P&O Cruises newest ship Arvia held its UK premiere of Greatest Days, the Official Take That Musical by Tim Firth on Sunday April 30. This special performance was attended by Gary Barlow, who is P&O Cruises music director.
Greatest Days is a story about friendship and music and focuses on five 16-year-old girls in 1993 for whom Take That is everything. The show follows this group of girls as they reunite after 25 years apart and try to fulfil their dream of meeting the boy band whose music became the soundtrack to their lives. Greatest Days features the music of Take That, Britain’s all-time most successful boy band, whose songs include Never Forget, Back for Good, A Million Love Songs, Greatest Day, The Flood, Relight My Fire, Shine and Rule the World.
Take That said: “Greatest Days talks about friendship, love and life and it was fantastic to see the extremely talented P&O Cruises cast bring the characters and songs to life and make today’s performance so special. It’s a standing ovation from us every time!”
H&N Review
We were delighted to be invited onboard Arvia to watch this very special performance of the UK premier of the Take That official musical, Greatest Days. Take That is our era and to say we were excited is an understatement, in fact I hardly slept a wink the night before, I felt the excitement of a teenager again – mainly because the man himself, Mr Gary Barlow was going to be there!
The show was hosted perfectly by multi-award winning, TV personality, author, podcast host and columnist, Olly Smith, starting with him introducing Gary to the stage prior to the show and ended with a full on stage interview.
But apart from my whole ‘fan girl’ experience, the show itself is a ‘must see’! Based loosely on a true story of Take That fans, it’s a touching tale of friendship, life, love and loss spanning 25 years. We and the whole audience laughed, cried and of course sung and danced to the Take That songs throughout the performance.
I have to say the cast were brilliant! They sang, danced and acted their hearts out. This was a day to remember and the best news is that you can see the show too when you cruise on Arvia.
This was one of our Greatest Days!
About P&O Cruises
P&O Cruises is Britain’s favourite cruise line, welcoming guests to experience holidays with a blend of discovery, choice, relaxation and exceptional service catered towards British tastes. Each of the seven ships has its own appeal from family friendly or exclusively for adults. With over 200 destinations worldwide, P&O Cruises itineraries are carefully curated to inspire discovery and are varied to suit newcomers and experienced guests alike.
Arvia joined the P&O Cruises fleet in December 2022 as the second LNG-powered, Excel-class ship embodying the newest trends in travel, dining and entertainment. Arvia offers a Caribbean/winter season of fly-cruise holidays from homeport Barbados and Mediterranean holidays from Southampton during the summer.
P&O Cruises works with the best of the best including Gary Barlow who is music director of The 710 Club on Arvia and Iona and has delivered a number of unique musical moments on board. Crafted to Gary’s creative vision, The 710 Club showcases an eclectic range of performances and offers an opportunity for up-and-coming musicians to get their break. Gary also joins guests for exclusive performances on Arvia and Iona holidays.
Multi award-winning performer Nicole Scherzinger will be the creative force behind contemporary and breath-taking late night shows to be performed in SkyDome on board Iona and Arvia and P&O Cruises Food Heroes include chefs Marco Pierre White, Jose Pizarro, Shivi Ramoutar and Kjartan Skjelde who has created Norwegian speciality dishes, as well as award-winning drinks expert Olly Smith.
Recent awards for P&O Cruises include:
British Travel Awards Winner 21/22 – Best Cruise Line for Family Holidays.
Cruise Critic Editors’ Picks Awards Winner 2022 – Best for Families.
