MellyMoo1989

Nice looking menu, I'd be very tempted to give the Haggis & Cranachan a go! Hopefully there'll be some sightings of it on my cruise next year.. Actually I would expect there to be considering most of it will be in Scotland!

Not looking for any judgement here please... I'm aware that there is a partially covered smoking area on Deck 16 and a couple on Aft side of Deck 7 near Java/Live Lounge however I'm hearing rumours that when Britannia goes in for her refit in April that the smoking areas are being removed and not being relocated elsewhere? My friend and I both enjoy having the occasional cigarette or vape (especially when drink is involved! 😂) so we'll be a little disappointed if that is the case... was just wondering if anyone else had heard anything about this or are a bit more "in the loop" than I am? Thanks 🙂

That maybe so, and it wouldn't be something that would be easy for my Dad either should he decide to cruise again, but as far as I can see, that wasn't the point of the reason why this thread was started or at least, nothing seemed to suggest it was. It was the fact that someone is choosing to IGNORE an arrival time, turn up early and get on board early because IMO, they seem to have the opinion of "I'm alright Jack". Can you honestly say, that if you were given an embarkation time of say.. 12:30, and someone with an embarkation time of 14:30, turned up at 12pm and got on board before you - just because they have decided that's what they want to do - that you would be ok with it? I'm going to assume it'd be a no... We can "whataboutery" til the cows come home about it but that wasn't the initial point of the thread.

We're very blowy down in Bracknell at the moment but these storms do make me laugh sometimes... I've been chasing garden furniture round for most of the evening to (unsuccessfully) try to secure it, dragged a wheelie bin full of water up to the back fence to stop it blowing down, the wind has caught the roof of the mini greenhouse and almost taken that off yet the one thing that won't budge is a rickety old plastic table no heavier than a bag or two of sugar.. 😂

It doesn't matter whether I'm an hour away or not, I could still run into delays myself, considering I have to go on the motorway to get there. I could get stuck behind a fatal accident which would add hours on to the journey. You seem to be changing the goalposts of this argument quite often. Just now your main gripe was delays port side, which are out of anyone's control more often than not, and now you're not happy because I agree that an embarkation time is what it is, and shouldn't be swapped and changed because people feel hard done by? What about all the people who have an earlier embarkation time? Do they just have to stand back and be delayed themselves despite following the procedures because four or five other passengers have turned up three hours early and are basically demanding to be boarded?? Not very fair, is it? And I'm sure you would be very displeased if this was the case for yourself.

Could be many reasons for that though (E.g. The deep-cleaning which delayed Ventura's (?) voyage recently) and not exactly a choice or option for P&O or the ports/terminals to take lightly whereas arriving early IS a choice. The fact that people feel like they can ignore embarkation times and show up whenever they see fit and then are unhappy when denied boarding until their alloted time just smacks of entitlement, IMO, akin to a z-listed celebrity's screech of "Don't you know who I am?" If everyone did as they were asked, rather than what they wanted to do, Things would probably run a hell of a lot more smoothly...

Thanks everyone. I guessed it would be the case but I just wanted to double check - "Arkwright" head is firmly on at the moment! 😂

When I was on Marella Explorer 2 last year we had a wonderful captain called Kostas. Many people would moan his announcements and little bits of information were hard to understand but I could hear him perfectly. He made me laugh signing off some messages on port days with "Don't be late please. I won't wait for you!" I've only ever had one of, what I would say is a poor captain and that was the chap at the wheel of the Island Escape in May 2013. We were delayed leaving port because of very rough seas and late comers from excusions and he decided to set off against advice and we were hit by a wave that very nearly sent the ship over. A lot of guests got injured, Myself and my grandparents were thrown from our seats in the MDR, no apology from the captain and all we got off TUI was a half-a**ed apology and a voucher for £150 off our next cruise. I believe a few guests who got off at the next port refused to get back on board and made their own way home.

Ah! Hello from one Mackem to another! Although I live in Bracknell now I lived in Sunderland for many years and miss it very much! -5 here this morning on my walk to work, but according to the weather app it "felt like" -10! 😳

Living up to my name with a question like this and whilst it is some time away yet, I do love to be organised... Will I still be required to have Travel Insurance for my British Isles cruise? I'm under the impression that you'd only need travel insurance if you were to leave the UK? Although I suppose the few hours we'll be spending in Cork on the final day will probably answer my question, but would still like some clarification please. 🙂 TIA x

Brilliant read, thank you 🙂

I personally only drink on two occasions.. When it's my birthday.. and when it's not. 😉

this makes me worry for my British Isles cruise on Britannia in June 25.... 😟

With my little experience of cruising, I've often found the "older" passengers are a lot more fun and easy going, while most of the younger ones are sat around with their faces in their phones or just look utterly bored/miserable. I know what I prefer when I go on holiday, and if that means dancing away to Erasure at 1am with 70+ y/o Mavis and Jan from Scarborough then bring it on 🙂

Thank you so much Selbourne (and Mrs Selbourne!) for taking the time out from your holidays to provide us with such detailed reviews.. I'm getting excited for my holiday now, even if it's still 18 months away! Loving the sound of the menus, I assume it'll be typically the same fleet-wide (I'll be abord the Britannia).. although I am a bit concerned about their obsession to fling mushrooms on/in pretty much everything! Chicken Nuggets & Chips in the buffet for me, I guess.. 😂😉

Oooh that Comedy Quiz sounds great! Let's hope they have one on Britannia when I'm on board!

when I say “honest reviews” I mean something that is a little bit more detailed than “Floating Butlins, don’t waste your money” with no further context or information which I’ve seen more than a few times on trip advisor/google. If someone has a negative cruise experience than that’s fine it’s not for everyone, I get that, however Fraudulent reviews can be found anywhere but I’d like to think somewhere like here may be a little more accurate.

Having done a little bit of research on Limelight, I'm a little apprehensive about trying it to be honest as the menu doesn't seem at all enticing.. The sample menu seems to offer very limited choice (1 or 2 options).. Is there an option to go in just for the entertainment and no meal or is it a package deal, as it were?

Hello all 🙂 My name is Melanie, I'm new here to the forum so apologies if this isn't ok to ask, but I was hoping to get some reviews on Britannia please? Due to go on the 10th Anniversary sailing (B514) in June 2025 and it'll be my first time on a P&O ship. (I have previously cruised with Marella). I've seen a lot of people comparing it to Benidorm/Butlins which I am taking with a very large pinch of salt but wondered if anyone could please shed some light on what to expect? For those that have cruised with both Marella and P&O, what was it like in comparison? Thanking you in advance. 🙂