Mr Piano

The main thing that makes Britannia bigger than Azura and Ventura is the number of cabins. The public areas are about the same size on the 3 ships

We did it on our own, queue was not long at all, but be aware, they only accept Croatian currency. No euros

It will appear on your cruise personaliser a few months in advance. We booked as soon as booking opened so we could get a really good table at the front. I had notified P&O of allergies so got the menus in my cabin (we went 3 times) and I discussed them with the maitre d'. The food is very good though so don't be put off by the menu

The Limelight has now appeared on personaliser so booked table for two after reading your comments, but there was no option to pick a table, only to make booking. How did you do it?

You can cancel pre-booked excursions on cruise personaliser up to a few days before embarkation.

Thank you Sharon, You must have been replying as I was asking the question. We only want to change a Fjords cruise on same ship by one week

As long as you have booked a Select fare and cancel more than 90 days before cruise and the cruise you rebook either with P&O or Cunard costs more than original you can for £100 per booking.

Thanks for your answer, it is 96 days before our cruise, but we have paid for excursions, what about that cost?

I seem to recall reading somewhere that P&O will change your cruise for a fee of £100 depending on availability, is this so? has anyone done it. If this is possible then what about excursion that have been Pre paid?.

We have had a wedding invitation that we would really like to attend, but clashes with our cruise dates

From a personal point of view, the Baltic without St.Petersburg wouldn’t be worth doing. It’s the highlight of any Baltic cruise. Without doubt the most amazing city I have visited and I’ve done quite a few. Regarding the comment made earlier about it being dirty, couldn’t disagree more. The opposite is the truth. I wish our own Country was just half as clean. The underground railway has to be seen to believed, it’s pristine. I would have no qualms whatsoever going back right now.

No matter where you are, the Baltic or the Caribbean, the temperatures in bars and restaurants should be the same, providing the air conditioning does pack up as it did on our cruise last year. So don’t worry about evening wear

On our first cruise about 5 years ago on Ventura we were told we could choose either freedom dining restaurant after first night, but we didn’t change. Since then we have been told our allocated restaurant was for the rest of the cruise. So perhaps the policy changed somewhere along the line. But it is true, at one time you could change

I think it depends on cruise destination. On Med and Baltic Cruises we have done, very few dressed in tropical attire, apart from crew. But on Caribbean cruise quite a lot did, I say more than half at least, especially the men in tropical shirts. Which you can buy for a few dollars in most Caribbean ports. I wore one I bought in St.Lucia

While they're at it, how about promoting healthy eating by removing all cream and sugar, banning puddings, and limiting everyone's calorie intake?

 

I've never had a problem avoiding smoke. It's a very limited area where smoking is allowed, and none of it is inside.

Let me allay your fears, there is no evidence that a person will become obese from passive ice cream or pudding eating from a person near you, unfortunately the same cannot be said about smoking and cancer

We were on immediately after the last refit and tbh we didn't notice much of a difference. They did nothing to improve the plumbing and air con systems which are Oceana's biggest problem.

You’re not wrong 👍

I am new to Fjords and Britannia, so we are also looking at booking Britannia, probably July. No need need to worry about Gerainger because Britannia is not scheduled to go there at all, June,July or August. But what does concern me are reports on another thread that the Britannia got bumped at least 6 times this year. Mainly from the longer Fjord such as Flam and Olden. As the person reporting this put it, they booked a Fjords cruise but got a Norway Coastal cruise

Helsinki was our least favourite port. However I would recommend just take the shuttle bus into the city. Where you get off there is a family owned London routemaster bus offering tours. Take it. Good value, even though not the most vibrant of cities. When you finish tour and get dropped off, it’s short work to market area.

St.Petersburg, look up local tour companies such as TJ Travel, SPB and Alla tours on the net, much the same in pricing and all very good. We did Alla Grand Tour. Absolutely amazing. If you’re less mobile, then the comfort tour

At the risk of repeating myself, be very wary of booking a Fjords cruise on Britannia as a result of wanting to do a specific port. Our Britannia cruise was due to visit BOTH Flaam and Olden. We ended up going to NEITHER of them. Britannia is a great ship (aft issues aside) and the fjords are my second favourite cruise destination (after the Baltic), but you could end up very disappointed a few months before departure.

I did take on board your original comments. Like you my favourite cruise was the Baltic. Done a few Different P&O ships on various destinations, So want to try something different and particularly to try the Britannia. We have little knowledge of the Fjord Ports so don’t have a particular one we most want to visit. I am aware of the risk of port changes, we had two changes on our Oceana cruise this year with the replacements most definitely second best

Thanks for the comments. I have another question, we are looking at July, Britannia does Two Fjords Cruises in that month. One does Flaam but not Olden, the other does Olden but not Flaam. Any suggestions on what we should choose

We are looking to book our cruise for next year. Not done the Fjords or The Britannia yet. So looking at booking on the ship for Fjords. Wonder if there is a preferred side for the views from Balcony. Or doesn’t it matter

This luggage collection issue is bound cause confusion and problems. Some flights have to collect luggage and others do not.. We had no idea what to do until we got in arrivals hall and asked a P&O rep. It appears P&O use chartered and scheduled flights, the later you need to collect. The former you do not. But how are you supposed to know which your on? No announcement was made on our flight about luggage. Two flight arrived together, some collected and some didn't, some people arrived at coaches with luggage and some without. A few people without luggage got worried and asked the the staff what was going on.

In my opinion P&O should make it absolutely clear on your booking and cruise personaliser and again on the flight, what you need to do regarding luggage

We disembarked yesterday 22nd June. Not too sure about about time from ship as we did a farewell to Malta excursion.

Whatever problems they had, they seem to have sorted it. We were whisked through security to the departure lounge in a flash, with a line of P&O staff ushering people through what seemed to be special lanes for P&O passengers

The airport is small, but modern enough, with seating availability a small issue, but well over 90% had a seat in departure lounge. No one stood for too long as seats were freed as flights were called. Our fight was delayed 45mins due to late incoming plane, nothing to do with Malta airport or P&O. Don't worry they will have you at airport with plenty of time to spare, perhaps too much time, enough for me to sink a couple of beers ;p

Yes there is a shop you pass through after cruise terminal check in before you board the ship. It's decent value - I got a 50cl bottle of gin for EUR6, and tonic/bitter lemon for EUR2 each. It's the usual airport shop type stuff - overpriced colourful chocolate (think M&Ms, Toblerone etc) - not good for 30deg heat!

 

There's another local shop approx. 2 minute walk towards the harbour exit (north east) called Crew Inn or something like that. They sold Maltese wine and local beer too (and it was in the fridge!).

Thanks that's great news, so we don't need to pack a bottle of gin then. Incidentally what size was the tonic you got? for example was it just the small cans or larger bottles?

I am also on the ship next week, flying with Thomson, however I was informed by a friend who did it a few weeks age and it was mentioned on this board too, that we will pass through a duty free shop before boarding the ship. Are you saying this is not the case? As we had hoped to pick up a bottle of gin

I have never seen anyone tipping in freedom dining. We only ever do freedom. I am not saying it doesn't happen, just I haven't noticed it. We both pay the auto tip, as we believe it's the only possible fare way to do it, especially if freedom dining. I might feel uncomfortable if a diner on my table tipped the waiter and I seemed not to be tipping, when in fact I do pay. However we do tip over and above the auto tip at end of cruise to the cabin steward if they warrant it

I have been to the stadium and yes there are a lot of steps, I do not recall seeing disabled access. The most steps are the initial access to the stadium, after that not as much. If you possibly can take your time and try it. My wife is not a football fan, but she also thoroughly enjoyed it too. I would recommended it to anyone even non football fans, it's a wonderful experience

You won't be alone, I've come across a few cowboys at dinner

We are flying from Manchester on 8th June with Thomson, I hope and expect our luggage will go straight through to ship, as it has on other fly cruises we had done to both Caribbean and Med