Britannia Review Xmas & New Year

[HomelessBear]

I've written a review of our recent cruise and hope that at least some of you will enjoy reading it. Sorry it's quite long, but I've included some headings so you can skip past the parts you're not interested in.

 

If at least a few of you enjoy it, then it's been worth me writing it. Please let me know if you think it's worth me posting it on the Ship Reviews page. Thank you.

 

 

Review of Britannia Xmas / New Year Cruise 2015

 

About us:

We’re a couple in our mid 50s, and have cruised a lot, including Princess, Celebrity and one NCL cruise. We’ve done Christmas and New Year with P&O for the past 4 or 5 years on Ventura and Azura, but this was the first cruise on Britannia and Britannia’s first Christmas.

 

Booking:

We booked through a TA (with a discount) and had a balcony cabin on D deck mid ship, and chose freedom dining. We flew from Manchester on the Saturday rather than Friday, so that John (DH) didn’t have to have another day off work (he has precious few leave days as it is).

 

Flight:

Thomas Cook flight. Nice aircraft and looked quite new. There was plenty of leg room in ‘cattle class’, and we had booked our seats (paying extra), as I like to know where I’m sitting and that we are together. We got on quite quickly, and as we sat in our seats, two passengers put two cases (big ones) in the overhead locker opposite us. That’s fine, until I realized that they weren’t actually sitting there, but much, much further back! I’ll leave you to ponder on that one, but really selfish IMHO.

 

I thought that the choice of films / shows on the TV was quite limited (although you could pay extra and upgrade), but the music choice was quite good. However I prefer to listen to my ipod and read. I did think that I’d watch the Jersey Boys film on the return journey (I’d seen the musical in London and loved it!), but I didn’t get round to it. The flight literally flew by (excuse the pun).

 

Unfortunately I had an accident on the flight, which was the fault of the cabin crew. They parked the drinks trolley next to my aisle seat, and one of the cabin crew staff went off, after pouring a hot drink (which I discovered was hot black coffee – no milk), which she left on the side of the trolley (I’ll add that it wasn’t even my drink). The other one was doing the drinks, and as she leaned over, she caught the stack of cups with her arm, which then fell and knocked the scalding hot cup of coffee over me! Apart from being soaked, my hip and leg were scalded. She got me a burns pack and I put the gel dressing over my scalds, and padded it out with dry hand towels, also stopping my soaking jeans from making me even more uncomfortable. Fortunately I had a clean t-shirt in my bag, which I changed into, otherwise I would have been very miserable in pain and soaking wet! I appreciate that it was an accident, but I hope that in the future, they don’t leave hot drinks unattended on the trolley, as if it had gone over a child (or even over my face), it may have been a very different outcome. So I hope that they learn a lesson and don’t leave hot drinks unattended in future.

 

There was also a passenger who was ill on the flight opposite us, who ended up being put on oxygen, and spent a good part of the flight lying on the seats (they moved one or two of the other passengers in the row). That was a bit worrying, but we saw her around the ship during the cruise, so that was good she’d recovered.

 

When we arrived in Barbados, we had to wait about 10 minutes or so for the buses, but when they came, we were soon at the check-in queue, which went down quickly, and onto the ship.

 

First Impressions of Britannia:

As with any ship I get on for the first time, it takes me a while to get my bearings, find my way around and I inevitably get lost and go the opposite way I should be going! My first impression of Britannia (and I won’t even mention the man lying in the corridor with a million acupuncture needles in him!!), was that it was an upmarket London hotel. I’m sure others would disagree with me, but I can only say it as I saw it. I particularly liked the cabin doors being dark wood effect, rather than the beige plastic, and with the room numbers subtly lit up. It was odd being able to see all the way from one end of the corridor to the other, and it looked very loooooong!

The Atrium was a nice area with seating, and the fact that the Reception area (or Pursers Desk) is now not part of the atrium but away from it slightly, is in my opinion, a bonus and a great move. Then you don’t see “hoards of passengers” queing to take off their tips or complaining about all sorts of stuff when you’re in the atrium!

 

I thought that there was a general lack of nice pictures or art work (or even interesting ones) around the ship. Most of what they did have on the walls was bland and uninteresting (IMHO). The only artwork I really liked was in the corridor by the Crows Nest – 3 vases of white flowers (not real). Very pretty. Pity that is was “hidden away” up there.

 

Our Cabin:

We would never cruise without a balcony, and this is perhaps one of the most important things about cruising for us. We had done our homework, and so knew that the room and especially the balcony would be smaller than we were used to (the massive C deck balcony of Ventura & Azura). The cabin was light and airy, and had the ‘dressing table’ as the place on my side to put the travel clock etc, rather than a bedside cupboard. I missed the cupboard and drawers though, and felt a bit miffed that John had got the drawers to put his bits and pieces in and I had one drawer, that I also had to share with the ship hairdrier! Don’t they know that I have far more stuff to put in the drawers than John has?? Well they should AND know what side of the bed I sleep on! Come on P&O, it’s just not good enough!! (Joking – honestly)!

 

 

Hurrah!! Finally proper shelves in the shower where I can put my body wash, shampoo etc, rather than try and balance everything on the tiny hole in the wall. And a proper shower door – no more “bum curtain”! The bathroom space itself is still quite small but adequate, and there was more than enough room to put our ‘stuff’ (which was mostly my stuff). I must be honest though and say I preferred the bathroom we had on the Celebrity Eclipse – bigger, lovely walk in shower and best of all – nightlights that come on when you use the bathroom during the night. Much better than the bright light that you have to put on. I fell over the bed a couple of times and once hit the wall on my way back to bed, as I couldn’t see a thing once I’ve switched the light off!! Anyway why should John be snoring when I’m awake?

 

Our cabin steward was a lovely man, and he generally did a good job of keeping our room nice, although we are tidy folks. This is not a criticism of the steward at all, but I noticed that the shelves in the showers were never cleaned (apart from before we came in and presumably when we left), and he never moved the glasses in the bathroom to clean under them. We used the glasses just to keep our toothbrushes in, and in the first week I thought I’d give them a rinse. When I picked one up, there was a brown ring under the glass. So I ended up giving the sink top a bit more of a clean than it had been having. I did notice that the shower tray didn’t look as “clean” as it could. I guess that with so much use that the showers have, they will inevitably get marked. It wasn’t dirty, just marked. If it’s like that now, what will it be like when the ship is a few years old?

 

Our cabin had enough storage space, and I noticed that they were so many hangers I thought I’d have to go out and buy some new clothes in order to use them all! No such luck though when I finally unpacked. The big TV on the wall opposite the bed had a good picture, although we only generally watched it occasionally for the BBC World News, the ship navigation / weather / ports, and 4 episodes of Dr Who (which I’ve already seen a million times before as I love Dr Who – I even have a Tardis in my garden!! Honestly!!). We also watched a Disney programme on grizzly bear cubs, which was really good.

 

There is no way to get your account on the TV on Britannia (which there was on Azura & Britannia). Half way through the cruise we got an interim statement pushed under the door (probably pushed under by our steward as others were left outside cabin doors), and you could request one anytime at reception.

The balcony had two chairs which did recline, although if one chair had reclined fully I suspect that the other person my have had their legs chopped off if sitting on the opposite chair. The small table made a good foot stool that we shared, made comfy by putting one of the bed cushions on top if it. Yes the balcony was small, but we used it everyday, although I hankered after my big C deck balcony, and missed it terribly. It was occasionally too hot for us to sit out in the sun (yes we’re wimps!), and even too windy on occasion!

My biggest shock was the rust on the balcony!! I’ve seen this before on the Grand Princess, but she was even then an old ship, but Britannia is not even a year old. I know that they have a lot to cope with, but I was very surprised to see the state of the balcony already.

 

My main gripe about the cabin must be the LIGHTS!!!!!! No longer can you have the “hall” and walk-in wardrobe lights on, this switch also puts on a main cabin light. The lights drive me mad for the two weeks, and I could never get the right switch to do what I wanted! Whoever designed the lighting should be shot – or better still, interrogated in the cabin and see how they like it!!

 

I must admit that I really missed the pictures on the walls. If you’ve been on other ships, you may know the ones I mean – the person flying a kite in a field; the farmer on the tractor; and the cricketer. The kite one was my favourite.

 

While I’m on the cabin stuff, I’ll mention a conversation that we had with one of John’s work colleagues, who was also on the cruise with his wife. They had booked a cabin on A deck, and were initially very happy with it – until bedtime. They said that the room “creaked like an old wooden Galleon ship” and got worse as the cruise progressed. They eventually had to ask to be moved to another room as they couldn’t sleep with the noise. They also moved others from the same area, so it looks like there is a problem with the fitting of some A deck cabins. Not good for a newish ship, but should be able to be rectified - hopefully.

 

 

Luggage arrival:

Last year our luggage didn’t arrive until around 7.30pm, so we were delighted to get both bags around 4pm. Not delighted though to see that one of our TSA locks (and not a flimsy thing) was missing, presumed dead. This is the second time that we’ve had a lock go AWOL from our bags. It’s not a big deal, and we managed to pick up another one in port, which was cheaper than the P&O shop ones. While I handed John a pack of anti-bacterial wipes to go round the cabin (just to be on the safe side), I unpacked the bags. John put up our little Christmas tree and the tinsel so we were then set. Bring on Christmas!

 

Dining:

Let’s get to one of the main aspects of cruising – food. We opted for freedom dining by choice, and prefer a table for two (yes I’ve read the debates about this countless times but this is what we prefer for reasons I won’t go into). We are not anti-social, miserable nor anything else for that matter – it’s just our choice.

 

Both of us have a food allergy (both potentially life threatening), so we informed P&O beforehand, and they handled this extremely well in the main dining room (as they had on other cruises). We were visited by the Head Waiter (or in this case Waitress) the evening before, and ordered for the following evening. She was lovely, and even came and had a chat with us the evening before we departed (when we weren’t ordering for the next day). She was very courteous and professional when she came to us, although twice early on, we had to ask the waiter to find her, as we were ready to leave the dining room and she hadn’t yet returned to take our order.

Watching the staff though, I know I couldn’t do their jobs. Some passengers would end up “wearing” their dinner if it was me serving! Either because I couldn’t carry so many plates at once, or because some passengers are just so rude!

 

There were 4 formal evenings and the rest were smart casual, and most people abided by the dress code. Even some little ones (and very little ones) were very smartly dressed on formal nights. I’ll cover Christmas Day and New Years Eve later!

 

Service was generally consistent, and we had some wait staff two or three times. They appeared to fill up sets of 3 tables with couples, which sometimes saved the waiters time when bringing the courses for all of us.

Unusually, we didn’t find any exceptional wait teams this cruise, and so didn’t request to go back to any particular table or wait staff. Some were slower than others, and if we’d have wanted to go to the Theatre show at 8.30, we would have been late – or very late on two occasions. Service took between 1 hour and 1 hour 40 minutes, depending on the staff.

 

Tables for two had been much better thought out in the dining room on Britannia. There is more space between them, although one waiter managed to knock a glass over on our table with his rear when he was serving the next table. Instead of going round us to get to the middle table, he thought he could get in between, but he must have been a bit bigger than he thought! If there had been wine in the glass he knocked over or if it had been the water glass I would have had yet another soaking! Fortunately it was empty, but not good wait service practice in my opinion.

 

You could go into the dining room (we were assigned to the Peninsular) via two entrances, but we ended up using the same entrance each night. Strange how you do the same things again and again!

 

 

 

Buffet:

In the buffet, there were sometimes labels on the food at afternoon teatime, but this seemed to slip a bit later in the cruise. Just to be safe, I did ask what was in some of the dishes, just in case what we are allergic to was “hidden”.

 

We are a bit lazy on our cruises and tend to sleep in later than normal (or a lot later on some days!), and usually got to breakfast between 10 and 11. We’d often start with both sides of the buffet being open, then when we went back for something else, they had shut the side we were sitting in, and had often put the tape across to stop you walking through. Sorry, but I’m not walking all the way around just to get some toast or a muffin! I must admit that I undid the tape and walked through, putting it back behind me. There was no warning of which side would close – maybe they closed the same side each day and maybe I automatically turned the same way when we got to the food floor, so always found myself on the “wrong” side!

 

There was a good choice for breakfast, although I tried pancakes one morning and they were cold. Another morning they “ran out” of bacon and mushrooms – suppose it serves us lazy folks right for having a lie-in! They did “find” some more eventually, but only after a bit of a wait and complaints by quite a few passengers. It didn’t bother me though, as I didn’t want either!

In the buffet, the staff came around with tea & coffee both at breakfast (but depending what time you got there) and afternoon tea time. That was a nice touch, although there wasn’t always mugs & spoons replaced on the tables, although the staff would always find them for us. The apples were nice, which is more than could be said for the bananas (well at least the ones I had were brown inside) so I stopped getting them and stuck to apples.

 

 

We didn’t go to lunch, after only just finishing breakfast, but we went for a snack at afternoon tea time. They had a selection of filled rolls, scones with jam and cream, pastries and cakes and every day a trifle! I thought that the quality was generally better than on previous cruises. Before I’d found that the cakes and pastries looked far nicer than they tasted. On Britannia, the cakes were really nice and tasted as nice as they looked, especially the mince pies, and the trifle! Well it would have been rude not to try them after the staff had put so much effort in!

I had one trifle and it was the nicest I’ve had on a ship or elsewhere (apart from the trifle my lovely mum used to make). I’m really sorry to say that I then had to try “a few” more of the daily trifles – well I had to see if they were as nice as the one before! I had to curb my trifle eating though, as I could easily have had one every day – not to mention the trifle I had at dinner too!

 

We only ate dinner at the buffet on the first evening, as we were too tired and only wanted a snack anyway. The food then was good. There was a different theme every evening (shut on Christmas day).

 

I was very impressed with the buffet itself for the size and seating. On previous cruises, we’ve had to find a table first and then one of us sits there while the other goes for their food, so as not to loose the seats. There was plenty of seating available here, so this experience was far better. The only exception was the morning we disembarked, but that’s not surprising as half the ship had to be out of their cabin by 8am, so the buffet was heaving. It was only this day though, so breakfast was a good experience generally.

 

They were still playing Christmas songs in the buffet up to New Year! Fortunately they played some other standard songs in between these, but I was sick of hearing about snow and Santa by 29th December!

 

 

Christmas Day / New Year’s Eve:

On the Ventura last Christmas cruise, we’d queued up for 3 hours (yes 3 HOURS!!) to book for these two evenings. There must have been so many complaints that P&O listened, and this time, John received an email beforehand, asking us to book either the set 6.15pm or 8.30pm dinner. We requested the early one, as the other is far too late for us to eat, but we could only tick table sizes 4, 6 or 8. We preferred a table for two, so went to the dining room when we boarded (as it stated on the sheet), and requested a two table. We said we understood if this couldn’t be accommodated, but it was our preference. They had a list which we were added to, and told we’d hear by the next day. It was the day after that we got a card with our table number on and they had met our request.

 

I personally find that these two evenings are usually not particularly enjoyable, but something for me to “get through”. These were no exception. We were in a section of the dining room that we’d not been in before, and the wait staff did a bit of “huffing and puffing” when they tried to give us the menus and we said we’d already ordered. I guess it was more work for them as they then had to find the head waiter / waitress to get the “ticket” from her of our order. One of them mentioned what our allergies were as though they weren’t that important (OK so its not a nut allergy but it still could be life threatening for us and I’ve been there once and I don’t want to again thankyou!) – it was the way he said it – but if I let things like that get to me, it could mar my cruise, so I chose to ignore his comments. Some of the wait staff on Christmas Day especially, appeared really harassed and I would even say grumpy – and this was the 1st sitting – but I guess I would be too if I wasn’t used to serving all diners at once.

 

In fact, they didn’t serve all courses to all diners, and they were fetching different courses at different times, as some folks had less courses, and they didn’t make them wait.

They did try to bring us our main course on both evenings before we’d had the sorbet which wasn’t good, but the food was generally nice even if the “service” could have been better.

 

New Years Eve was a bit better, maybe because some folks didn’t attend and there were quite a few empty tables and empty chairs on shared tables (the buffet was open this evening as the next day was leaving day for half the ship). The staff did seem better this evening and not so harassed.

 

Food overall in Peninsular Restaurant:

I was quite impressed overall with the food. I don’t eat fish and only eat turkey, beef and chicken, and was surprised to find that I only had to resort to the “always available” steak once or twice. The soups were very good and have I mentioned the Trifle?!

 

 

 

My Moans!

Moan 1:

Christmas Day:

Well I’ve got to get my main moan in now and it’s about some other passengers. Christmas Day there was a table for two near to us that was empty at the 6.15pm sitting. That was until 6.40pm, when two women strolled in and sat down. Well, they sat down briefly! They were with a big party, and there wasn’t enough room for all of them at one table. After arriving REALLY late, one of them then proceeded to get up and go between the tables taking photos! Then another of their party started taking photos between the tables. They were both getting in the way of the wait staff trying to carry trays of food and returning dirty dishes to the kitchen. I couldn’t believe their selfishness!!

 

Moan 2:

I saw on a couple of occasions staff cleaning the tables in the buffet, and “flicking” the crumbs and bits from the tables onto the bench seats and onto the floor! Not good cleaning practice. There were also a couple of times when we got to a table only to find food and stuff on the floor underneath! I often saw staff with brushes and dustpans, but they didn’t seem to have a cleaning ‘system’, and just went to whichever table they felt like. At other times I saw staff pull out chairs and do a good cleaning regime. If everyone had been consistent that would have improved matters.

 

 

Moan 3:

I’ll mention this, although it’s nothing to do with food or dining. It’s about the lack of a promenade deck on 7!! Oh how I missed this. I love going onto this deck after dinner, having a walk around and looking over the wake and listening to the sound. It’s one of the best bits of the cruise for me. There was a very small bit of deck we could go out on, but one side was for the smokers – or I should say both sides, as when we did go out the other side, one group had decided that they wanted to smoke there whether they were allowed to or not. How selfish!

 

Moans over!

 

 

New Year’s Eve:

There was table near us with 3 children who were around 18months, 3 years and 6 years age, give or take. The smallest lad was dressed in a suit and bow tie and looked really cute. The middle girl had her buggy parked nearby, and she became fidgety during dinner (as kids do). Someone (presume parent) put her in the buggy and parked her at the table with them. They were deep in conversation when she decided she’d had enough. She slumped down in the buggy, and peddled herself backwards.

She almost took out one waiter with a tray of food, who did some nifty footwork to sidestep her and the buggy. I almost wanted to give him a round of applause! Then she careered into another waiter and had him pinned up against the Christmas tree! I guess it was quite funny to watch, although the consequences could have been serious.

 

It took a while before the parent / guardian intervened and it was only when all 3 kids were beating up the Christmas tree moments later than they were eventually picked up and brought back to their table.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike children, but it annoys me seeing them being allowed to run around all over the place. These weren’t really badly behaved, but they should have been kept a better eye on, as a couple of them were also running around other tables well out of view of the folks at their own table.

 

The main dining room had a different “feel” to it from the ones we used on Azura and Ventura. Again these felt more “up market” as in a fine hotel. The decorations for Christmas were subtle, with Christmas trees and wreaths. Even New Year’s Eve didn’t have the balloons that other ships have had.

 

 

Rest of Ship:

We love cruising but must admit that we don’t partake in much of what’s on offer on the ship. We love just relaxing and sitting on the balcony reading.

I have a Kindle – or I should say I had a Kindle, as it’s now found its permanent home with John. I do have books on my ipad, but I prefer to hold a book in my hands. Yes I know I’m old fashioned!

 

The Library on Britannia was on deck 16, which threw me as I’m used to it being on 6 or 7. I was quite impressed with it, and there was a good choice of reading material available. The first day we went, we took out two books each, and when we went to the desk with them, were told just to take them. That’s different – we’ve had to sign them out on previous cruises. Well that only happened once, and next time we had to have them “signed out”, so either the library person didn’t know what he was supposed to be doing that first day, or he just couldn’t be bothered to sign them out.

Many of the books were newish (last couple of years), and I found plenty to keep me occupied. There were a couple of computers in the Library, which I didn’t use, but as there was not a great deal of space there, it didn’t look like there would be much privacy using a ship PC if you needed to.

On my cruise I don’t want to do my emails or search the web. I want a complete break from it all. I keep in touch with texts and the occasional mobile call, but that’s just me.

 

One door out of the Library went into the Crows Nest. What a find! It was a lovely room during the day, calm and peaceful with great views. We went there on the day we were disembarking before we were called for the bus to the airport, and spent a very relaxing few hours there.

We noticed that one couple were in the same seats every day (or at least every day we went there). They obviously loved it too.

 

The rest of the ship also looked nice, especially the atrium. There appeared to be some ‘nooks and crannies’ with seating, and as I said before, I much preferred the Reception being away from the main atrium (though not too far away).

 

We had a good walk around the ship the first few days, and the Crystal Room and the Limelight Club were lovely venues, and I’m sure were even better when they were in proper use. We intended to go to the Limelight Club to see the “Eric and Ernie act”, but didn’t book it beforehand as I wanted to know which menu they would be using. By the time I found out onboard what was on the menu (it’s my own fault really for not getting myself in forward gear!), the only day that was available was Christmas Day, and John didn’t seem keen to want to do this that day. If / when we go again, I’ll definitely book earlier. I also noticed that the charge was £2 more per person to book onboard.

 

We didn’t do the speciality restaurants, as we were put off last time with the Epicurian on Ventura. Very disappointing food and also in my opinion, poor staff (which I won’t go into here). Maybe on Britannia it would have been better, but I didn’t want to risk wasting the money.

 

 

 

Ports of Call:

We’d done all ports before except Grand Cayman (sort of!), so didn’t do any organized tours either ship or other.

 

Barbados:

As we arrived on the Saturday, we were overnight here on the return.

It was New Year’s Day, so the shops in town were shut as a public holiday. I heard one man moaning to staff as we were leaving the ship that all the shops were shut! Saved himself some money then?

We walked to the beach at the far side of town. Certainly not the prettiest, but it’s got lovely sand and the sea, so a nice way to spend an hour or so. They’ve put a bar up now on the beach, but the beach experience was spoilt a bit for me by the music blaring out from here.

I love the beach but could never lie there all day (or even half a day) sunbathing. So we spent some time there with John on the beach towel and me paddling in the sea! I even rang my best friend and held the phone down so she could hear the sound of the waves crashing in. That’s what friends are for!

 

Aruba:

Had a nice walk around town although it looked a bit more ‘run down’ to me than when we’d last been. It may have been my imagination though, but just a sense.

 

Grand Cayman:

We had actually been here before when on a Princess cruise. Unfortunately, John had got food poisoning from an undercooked hotdog on the ship (he’s never had a hot dog since from anywhere), and he was violently ill on the tender to the island, so we never saw anything other than the tender and the dock.

We had a walk around this time but that was about it here.

 

Ocho Rios:

They’ve done a bit of tidying up near the ship, and I even found a very small patch of sand and had a paddle in the sea.

 

 

Tortola:

When we were here last Christmas time they were building a new pier. Guess what – they’re still doing building work! I wonder how much will change by the time we go again next Christmas?

There used to be some stalls on the road into town, but these have now all gone, and only the small colourful huts and a few shops left. Some shops were shut, including the English supermarket. We had a few rain showers here, but they soon passed.

 

St Maarten:

I love this port. We went on the ferry across to town and had a wander through the shops, before going to the beach for another paddle. John bought me a Pandora charm (called Ocean Breeze), which went nicely with the one he’d bought me on the ship (a Sea Horse which is the colour of the sea). The charms I have mean something to me, and when I look at both of those now, they take me back to my lovely cruise and the places we visited.

 

Antigua:

Had a walk around the shops near to the ship, and got another velvet bag for a friend. Got her one last year and she’s loved it, so I got her a different colour this time with matching purse. She loved them both.

 

The most interesting part of this day was near to sailaway. A couple (I’d say teens / early 20s) were the only 2 outstanding passengers, and then we saw them coming back from port. However they appeared to be having a bit of a disagreement, and the girl refused to get on the ship. He tried pulling her, talking to her and pleading (by the look of it), but she wasn’t budging and refused to get on. It took a man in white (presuming an officer) and a security man to persuade her to board, and of course they got a round of applause when they did finally get on. This delayed our departure slightly – if I’d been the Captain they wouldn’t have got off lightly as if the ship had been billed for late departure, I would have passed it onto them to pay otherwise have them thrown off the ship!! I would make a rubbish Captain and there wouldn’t be many people left by the time I’ve thrown off all the moaners, the rude ones and the parents who think their children aren’t their responsibility once they are on the ship!

 

Dominica:

We were going to walk into “town” as the ship parked a way out, but when we got up, it was absolutely chucking it down with rain! Apart from the odd lull, it rained most of the day, so this day was mostly spent on board, with only a brief trip to the stalls in the “shed”, so I could put my feet on “dry” land.

 

Grenada:

I always get my spices from here and from one particular stall outside near the ship. She is a 77 year old lady with 34 in her family (so we learned this time). I always go round to check out the prices and the other stalls, but always return to this lovely lady, who has never been pushy (unlike some). She also gives us some extras, like nutmeg, and even gave me a plant this time. I was really worried though that I’d be caught trying to smuggle it back into the country - then they may search me and find out I’d got half of the beach in my bag with shells and stones! – so I didn’t take it. We’ll be there next year, so I’ll hopefully see her again.

 

 

And Finally…..

We didn’t do any of the entertainment or use the bars, nor did I use the spa. So sorry I can’t comment on these aspects of the cruise.

 

When we got back to the cabin one evening, John read the paper and said that the clock went back an hour that evening. So I duly changed our clock and watches. We got up the next morning at 9.15 – or rather 10.15 – as the clocks went back the following night!! Next time I’ll read it myself!

 

I did wonder at one time whether I would be spending a few extra days in Barbados at the end of the cruise and wouldn’t be able to get home!

On Christmas Eve, the phone rang at 7.45am (woke me up), and I was told that I needed to bring my passport to Immigration in the Limelight Club. Of course I dragged John with me - why should he sleep when I’ve got to get up? - but really I was a bit worried. I was questioned about my passport, as Jamaican Immigration had a different passport number for me. I’ve had this passport for the past 5 years and have used it every year and multiple times a year, but they questioned me for about 10 or 15 minutes.

When I had to get a new passport 5 years ago, I took my renewal to the local Post Office, as I thought this would be the safest option. However my passport went “missing” along with 2 other bags of passports. To cut a long story short, I had to go to Liverpool to get a new passport, and was told by a senior member of staff there that “ a lot of passports go missing” from the particular post office and depot that mine did.

 

The Immigration Officer told me something similar had happened to another passenger a few months before, and although she’d contacted whoever she was told to, when she got to Barbados, they wouldn’t let her out of the country and she was stuck in Barbados an extra 3 days! After some time (felt like an interrogation – I would have confessed anything under the cabin lights!!), she suddenly had a “lightbulb moment”, and came back with a P&O officer, who was full of apologies. It turned out that P&O had put my old passport number on their records, despite me putting in my current number on-line every time I have cruised with them over the past 5 years (which is at least 8)! So I didn’t get my extra days in Barbados after all.

 

We also had a few delays in leaving port. Along with the arguing couple, we waited for an ambulance to take off a patient (think that was in Antigua). I did feel so sorry for whoever had had their cruise cut short due to illness or accident, along with their relatives. What a scary thing to happen, made worse by being in a strange country. Hope everyone was OK and the patient made a good and speedy recovery.

 

What is it with the lack of imagination with the names of the decks? Other ships have specific names for floors but P&O Britannia is sticking to boring old A deck, B deck, C deck, D deck etc! Until you get lower to deck 6 for example. This is called Tween deck. What is Tween?? Does it mean Between?? Or does it have some other meaning? I think there were one of two other daft deck names (IMHO). Come up with some good names P&O. Suggestions: A deck = Antigua; B deck = Barcelona. They could mix the names up between (or Tween!) places in the world not just the Caribbean or the Med for example.

Or am I just being a grumpy old woman here? No need to answer that. It’s just that I like a bit more imagination – but maybe not as much as Tween!!

 

 

Overall thoughts:

Did I have a good time? No. I had a great time!

Would I go back on Britannia? In a heartbeat!

 

Both of us really enjoyed our cruise and the Britannia. I missed the promenade deck to walk around and the bigger balcony, but these were compensated for by a better buffet experience and better tables for two in the main dining room.

 

Life is not perfect and I don’t expect for one minute that my cruise or any holiday will be perfect either. I go with an open mind and a positive attitude. I had a great time overall and look forward to my future cruises. I’d go back on Britannia as I like the style of what is on offer. But there again, I also like Ventura and Azura. So I have a good choice.

 

Happy cruising!

[staygulf]

We have just returned from a cruise on Ventura the layout of which we found very confusing, and are thinking about booking the Britannia for a fjords cruise in April.

 

Your review was most informative and entertaining, thank you.

 

As you have been on Ventura, can you please compare for me the layout of the 2 ships. Is Britannia just as confusing? Also did you find it a "cold" ship and I do mean temperature wise. Some of the American ships have the air con turned up so high that coats are needed on board! We didn't find this on Ventura and are wondering whether Britannia is the same?

 

We had a C deck balcony which was very nice, far bigger than the Celebrity balconies we are used to, so we are prepared for a smaller one, but the "fresh air" aspect is more important to us than the size of the balcony.

[Gymbod]

Great review - we're on her for Xmas this year so was really good to read your comments, thank you ☺

[P&O SUE]

Thanks very much for writing all that Homeless Bear! Made me chuckle as well. Pleased that your moans are only little-ish ones but I must admit I'm similar to you in that I like the table for two and expecting children to behave (mine always had to!!)

Haven't tried Britannia yet but must say everyone seems to think the buffet is better on there.

[groovechick]

We were on this cruise too Homeless Bear. Great review and I love your sense of humour. I haven't got around to writing my review yet, but I'm surprised you say your restaurant wasn't decorated for NYE - ours (Oriental) was. A big arch of balloons at the main entrance, other bunches of balloons dotted around, hats, party poppers and hooters on the tables. This was my first experience of a Christmas/New Year cruise and I thought P&O went to a lot of trouble to make it special.

[Beachmad]

The most detailed review Ive read yet, sometimes its the little things you want to know about. Good job.

 

Bit disturbed at the smoking on the non smoking side, hope thats not the norm.

 

The lighting in the cabin seeems a bit anti-green. :eek:

 

Im going on in June, seems ages to wait.

[HomelessBear]

Thank you for your kind comments and glad you're liking my ramblings.

 

Staygulf - Layout was quite confusing to me, even after 2 weeks I went the wrong way! I'm sure you'll find your way around - Deck 16 Lido = food!

I know what you mean about the Princess ships and the air con. I have "frozen" on them at dinner a few times. I don't remember Ventura being particularly "cold", but I found that the temperature on Britannia was generally warmer and very pleasant on board. This is only a personal view, but I found the dining room warm (which I prefer), and although I took some long sleeved tops, I stuck to short sleeved ones for dinner. Wore a cardigan a few times, but took it off at dinner as I was too warm. Depending where we sat, there was a bit of a draft at times, especially when everyone was walking past (the table was next to the main walkway to / from the kitchen). The temp was very pleasant though overall.

 

Groovechick - I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the dining room wasn't done nicely on NYE. Yes we had hats and poppers (and those noisy thing), but what I was comparing it to in my mind were those on Princess, with balloons galore.

I liked the decorations overall, but I would describe them as subtle. I remember that Ventura or Azura (can't remember which) had nice xmas decorations down the handrails in the atrium, which they didn't have on Britannia. Please don't get me wrong though, the ship was dressed nicely and in keeping with the feel of a high class hotel.

Thanks again everyone.

[Scorpio41]

 

As you have been on Ventura, can you please compare for me the layout of the 2 ships. Is Britannia just as confusing? .

 

Britannia is easy to navigate. Everything is on deck 7. It's like a z from bow to stern.

The middle stairs from deck 7 down to shops and other bars on decks 5 & 6.

[annieuk]

One of the best reviews I've read. Thank you so much for taking the time to post it.

[HomelessBear]

Thank you to those who read my review and gave your positive comments. Much appreciated.

I've now submitted it to the members review section.

 

Happy cruising to you all.

[vinoblanco]

Enjoyed your review, very refreshing. We spent Christmas and NY aboard Ventura 2 years ago and were fed up with the flipping incessant Christmas music, Slade etc, even after New Year.

 

We are booked on Azura for Christmas/ New Year 2016. Requested fixed late dining, but seems we have freedom. We also like a table for 2 but willing to share on New Years Eve. Love a party.

[HomelessBear]

We are booked on Azura for Christmas/ New Year 2016. Requested fixed late dining, but seems we have freedom. We also like a table for 2 but willing to share on New Years Eve. Love a party.

 

We are also on this cruise and we are sooooo looking forward to it. Never been to New Orleans, or to the first few ports we call in on. Will make a nice change from all Caribbean ports and will be doing some trips this time.

 

If its the same as they've done before and have 2 fixed seatings on xmas day and NYE, you should be able to request the late one. You may be able to change to late fixed when on board - worth a try and you've nothing to loose if its what you want.

[Sanjam cruisers]

Hi Homeless Bear

Enjoyed your review have not been on Britannia yet but we are considering it, we are on Azura This Saturday and have already booked for next year but might manage a wee Britannia cruise in between.

[Croydesurf]

Hi there,

 

I loved your review of Britannia. I have just booked for my girlfriend and I to cruise on Britannia at the beginning of May. It's going to be the first time I have been on a cruise ship and I can't wait. I have gone for a suite at the Aft of the ship as I wanted the trip to be as special as it can be.

 

As a first time cruiser do you have any advice for me?

[HomelessBear]

Hi there,

 

I loved your review of Britannia. I have just booked for my girlfriend and I to cruise on Britannia at the beginning of May. It's going to be the first time I have been on a cruise ship and I can't wait. I have gone for a suite at the Aft of the ship as I wanted the trip to be as special as it can be.

 

As a first time cruiser do you have any advice for me?

 

Thank you Croydesurf, and congratulations on booking your first cruise on Britannia.

 

You'll really enjoy your first cruise especially, and being in a suite will be extra special for you both I'm sure.

A lot of folks will have advice for you, so here's my twopenneth worth.....

 

*When you board, go and explore the ship. Walk down the corridors and go into the venues (often open but not in use), so you get a feel for the ship and try to get your bearings.

* Take note of a 'landmark' (such as a telephone on the wall) - this will help when you get out of the lift or from the stairs, so you'll know which side of the ship to go to for your cabin. This will save you doing what I used to do.....get half way down the corridor to find I'm on the wrong side of the ship for my cabin and going the wrong way!

*We don't tend to wear clothes with pockets in during the day, so we have a lanyard each to put the cruise card / room card on (hidden under a t shirt). Just go to reception and ask them to punch a hole in it so it'll go on the lanyard. They do sell lanyards in the ship shop if you forget to take one.

*Don't expect perfection. Go with the flow and don't let things bother you. I know it sounds daft, but lots of little things can add up and then can spoil your cruise. Don't let them. "Ship happens", and you're on holiday, so take it easy and relax. Life is too short to get bothered by irritants.

*Don't try to do everything, as there is so much on offer, you could be on the go all day and night! Take time to relax and do the things you want to do.

 

You'll always remember your first cruise and will look on it in years to come with fond memories. Be aware that cruising is addictive though, so think about booking you next cruise as soon as you return (or even onboard!).

 

Above all, have a great time and be happy.