POOR STANDARDS P&O

Disappointingly the food served in the evening in the Zenith and Meridian restaurants arrived at the table cold or at best lukewarm. Variety of food was boring and did not reflect in any way that we were in the caribbean. Two of the Headliners shows were repeats of shows which we had previously seen on two Iona cruises 2022. (Three cruise showing the same shows). P&O made a big fuss about the naming ceremony... we did not get an invite to any of the celebrations. Just a cheap tasteless rum punch in the evening. It appears that most of the invitations were given out to the young. Maybe P&O thought their older loyal cruisers would spoil there image. The staff in most arrears of the ship appeared overworked and unhappy. We were shocked how far P&O standards have dropped. We were also upset to find out that many of our fellow cruisers had booked last minute deals and paid less than half of the total amount of our cruise. We were unable on sea days to find a sun bed. Passengers were reserving them in the morning from 6am and their towels stayed on the sun beds all day. Not enough sun beds for the size of the ship. Eating in the Horizon buffet was an horrendous experience ( like a zoo).

Lovely ship, theatre show’s exciting, colourful , no musicality just noisy.

No daytime activities unless you’re into fitness gym and beauty treatments . Few quizzes and on last three days had some craft work and then art on the very last day. ,! Bit late in the day ! Not even a card room. A few tables and chairs in the library. Food was good but sometimes service was not very well organised and had to forgo desert if booked into show . All the staff were lovely especially reception - very helpful. Like P&O but prefer their smaller ships.

The Arvia is a fantastic new ship, but unfortunately due to its size and the increase in passenger numbers the Quality of food and service has been compromised. On board the Azura the food was top draw and of Al carte standard but now the Arvia is average at best. Had a meal in the Beach restaurant which had to be sent back as stone cold had a meal in the Keel & Cow for the legendary Tomahawk Steak, we ordered 3 medium rare and all 3 were cooked different mine was charcoal absolutely nuked, the Waitress offered to take it back but we had waited nearly and hour already and was not prepared to wait. The buffet we were constantly waiting for cutlery or a table to be cleaned and the queues were long . Seems to me there was either not enough staff or not proactively managed Casino staff were the best as was our room cleaner excellent service.

Improvements needed

The cabin was not as clean as it could have been but the issues were soon rectified. In the main dining room at breakfast service, each day we had to ask for teaspoons, desert spoons, butter and jam when asking for extra toast and repeatedly chased tea we had ordered.

Very pleased overall with the Iona and all of the staff

P & O have upped their game a bit and for the price of the cruise there isn't much that you can complain about. Coaches down to Southampton and the checking in staff and procedure good The evening meals could perhaps improve a little by putting a bit more meat on the plates but other wise fine. The App for booking the MDR worked fine but there were only two of us . last year when we were on the Iona there were some issues with it.. However it might be an idea to turn one of the smaller MDR into a two sitting restaurant for those people that like eating at the same time and being severed. by the same waiters The Keel and Cow by far was the best VFM terrific steaks and staff. The Olive Groove very good pity you can't increase the staff numbers and capacity in on order to make it easier to visit and book. We wanted to eat there more but unable to book to get in., Chefs Table was disappointing went on the second celebration night but got seated in a section that could seat approx 60 people but there were only eight of us in there, no atmosphere , the meal was ok but nothing outstanding . Wished we had gone to the MDR. Two visits to the Limelight Club 10 out of 10 really worth it. Entertainment was on the whole fairly good , struggled to get a seat in the Club House sometimes. Theatre was very good The ship and cabins were spotless, the staff were friendly and polite. We have two cruises booked on the Arvia in May this year and April next and I am hoping the standard is as good as the Iona. After reading some of the reviews of the Arvia I hope all of the teething issues are sorted , I realise you are not going to please or satisfy 5000 guests all of the time but if you try to please them most of the time then that's fine. I can see in my view you are trying to attract a younger age group and families on these larger ships which is fine as they are the future, so for us at the older end we can either go along with the flow or look at the smaller ships. Which the Britannia takes some beating. Keep up the good work and for those who do complain too much then pay a lot more and go on RCI Celebrity or Princess etc and not to mention Saga

First cruise with P&O that left me disappointed.

Service was great both steward service and dining room service. Too many short cuts have flawed P&O for us. No turn down service at night..okay with that; much less choice in menu in main dining room, food was not up to previous standard we have enjoyed with P & O; entertainment was less inspiring and more sparse; missed out after dinner chocolate served with dinner in main dining room..small difference but we noticed; where did the piano player in main foyer disappear to? Coffee is terrible.

Cheap is not the way forward

They have cut back so much it is a wonder they have any engines I would rather pay more and have a full service . Cheap is not the best way forward

Amazing from start to finish

Amazing ship, staff were more than helpful, always polite and smiling. Cannot fault a single thing! Can’t wait for the next sailing 🛥️

Yes i would go on another cruise ,not on a ship as big as the IONA .The staff were very helpful and polite We were very pleased with our cabin it had every thing we needed .The array of eateries was also good .The only down fall we had was the the long waits for food ,other than that we enjoyed our trip The tour to Barcelona was my biggest thrill i really loved that .So at the moment i am looking for another holiday .

Great cruise all the staff was superb and very helpful.

The staff were all excellent on Azura both of us had a great time and we have other cruises booked with P&O on other ships.