Johndavid13

This was me wiping the handrail. IMG_1213.mov

Our personal space was certainly affected on our aft balcony cabins on Britannia. We normally enjoy spending time on sea days whale watching or relaxing. This was all but impossible on our two week trip due to the constant soot particles raining down on us. After recently writing to PO we have been told that all of their systems were functioning correctly and the scrubbers were doing their job properly. This is absolute rubbish. IMG_0794.mov

Thank you. Good luck with your cruise I hope it all works out well for you.

I think some of it depends on the quality of the fuel that is being burned according to local Maritime laws and given areas. And whether or not the scrubbers are working properly.

E Deck. I personally wouldn’t stay in an Aft cabin again. it’s a nice location to be in but you do get the inevitable large amounts of soot deposits making it impossible for you to sit out. My wife fell asleep for an hour and woke up with deposits all over her skin and clothing. I personally think if you like spending time on the balcony like we do then forget it. Also the fumes tend to come back into the cabin. The newer ships are now running on liquid petroleum gas which obviously fixes all the problems.

We had lots of soot every single day of our two week cruise. It didn’t seem to matter what course we were headed or what the wind direction was. Even when moored up, we still got the soot.

Apparently All the soot particles that are scrubbed away from the inside of the chimney end up in a saltwater holding tank. This is then pumped out to sea. This means that the air and the sea is being polluted. I believe we are talking about tons of soot being pumped out to sea.

E738 and E740

It may be that Maritime laws are different in other areas. Maybe it is a requirement to burn better quality fuel in the Caribbean. Some of this stuff has to be heated in order for it to become a liquid before it can be injected into the combustion chambers.

Our cabin Stewart did his best with very little protective equipment on a daily basis. But this was any time during the day. We like to get up at 6am in the morning to look out for dolphins and enjoy time on the balcony. Within an hour of the balcony being cleaned, it was dirty again from the soot particles. We were also concerned about the potential health implications. We should’ve been warned about this problem before we booked the cruise. It was only when the cabin steward told us that there was an issue when we arrived. It must be that they are burning a lower grade of fuel oil these days to save money. I hate to think what it would be like without the chimney scrubbers in operation.

To be honest, the major soot problem was just one issue. There seems to be a general lack of care to guests since Covid. We had elevators out of order which meant that my mum in a wheelchair and I had to wait ages to get about the ship. Britannia has always had too few lifts available. The self-service restaurant was extremely crowded a lack of available chairs to sit down. A lack of staff available to replenish food before it had run out. The main Swimming pool very overcrowded never anywhere to sit, nobody policing towels left on chairs for many hours. lack of entertainment by the pool just loud music. Long lines of people queueing to get on and off of the ship. The list goes on. In general, the quality of services has in my opinion drastically declined. Certainly not worth the money. It seems like everywhere you turn these days all they want to do is take your money.

We have recently returned from a 2 week trip on Britannia staying in one of the Aft cabins. The soot conditions on our balcony were horrendous. It was a constant battle every day. It made the balcony pretty much impossible to use. In fact, most of the time we were the only people struggling to sit out. Sitting on the balcony was a major part of my mother‘s holiday as she is wheelchair bound and often unable to go assure. We have written to P&O. and they are not taking our complaint seriously. We have been offered £350 in total as compensation on a future cruise for both cabins. This is just not good enough. We should’ve been informed about this potential problem when making our booking. Can you advise on how you managed to get your considerable compensation, please? The only way that this issue can be rectified is if people complain to ensure that future cruisers don’t have to go through what we went through. IMG_0778.mov