Day 3 of our Arvia maiden cruise was Christmas Day! Links to our Arvia content are attached below. Arvia Promenade Walkthrough - th-cam.com/video/a2IliTcuFmk/w-d-xo.html Arvia Ultimate Ship Tour - th-cam.com/video/7_Zqj0Ni40A/w-d-xo.html Arvia Inside Cabin Tour - th-cam.com/video/NA-agtNwImY/w-d-xo.html
We were onboard for Christmas. We had a lovely time with lots of activities for the kids on the day. We missed breakfast with the craziness of opening presents and went to the service in the headliner (lots to sing along to). We headed to 6th street at about 1130 and to say there’s a big group of us they seated us straight away and had lovely food! Christmas dinner we were in the meridian so it took a while to be seated maybe 20minutes but we had a lovely waiter and got all our meal in the correct order. Only downside for me is lack of brussels and just veg generally as I’d rather more veg than other parts. Everything else was good. The queue wasn’t nice as lots of people pushing past so not nice when you have small kids your having to stop getting stood on. Think they improved with the dining over the next few days but when they have to show people to their table it’s bound to take longer than when after the first night people knew where their table was on other ships. Personally it didn’t spoil Christmas the kids had a great time and that was important to us. Plus jacuzzis on Christmas Day was great. New years was brilliant though
Thanks for sharing your day! We appreciate the feedback! 😀 for us Christmas Day was a little bit disappointing but on the whole we really enjoyed our Arvia cruise, and yes New Years Eve was amazing 🤩
Well done you two. Very good explanation etc. Always impressive reviews. My wife and I are looking forward to being on Arvia beginning of May. Cheers Bill
Great vlog as always I’m pleased you managed to sum-up Christmas Day on Arvia well I’m afraid had an awful evening (pre Dinner crush) at the Meridian restaurant! I ran from the queue after suffering a panic attack and my lovely husband talked me into going to the Horizon restaurant where I’m pleased to say we where treaded like royalty and had a wonderful full 5 course meal !
Thank you for your comment and experience onboard 😀 Many people had a very poor experience on Christmas Day, for you and your husband that must have been awful! We do feel that we were so lucky to be away from deck 6! I’m glad you managed to enjoy your dinner though! 😀
Can't believe it took me so long to watch this video.! Over a 24 hr period between late Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I was in queues for almost 6 hours (We didn't get our card outside our room, so Olive Grove queue plus reception the night before) I was on late sitting in Meridian so we were in THAT queue too! IN other news, the gnocchi (veg option) despite not being a typical Christmas dish was excellent. Also, I often found poor labelling in the Horizon (lunchtimes) so I stopped growing. Look forward to your vlogs!
Hey guys! Been following your Arvia videos ready for our cruise in December 2023. Super informative so thank you. It’s my worst nightmare to hear your experience on Christmas Day! Hope they iron out all the problems you’ve identified before we sail. I’m starting to wonder if they’re just surprised people want to eat dinner with the size of those queues. They seem totally unprepared to adapt to circumstance… again hope they sort this out! See you in the next video!
Hey thanks for your comment and for watching 😊 it was a big ask, three days into a maiden voyage to try and sit 5200 for Christmas dinner. The ship had a lot of new crew onboard and it just overwhelmed them! The cruise overall was fantastic though and we wouldn’t let this experience hold us back from another Christmas cruise! 😀
Agreed, maiden voyages are always a bit hectic and we do try to avoid these! We booked before the original maiden was cancelled! I’m sure all the issues will be resolved! 😀
We were there! We had a reasonable day - even went to see Father Christmas! The downside was queuing for 2 separate hours (once at Customer Service and on the morning in the Olive Grove) for a table allocation. 8.15 was the time - luckily we managed to get a seat in the bar adjoining the corridor where they were queuing and didn’t move until the queue was moving. Finally seated around 10pm. Dinner was awful, have yet to get the amuse Boucher, gin and tonic sorbet and my husband never got ant roast potatoes. No sight of a Brussels sprout or mince pie etc.! Missed the show and sent to bed.
Thank you for sharing your experience! Not the Christmas anyone would wish for. Christmas dinner was a let down for us as well and we were disappointed as we were really looking forward to it!
Great vlog guys and oh dear, that dinner 😮I think I woulda been straight up to the Quays for a proper feed afterwards. Btw, just subscribed to your channel and must say we are enjoying your content very much.
Hi I also have the misfortune of being on this sailing on the ARVIA. I can 100% second every point. My husband and I questioned for 1:45 minutes never got seated at all for Christmas dinner. Ended up begging for a table at the keel & Cow. Luckily we were in the final 10 people seated . Others were turned away. Even though we were given the onboard credit £150 per passenger the whole experience was below. I have complained and my £500 compensation check arrived on Saturday. If you were on board and haven’t yet made your feelings known please contact P&O customer service.
Thanks for your comment. We count ourselves very lucky compared to others on the maiden cruise. Our dinner wasn't the greatest but compared to passengers like yourself our experience was not too bad. We are glad you got an amicable settlement though!
Hi, loving all the info. We’re canaries this Xmas on azura. Would you recommend having breakfast in bed on Christmas 🎄 morning or is it not that drastic?
Thank for watching We think breakfast in bed would be a great idea but as you are on Azura things should be a lot better. There are some great Christmas Day activities around the ship so make sure you don’t miss those. We loved our Azura Canaries cruise. If you haven’t seen those yet might be worth a look.
Sorry to hear your Chefs table was a disappointment ours on Princess was excellent …..perhaps it was just teething problems, our Christmas cruise was absolutely fabulous but it has been three years since we have been cruising and things may have changed now because of Covid ….still looking forward to get back on the ocean ……good blog from you both 💕
Thanks for your comment! 😀 we totally agree, new ship with lots of new staff! Has not put us off from going back on Arvia at all! 😁 It’s a great way to travel the world! Thank you 🙏 we really appreciate it 😊
That was cutting it fine! It was a big ask for a maiden, and then three days into it trying to seat 5200 passengers for dinner! It did get much better😀
No one told us we had to book at the Olive Grove thought the email we'd received from P&O asking if we wanted early or late was sufficent...we had the same on Iona the previous Xmas so didn't expect the queues...total shambles
Hi thanks for your comment! 😀 No, there’s no need to buy an internet package to use the app/website to join queues or check your account, it’s free once onboard! Hope you have an amazing time 😀
Urgh, they really need to improve the food. I found Horizon on Iona to be worst buffet at sea. And “strange” is probably the right word for midnight buffet. Where’s the pizza, nachos, wings, all the nice light bites.
Given your experience so far (which has seemed a bit 50/50) would you go back on arvia? I'm wondering if all the issues are just down to the new ship having teething problems which will sort themselves out soon?
Hi thanks for your question! 😀 Even though Christmas dinner was a little disappointing for us we would go back on Arvia without any hesitation! It was a big ask for the staff and P&O to host 5200 guests for dinner on the third day of a maiden cruise! 🤔 The vast majority of the cruise was amazing and we really did have a good time!
I've never done this before but I feel compelled to do so: You both look so cute and festive in your holiday jumpers and hats'. You started the Christmas day in full holiday spirit and it showed. I was braced for the worst as the Christmas Cracker pull was a foreshadowing of things to come in the dining salon. 😉 It seems throughout the cruise staffing management underperformed and was not experienced in crowd management and staff reassignment where needed. Maybe the cruise was understaffed? Who would have thought Dom would have ended his night with his own copy of 'Michael Bublé' 😁. I checked the Sun and Tatler and saw no paparazzi picture/story captioned 'Mystery gentleman in tuxedo accompanied 'Michael Bublé'' to his cabin for a late night rendezvous on holiday cruise!' Scandal at Sea Averted!! 🙈🙊 Well Done Gentlemen....
Thank you Chris! We do try to get into the spirit of things 🤣 we were very lucky compared to others that were onboard! It was a big ask 3 days into a maiden voyage to try and sit 5200 passengers for Christmas dinner 🤞 the staff worked hard but it completely overwhelmed them! Scandal at sea most definitely adverted! 😆😆😆
Had xmas dinner on Iona a few days before xmas day. Wasn't impressed with my 2 brussel sprouts, one semi cooked potato and 2 carrots. The food overall (personally for us) has gone downhill on P&O, so much so that we have booked with a different cruise line. I used to love P&O, but after experiencing miserable staff and cutbacks on food quality, it was time to move on.
We've watched a few of your Arvia video and we've got to disagree with many of your comments and negativity. We had a fantistic cruise, fab staff and amazing food. On a personal note I find your delivery a bit boring and blow by blow account isn't necessary. You don't seem to have any understanding of the fact the ship was completed until last minute. Not all deliveries had been received and staff had transfer from other shops too. Feel staff are getting a bit of a raw deal on circumstances outside their control.
Thank you for the comment and we are glad your Christmas Day was fantastic. As we said at the start of the vlog we are just telling our experience of the day not the cruise as a whole. We also had a fantastic cruise and agree the staff work hard. We have a great understanding of how the ship was put together in the final few weeks as we know people who worked onboard doing just that. We are open to feedback and are wondering what format you would like to see.
@@TomandDomTravel thanks so much for your reply and I really hope you didn't take offence. For me I think a balanced approach of around the ship, as in you around the ship. Sitting and talking rather than stuck at the end of the bed in your cabin. Its just a little stiff and only that I was interested in your opinion I would have turned off sooner. I appreciate there are so many cruise volgers and finding you USP is going to take time. I wish you well in this and will watch with interest as your channel grows.
@@TomandDomTravel I really like your quiet recaps and mixture of still - so much better than the vloggers who are constantly prancing around the ship, filming, and talking loudly to get picked up by the microphones. I have secondhand embarrassment watching some of them - I pity their poor fellow travellers.
Day 3 of our Arvia maiden cruise was Christmas Day! Links to our Arvia content are attached below.
Arvia Promenade Walkthrough - th-cam.com/video/a2IliTcuFmk/w-d-xo.html
Arvia Ultimate Ship Tour - th-cam.com/video/7_Zqj0Ni40A/w-d-xo.html
Arvia Inside Cabin Tour - th-cam.com/video/NA-agtNwImY/w-d-xo.html
We were onboard for Christmas. We had a lovely time with lots of activities for the kids on the day. We missed breakfast with the craziness of opening presents and went to the service in the headliner (lots to sing along to). We headed to 6th street at about 1130 and to say there’s a big group of us they seated us straight away and had lovely food! Christmas dinner we were in the meridian so it took a while to be seated maybe 20minutes but we had a lovely waiter and got all our meal in the correct order. Only downside for me is lack of brussels and just veg generally as I’d rather more veg than other parts. Everything else was good. The queue wasn’t nice as lots of people pushing past so not nice when you have small kids your having to stop getting stood on. Think they improved with the dining over the next few days but when they have to show people to their table it’s bound to take longer than when after the first night people knew where their table was on other ships. Personally it didn’t spoil Christmas the kids had a great time and that was important to us. Plus jacuzzis on Christmas Day was great. New years was brilliant though
Thanks for sharing your day! We appreciate the feedback! 😀 for us Christmas Day was a little bit disappointing but on the whole we really enjoyed our Arvia cruise, and yes New Years Eve was amazing 🤩
Well done you two. Very good explanation etc. Always impressive reviews. My wife and I are looking forward to being on Arvia beginning of May. Cheers
Bill
Thank you 😊 we really appreciate the comment! I am sure you’ll both have an amazing time onboard!
Great vlog as always I’m pleased you managed to sum-up Christmas Day on Arvia well I’m afraid had an awful evening (pre Dinner crush) at the Meridian restaurant! I ran from the queue after suffering a panic attack and my lovely husband talked me into going to the Horizon restaurant where I’m pleased to say we where treaded like royalty and had a wonderful full 5 course meal !
Thank you for your comment and experience onboard 😀 Many people had a very poor experience on Christmas Day, for you and your husband that must have been awful! We do feel that we were so lucky to be away from deck 6! I’m glad you managed to enjoy your dinner though! 😀
Can't believe it took me so long to watch this video.! Over a 24 hr period between late Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I was in queues for almost 6 hours (We didn't get our card outside our room, so Olive Grove queue plus reception the night before) I was on late sitting in Meridian so we were in THAT queue too! IN other news, the gnocchi (veg option) despite not being a typical Christmas dish was excellent. Also, I often found poor labelling in the Horizon (lunchtimes) so I stopped growing. Look forward to your vlogs!
The queues really were ridiculous. It just wasn’t well organised. All the vlogs are available. Let us know what you think
Hey guys! Been following your Arvia videos ready for our cruise in December 2023. Super informative so thank you. It’s my worst nightmare to hear your experience on Christmas Day! Hope they iron out all the problems you’ve identified before we sail. I’m starting to wonder if they’re just surprised people want to eat dinner with the size of those queues. They seem totally unprepared to adapt to circumstance… again hope they sort this out!
See you in the next video!
Hey thanks for your comment and for watching 😊 it was a big ask, three days into a maiden voyage to try and sit 5200 for Christmas dinner. The ship had a lot of new crew onboard and it just overwhelmed them! The cruise overall was fantastic though and we wouldn’t let this experience hold us back from another Christmas cruise! 😀
@@TomandDomTravel yes! I’m still very excited for my cruise over Christmas. These things have a way of working out 😁
The computer lost a lot of bookings which was what caused the queue it was a one off xx
Maiden cruises are always a game of chance. We are on Arvia in may, hopefully all sorted by then.
They cancelled the maiden voyage we didn't book a maiden Cruise
Agreed, maiden voyages are always a bit hectic and we do try to avoid these! We booked before the original maiden was cancelled! I’m sure all the issues will be resolved! 😀
Love your content. Thank you!
Thank you so much for watching 😄
We had the most amazing day and everything was perfect food was stunning
Thanks for your comment! So pleased to hear that! Unfortunately bad travels much quicker! thank you for sharing 😀
Came across your channel by chance. Love the content! Gone back to the start of the vlog series. 😊
Thanks so much 😊
We were there! We had a reasonable day - even went to see Father Christmas! The downside was queuing for 2 separate hours (once at Customer Service and on the morning in the Olive Grove) for a table allocation. 8.15 was the time - luckily we managed to get a seat in the bar adjoining the corridor where they were queuing and didn’t move until the queue was moving. Finally seated around 10pm. Dinner was awful, have yet to get the amuse Boucher, gin and tonic sorbet and my husband never got ant roast potatoes. No sight of a Brussels sprout or mince pie etc.! Missed the show and sent to bed.
Thank you for sharing your experience! Not the Christmas anyone would wish for. Christmas dinner was a let down for us as well and we were disappointed as we were really looking forward to it!
I would've said, you can have a selfie for a couple of drinks.😆
😂
Great vlog guys and oh dear, that dinner 😮I think I woulda been straight up to the Quays for a proper feed afterwards.
Btw, just subscribed to your channel and must say we are enjoying your content very much.
Thank you again, much appreciated 😀 Yeah the food on Christmas day was not the best but the food overall was fantastic 😀
Great video as always - It does worry me how over the years P and O cost cut further and further yet the prices go up and up
Thanks for your comment! I think it a sign of the times, every cruise we have taken this past year there seems to have been cut backs and changes!
Hi I also have the misfortune of being on this sailing on the ARVIA. I can 100% second every point. My husband and I questioned for 1:45 minutes never got seated at all for Christmas dinner. Ended up begging for a table at the keel & Cow. Luckily we were in the final 10 people seated . Others were turned away. Even though we were given the onboard credit £150 per passenger the whole experience was below. I have complained and my £500 compensation check arrived on Saturday. If you were on board and haven’t yet made your feelings known please contact P&O customer service.
Thanks for your comment. We count ourselves very lucky compared to others on the maiden cruise. Our dinner wasn't the greatest but compared to passengers like yourself our experience was not too bad. We are glad you got an amicable settlement though!
Looks like the Crow's nest is becoming the place to be for you guys!
We did stop by a couple of couple of times during the cruise mainly at the start! It’s a lovely venue and you can’t beat those views 😀
Hi, loving all the info. We’re canaries this Xmas on azura. Would you recommend having breakfast in bed on Christmas 🎄 morning or is it not that drastic?
Thank for watching We think breakfast in bed would be a great idea but as you are on Azura things should be a lot better. There are some great Christmas Day activities around the ship so make sure you don’t miss those.
We loved our Azura Canaries cruise. If you haven’t seen those yet might be worth a look.
Sorry to hear your Chefs table was a disappointment ours on Princess was excellent …..perhaps it was just teething problems, our Christmas cruise was absolutely fabulous but it has been three years since we have been cruising and things may have changed now because of Covid ….still looking forward to get back on the ocean ……good blog from you both 💕
Thanks for your comment! 😀 we totally agree, new ship with lots of new staff! Has not put us off from going back on Arvia at all! 😁 It’s a great way to travel the world! Thank you 🙏 we really appreciate it 😊
On my Princess cruise in April, not a harsh word will be spoken (short of a sinking). P&O must be going through a rough patch.
What tuxedo is Tom wearing? Omg i love it, which one is it? You wouldn't happen to have a link to it would you?
Thanks for your comment! We don’t have a link but it is from BooHoo 😊
@@TomandDomTravel I'm going to check them out now!! Thankyou guys
We were lucky we were early on Chefs Table after not being allocated anything until 4.30 Christmas day...but everything did get better after that
That was cutting it fine! It was a big ask for a maiden, and then three days into it trying to seat 5200 passengers for dinner! It did get much better😀
No one told us we had to book at the Olive Grove thought the email we'd received from P&O asking if we wanted early or late was sufficent...we had the same on Iona the previous Xmas so didn't expect the queues...total shambles
Do you have to purchase the internet package to join the virtual queues?
We’ve got a Caribbean cruise with Arvia this October 😊
Hi thanks for your comment! 😀 No, there’s no need to buy an internet package to use the app/website to join queues or check your account, it’s free once onboard! Hope you have an amazing time 😀
Urgh, they really need to improve the food. I found Horizon on Iona to be worst buffet at sea. And “strange” is probably the right word for midnight buffet. Where’s the pizza, nachos, wings, all the nice light bites.
Thanks for your comment! We put it down to cut backs! 😐 sign of the current times!
Given your experience so far (which has seemed a bit 50/50) would you go back on arvia? I'm wondering if all the issues are just down to the new ship having teething problems which will sort themselves out soon?
Hi thanks for your question! 😀 Even though Christmas dinner was a little disappointing for us we would go back on Arvia without any hesitation! It was a big ask for the staff and P&O to host 5200 guests for dinner on the third day of a maiden cruise! 🤔 The vast majority of the cruise was amazing and we really did have a good time!
@@TomandDomTravel that's good then!
I've never done this before but I feel compelled to do so: You both look so cute and festive in your holiday jumpers and hats'. You started the Christmas day in full holiday spirit and it showed. I was braced for the worst as the Christmas Cracker pull was a foreshadowing of things to come in the dining salon. 😉 It seems throughout the cruise staffing management underperformed and was not experienced in crowd management and staff reassignment where needed. Maybe the cruise was understaffed?
Who would have thought Dom would have ended his night with his own copy of 'Michael Bublé' 😁. I checked the Sun and Tatler and saw no paparazzi picture/story captioned 'Mystery gentleman in tuxedo accompanied 'Michael Bublé'' to his cabin for a late night rendezvous on holiday cruise!' Scandal at Sea Averted!! 🙈🙊 Well Done Gentlemen....
Thank you Chris! We do try to get into the spirit of things 🤣 we were very lucky compared to others that were onboard! It was a big ask 3 days into a maiden voyage to try and sit 5200 passengers for Christmas dinner 🤞 the staff worked hard but it completely overwhelmed them! Scandal at sea most definitely adverted! 😆😆😆
Had xmas dinner on Iona a few days before xmas day. Wasn't impressed with my 2 brussel sprouts, one semi cooked potato and 2 carrots. The food overall (personally for us) has gone downhill on P&O, so much so that we have booked with a different cruise line. I used to love P&O, but after experiencing miserable staff and cutbacks on food quality, it was time to move on.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Doesn’t sound great. Which line have you booked next?
If your tables been called there should not be a que normal they run two line people who booked and turn ups
That is the usual system. On Christmas Day that system doesn’t operate and you are given an early or late sitting.
That Christmas Dinner looks horrendous, looks like school dinner's and only two Roast potatoes? What a shame, P&O should be embarrassed with that.
It wasn’t the best we had ever had 😝
We've watched a few of your Arvia video and we've got to disagree with many of your comments and negativity. We had a fantistic cruise, fab staff and amazing food.
On a personal note I find your delivery a bit boring and blow by blow account isn't necessary. You don't seem to have any understanding of the fact the ship was completed until last minute. Not all deliveries had been received and staff had transfer from other shops too. Feel staff are getting a bit of a raw deal on circumstances outside their control.
Thank you for the comment and we are glad your Christmas Day was fantastic. As we said at the start of the vlog we are just telling our experience of the day not the cruise as a whole. We also had a fantastic cruise and agree the staff work hard. We have a great understanding of how the ship was put together in the final few weeks as we know people who worked onboard doing just that. We are open to feedback and are wondering what format you would like to see.
@@TomandDomTravel thanks so much for your reply and I really hope you didn't take offence. For me I think a balanced approach of around the ship, as in you around the ship. Sitting and talking rather than stuck at the end of the bed in your cabin. Its just a little stiff and only that I was interested in your opinion I would have turned off sooner. I appreciate there are so many cruise volgers and finding you USP is going to take time. I wish you well in this and will watch with interest as your channel grows.
@@TomandDomTravel I really like your quiet recaps and mixture of still - so much better than the vloggers who are constantly prancing around the ship, filming, and talking loudly to get picked up by the microphones. I have secondhand embarrassment watching some of them - I pity their poor fellow travellers.
this was funny, although it was sad for you; i wonder how much homophobia causes you to be put in corners and neglected
It’s an interesting thought and we hope it wasn’t for that reason. All the cruises we have been on we have never experienced any outward homophobia