Megabear2

As I'm trying to get on to UK timing without falling asleep I've researched my flight. The records show it arrived 3 hours 28 minutes late but doors/unloading did not commence for 55 minutes due to the steps being unable to be affixed to the plane. Reading what Barbara informed me about the 4 hours I've pushed my luck and submitted the form based on these times. It will be interesting to see what happens. I've also written to P&O (cheated by using my personal contact) about the lack of entertainment on the return flight and my "clear view" balcony - these pictures are from our two seats, any opinions welcome!

All looks very nice. I feel guilty if I book speciality restaurants on P&O more than twice on a cruise because I read so many on here who never get in! I do however book the speciality dining packages on other cruise lines if I'm with others apart from my husband or alone as they go on sale before departure and everyone gets a fair shout. Our Christmas dinner cost us £50 each plus the wine upgrade of 7.95 each and our two Limelight club visits were £50 and £70 respectively. Unfortunately our budget doesn't allow us to dine speciality every night on P&O. We spend most of our money on good wine, excursions and a couple of spa trips for me. Even with our OBC of £610 we had a further bill of £480 onboard plus pre booked excursions and Limelight Club of £1,100 as we wanted to guarantee our places on several tours. I love Epicurean but my OH would be amazed if I spent £60 a night for us to dine there every night! Neither of us can eat spicy food for health reasons so we never use Sindhu, although I did dine there on a Strictly cruise with the dancers when Aktul Kocha cooked for us. It was interesting but apart from the soft crab starter I paid £75 to watch the cooking and chat to the Strictly stars. We eat early for the same health reasons and thankfully always get a table for 2 without a wait.

My experience is you couldn't make a wheel with the three slivers offered in the MDR the past fortnight so they must be whistling in the dark already! Actually as someone with a smaller appetite I quite liked the less generous portions but must admit with the hundreds of cheeses that could have been offered the repetitions were a little boring.

Indeed I found Epicurean to be good, howevernif you read Pennib's comments she did not think so. I only dined there for Christmas day but believe others had good experiences with all the specialty restaurants. Regarding main dining rooms the food was fine if a little uninspiring for my taste. Unlike most on here we do not eat out a lot, probably no more than 4 or 5 times a year so can only speak as we find.

It was free, a gesture to them for being honest apparently. On the subject of C there were a huge amount on the plane yesterday who clearly had something very nasty either flu virus or Corona. Quite a few masked up on the plane including interestingly two staff members who'd started out without them

Good to hear you had a great time. I would agree the service from our cabin steward was excellent and we valued his service very much. We used the Peninsular restaurant for breakfast every day and it was always a delight. We had the same table every day with the same waiting staff and they were the most helpful group I have experienced on P&O for many a year. As I mentioned previously our cabin was not the one booked as the air conditioning had failed and our option was either to take the alternative or be very hot as repairs did not seem to alleviate the fault. I am pleased you managed to move your next Britannia cruise to a suitable alternative. Unfortunately there was no suitable alternative for us as long cruises are not possible for my husband as he still works and to make the cost more than our Arvia 2023 costing we would need to just purchase a higher grade cabin on a cruise which did not appeal. Our Arvia cruise was priced comparably with the one we've just taken and the cost was £7400 for an overlooked balcony on the corner plus another £1,000 for the premium economy seats. Following our experience on this cruise we have decided to cancel entirely. I did however book the 18 March Iona Canaries cruise as a solo to use up my final £1,000 FCC. We are now no longer committed to P&O going forward and will most likely return to Cunard and Celebrity. Seems like the ending of an era somehow. I cannot say we did not enjoy the cruise because we did overall but some of the aspects were certainly poor in comparison with previous Christmas cruises. I have one happy story. At the airport yesterday I sat with a couple who had actually boarded Britannia on the previous cruise. Unfortunately they were struck down with covid and put into isolation on deck 8 starboard side - apparently it still exists. After 10 days in isolation ending on 14 December P&O made them an offer: if you wish you may stay on for the next cruise but you will have to fund your return airfare. They spoke between themselves and was going to refuse, however on 15th they were called by the representative who had been looking after them while they were in quarantine and told P&O would fund the fare home if they would like to stay. They accepted and had a wonderful Christmas cruise. I thought this was a lovely gesture by P&O, it's a shame this type of human gesture isn't acknowledged by the media but then I guess it wouldn't sell newspapers or fill breakfast tv. Happy New Year to all.

Lack of cleaners and late arrival from Cancun were the reasons given at Gatwick and lack of steps in Barbados?

That's really interesting. We were delayed 3 hours 20 minutes departing so I thought we weren't able to claim. However on arrival Barbados we were held on the plane for 50 minutes as there were no steps. Would this mean I should try to claim - I wasn't going to and was putting it down to experience.

Both halves opened for breakfast on the one occasion I used it but not when I passed through lunch and evening times. There seemed to be periods of around an hour twice a day when no food except burgers and pizzas were available. Not a problem to me as I normally eat lunch ashore or in MDR but certainly some seemed very confused.

I think the problem was exacerbated by the change of aircraft being to one class with 60 or so premium economy passengers without the seats they paid for. Some were also upset at paying to choose seats together and then finding themselves scattered randomly around the aircraft. No one actually told anyone who qualified to make a claim or how long a delay meant you were entitled to claim. I was delayed 3 hours but assumed I didn't qualify for anything. Others had delays in excess of 5 hours. No one knew who qualified and it was actually P&O who advised those who asked but no one else.

There was indeed hot food. For me as someone who doesn't eat in the buffet often the choice was extremely repetitive by the look of it and vastly inferior to the offerings previously on my P&O cruises and also on Celebrity and Princess.

We had films, a small amount of tv classics and radio. Games were locked off. A message came up asking if we wished to upgrade but we chose to watch what was available.anything other than route map and as above was unavailable.

I'm sure that's right but as a night flight it wasn't a major problem to us but I doubt the Birmingham passengers were so cheerful about no entertainment. I chatted to a member of staff onboard while doing some stretches and she told me that four out of five of her last Dreamliner duties were on aircraft with no entertainment. I recall comments on earlier Caribbean cruises this season where people complained over this problem too and perhaps there are indeed gremlins in TUI's entertainment programmes. Incidentally the games section on our outward flight was locked unavailable and several people complained about that as their children wanted access.

As you are aware the flights on 16th/17th December to Barbados were mainly disasters. P&O frint desk issued forms to those qualifying for the EU (yes I know) delay compensation. In some cases this amounted to thousands of pounds as it was £500 per person. These forms had to be submitted to TUI - I'm aware some on board were stating they had received this before the end of the cruise. However this is not the end of the story. Many had paid for Premium Economy seats but the aircraft had no such cabin. These people have been told as far as I am aware that P&O are responsible for this and they will have to deal with customer service in Southampton. To add to the problems most of the return flights yesterday had problems. Apparently one Gatwick flight was again not serviced by TUI aircraft but the Spanish airline one Manchester flight was arriving some 7 hours late so passengers were given the opportunity by P&O to move to the (still delayed) earlier flight which they changed to a larger aircraft. Those passengers again lost their PE seating and were split up and moved around among the unbooked seats. My own flight was delayed by having the wrong number of passengers on it(!) which took 50 minutes to sort out. It also had no entertainment when it flew out from Birmingham and hence on our return flight to Gatwick. Apparently "the powers that be" insisted getting the flights in and out as near as on time was more important than creating a 4 1/2 minimum delay to repair the entertainment system. While an admirable goal I cant help but think these incidents are becoming all to frequent.

It appeared for 2 days so you should be proud! Stilton came on 27th as a one day special. There were Gouda and Edam slices too, did you perhaps suggest those too???!

I can confirm that the package provider is responsible. After my "incident" with Princess in July ABTA found against them but the company who put the flight, hotel and cruise package together had to deal with the complaint with Princess and do the negotiations on our behalf. In our case it was a travel agent despite it being a Princess organised flight and cruise.

Can't speak for anything other than Britannia but I guess late bookings and non reply to the emails sent at the beginning of December caused problems on our cruise. If you hadn't replied to the email you were allocated dining on 22nd. A huge crew formed at the desk in the Atrium which had been set up to deal with the bookings. Common problems were people on joint bookings being put into different restaurants, families finding teenage children put on different sittings and even families having members not allocated a time or place. People had already found their favoured freedom dining room having been on board a week and wanted to dine in that one so queued to ask to change to their favourite. There were people wandering around dining rooms seeing where their allocated tables were and returning to queue to say it wasn't good enough. We had a reservation in Epicurean so didn't require our table but it wasn't cancellable and assumedly went unoccupied. One man we spoke with at breakfast on boxing day was a solo passenger. On Christmas day he was sat on a table for 8 where no one turned up by 9.10pm. He asked to move and was told the occupants were running late, at 9.20 they did finally allow him to be seated elsewhere with others. He enjoyed the company of the new table but commented how he had waited since 8.30 for companions who never arrived. This disorganised approach and allowing arbitrary changes on the 22nd clearly caused some problems. Luckily Britannia staff seem well trained and on the ball - we saw many who had been onboard with us last year - otherwise chaos might well have ensued. I cannot praise Britannia staff enough.

All well and good ICF but they actually have to available and more importantly eatable for you to pay that money. For instance the lunch and evening buffet cold selection on Britannia was the same every day. I shall list - it's pretty small! Lettuce Chopped tomatoes Shredded carrot Shredded beetroot Cucumber Potato salad - sometimes with chives Coleslaw (not every day) There were also small ready prepared bowls with things like quinoa There were also slices of ham, pieces of mackerel, Lancashire cheese, Danish Blue and occasional cheddar. Other cold meats were Danish salami, mortadella and a whole glut of sliced Turkey after Christmas day. None of this changed in 14 days. Stupid things not available like cream cheese and sweetcorn totally non existent.

Three days from end no bottled cider, there were bottles of Peroni in the Atrium and Crows Nest actually had some draught Fosters they'd found from somewhere. There were a few cans of Guinness at a couple of bars.. On our last sea day we sat on bar stools on deck 17 watching them shuffle odd bottles on shelves to try to make a display. Those enquiring about the shortages were reportedly told they were taken by surprise by the amount of beer being drunk. Remember this was a cruise which took in the World Cup final, Christmas and two days of Premier League games (3 a day in Brodies). Couldn't help laughing as they ran the race night in Brodies where most of the younger men were drinking cocktails.

I hope that's not another dig at me! I'm just off another ***** eyed flight which I'll speak about later but for now will say Britannia apparently had Christmas dinner problems too.

This is the most I've ever paid for Christmas and it was sneaky. Price remained stable to end September which was after final payment. Then dropped from October with massive OBC offered. Month before departure they offered savers at £2000 and 2400 for select. Seems the late bookers got the upgrades too, lots complaining days 1,2 and 3. I didn't get the cabin I booked as the Aircon broken so got an even worse one on deck 9 with lifeboat below and station outside view. Nice for the money ha ha .....

You'll note security were called and had a word on behalf of the two dozen or so of us who complained. They would do no more just asked them to tone it down. The group were large, around 15 in total ranging from a youngish lad and women to men on their 50s. Two security people were I think a little worried it might escalate. We and most others within their vicinity left the area and they were allowed to continue. This is not the first time I've encountered this handling by security I've mentioned before the Azura cruise when a hen party got out of control. P&O answer is the same this time: we are not responsible for individuals behaviour. It's a holiday we aren't prepared to get deeply embroiled in an argument while on board and I will.take it up again on return.

Maybe these other people have lower expectations or paid considerably less than I did for their cruise. Having given P&O nearly £8000 for a second grade balcony- admittedly with PE flights at £800 for that cost I would have hoped to have been able to access things like grapefruit juice, tomato juice and cream cheese. There is no draft beer in 95% of the bars, advertised sauvignon blanc wines are.no.more in the bars with most being offered P&O plonk as an alternative. I visited the buffet at 2.00pm for a cup of tea as I was wandering around deck 16 when a heavy rain downpour occurred. I found an irate guest with the officer in charge demanding to know why soggy sad tomatoes were offered which when I looked st them myself I wouldn't even have considered using for a fry up, never mind a supposedly fresh salad. Incidentally I mentioned the number of cruises in an attempt to show I was objective and had experienced good and bad on lines including P&O. No idea what you mean about the way it comes across. I've tried to be factual and have given up time on my holiday to post of my personal experience. Others will as you say have had different outcomes to their holiday. For my part reading back over the past two weeks, we started with great hopes and enthusiasm and sadly it has waned as time has moved on. I cannot change my personal experience and sadly if asked I can rate things okay, but okay is not what I signed up for or paid a very hefty premium for by booking early and select. By the way, for those who are interested a Peninsular Club party was held in the Live Lounge for top tier members, the remainder of us got a free drink voucher. I'm told parties are coming back.for all.very soon. Britannia has always been my favourite P&O ship and I'm just sorry this cruise hasn't worked out for us.

As a veteran of 50 plus cruises on P&O and other lines I think I can truthfully report if the product is as good as it previously was. I have not at any pointed compared this cruise with cruises I take on other lines (I will do a comparison between all my 2022 cruises when I get home). I am a big supporter of P&O but there are major cracks appearing which are mentioned by other on other ships and cruises too. I did not welcome having a drunken football supporter grabbing hold of me and leering repeatedly into my face that his team had won as occurred on Boxing Day - neither did the other people who rapidly left that area of the pool deck and either relocated or left completely. I can assure you this is not a fabrication, I have no need to lie and hope that those on these boards are mainly aware I tell things as they are with no room for fabrication. Clearly what others find acceptable is not what I am the majority affected by these minority do. The lady who had her Christmas spoilt was almost in tears yesterday as she recalled it. Finally I have friends met on board Britannia last Christmas boarding Saturday. They sent us an email this morning saying they have been reading bad reviews on this and the previous Britannia cruise and were they true. Thats nothing to do with me as I havent spoken to them since being onboard but clearly somewhere out on social media theyve see enough to make them worried.

This is my 10th Christmas Cruise and sadly by far the worst. Over the years there are in my experience always some "difficult" customers on P,&O ships in particular but unfortunately this cruise has rather more than normal. I'm not the type to be fazed by these people but as the cruise continues you can't help but notice them. We dined with a nice couple last night who told us their Christmas dinner was ruined by being sat on a table with a family dressed in track trousers with a shirt and tie. Apparently the miscreant was heavily inebriated as well. Despite complaining and asking to be seated elsewhere they were told no other seats were available as it was a full seating due to everyone being issued a dining time. Subsequent complaint on leaving the restaurant early left to the maitre de informing them that "not everyone owns a suit and as it's Christmas they should live and let love! An official complaint has now been made. The problem appears to not be the fact it's Christmas more the lack of a wish to stop these people and the love and let live theme is definitely running through the ship. Latest problem was at 2.00am this morning when an announcement called staff to attend an incident on Deck 15. It was described as an "incident" rather than coded or a medical emergency so we are guessing a guest problem. It's not helping the ship has run out of draft beers in all bars except Crows Nest as many are turning to spirits rather than bottled beers. I know I get told not to judge people's drinking by my OH but the mixture of sun, heavy drinking and some dubious individuals is very bad news. Even my OH is finding these people a strain to deal with. Don't get me wrong we've met some very nice first time cruisers too. Incidentally the average price for a balcony late booking seems to have been £2000 each and the insides £800 My OH has asked me to cancel our Arvia cruise next year and find something else. Speaks volumes unfortunately...