P&O Arvia Dining Options
If you are trying to work out the best Arvia dining options before your cruise, the good news is that there is a lot of choice onboard. The more important question is whether all of that choice is equally good, equally convenient, or equally worth your time. It is not.
P&O Arvia has a strong dining line-up overall, but some venues work much better than others depending on the time of day, how busy the ship is, whether you want a proper sit-down meal or something quick, and how much you are willing to pay extra. There have also been some changes since Arvia first launched, particularly around the main dining room menus, The Olive Grove, Green and Co, and breakfast options, so it helps to go in with realistic expectations rather than relying on old reviews.
I have cruised on Arvia myself and tried the major venues onboard, so this guide is based on what the dining is actually like in practice rather than what it looks like in the brochure. This article covers breakfast, lunch, dinner, included dining, specialty restaurants, what is worth booking, what is better kept flexible, and which Arvia dining options I would prioritise if I was sailing again.
Watch the Full P&O Arvia Dining Options Guide
One of the reasons people search for Arvia dining options is because the ship offers a mix of included and extra-cost venues, and it is not always obvious before you sail how they all fit together.
At the included end, you have the main dining rooms, the Horizon buffet, The Quays, Taste 360 and 6th Street Diner. These are the places most passengers will use every day, and if you are happy to mix formal and casual dining, you could easily cruise on Arvia without paying extra for food at all.
Then there are the specialty restaurants, including Sindhu, The Epicurean, The Beach House, Green and Co featuring Mizuhana, Keel and Cow, The Glass House and the Limelight Club. These are the venues that can make the dining feel more varied, but they are not all equally worthwhile. Some feel like genuine upgrades. Others are more about a different atmosphere than clearly better food.
What matters on Arvia is not simply knowing what exists. It is understanding where the good included options are strong enough that you do not need to spend more, and where a specialty meal genuinely adds something to the cruise.
P&O Arvia Dining Options : Where to Go for Breakfast?
Breakfast is one of the easiest meals to get wrong on a cruise because the wrong choice can mean queuing, noise, carrying trays around a packed venue, and starting the day feeling rushed. On Arvia, breakfast is actually one of the better times to be strategic because there are several decent options, and they suit very different types of mornings.
Main Dining Rooms (Meridian & Zenith)
If you want a calmer start to the day, the main dining rooms are still one of the most dependable Arvia dining options for breakfast. On Arvia, this means Meridian and Zenith, and more recently The Olive Grove has also been used for breakfast with the same menu.
The breakfast menu is the standard P&O Cruises offering you will recognise from other ships in the fleet. It includes pastries, cereal, yoghurt, fruit, cooked breakfast items, smoked haddock, omelettes and eggs benedict. It is not a breakfast menu that tries to be inventive, but that is not really the point. It works because it is straightforward, familiar and served properly at a table rather than handed over in a busy self-service area.
On port days, the dining rooms usually open from 7:30am to 9:00am, and on sea days from 8:00am to 9:30am. That makes them a good option if you are not in a rush and you want a more traditional breakfast experience. If you have an early excursion, however, you may find the buffet or The Quays more practical.
The biggest advantage of the dining rooms at breakfast is not that the food is dramatically better than elsewhere. It is the pace. You are not trying to find a table with a tray in your hand, and you are not dealing with the general bustle of the buffet. On a busy ship like Arvia, that alone makes a difference
The Quays (Best Overall Breakfast Spot)
The Quays: The Best Breakfast Option on the Ship
If I had to pick one breakfast venue on Arvia to recommend most strongly, it would be The Quays.
This is one of the best Arvia dining options not because it is the fanciest venue, but because it gets the balance right between good food, speed, ease and atmosphere — which is exactly what you need on a busy ship like Arvia.
The Quays is built around three main serving areas, which makes it feel much easier to use than the Horizon buffet.At breakfast.
You have Hook, Line and Vinegar, which in the mornings serves items like pancakes and waffles. Then there’s the Asian Fusion counter, which is used in the mornings for made-to-order omelettes and scrambled eggs.
Also you have the Roast Carvery section, which is where you’ll find the main cooked breakfast — bacon, sausages, eggs and hash browns, set up more like a traditional hot counter rather than a full buffet line.
Just round the corner from The Quays, there’s also a separate section for lighter breakfast options. This is where you can pick up fruit, cereals, pastries, yoghurt, as well as tea, coffee, juice and water, so you do not need to queue again if you just want something simple alongside your main breakfast.
That layout makes a bigger difference than it sounds. Instead of everyone queueing in one place like the Horizon buffet, people spread out across the different counters, which keeps things moving and makes the whole experience feel far less hectic, even at peak times.
What also really lifts The Quays above the other breakfast options is the outdoor seating just beyond the doors overlooking the promenade. This is one of the best little dining tips on the ship. It gives you fresh air, sea views and a much calmer setting than most people expect from an included breakfast venue. On sea days especially, this can completely change how breakfast feels compared to eating inside a busy buffet.
It is also one of the Arvia dining options that feels more modern and more usable than the buffet. You are not forced into a single self-service line, and you can build your breakfast across different stations depending on what you want, whether that’s something quick before heading ashore or a slower, more relaxed start to the day.
If you’re trying to avoid the busiest parts of the ship in the morning, this is easily one of the most reliable choices onboard.
Horizon Buffet
The Horizon buffet opens early, usually from 6:00am for continental breakfast and 7:00am for hot food, which makes it useful for early risers, port mornings and anyone who just wants something quick. It covers the usual range of buffet breakfast food, including eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, cereal, toast, juice and coffee.
The issue is not that it is bad. The issue is that it is the most obvious choice, so it becomes the busiest one. On Arvia, that means it can feel crowded, noisy and more functional than enjoyable, especially on sea days or later in the breakfast window. There is also still no omelette station, which feels like a gap on a ship of this size.
If you are someone who likes to get up early and be first in, the buffet can work perfectly well. If you turn up later expecting a relaxed breakfast, it is much less appealing. That is why, when people ask me about Arvia dining options, I tend to recommend the buffet as a backup rather than the best choice.
Room Service Breakfast
Room service breakfast on Arvia comes with a small surcharge of £2.50 and is continental only. You fill in the order card the night before and hang it outside your cabin door before the cut-off.
It is not a big, luxurious breakfast, so it is important to be realistic. You are looking at pastries, cereal, fruit and drinks rather than a full hot breakfast. Even so, it can still be worth doing in the right circumstances. If you have a balcony cabin, this can be one of the nicest low-effort ways to start a sea day. It is also useful if you simply want a quiet start and do not want to get dressed and head straight into a public venue first thing.
Suite Guests – Epicurean Breakfast
If you are staying in a suite, breakfast at The Epicurean is included as part of the suite benefits. This is one of those perks that genuinely improves the experience because it gives you a quieter, more refined breakfast setting away from the busier general venues.
For suite guests, this is one of the more valuable dining benefits onboard. It turns breakfast into something calmer and more premium without any extra planning.
What Has Changed at Breakfast
One change worth knowing is that Keel and Cow no longer offers breakfast on Arvia. This used to be a paid morning option that quite a few people liked, so if you have seen older content mentioning it, that information is now out of date.
The other notable change is that The Olive Grove is now used for breakfast, but with the same menu as the main dining rooms. That means it increases capacity, which is helpful, but it does not create a genuinely different breakfast experience.
P&O Arvia Dining Options: Best Options for Lunch
Lunch is where Arvia starts to show more of its strengths. There is enough variety that you do not have to default to the buffet every day, and some of the better casual options are much more enjoyable than the ship’s busiest venues.
Main Dining Rooms
The main dining rooms also serve a sit-down three-course lunch, with a menu that usually includes starters, pasta, roast dishes, vegetarian options and desserts. This is a better fit for sea days or for anyone who wants to escape the general busyness of the ship for an hour.
The food can vary. Some lunches will feel better put together than others, which is fairly typical for cruise main dining rooms. The point here is less about consistently exceptional food and more about having a calmer, table-service alternative when you do not want another casual meal.
If you are the kind of cruiser who enjoys a proper lunch and does not mind giving the meal a little more time, this is one of the more underused Arvia dining options.
The Quays (Best Casual Lunch)
If breakfast belongs to The Quays, lunch probably does too.
This is one of the standout Arvia dining options because it manages to feel casual without feeling like a compromise. At lunch you have Hook, Line and Vinegar for fish and chips, Asian Fusion for noodles and curries, and the Roast Carvery counter, which includes things like Yorkshire pudding wraps and roast meats.
That mix gives The Quays much more day-to-day usefulness than a standard buffet. You can have something quick, but it still feels like a proper choice rather than just taking whatever is available. It is also one of the few included venues where I think the food often feels more appealing than the setting suggests. It is not flashy, but it is practical and genuinely enjoyable.
The downside is seating. It is popular, and if you hit it right at peak lunch time you may find yourself circling for a table. Go a little earlier or later and it works much better.
Horizon Buffet
The Horizon Buffet is open for lunch from 12:00 to 2:30pm and offers a spread of salads, pasta, roast items, sandwiches and desserts.
It’s one of the easiest Arvia dining options if you just want something quick, but it’s also the busiest. If you go right at peak time, it can feel crowded, and the food temperature can be inconsistent.
Food temperature can be inconsistent, and the experience depends heavily on timing. If you go early, it can be absolutely fine. If you go right in the middle of the rush, it can feel like the least appealing of the included Arvia dining options. That is why I would only really recommend it when convenience matters more than experience.
Taste 360 (Poolside Food)
Taste 360 in the SkyDome is poolside food, so expectations are usually quite low. You are looking at burgers, hot dogs, rotisserie chicken and pizza. The pleasant surprise is that some of it is better than you might expect, especially the pizza after a port day or when you want something quick without committing to a full meal.
This is not one of the Arvia dining options you build your cruise around, but it does a useful job. On a ship this size, having a decent poolside fallback matters more than it sounds.
6th Street Diner (Included, Bookable)
6th Street Diner is one of the more distinctive included Arvia dining options because it feels completely different from the rest of the ship’s dining. Instead of a traditional cruise restaurant or buffet, it’s set up more like an American-style diner, both in terms of the menu and the atmosphere.
The menu leans heavily into comfort food, with dishes like ribs, loaded fries, burgers and waffles, and it tends to rotate, so you may see slightly different options depending on when you go. It’s also one of the few places onboard where the food feels a bit more informal and fun rather than structured around courses.
It’s included in your fare, which makes it good value, but it’s not somewhere you can usually just walk straight into at busy times. You’ll either need to book it through My Holiday or join the virtual queue, and it does fill up quickly, especially on sea days or in the evening. That alone tells you it’s one of the more popular dining options onboard.
In terms of when to use it, this works best when you want a break from the main dining rooms or buffet. It’s a good option for a more relaxed lunch, or for an evening when you don’t want a full three-course meal or a more formal setting. The atmosphere is livelier and a bit noisier than other venues, so it depends what you’re looking for.
It’s probably not somewhere you’d go every day, but that’s not really the point. It’s there to give you a different style of meal within the included dining, and for that, it works well. If you plan it in advance rather than leaving it last minute, it’s definitely one of the Arvia dining options worth fitting into your cruise.
P&O Arvia Dining Options : Dinner Options & What’s Changed?
Dinner is where most people pay closest attention to Arvia dining options because this is where the ship has to deliver every evening, across a lot of passengers, with a mix of expectations. Some people want traditional dining, some want casual, some want specialty restaurants, and some want flexibility around shows and entertainment.
Main Dining Rooms (Meridian & Zenith)
The main dining rooms on Arvia, Meridian and Zenith, are central to the included dining experience. You’ll get three courses each evening, with rotating menus that typically include a choice of meat, fish, vegetarian dishes, pasta and a Chef’s Recommendation.
One of the biggest changes recently is the introduction of the updated main dining room menus across P&O ships, which Arvia received earlier. These are noticeably better than what came before. There’s more variety, the dishes feel more modern, and overall the menus feel less repetitive than older P&O main dining room menus.
In terms of how they fit into your cruise, these are the restaurants most passengers will use for dinner on most nights. They’re designed to offer a consistent, sit-down experience each evening, so if you want a more traditional cruise dinner with table service, this is where you’ll spend most of your time.
The menus change daily, which helps add variety across a longer cruise, but the overall structure stays familiar. That makes them easy to rely on, especially if you don’t want to think too much about where to eat each night or deal with booking specialty restaurants in advance.
Freedom Dining on P&O Arvia: How It Works
Arvia operates on a full Freedom Dining system, which means there are no fixed dining times and no assigned tables in the main dining rooms.
Instead of choosing an early or late sitting before your cruise, you decide when you want to eat each evening. You can either turn up at the restaurant when you’re ready, or join the virtual queue using the My Holiday app.
In simple terms, it gives you flexibility — but it also means you need to manage your timing, especially on a busy ship like Arvia.
How the My Holiday App Works for Dining
The My Holiday app is central to how dining works onboard, and it’s not actually an app you download. It’s a web page you access through the ship’s WiFi once you’re onboard.
You’ll use it for:
- joining the queue for the main dining rooms
- checking estimated wait times
- booking restaurants like 6th Street Diner or specialty dining
- viewing your onboard account
For dinner in the main dining rooms, the virtual queue usually opens in the early evening. You select your restaurant, join the queue, and then you’re free to go elsewhere while you wait. When your table is ready, you’ll get a notification telling you to head to the restaurant.
That’s the key difference compared to traditional dining. You’re not standing in a physical queue the whole time — but you do still need to plan ahead if you want to avoid waiting.
When It Works Well — and When It Doesn’t
Freedom Dining works best if you’re flexible.
If you’re happy to eat slightly earlier or later, or you don’t mind adjusting your evening plans, you can usually avoid long waits and get seated fairly quickly.
Where it becomes less smooth is during peak times:
- around 6:30pm to 8:00pm
- before popular shows
- on formal nights
If you try to eat at the same time as everyone else, you’ll likely be waiting longer, even with the virtual queue.
Practical Tips for Using It
Arvia operates full freedom dining. This means there are no fixed dining times and no assigned tables, and you join a virtual queue via My Holiday. At peak times, expect to wait, especially before shows.
The simplest way to make Freedom Dining work in your favour is to treat it like a flexible system, not a last-minute one. Have a backup option like The Quays if wait times get too long. Join the queue earlier than you think you need to. Plan dinner around your show times, not the other way round. Use quieter times if you want a more relaxed experience.
The Olive Grove: What’s Changed
The Olive Grove has changed significantly and is probably the most disappointing recent change among the Arvia dining options.
When Arvia first launched, this venue felt like a more distinctive included restaurant with a Mediterranean identity. It offered something that broke up the dining week and gave you a different flavour profile from the main dining rooms. That was part of what made it useful.
Now it is used much more like a third main dining room, especially on busier evenings and formal nights. A smaller Olive Grove menu remains, but it is not the same wide-ranging venue it once was.
From a passenger flow point of view, you can understand why P&O has done it. A ship like Arvia needs capacity, and another venue to absorb demand helps reduce queues elsewhere. From the passenger point of view, though, it removes some of the variety that made the ship feel stronger. If you are sailing now, it is better to think of The Olive Grove as a main dining room rather than one of the most distinctive Arvia dining options.
P&O Arvia Dining Options – Casual Dinner
Not every evening meal on Arvia has to be a formal, sit-down dinner, and that’s one of the advantages of the ship’s dining setup. There are a couple of solid alternatives if you want something more relaxed or do not want to work around dining room queues.
6th Street Diner (Evening)
6th Street Diner works well in the evening if you want something more casual and less structured, but it’s not something you can rely on last minute. You’ll usually need to book through My Holiday or join the virtual queue, and it often fills up, especially on sea days. The menu rotates, and the atmosphere is livelier and noisier than the main dining rooms, so it feels more like a break from the usual cruise routine rather than a direct replacement. Portions are not huge, so it’s better suited to a lighter evening meal or when you do not want a full three-course dinner.
The Quays (Evening)
The Quays is a much more flexible option in the evening. It reopens with the same three serving areas, including Hook, Line and Vinegar, Asian Fusion and the Roast Carvery, but with slightly different menus from lunchtime. The key advantage here is that you do not need to book and you are not tied to a queue system. If the main dining rooms are busy, or you have a show coming up and do not want to wait, this is one of the easiest ways to eat without disrupting your evening.
P&O Arvia Dining Options – Speciality Dining : What’s Worth It?
This is where people often overspend without thinking through what they want from the meal. The best way to approach Arvia dining options is not to assume that extra cost automatically means better value.
Sindhu: Best Speciality Restaurant on Arvia ?
If I was only booking one extra-cost restaurant on Arvia, it would be Sindhu.
It is the speciality venue that feels most clearly worth the money because it offers something genuinely different from the included dining. The flavours are strong, the presentation is good, and the overall experience feels like a proper occasion rather than just a slightly upgraded cruise dinner. On a ship with a lot of dining choice, that matters.
Sindhu is the speciality restaurant that stands out most clearly as a must-do.
The Beach House
The Beach House remains one of the more enjoyable speciality Arvia dining options. It serves Caribbean and Latin American-inspired dishes such as fajitas, ribs and sizzlers, and it has a more relaxed style than some of the more polished specialty venues.
Some dishes carry an extra supplement on top of the cover charge, but even with that, I still think it offers decent value if you like the menu style.
The Epicurean: Looks Great, but Not My Favourite for Value
The Epicurean is positioned as Arvia’s fine dining restaurant. You are paying for a more premium feel, more elaborate presentation and a more formal evening. For many people, that is exactly what they want from a specialty meal.
For me, it is one of the Arvia dining options where expectation can run ahead of reality. The setting is attractive and the dishes are designed to feel special, but I did not think it justified the pricing as strongly as Sindhu did. It is not bad. It just did not feel like the best value speciality choice on the ship.
Keel and Cow: Good Food, Slightly Awkward Setting
Keel and Cow is effectively the ship’s steakhouse and burger venue. The food is good, but its location in the atrium means it is not always the calmest setting for a paid meal. That is why I think it works better for lunch or an early dinner than for a quieter evening out.
This is a good example of why context matters when reviewing Arvia dining options. A venue can serve good food and still not be the best fit for every type of meal.
The Glass House: Easy to Overspend
The Glass House works well if you like the idea of wine-led dining with small plates, seafood and steak. The problem is that the bill can climb quickly if you are not paying attention. This is not necessarily a criticism of the food, just a reminder that value matters when comparing the paid dining against what is already included.
Green and Co Featuring Mizuhana: Changed, and Not in a Small Way
Green and Co has changed significantly. It is no longer mainly a plant-based restaurant. It now leans much more towards Asian fusion with sushi and seafood, and the vegan offering is much smaller than before.
That means older impressions of this venue are no longer fully reliable. In its current form, it is one of the quieter Arvia dining options and can work well as a backup if other speciality restaurants are fully booked. It is not usually the first venue people rush to, but that can actually work in its favour if you want a more relaxed meal.
Limelight Club: Book It for the Show, Not the Food
The Limelight Club follows the same formula as on other P&O ships, combining a three-course meal with live entertainment. The important thing here is to be honest about why you are booking it. If you really want to see the act, it can be a good night. If your main goal is the food, there are stronger specialty dining choices elsewhere on the ship.
Key Tip: Use the My Holiday App
If you want the Arvia dining options to work in your favour, you need to use My Holiday properly. This is not really optional on a ship like this. It is how you join virtual queues, check availability and manage restaurant plans.
The biggest mistake is waiting until you are already hungry and then opening the app to see what is available. On Arvia, it works much better if you think a little ahead, especially around dinner. If you know you want a main dining room meal before a show, queue early. If you know you want 6th Street Diner, do not leave it until the last minute and hope for the best.
In practice, the dining works much better if you plan slightly ahead rather than leaving everything until you are ready to eat.
This is the easiest way to avoid waiting for dinner.
What’s Actually Worth It on Arvia?
Overall, the Arvia dining options are strong, but they are not all equally worthwhile, and they do not all suit the same type of cruise day.
The ship is at its best when you use the variety properly rather than defaulting to the buffet or assuming specialty dining is always better. The Quays is one of the most useful venues onboard and one of the easiest to underestimate. The main dining rooms have improved with the newer menus. Sindhu is the specialty restaurant most worth prioritising. The Olive Grove is the biggest disappointment in terms of change. And if you plan around busy times instead of turning up at the exact moment everyone else does, the whole dining experience works better.
If you are sailing on Arvia soon, the best approach is to mix your dining rather than locking yourself into one routine. That is where the ship offers the most value.
Related Guides & Videos
If you’re planning your dining across the whole cruise, it helps to understand how each part of the day works.
You can read my Arvia breakfast options and menus guide to see where to eat in the morning, including The Quays, main dining rooms and buffet, along with full menus and a downloadable PDF.
My Arvia dinner options guide explains how Freedom Dining works, how to avoid queues and which restaurants are worth using in the evening. It also includes a PDF of the P&O Main Dining Room Menus
If you’re considering paying extra, my Arvia speciality dining guide breaks down each restaurant, including Sindhu, The Beach House and others, with menus and practical advice on what’s worth the cost.
FAQs: P&O Arvia Dining Options
Is food included on P&O Arvia?
Yes — most dining options are included, including main dining rooms, buffet, The Quays, and 6th Street Diner.
Do you need to book restaurants on Arvia?
For main dining rooms, no — but you may need to queue. Specialty restaurants should be booked in advance.
What is the best restaurant on Arvia?
Sindhu is widely considered the best specialty restaurant onboard.
Have P&O Arvia Dining Options changed?
Yes P&O Arvia Dining Options have changed. The changes include new main dining room menus and changes to The Olive Grove and Green & Co.
Useful Cruise Items to Consider
These are a few simple items that can make your cruise on P&O Arvia more comfortable and help you stay organised onboard.
I personally use variations of these when cruising, and they’re all practical rather than essential.
Magnetic hooks Perfect for extra storage in your cabin
Packing cubes Keep your suitcase organised
Cruise luggage tags Protect your tags at the port
Travel Extension Lead UK For charging multiple phones, cameras, and laptops
Toiletry organiser Great for small bathrooms
You can also browse my full Cruise Essentials list for more useful items I use or recommend for cruise holidays.
This article may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Staying Connected at Sea
If you don’t want to rely entirely on the ship’s Wi-Fi, another option is a cruise eSIM.
Saily has recently launched cruise eSIM plans that provide mobile data both at sea and in supported ports. Depending on your itinerary and how you use your phone, this could be a convenient alternative for messaging, maps and general internet browsing.
You can check the latest plans and coverage here: Saily Cruise Esim
Use code SOLOTRAVEL10 to receive 10% off your purchase.
Affiliate disclosure: This section contains an affiliate link. If you purchase through this link, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I haven’t personally tested Saily’s cruise eSIM yet, so please check the latest coverage, data allowances and device compatibility before purchasing.