Brittannia refit?

[rdmaidment]

We were on Britannia last week and at the Baltic lunch were told that the midship staircase wouldn't be changed as feedback that the lack of a staircase has not been sustained over the years and it is no longer seen as an issue.

[molecrochip]

14 minutes ago, rdmaidment said:

We were on Britannia last week and at the Baltic lunch were told that the midship staircase wouldn't be changed as feedback that the lack of a staircase has not been sustained over the years and it is no longer seen as an issue.

That's interesting. When we were last on Britannia at the end of her Caribbean season in 2018, it was definitely on the cards - it was a senior officer who confirmed it as much as he said the changes would be the same as on Royal/Regal Princess.

 

Cost saving?

[Clodia]

4 hours ago, rdmaidment said:

We were on Britannia last week and at the Baltic lunch were told that the midship staircase wouldn't be changed as feedback that the lack of a staircase has not been sustained over the years and it is no longer seen as an issue.

Yes, me too. I asked the officer who hosted our table and this was the reply.

[jake 26]

4 hours ago, rdmaidment said:

We were on Britannia last week and at the Baltic lunch were told that the midship staircase wouldn't be changed as feedback that the lack of a staircase has not been sustained over the years and it is no longer seen as an issue.

I was told similar a couple of weeks or so ago, and that there was likely to be an upgrade to the lift operating system to make it more efficient. 

I must admit that we didn't find the lack of the staircase a problem even though we were midships on a high deck. We walked to forward or aft or when we wanted a central lift we didn't seem to wait long.

[crompton21]

It is possible to view the post refit deck plans on the P&O website. The midship stairs are definitely still missing.

[Clodia]

I hardly ever used the lifts. As i had a single balcony up on deck 16 this meant a 9 or 10 deck walk up the stairs 3 or 4 times a day. The first couple of days were dreadful but it was amazing how quickly i got used to it and by week 2 of my cruise I was bounding up the stairs!

[Eglesbrech]

1 hour ago, Clodia said:

I hardly ever used the lifts. As i had a single balcony up on deck 16 this meant a 9 or 10 deck walk up the stairs 3 or 4 times a day. The first couple of days were dreadful but it was amazing how quickly i got used to it and by week 2 of my cruise I was bounding up the stairs!

 

I am feeling out of breathe just thinking about “bounding” up so many decks.

 

Well done you.

[Eglesbrech]

16 hours ago, jake 26 said:

I was told similar a couple of weeks or so ago, and that there was likely to be an upgrade to the lift operating system to make it more efficient. 

I must admit that we didn't find the lack of the staircase a problem even though we were midships on a high deck. We walked to forward or aft or when we wanted a central lift we didn't seem to wait long.

 

We found the lack of a central stair a real pain on our cruise due to our cabin location. Last time we were on Britannia we were aft, which we avoided this time due to the soot problem and had no issues.

 

This time we had a long round trip which could have been avoided by a set of central stairs. The lifts were constantly congested (forward, mid and aft) which we didn't experience the last time either. A different set of passengers I suppose and it will probably be a different experience on each cruise depending on the demographic.

[pete14]

1 hour ago, Clodia said:

I hardly ever used the lifts. As i had a single balcony up on deck 16 this meant a 9 or 10 deck walk up the stairs 3 or 4 times a day. The first couple of days were dreadful but it was amazing how quickly i got used to it and by week 2 of my cruise I was bounding up the stairs!

But this misses the point. The lack of midships stairs means that those who want to bound or stagger up the stairs cannot do so because there are no stairs midships to bound or stagger up. This puts pressure on the lifts which are not big enough to cope. Opening up the midships staircase would remove this pressure so those who have problems with stairs can have greater access to lifts which will not be full of ‘stair bounding people’ who have no stairs to bound up unless they walk to the fore and aft stairs.

[Monorail Orange]

On 4/25/2019 at 8:30 PM, crompton21 said:

It is possible to view the post refit deck plans on the P&O website. The midship stairs are definitely still missing.

That's a shame. Then again, they can re-issue plans on the website any old time. Brochures are a different matter, naturally.

 

On 4/26/2019 at 8:54 AM, Clodia said:

I hardly ever used the lifts. As i had a single balcony up on deck 16 this meant a 9 or 10 deck walk up the stairs 3 or 4 times a day. The first couple of days were dreadful but it was amazing how quickly i got used to it and by week 2 of my cruise I was bounding up the stairs!

Wow. I've gone from Grenada to Sun decks on Arcaida (aka Palladium to Crows Nest) and that certainly took the wind out of me.

So hat's off for doing that on Britannia.

 

 

[crompton21]

Wow. I've gone from Grenada to Sun decks on Arcaida (aka Palladium to Crows Nest) and that certainly took the wind out of me.
So hat's off for doing that on Britannia.
 
 

It would seem like a lot of effort to display a deck plan entitled Britannia 2020 (so one deckplan for 2019 and then another for 2020) if what was then posted was incorrect.

Enough to get people threatening to sue I would think! If you read some of the posts on here certainly the case.

[philsuarez]

I think this would be a huge missed opportunity to put right what is a fundamental design flaw.They have done the same on the Princess sister ships so why not Britannia. The lift situation does not work and spoils an other wise lovely ship 

[Denarius]

The lack of a central staircase is a serious design flaw. Add to this that Britannia has only the same number and size of lifts as Azura and Ventura but carries 600 more passengers and the result is entirely predictable. I was on her over Easter and at busy periods the lifts failed to cope, and the lack of a central staircase was a constant gripe. How P&O can say that this is no longer an issue beggars belief.

[katan]

I haven't sailed yet on Britannia but I would have thought the lack of midship stairs would be dangerous in an emergency as you cannot use the lifts if there is a fire.

[amfc_lenny]

13 minutes ago, katan said:

I haven't sailed yet on Britannia but I would have thought the lack of midship stairs would be dangerous in an emergency as you cannot use the lifts if there is a fire.

 

I don't know for a fact but I would imagine in the event of a fire, that the existing crew midship stairs, could be a fire escape?

[daiB]

10 minutes ago, amfc_lenny said:

 

I don't know for a fact but I would imagine in the event of a fire, that the existing crew midship stairs, could be a fire escape?

It is used and has been during drills.

[philsuarez]

I have reached out to P and O Management , who stated that whilst aware of the issue, no changes were currently proposed to be made to the stairs during the refit but the situation was under constant review. My comments and thoughts during our chat would be fed back to the relevant team including the suggestion of possible changes to the lift software in order to enable more efficient operation. I have to say they were very interested in my opinion and I was left with the feeling that they take the feedback around this issue seriously.

[jake 26]

1 hour ago, philsuarez said:

I have reached out to P and O Management , who stated that whilst aware of the issue, no changes were currently proposed to be made to the stairs during the refit but the situation was under constant review. My comments and thoughts during our chat would be fed back to the relevant team including the suggestion of possible changes to the lift software in order to enable more efficient operation. I have to say they were very interested in my opinion and I was left with the feeling that they take the feedback around this issue seriously.

When I raised the question on board a few weeks ago I was told the upgrading of the lift operating system to provide better synchronisation and service efficiency was a priority.

[Highpeaklad]

On 4/25/2019 at 8:30 PM, crompton21 said:

It is possible to view the post refit deck plans on the P&O website. The midship stairs are definitely still missing.

 

Can you see any difference between the 2?

[Highpeaklad]

On 5/1/2019 at 1:40 PM, amfc_lenny said:

 

I don't know for a fact but I would imagine in the event of a fire, that the existing crew midship stairs, could be a fire escape?

 

 

[philsuarez]

no difference on either plan

[P&O SUE]

I deliberately choose a forward cabin on Britannia because of the lift situation. We use the stairs when we can but any more than about 4 decks and we take a lift.

I realise I’m in the position where I can use the stairs but we found it fine and this was mid July.

[crompton21]

On ‎5‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 8:21 PM, philsuarez said:

no difference on either plan

Pedant mode:  Have a look at the notes on the top right, they are different.  Whilst it is a change in how some beds are described, I assume that means they are happy with what they have put online (having changed it) and as such, that is presumably what is going to happen.

[NORDEN]

I can't understand why future passengers are not made aware now of changes planned by P & O.  There is a full review on those being done on Aurora, so why not Brittania.  We are on the transatlantic on 25th October and being mid-ship, and potentially affected,  would welcome any information.  It won't alter our plans, just make it more reassuring.   Please P & O!! 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, NORDEN said:

I can't understand why future passengers are not made aware now of changes planned by P & O.  There is a full review on those being done on Aurora, so why not Brittania.  We are on the transatlantic on 25th October and being mid-ship, and potentially affected,  would welcome any information.  It won't alter our plans, just make it more reassuring.   Please P & O!! 

 

I agree, but full details on the Aurora refit only came out after the work was done. All we really knew for certain beforehand was the removal of the kids club and addition of new cabins, which was obvious following the conversion to adult only (although I would have preferred the addition of an Epicurean restaurant over additional cabins). The generic ‘refresh’ comments get used but that doesn’t really tell you much. Like yourself, I can see no reason why the details don’t get released a few months in advance. I guess they don’t release them too far in advance for fear that some people may defer booking until after the refit.