Poster Boy's Britannia Maiden review

[RB1961]

Thanks for that M&T. Sounds like you enjoyed it.
Wife is a wheelchair user and your comments regarding the lifts happen on most ships that we have been on. Not a deal breaker for us as we are too laid back when we are on holiday to let it bother us, we just wait for the next one.

RB

[oldbluefox]

Thanks Merv but ...

I wish you had posted these as separate Topics like wot Gill did do ... too much to take on-board in one go but I will try to respond as best I am able.

Don't worry Merv. Once we get him onto Ladybird 3c he'll be able to cope with all of it in one go!!!!

[Gill W]

Hi Gill. Yes, I've just read your report and can see your vegetable experience was completely different to ours. We got a good variety suited to the dishes we chose. It must be possible to cook the ones we had without salt. Can't understand why they didn't do better for you. They're normally so good with dietary requirements.

On the dietary front, it seemed as if it was a lack of attention to detail. There was the lack of variety of veg, and other little things, such as the advertised almonds not being on my trout and, and no pieces of coriander in my carrot and coriander soup.

On the plus side, my chicken biriyani on the last night was excellent. But for starters, I got a tomato soup, rather than the tomato panacotta that I ordered.

I gave feedback on the questionnaire and I'll mention it again on my online questionnaire. Perhaps they'll take action - I hope so.

I was in the first Queen show. I was disappointed that they were going to do two different shows, as all the really popular songs were going to be in the 2nd show. We wanted to see the 10.30 show in the theatre, so we didn't wait. I agree that both shows should be the same to give everyone an equal chance to see them.

Your main problem with the lifts was something that didn't really affect us.

We were on deck 11' near the forward staircase. We were normally about to walk up to our cabin from deck 7, and from our cabin up to 16, for the buffet. When we boarded the ship at deck 5, we used the atrium staircase to break the climb. I think I used the lifts twice during the entire cruise. But I did see a lot of people looking quizzically at the floor indicator panel, in the hope of getting a lift to stop for them.

Glad Trish enjoyed her lesson with James Martin. It's what cruising is all about, doing things you don't do in normal day to day life.

[towny44]

Thanks Merv, and indeed GillW, very interesting reviews with exactly the sort of niggles I had expected, but hopefully some of these can be improved on if the staff are encouraged to be proactive with the passengers, unfortunately something we have found does not always have a high priority with P&O.
Glad you all enjoyed the cruise, I am just hoping the weather is warmer and more settled for our cruise, now less than 2 weeks away.

[barr0ld]

Thank you Mervyn; a really enjoyable read, hot on the heels of Gills equally detailed and amusing review. I've been laughing so much, I've woken my partner up. Twice. But I'm still choking on:

"Of course we heard the inevitable "it's not like Ventura, they have West End shows every night”. Yeh, right. But at least it spared us the "we've seen this show five times on Oriana and eight times on Canberra"

Pity about the lifts, but we received our cabin allocation yesterday (cheapskate late savers who decided they needed a holiday now) and our cabin is very close to the aft lifts. So I think we'll be enterprising and sell cheap G&Ts to the waiting hordes. Profits will be maximised as we plan on buying the gin in Main Street and the tonic from Morrisons at our first port of call.......

[allatc]

Well, that is one comprehensive report.

Thanks for posting it.

We will be on Britannia in October, looking forward to it.

[Manoverboard]

Thanks Merv but ...

I wish you had posted these as separate Topics like wot Gill did do ... too much to take on-board in one go but I will try to respond as best I am able.

You see my review was like the ship, good but with the odd niggle! I think she's too big for you Moby. In fact I know the answer to what's happening to Adonia and her Princess sister coming out of service. They're both hanging from davits outside Britannia's deck 7 windows

Good but with the odd niggle you say ... more like too effin BIG says I

I've read Gills excellently presented report and now I shall see how well you have done in comparison, it may take a while though ... Ladybirds R Us to you Foxy

[david63]

Having read both reports it seems that basically it is just as any other ship - there is no "one size fits all" ship. There are, and always will be, some aspects of any ship that some people will not like but that others do not find a problem.

Yes there were/are some "teething" problems but that is only to be expected (and that is what you pay extra for on a maiden ) at this stage - only time will tell if these things get ironed out.

There was nothing in these reports that would deter me from sailing on her but personally I am not a great fan of the "big" ships so I doubt that I will be sailing on her - but never say never.

[qbman1]

Excellent report Merv - many thanks. Hasn't changed my personal view that big ships are not for us - in fact, it has made me even more certain ! We will, however, try her for a short break just so we can have a moan from personal experience !!

[Jan Rosser]

Thanks Merv for a very detailed report of your experiences - very useful as I have taken the plunge and booked a cruise to the Fjords so a lot to look forward to - roll on June

[Manoverboard]

Many thanks Merv, twas a great report, like Gill you put a lot of effort into it ... but with less useful critique

On balance ( breathes in, sticks chest out ) I proudly wish to admit to having enjoyed reading it all and especially so the sections relating to the various food venues, deffo a major plus over the smaller ships that we obviously prefer.

Britannia does however ' seem ' to have similar issues as was the case for us on Azura but possibly more so, queuing and crowding in the public places for example does not float our boat and we do genuinely enjoy watching the waves from Ye Olde Prom Deck vantage point on sea days so would doubtless miss that aspect. The lifts were a bit of a farce and that aspect, as you said, really does need sorting out. No way would we walk to the ends of the ship every time we needed to go up or down, a good plan ( for us ) is perhaps to book an aft or forward cabin rather than one slap bang in the middle.

The main thing is that you enjoyed yourself and felt that the expense was worth every penny, I think you did but we would probably opt for a shorter cruise and only then at a bargain price.

Cheers

[Ian Perth]

Great review and really interesting. Going on the B504 so this review gives us a good idea of what to expect. We've got similar likes to yourselves so I'm sure we'll love it. From some of the e mails I've been getting a lot of the Azura staff are on board so we know we will have a great cruise, apart from the moaners.

[Lollie]

Great 'review', looking forward to our short cruise on her later this year.

[Solent Richard]

What an excellent review Melvyn and Trish,

May I say it was also a pleasure to meet you and share a few cruising topics over a few G&Ts. Always good to meet real cruisers.

I have written a full review on my own blog and added over 50 photographs, Here is the link...

http://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/201 ... en-cruise/

[Solent Richard]

Hi Gill. Yes, I've just read your report and can see your vegetable experience was completely different to ours. We got a good variety suited to the dishes we chose. It must be possible to cook the ones we had without salt. Can't understand why they didn't do better for you. They're normally so good with dietary requirements.

That's an interesting comment. Having had a small amount of experience in the catering industry I'd add that dealing with such quantities of vegetables on board the vegetables would be cooked in a steamer.

[barney]

Thanks to Solent Richard for the pics

I think she looks stunning inside.

I'm certainly tempted

[Gill W]

Hi Gill. Yes, I've just read your report and can see your vegetable experience was completely different to ours. We got a good variety suited to the dishes we chose. It must be possible to cook the ones we had without salt. Can't understand why they didn't do better for you. They're normally so good with dietary requirements.

That's an interesting comment. Having had a small amount of experience in the catering industry I'd add that dealing with such quantities of vegetables on board the vegetables would be cooked in a steamer.

My only other cruise since I've had a need for a special diet was on Arcadia, at Christmas. I had all the veg as shown on the menu, so that's why I was surprised when I didn't this time.

My next P&O cruise isn't until next February, when I will be on Oceana for 35 nights, so it'll be interesting to see what happens then.

Although 35 nights of broccoli would be a bit much!

[Quizzical Bob]

Hi Gill. Yes, I've just read your report and can see your vegetable experience was completely different to ours. We got a good variety suited to the dishes we chose. It must be possible to cook the ones we had without salt. Can't understand why they didn't do better for you. They're normally so good with dietary requirements.

That's an interesting comment. Having had a small amount of experience in the catering industry I'd add that dealing with such quantities of vegetables on board the vegetables would be cooked in a steamer.

My only other cruise since I've had a need for a special diet was on Arcadia, at Christmas. I had all the veg as shown on the menu, so that's why I was surprised when I didn't this time.

My next P&O cruise isn't until next February, when I will be on Oceana for 35 nights, so it'll be interesting to see what happens then.

Although 35 nights of broccoli would be a bit much!

Anything' better than that horrible spinach they dish up

[stocktonmackem]

Fabulous review, thanks for taking the time to write it. My husband is a wheelchair user and we are midship so hopefully the lifts won't be to bad. Usually we book a cabin at the front of the ship but midships was the only one available. Obviously fellow disabled cruisers had a heads up about the lift situation. We are patient people so will not complain. We are not going until June so hopefully the little niggles will be ironed out.

[Patchworker]

Thank you for your very informative review, looking forward to experiencing Britannia in June, go with an open mind, look for the positives, ignore the moaners that are always around, enjoy the experience with new ports of call to explore is my plan.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Thank you for your very informative review, looking forward to experiencing Britannia in June, go with an open mind, look for the positives, ignore the moaners that are always around, enjoy the experience with new ports of call to explore is my plan.

With that positive attitude I'm sure you'll have a great time. Enjoy.

[Dennis The Menace]

Cheers poster boy, enjoyed that .

But as beautiful as she sounds (ditto Ventura/Azura), and as tempting as her lovely new bits and pieces surely are, I do like a smaller chassis. I'm afraid I'll be sticking with the old girl(s) therefore - unless of course there's a totally irresistible itinerary/price that leads me astray, and then it'll be see you later old girl(s), don't wait up

Cheers again Swerve & Swish

DTM

P.s. When you say "poster boy", you didn't once go commando in a little white tennis dress, and then scratch your a*se circa 1977 by any chance did you ?

[Mervyn and Trish]

P.s. When you say "poster boy", you didn't once go commando in a little white tennis dress, and then scratch your a*se circa 1977 by any chance did you ?

Sadly my a*se is not that good!

However our big surprise of the Britannia Maiden was to see our Azura Maiden picture, since used on that ship (hence the nickname allocated by Batty) and our avatar on here, appear in Horizon on the third night. We appear to have gone viral, though our GP reckons he can give us something for it!

[Belle53]

Excellent review, thank you, I'm also a fan of the wrap around promenade deck so it's a shame she doesn't have one, it wouldn't be enough to deter me from going on her though, at least they have catered for walkers on the top deck, might get a bit windy up there though!

[Mervyn and Trish]

Excellent review, thank you, I'm also a fan of the wrap around promenade deck so it's a shame she doesn't have one, it wouldn't be enough to deter me from going on her though, at least they have catered for walkers on the top deck, might get a bit windy up there though!

It certainly can! But no salt spray from the breaking waves though!