As a cricket supporter I have always envisaged being in the Caribbean watching test matches between England and the West Indies drinking rum punch. This hasn’t actually happened yet and with the possibility of two-tier test cricket being increasingly talked about I decided my best bet to visit some of the Caribbean islands was on a cruise.

Top of the list was Antigua (Viv Richards and Curtly Ambrose), St Lucia (Daren Sammy) and Barbados (Deandra Dottin, Joel Garner, Carlos Brathwaite and of course Gary Sobers). I was also attracted to Grenada and its nickname of ‘The Spice Island’ (despite the fact that cricket wise players from Grenada tend to play for the collective Windward Islands team as Grenada is not a member of the ICC).

An ideal itinerary with direct charter flights from and to Manchester on a new ship was too much to pass by, so pre-Christmas 2024 saw a multi-generational group of 6 of us embark on P&O Cruises ‘Arvia’ for a 7 night Caribbean cruise sailing from Antigua to Barbados.  

Embarkation and disembarkation for Caribbean fly cruises with P&O Cruises is a slick and seamless process. You can pre book your seats on most of the flights 14 weeks prior to departure (be prepared to be online at exactly the time they go on sale if you have very specific requirements). There are no pre issued boarding passes as they are swopped for your luggage at the airport check in – the next time you see your cases will be outside your cabin on board the ship. So make sure you pack any change of clothes, swimming gear or other personal items you might want in your hand luggage. We flew with Norse Atlantic Airways, a Norwegian low-cost carrier operating Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The flight was OK – seats were comfortable, entertainment was sufficient, there was no meal choice (so remember to pre order if you have any dietary requirements), and little in the way of drink or other offerings outside of the dinner and snack services. But I reminded myself it was a budget airline.

Upon arrival in Antigua we were taken straight through the airport building to small 20-seater coaches and then onto the ship.

Disembarkation is equally efficient – cases are left outside your cabin the night before you disembark (as usual) and on the day of departure you can remain on the ship (albeit not in your cabin, unless you have paid for a day cabin) until your (sensible) transfer time back to the airport. Hand luggage is stored in the theatre until you need it. A change from most ocean cruise lines who are desperate to transfer you off the ship once your cruise is over despite the fact that you may have to wait at the airport for many hours for your flight home.

Conservatory mini suites were a new concept of accommodation introduced onto the Excel Class ships ‘Iona’ and sister ship ‘Arvia’ and I was keen to experience them. The mini suite is basically a longer balcony cabin (274 sq ft in total) with a glassed in area sandwiched between the bedroom and balcony which can be closed off either side by sliding or bifold doors respectively. The conservatory area has an ‘L’ shaped seating area and a small table – it can be opened up to increase the size of either the living area or the balcony or act as its own small self-contained area. Opening up to increase the size of the already reasonable balcony and yet also provide some shade in the Caribbean sun was a bonus and additionally gave some privacy as our balcony (conservatory mini suite on deck 9) was overlooked from above. Balcony cabins in general appear to be rather narrow especially if there are more than two adults in them with access to the wardrobe area and walking past the end of the bed being quite restrictive. Basic balconies are 190 sq ft with a smaller option at 142 sq ft (GX grade) being a good choice for single travellers in particular. Deluxe balconies are 229 sq ft. Some balconies have metal fronts and those on deck 8 have balconies opening onto the Promenade deck so lack a degree of privacy despite their opaque glass fronts. Our main issue with both cabins was although they were sleeping 3 people in each, there were only towels and cups, glasses etc laid out for 2 people. When asked, Cabin Stewards did provide extra items, but it would have been so much more welcoming for them to have been in situ upon arrival.

‘Arvia’ is a large ship and can carry 5200 passengers. There were reputedly 5000 passengers on our cruise which did rather beg the question as to why all areas in Horizons Restaurant (self-service buffet restaurant) weren’t open and serving food for the main evening meal. Despite the numbers on board I didn’t feel that the ship was overly crowded and could always get a sun lounger on deck. It may not have been by a pool or on the sunny side of the ship but there were plenty of spots on decks 8, 17 and 18 as well as in the Skydome (roof retracted on some sea days). Similarly, the Grand Atrium (the site for Vistas Café Bar – a Costa coffee outlet) was never overly busy as it had been on ‘Iona’ – perhaps due to the warmer weather.

Despite its size ‘Arvia’ only has 4 swimming pools (3 outside and 1 inside) – none of them are overly large for the number of potential users. This includes an infinity pool with swim up bar on deck 16 and 20 whirlpools (6 infinity types) dotted about the ship. The spa has a hydrotherapy pool and there is a small kids area – Splash Valley (deck 18) – with water jets. waterfalls and fountains. The Beachcomber pool forward on deck 18, whilst not being ‘adult only’ is generally a quieter less family orientated space, close to the adult only Retreat.

We didn’t try all the 30 eateries on ‘Arvia’ but this is my take on most of the ones we did eat at:

There are plenty of restaurants and self-service food outlets, albeit I felt that the menu choice was reduced from pre cruise online menus and from my time on ‘Iona’ less than 2 years ago. For example the’ Beach House’ was operating a Caribbean menu which didn’t feature curried goat or the beer can chicken (previously billed as one of the restaurant’s signature dishes). Even more disappointing was all the advertising (both in our Cruise Personaliser pre cruise and My App) about lunch availability in the new restaurant – ‘Green & Co featuring Mizuhana’ (sushi and vegan dishes) which unexplainably was only open for dinner once we were on board.

‘Sindhu’ to my mind remains the best restaurant on board ‘Arvia’ – it really does feel like a separate and exclusive (Indian fusion) restaurant and not just a walk through for other guests as with the position of ‘Keel & Cow’. The staff were attentive and knowledgeable and totally enhanced our dining experience.

‘The Quays’ offered different items for breakfast, lunch and dinner and’ 6th Street Diner’ was an optional alternative addition for brunch (opens 10am) on lazy sea days although to my mind it falls a little short of the typical American diner concept found on other cruise lines and tended to serve quite small portions.

The main dining rooms serve ‘safe’ British fare of an acceptable High Street restaurant standard. What was most pleasing in all the restaurants was that children’s meals were served very quickly and at a temperature that children could eat immediately and not have to wait to cool. We had lunch in ‘Meridien’ one day (no tablecloths, unlike ‘Zenith’) and probably ate one of the most imaginative menus of the week: beetroot risotto as a lighter option followed by chocolate Chinese 5 Spice chocolate cake.

In contrast, ‘Horizon’ – the self-service restaurant was disappointing. Different stations served different types of food in a repeating pattern: British Classics included a roast of the day right next to multiple types of curry – all compressed into a very small area where long queues built up. Choice was generally quite restricted and there was not a lot of rotation of dishes throughout the week. There was no separate area offering children’s meals, only a very small ‘diet’ section and whilst the desserts looked enticing, they generally lacked flavour. A lot of the drinks dispensers were out of order the whole week.

Having said all the above, it is only right to point out that ‘Arvia’ does have more choice of complimentary restaurants and other places to eat than many other cruise ships and the cost of specialty dining is not prohibitive.

Along with all the restaurants are more than 13 bars including many on deck (some of which also sell Costa Coffee). Different bars offer specific signature cocktails, wines and spirits (for example ‘Anderson’s Bar’ will sell Marabella Gin and Golden Tide Rum - both distilled on board P&O ships). ‘Brodie’s’ is the sports bar which was packed for the Manchester derby, won by the red side of town. But my favourites are ‘Anderson’s Bar’ where you can try unique gin flights and access a small library and ‘The Crows Nest’ (nestled away at the top of the ship – deck 17, forward with amazing views by day and a restful chic ambience at night). Both adhere to the dress code of the day and you are asked to re dress appropriately if you arrive in shorts (as my husband discovered).

Entertainment on board was to my mind of a high standard (apart from the pantomime). Musically we saw both Headliners Theatre Company shows: ‘Greatest Days’ (based on the official ‘Take That’ musical) and ‘Deck The Halls’ (festive pop songs). They were excellent  - a very professional standard of singing and dancing with tremendous energy and some imaginative LED style scenery. There were musicians and singers in different bars and venues throughout the week including Chesney Hawkes in The Limelight Club, tributes to Bob Marley, a guest group in Barbados showcasing Barbadian music and dance and a pulsating Party Sail Away in the SkyDome as we left Antigua. The Silent Disco was a highlight.

Away from music there was the usual range of quizzes, talks and sport competitions, fitness and dance sessions, lots of shopping, a casino and a 3-screen cinema (films are also shown on The SkyDome screen at selected times).

Although our cruise was out of school holidays and there weren’t many children on board the Kids Clubs were up and running. On port days the clubs were only open in the afternoons for different periods of time. As my granddaughter was under 2 she could only attend with an adult but they reported that there were different and plentiful activities whenever they went. We didn’t utilise the night nursery facilities.

We decided to book some shore excursions and looking at what we wanted to do, P&O prices were not significantly different to alternative suppliers. We booked a trip to Nelsons Dockyard in Antigua – a UNESCO World Heritage site and the only continuously working Georgian era dockyard in the world. Situated in English Harbour it has been the site of a naval base since the 1720s offering a safe haven from hurricanes. Nowadays it is also hosts Antigua Sailing Week and has a harbour for yachts of all sizes. The Dockyard is approximately a 45 minutes’ drive from the ship and our guide along the way gave us a very informative insight into Antigua’s culture, industry, agriculture, politics and religion. Once there we enjoyed a short, guided tour and then plenty of free time.

In St Lucia we went on an aerial tramway ride aboard an 8-person gondola through one of the rainforests on the island (Castries Waterworks Forest Reserve at Chassin Babonneau). I suspect that the time of year did not lend itself to sightings of lots of flora and fauna and our guide was not the best but the ride up and down was through very lush vegetation and it was good to visit such a unique ecological area first hand.

Finally in Barbados we booked a transfer to Oistins Friday Night Fish Fry (but open other nights too). It was a chaotic mix of locals and tourists with different shacks selling food all in their own way: some offered menus and a choice of dishes, at others you had to go and order at the counter and were served whatever was being cooked (aka fish of the day). We ate at Roslin’s Fish Fry as that’s where we found seats! Service was slow and often erratic but seemed to improve as the night wore on and table space became available. There was a stage with music and stalls selling souvenirs. The food was very good but I am not sure that the overriding smell of marijuana would entice me back again.

In other ports of call we just booked taxis locally. Caribbean ports have a good and to my mind safe system for bartering and hiring taxis who often allow you to pay at the end of a return trip, eg. taxi to the beach for a few hours and then a ride back to the port. We decided to visit 2 beaches on our trip: the first in Grenada involved a trip across the bay to Grand Anse beach in a small motorboat/water taxi with very little attention to health and safety. A rather rainy spell there meant that we drove back to the port all crammed into a jeep – again with very little health and safety detail. In St Lucia we also took a taxi to the beach : our grand ideas about sitting on a beach overlooking the Pitons were dashed when we were told that we wouldn’t make it there and back within our time confines due to the traffic congestion. Instead we went to Vigie Beach a short ride/30-minute walk (along busy roads) from the port and backing onto the airport. The sea was a bit rougher than we would have liked but the beach itself was very quiet. It’s the Pitons for me next time!!

Many of our journeys around the islands took a long time due to the narrowness of the roads and the amount of traffic on them. Whilst tourism is a major and growing source of income in the Caribbean the huge numbers of tourists visiting different islands within their current infrastructures causes places to get overrun and overcrowding means it is difficult to get about. This means that you need to be less spontaneous when trying to indulge your bucket list!!

P&O’s App ‘My Holiday’ is a bit like marmite – guests either love it or hate it but this is also true of other cruise line Apps. Personally, I don’t like the ethos of Apps at all – when on holiday I enjoy a degree of spontaneity and do not want to have to book evening meals or entertainment days or longer in advance. Whilst I appreciate that on big ships there needs to be an efficient way to book dining times etc, joining queues (virtual or real) for protracted periods of time is not acceptable. Similarly, if one of the reasons for the existence of the App is the size of ship I cannot understand why there was no facility to contact other members of your party around the ship, as is the case with other cruise lines Apps.                                      

There were also issues when booking entertainment – I was unable to make a booking for 710 for the duration of my cruise despite trying to do so on the App the minute I stepped on board and gained access to it. The solution apparently was for me to go the venue before each show and see if there was any availability – as would have been the situation in pre App days!

I hope I have provided a reasoned and fair appraisal of my time on ‘Arvia’ and we all enjoyed ourselves, probably for different reasons – which is one of the benefits of a multi-generational cruise.

Would I visit the Caribbean again by cruise ship – Yes

Would I sail on ‘Arvia’ again – Yes (it offered good value for money)

What more can I say?

See more photos and detail of my trip over on my Facebook page by clicking here.