

Edited to add - You'll probably have to change trains across London which again might mean a taxi if you have a lot of luggage.

My 28 year old son and his gf have just returned from a similar cruise on ARVIA. There was plenty of places to eat which is included in the price, but they did pay extra to eat in Sindhu restaurant which is really nice and is a favourite of ours. They drink quite a bit, but had quite a lot of onboard credit, so they didn’t get the drinks package. You can use your onboard credit to get the coach down, a lot of people from Scotland do this and find it best to use their onboard credit for this. Join the Facebook group P&O ARVIA and you will get tips on there. There’s loads of videos on YouTube.

The drinks package is worth it if you drink 6-8 drinks a day, which we can do easily. The cheapest alcohol package is now £41 pp pd but the drinks prices are very reasonable so if you wont drink that much then its not worth it.

Depending on which package you choose then you either go to dinner at a set time (club dining - 630 or 830) or any time between 6-930/10 (freedom dining). I think you pay a bit more for the freedom package but for us its worth it.

If you want the sort of excursion that is a guided tour of the port town you are in, then they usually have local minicab firms, land trains, buses etc that will do them for a much better price then the ships excursions. We have never bothered with the ships ones and either walked round ourselves or used the local ones.

On the last p and o cruise we did, we felt the quality and choice in the buffet was less than previous cruises, but there is still plenty of food.

The Internet package is silly money so we didnt bother. As my network (vodafone) doesnt connect to the maritime date network, i just left roaming on and paid Vodafone £10 for a weeks roaming bundle. It doesnt work at sea, but its nice having yes break. Even teenage DCs wasnt too bothered about it.

If you type in your cruise code into facebook, there will be a specific group for people going on your cruise, if you wanted to chat to people before and ask specific questions or just get hints and tips.

We only discovered cruising the year before lock down, but have just come back from our 5th now, we love it. I hope you have a great time!

You don't have to leave your case outside the cabin the night before you disembark; carrying your own case off is an option.

I've travelled with P&O since 1992 onboard Canberra and I have done ever since! My sons now 13 and he's been on 9 cruises, mostly with P&O & Princess.

Firstly, I love cruises. Personally, I prefer Princess over P&O but that's only because I find Princess a bit more relaxed while still maintaining a bit more of the 'luxury' element that P&O have lost over recent years. But having said that, P&O are more 'value for money'.

You do not need to pay to get off the ship. The ports you've named are, in my opinion, good for a nice walk round, a coffee in a cafe and a mooch round the shops. I personally wouldn't fork out for excursions in these places because excursions with the ship are quite expensive.

I can't remember if Arvia is totally Freedom Dining, which if it is is a shame because I love second sitting dining, mainly because it's nice to have the same table and the same waiters as you build a report and they are brilliant at remembering and caring about your preferences!

Food in main dining room is what you'd expect from a good restaurant here, in all honestly, over recent years they have become a bit more 'hit & miss' but there is always a good selection and although they won't advertise it you can ask for more or anything or even deviate from the menu entirely.

I love cruising. I'll be honest, I prefer the mid-sized ships as opposed to the big Arvias & Ionas but that's my preference. Cruising has changed so much over the 30 years I've been going - they used to be so up their own arse posh that it was unbelievable to now being very much a holiday for everyone, which is a good thing. I think for first time cruisers Arvia will blow your socks off!

I have been on this ship - but didn't take children so can't tell you about the High Ropes or escape room (submarine) - But you do have to pay extra

Is it expensive to get to onto shore? - You don't pay to go ashore usually. Most of your ports - la Caruna, Cadiz, Barcelona, - you can walk off the ship and you are more or less there. (there is a (usually free) shuttle bus in Barcelona and Marseille) But you could walk if it came to it. Alicante, Cartagena, I don't have any knowledge on so sorry about that.

Is it expensive to go on excursions? - The ships excursions are usually more ££ than what you can get them for locally. It depends what you want to do as such when you get there. If you wanted to see something specific that wasn't in the town you are docked in, I would say consider an excursion. Check out the link someone else has mentioned 'whats in port'

If you are eating on the basic package, do you get much choice of meal times or food please? - There is a main dining room, we had freetime dining, and you have to book on each day when the dining room opens at 6pm. To be honest that did not work well for us and there was only 2 of us. so quite often we went to either the Buffet - which has got everything you can think of in. The Quays - which is a fast food servery with 3 counters next door to each other and have - free of charge fish & chips/ Asian/ Roast dinners. and they also have both free of charge restaurants - The Olive Grove which is Mediterranean and also a 6th street diner. and we did do a few of the pay for restaurants. But say the pay for restaurant in a section off the buffet area of a night is very cheap extra pay for food.

Sorry for 20 Qu's but my Travel Agent couldn't answer any of these Qu's. & it's a lot of money to pay with all this outstanding. - To be honest I would consider changing your agent - if they can't tell you the basics I'm not sure what the point of using them is ?

Please ask if you have more questions - its not a problem = but you will find Cruise critic really helpful - here is the page for the ship on there - https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/cruise/pando/arvia

With the internet if you pay for 1 you can then 'share' devices - but only 1 is allowed on at each time.

Has anyone been on this ship please? I’ve not been on this ship but have sailed P & O
Are they expensive extras? Are they good? P & O are fairly priced for what you get in comparison to some cruise lines. Drinks are pub price. Speciality restaurants do charge extra but look for deals e.g. first night.
All bars should give you tap water. Consider taking the Robinson very small concentrated squash, it means you can get tap water from the bar or out of the tap and flavour it. Tea & coffee in the room and you can also get it in the buffet. If you are travelling from Southampton think about taking some cans of soft drink. In the main dining room you used to be able to get posher coffee if you ask e.g. cappuccino.
If you have room service breakfast order a lot so you can take some ashore for snacks e.g. muffins, pastries. You can usually take bananas and apples from the buffet, Alternatively they may have a grab and go which has items you can take ashore. Just be aware of any restrictions on what you can take ashore, these are usually in the daily programme.
Is it expensive to get to onto shore? Depending on the package it’s either free or a nominal charge. I sometimes stay on board and enjoy the empty pool.
Is it expensive to go on excursions? Yes if there is 4 of you. As pp have said you can plan your own thing. The key is to make sure you are back in plenty of time. Use cruise critic or Viator- this gives you an idea of what the ship excursions are likely to be and cost. In some ports there are Taxis or coach tours that do shore excursions. A taxi for 4 of you may be cheaper but agree a price upfront.
If you are eating on the basic package, do you get much choice of meal times or food please? Yes the Buffet essentially starts at 6 am to midnight, plus room service (charges). For the dining rooms it’s primarily freedom dining with a time range for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Website: Once you book you can log on and can look at and book shore excursions and some speciality restaurants in advance.

The App - It’s not an app but web pages, its basic but ok. It maybe better on Arvia as it’s a newish ship. You can book restaurants, excursions, the theatre etc. It also has the room service menu and a deck plan of the ship. Some things do get booked up early.

Daily Programme - This maybe on the app but maybe delivered each night. This lists all the activities and restaurant opening times for the next day. It’s really good for planning your day. There is less to do on port days. Take one ashore with you as it has the ships contact details - useful if something major happens.

Hop-on-Hop-Off bus this is one option but can be costly for 4 unless they offer family tickets. Don’t buy the from the cruise line.

Barcelona - take the shuttle to the port then use public transport or walk.

HTH

Meant to say WiFi - in port follow the crew, they always know the free WiFi places.

Your travel agent should know all this and if you haven't already booked then I'd suggest you switch to someone who knows what they are doing. (Bolsover Cruise Club, it's not a club despite the name)

Instead of the train consider something like cruise connect - there are multiple coach operators who do "local" pick ups and take you directly to the cruise terminal. Depending where you live it might not be at all local but you might get lucky.

Did the agent mention that you need travel insurance with cruise cover?

I’ve used cruise. Co.uk for finding out more and for booking.Your travel agent doesn’t seem very knowledgeable about cruises.
We’ve only used p&O but haven’t cruised for a while.Apart from Venice have never paid to leave the ship.
We often used the red open top buses that seem to stop near most ports. They do tours of the city and have recorded guides in several languages. I think that they are jump on jump off so you can explore certain areas then get back on the bus.