Aboard Map / Ship maps / Arvia

P&O Arvia deck plan, deck by deck

A free map of Arvia that works with your mobile data switched off. Give it your cabin number and it shows you where you are, with walking directions to anywhere on board.

This page is her deck plan written out in words too: every room the plan names, which deck it's on, and which side of the ship. She's Iona's sister, and she's not a copy of her.

I'm Ben, an ordinary passenger, and I made it because I couldn't find the Crow's Nest.

Open the map

Then add it to your home screen. It opens like any other app, and it works with no internet.

A phone showing deck 17 of Arvia on the map. The Crow's Nest is pinned at the forward end, and the card below lists three steps: walk forward 105 m, about 36 doors, to the FWD stairs and lifts; go up 5 decks to deck 17; walk forward 70 m from the stairs.
The app on a phone: deck 17 on Arvia, and the walk to the Crow's Nest from a cabin on deck 11.

Just want the deck list? It is at the foot of this page.

Arvia is the less checked of the two ships

Read this before you trust anything below it. Both ships are drawn from P&O's own deck-plan PDFs, read out of the file as text rather than scanned, then redrawn a second time independently as a check. That part is the same for Arvia and for Iona.

The difference is what happens next. Iona's positions are anchored to photographs of the ship's own lift-lobby boards. Arvia has no such anchor. Her coordinate frame was measured off the drawn hull and corroborated against Iona, her room names were read off the plan, and her fares were researched from cruise guides rather than from P&O's own pages.

The plan I worked from is dated August 2024, and rooms get renamed.

Nobody has walked Arvia with this map in their hand, and the scanner has never read a real cabin number off a door on either ship.

The map is a sketch: places are where they really are, but walls and corridors aren't drawn.

None of that makes it wrong. It does mean Arvia's fares are the likeliest thing on this page to be out of date, and that a room name is a better bet than a price. If you're aboard and something here is off, there is an "email a correction" link in the app. I read every one, and Arvia is the ship where they are worth most.

The last error here was caught by a passenger who counted the whirlpools on Iona's deck 8 lanai and found three a side where the plan's labels had been read as four. Nobody was checking the app; they were looking at the water. That is how this gets better, and it is why the correction link matters more on this ship than on the other one.

Sixteen decks, and knowing Iona only gets you so far

Arvia has sixteen passenger decks, numbered 3 to 19 with no deck 13. On the first day that's about fifteen too many.

She's Iona's sister, so the shape of the place is familiar. Her dining rooms have different names, though, and several of her bars are her own.

The fold-out plan in your cabin shows all of it. The one thing it can't show is you.

So you end up at a lift lobby, working out whether the place you want is above you or behind you, and whether those stairs go that far.

Your phone is no help either. You'll be told to turn your mobile data off before the ship sails, and it's good advice: once past territorial waters your phone picks up the ship's own mast, and that's maritime data, billed on its own at £6 a megabyte. So you switch it off, and every map app on the phone stops working.

What the app does

It's free, there are no ads, and there's nothing to sign in to.

Shows you where you are

Point the camera at the number beside any cabin door and it puts you on the deck map. You can type the number in instead.

Your own cabin stays saved, and that is where directions start from, so finding anywhere else on board is one tap.

Walks you to anywhere on board

Tap Find, type a place, and it draws the route: which of the three stair and lift towers to head for, how far up or down, and how far along the new deck. These times are a guide, not a promise.

The answer is not always a lift. The Meridian Restaurant sits at the stern of deck 6 and Headliners Theatre is forward on the same deck, so that walk changes no decks at all.

Every bar, restaurant, pool, shop and toilet on Arvia is on the map, each with a line saying what it is. Where a place costs extra, it says so.

Tells you which port, and which day

Give it the dates you sail and it works out which cruise you're on, then lists your stops: the day, the place, and the hours you have ashore.

Your stops on a phone: P&O Arvia, Norwegian Fjords, seven nights, sailing 30 August 2026. Eight days are listed, from leaving Southampton at 17:00 to arriving back at 07:00, with a day cruising Hardangerfjord, then Flam, Olden and Zeebrugge, and the hours ashore beside each one.
Your stops: the day, the place, and the hours you have ashore.

Says what's worth doing when you get off

Each stop is split in two: what costs nothing, and what costs money. The free half is what you can walk to from the gangway, and how long it takes. The paid half names the thing and says how you reach it, because at Skjolden the oldest stave church in Norway is across the water and the glacier is a coach and then a boat.

No prices and no opening times. Both go stale in a file that sits on your phone for a month, and a wrong one costs you a morning.

Every port I have written up has a page of its own too, outside the app: what to do at each stop.

Before that, there is a checklist of the things worth doing at home: before you sail.

The Skjolden page on a phone, below the street map: under a heading reading Costs nothing, the ten-minute walk to the village and two paths from it, one up to a viewpoint over the fjord and one along the valley to a waterfall. Under Costs money, Urnes stave church across the water and the Nigardsbreen glacier, each with a sentence saying what it is and how you get there.
What costs nothing, and what costs money, kept apart. This one is Skjolden.

Saves the street maps for your own stops

One button saves the maps for the places your cruise calls at, and it shows you the size before you agree. There are maps for 55 places between the two ships, ports and Norwegian fjords.

Save them at home and you have the streets of each stop on your phone, with no signal and no bill.

The Zeebrugge page on a phone: a paragraph explaining that the port is entirely man-made, pushed out into the sea from 1895 because Bruges had lost its own access to the coast, a note about the Royal Navy sinking three cruisers across the harbour mouth in 1918, and the street map below it.
Every stop has a page of its own, and a street map you can save before you sail. This one is Zeebrugge, for Bruges.

And it all keeps working with no internet

Open it once on wi-fi at home and it copies itself onto your phone: every deck, every cabin, every venue, every route. After that it asks the internet for nothing.

Open the map

Do it at home, while you still have wi-fi. It's much harder once you're aboard.

The deck plan in detail

Where the cabins are, and which side

Eleven of the sixteen decks have cabins on them. The number beside your door tells you the deck and roughly how far back you are, and it tells you the side as well.

Even numbers are on the port side, the left as you face the front. Odd numbers are on the starboard side. So 9302 is a port cabin, and 9301, the same distance along the ship, is a starboard one.

I have checked that against every cabin position on Arvia's plan, and away from the middle of the ship not one of them breaks it.

What I don't have for Arvia is a photograph of a lift-lobby board saying so, the way I do for Iona. So here the rule rests on the drawing alone, which was read out of the plan once and then redrawn a second time as a check.

Two things stop the number being the whole answer. The middle of the ship is one: some cabins sit so close to the centreline that neither word helps. The ends are the other.

At the bow and at the stern the last row of cabins runs across the width of the ship instead of along it, so the numbers there sweep from one side to the other at the same distance back, and higher stops meaning further aft.

Forum answers get this wrong regularly. The counts and the worked examples are below.

Arvia has 2,656 cabins, on 11 decks: 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17.

Even to port and odd to starboard holds on every one of those decks. 66 cabins on Arvia are drawn within a whisker of the centreline, where neither word tells you much.

At the stern, the last row of cabins on decks 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15 runs across the ship rather than along it: 8 cabins on each of decks 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14, and 6 cabins on deck 15. That is 46 cabins in the stern rows, where the numbers sweep from one side to the other and a higher number is not further back.

The bow does the same on decks 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15: 8 cabins on each. That is 56 more, so 102 cabins in all sit in a row that runs across the ship. Deck 8 is in that list and not in the stern one, because its cabins stop short of the stern.

How Arvia differs from Iona

Structurally they are close. Same deck numbering, 3 to 19 with no 13, the same sixteen decks with the same names, the same eleven cabin decks, launderettes on the same nine decks, three stair and lift towers reaching the same decks, and the same six decks whose last row of cabins runs across the stern.

The cabins are where the sisters part. Arvia has 2,656 to Iona's 2,611, and every extra one is on decks 9 to 15.

Decks 5, 8, 16 and 17 carry exactly the same cabin numbers on both ships, and deck 4 differs by a single number: Iona has 4215, which Arvia does not.

Inside the stern rows the numbers differ on all six decks, so an Iona cabin list will put you in the wrong place on Arvia: on deck 9 Iona's stern row runs 9744, 9746, 9748, 9750 out from the port rail, and Arvia's runs 9744, 9746, 9750, 9752.

The rooms differ more. Iona has four main dining rooms, Aqua, Opal, Pearl and Coral. Arvia's are Meridian and Zenith. Arvia also has 6th Street Diner, Green & Co feat. Mizuhana, the Mission Control escape room and the Altitude ropes course, none of which are on Iona.

The Olive Grove is on both ships and is the one place they deliberately disagree: a speciality restaurant with a cover charge on Iona, and a dining room included in your fare on Arvia. Worth checking against the menu when you're aboard, because it's the difference between a bill and no bill.

The three stair and lift towers

Arvia has three sets of stairs and lifts, and that's the whole of how you get about. Every route is three steps: walk to the nearest tower, change decks, walk forward or aft along the new deck. That's why a cabin number is enough for the app to give you directions.

The one that catches people is the aft tower. It stops at deck 16, because deck 17 and above is open deck at that end of the ship. Standing on the Sky deck at the stern, the stairs you want are forward or amidships, and a lift that doesn't exist is a long walk back.

A change of decks costs more than the walking does, which is why a bar two decks up can come out further away than one at the far end of your own corridor. These times are a guide, not a promise.

Each tower against the decks it reaches. The scale runs from deck 19 down to deck 3. There is no deck 13.
  • FWD stairs & lifts
    Stairs and lifts at the forward end of the ship, serving decks 4 to 19.
  • MID stairs & lifts
    Stairs and lifts amidships, serving decks 3 to 19.
  • AFT stairs & lifts
    Stairs and lifts at the aft end, serving decks 5 to 16. For decks above 16, use the FWD or MID stairs.

Toilets and launderettes

The things nobody photographs and everybody looks for. Both are on the map, and searchable by name in the app.

Public toilets, marked WC on the map. They are on 7 of the public decks, and the app will find you the nearest one.

Self-service launderette. There are 9 on board, one each on decks 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16. If your cabin is on any other deck you'll have to change decks to do the washing.

Questions people ask

What deck is 6th Street Diner on Arvia?

Deck 6, the Gala deck, mid-aft and on the port side. It's included in your fare: breakfast and brunch through the morning, dinner in the evening. It's on the same deck as the Meridian and a little forward of it, so you can look at both before deciding.

Where is Green & Co on Arvia?

Deck 8, the Promenade deck, mid-aft and on the starboard side. The full name on the plan is Green & Co feat. Mizuhana: plant-based cooking, with Mizuhana's sushi and Asian plates alongside. It's charged per dish.

What deck is the Altitude Skywalk on Arvia?

Deck 19, the Sky deck, towards the aft end and on the centreline. That's the topmost passenger deck. The plan calls it Altitude Skywalk & Minigolf: the minigolf is free and the ropes course is charged and needs booking.

Are even cabins port or starboard on Arvia?

Even numbers are port, the left as you face the front. Odd numbers are starboard. That holds on all eleven cabin decks.

I have checked it against all 2,656 cabin positions on Arvia's deck plan, and away from the middle of the ship not one of them breaks it.

The exception is the 66 cabins drawn within a whisker of the middle line, where the side hardly means anything.

On Iona the same rule is printed on the ship's own lift-lobby boards. There is no such photograph for Arvia, so here the rule rests on the drawing alone.

Does Arvia have a deck 13?

No. The decks run 3 to 19 with no 13 at all, which makes sixteen passenger decks. Cabins are on 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17, the same eleven decks as Iona.

Is Arvia laid out the same as Iona?

Structurally, largely yes: same deck numbering with no 13, the same eleven cabin decks, launderettes on the same nine decks, and the same six decks whose last row of cabins runs across the stern. The rooms are different, and so are the cabin numbers inside those stern rows, on all six decks. Don't hand an Arvia passenger an Iona cabin list. Arvia has 2,656 cabins to Iona's 2,611, and the extra ones are all on decks 9 to 15.

My cabin is 9744 on Arvia. Where is that?

Right aft on deck 9, hard against the port rail, in the row that runs across the stern rather than along the ship. 9746, 9750 and 9752 are beside it working inwards, not behind it. It's the same position on Iona, which is a coincidence of numbering and not a rule: most of the stern row numbers differ between the two ships.

Where is the Crow's Nest on Arvia?

Deck 17, the Sun deck, right at the forward end and on the centreline, the same position as on Iona. It's a forward-facing observation lounge and bar, so the route is the forward stairs and lifts, up to 17, and it's in front of you.

Which decks have a launderette on Arvia?

Nine of them, one each on decks 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16. If your cabin is on deck 8 or deck 17 there is no launderette on your deck and you'll have to change decks to do the washing.

Which deck is the Infinity Pool on Arvia?

Deck 16, the Lido deck, right at the stern, looking back over the wake. The Infinity Bar is a few steps away on the starboard side. It's at the same end of the ship as the Meridian on deck 6, ten decks up, so the aft stairs and lifts run the whole way.

What is there to do in Skjolden from a cruise ship?

The village is ten minutes from the pier and two walks start there that cost nothing: up to the Sengaberget viewpoint over the fjord, and along the valley to the Asafossen waterfall. Urnes stave church, the oldest one left standing, is across the water, so reaching it means a boat either way.

The rest of it is on the Skjolden cruise port page.

Is the Flam railway near the cruise berth?

Yes. The station is a few steps from where the ship ties up, which is unusual for a Norwegian fjord port. The line climbs 866 metres in twenty kilometres to Myrdal, about an hour each way, and it does it without a rack or a cable.

The rest of it is on the Flam cruise port page.

What can you do in Haugesund from the cruise port for nothing?

The quay is the main street, so the town starts where you step off. Haraldshaugen, the monument on Harald Fairhair's burial mound, is half an hour or so north along the coastal path. The Rising Tide is on the same path: four horses standing in the water with oil pumps for heads.

Deck by deck

A few words do most of the work on a ship, so here they are once.

Port
The left as you face the front.
Starboard
The right.
Forward
Towards the front.
Aft
Towards the back.
Bow
The front end of the ship.
Stern
The back end.
Amidships
The middle.
Centreline
The line straight down that middle, bow to stern.

The length of the ship is split into five zones, and the deck lists below use the app's own words for them: forward, mid-forward, midship, which is the amidships one, mid-aft and aft.

Positions come from the published deck plan. Where a room has a fare word below, the app knows whether it's in your fare or charged. Where it has none, I don't have one for that room, and a blank isn't the same as free.

Deck 3Medical

No cabins on this deck.

  • Medical Centremidship · port sideThe ship's doctors and nurses. Open surgery hours are in the daily programme, and the emergency number is on the phone in your cabin.

Deck 4Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 280. There is also a launderette.

Deck 5Spa

Cabins on this deck: 261. There are also toilets and a launderette.

  • Treatment Roomsforward · port sideSpa treatments. Book at the Oasis reception.
  • Changing Roomsforward · port sideChanging rooms for the spa and gym.
  • Thermal Suiteforward · port sideHeated loungers, saunas and steam rooms. Book at the spa.Costs extra
  • Gymmid-forward · starboard sideFitness suite. Free to use; some classes are charged.

Deck 6Gala

No cabins on this deck. There are toilets.

  • Headliners Theatreforward · centre of the shipThe main show lounge, two decks high. West End style productions, no ticket needed.
  • Scene (teens)mid-forward · starboard sideTeen club, 13 to 17.
  • Spa Gallerymid-forward · port sidePart of the Oasis spa.
  • Oasis Spa & Health Clubmid-forward · port sideSpa treatments, thermal suite and salon. Treatments are charged.
  • The Limelight Clubmid-forward · starboard sideSupper club with live music. Ticketed, and it books up.Costs extra
  • Grand Atriummidship · centre of the shipThe three-deck heart of the ship. Bars, live music and the main staircase.
  • Amber Loungemidship · starboard sideCocktail bar in the Grand Atrium.
  • Vistasmidship · port sideCafe bar looking out over the sea. Speciality coffee is charged.
  • The 710 Clubmidship · starboard sideIntimate live music room.
  • Anderson'smid-aft · port sideQuiet lounge bar and library, panelled and calm.
  • Mission Controlmid-aft · starboard sideEscape room. Charged per person, and it books up.Costs extra
  • Ocean Studiosmid-aft · starboard sideThe cinema. Films through the day.
  • The Olive Grovemid-aft · starboard sideMediterranean dining room, included in your fare.Included in your fare
  • 6th Street Dinermid-aft · port sideAmerican diner. Breakfast and brunch through the morning, dinner in the evening. In your fare.Included in your fare
  • Meridian Restaurantaft · centre of the shipOne of the two main dining rooms. Waiter service, menu changes daily.Included in your fare

Deck 7Parade

No cabins on this deck. There are toilets.

  • Headliners Theatreforward · centre of the shipThe main show lounge, two decks high. West End style productions, no ticket needed.
  • Brodie'smid-forward · starboard sideTraditional pub with quizzes, sport on the screens and a proper bar.
  • Casinomid-forward · port sideTables and slots. Opens once the ship is at sea.
  • The Glass Housemidship · centre of the shipWine bar with small plates. Wine and food both charged.Costs extra
  • Receptionmidship · starboard sideGuest services. Accounts, questions and lost property.
  • The Photo Gallerymid-aft · port sideShip photographers' prints and camera gear.
  • Shore Experiences · Cruise Salesmid-aft · centre of the shipBook excursions here, and the desk for booking a future cruise.
  • Zenith Restaurantaft · centre of the shipMain dining room at the stern, a deck above Meridian.Included in your fare

Deck 8Promenade

Cabins on this deck: 122. There are also toilets.

  • The Keel & Cowmidship · centre of the shipPub-style dining and beer on the Promenade. Food is charged.Costs extra
  • Ripplesmidship · port sideIce cream counter. Charged per scoop.Costs extra
  • Sindhumid-aft · starboard sideSpeciality Indian restaurant with its own bar. Cover charge, worth booking ahead.Costs extra
  • Sindhu Barmid-aft · centre of the shipThe bar beside Sindhu.
  • The Quaysmid-aft · port sideCasual food court on the Promenade. Everything here is in your fare.Included in your fare
  • Green & Co feat. Mizuhanamid-aft · starboard sidePlant-based cooking, with Mizuhana's sushi and Asian plates alongside. Charged per dish.Costs extra
  • The Club Houseaft · centre of the shipLive music and comedy at the stern, with its own stage.
  • Sunset Baraft · centre of the shipAft bar with the wake behind you.

Deck 9Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 325. There is also a launderette.

Deck 10Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 311. There is also a launderette.

Deck 11Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 317. There is also a launderette.

Deck 12Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 313. There is also a launderette.

There is no deck 13.

Deck 14Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 320. There is also a launderette.

Deck 15Staterooms

Cabins on this deck: 290. There is also a launderette.

Deck 16Lido

Cabins on this deck: 89. There are also toilets and a launderette.

  • Bridgeforward · centre of the shipThe navigation bridge. Crew only.
  • Laguna Barmidship · starboard sidePoolside bar under the SkyDome.
  • Taste 360 & Sundaesmidship · port sideCasual counters by the pool, and the ice cream bar. Charged.Costs extra
  • SkyDomemidship · centre of the shipCovered pool under a glass roof, with food and bars around it. Open whatever the weather.
  • Crystal Barmidship · port sideBar beside the SkyDome, by the middle lifts.
  • The Beach Housemidship · starboard sideRelaxed speciality dining off the buffet. Charged per dish.Costs extra
  • Horizon Restaurantmid-aft · centre of the shipThe buffet. Open through the day, help yourself, no booking.Included in your fare
  • Infinity Baraft · starboard sideSwim-up bar beside the Infinity Pool.
  • Infinity Poolaft · centre of the shipPool at the stern, looking back over the wake.

Deck 17Sun

Cabins on this deck: 28. There are also toilets.

  • The Crow's Nestforward · centre of the shipForward-facing observation lounge and bar, best view on the ship.
  • The Ivory Suiteforward · starboard sidePrivate dining and function room.
  • The Epicureanforward · port sideThe fine dining room. Cover charge and the dressiest room on board.Costs extra
  • Sky Barmidship · port sideTop-deck bar above the SkyDome.
  • Night Nurserymid-aft · port sideSupervised night nursery for the youngest, booked ahead.
  • Scubasmid-aft · starboard sideKids' club for 5 to 8 year olds.
  • The Reef Receptionmid-aft · centre of the shipSign the children in and out for the kids' clubs here.
  • Splashersmid-aft · port sideKids' club for 2 to 4 year olds.
  • Surfersmid-aft · port sideKids' club for 9 to 12 year olds.
  • Deck Gamesmid-aft · starboard sideOpen-deck games area.

Deck 18Panorama

No cabins on this deck. There are toilets.

  • The Retreatforward · centre of the shipQuiet adults-only sun deck. Charged, and it needs booking.Costs extra
  • Beachcomber Poolforward · centre of the shipOpen-air pool on the Panorama deck.
  • Beachcomber Barmid-forward · centre of the shipOpen-air bar beside the Beachcomber pool.
  • Jogging Trackmid-aft · centre of the shipThe track that wraps the deck. Keep clockwise.
  • Splash Valleymid-aft · starboard sideChildren's water play area, with jets and fountains.
  • Golf Netsmid-aft · port sideGolf practice nets.
  • Panorama Pool & Baraft · centre of the shipOpen-air pool and bar at the stern.

Deck 19Sky

No cabins on this deck.

  • Sun Deckmid-forward · centre of the shipOpen sun deck with loungers.
  • Sports Arenamid-aft · centre of the shipThe sports court.
  • Altitude Skywalk & Minigolfmid-aft · centre of the shipHigh ropes and minigolf on the top deck. The minigolf is free; the ropes course is charged and needs booking.