2nd December 14 night cruise on Britannia to the Caribbean trip report

[Technoman2]

The holiday started with a flight on Tui Dreamliner which should have left at 11.10 am and took off at 12 noon due to fog at Gatwick. They served us free drinks just after take off including alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and tea and coffee. Then around an hour into the flight they served us lunch which was ok and you could have free wine with dinner. Bear in mind if you want to buy Duty Free on the flight they don’t accept cash, Revolute or American Express. They provide free earphones on the outbound flight and have a good selection of new and classic movies to watch. The flight out took around 8 hours 30 mins and we landed in Barbados just after 5pm local time. We then formed four lines to queue for buses to the ship (Main luggage goes straight to ship) and we were in the last queue and had to wait 40 mins on the bus to get 4 remaining disabled passengers boarded. Got to the ship at 7pm local time and the check in to get on board took 10 mins. Cases arrived at room 2 hours later so went straight to dinner in restaurant in casual clothes we wore on the plane.

 

We were allocated room G727 (Deck8) at the back of the ship. The room itself was ok BUT it was above the live lounge and when you lay down on the bed you could hear and feel the music until 2am. We asked to move after day 3 as it was unbearable even with earplugs. Got a same grade room on deck 9 which was fine.

 

In general we found the food to be better on Britannia than it was on Azura last Christmas. The Atrium is beautiful with its Starburst chandelier in the centre. Drinks in the bars were similar to pub prices but the cocktails were a bit hit and miss and the two I had served in the Crows Nest were like crushed ice water and very little alcohol. Brodies was good for the Quizzes and the interactive quizzes in the crystal room were fun. Entertainment in the theatre provided some variety and the 2 Ukranian Brothers performed some unusual circus acts that were great to watch. Some of the Headliners shows were good but hated Mr Tinkerton show. Centre stage was good and all performers worked very hard. Comedian was rubbish the first night but some people said his second show was better. The singer off the voice was good and his jokes and wit made up for previous comic. There were four formal nights and a Caribbean night a few days before end of cruise.

 

We were on Freedom dining and ate most of our evening meals in the Meridian restaurant where the food and service was very good, a couple of meals I enjoyed were the Stonebass fish and the Turbet fish meals. There was Pan fried Chicken and sirloin steak on most nights excluding Black Tie nights. Vegetarian options available and special meals on request the night before. We ate breakfast in The Oriental and again the service was very good but no Grapefruit juice for 10 days.

 

Before we came away we booked four tours from the ship.

The first was Curacao which was The Scenes of Curacao and Beach which included a trip to the Curacao Drink Factory where you can sample the various drinks and buy souvenirs then onto the Mambo beach where the sunbeds were included. Drinks prices ok and some free wifi available but could have done with an extra hour there. BUY SOME WATER SHOES as some areas hard on the feet and not just this beach and in some resorts they want $30 a pair.

 

The second place was Bonaire and here you can easily do your own thing and we walked off the ship through the Port entrance and on the left you can pick up a Taxi or Minibus to a couple of beaches. Spice Beach is best for snorkling and the other is a nice beach but more suited to windsurfing. Cost $15 for 2 people or we shared with 2 others and it was $20. Two sunbeds on the beach $20 and toilets and a nice beach bar available again with free wifi.

 

In Grenada we booked a tour with P&O to Fort George and Grand Anse beach, DO NOT BOOK THIS TOUR its a total rip off and very poor value. The minibus takes you up to a fort passing the Prison on route . Ok there is a nice view from the top and then it takes you down to Grand Anse Beach for a couple of hours and yes you get a free drink BUT it does not include the sunbeds and parasol which added $30 to the cost. We stayed on the beach and cancelled our ride back and got the water taxi back to the ship which was $5 each or $10 return. With hindsight I would have just got off the ship gone out the Port exit and turned left and got the water taxi to Grand Anse Beach.

 

In St Lucia we did the Catamaran to the Pitons but the weather was unkind and as we got near the pitons it lashed down for an hour and you could not see the pitons clearly. We then turned back and stopped at a bay where it was warmer in the water than on the boat. The rum punch after this lifted everyones spirts. I have to say that this visit to the Caribbean was the worst weather we had experienced in 4 visits at the same time of year 2^nd 2 weeks of December.

 

In St Vincent we just stayed in the Port Area as some people said the surrounding area was not very nice and when here previously we did a Pirates of the Caribbean tour on a sail boat which was fun.

 

In St Kitts and Nevis again here we just walked around the town centre which has some nice bars and gift shops but here we had a very officious woman wanting to see our ‘Government Issued ID’ i.e passport (which we took a camera photo of ) and were able to show. Although we were advised to take this ID before leaving the ship no other port asked for this and I don’t feel comfortable taking my Passport off the ship.

 

We were booked on a tour of Antigua but the sea was too rough for the ship to negotiate the access channel so we had to miss this port and the tour was refunded BUT I was disappointed that P&O did not offer any compensation or gesture particularly for port fees they did not have to pay. When we were on Marella and we could not get into Cuba we got a £40 per cabin credit.

 

In St Maarten we just took the water taxi over to the Dutch side which is lovely and cost $10 return, prices for beds and buckets of beer vary along the promenade so worth having a walk first, the beach is lovely here and I think it was the setting for the Speed 2 movie at the end.

 

In Barbados we booked the trip to Carlisle Beach which was a half day with a free drink and sunbeds and the beach was lovely at 9.15 am before it gets crowded. Water is warm and easy access for swimming. Pretty good value but would have preferred 2 more hours there.

 

We enjoyed our holiday on the whole in spite of a few days of windy and rainy weather and it was the first time on Britannia and it is a ship we would consider again BUT there were a few unsavoury people on board and they should be banned from future P&O cruises particularly the girl who disrupted the quiz in Brodies laughing and shouting and generally being an obnoxious irritating bore.

 

The flight back was well organised with screens and updates all around the ship on screens. It takes 45 mins back to the airport and inside the airport is stifling hot and I had to change back out of jeans and into shorts as no aircon and the BIGA$$ fans ( yes thats what they are called) don’t cool the departure lounge. Drinks service after take off then Chicken Dinner an hour later then Breakfast 90 mins before landing.

 

Note we were warned by our driver in Barbados that there is 25% unemployment and some young people do not want to work.This applies to most Caribbean Islands , don’t wear jewellery ashore or any bling and probably best to use transport at night to get to and from the ship.

[Cathygh]

Thank you, I was on the cruise before yours and enjoyed it very much.

Regarding the missed port, did you get a substitute? If you didn't you might be be to claim off your insurance company, but you need a letter from P&O saying that the port was missed and that they aren't giving any compensation for it. We got £150 each back for a missed port in May this year.

[Technoman2]

We will check our policy and put in a claim soon and we did get a letter from P&O. Thanks.

[gsmt47471015]

Interesting read, thank you, having done numerous Caribbean cruises it is always nice to get a new perspective on the cruise ,shame about the behavior problems caused by a few passengers , however upon reading other reports it would appear this is becoming a common theme  

[Interestedcruisefan]

12 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Interesting read, thank you, having done numerous Caribbean cruises it is always nice to get a new perspective on the cruise ,shame about the behavior problems caused by a few passengers , however upon reading other reports it would appear this is becoming a common theme  

Not sure a lady laughing and shouting  during a quiz in Brodies is going to be enough to get someone banned from cruising though?

 

 

 

 

[Technoman2]

55 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Not sure a lady laughing and shouting  during a quiz in Brodies is going to be enough to get someone banned from cruising though?

 

 

 

 

But throwing her boobs out whilst in the ruckus should be a determining factor. I kid you not.

[Cathygh]

18 hours ago, Technoman2 said:

 

 

We enjoyed our holiday on the whole in spite of a few days of windy and rainy weather and it was the first time on Britannia and it is a ship we would consider again BUT there were a few unsavoury people on board and they should be banned from future P&O cruises particularly the girl who disrupted the quiz in Brodies laughing and shouting and generally being an obnoxious irritating bore.

 

 

On the previous cruise to yours 31 passengers ( allegedly) were taken off the ship for drunken behaviour. They had sat in a bar in the port all day drinking. Though people who actually saw them come back to the ship said they were not abusive just in party mode. There were also reports about drunken behaviour at the Lido Bar in the early hours. 

 

BTW at Barbados aiport it is slightly cooler at the gates, the area by the bars and cafes is extremely hot.

 

 

 

[Eddie99]

Thank you for your report

It’s always interesting to hear how people enjoyed their cruise.  I’m glad yours was good

[CarlaMarie]

My parents mentioned drunken behaviour on Aurora as well. They were heckling in the theatre and being generally disruptive. It does seem to be on the rise, and more so on the Caribbean cruises. 

[Eddie99]

… and in theatres here, apparently 

I’ve seen reports from around the country of very unpleasant antisocial behaviour

 

Edited December 22, 2023 by Eddie99

[gsmt47471015]

3 hours ago, Technoman2 said:

But throwing her boobs out whilst in the ruckus should be a determining factor. I kid you not.

Oh my stars😒

[CaptainPedantic]

Great review Technoman2, thanks! We were on the same cruise and had an amazing time 🙂 and would agree with just about everything you wrote.

 

We were in cabin G719, so a little further forward from your original cabin, and only noticed the noise from the Live Lounge a couple of times. To be honest, we had worse disturbance from the thrusters when docking early morning. Our balcony also overlooked the smoking area on Deck 7, which we thought would be a problem, but thankfully we barely noticed it.

 

Freedom dining in the Peninsular MDR was excellent (so was breakfast and lunch), even better than we expected. Sure, there was quite a bit of repetition in the dinner menu, but there was always something nice to choose and all our meals were tasty and hot. I would personally like a bit more spice in some dishes, but I understand having to cater for the masses... Our waiters were truly amazing - even though we were on freedom dining, we managed to sit with the same waiters almost every night. Drinks service was also good at dinner and in fact, throughout the cruise. The only real issue we had was the ship running out of prosecco 10 days in, Mrs Pedantic not pleased about that! And I agree that the cocktails were disappointing, especially when compared to those on our Princess cruise in the summer.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed all the ports, and for once took mainly P&O excursions, which were mostly very good both in terms of experience and value. The 'Cat Caribe and Turtle Snorkel' in Barbados was a particular highlight, and most of the other trips were also excellent. Our St Kitts 'Beach Hop by Boat' was saved by an unexpected but thrilling encounter with a dolphin, without which the trip would have been disappointing. And in Grenada, our 'Starwind Snorkel' trip to snorkel with turtles and stingrays wasn't as expected - we were taken instead to the underwater sculpture park which was amazing! I think this was due to the weather. I would still personally prefer to organise things to run at my own pace - we did feel a little rushed on a couple of the trips when we were expecting to be more 'chilled' - but no big issues and the security of a return to the ship is appreciated. Shame to have missed Antigua, thankfully our insurance covered that and our claim is already processed.

 

We heard about the quiz disruption and allegedly the same person had caused issues in the Limelight Club. We also heard of 4 people being removed from the ship. All second or third-hand reports, thankfully we didn't experience any such issues ourselves the entire cruise. Just the usual sight of sunburnt towels... 😉 

 

All-in-all an excellent cruise on a lovely ship with lots of happy and helpful crew - lots of great memories and new friends, and we can't wait to do it again 🙂 

[vrodpaul]

we were on this cruise, i would have to disagree about the standard of the food ,in the mdr and the horizon it is just about acceptable for mass catering, as for the others, come on P & O dont kid yourselves or your guests that the food is gourmet quality, very much style over substance, i would love to know what, in the epicurean, the [sharing experience] on the menu, of ribeye stake is, only to be served very thin and overcooked individual tomahawk steaks, the maitre d could not explain the sharing bit, also i cannot grasp the concept of the fillet? steak on the hot lava stone either, in the beach house, not a great idea putting a red hot stone in front of you, spitting all over your shirt, and when the steak is cooked to your taste, where do you put that to rest a while, quite often the menu description was nothing like what was served up to you, all the food was edible, no more no less,

i quite agree the drinking does get out of hand, thank goodness we booked the retreat for the duration of the cruise but even there the staff there were not up to the standards of our previous cruises also even on the ship excursions they need to look at the drinking problem, persons overboard on one of our trips, thankfully the crew did their job in the rescue but 30 seconds more in the water might have been a different outcome

on our first couple of cruises with P & O we were disappointed because of the hype from them, now we know what to expect, we have a different mindset and accept what they are offering for the amount they are charging, simple as that,

did we have a good time, yes, will we do it again, yes  

[Technoman2]

Thanks for adding your experience to my original post its good to get a perspective of what other fellow cruisers thought about the trip. I had not used my welcome sail away drink voucher so could not use it when they run out of prosecco. Two minor things that did irritate me was the salt cellars in the restaurant would often not work and you cannot put rice in the grinder type salt cellar and what seemed like the constant painting on deck 7 on sea days where they actually put thinners on the floor with a scrubber to remove any spots off the rollers. The result of this was that the fumes funneled down to the back of deck 7 and it was so bad  that it made my eyes water and i felt that if someone had walked out with a cigrarette there could have been a big bang. Also my wife being Asthmatic didnt help s we had to move up to 17 which on sea days is busy. The deck should have been completely closed.

[vrodpaul]

come to think of it we wondered what the smell was sometimes in the stairwells, we were A deck mid forward, you are so right about the salt pots, dont think i found any of them working, try the retreat next time, makes the trip worthwhile 

[zap99]

1 hour ago, vrodpaul said:

we were on this cruise, i would have to disagree about the standard of the food ,in the mdr and the horizon it is just about acceptable for mass catering, as for the others, come on P & O dont kid yourselves or your guests that the food is gourmet quality, very much style over substance, i would love to know what, in the epicurean, the [sharing experience] on the menu, of ribeye stake is, only to be served very thin and overcooked individual tomahawk steaks, the maitre d could not explain the sharing bit, also i cannot grasp the concept of the fillet? steak on the hot lava stone either, in the beach house, not a great idea putting a red hot stone in front of you, spitting all over your shirt, and when the steak is cooked to your taste, where do you put that to rest a while, quite often the menu description was nothing like what was served up to you, all the food was edible, no more no less,

i quite agree the drinking does get out of hand, thank goodness we booked the retreat for the duration of the cruise but even there the staff there were not up to the standards of our previous cruises also even on the ship excursions they need to look at the drinking problem, persons overboard on one of our trips, thankfully the crew did their job in the rescue but 30 seconds more in the water might have been a different outcome

on our first couple of cruises with P & O we were disappointed because of the hype from them, now we know what to expect, we have a different mindset and accept what they are offering for the amount they are charging, simple as that,

did we have a good time, yes, will we do it again, yes  

Fillet steak on the hot lava rock is IMHO a brilliant idea. If you are worried about it spitting ,ask for a bib. When you have cooked it to your liking, take it off the rock.

 

[carlanthony24]

3 hours ago, vrodpaul said:

i cannot grasp the concept of the fillet? steak on the hot lava stone either, in the beach house, not a great idea putting a red hot stone in front of you, spitting all over your shirt, and when the steak is cooked to your taste, where do you put that to rest a while,

No different to it being served in restaurants back in the UK has to be one of the best sellers. Just put it on the plate when done.

[vrodpaul]

every days a school day!!!!! after quite a few cruises this one was the first time we found out about square toast at breakfast, so much better than standard

[vrodpaul]

49 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

No different to it being served in restaurants back in the UK has to be one of the best sellers. Just put it on the plate when done.

nope, never had it served infront of me, the stone will be in the middle or to the side of the table, with a proper plate infront of you

[Presto2]

The DIY steak is hubby's favourite...

Have been looking at the Beach House menus and I'm concerned that all of the food seems to be really spicy. I hate spicy food ... hubby says I can't cope with mild spice ... so am hoping they will grant requests and leave some.of it off. 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

12 hours ago, CarlaMarie said:

My parents mentioned drunken behaviour on Aurora as well. They were heckling in the theatre and being generally disruptive. It does seem to be on the rise, and more so on the Caribbean cruises. 

Heckling in the theatre on aurora?

 

Boobs out during the quiz in Brodies on Britannia?

 

Whatever next?

 

Wouldn't happen on Arvia or Iona!!

 

You have to be really careful nowadays on these cruise ships with  more older passengers on board outside the school hols

 

Some of them are just out of control

 

Lol

 

You have to remember punk rockers of the early 1970s will be mid 70s now!!

 

Some will even have tattoos!!

 

Lol

[Interestedcruisefan]

55 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Heckling in the theatre on aurora?

 

Boobs out during the quiz in Brodies on Britannia?

 

Whatever next?

 

Wouldn't happen on Arvia or Iona!!

 

You have to be really careful nowadays on these cruise ships with  more older passengers on board outside the school hols

 

Some of them are just out of control

 

Lol

 

You have to remember punk rockers of the early 1970s will be mid 70s now!!

 

Some will even have tattoos!!

 

Lol

It's not the pensioners on Aurora who are at fault

 

I blame their parents!! 

 

Lol

[CarlaMarie]

The Aurora cruise was a 4 day. As expected, younger passengers were sailing on her. Normally groups on short cruises keep themselves to themselves. After dinner you will see them in the bars etc... and yes they may have been drinking more but it is harmless and generally they are still very respectful. Very rarely did their behaviour have an impact on other passengers (and we have done several 2 - 5 nighters). 

 

What occurred this time was different. This is passengers being deliberately disruptive and not being considerate of other passengers. Turning up very late to the theatre, heckling, shouting, repeatedly standing up.... 

 

This type of behaviour is unfortunately spreading, and Arvia has had her fair share too (the Gareth Gates incident for example and inappropriate homophobic slurs being directed at other passengers). 

[Fionboard]

I have seen anti social behaviour on all ships, including Cunard and Celebrity. Drink is usually to blame and, thankfully, these incidents are not commonplace. Best to avoid the pub and pool area! 

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, Fionboard said:

I have seen anti social behaviour on all ships, including Cunard and Celebrity. Drink is usually to blame and, thankfully, these incidents are not commonplace. Best to avoid the pub and pool area! 

Anti social behaviour happens every minute across the world in every town or city 

 

Not restricted to P and O cruise ships

 

I'm lucky not to have witnessed on any cruise we've been on yet

 

And if I ever did the ships are way big enough to just walk away from it and ignore

 

Won't let a tiny minority of idiots spoil any holiday I'm on.