Extremely disappointing

Arvia is a beautiful ship spoiled by the lack of staff training and terrible customer relations. We are seasoned cruisers having cruised with many other lines as well as P&O so we know what we are talking about. The food was very poor and not well cooked and presented. Service in the restaurants was inconsistent and patchy depending on where you were in the room. Portion control had gone mad having to ask for more food, particularly cheese, was like being Oliver Twist. Four chips with a steak in the restaurant was laughable. Too many staff standing around having private conversations and not working. Little sign of supervision or management. Some staff verging on rude and surly. Lack of presence of any senior officers and not one appearance from the Captain during 17 days. Having to be on deck at 6.30 in the morning to secure a sunbed totally unacceptable. People arguing over sunbeds does not make for a relaxing holiday. Stocking of bars a shambles. Total inconsistency as to what was available from one day to the next. Major provisioning issues. Impossible to gets seats in the entertainment venues as most booked before the ship sailed. Retreat fully booked for the whole cruise before the ship sailed. Two out of three of the excursions we did were of very poor quality.

Many of the staff did try hard particularly the cabin stewards but the ship is spoiled by fundamental problems that should not occur in the first place. These are the silly things that colour passengers views on their experience. For example we had holders for beakers in the bathroom but no beakers. We were told they were still in the hold waiting to be unpacked!! We would need a lot of persuading and assurances before sailing on the Arvia or with P&O again.