Arvia Caribbean Cruise

We had a wonderful time on our cruise but having sailed with P&O before there were some issues. On the positive side the staff were excellent and the ship was beautiful. The major issue for us and many other passengers we spoke to was the pricing. Those of us who had booked 12+ months ago felt hard done by when in the weeks before sailing the trip was offered at less than half we had paid. P&O need to be very careful not to turn these big ships into Butlins on Sea. There was a definite shortage of staff. The cabins were only serviced once a day and the decks were stained and not cleaned. There was a lack of space for sun beds and despite being told not to people were putting towels on sun beds at the crack of dawn with no repercussions. It was almost impossible to get a sun bed on a sea day so we tended to stay on our balcony.
There was no sign at all of the captain which was unusual. I think more effort could have been made there.
The cabin itself was smaller than expected mainly due to a huge sofa bed in the seating area, the bathroom and shower were excellent.
In general, I would say there was a general lack of atmosphere. The entertainment varied from good to very poor. Please don’t get me started on the Sky Dome! The noise in there was ear-splitting, absolutely awful. Also when the sun shone – we were in the Caribbean – you couldn’t see the screen at all.
Huge frustration with the App, the fact that you had to use it at all and the fact that half the time it didn’t work. Definitely signs of cost-cutting, daily charge for continental breakfast room service, no port information sheet, and no captains log at the end of the cruise.
I think we will be thinking long and hard about a) sailing with P&O again and b) travelling on such a big ship.