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Live On Board Arvia K316

DamianG

By DamianG,
in P&O Cruises ( UK )

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DamianG

DamianG

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Sunday 6th August

An extra early start to the day for us, we picked up the in-laws and set off just after 6:45am. On our approach to a break at Watford Gap services we started seeing warning signs that the A43 was closed to through traffic (MotoGP at Silverstone, who knew?) so we had a bit of a diversion through Buckingham but didn’t lose too much time, eventually arriving at Ocean Cruise Terminal at 11:52am. I dropped everyone off along with the luggage then drove on to meet Parking4Cruises. There were 2 cars being checked in before me, initially it looked like 3 but believe it or not a lady had driven her car to the wrong company parking space. As ever, as soon as I handed over the car keys the weight fell off my shoulders and I felt like I was truly on holiday.

 

Our allocated boarding time was 12pm and though our 13 year old son was given 2:45pm (as he is Atlantic Tier compared to our Caribbean status) there were no issues allowing him to board at the same time as us. There was a huge queue of passengers who had arrived before their allocated boarding time (almost stretching back the length of the taxi lane) but thankfully we bypassed this and were onboard at 12:20pm. The embarkation process was super quick and we were extremely grateful for our early embarkation time. We quickly checked in at our muster station in Zenith Restaurant then made our way to the upper tier and suite embarkation lunch in The Meridian. We have never seen such a busy embarkation lunch ever. It was really crowded with a queue to get in then a long line waiting for the self-serve buffet. I guess that the numbers are swollen by those in conservatory mini suites? The embarkation lunch often has mixed reviews but we enjoyed the chicken tikka masala curry and especially a few complimentary glasses of sparkling wine. Might as well start as you mean to go on.

 

There was no rush to leave so we took our time, eventually moving on around 1:50pm. We made our way up to deck 10 and as we helped the in-laws to find their cabin the “cabins available” announcement was made. We then moved on to our deluxe balcony cabin just a few doors down. It is a definitely an upgrade on cabin 14739 which we had on Iona last year (nothing wrong with that cabin at all by the way) and I’m certain we are going to appreciate the extra space in this one. Apparently there are 5800 passengers onboard (1200 under 18’s) so we may use our large balcony a lot more than usual.

 

We had the balcony door open and a few times we heard someone shout “Oy! Pack it in!” We guessed that this was in response to (presumably) kids throwing water over the edge of the infinity pool on Deck 16 aft onto the balconies below and later on we actually witnessed this ourselves.

 

There was a knock on the cabin door and Michelle went to answer. It was her mum and dad and the latter hesitated as he entered through the heavy door that Michelle was still holding. “Come on, are you in or out?” she said, at which point the lady in an electric wheelchair next door shouted “I’m doing my best!” Just bad timing and a misunderstanding as she was trying to leave her cabin at the same time but she laughed it off so no harm done. A little later another lady from the same cabin knocked on our door to ask if we had any power as nothing was working in their cabin. Michelle skilfully demonstrated how to place a card in the slot next to the door and hey presto, they had the wonder of electricity. Not long after at 3:30pm our first suitcase arrived.

 

All the while we were getting updates on their journey from my mum and sister who are joining us on a cruise for the first time ever. Unusually their coach left Leeds an hour later than normal (7:30am instead of the usual 6:30am) and the driver had been advised to wait at some nearby services before continuing the journey to the Ocean Terminal. They were finally onboard at 4:00pm having had 2 separate 90 minute stopovers in services just to ensure that the coach arrived at the terminal for its designated time slot (which apparently kept getting pushed back). Another knock on effect of huge ships with large capacities I guess? As much as it can be hard driving with a car load it still beats sitting around for hours on the coach for us (for now anyway). 4 adults, 1 teenager, 4 cases, 3 rucksacks, a rollator and a carrier bag of sweets made for a very heavy, fully rammed car but we got here safely, in good time, and believe it or not with no arguments or falling out. God bless Skoda.

 

By the way, this is mum’s first ever cruise, first time we’ve all sailed together (just missing sister’s partner), first two week holiday for us since 2019, and first time back in the Mediterranean since 2018. That’s enough firsts for now but there will be more to come as we sail along.

 

Our second suitcase arrived at 5:00pm and not long after everyone came to our cabin for the sail away. I always enjoy the sail down the Solent and having an aft cabin meant that we had the best of the views on both sides. We’d brought some prosecco and also had some complimentary champagne but yet again the mystery of extreme evaporation on the Solent was evidenced and before we knew it 2 bottles were empty. Not to worry though, after all we’ve been through as a family recently it was brilliant to have mum finally onboard with us and seemingly enjoying the whole experience.

 

We arranged to meet up in the Amber Lounge at 7:30pm with the idea being to book a dinner slot once everyone was there. We mistakenly thought that going to dinner a little later would work in our favour, and in any case we couldn’t pre-book a late slot on the My Holiday webpage anyway. Once everyone was there I was mortified to find that bookings were closed for Zenith, Meridian, The Olive Grove and the 6th Street Diner. I walked to the Meridian and was directed to a lady who was taking bookings and distributing pagers. She booked us in and advised the wait would be around 40 minutes. She then wanted to demonstrate how to book via the webpage but I assured her that I was familiar with it all and that online bookings were closed hence my visit.

 

As we sat waiting there was a pianist playing in the Atrium followed by a trapeze act that we could see when they were low down but kept disappearing out of sight due to the ceiling blocking our view. Talented though they were it wouldn’t really have been my thing anyway.

 

We had an interminable wait and after an hour I got us all up to go to Meridian and see what was going on. As we walked down the crowded corridor (due to people just milling about and getting in the way, not queueing) the buzzer went off (typical) so we were finally seated at 9pm. The first course was served at 9:15pm and I had chicken croquets for a starter (which if I’d been doing a blind tasting would have thought were fish cakes). I had lamb for my main which was very good as was the pork loin which Michelle chose. The waiter did not ask us to choose desserts until we had finished the main courses and I finished with the tiniest portion of cheese and biscuits ever, though as it was after 10pm by then that probably wasn’t a bad thing. Just as we were leaving a baby started crying and screaming in the restaurant so we were lucky with our timing.

 

After dinner we returned to the Amber lounge and saw 2 Spanish ladies putting on a performance titled “A Taste of Spain”. One played the guitar and the other demonstrated Flamenco dancing. It looked very good from a distance and they got a good reception from those sat near, however I can’t help but feel that the performance was probably lost on a lot of the other passengers in the Atrium. Whilst sat there we were never approached by any waiter for drinks orders but none of us were bothered anyway so only our tea wallah son had a drink from Vistas. We called it a day around 11pm.

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bee-ess

bee-ess

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi Damian

We were on Arvia in June and found it difficult to find anywhere to eat on the first night and ended up in the buffet. We like to eat at 8 to 8:30 and found that after the first night debacle that if we joined the MDR queues at 7:30 we got in OK somewhen between 8 and 8:45. After 5 days in we asked the waiters if we could have the same table every night at the same time and he said yes, so that may be worth asking the waiters (not the Managers that sit out the front), especially as you are a large group.

I would recommend you try to book some Club 710's if you get the chance, great entertainment. If you cannot get booked they start a queue from 30 mins before the show for people without reservations as there are always no-shows.

Sun beds were hard to get at the Infinity pool when we went  - 7pm was too late. I am an early riser so it was no problem for us to get beds. Be warned though, one random sea day morning they came round about 8:30 and cleared all the beds with towels and no-one sitting on them !

Have a great cruise!

 

Edited by bee-ess
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kalos

kalos

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, DamianG said:

made our way to the upper tier and suite embarkation lunch in The Meridian. We have never seen such a busy embarkation lunch ever. It was really crowded with a queue to get in then a long line waiting for the self-serve buffet.

 

Great to read your having a great time Damian . 

I wonder how many people who say they would never be seen in the buffet were queueing 

in the Meridian ( buffet ?)  🙃😉🤣  

 

Take care and enjoy  your cruise 😀 

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DamianG

DamianG

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12 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

Great to read your having a great time Damian . 

I wonder how many people who say they would never be seen in the buffet were queueing 

in the Meridian ( buffet ?)  🙃😉🤣  

 

Take care and enjoy  your cruise 😀 

 
The answer is at least 2 (Michelle and I). 😉

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TigerB "Live from...." Rare

TigerB

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the initial updates.🙂

 

So, you had an early arrival time, and they gave your 13yr son a much later arrival time, on his own?  That strikes me as a massive oversight by P&O, with little regard for safeguarding.

I should think so that they allowed him to board with you; I trust he was allowed to the lunch with you too.

 

Nice cabin!  Please report back if you have any night-time noise issues, with you being two decks above the Club House.

 

I look forward to your further reports. I hope you have a great cruise, particularly your Ma, on her first one. Incidentally, did you take a pineapple magnet for her door?🤭

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