We are avid cruisers and sing their praises constantly. We had not cruised with P&O for over 10 years but have cruised with HAL, Princess and Viking in that time. Our memories of cruising the islands off Australia with our children were amazing but I was very disappointed in the Aria. We cruised this time with 5 other couples and we did have a fantastic time with these lovely people. Sydney harbour on Australia Day was just amazing and would not have missed this for the world. My issues with Aria were the lack of staff and the lack of enthusiasm by the staff. The staff on the lido deck were happy to stand around with tray in hand chatting while the bar was over run with passengers attempting to get a drink. I would have thought that selling alcohol was a priority because of the profit margins but it didn't seem to matter where you were very few staff were keen to serve you. Our cabin staff were MIA and we got chocolates on the pillow once during the cruise and a cute little towel animal twice and turn down service was sporadic. I know this sounds picky but these are the little touches that make people talk about their cruise and become return customers. The food was OK but I was impressed with getting hot food in the pantry at breakfast which is sometimes difficult on cruise ships. Our air conditioning was very poor and after 3 requests to have it seen to I ultimately had to suck it up and suffer the hot nights. The staff at the front desk told me it did not matter how many times they were to request a service it was not their problem. The position of our ship for the fireworks was also sadly lacking with passengers on our ship missing most of the beautiful display. On a positive note the shuttle bus to the centre of Sydney was great. The newest staff members were the best and I wonder if they had not yet got into the poor culture on this ship. The entertainment was mostly good but the times the bands entertained on the pool deck was very short and sweet ( 5 songs and they disappeared). I remember the wonderful party atmosphere on the Pacific Sky and wonder why this ship was missing this. Embarkation and disembarkation was seamless. I really don't want to be one of those negative nellies but as I read each trips by reading feedback from other people I feel my honesty is paramount. I did give the same feed back to P&O and hope they took my criticisms seriously. Would I cruise with P&O again? Only if it was with another amazing group of people.