The MS Arvia is P&O’s newest cruise liner. The ship has 19 decks, is 1,130ft (344.5m) long, and has capacity for 5,200 passengers. It is certainly the largest ship that I have ever sailed on.

My wife booked a cruise on the Arvia because it was sailing from Southampton to the Western Mediterranean, so no flying was involved. The flying itself was not an issue, like most other people we dislike the necessary evil of the security checks. As I am disabled I find this part of travelling quite stressful. I am always aware that there is a queue of people behind me but my body simply does not respond fast enough to keep up with the desired pace, which makes me anxious even before I get to the security area. The anxiety results in adrenalin being released into my system and that results in my muscles becoming even more unresponsive and that, in turn, causes me to become more anxious. That said, I have always found the people who work in this are to be polite and considerate, even humorous on more than one occasion. I know that I should be more relaxed about it, but I find that very difficult to achieve.

We boarded a coach direct to Southampton. My wife had done this before when she went on a similar cruise with her sister. It is pretty stress free. Your suitcases are loaded into the coach’s hold and you do not see them again until they are delivered to your cabin. The journey was smooth and on time, unfortunately, there was a delay at the docks and ours was one of several coaches directed to wait in the Queen Elizabeth II Terminal, which is, as one passenger said, a glorified cow shed! Being inside a building meant that the driver had to turn the engine off, but that also meant that the air conditioning no longer operated. Despite arriving on time we spent 40 minutes waiting on the coach that was slowly getting warmer as opening the door at the front proved to be an ineffectual alternative to the air conditioning.

Eventually, we did manage to pass through customs and security without any further delays and our cabin was ready to receive us. As my wife had secured a bargain deal that put us on deck 4, the lowest deck used for passengers, so we were not expecting very much, but the cabin was actually well appointed. There was a kettle with coffee and tea provided, something she loves, ample storage space, and an excellent shower.

During the first days of the cruise things on the Arvia seemed a little chaotic. We were told to use P&O’s ‘My Holiday’ app, but it was not working. The idea was that passengers used it to book dining and entertainment, but there were no clear guides on how to do this and the virtual queues were missing from the display. It was only towards the end of the holiday that we got to grips with it and I consider myself comfortable with technology. Some of the older passengers simply gave up and booked events the old fashioned way, just by turning up in person.

Another sign that things were not quite running to form was the attitude of some of the staff, especially the waiters. In the first few days I found them to be impolite, one waiter took our order for dinner without even looking at us. At the seven day point we were asked to complete a simple survey and after this things did improve appreciably. They also stopped playing Christmas music, which was a point I raised in my response in the survey; I am a keen believer in keeping Christmas in December!

Getting around the ship was relatively easy. Of the 19 decks there are only a few used for entertainment, including a small but excellent 3 screen cinema, a theatre, the usual pub, bar, casino, and specialist restaurants, the two large general restaurants, and the buffet style restaurant, sun decks, and swimming pools. One disappointing omission was a dedicated cocktail bar. Cocktails were available in most bars but we often found them to be the tall glass full of ice, a small amount of alcohol, and some syrup for flavour and colour variety. It takes a proper cocktail barman to make a proper cocktail.

Despite the existence of the ‘My Holiday’ app, which did eventually start to work, we were required to write out every evening a slip of paper with all our details on, name, cabin, cruise number, etc., to hand to the waiter so that we could ask for a particular bottle of wine that was included in the ‘Captain’s Choice’ wine package that we had bought prior to the cruise. This seemed a bit 20th century to say the least. We also discovered that not all of the restaurants actually stored all of the wines on the list and that they had to send someone to fetch our choice if it was not in their cellar. On one occasion our wine arrived with our main course because of this oversight.

I do not think that I have ever seen so many disabled people on one ship previously. The vessel is well appointed with lifts wide enough to accommodate a person in a wheelchair and some standing passengers. There are also some dedicated wheelchair lifts as well. Getting on and off the ship is a relatively easy process and all public areas are accessible to disabled passengers. There was even a hoist for the swimming pool, which I have never seen before.

Captain Robert Camby is a very engaging man who delivered regular reports about the ship’s progress, weather conditions, and his signature thought of the day. These were always humorous even if they did make me groan on more than one occasion. He liked to visit the public areas and talk to passengers whenever his duties permitted, making him surprisingly accessible and a good ambassador for P&O.

As I said at the beginning, the MS Arvia is the largest ship that I have ever sailed on, but I am not sure that bigger is always better. Towards the end of the cruise we met a couple with whom we got on with very well. We only saw them once more before disembarking, which was a pity. This is a problem when there are so many other people around. It is not a reason for avoiding a large cruise ship when contemplating a future holiday, just a consideration. On the smaller vessels that we have experienced previously there is more chance of meeting up again with new acquaintances. Also, boarding and disembarkation tends to be quicker due to the smaller numbers involved. It is a personal choice of course.

I am certainly glad that we did sail on the MS Arvia and I would do so again. The ‘My Holiday’ app needs further development and perhaps an explanation on how to use it properly, such as how the virtual queuing system works, and also a means of stopping people from booking events that conflict with each other time wise would not go amiss. We enjoyed the 710 Jazz Club even though whenever I tried to book us in it was often already full. It seemed that some passengers were booking multiple events scheduled either for the same time or overlapping and then choosing which one to attend just before they started. This resulted in shows and performances displayed in the app as fully booked but there being empty seats in the venues.

In conclusion, the holiday was very enjoyable and the MS Arvia is an impressive ship. It is good to be back travelling again after three years away and this was an enjoyable way to make our return.