Despite little niggles and a disastrous Christmas Day this was still an excellent cruise on a brand new ship. Great food and great staff. Thoroughly enjoyed our holiday.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Very smooth as usual. Bit of queuing in the car but to be expected with that many passengers.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Superb as usual. Ship understaffed generally but waiters were great and did their best, with a smile
The Beach House
4 out of 5
The Beach House menu has changed slightly on this ship due to American food being offered in the Diner. The Beach House offers more Caribbean and Mexican flavours but is still well worth a visit. Especially the hanging fish skewer. Extra charge.
Anderson's Bar
5 out of 5
Great bar with a ‘gentleman’s club’ vibe consisting of wingback chairs, sofas and subdued lighting. Come here for a wide range of rum, borrow a board game or to leaf through a reference book
The Keel and Cow
5 out of 5
Larger plates here including a tomahawk steak for 2 and a T-bone steak. Wonderful duck bao buns for starters. So good the husband had them for his main as well. Extra charge.
Epicurean
5 out of 5
Excellent fine dining venue. Spacious tables and crisp white linen. Sumptuous and elegantly presented dishes served with reverence and knowledge by the staff. Afternoon tea available here too. On a par with both Cliveden and The Savoy. Extra charge.
Meridian
4 out of 5
Meridian and Zenith are the two main dining rooms. Full English breakfast and continental provided. Couldn’t get in either of these restaurants for dinner during our 2 week cruise. IT issues and long waits seem to have been the problem.
Mizuhana
5 out of 5
With Green & Co. Sushi and plant-based food. Quite honestly one of the best meals we had. A bit of a surprise and well worth a visit. Extra charge.
The Olive Garden
4 out of 5
Mediterranean style food here including Greek meze, lasagne, fritto misto and baklava. No charge.
The Glass House
5 out of 5
Tapas style light bites and bigger plates with a choice of meat/seafood done three ways. All served with a recommended wine by Ollie Smith. Love this place. Extra charge.
Sindhu
5 out of 5
Not your typical Indian cuisine - you won’t find a vindaloo here. Tasty fare with a twist. Extra charge.
Ripples
5 out of 5
Great variety of ice cream including an ice cream afternoon tea. Chocolate waffle cones too. Extra charge.
6th Street Diner
4 out of 5
Small menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. American fare including chicken and waffles, steak and eggs, and chicken burger. Breakfast until 10am so great if you want a lie in. No charge.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Mini golf and high ropes climbing were a great addition to this ship. Not too busy either. 6 whirlpools (3 on either side of the ship) were well used although I suspect they would be very popular in a warmer climate and therefore probably not available much. Bigger jacuzzi in the sunset bar at the back. 2 infinity pools overlooking the rear of the ship. Very popular with the families as bit of a sun trap. Very well stocked gym with elliptical, treadmills, bikes, weights and other resistance equipment. Spin bike and other fitness classes available at extra charge.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Very limited on this cruise - just comedians and singers; so no Headliners cast doing show numbers. Suspect this was due to the maiden cruise being rushed through and limited time for rehearsals. Should be better on later cruises. One plus though was Ronan Keating did 4 shows over 2 days. He was great!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Did their utmost best in difficult circumstances. Never waited too long for a drink.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Very clean and open plan. Well laid out and didn’t take us too long to find our way around.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Bit narrower than cabins on Britannia but setup is the same. No drawers at all, not even in the desk or bedside tables. USB sockets though in bedside lights are inspired as only 2 other sockets available. Unless they sort the creaking, don’t have a starboard cabin - movement of the ship causes ceaseless creaking from the upper decks making it difficult to sleep and to sit on the balcony. Loads of storage space in bathroom and great shower. We had a room which had two extra beds - drop down bunk and sofa bed. We had a corner balcony which meant it was 3 times the normal size. Overlooked by a few other balconies but not a problem.
Ship tip
Book the speciality restaurants before you go. They fill up quickly. Put your preconceptions aside and try Green & Co - you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Try The Quays for fish and chips, Asian curry and Yorkshire pudding wraps - all free too. They also do breakfast - waffles and pancakes, fresh omelettes and full English (with fried bread)
Been to Cadiz before and was not impressed so elected for Seville instead. Lovely old town and cathedral. Great tapas bar just off the square, first on the right!
Utter shambles, again due to understaffing and problems unloading the luggage. Got off the ship 1 1/2 hours after our time slot and waited another 1 1/2 hours to retrieve our suitcases. One plus point was that by the time we got out there wasn’t a queue to get out of the car park.
Thanks for sharing your cruise we r going on this cruise in a few weeks so excited been on Iona but people been saying it the exact same as Iona pics don't look much the same but Arvia Is a quick little copy of Iona but better with Stuff to do as Arvia has high ropes and mission control but Iona has just pools and kid club adults can't do kids club obviously 🤣 But Iona is a nice cruise aswel, Can't wait until the few weeks r over!
Can prebook speciality restaurants about 2 weeks before embarking, but not all. We booked Sindhu and Epicurean. Can book certain entertainment too. Recommend using the My Holiday portal as soon as you get on board to book other restaurants. Can do at reception but usually find queues are long for the first couple of days. Portal really easy to use. Only a couple of glitches during the 14 days.
Never got confirmation of the booking we had made for the second sitting on Christmas Day before we sailed. Thought it would be in the cabin when we embarked but it wasn’t. No indication as to what to do or where to go to sort it out. 3 hour queues at reception for first 2 days so no hope of finding out there. Ended up queuing for 1 1/2 hours for dinner. Got in MDR at 9.30pm. Bland, cold and tasteless food (so unlike P&O). Finished at midnight. No fault of staff. Suspect it was management thinking they could feed 2000 people in the 2 hours between sittings. Put it behind us and enjoyed the rest of the cruise. Think it made the papers back in UK.
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