Britannia for July 9th 2017

We are considering booking this trip to Norway next year but never been on P and O before

Reading a few negatives so slightly off putting

I guess there will always be a few that don't like some things

My question is where to book for the best deal ?

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We booked the Fjords on Britannia for last April and had a wonderful time. I was slightly put off by a lot of negative comments and worried a bit as it was our first cruise. We shouldn't have worried as we had the best holiday we ever had. As for booking I booked it direct through P&O as I wasn't sure of the best way to do it. We have now booked again for next year and again booked direct. I did ask Thomas Cook for a quote but the cost was exactly the same as booking direct. The young lady I spoke to at the travel agents was more interested in looking at her nails than dealing with a genuine enquiry from me which is why I booked direct again. In fact when I did book direct I got double the on board spends so pleased I did that.

As for Britannia herself we were very pleased, perhaps we have lower expectations than others but we had no moans about her whatsoever. Food service and entertainment were top notch and I have booked again without a thought about negative comments.

Hi Traceyjayne, We sailed on the Britannia a couple of weeks ago to Norway for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed the ship. We have booked in many different ways over the years all have worked well, but by shopping around you can sometimes pick up the odd extra. Having said that we have just booked again direct with P&O because they gave us the best on board spend.

As far as the negative comments are concerned.Everybody is entitled to their opinion however some people seem to be professional whingers. They are fortunately a minority on the ships but unfortunately quite vocal across all the cruise forums. In my experience all the ships are different and so are the cruise lines. But most of the ships I have been on have been full with many repeat customers so I would suggest they do a pretty good job.

Enjoy booking and planning your cruise and make good use of this forum to ask questions. There are some great people on here who can help you have a great holiday.

Hi Traceyjayne, We sailed on the Britannia a couple of weeks ago to Norway for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed the ship. We have booked in many different ways over the years all have worked well, but by shopping around you can sometimes pick up the odd extra. Having said that we have just booked again direct with P&O because they gave us the best on board spend.

 

As far as the negative comments are concerned.Everybody is entitled to their opinion however some people seem to be professional whingers. They are fortunately a minority on the ships but unfortunately quite vocal across all the cruise forums. In my experience all the ships are different and so are the cruise lines. But most of the ships I have been on have been full with many repeat customers so I would suggest they do a pretty good job.

 

Enjoy booking and planning your cruise and make good use of this forum to ask questions. There are some great people on here who can help you have a great holiday.

Glad you had a great holiday, please could you let me know what kind of weather you had and if you thought the ports and excursions were good as we are thinking of doing a similar cruise to Norway next year. Many thanks.

We hated the ship so much that we have rebooked her for 2018 and are looking to go on her again in December this year subject to work ;)

We have recently returned from a Fjords cruise to Norway, we loved it. I have done a review post that's here: http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2376008

We have also uploaded a video (link below and also in review) - it's about 30 mins but should give a good insight!

We have booked for a third time on Britannia along with our friends.

We love it but as with everything nowadays their are plenty of people who like a moan.

A slight moan from myself regarding booking. We always booked directly with P&O, until the last cruise, as we have a P&O Personal Cruise Specialist. This time around we were quoted by P&O and I asked them to hold the cabins for 30 mins whilst I spoke to our friends. They said that wasn't a problem. I put the phone down and it literally rang straight away. It was the TA. I asked if they could quote for exactly the same cabins and it was £60 a couple cheaper. I was surprised at this but also annoyed that P&O hadn't held the cabins. Needless to say I booked with the TA.

Anyone else booked this cruise? I know it's a long way off but still exciting

We are a family from near Cambridge with our 16 yr old son - so not sure if he will find the kids clubs too young now!

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As it happens, we have booked this one. Wonder how that happened?

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I am sure that there will be loads of teenagers on this cruise as 16 old years will have finished their GCSE's and 17 year olds their AS levels. Scottish children will have broken up by then, it seems a popular time for this age range.

I am sure that there will be loads of teenagers on this cruise as 16 old years will have finished their GCSE's and 17 year olds their AS levels. Scottish children will have broken up by then, it seems a popular time for this age range.

But teenagers do not usually want to go north. They want the sun.

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But teenagers do not usually want to go north. They want the sun.

 

 

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Our son who will be 16 and chose this cruise as an end of GCSE trip and does not want a hot holiday next year - having just done a Med cruise where it was very hot this summer 36 - 40 most days and no rain. So next year I have explained that it will be cool and likely to rain most days and that is what he wants to do! We have done Lake District before so he knows rain!

Britannia is an excellent ship and we absolutely love her.

I always booked via P&O direct as we were allocated a Personal Cruise Specialist. However I kept reading that Travel Agents were cheaper and couldn't understand that so last time I did a comparison with P&O and a well known Cruise Club for a 14 day Caribbean cruise on Britannia and surprise, surprise they were £60 a couple cheaper for exactly the same cabin and to be honest the service was significantly better.

I'm just back from Norway on Britannia (my first P&O cruise - I did a back to back with the week before in Iberia, so had 2 weeks to explore the ship).

It's not my first cruise and I'd read some of the negatives too. Trouble is once you've cruised a few times you can't help but compare with others. But whilst it's not my favourite ever, it was all good and I'm certainly glad I went - I'd sail again with P&O and Britannia is a lovely ship with great venues, despite some of its quirks.

I booked with a travel agent, but still got on board credit & coach travel - think there was a deal on when I booked so it was cheaper overall to have the select fare, rather than the saver.

I was on my own, but had an obstructed view balcony cabin (G531) - the lifeboat didn't really block the view. It was my first balcony and I was enjoying lying in bed watching the sail ins anyway, but it paid for itself in Bergen when we had a 7am "bing bong" to say there was a pod of pilot whales next to us - you could hear the squeak of 100 balcony doors as everyone dived out of bed to look! Definitely my best cabin ever.

I picked the cruise purely for the itinerary. We went to Stavanger, Alesund, Andelsnes & Bergen. The weather in July was mixed, warm, sunshine & showers, then it poured down in Bergen. I'd recommend taking layers, shorts & waterproofs.

I went on a ship's tour in Andalsnes, which was really well organised (actually the ones I did the week before were too - so that's a P&O plus!) and having done Bergen previously on my own I did the ship's RIB boat ride round the bay and fjords - lasted 45 mins and was great fun. The other ports were fairly small, but easy to explore on your own.

Overall I had a relaxing week, Norway is beautiful, dodgy weather just gives you an excuse to enjoy the ship in the afternoons. There are faults to find if you want to look for them, but nothing that spoilt it for me. I'd go and try it - I met loads of people who only ever sail P&O and love it. Sure you'll have a great time!