I vacationed on one of the world's largest cruise ships. Next time, I'll choose a smaller ship — or travel in the offseason.

• My partner and I spent two weeks on P&O's Arvia, one of the world's largest cruise ships.
• I had a fantastic time but found the ship was crowded, making it challenging to make friends.
• Next time, I'd be more likely to choose a smaller ship with fewer guests or travel in the offseason.

My partner and I weren't experienced cruise-goers before setting foot on one of the world's largest cruise ships in December of this year.

The British cruise line P&O launched Arvia in 2022. The ship has 19 decks, 30 bars and restaurants, and even an obstacle course on board.

It can host 5,200 guests, making it the largest ship built for the UK market, a spokesperson for P&O Cruises told Business Insider. It's also one of the biggest cruises in the world, along with its sister ship, Iona, as The Times of London reported.

Naturally, I jumped at the chance to spend a two-week vacation on Arvia as it sailed around the Caribbean earlier this month in the lead-up to the holidays. The ship ported in Tortola, Dominican Republic, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Kitts, Martinique, St. Lucia, and Barbados.

My partner had never been on a cruise before. Meanwhile, I had cruised two years prior — albeit on a much smaller ship — around Northern Europe.

We had an amazing time, and particularly enjoyed the variety of food and entertainment on board. However, we also experienced a couple of obstacles that seemed to be a result of being on a large ship at a peak time.

It was so busy, I found it hard to get a poolside deck chair and a table for dinner

Arvia spans 1,131 feet in height and weighs 184,700 tons, according to P&O's website. But despite its large size, I noticed that many areas of the ship felt overcrowded.

To be fair, we were on the cruise from December 9 to December 23 — a particularly busy time of the year. Many of the other guests I met said they planned to stay on board through Christmas and New Year's, so I knew it was likely to stay busy.

The ship's four main pools were often crammed with people and I witnessed guests arguing over deck chairs on a couple of occasions. The restaurants were also crowded during my visit.

I had looked forward to the ships's two celebration nights, where guests were asked to dress in formal attire and were treated to a five-course menu created by celebrity chef Marco Pierre White.

When we attempted to book a table before each celebration night, we were told that the two restaurants serving the speciality menu had already been fully booked several days in advance. This was a surprise to me, as all guests had been allocated tables on celebration nights during my previous cruise on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth in October 2021. Still, that was a much smaller cruise.

A P&O spokesperson told BI that speciality dining on the Arvia is available to book online two weeks before departure and that guests are also welcome to book on the day.

Luckily, we were able to join a virtual waitlist for one of the restaurants and were seated a couple of hours after the guests who had been able to book. I'm thankful that everything worked out, but not knowing whether we were going to get a table had been stressful.

It's something I hadn't prepared for, but looking back it makes sense that something like this would happen on a larger ship during a busy period. And next time I'm in a similar situation, I'll book ahead if I can.

I found it difficult to make friends on board such a large ship

There was always something new and exciting to do on the Arvia, whether that meant dining at a new restaurant, discovering live music, or exploring the ship's casino.

But the downside, in my experience, was that it became difficult to make friends with other passengers.

Of course, we had plenty of opportunities to meet people, and we often found ourselves chatting with other couples at dinner or while seated by the pool. But there were thousands of passengers on board, and the likelihood of bumping into the same guests more than once was slim.

My partner and I didn't let these things stop us from enjoying our cruise. We still had the time of our lives.

But next time, I'd definitely consider choosing a smaller ship — or travel on a larger cruise in the offseason — for a more relaxed experience.