31 THINGS WE LOVED ONBOARD P&O’S ARVIA.
A cruise ship the size of a small town can feel overwhelming at first. And, I would be the first to admit that I was sure if I would love it or hate it. There are schedules to decipher, floor plans to learn, and a huge amount of activity competing for your attention.
But once the initial razzle dazzle faded, we started to tune out the bits we didn’t like as much – and there were a few – and instead seek out the things that brought us joy. The moments that made our life at sea feel not just enjoyable, but genuinely special.
Our time onboard Arvia wasn’t defined by headline attractions or big-ticket shows, in fact, it was spent seeking out quiet spots, small pleasures and unexpected delights. We tried to explore Arvia with the same curiosity and attention with which we would explore a new town or city – getting beneath the surface just a little.
This list isn’t a definitive guide to the best things to do aboard Arvia, it’s more of a personal collection of our favourite experiences that made our days and nights at sea feel as relaxed and merry as possible.
Here are 31 things we genuinely loved onboard P&O’s Arvia.
1/ The Crow’s Nest
The Crow’s Nest bar is a lovely quiet space, ideal if you like to get away from crowds. Perhaps because it’s a somewhat hidden location – floor 17 towards the front of the boat – rather than in and around the atrium.
Or, perhaps because it doesn’t offer high octane entertainment – I don’t know what the reason was exactly, but I will say that we loved a pre-dinner drink here, or a nightcap.
You can always get a table, the staff are attentive and the drinks offering good.
Tip – try the signature cocktails of the bar, Passion Fruit Martini or Vanilla and Salted Caramel Espresso Martini – both £8.50. We also loved the sparkling wine from our home county of Kent.
2/ Tidal Rum
I thought that Arvia having a distillery onboard would feel like a total gimmick. And yes, it is a little bit. But what surprised us about, is that the Tidal Rum distilled onboard, particularly Golden Tide, is absolutely delicious. If you like your rums smooth, you’ll love this.
Secondly, they don’t charge you through the roof for it – it’s a few extra pence than the other spirits onboard. A double Golden Tide on the rocks came to be our nightcap of choice. After a few, I was sure I could taste the ocean.
3/ Phoenix The Band
Arvia has a broad range of entertainment to suit all tastes. After a few days, we were ready to discount certain options that weren’t to our tastes – game shows and bingo for example.
Luckily, on our second night I discovered Phoenix The Band – a Caribbean party band who, I believe, play exclusively on P&O cruises as a band. They play a broad range of music, mainly reggae, but with a few more well known hits too.
After finding them, we basically followed them around the ship for the next two weeks – always hoping to catch their set after supper.
4/ The Acrobats
Now, this one is probably a bit divisive – John and I disagreed on this. Personally, I LOVED it every time we saw the acrobats appearing in the Grand Atrium. Two wonderful acrobats dangling inexplicably from chandeliers and umbrellas and always putting on a show.
It’s a spectacle – and such a show of female strength and grace combined. Depending on your perspective, you may find it a little tacky – personally, I’m a fan.
5/ Boardgames in cosy nooks
One of our favourite pastimes aboard Arvia was to play a board game. We loved heading as far away from the crowds as we could, settling into a comfy seat – maybe with a cold glass of wine – and whiling away some time at sea playing Scrabble.
Tip – Anderson’s Bar (6th floor) does have some games, but we noticed supplies dwindling after a few days. Now, I would never accuse fellow passengers of pilfering, but it does seem like the only explanation. Subsequently, we recommend bringing your own – cards, board games, dice games or a crossword book work well. Guard them with your life!
6/ The Book Swap
There’s a cupboard in Anderson’s Bar (6th floor) which is used as a book swap. Simply put in your finished book and trade it with another.
In the first few days onboard, you’ll notice fewer books, and the stocks dwindling a little. Let’s just say that not everyone is “swapping”, so much as just “taking.” But, if you want a good selection – wait a week or so, or check back just before passengers disembark in Antigua or Barbados. We always noticed shelves overflowing at this point.
7/ Breakfast outside
If you like the idea of eating outside, there are only a few places where this is available on the ship. One of which is out by the pools, if you get something for lunch from the “Grab and Go” in the Sky Dome.
A more peaceful option is to perch outside of The Quays on floor 8 – a great time to do this is breakfast, especially if you go early. Or in the late afternoon, with a slice of something delicious and a coffee. This feels especially lovely if you (like us) you don’t have a cabin with a balcony.
8/ Deck 8 promenade
The only place where you can walk the entire length of the boat whilst remaining on one level, is floor 8. It took us a few days to discover this, and once we did, we were quite charmed. In early evening when the inside of the boat is getting hectic, deck 8 is a great place for a quiet outdoor passegiata.
9/ The running track at sunrise
When we first arrived to Arvia, we visited the running track almost immediately. The idea of being able to keep up our step count aboard really appealed. At first glance, we were a little disappointed by the running track – you have to do 7 laps to clock up one mile. And the track seems to be awkwardly located near the smoking areas and various other sun loungers.
That said, the running track quickly became John’s place of peace at sunrise every morning – 21 laps (5km) quickly faded as he enjoyed the early morning breeze and the sun coming up over the ocean.
10/ The Gym
I had expected that the gym would become a necessary evil aboard Arvia – a hot box that I’d have to sweat in to balance out the calorie intake. Thankfully, it actually proved to be a really wonderful space.
There are plenty of machines and free weight sections and it’s nicely air-conditioned. But for me, the real treat was the fact that you can gaze out to sea from many of the cardio machines. I loved an early morning session here bird watching or just being mesmerized by the ocean.
11/ Clean rooms every day
It goes without saying that the staff work incredibly hard in all roles on Arvia. But we were particularly charmed by our steward who looked after our cabin every day. There is not much more delightful than coming back to the cabin, with fresh towels and our bed made.
12/ Quiet spaces for the morning
On a sea day, if you like to avoid crowds, it’s best to stay away from the pools for most of the day (more on that below).
My go to quiet spot to read a book, write, or just stare out the window became The Amber Lounge (floor 6).
Comfortable seating, floor to ceiling windows and a nice chilled ambience in the morning – but it’s best to leave by 11:00 or so when more high octane activities like Line Dancing take over the atrium – there’s something for everyone on the boat, but that’s not for me!
13/ Fresh fruit
I think I’m correct in saying that you can get access to fresh fruit from 06:30 until about midnight every day at various points of the ship. If you’re someone who likes to eat healthily, and just grab a small snack from time to time, this is a bit of a treat.
I found that I was often a little peckish and wanted something but not an entire meal – find fresh fruit at all the breakfast restaurants, The Quays (floor 8) throughout the day and of course in the evening.
14/ Quality meat and fish
A few guests we spoke to onboard have commented that P&O has made a few cut backs on the food – but I have to say we were generally quite impressed by the quality of meat and fish dishes on the menu at Meridian and Zenith every evening.
There’s a steak option available each night, as well as dishes like pork belly, lamb and chicken. Pescatarians are also in for a treat – we ate a whole array of fish – salmon, seabass, cod and trout dishes regularly.
15/ The Art Gallery
This was another area aboard that we thought would be a bit of a damp squib, but actually turned into something really pleasant.
Arvia has a small art selection, a gallery curated by Clarendon Fine Arts. Of course, it’s a sales space, but we enjoyed making our way to dinner and noticing a new painting on the wall.
Another highlight was an exhibition featuring the Captain revealing a new piece of art (and it helped that anyone attending got a glass of fizz.)
16/ The Captain’s message
There was something quite charming about Captains Message every night before sail away. “Welcome home to Arvia….whether you’ve been on a shore excursion, exploring independently or staying closer to port..” we quickly became able to mimic it. But, there is something lovely about the pomp and ceremony of it.
17/ Beachcomber at Sail Away
We quickly realised that whilst the swimming pools tend to be mobbed during the day, they are much quieter from around four or five pm. Sunset and ‘sail away’ quickly became our favourite time to grab a sun downer in Beachcomber (deck 18) or swim in the pool.
18/ Hot Tubbing in the dark
After sun has set, most people head to their cabins to start getting ready for the evening. We loved commandeering a hot tub on deck – we would invariably find one to ourselves and just stare out to the inky sea beyond.
19/ Late lunching at The Quays
I’ll admit, when we heard they had street food onboard P&O’s Arvia – we guffawed a bit.
As travel bloggers, we have eaten street food in some amazing places, all around the world. So, the prospect of Katsu Curry onboard Arvia was not something we were sure about. But, I have to say, the food at The Quays became one of the biggest surprises for us.
As we returned to the boat, we loved finding a quiet table in The Quays for some fresh fish or an Asian dish – is it 100% authentic? No. But is it super tasty? Yes.
20/ Long breakfasts in Meridian
Meridian (deck 6) is one of the main à la carte restaurants on Arvia. It is open for breakfast, lunch and supper. On our first morning, we went for breakfast there and were disappointed – it was crowded, it took us about 10 minutes to get a coffee and the avocado on toast was a disaster.
Once we realised that it was best to avoid peak time (and always to order double eggs benedict with a side of smoked salmon), we snuck in for a few early or late breakfasts. For mornings when you aren’t in a rush, it’s a lovely way to start the day.
21/ Black Tie Nights
More black tie please. We loved seeing everyone getting dressed up – there was a lovely sense of festivity and occasion onboard every time the black tie came out.
22/ The drinks range
We were really pleased with the drinks range onboard, for the most part. The Glass House (deck 7) offers the best wine list if you wanted to try something different by the glass.
We did default quite often to both the white (colombard ugni blanc) and red (grenache syrah) house wines – which to our palates were absolutely delicious and very reasonably priced at £24.
Cocktails were also wide ranging – the classics like Margarita and Pina Colada were ideal for poolside drinking, as well as evening drinks like Negroni.
23/ Door sensors
Arvia is a new boat (she was delivered in 2022) and as such, has lots of great mod cons. One of which, are the automatic toilet door sensors – meaning, you can get into and out of a toilet on deck without touching the doors.
Not only are these hygienic, but they are also just quite cool. As one passenger said to me “I’m going to be so mortified when I get home and my bathroom door doesn’t do this.” Couldn’t agree more.
24/ Small design details
One of the things that really struck us about Arvia was the attention paid to small design details. Whether it was well placed seating in the Glass House, pleasant looking floor tiles or the art on the walls. The ship would feel totally different without the clever lighting and soft curves.
25/ Deck games at a quiet moment
Arvia has plenty of toys aboard – mini-golf, shuffleboard, ping pong, even a small basketball court. Whilst, I will admit that we didn’t use these facilities as much as we thought we would, we did enjoy a few quick games of quoits.
If you pick a quiet moment on deck (before supper usually), there are loads of fun activities on deck 17.
26/ Finding our tribe
Cruise ships can be as sociable as you make them, or choose not to. And, I will admit that we shied away from sharing tables and mingling too much – it was nice to know there was an option. I loved seeing fellow passengers strike up friendships.
And we also enjoyed occasionally finding our tribe – the independent travellers walking or taking local buses rather than taxiing, the shade seekers, the sunset swimmers and the late diners.
27/ The 12 noon message
At 12 noon on sea days, a voice from The Bridge would echo over the ship’s tannoy to give us a sailing update. It was a simple thing, but we loved hearing about our speed and direction, it just gave a nice sense of where we were and reminded us that we were indeed at sea.
28/ Hidden passages
Once we had found our feet onboard and worked out the difference between port and starboard, we started wandering until we found some lesser explored areas of the boat.
I will never forget John’s delight when he discovered the “secret passage” staircase from floor 17 (near The Epicurean) up to the beachcomber pool.
29/ Spotting wildlife
When at sea, there’s a chance to spot some wildlife. During one of our sea days, dolphins were spotted off the port side of the ship. Unfortunately we missed them, but we were treated to a display from two Magnificent Frigatebirds (I think) who were drafting above the boat.
30/ Sunsets
When in the Caribbean, it’s inevitable that sail away and the sunset tend to coincide. Subsequently, it’s a really special time to be on deck.
Sunsets at sea never got old. No two were ever quite the same, and they quickly became a quiet marker of the day ending.
Some evenings we watched from deck with a drink in hand, other nights from a hot tub or perched on a lounger as the light softened around us.
31/ Horizon Magazine
My inner geek absolutely adored the Horizon Magazine. A magazine delivered to your cabin on a daily basis setting out all you need to know about going ashore, events and dress codes for the following day.
I spent many an hour onboard contemplating how the staff organise the schedules and print the magazine – it fascinates me.
But even if you’re not as oddly interested as I am, you are bound to find the Horizon Magazine useful.
Written by Emma
Wine Lover. Yogi. Hiker. Writer.
British travel writer and long-distance hiker, native to Kent. Emma has walked the Camino de Santiago more than ten times, completed trails across Europe from the Corfu Trail to the Fisherman’s Trail, and covered thousands of kilometres on foot. She always writes from first-hand experience. Her goal? Inspire just one person to go on their first long-distance hike.
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