Eastern Caribbean from Barbados, 14 February 2025 (14 nights)

Just back from a cruise on p&o Arvia. Couldn't fault it. Shows were brilliant as were the resident bands at the Clubhouse and Limelight venues. Plenty to keep the children happy. Our standard balcony cabin was very comfortable and the shower was much bigger than older p&o ships. Will probably try the sister ship Iona next.

the cabins and ship were well designed.

Arvia is a beautiful ship and she's still in great condition in her third year but the dining situation leaves a lot to be desired. After waiting nearly 2 hours for a table in the main dining room on the first night, we decided that we would use some of the speciality restaurants to make our holiday run more smoothly. We enjoyed some lovely meals at Keel & Cow, Beach House, Sindu, Limelight and Epicurean. We did the Chef's Table twice (2 sittings to book for this, far better than the manic freedom dining in the MDR) , Olive Grove (included) was ok but staff were very strict about what you could order e. g. they didn't allow guests to order a side salad if they'd ordered a main course, 6th Street Diner was lovely for brunch but doesn't open until 10am which is no good on port days. The entertainment was good but the Headliners shows were exactly the same as 2 years ago - Digital, Sky's The Limit, Festival and Greatest Days. Dean Stansby was ok but not great, Ruben Anthony sang quite a few songs in foreign languages which is not why we travel on P&O ( if we wanted this we'd travel with MSC!) but was entertaining. Liss Jones was excellent; her Pink and Taylor Swift tribute acts were great, as was her main show "The many voices of Liss Jones". We loved the 710 club and went most nights to see Will on the piano, Andy (superb guitarist) Sasha on the base and Luca on the drums; an amazing bunch of talented musicians. Faye Tozer of Steps fame was great in the Limelight Club during the first week, lovely chatty lady as well as a talented performer. However, surprise of the cruise was West End Star Jenna Lee-James, also in the Limelight Club, who we had never heard of but she was absolutely magnificent! Her note perfect performance was superb and I would urge anyone who gets the chance to go and see her. We did 2 P&O trips - St Tropez & Port Grimaud from Toulon, and Montserrat from Barcelona. Both were great although the latter would have been better had we set off earlier than the leisurely 12. 30pm departure (we arrived back on the ship 3 minutes before sail time!) We had a super time on Arvia but had to spend additional money on dining to make it so. However, the total cost for 2 weeks, including PAYG drinks and speciality dining was just over £3000 for 2 adults in a balcony cabin with coach transfers included so it was actually really excellent value for money.

Arvia is large ship it was kept very clean but was very full as we did not know it was school holiday. The weather was mixed but we were lucky with only rain in the evening. Getting off the ship was well organised & embarkation & disembarkation was good.