I do think comparing P&O to a Travelodge is a bit extreme. Yes there have been cut backs we've noticed it in the three cruises we've done since Covid however it's definitely not the worse cruise company in the mainstream market. The new ships maybe big but do offer may new facilities that offers a very good standard of holiday. The Arvia situation over Christmas was teething problems, like any new ship. Who remembers Aurora's maiden.... Not exactly brilliant... Did it even leave the English Channel. Britannia's maiden had issues onboard too. Friends currently on Arvia say everything is currently going smoothly in terms of the issues reported on the Christmas cruise.
The OPs cruise on the other hand does sound like it's got issues and P&O do need to up there game in terms of onboard as people will start to move more to the like of princess. Arcadia does seem to be the issue ship at the moment and I'm sorry to hear of the issues. We experienced none of these on Britannia or Iona in 2022 always had good sized portions, after dinner mints or chocolate or shortbread, quite like the range. Can't blame the entertainment team for not being able to move events inside, venues could have been booked for other things and anyway, who has heard of indoor shuffleboard. Doesn't quite have the same appeal. I think this cruise in particular is the poisoned chalice of P&O itineraries. When we did the same trip on Aurora in 2017 we had to miss Amsterdam all together with an overnight in Zeebrugge (joys🙄). Think it could be time this itinerary is dropped in favor of a Xmas northern lights or something (like Aurora is doing next year).
That's just my 5 pence thrown into the mix. Definitely dont compare P&O to a Travelodge, premier inn maybe but not Travelodge. Being fair, if it's that much of an issue there is always Cunard, Saga and Fred but I won't go down that rabbit hole as it's not the point of the OPs post.
Hopefully the situation is sorting on Arcadia. Friends joining the worldie in Sydney.
Happy Cruising!