In December 2024, my husband and I traveled to the Caribbean, where we cruised to 8 different islands aboard P&O Cruise’s Arvia. We had a wonderful time…

Review of P&O Cruise ship Arvia

We loved Arvia; she’s a large ship with over 5,000 passengers, but it never felt crowded. We had a lovely cabin with an extra large balcony. Our cabin steward was helpful and friendly, as were all crew everywhere we went. The food was really good; we ate a lot in the main dining rooms (Meridian and Zenith) but also enjoyed food at the 6th Street Diner, Sindhu, and twice at Green & Co (our favourite). We ate occasionally in the Horizon buffet but we prefer table service. There was plenty of vegetarian choice (see my blog here about veggie food on P&O Cruises).

Entertainment was good; we saw a few shows in the theatre, enjoyed a comedian, the house band Pulse were good fun, we took part in some quizzes and saw Chesney Hawkes in the Limelight Club. Also plenty of choice for a quiet evening in the atrium or quieter bars like The Crow’s Nest.

On sea days we went for walks around the promenade deck, enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of the ship, read our books on the balcony and generally relaxed. I also love just staring out to sea, we saw some rays and dolphins, and many sea birds.

This was our third cruise with P&O and we’ve had a fantastic experience every time. I wrote some tips after our trip on Iona, they apply to Arvia too, you can check those out here.

A few photos from our time onboard (click to view a larger image)

Barbados

We got a taxi to Savvy on the Bay beach bar and hired sun beds on the beach at Carlisle Bay. There’s a traditional Caribbean bar serving rum and food trucks for lunch (including vegan options). We enjoyed reading, drinking fresh coconut and swimming in the sea. It was quite busy with lots of other people, and people trying to sell you trinkets or snorkelling trips. We had a great time though, the sea was lovely and warm. A great start to our holiday.

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Martinique

Martinique was our least favourite island; there’s very little to see or do straight from the ship. Apparently the beaches are nice (but not the nicest in the Caribbean). In hindsight, I wish we’d booked a trip to do something more interesting. We had a wander but we were back on the ship by 11am (which suited us just fine, as we love the ship!)

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St Kitts

One of our favourites. The port is colourful with an array of shops and bars. We got on a Safari Bus (which didn’t always feel super safe but we were fine) and went on a tour; we visited a fort and rum distillery, and stopped at several view points including Timothy’s Hill, which gives you a beautiful view, with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other.

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Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Absolutely stunning. We hired a car (a Suzuki Jimny) and drove to Smuggler’s Cove. The roads were bumpy, unpaved in places and a little scary but added to the adventure. Smuggler’s Cove was beautiful; palm trees, pale sand, turquoise water. A little rocky but I had swim shoes. We enjoyed some swimming and relaxing before driving a bit further round the coast and enjoying some other stunning beaches - it was very quiet, with hardly anyone in sight. Gorgeous.

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Saint Maarten

We booked a trip via P&O Cruises on St Maarten to visit the capital, Marigot and then on to Maho Beach which is right on the edge of the airport, so planes (including large passenger jets) fly right over you. This was our second-least favourite island; it’s okay but very very busy, the people are friendly but not as much as other islands. We had a great traditional Caribbean lunch though; plantain, rice, peas and beans. Delicious.

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Antigua

…has 365 beaches, and we didn’t visit any of them so surely need to go back. What we did do was a helicopter trip to Monserrat, where we flew very close to the volcano (we could smell the sulphur!) and over the wreckage from a 1996 eruption; we could see houses that had been destroyed and buried, now overgrown with plants in an exclusion zone. The views of Antigua were also amazing, the beaches were stunning. Definitely somewhere to return to.

In the evening, we did a sunset catamaran cruise, which was really beautiful, exploring several coves and enjoying the stunning sunset. It was dark for our return journey and the full moon was gorgeous.

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Grenada

…the Spice Island… which means we surely had to visit a spice garden. We booked a P&O trip to Laura Spice garden, which was fascinating; we heard about and saw all sorts including cinnamon, bay leaf, cocoa, coffee, all spice, ginger, turmeric, jackfruit, vanilla, tamarind and lemongrass. We tried a few things and also heard about the medicinal uses.

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St Lucia

Another favourite. We hired a car on St Lucia and drove down the western coastline, enjoying views, lush green plants, and glorious views of the Pitons. We stopped at the Diamond Botanical Garden, which was beautiful with lots of tropical plants, a waterfall and a little wildlife (we saw lizards and hummingbirds). Another island to return to; lots more to explore there.

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In Summary…

We had a wonderful time… we didn’t think we’d be “cruise people” but after our Norwegian Fjords cruise we clearly got hooked. If you’re interested, read about our second cruise to Spain and Portugal here too :)