Arvia - Impressions from Maiden

[Camberley]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

 I wonder if Paul Ludlow ever worked in IT?😜

He has. And was very happy for 99.9% of his IT career 

[ElmaLee]

4 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

We were 10 on Britannia last year and each had to reserve separately.  Not sure if that was covid related or is still in place.

We were 11 on Azura in June.  The ‘app’ cannot accommodate such a large group - I think 6 was its max.  A brief word with manager at MDR on first night and we had a large table reserved for us every night for 7:15 pm.

We wanted to use Beach house on night.  Booked 4, 4 and 3 then went to manager to explain and were allocated two large adjacent tables.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

By then we will all have microchips implanted in our ears and our ear lobes will buzz and go bright red when the table is ready

 

(Some of us probably won't even notice the buzzing hence the need for the flashing red light so someone else nearby can tell us it's time to go and eat)

 

Ps if they ever do sort the dining system what else will we be able to queue for instead?

 

It's tradition on cruises to have to queue for something isn't it?

 

We were sitting in the bar with our pager.The sound started. Beep,beep,beep. I got up and got my toes run over by a reversing mobility scooter...Dangerous things those pagers.

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Did you watch Years and Years?  A very dangerous proposition that one!

I can auure you I'll be long gone before I'd accept microchips in my body.

Yes - utterly brilliant, on point and very scary series...

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Did you watch Years and Years?  A very dangerous proposition that one!

I can auure you I'll be long gone before I'd accept microchips in my body.

 

1 hour ago, yorkshirephil said:

Is that another cut back in the MDR?

Yes, it is Phil. Chips seemed in short supply in Aug/Sept on Aurora. Plenty of those skinny, tasteless french fries though...

[Britboys]

53 minutes ago, Camberley said:

He has. And was very happy for 99.9% of his IT career 

Brilliant 👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻

[Happy afloat]

I am Uncle Ethel.

I use a PC at work, in a limited capacity, have a smart phone and a tablet at home, and am happy to use them to the limit of my abilities. Emails, bit of shopping for stuff not available locally, that type of stuff. No idea how to upload, what a pdf is or what to do when they ask you to sign a form online. But I get by, and am capable of using the app.

But, we both still work, and so spend much of our time "on the clock". We don't want to have to do the same on holiday.

We've been on ten P&O cruises, and perhaps we have just been lucky, but before the introduction of the app that isn't, we don't recall any queues other than at reception.

IMHO.

(That's an abbreviation for "in my humble opinion "). Learnt that on the Internet....😉

 

[DamianG]

I just mentioned this thread to my wife and straight away her response was “It’s because there are only 2 MDRs on Arvia.”

 

 

[lincslady]

1 minute ago, DamianG said:

I just mentioned this thread to my wife and straight away her response was “It’s because there are only 2 MDRs on Arvia.”

 

 

Precisely.

[Interestedcruisefan]

2 hours ago, zap99 said:

We were sitting in the bar with our pager.The sound started. Beep,beep,beep. I got up and got my toes run over by a reversing mobility scooter...Dangerous things those pagers.

Not sure if that a joke or true!

 

Brilliant either way!!

 

Lol

[Interestedcruisefan]

2 hours ago, Britboys said:

Yes - utterly brilliant, on point and very scary series...

I need to watch this I think

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, DamianG said:

I just mentioned this thread to my wife and straight away her response was “It’s because there are only 2 MDRs on Arvia.”

 

 

But are they  big MDR's?

[Britboys]

1 minute ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I need to watch this I think

One of - if not the - best drama series I've ever seen on tv.

[Britboys]

1 minute ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

But are they  big MDR's?

The two smallest of the Iona equivalents but therefore obviously two fewer than on Iona. Perhaps they are going down the Aida route. From what I've seen of their ships, they have a number of mdr equivalents but they serve different menus...

[DamianG]

3 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

But are they  big MDR's?

I don’t know the answer to that but regardless of size it means a lot of passengers funnelling towards one entrance/reception area or the other on an evening such as Christmas Day when demand for the MDRs is high.

[Interestedcruisefan]

48 minutes ago, Britboys said:

One of - if not the - best drama series I've ever seen on tv.

You guys have sold it to me for sure

[No pager thank you]

3 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

But are they  big MDR's?

The 2 MDRs are similar in size to Iona.  The difference is that the two smaller MDR on Iona (Aqua and Opal, I believe) have been made in to the 6th Street Diner and The Olive Grove respectively. 

 

These two new choices do both offer a three course meal, but it will not be to the taste of some traditional diners, I.e., the 6th Street Diner has a juke box and reasonably loud music to add to the ambience/vibe of the place.  Similarly, The Olive Grove has a couple of menus which rotate, but not each day, like the MDR.  For balance, we liked the former, particularly for breakfast, not so much the latter, where the quality of the Mediterranean food was OK, but not on a par with middle-range price restaurants at home.

 

Going back to an earlier comment, on special occasions, like Christmas Day, it is estimated that around 95% of the guests on board would like a sit down meal in a MDR.  It is assumed that, on other days, this may slip to around 60-70% with the residual using either the buffet, or the paid for restaurants respectively.

 

So far, looking at the reviews of Arvia, and our own experiences, there appear to be a couple of issues:

 

1) Demand for the MDRs are still higher than 60-70%, meaning that, with the shortages of waiting on staff and capacity in the kitchens (also the available tables are not usually all in service), people are waiting longer than they used to for a meal, even though they all have "freedom."  It's the poor table allocation and use of the available physical capacity which adds to the queuing.

 

In terms of this issue, some people have suggested this is pushing the excess demand back to the paid for restaurant and buffet respectively, which helps to reduce costs and increase on-board income respectively.  Again, some people will be happy with this because of the cheaper fares.  I would suggest that, on the larger ships, this is what is actually going on, notably with the incremental but noticeable changes to the menu I.e., reduced "always available," options; smaller portions; reduced "premium choice" options in terms of fish and meats; slower service and no wine waiters; 20% on the wine; changes to the menu presentation to subtly dissuade you from choosing more than three courses.

 

2) As there is no option for "club dining," again, the passengers who would be happy with 8.30pm (second sitting) dining are being added to the general queue, unless they choose for 5.30-5.45pm dining, when you can book a table.  Again, this group don't seem to be changing preference towards "early 1st sitting," and most can't easily get same table same waiters each evening. This exaggerates the problem shown above.

 

3) There also appears to be an assumption that the family orientated atmosphere on Arvia and trying to help the company attract a younger demographic may mean that less people want formal dining, but it isn't happening like that just yet, nor on Iona.  More guests associate the good food and service as part of the expected cruise experience than what the company bargained for. 

 

In terms of earlier comments, club dining won't come back, more use of the app is inevitable, and walk in waiting will be kept, all because the aim appears to be to get people to avoid going to the MDR every evening.  If passengers do eventually switch their dining preferences, then the queues, virtual or otherwise, will go down.

[Ardennais]

I wonder whether dining patterns are different in the winter months?
 

Personally, we like the buffet in the summer as we spend more time on the balcony and on the decks. We also like to take our meal outside the buffet to enjoy the warm evenings. Looking back, our full day, really busy port visits have been in summer too (St P, Athens, Rome etc) and by the time we return to the ship, we just like to have a casual buffet meal outdoors. In the darker months, we’re normally back on board earlier and as it can be cold outdoors, we make more use of the MDR.

 

Another thing - we did like the afternoon tea in the MDR which mean a lighter evening meal, again in the buffet. 
 

It might therefore be the case that more passengers use the MDR in winter. Just a thought! 

[Interestedcruisefan]

4 hours ago, Ardennais said:

I wonder whether dining patterns are different in the winter months?
 

Personally, we like the buffet in the summer as we spend more time on the balcony and on the decks. We also like to take our meal outside the buffet to enjoy the warm evenings. Looking back, our full day, really busy port visits have been in summer too (St P, Athens, Rome etc) and by the time we return to the ship, we just like to have a casual buffet meal outdoors. In the darker months, we’re normally back on board earlier and as it can be cold outdoors, we make more use of the MDR.

 

Another thing - we did like the afternoon tea in the MDR which mean a lighter evening meal, again in the buffet. 
 

It might therefore be the case that more passengers use the MDR in winter. Just a thought! 

Great post 

 

Never considered using the buffet and  outdoor dining in the evenings

 

But that sounds quite appealing

[Megabear2]

6 hours ago, Ardennais said:

I wonder whether dining patterns are different in the winter months?
 

Personally, we like the buffet in the summer as we spend more time on the balcony and on the decks. We also like to take our meal outside the buffet to enjoy the warm evenings. Looking back, our full day, really busy port visits have been in summer too (St P, Athens, Rome etc) and by the time we return to the ship, we just like to have a casual buffet meal outdoors. In the darker months, we’re normally back on board earlier and as it can be cold outdoors, we make more use of the MDR.

 

Another thing - we did like the afternoon tea in the MDR which mean a lighter evening meal, again in the buffet. 
 

It might therefore be the case that more passengers use the MDR in winter. Just a thought! 

Arvia is on her way to the Caribbean so we will soon find out .

[Megabear2]

7 hours ago, No pager thank you said:

The 2 MDRs are similar in size to Iona.  The difference is that the two smaller MDR on Iona (Aqua and Opal, I believe) have been made in to the 6th Street Diner and The Olive Grove respectively. 

 

These two new choices do both offer a three course meal, but it will not be to the taste of some traditional diners, I.e., the 6th Street Diner has a juke box and reasonably loud music to add to the ambience/vibe of the place.  Similarly, The Olive Grove has a couple of menus which rotate, but not each day, like the MDR.  For balance, we liked the former, particularly for breakfast, not so much the latter, where the quality of the Mediterranean food was OK, but not on a par with middle-range price restaurants at home.

 

Going back to an earlier comment, on special occasions, like Christmas Day, it is estimated that around 95% of the guests on board would like a sit down meal in a MDR.  It is assumed that, on other days, this may slip to around 60-70% with the residual using either the buffet, or the paid for restaurants respectively.

 

So far, looking at the reviews of Arvia, and our own experiences, there appear to be a couple of issues:

 

1) Demand for the MDRs are still higher than 60-70%, meaning that, with the shortages of waiting on staff and capacity in the kitchens (also the available tables are not usually all in service), people are waiting longer than they used to for a meal, even though they all have "freedom."  It's the poor table allocation and use of the available physical capacity which adds to the queuing.

 

In terms of this issue, some people have suggested this is pushing the excess demand back to the paid for restaurant and buffet respectively, which helps to reduce costs and increase on-board income respectively.  Again, some people will be happy with this because of the cheaper fares.  I would suggest that, on the larger ships, this is what is actually going on, notably with the incremental but noticeable changes to the menu I.e., reduced "always available," options; smaller portions; reduced "premium choice" options in terms of fish and meats; slower service and no wine waiters; 20% on the wine; changes to the menu presentation to subtly dissuade you from choosing more than three courses.

 

2) As there is no option for "club dining," again, the passengers who would be happy with 8.30pm (second sitting) dining are being added to the general queue, unless they choose for 5.30-5.45pm dining, when you can book a table.  Again, this group don't seem to be changing preference towards "early 1st sitting," and most can't easily get same table same waiters each evening. This exaggerates the problem shown above.

 

3) There also appears to be an assumption that the family orientated atmosphere on Arvia and trying to help the company attract a younger demographic may mean that less people want formal dining, but it isn't happening like that just yet, nor on Iona.  More guests associate the good food and service as part of the expected cruise experience than what the company bargained for. 

 

In terms of earlier comments, club dining won't come back, more use of the app is inevitable, and walk in waiting will be kept, all because the aim appears to be to get people to avoid going to the MDR every evening.  If passengers do eventually switch their dining preferences, then the queues, virtual or otherwise, will go down.

Thank you, a most interesting perspective from someone who has actually sailed on the ship!

 

I note your observation that the families in particular were expected to move away from the main dining rooms to the more casual eating establishments.  Having come across the thread from cruisemummy regarding her experience on the Arvia maiden I wonder if the misconception made by P&O is that they thought families would gravitate towards the more "junk food" end of the food onboard?  Looking at the menus posted there for those restaurants I would imagine that many responsible parents would use these restaurants as a once or twice treat but would not be keen on allowing their children to eat the food offered for more than that.

 

In my experience most modern mums wouldn't want to feed their children a repetitive diet of chips etc.  I’ve no children or grandchildren personally but am surrounded by family and friends with children ranging from a month old to university age and all of them would I think view 6th Street Diner and Olive Grove menus as treats not regular meals for a fortnight's holiday.

 

Hopefully this link won't get me in trouble and is allowed.  It goes into quite a lot of the menus.

 

https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/po-arvia-restaurants/

Edited January 21, 2023 by Megabear2

[Sonyar]

We're flying out to join Arvia today and don't plan on using the MDR at all. 

As  Vegans we don't find it very good. We've a couple of bookings for Green & Co which we're excited about. 

Can't wait to get some Winter sun on this amazing new ship.

[Snow Hill]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Arvia is on her way to the Caribbean so we will soon find out .

Given it is term time, I would have thought there would be less families onboard as well, so this might skew the eating preferences as well. 

[Eglesbrech]

4 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

Given it is term time, I would have thought there would be less families onboard as well, so this might skew the eating preferences as well. 

Good point. In the low season the ships always did had a lot of more mature pax so possibly “traditional” cruisers.

 

Personally I have seldom if ever eaten an evening meal in a buffet, I like to dress for dinner and be served. I think many people of my generation will be similar. Put them all on one ship at one time and you automatically have queues for the MDR if the ships flow is designed around use of other venues as well.

 

 

[Megabear2]

11 minutes ago, Sonyar said:

We're flying out to join Arvia today and don't plan on using the MDR at all. 

As  Vegans we don't find it very good. We've a couple of bookings for Green & Co which we're excited about. 

Can't wait to get some Winter sun on this amazing new ship.

Have a great cruise.