P&O Arvia Cruise Family Review – Europe 2025: Our Honest Family Experience
Thinking of cruising on P&O Cruises’ Arvia with little ones? Here’s everything we learned from sailing with a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old in Summer 2025; the wins, the challenges, and what I’d do differently next time.
We’ve just returned from 14 nights onboard Arvia with our toddler and baby, and while this wasn’t our first time on the ship (we last cruised her in 2022), this was our first experience with two small children in tow.
So, what’s Arvia really like for families? Here’s everything we noticed.
👶 The Basics: Rules, Ages, and What You Need to Know
Minimum Age: Babies must be 6 months old and P&O are strict on this (they check birth certificates like you’re 17 and trying to get into Wetherspoons). Our youngest was just days past the minimum when we boarded.
🧸 Kids’ Clubs & Nursery
So what are the kids' club offerings on P&O Cruises - and how do they actually work?
🎏 The Reef
P&O Cruises offers a dedicated kids’ club called The Reef, which is split into four age groups:
- 🎈 Splashers: 2–4 years
- 🌊 Surfers: 5–8 years
- 🤿 Scubas: 9–12 years
- 🎮 The Scene: 13–17 years
Each group has a tailored programme of activities and is run by DBS-checked youth staff.
Sessions usually take place in three daily blocks:
- ⏰ Morning (typically 10am–12pm)
- ⏰ Afternoon (2pm–5pm)
- ⏰ Evening (6:15pm–11pm)
Do note: on port days, there are usually no morning sessions available.
Our toddler, aged 3, joined the Splashers group and had a great time - a big change from our previous cruise when she refused to go. The staff were welcoming, enthusiastic, and made a huge fuss over her arrival, which helped her settle in straight away.
🧸 Onboard Nursery
For babies aged 6 months and up, there’s a nursery room with toys, books, a little soft climbing structure and baby-friendly facilities - but it’s not a drop-off service. A parent or carer must stay with the child during the session.
We used this a lot when our eldest was a baby, but this time around, our youngest wasn’t such a fan. Still, it’s a calm space for a break - especially useful on sea days or when your cabin needs a tidy.
🌙 The Night Nursery
This is one of the standout family-friendly features on P&O Cruises’ ships. The Night Nursery is available for children under 4 years old and is open from 6:00pm to 11:00pm (or 1:00am with prior arrangement).
If your child falls asleep in a pram, or you’re able to take them up and settle them in the beds or cots in the nursery, you can drop them off and enjoy the evening. You’re given a pager and contacted immediately if they wake up.
Unlike many other cruise lines that offer paid babysitting, this is a free service, and a brilliant option if you want a relaxed adults-only dinner or show (or just sit in your cabin and enjoy the silence). It worked beautifully for us when our eldest was a baby - but our youngest is a contact napper and hates his pram, so we didn’t use it as much this time around.
📲 Booking System
One change we encountered on this sailing was a new booking system being trialled onboard. It had two main options:
- 💳 Paid Pre-Booking: You could book sessions in advance for between £5–£8 per slot. This helped guarantee childcare during adult-only dining or spa appointments.
- 📅 Daily Free Booking via App: Free sessions became available to book from 8:30am the day before. These were released in limited numbers, and while we found good availability in Splashers, we heard from other parents that trying to book for Surfers (ages 5–8) felt like competing for Glastonbury tickets.
In our case, we didn’t make every session we booked, but the team kindly waived the fees. Still, we found the lack of flexibility frustrating for families with little ones who don’t run to a fixed schedule.
🛝 Onboard Facilities for Babies and Toddlers
💦 Splash Zones and Pools
There are three pools where children are allowed, and unlike some cruise lines, P&O permits babies and toddlers in swim nappies to use them. Lifeguards are present at key times around the pools. Having said that, the splash zone was definitely the biggest hit with our toddler - colourful, shallow, and full of water features for safe, active play.
It’s worth noting that on sea days the pools did feel very busy. And if your little ones are sensitive to noise or crowds, it might not be the most relaxing space.
🏟️ SkyDome
The SkyDome - a glass-covered pool area with a retractable roof - is designed as an all-weather solution. But in practice, it turns into a hot, echoey space when the weather’s poor.
On rainy days, the dome was full of wet swimmers and soggy towels, and the pool itself felt overcrowded and overstimulating for small children. If you’re a UK reader, it reminded me a lot of a Center Parcs swimming pool.
🧩 Soft Play & Indoor Spaces
Disappointingly, some of the advertised facilities weren’t open. There’s a designated soft play area in The Club House which remained closed the entire trip. I also repeatedly saw adverts around the ship for a Little City role-play space which the adverts claimed would be posted in the Horizon magazine but, like the socks I always put in the washing machine, never appeared. It wasn’t clear why, and that lack of clarity was frustrating.
🐣 Toddler Time
Each day there was a 9:00am or 3:00pm “Toddler Time” show - themed music and movement activities aimed at the under-twos. When we tried this on a previous cruise, it felt flat - the staff were kind, but read from a script and didn’t engage much. We skipped it this time, but we’d love to see it improved in future.
🎭 Entertainment for Kids
P&O absolutely excelled here. Over the two-week cruise, there were themed shows for children - from pop performances to animal adventures - plus circus school, craft sessions, and dance parties.
Our toddler had a brilliant time, and even insisted we went to meet the Animal Guys one evening in their Meet and Greet. The crew outside the kids’ club also went out of their way to engage with children onboard - high fives, jokes, and lots of friendly chats at dinner.
A small note: some of the kids’ entertainment clashed with kids’ club sessions, which meant families had to choose between the two. A little more coordination here would have helped.
🍼 Dining with Babies and Toddlers
There’s a dedicated Children’s Tea held in the buffet most nights - perfect for families who want an earlier, more casual dinner. One evening, our toddler even “had tea with a T-Rex”!
But the kids' menu itself was limited, and allergy-safe options were more so. P&O Cruises advertise a link with Annabel Karmel, but we didn’t see that reflected onboard.
🥄 I’ve got a full post about allergy-safe dining on Arvia coming soon - stay tuned for updates!
We usually ate dinner together as a family in the main dining room, and the limited options meant that our eldest ended up eating pasta almost every night.
🥣 Weaning Onboard
We were weaning our 6-month-old during the cruise, and it was a mixed bag. Daily purees were available, but the flavours were odd - think “salmon and peach.” One of them prompted my husband to declare it tasted like “vomit with a dry finish.” We gave up on the purees after that.
Instead, we used one of our stops to buy some easier pouches for our youngest. If he’d been a bit older though, there were some suitable finger food options in the buffet too - soft bread, steamed veg, and plain pasta If you’re in the weaning phase, I’d recommend bringing some baby snacks and pouches just in case.
🚿 Changing Facilities
Most accessible toilets had fold-down baby changers, which was really helpful - no need to run back to your cabin every time.
That said, the toilet doors were... quirky. Some had an odd light-based locking system that confused a lot of guests, and more than once we saw people accidentally walk in on others or leave the door unlocked without realising. They definitely were not designed by someone who’s ever used a toilet with a toddler “guarding” the door.
🧳 What I Wish I’d Packed
One thing I really wish we’d brought? A small inflatable baby pool.
It would’ve been perfect for bath time, or for letting our baby splash near our sunbed without getting overwhelmed by the bigger pools. We’ve used the balcony bath trick in the past, but it wasn’t possible this time due to the location and layout of our cabin.
💭 Overall Family Experience
We had a lovely time - especially seeing our toddler enjoy the splash zone and children’s shows. But there wasn’t anything that felt truly magical or unforgettable for little ones, and I’m not sure our kids would be wowed by a second sailing on the same ship.
That said, we’re heading back on Arvia in January for a Caribbean cruise, and I’m really curious to see how different a term-time sailing will feel compared to this busy summer sailing.
⭐ The Little Cruiser Score
Our final rating for the family experience onboard Arvia - based on our personal experience with a baby and toddler:
This score reflects a bit of everything - some lovely moments, but also logistical challenges that made things feel more effort than ease.
💬 Have you sailed with babies or toddlers? I’d love to hear how it went for you - every family’s experience is different, and I always love swapping tips.
🎥 Want to See the Full Video?
If you'd prefer to watch our family review, including real footage from onboard and a full explanation of our score, you can catch the full episode on YouTube:
👉 Watch the Arvia Family Cruise Review
📲 Follow for More
You can find more cruise reviews, tips for travelling with little ones, and new videos every other Friday right here:
- 📸 Instagram: @lisschatsship
- ▶️ YouTube: LissChatsShip on YouTube
- 📝 Blog: www.lisschatsship.com
- ✉️ Email: lisschatsship@gmail.com
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