Live On Board Arvia K316

[Megabear2]

In conversation with P&O executive office after my Arvia cruise they indicated 1hr 30min + 15 minutes "overrun" was the aim for dining.  It was given as allowing 15 mins turnaround during which people would be virtually called.

 

It was explained that's why they asked for all three courses at once.  My experience was an average 2 hrs with considerable overrun on top if you wanted tea/coffee and also large shared tables over ran.much more from odd people hanging around from early dining - my reservations were for 6.00pm and 6.15pm.

[DamianG]

19 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

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

I am a light sleeper and have not noticed any noise from the club lounge 2 decks below whatsoever. 

[Dermotsgirl]

58 minutes ago, DamianG said:

 
I am extremely conscious that it’s early in the cruise so things may change but I have my doubts. It’s very different from our experience on Iona in April 2022 but that cruise was circa 2/3 full so naturally there was a higher proportion of crew to passengers. Doubtless it’s a difficult balancing act for the company to have sufficient crew for the busier cruises and not too many for the quieter ones and I have no idea regards whether staffing levels in general are rigid or fluid. 
 

As for our dining choices, it’s tricky trying to agree venues etc to suit everyone but the one thing we all have in common is that we don’t wish to eat too early. With that in mind it’s frustrating that on both evenings so far the virtual crews have closed before we have had a chance to look, and even if we check throughout the day there is no option for later bookings. 
 

Anyway onwards and upwards, fingers crossed for tonight.

I was reading an Arvia blog ‘elsewhere’ a few weeks ago - the blogger was in a party of 6, and said that the maitre d’ of one of the dining rooms had given them a fixed table at 8pm every night because the maitre d’ ‘liked’ them. I rather suspect that money may have exchanged hands, but I was wondering if it was worth you asking if this was possible for your party. 
 

They must want people to use the virtual queues, so it seems bizarre that they close the queues so early - it just means more people having to mill around at the entrance to the dining rooms as they try to get a pager.

 

At this point, I think I’d be feeling slightly dispirited by the situation, so I hope it becomes easier for you as the cruise progresses.  On the positive side, the actual dining experience, once you are seated, looks great. 

[bee-ess]

30 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I was reading an Arvia blog ‘elsewhere’ a few weeks ago - the blogger was in a party of 6, and said that the maitre d’ of one of the dining rooms had given them a fixed table at 8pm every night because the maitre d’ ‘liked’ them. I rather suspect that money may have exchanged hands, but I was wondering if it was worth you asking if this was possible for your party. 
 

They must want people to use the virtual queues, so it seems bizarre that they close the queues so early - it just means more people having to mill around at the entrance to the dining rooms as they try to get a pager.

 

At this point, I think I’d be feeling slightly dispirited by the situation, so I hope it becomes easier for you as the cruise progresses.  On the positive side, the actual dining experience, once you are seated, looks great. 

In June, we asked our waiter for a fixed table for 4 for 8PM every night and got it OK

[AndyLovesCruises]

21 hours ago, DamianG said:

The extra space of our deluxe balcony cabin.

 

Love this larger room, what would I ask for when booking?  The cat's online are balcony or deluxe balcony but this extra space looks superb! 

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, DamianG said:

Reversing into Coruna early this morning. Note the guys in the jacuzzi at 7:50am!

 

 

 

Maybe they're using the jacuzzi instead of having a shower...😱

[Britboys]

4 hours ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

Thanks for a really entertaining and interesting travelogue, which I am following with interest.  I can't help but wonder whether long waits / queues for dining on these ships are partly a result of erroneous assumptions about how long passengers would take over their meals.  It would be very interesting to know when they were doing their throughput and flow calculations when designing these ships how long P&O estimated passengers would spend having dinner in one of the non-MDR 'casual' eateries, especially the no-cost ones.  Perhaps they assumed that dinner in Olive Grove, the Diner etc would be on average a one hour event and based their calculations on that?  If they did but, in reality, many passengers, like you, spend nearly two hours (roughly the same time as they would spend in the MDR?) the number of times they can turn over each table in these restaurants and thus the overall number of pax they can handle per evening would be reduced significantly.  Hence the queues.

 

This is in no way a criticism of your (or anyone else's) dining habits!  But, it might explain some of the long waits for tables that still seem to be happening.

Also, as has been said before, on Arvia there are only two mdr's as opposed to four on Iona. I should think this will definitely have some effect...

[thornegirl]

48 minutes ago, AndyLovesCruises said:

Love this larger room, what would I ask for when booking?  The cat's online are balcony or deluxe balcony but this extra space looks superb! 

There are only 8 ED grade super deluxe cabins on Iona and Arvia decks 10,11,12 & 14, 2 on each deck next to suites.  4 EE grade super deluxe cabins on deck 9 and 15.

The EE grade are cheaper but are the same size, Its because of location on deck 9 you are right above the clubhouse and its noisy.  Deck 15 you have the sundeck right above you so could be noise from sunbeds being moved and the balcony looks completely covered by the overhang.

 

We had ED grade cabin on deck 14 on Arvia, it was fabulous.  You can see a video of this on Youtube to give you an idea of the size.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Following along as we are on Arvia on 20th Aug. Really looking forward to seeing P&O as our usual choice is Royal. Thanks for the updates. 

[Peanut006]

2 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Following along as we are on Arvia on 20th Aug. Really looking forward to seeing P&O as our usual choice is Royal. Thanks for the updates. 

Me too. We would usually choose Royal if we are taking our grandchildren, we are on Arvia TA in March(no grandchildren) so I will be having a good look around as from what I have read it looks very family friendly and probably a lot cheaper than Royal

 

Michelle

[Vampiress88]

Loving reading this. 
we are on Arvia in feb

[Waju]

I'm loving reading this too DamianG, you write really well.

 

I do have some concerns though - we've been on Iona a couple of times when she sailed far from full  and I was really surprised how much I enjoyed the larger ship.  I thought we might try Arvia one day - maybe out of school holidays - but the talk of queueing to get into dining rooms, booking (or trying to book on the app) and using pagers worries me!  I'm supposed to be on holiday and probably just an old f*rt but I want to leave my phone in the safe until I get to a port.

 

I'm just better suited to MDR's that offer club dining so I know what time I'm eating and where my table will be 🙂 

[bee-ess]

33 minutes ago, Waju said:

I'm loving reading this too DamianG, you write really well.

 

I do have some concerns though - we've been on Iona a couple of times when she sailed far from full  and I was really surprised how much I enjoyed the larger ship.  I thought we might try Arvia one day - maybe out of school holidays - but the talk of queueing to get into dining rooms, booking (or trying to book on the app) and using pagers worries me!  I'm supposed to be on holiday and probably just an old f*rt but I want to leave my phone in the safe until I get to a port.

 

I'm just better suited to MDR's that offer club dining so I know what time I'm eating and where my table will be 🙂 

You sound like me !

We have been on nearly 50 cruises and Arvia in June was our first Freedom dining ever and I must admit we did not really like it. I don't think it is as bad on the other ships as Arvia, our first night we could not get in anywhere and ended up in the buffet, My problem is that you have to guess when to join the queues to eat when you want to, we did eventually manage to get a fixed table and time after about 5 days. Like you I realise that we are fixed dining people but how much longer that will last, who knows. We are back on Arvia again in February, we tried to change to Britannia but the increase in cost was too much as we had a good price for Arvia.

I must say that apart from the faffing about with the dining we loved everything else on the ship and hopefully we learned enough in June to deal with Feb better.

Edited August 9, 2023 by bee-ess

[DamianG]

Happy Wednesday

 

 

[Waju]

31 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

You sound like me !

We have been on nearly 50 cruises and Arvia in June was our first Freedom dining ever and I must admit we did not really like it. I don't think it is as bad on the other ships as Arvia, our first night we could not get in anywhere and ended up in the buffet, My problem is that you have to guess when to join the queues to eat when you want to, we did eventually manage to get a fixed table and time after about 5 days. Like you I realise that we are fixed dining people but how much longer that will last, who knows. We are back on Arvia again in February, we tried to change to Britannia but the increase in cost was too much as we had a good price for Arvia.

I must say that apart from the faffing about with the dining we loved everything else on the ship and hopefully we learned enough in June to deal with Feb better.

The thing is we're supposed to be on holiday and not faffing about trying to find somewhere to eat.  I may as well be in a B&B in Margate (other seaside towns are available 😀) and wandering around looking for the nearest 'spoons!

[FamilyCruiserUK]

14 hours ago, Peanut006 said:

Me too. We would usually choose Royal if we are taking our grandchildren, we are on Arvia TA in March(no grandchildren) so I will be having a good look around as from what I have read it looks very family friendly and probably a lot cheaper than Royal

 

Michelle

Agreed. We have a 9 yr old so Royal (Oasis) with the water slides and more childrens stuff is our usual go too. But like you said Royals prices over this side of the pond are silly expensive. Also flying to the states during school holidays again is silly expensive even though cruises over there are much cheaper. 

[Megabear2]

Damian, may I ask if you know if they are operating the 50% bookings in advance for the MDR that was meant to commence last month?  If so it doesn't seem to be helping with the availability in the MDRs on the app.

[DamianG]

Tuesday 8^th August

 

One thing I forgot to mention about the previous night was that as we were making our way back to the cabin we bumped into the 2 ladies from the suite next door and they looked lost. I was a little ahead of Michelle and Kyle and when I saw them in the aft lift lobby on deck 10 I said hello then “You’re in the cabin next to us, come on it’s this way.” They were a little worse for wear and hesitated until Michelle said the same thing then the penny dropped. They clearly recognised Michelle but not me (just another bald bloke or maybe they saw her and thought “Ah yes, the electrician!”). Maybe I shouldn’t have been so forward but it gave us all a laugh and we had a bit of a chat with them before saying our goodnights at our respective cabin doors.

 

I slept well and woke a little later at 5am then did my usual dozing and waking up until 7:40am. Michelle and I both felt like we had a bit of a sore throat developing so we have decided to turn the air conditioning up one notch from arctic level to see if that helps. The down side is that I am now expecting to melt overnight in the traditional 1000 tog P&O duvet.

 

I slightly opened the curtains and was immediately blinded by the sunrise over A Coruña so I quickly closed them with the intention of getting dressed and going out to take some photos. I only took a few minutes to get ready but even that wasn’t quick enough as the ship had already turned 180 degrees and was now reversing steadily into port. I should have just gone out in my pyjamas like several other aft cabin early risers that I saw, and for once I was jealous of those in suites with the included bath robe. Then again I’d have probably been too warm anyway. I checked the time (7:50am) and noticed that there were a handful of passengers in the sunset bar area deck 8 aft including 2 chaps in a jacuzzi. It’s one way to start your day I guess. We didn’t really have much vibration as we moved sideways to dock and it was all completed in just under 20 minutes.

 

Although we were up early we didn’t rush Kyle and let him wake up in his own time. We missed the 9:30am cut off for breakfast in one of the main dining rooms so we went to the Quays instead (thus proving that we are hypocritical buffet snobs after all). It was a little busy but the queue for the self-serve cooked breakfast items moved reasonably quickly. There are multiple seating areas for the Quays including outside and though it always looks busy immediately opposite the serving stations there always seems to be plenty of room slightly further away opposite Sindhu (just don’t tell anyone). The cooked breakfast choice is more or less the same as what is available in the Horizon restaurant. The sausage is far superior to those available in the MDR’s (for our taste anyway) and the coffee seems super strong which doesn’t suit me but doubtless others will love it. I particularly like the easy access to condiments including actual bottles of HP sauce. Kyle was not happy at the lack of Rice Krispies or Frosties but did well with some croissants and a chocolate muffin.

 

After breakfast we got our sun spray on and headed ashore. It was already warm and we were grateful for the shaded alleyways in the shopping area just over the main road opposite the dock. We’ve been here plenty of times before and just had a simple plan to visit a few favourite shops mainly in search of collectables for Kyle. We tried to give him a bit of responsibility for planning the route and to be fair he did identify the relevant shops via Google maps but soon defaulted back to us doing the navigating. It only took around 10 minutes from our cabin to the first shop then we found our way around to all the right places with no wrong turns and also called in a Farmacia to buy him a toothbrush after someone forgot to pack his. (To be fair, he brushed his teeth after I’d already packed the wash bag but though she never actually said it doubtless Michelle was thinking “You had one job…..”).

 

It was pretty hot (circa 30 degrees centigrade) and Kyle wasn’t happy that we made a detour to the beach for the obligatory photo which must include the Riazor football stadium. Typically Kyle just wanted to get back onboard and we caved in as usual (though that’s better than having a grumpy teenager on your hands whilst trying to enjoy a drink or some lunch ashore). We called in the duty free shop as we passed through the cruise terminal (you don’t have much choice really) and unlike last time we were here there was no sign of Stuart Pearce shopping in there. Gutted.

 

Back on board we went straight to Vistas for some drinks. Kyle had his usual tea but was mortified that I hadn’t asked for a takeaway (not deliberate on my part, honestly). Anyway he sat there and polished off the full pot and it was nice just sitting there and people watching for a bit (even if the loud gobby woman sat opposite eventually got too much for Michelle). When we returned to our cabin I decided to put on the TV to check our onboard account but all I kept getting was a black screen. Eventually I rang reception and somehow they were able to remotely reboot it and get it working again. Personally I thought that was incredible.

 

We decided to have fish and chips in the Quays for lunch and sadly so did a lot of other people so we found ourselves queueing again. Michelle’s parents arrived at the same time so we helped them get their lunch though somehow mother in law ended up with mushy peas instead of curry sauce. To quote P Diddy, it wasn’t me. I asked for the pickled onions which turned out to be pickled and sliced red onion. That’s certainly different from the traditional pickled onions I expected but to be fair they were pretty good. The fish was excellent and the chips were well cooked but pretty chunky and afterwards I was glad that we had brought some Gaviscon.

 

As ever Kyle wanted to return to the cabin after lunch but with a combination of sun and shade on our balcony we were able to sit outside and avoid getting claustrophobic. Needless to say I made sure that we were “hydrated” throughout the afternoon whilst enjoying our balcony. There was supposed to be a DJ playing in the Sunset Bar 2 decks below but if there was then all we heard was a series of bland numbers which all sounded a bit samey with most not having any lyrics. I like to think that I have a very wide musical taste but I didn’t recognise a single track.

 

Several times during the afternoon there were shouts from balconies above us as there were kids throwing water out of the infinity pool again. One chap on his balcony finally got an adult above to acknowledge him. I don’t know if it was a parent or someone from P&O but eventually it stopped and he gave them a thumbs up. About an hour later it started again. Fortunately we are out of range for the waterfalls but I really feel for those in aft cabins which are.

 

It seemed to get hotter throughout the afternoon and we stayed in the shade of our balcony throughout. I went to get us some drinks just before the sail away and Michelle asked for a prosecco but I fancied a change. As I made my order I remembered having Pims sail away events on the P&O of old and ordered myself one. When I got back to the cabin Michelle was disappointed that I hadn’t got one for her as well.

 

All aboard was scheduled for 4:30pm and at 4:25pm Captain Paul Brown made his pre-departure announcement. Does anyone else think that he sounds like Josh Widdicombe or is that just me? Captain Brown advised that they were almost ready but just waiting for the last 1 or 2 passengers to board. There’s always someone isn’t there? Anyway we soon got going and as ever we really enjoyed taking in the sights as we made our way out to the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Captain Brown made one further announcement to suggest that we look out for the Torre de Hércules which we were reminded is the oldest known lighthouse dating back to the first century. We’ve actually visited the sight of this previously but I’ll admit I’d forgotten that.

 

We’d earlier checked out the main dining room dinner menu and our eyes were immediately drawn to one particular item on the dessert choices which made it a winner regardless of whatever else was available for starters and mains. We therefore arranged to meet everyone else at the Glass House on deck 7 at 7pm so that we could try get in the Zenith restaurant on the same deck. We must have repeated “7 at 7” about a dozen times.

 

Michelle, Kyle and I arrived at the Glass House at 6:45pm and sat in a nice, quiet corner which was partly partitioned off (albeit with see through partitions). The down side is that this made us invisible to the waiters but we eventually flagged one down and Michelle and I tried some glasses of Boom Boom Syrah as recommended by some cruise vloggers that we watch on YouTube. Very nice it was too.

 

I tried to book dinner on the My Holiday webpage at 6:50pm and yet again I got the response that online booking was closed for every MDR. I therefore walked along to Zenith and was immediately attended to by Love Joy (a very nice lady working on the Zenith reception, not Ian McShane, though doubtless he is lovely in person too). Love Joy first of all was keen to learn how to correctly pronounce my surname, then she asked if I’d tried to book via the online booking service. She then checked the system and advised that for a large table there would be a wait of around an hour, or possibly longer, maybe as late as 8:30pm, and would I mind taking a pager. I readily agreed and strolled back to the Glass House. About a minute after I’d sat down the pager buzzed! Great news but you really couldn’t make this up.

 

Michelle and Kyle went off to try intercept her parents as we knew they would be coming down the aft lifts, and I waited in the Atrium for my mum and sister. Once they arrived we strolled on and a different receptionist said that she knew where the rest of our party were sat (“Kyle, right?” she said) and then arranged for a waiter to escort us there. It wouldn’t have been easy to find them on our own but our escort didn’t seem to know exactly where the table was. It didn’t matter as he got us into the right vicinity then we did the rest.

 

We were immediately given menus and I asked our waiter what “Pho Soup” is. He said that he didn’t know but that his senior colleague would be able to help us. From then onwards our senior waiter did most of the order taking and serving, and very good he was too, really friendly and nothing was any trouble for him.

 

A lot of our party chose pate for a starter and it looked like a very thin slice of game pie. They all enjoyed it which is all that matters of course. I had avocado on Spanish bread which was an improvement on last year (on Iona) when the avocado was like a block of ice. I also had the mystery Pho Soup (well described by our senior waiter as an Asian beef broth like a consommé) which was perfectly nice but I could take it or leave it in future. For a main I had veal which to my very average palate was like a couple of slices of pork loin. The dauphinoise potatoes were good but I left most of the root vegetables (and I’m usually a good boy who clears my plate).

 

I didn’t need to revisit the menu for my dessert choice, rum and raisin ice cream, which was always a bit of a treat when I was growing up. It’s my all-time favourite and always will be. No surprise that mum and sister chose the same and we all enjoyed it. There was a long delay for desserts but it really didn’t bother us so again it was a leisurely dinner that took around 2 hours.

 

After dinner we returned to the Glass House, sat in exactly the same place and were served immediately. Eventually another group sat next to us, then a little later another largish group sat next to them. It turned out that they were both from the same part of the country and the 2 matriarchs started shouting across to each other sharing their tales and who they knew etc. It all got extremely loud, especially for mum and I who were sat closest to them, so much so that it set off my occasional tinnitus. Eventually I offered to walk mum back to her cabin whilst my sister finished her drink. Once I got back we didn’t last much longer so we called it a day around 10:30pm. Back in the cabin Kyle put a movie on the TV but I have no idea if he watched it all or what time he turned it off.

Edited August 9, 2023 by DamianG

[DamianG]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Damian, may I ask if you know if they are operating the 50% bookings in advance for the MDR that was meant to commence last month?  If so it doesn't seem to be helping with the availability in the MDRs on the app.

 

Hi MB, I've no idea but we did get some information this morning which will help us understand booking to suit our needs going forwards. I'll see how it plays out this evening then report back as usual. 

 

Just in general, for anyone reading this please don't get too hung up on our dining situation which may be unique to our circumstances. The suggestions are appreciated but not all will work for us (basically we are trying to remain flexible to suit everyone despite the old phrase "you can't please everybody all of the time").

[DamianG]

23 hours ago, Britboys said:

Maybe they're using the jacuzzi instead of having a shower...😱

 

🤣

Edited August 9, 2023 by DamianG

[DamianG]

On 8/8/2023 at 1:27 PM, AndyLovesCruises said:

Love this larger room, what would I ask for when booking?  The cat's online are balcony or deluxe balcony but this extra space looks superb! 

 

As advised by @thornegirl this is ED grade cabin, in our case 10742.

 

We particularly like that the wardrobes are not squashed in next to the bed or sofa.

 

This is the same grade on sister ship Iona:

 

 

[DamianG]

Torre de Hércules

 

Edited August 9, 2023 by DamianG

[DamianG]

Love the interactive map on the cabin TV showing our “complex” itinerary.

 

 

[DamianG]

A recurring theme…

 

[Megabear2]

53 minutes ago, DamianG said:

A recurring theme…

 

Oh dear.  I'd hoped they'd sorted this out.