Britannia maiden season W. Med. cruise review April 2015

[towny44]

A new ship to explore on only its third main cruise we felt was a good opportunity to check if reality matched the hype, plus it would certainly be the newest ship we had sailed since Arcadia in Jan. 2006.
We travelled down the day before and stayed at the Premier Inn Southampton airport which, because of the on-site parking which is also free to blue badge holders and only yards from the entrance, is a better choice for us than the West Quay hotel. Our advised check in time was 2:00pm, which we ignored as usual but this was not referred to at check in, we arrived about 11:30. Because wheelchair users have their own check in desks we were soon through into the new much bigger security area at Ocean terminal and with no queues we were quickly on board. It being a little early for lunch we decided to check out the Crow’s nest and had our first, but by no means last, experience of the inadequacy of Britannia’s lifts. There are only the same number as Azura/Ventura, and they appear to be smaller as well, they are rated at 18 persons but anything over 12 and they are very crowded. We got into a midship lift along with about 6 others, plus a couple of cases, and tried to go to lido deck 16, but it completely refused to open on deck 16 and despite several attempts it only worked when 4 of passengers got out to wait for another lift. Eventually we found the crow’s nest but the design of the front windows means you can only see directly ahead, which sort of defeats the object of a panoramic viewing lounge, as a consequence we rarely used it again during the cruise. The lift issue was the major talking point on the ship, I find it quite strange that Eclipse only has 12 lifts vs Britannia’s 14, and yet we never experience the long waiting times that we encountered on Britannia. It appears that when in a lift keeping the door close button pressed over rides all calls, other than those in the lift, and you could change direction of travel by pressing the floor you wanted 4 or maybe 6 times, and we did experience this happen on one occasion. It seems likely that these lifts have been programmed by some twerp in P&O’s IT dept. rather than an expert from Otis or Schindler.
After a late morning coffee and a small pastry the cabins were ready at about 1:30, because of my wife’s stroke we prefer a bathroom with left handed shower controls and had made lots of enquiries with P&O and our TA to try and ensure the cabin would be suitable and P&O had confirmed this was the case, unfortunately ours had right handed shower controls. However the bathroom was on the left side of the cabin and perhaps this was what had confused the P&O accessibility staff. We did make enquiries about swapping with another cabin but this was clearly going to be very difficult for CS to arrange, so we decided to make do, but noted our preferences for any future cruise.
The other negative issues with Britannia have been well reported in advance, the balconies are tiny, about half the depth of Eclipse, and there is no walkway around the boat deck, and you can only access outside midship areas at Java and the Glass House or the aft sections which do have some sunbeds set out. Just before we reached Southampton the footstools were being removed from most balconies and will be “retired” according to our Steward.
I did note some other issues with Britannia but nothing of any real importance, my initial thoughts about the so called £1m of artwork around the ship was that they had been ripped off, but Pauline liked it and gradually she persuaded me that it was in keeping with the remaining décor, and in fact was a rather attractive feature. We also disagreed about the Atrium, Pauline thought it a very attractive feature, but I thought the seating area for the Blue bar on deck 5 was a bit sterile, and with most tables laid out for 4 it gave the appearance of being full when in fact it was half empty. We both thought the Glass house arrangement on deck 7 was poor in comparison to that on Azura/Ventura, on sea days there is too much foot traffic meandering past a lot of the tables, so dining there will doubtless feel as though you are in a zoo. Also I was not alone in thinking the sound in the live lounge and headliners theatre was way too high, however this should be easy to adjust.
There were other little niggles like why put the hand towel dispenser in the disabled toilets diagonally opposite and several feet away from the wash basin; and why can’t they make all doors to outside areas automatic, there were too many that I had to reverse through pulling the wheelchair behind me; why the TV does not allow you to check your on board account P&O IT strikes again; why they replaced Malabar and The Tamarind Club with the Studio; and the cleanliness standards especially in the public toilets were not up to the quality we see on Eclipse; but none of these are deal breakers.
In the main P&O have done a good job with Britannia and I can see it becoming a firm favourite, even with some diehard Canberra and Oriana fans. A major improvement is with the buffet restaurant, the new serveries are far better than those on Azura/Ventura, even at very busy breakfast times there were few queues and it was quite easy to find what you wanted. The seating areas are also much improved and most collection stations are now discreetly screened, which not only makes it look tidier but helps to break the restaurant down into smaller areas. We never used the main buffet in the evening but I imagine the new look makes it feel far more attractive, we did visit the Beach House which is quite a bit bigger than on Azura/Ventura and it is amazing how different it feels at night.
Similar improvements are also noticeable in the freedom MDR’s, serving stations are now all screened off from the restaurant and they have also used these to break the room down into smaller sections, the result is a much quieter dining room and it seems a lot more spacious.
Other than the Beach House we also dined in Sindhu, we chose a night that Atul Kochar would be on board but unlike Gary Rhodes on Arcadia we never saw any sign of Kochar, but the place was full probably with clientele like us expecting to see him We had eaten in Sindhu on Azura and I remember thinking then the food was a bit bland unfortunately it still is, but I now know not to bother with Sindhu again.
Overall the food and service in the main restaurants could not be faulted, and some meals were outstanding, I just hope the same standards will apply to our Jan 2016 no fly Caribbean cruise on Ventura, if so we will be two happy bunnies.
Britannia now feature a “grab & go” station on the pool deck which has wrapped sandwiches and desserts available, it can be handy but there is a limited selection and the sandwich fillings are a bit on the slim side. The burgers in the poolside alfresco station are now wrapped, which means hardly any waiting and they do keep warm longer. There are also pizza slices still available, again on open heated display meaning no need to queue.
For pool lovers there is a double pool on the lido deck with lots of sunbeds, we did not use this area but there always seemed to be plenty of space even on the hottest sea day. The sunbathing area we did like was the serenity pool on deck 17, but don’t tell everyone, this is adults only and a quiet area, i.e. no piped music. It is sheltered and quite a sun trap, and in addition to loungers there are a number of sofa style seating areas which were extremely comfortable, In fact there are quite a number of these sofa seating areas on all the open decks.
The live lounge is very similar to Manhattan and Havana on Azura/Ventura but can be spoilt by the volume of the music, normally louder with the DJ than with the guest artists.
We found the theatre better for wheelchair users than Azura/Ventura, because the auditorium is split into 3 sections with 2 aisles there are in fact double the number of aisle seats to accommodate wheelchair and W/c pusher, and only once did we have to request someone to honour the sign on the aisle chair that said this seat is reserved for wheelchair users.
Our favourite lounge was the crystal room which has a dance floor and a dance band playing there every evening. Although we no longer dance it was nice to watch those that did, and the on board professionals Roanna and Goran were great to watch, but probably the best thing was the music which was a good mixture of old and new, sung and played by quality professionals, and at a reasonable volume.
We stopped by Brodie’s a couple of times and the music and performance was good, but it has more the feel of a working man’s club than an upmarket tavern, or maybe that was just the clientele it attracted.
We did not bother with the Limelight club, the acts headlining on our cruise were not ones that we would probably have gone out of our way to see in any free venue, so we certainly were not prepared to pay extra, and we never went to the studio.
The shops, IMO, are all stocked with overpriced goods, other than the booze and cigs neither of which really interest us. However Pauline, like most women, does like to browse round so I have to pretend to enjoy it for a short time.
The best guest artists were Badness, a Madness tribute group and the Beatles experience, we didn’t bother with any of the others but comments over dinner suggested we missed nothing. However cruise ship entertainment can be a bit of a curate’s egg and I am sure some people thoroughly enjoyed it all. Certainly Phil Holt, the main guest speaker, most people found to be very interesting, we saw his lectures on the Red Arrows and Air Traffic control and his presentation technique and knowledge was top class.
The ports are never our main interest nowadays, but my brief observations were as follows:
Gibraltar – anyone going on a Med cruise is likely to stop here so will know it well, the town centre is a flat easy 20 minute walk from the port, so it is easy to DIY.
Alicante – there is a shuttle to just outside the port and then an easy stroll into the town or along the promenade, we had rain showers so did not venture further than the sea front.
Civitavecchia and Livorno – we stayed on board at both ports and enjoyed better weather than those going to Florence.
Ajaccio – the added bonus for us since Monte Carlo was cancelled because they expected it would be too windy and rough to tender, which we would not have been able to do anyway. As it turned out Ajaccio gave us the best weather of the cruise and the quickest and easiest access into the town and tourist areas, and it is a lovely place as well, P&O should consider using this on more cruises and maybe dropping Civitavecchia or Livorno.
Barcelona – shuttle to the world trade centre near to Ramblas for those DIYing, for us we did our only shore excursion, a panoramic accessible bus tour. This was interesting for me as I have only wandered up the Ramblas on previous visits.
Valencia – shuttle into the town centre dropping you off on carrer pintor lopez near to Cathedral square in the old part of town, plenty of cafes and a pleasant place to while away a little time.
Interestingly out of 5 shuttle ports only 2 required non select passengers to pay, Barcelona and Valencia £4pp, the others are free ones provided by the ports.

To sum up we really enjoyed our cruise on Britannia, service and food standards were excellent and the new ship, despite having 600 more passengers than Azura/Ventura and fewer sunbeds, never felt crowded, maybe the new sofa sitting areas on the sun decks helped to overcome this issue; and the new layouts in the dining rooms do set new standards for cruise dining, in fact Celebrity could learn something from P&O in this area.
I suppose the acid test is would be book another cruise on her, and the answer is we already have, a 7 night cruise to the Fjords with our youngest son and family next August.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Good report FB. Glad you had a good time. Like you I suspect the lifts would be much improved by an upgrade to the software to make them behave sensibly. Unlike you, we love Sindhu. Did they not ask you how you like your food? When we were there, both on Azura and Britannia, they told us they could adjust the spicing to suit your preference. Is your January cruise the 28 night one? If so we're doing it in 2017.

[Dark Knight]

Nice report Towny, well balanced and informative

were the passengers on Britannia sophisticated enough for you?

[qbman1]

Bet they had some cracking discussions about pigeons and ferrets. Did they bring in extra hooks for all the flat caps ?

[Jan Rosser]

Thanks for posting your report John - you and Pauline obviously enjoyed yourselves if you've booked another cruise on Britannia

I'm looking forward to my trip on her in June to see for myself what she is like and more importantly meeting up with my shipmates JenniC and Steve - I'm sure we will have a ball

I've got 7 days on Caribbean Princess first on May 23 with the family - so much to look forward to

[Gill W]

Thanks for the report.

Our Britannia cruise wasn't a sun-bed cruise,but I did notice lots of outside seating, so I'm pleased to read that this is being used on the cruises in warmer weather

[towny44]

Thank you for comments, I hope my review will be useful for future cruisers.
As an aside and linked to my on board bookings for us and our son next year which I had transferred to our TA, P&O sent me two confirmations one of which showed the agents commission. As a result I can confidently state that my TA gets a commission of 8.5% of the invoiced price.

[Quizzical Bob]

Thank you for comments, I hope my review will be useful for future cruisers.
As an aside and linked to my on board bookings for us and our son next year which I had transferred to our TA, P&O sent me two confirmations one of which showed the agents commission. As a result I can confidently state that my TA gets a commission of 8.5% of the invoiced price.

That is interesting and is substantially higher than the 5% I had been led to believe.

[Suekersh]

Thanks for posting your report. Interesting reading. We have not booked on Britannia yet.

[Ess001]

Great review, thank you. I'm sure I'll read it several more times before I board in 35 days! I am a sun lover so was wondering about the best locations - we always go to deck 19 on Azura/Ventura. I hope Brittannia has a similar deck, but if not sonds like deck 17 is the best option.

Ess x

[stocktonmackem]

Thank you for your review. I am due on her in 4 weeks and my only concerns are the lifts, as you know my hubby is in a wheelchair. It's interesting to know that there are more aisle seats in the theatre so I hopefully wont need to go to the theatre too
early. I am really looking forward to my holiday now and will just have to wait patiently for the lifts.

[Manoverboard]

Thanks for an interesting and very balanced report ... much better than Merv's I thought

Couple of points if I may ...

" It appears that when in a lift keeping the door close button pressed over rides all calls, other than those in the lift, and you could change direction of travel by pressing the floor you wanted 4 or maybe 6 times, and we did experience this happen on one occasion. It seems likely that these lifts have been programmed by some twerp in P&O’s IT dept "

By coincidence I spotted this trick on our Adonia cruise last week, the engineer who was in the lift with us explained that it was deliberate so that the Ship’s engineers etc can get to the floor they require asap.

" and why can’t they make all doors to outside areas automatic "

Because you couldn’t get out if the electrics failed

" I remember thinking then the food was a bit bland unfortunately it still is, but I now know not to bother with Sindhu again ... "

It has become bland because too many passengers complained about it being too hot but you can ask for it to be spiced up if you so wish.

[towny44]

Thanks for an interesting and very balanced report ... much better than Merv's I thought


" and why can’t they make all doors to outside areas automatic "

Because you couldn’t get out if the electrics failed

" I remember thinking then the food was a bit bland unfortunately it still is, but I now know not to bother with Sindhu again ... "

It has become bland because too many passengers complained about it being too hot but you can ask for it to be spiced up if you so wish.

Glad you liked the review Moby, just a couple of add ons:-
I think the automatic swing doors can still be opened manually, so a power failure should not present a problem.
Others have commented that Sindhu can make dishes more spicy, unfortunately the waitress never mentioned this as we were ordering.
As for the lifts I think P&O might need to employ elevator operators on Britannia, slim ones of course, otherwise the problems will continue.

[Mervyn and Trish]

" It appears that when in a lift keeping the door close button pressed over rides all calls, other than those in the lift, and you could change direction of travel by pressing the floor you wanted 4 or maybe 6 times, and we did experience this happen on one occasion. It seems likely that these lifts have been programmed by some twerp in P&O’s IT dept "

By coincidence I spotted this trick on our Adonia cruise last week, the engineer who was in the lift with us explained that it was deliberate so that the Ship’s engineers etc can get to the floor they require asap.

That seems a pretty feeble explanation to me for two reasons. First the ship's engineers have access to crew lifts if they need to get anywhere fast. The public lifts should be optimised for passenger not crew convenience. And second the lifts have override keys the crew could use if they need to get a specific lift to a particular floor.

[Manoverboard]

" It appears that when in a lift keeping the door close button pressed over rides all calls, other than those in the lift, and you could change direction of travel by pressing the floor you wanted 4 or maybe 6 times, and we did experience this happen on one occasion. It seems likely that these lifts have been programmed by some twerp in P&O’s IT dept "

By coincidence I spotted this trick on our Adonia cruise last week, the engineer who was in the lift with us explained that it was deliberate so that the Ship’s engineers etc can get to the floor they require asap.

That seems a pretty feeble explanation to me for two reasons. First the ship's engineers have access to crew lifts if they need to get anywhere fast. The public lifts should be optimised for passenger not crew convenience. And second the lifts have override keys the crew could use if they need to get a specific lift to a particular floor.

Seemed a reasonable explanation to me cos a few hours ago the lift in question was out of service, perhaps he was just testing it thoroughly ?

ps ... and another thing; why haven't you responded to my Cruise Report, it would mean so much to me

[GillD46]

An interesting read - thank you. All the more interesting because we board in 10 days

[Mervyn and Trish]

" It appears that when in a lift keeping the door close button pressed over rides all calls, other than those in the lift, and you could change direction of travel by pressing the floor you wanted 4 or maybe 6 times, and we did experience this happen on one occasion. It seems likely that these lifts have been programmed by some twerp in P&O’s IT dept "

By coincidence I spotted this trick on our Adonia cruise last week, the engineer who was in the lift with us explained that it was deliberate so that the Ship’s engineers etc can get to the floor they require asap.

That seems a pretty feeble explanation to me for two reasons. First the ship's engineers have access to crew lifts if they need to get anywhere fast. The public lifts should be optimised for passenger not crew convenience. And second the lifts have override keys the crew could use if they need to get a specific lift to a particular floor.

Seemed a reasonable explanation to me cos a few hours ago the lift in question was out of service, perhaps he was just testing it thoroughly ?:

But a facility for testing should be disabled in normal use if it's disrupting normal service.

[cruisin_duo]

Enjoyed reading the report. Thank you.

[towny44]

Seeing Keefy's post about safety briefings reminded me that I forgot to include any comments about the new life-jackets on Britannia, I assume someone thinks they are an improvement on the old type but I certainly didn't. They have more straps which need more critical positioning than the old ones, and how ladies in dresses and skirts are supposed to cope with the crotch strap is beyond me. It felt more cumbersome than the old style one and was far more difficult to fit and fasten, I would be loathe to give it even 1 star out of 5.

[Onelife]

I'll tell you what we aint half had some good reports this past few weeks....not as good as Onelifes but right up there with the best.

Well done all of you

[Gill W]

Seeing Keefy's post about safety briefings reminded me that I forgot to include any comments about the new life-jackets on Britannia, I assume someone thinks they are an improvement on the old type but I certainly didn't. They have more straps which need more critical positioning than the old ones, and how ladies in dresses and skirts are supposed to cope with the crotch strap is beyond me. It felt more cumbersome than the old style one and was far more difficult to fit and fasten, I would be loathe to give it even 1 star out of 5.

I mentioned the life jackets in my review. I would think a lady in a skirt or dress would have to make an exhibition of herself to do up that crotch strap.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I presume the idea is they won't ride up if you have to jump in the water, as no mention was made in the safety briefing of how to hold one down if that need arose. However, even if that is the supposed improvement, I agree they're pretty awful and undignified. All ladies (and Scotsmen) please note the need to go back to the cabin and change into trousers before abandoning ship!