The Britannia Maiden Cruise (part 2)

#1

Two sea days down to Gibraltar

I'm writing this on day three of our cruise, en route to Gibraltar.

Things are progressing nicely, seas are calm. There was a bit of movement in the Bay of Biscay, but nothing remarkable.

Our first sea day was rather overcast and chilly, so, as might be expected, everyone was inside. And, as might be expected when there are a lot of people doing the same thing, it was crowded, and difficult to get a seat anywhere. This would be true of any ship - it's just life really!

It was also my birthday - I treated myself to a nice bag from one of the shops. I am trying to control my impulses to buy another one - it's handbag heaven in the shops.

When we've been onboard for other birthdays we had a card from the captain, plus some chocolates or other gesture. This time, my birthday wasn't acknowledged. I'm not letting this ruin my cruise or my life - but it Is a nice gesture when they take note of a passengers birthday. I suppose they've been a bit busy recently.

The captains welcome aboard reception was held last night, in the atrium. It was our first formal night, and everyone was dressed nicely. For those who are interested in dress codes, I noticed two people not dressed in formal attire, so that's not bad out of 3500 plus people.

Although Britannia is a big ship, it's really not that difficult to find your way around.

The best way to orientate your self is in the atrium, which is on decks 5,6 and 7.

These decks are the main public areas of the ship. Two of the main restaurants are accessed via the atrium. Peninsular restaurant on deck 6 and Meridian on deck 5. These are both freedom dining. Because of the location of these restaurants, on decks 5 and six, you know that if you walk out of the atrium, and are not going into the restaurant, you are going forward. On deck 7, at the top of the atrium, you are able to walk the entire length of the ship.

Decks 8 to 15 are passenger cabins only - no public areas at all.

On deck 16, you can access the rest of the public areas of the ship, including the buffet and the Crows Nest, and the outside decks. I think it's a lot easier to find your way round than say Azura and Ventura.

However, I will mention the stairs. There is a forward staircase, an atrium stair case, a mid ships staircase and an aft staircase.

But the mid ships staircase only goes up to deck 7, after that it's lift only.
Fortunately we are quite near the forward staircase. Being a committed walker, I'd find it quite annoying not to have a staircase near my cabin!

I suppose it was designed like this so that more passenger cabins could be shoehorned in.

It should also be noted that the carpet is the same colour on all stairwells. I identify the stairwell I am using by the artwork. The forward staircase is the crop circles staircase, the aft staircase is the splodge staircase.

The other MDR, the Oriental for club dining, can only be accessed by the splodge stairwell.

We have all been given a commemorative keepsake of our maiden cruise - a Wedgewood cup and saucer inspired by the star burst in the atrium. This is actually quite an attractive present - for once it won't be finding it's way on to eBay as soon as I get home.

Tomorrow it's our first port of call, Gibraltar. We are due to arrive at noon and leave at 5pm. Of course, everyone will want to get off the ship at the same time, and I predict large queues. We intend to hang back a bit to let the crowds die down - I think it'll be a wise strategy!

#2

Love your review Gill and your expert grasp of technical nautical terms when referring to the stairways and stairwells.

Looking forward to hearing more from you.

#3

Stairs and staircases ... multi confusioni

As for birthdays etc we ignore the Captain and order up a couple of portions of choccy covered strawberries.

#4

I feel I know my way round the new girl already

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