Britannia This July

Hello, brand new to cruising, my wife and I and two daughters are on the Britannia cruise in July (B721) I have looked at the excursions for each port, but are very expensive especially x 4! We would particularly like to visit Florence and Pisa, are their any other ways to visit these places, which are reliable (ie to get back in time!) and cheaper?

Thanks in advance :-)

Hi, have to say I would normally use the ship's excursions here so am not much help re getting there on your own !

Having said that, we have used Viator.com for excursions and they are very good.

Have a great time - lovely ship :-)

Thank you for reply and advice. :-)

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Hello, brand new to cruising, my wife and I and two daughters are on the Britannia cruise in July (B721) I have looked at the excursions for each port, but are very expensive especially x 4! We would particularly like to visit Florence and Pisa, are their any other ways to visit these places, which are reliable (ie to get back in time!) and cheaper?

 

Thanks in advance :-)

There is generally a cheaper 'tour' which is essentially just a transfer. Its still possibly not as cheap as doing the transfer yourself but it takes virtually no organising and as long as you don't miss the bus back you are covered against any delays which can be a concern when visiting destinations remote from the ports.

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Hello, brand new to cruising, my wife and I and two daughters are on the Britannia cruise in July (B721) I have looked at the excursions for each port, but are very expensive especially x 4! We would particularly like to visit Florence and Pisa, are their any other ways to visit these places, which are reliable (ie to get back in time!) and cheaper?

Thanks in advance :-)

We are on the same cruise;) I see we are stopping at La Spezia, previously we have stopped at Livorno for Florence and Pisa which is closer.

For our last three cruises we have used a company called cruising excursions. They do multi port packages, they might be worth a look. They've never let us down and the local guides are pretty good.

Ok, thank you, not long to go :-)

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Monte Carlo you can DIY, likewise Gib....still researching the other ports, did you get the e mail with the shortened day at Cagliari...worth noting.

Yes I did thanks, wonder what they mean by operational reasons.

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They've cancelled Gibralter previously as it was 'full' and replaced it with Guernsey. I guess the berth is taken, however with so many sea days I felt this latest decision was a bit naughty.

Yes I was thinking the same, not much time there, let's hope no other port is cancelled or shortened. Have you been on britannia before?

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No first time for us with P&O. Cruised with Celebrity, Ocean Village many years back and Norwegian before .We wanted to cruise from Southampton as we live close by and we have a birthday celebration, its all been a bit last minute to be honest. I thought we'd graduated to all inclusive beach resorts but I think the convenience of it all, no planes, jet lag etc kicked in.

Similar reasons for us, only cruised once before on qe2 22 years ago! Looking forward to it, our e tickets became available today.

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They've cancelled Gibralter previously as it was 'full' and replaced it with Guernsey. I guess the berth is taken, however with so many sea days I felt this latest decision was a bit naughty.

I take it that you are referring to a previous cruise, as this cruise is still calling at Gibraltar?

In Monte Carlo you can just walk round or there is a little tourist train, which goes up to the palace. In Guernsey you can get a bus which goes round the island, love Guernsey very quaint. In Lisbon the shuttle bus drops you off in the town near shops. From there you can walk around, take a hop on bus or get a tuk tuk which are quite popular, you can also just walk into town.

Have a great time.

Thanks for reply and advice :-)

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I take it that you are referring to a previous cruise, as this cruise is still calling at Gibraltar?

Yes, I did mention 'previously', my point is that nothings set in stone. They've just made Cagliari a half day rather than full although luckily we had nothing planned as yet.

Yes, I did mention 'previously', my point is that nothings set in stone. They've just made Cagliari a half day rather than full although luckily we had nothing planned as yet.

You're right. Of the 10 P&O cruises we have done, there have been itinerary changes on 3 or 4 of them. Worst example was a Fjord cruise which we specifically booked to do Flaam and Olden as they are the longest and very scenic Fjords. Both were cancelled and replaced with more coastal ports. The reason given by P&O for the change was untrue. I know, because I contacted the harbour master who gave me chapter and verse. Carnival Group had initiated the change in order to get one of the Cunard Queens there in our place. I would be interested to know what the 'operational reason' for the shortened Cagliari visit is - but probably wouldn't believe it!

I didn't get the e-mail re Cagliari! Are they changing shore excursions and do you know if it's an am or pm stop now?

I got an email from cruise agent I booked with a few days ago, it stated Cagliari has had to be reduced to half a day for operational reasons, but wasn't specific why, the ship arrives at noon and departs "afternoon" teatime maybe? All trips booked that are effected will be refunded, it also says check online cruise personaliser for updates on booked tours.

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Thank you!

Is there no 'roll call' for this cruise yet?

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Is there no 'roll call' for this cruise yet?

 

 

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There doesn't appear to be. I suspect that is down to the fact that the vast majority of passengers will be first timers or not regular cruisers, so are less likely to frequent this forum. On the two cruises that we have done on Britannia, between 60 and 70% of passengers have been first timers (as confirmed by the Captain during his Welcome Aboard speech). Compare that to our recent cruise on Aurora where only 10% were first timers and, even though we were on our 10th P&O cruise, we felt like novices! You may have noticed that many P&O 'regulars' do not like Britannia. Often, these people have not cruised on her and have made that judgement because she is 'too big' or 'like a modern hotel'. Their loss as she is a lovely ship.

For those cruising on Britannia for the first time, she is a foodies paradise and I thoroughly recommend the superb 'Select Dining' restaurants that are well worth the supplements. They are;

Epicurean - the only true 'fine dining' experience. Shades of Heston Blumenthal with a few nice clever creations, a sense of theatre in the serving and the best waiting staff on board. The one on Britannia is far better than the others in the fleet and is my favourite restaurant at sea, bar none.

Sindhu - Asian fusion. Pleasant ambiance, nice additional freebies (mini popodoms with spicy dips etc) that are additional to the advertised menu and delightful staff. Personally, even though Asian food is my favourite cuisine, I don't like the food here as much as in a conventional Indian restuarant, but my wife and daughters love it. The new menu isn't as good as the old one. I had a Lamb Bhuna Massala on Aurora recently and it was very dry and lacking sauce. Do try this restaurant though.

Glass House - Not ideal for evening meals as on Britannia it's located around the atrium, so in high flow, but at less busy times you can find a table in a more quiet location. This is our favourite place for lunch (it's the only Select Dining restaurant that is open every day from lunchtime to late evening). The food is very high quality and a nice change from the main dining rooms.

Beach House - Casual dining with spectacular views. A sectioned off part of the buffet, but a proper restaurant with good quality table service. As with Sindhu, the new menu isn't as good as the old menu (I used to love the ribs, now they are poor and avoid the starter called Hush Puppies as it's bone dry) but the meat and fish skewers, sizzling steak on lava stone and fajitas are all superb. As with Epicurean, the Beach House on Britannia is better than the version on other P&O ships.

Market Cafe - Used to serve lovely cheese boards, but these have gone now. The menu is too restricted now to use as a restaurant, but the ice creams are superb and they sell Eric Lanlard patisseries.

Limelight Club - the only cabaret with dining experience in the fleet. I didn't think I would like it, but did. It's obviously act dependent (we saw Darren Day who was excellent) and the meal was one of the best of the cruise. Worth a try if you fancy a change and the act appeals.

As for the main dining rooms (MDR), we have used Freedom Dining on both Britannia cruises. We found the service to be a little rushed and impersonal, compared to, for example, Aurora recently, where it was superb. If you want to dine on your own at busy times, expect to wait up to an hour (they give you a pager so you can go off and get a drink) but 20-30 mins is the norm. Food is better on formal nights, so we tend to use the MDR then and Select Dining restaurants on most of the others.

The buffet on Britannia is better than on the other ships as there are far more seats and it's better laid out, but we don't use buffets due to hygiene concerns (too many passengers fail to wash their hands properly after the loo - or lick food spills off their hands - and are then touching communal serving spoons, tongs etc). We have avoided Norovirus on all ten cruises, even when there have been outbreaks on board and I'm convinced it's because we don't use the buffet.

Hope that's all of some use for those enjoying Britannia for the first time, given that there's no roll call to get everyone in the mood!

Cheers - this is my second time on Britannia- booked last minute Norwegian fjords last summer and loved it- highly recommend the limelight club too!

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Me, DW and sons 15 and 14 will be on this cruise. Not the first one for us, but first for kids. 6th cruise, but first time on Britannia, second time P&O (Channel Islands mini cruise last year on Azura). The Florence/Pisa excursion is the only one we've booked (the coach only one). All the other ports we're currently planning to DIY, but we're a bit behind on planning, so that may change.

I too was looking for a roll call, but it looks like this thread is now it :).

I'm just hoping the kids enjoy it, so they won't whinge about doing more in future. DS1 is Mr Introvert, happiest with his head in a screen. DS2 is a bit better, hoping he'll actually socialise in the teenage club, but we'll see!

Three weeks to go, can't wait!