Hey Owlets,
This morning P&O announced the name of the newest addition to their fleet and it’s fair to say I was a little bit excited for it. Named Arvia, meaning, she’s expected to undertake her maiden voyage in 2022 (pandemic willing, of course). P&O Cruises have kept their cards very close to their chest not his one with very few details being shared. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like we knew a lot more about Iona at this point which makes me think that the cruise line have a few surprises up their sleeves. While we wait to hear more about what Arvia has to offer, let’s have a look at what we do know and perhaps make a few predictions along the way.
The Name
I realise I’m starting with the most obvious point, but it’s what you came here for. This morning, P&O announced that their newest ship will be called Arvia. According to an Instagram post on P&O’s official page the name is derived from Latin and means “from the seashore”. It’s a bit of a departure from their biggest tradition of naming ships after Scottish islands, but it’s not the first time they’ve chosen a Latin name. Oriana actually comes from a Latin word meaning “sunrise” and is derived from the same root as Aurora - it’s just that a lot of people haven’t noticed the connection with Latin before this ship launch. Nevertheless, the name received a bit of a mixed reception with some people saying they loved it, while others said they were reminded of a well known insurance company…
Arvia is the Second Excell Class Ship
MS Arvia is P&O Cruises’ second Excel-class ship, with the first being Iona. Granted, no one outside of the companies involved in Iona’s build has had first hand experience of the ship, but P&O have been posting a lot of content getting guests excited for Iona’s maiden season so we at least have an idea of how Iona looks.
I realise we’re looking at Arvia here, not Iona, but the content P&O have published about Iona can help us. Sister ships are often very similar - just look at Azura and Ventura where the only major difference is that one has a sea-screen while the other has a covered pool - which means that we can take a lot of information from Iona’s build to help us with Arvia.
Iona and Arvia are pretty much the same tonnage, so they’re both going to be large ships. Iona has a capacity of just over 5200 guests so it’s pretty safe to assume that Arvia will be almost identical in that respect.
We can also expect MS Arvia to have similar features to her sister as P&O are pushing for more modern ships in an attempt to refresh their image. Iona has a covered pool with a sliding roof for warmer days, with the pool deck able to turn into an extra entertainment venue at night. We’ve also seen several different restaurants and bars popping up on board Iona, and an overall beachy/instagram-worthy vibe to the ship. Given the announcement video being very beach themed it’s fair to expect it to have the same feel.
Along with announcing the name this morning, P&O released a render of what Arvia will look like. Understandably she looks very similar to her sister ship, but it’s by comparing the two images that we’re able to see some developments. The roof over the pool deck varies a little from Iona to Arvia, with the roof of Arvia’s pool deck looking like it retracts in two parts. Other than that there’s very little difference between the two, so looking at Iona’s deck plans will probably give you a good indication of what to expect of Arvia. According to an official press release holidays aboard Arvia will go on sale next month and they’re not going to sell many holidays without any information so we won’t have long to wait until deck plans and promotional materials start appearing.
Committing to Reducing Emissions
MS Arvia will be P&O’s second ship powered by Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), showing their commitment to improving the cruise industry’s bad reputation for caring about the environment. So far a lot of ships have had issues with LNG, but I’m hoping that these have been ironed out a little now.
Honestly, that’s about all we have right now. It’s not a lot to go on, but by looking at all of the publicity around Iona we can get a fairly good idea of what to expect. As you know I’m fairly new to the cruise industry so Iona and Scarlet Lady were the first two ships that I’ve actually followed being built, and as you know I’m obsessed with all things P&O so I’m already excited about Arvia before even getting to sail on Iona, but how can you blame me when we’ve spent a year trapped indoors seeing these incredible photos of Iona being released?
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