Flight - Thomson Dreamliner
As you can imagine a lot of excitement on the way to Manchester airport although after being subjected to a “pat down” at security and my bag being checked twice (first time my fault - left a tube of Savlon in first aid kit and second time a “random” search) I couldn’t wait to have my bacon bap and a cuppa. We had pre-booked our seats however my son had a guy next to him who was swigging from a flask through most of the journey and in fact we noticed him and his party having a good drink at the airport. Behind me was his girlfriend - a very drunk Russian lady who slept with her leg out in the aisle for most of the journey causing problems for the poor cabin crew or begging the boyfriend to give her a baby - he kept telling her it was inappropriate - we were all very amused as you can guess - oh well takes all sorts
The arrival at Barbados was efficient as usual - on the buses to the terminal very quickly but as on other occasions we were kept on the bus because of the huge queue in the terminal and being one of the last flights just had to wait our turn.
The ship was very tastefully decorated - lots of trees and garlands and gingerbread villages and cakes - my favourite tree being the one made out of Lanson Champagne bottles
I did hear some people say that P&O hadn’t made much of an effort but I thought it was great - no pleasing some people.Cabins
Having been on Britannia in July I remembered my way around - i was on D deck - a balcony cabin port side. My son and family were on G deck - two obstructed balcony cabins but actually they were over the Costa coffee shop outside space so quite a clear view. They were delighted although had a cabin between them so couldn’t inter-connect - the girls are too young to be on their own so shared with a parent. My son’s in-laws had an inside cabin on D deck.
Dining
We were on Freedom dining in the Meridian restaurant - I really like the way the dining room is sectioned off - it makes it more cosy somehow and quieter. We ate at about 6.30 pm most nights and never had to queue but did notice queues on our way out at around 8 pm. The waiters made a big fuss of the girls and in fact apart from Christmas and New Year we dined at the same table each night - my 8 year old granddaughter remembered the table number after the first night and informed the head waiter of it each time - they were very amused - I have to say the waiters were very friendly. A few times they brought a second meal for my son because the portion was small - needless to say he didn’t refuse. The food was varied with some items on every night e.g. prawn cocktail, steak and one of my favourites the brioche bread and butter pudding. The Christmas dinner was very good and the Christmas pudding the best I have eaten in a long time but I must admit i did think the New Year’s Eve menu was a bit strange although my choice of monkfish and lobster tail was delicious. We normally had breakfast in the dining room and lunch in the Horizon - this is much improved in the layout, space etc. and the choice of food was excellent - teas and coffees served at the table makes life easier too.
Entertainment
The Headliners or whatever they are called on Britannia only performed 3 or 4 times and I had seen the shows in July but went along because it was all new to the family - now my granddaughters speak their minds and declared the shows better on the other ships. They did however like Gareth Oliver the ventriloquist who they hadn’t seen before - he did the same routine and chose a guy to use as a puppet who in fairness played along and was hilarious. We also liked the Freddie Mercury tribute act which was in the theatre and much to my granddaughters’ embarrassment we sung along and did all the actions to the songs - Olivia said she knows now why her daddy is so bonkers. We watched a Beatles tribute band in the Live Lounge - they were okay but not as good as the act we saw in Liverpool in 2014 on the Round Britain trip. The entertainment team were led by Neil Oliver and he really knows how to work an audience - the sailaways were all great especially the Great British sailaway and he really built up a fantastic atmosphere on Christmas Eve waiting for Father Christmas - it was really special - the girls loved it - well truthfully I think most adults loved it too - of course it helped that we were up on deck on a balmy night drinking champagne.
to be continued ...
Dear Jan
was such a brilliant holiday and soon got over missing family