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Brittania July 22nd-5th August


Loch Buie
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Britannia is a nice ship, the food's good, & service excellent. Unfortunately, we didn't realise July 22nd was the first week of the school holidays and the ship appeared to be full.
The midship pools, and surrounding deck areas were crammed full of happy families, & it was impossible to secure a sun lounger. Sun loungers were also quickly claimed during early mornings in the quiet area, when the ship was at sea. However, there was availability on decks towards, and at the stern, unfortunately, they were also jammed full of loungers leaving either no space, or very little space between them.
Hygiene on the ship is excellent. However, its not hygienic or healthy to have so many people crammed together on sun loungers in such close proximity, this is one of the ways infection is spread. We boarded completely healthy, unfortunately, the following week many passengers were coughing & sneezing and despite following strict hygiene rules l also succumbed to a
bug & spent three days in my cabin, and had to cancel a pre paid Florence excursion, losing the full amount. I'm not saying this was entirely due to the close proximity of the loungers, however it doesn't help.
If you feel uncomfortable, lying in close proximity next to complete strangers, with only one way off the lounger, eg forward, then this might not be for you.

There was a problem with soot falling on the decks towards the stern, swimwear and items of clothing were marked with soot, but were quickly rectified by the ship's laundry service. Apart from illness, the lost excursion to Florence and the soot we more or less enjoyed the cruise. However, its highly unlikely we would choose Britannia again, paying thousands of pounds to end up being squashed together on deck like sardines is not for us.

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Welcome to Cruise Critic Loch Buie. We were on this cruise (our 3rd on Britannia and 11th with P&O). I have written a brief review but it hasn't been published yet (they have to be vetted and it seems to take an eternity). I will put a link to it on this thread when I can. It sounds as though you contracted Norovirus. Did you use the buffet much? You are far more likely to contract it there than through using sun loungers. We use the buffet extremely rarely, for that primary reason and, touch wood, in 11 cruises have never contracted Norovirus, even when there have been outbreaks on the ship. Interestingly, some friends of ours were on the cruise preceding ours and both picked up a bug (they use the buffet more than us). That said, although I never saw waiters holding sanitising gel and squirting all passengers as they enter on this cruise (which used to happen) I was struck by the constant queue of passengers waiting to wash their hands prior to using the buffet, which was impressive.

 

We don't use the sun decks as we have a balcony, but agree that the food was excellent throughout in all restaurants (main dining rooms and Select venues) and service levels were mostly very good, although we had some issues in the Crows Nest (ignored by waiters), the Market Cafe (ditto) and Glasshouse (painfully slow service, but fantastic food).

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No not Mull, but it's my favorite destination. quote=Eglesbrech;53813925]Mull? If so you will definitely feel the press of the crowds on Brittania compared to home.

 

I agree re the sunbeds spacing (or lack there of) and the soot on Brittania. Both need fixed.

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This was our 14th cruise, but first on Brittania. We also had a balcony, but it was only large enough for 2 chairs, not loungers. The bug l caught definitely wasn't the Norovirus. We were on this cruise (our 3rd on Britannia and 11th with P&O). I have written a brief review but it hasn't been published yet (they have to be vetted and it seems to take an eternity). I will put a link to it on this thread when I can. It sounds as though you contracted Norovirus. Did you use the buffet much? You are far more likely to contract it there than through using sun loungers. We use the buffet extremely rarely, for that primary reason and, touch wood, in 11 cruises have never contracted Norovirus, even when there have been outbreaks on the ship. Interestingly, some friends of ours were on the cruise preceding ours and both picked up a bug (they use the buffet more than us). That said, although I never saw waiters holding sanitising gel and squirting all passengers as they enter on this cruise (which used to happen) I was struck by the constant queue of passengers waiting to wash their hands prior to using the buffet, which was impressive.

 

We don't use the sun decks as we have a balcony, but agree that the food was excellent throughout in all restaurants (main dining rooms and Select venues) and service levels were mostly very good, although we had some issues in the Crows Nest (ignored by waiters), the Market Cafe (ditto) and Glasshouse (painfully slow service, but fantastic food).

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Thank you for your review on Britannia. One of the reasons we have avoided this ship is for the reasons you have given. Shame you can't claim on your insurance for missed excursion and being ill in cabin but hope you are well now and fully recovered.

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Thank you. Unfortunately, not fully recovered yet, still coughing & weezing 😨

=mandylennon;53814547]Thank you for your review on Britannia. One of the reasons we have avoided this ship is for the reasons you have given. Shame you can't claim on your insurance for missed excursion and being ill in cabin but hope you are well now and fully recovered.

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P&o can't win, if they didn't have as many loungers people would moan they haven't enough. They have lots but they are too close - people still complain.

I will agree that on a couple of occasions in the past I've had poor service in the crows nest but that was in the day time when it was quiet ironically. Normally they're round like flies trying to make their commission.

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P&o can't win, if they didn't have as many loungers people would moan they haven't enough. They have lots but they are too close - people still complain.

I will agree that on a couple of occasions in the past I've had poor service in the crows nest but that was in the day time when it was quiet ironically. Normally they're round like flies trying to make their commission.

 

P&O can win actually, all they need to do is not be greedy an don't put too many cabins as a ratio to the available space onboard for loungers, theatre space etc. They used to manage it very well.

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I was on the same cruise and didn't sit next to anyone on a sun lounger apart from my wife.

 

I agree the 'quiet section' was busy as was the main pool area (school holidays) but there were literally hundreds of empty sunbeds from midships towards the stern.

 

There was the odd bit of soot at the back but I can also confirm a wasp didnt land on me in two weeks...fancy that.

 

I will REPEAT..there were hundreds of spare sunbeds. :D In addition we didn't notice 'many people coughing or sneezing'....wow we didnt notice any..perhaps turn the air con down, it can dry you out somewhat.

Edited by doog442
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Cruise specific insurance is a must. How will you pay if you become ill and have to be Medivaced off the ship? Your ordinary insurance won't pay and it could cost hundreds if not thousands of pounds.

In their terms and conditions P and O insist that you have the correct insurance. It amazes me how many people are not properly covered by their insurance.

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Cruise specific insurance is a must. How will you pay if you become ill and have to be Medivaced off the ship? Your ordinary insurance won't pay and it could cost hundreds if not thousands of pounds.

In their terms and conditions P and O insist that you have the correct insurance. It amazes me how many people are not properly covered by their insurance.

Quite agree but you come across people on all types of holiday , some don't have any insurance at all. If people don't want to pay out for cruise ,or any travel insurance , more fool them , so long as they don't complain if anything happens.

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Can I ask if you had cruise specific insurance? I had thought this was supposed to cover ship excursions if you got ill?

The excursion desk representative said you have to give a minimum of 24 hours notice of cancellation, otherwise there is no refund. The excursion cost (Florence on your own) was just under £90, which was slightly less than the policy excess.

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On this very cruise the ship was diverted to Almeria en route to Gib after two people became ill. One was a heart attack and I hope they pulled through as it didnt' look good. (we heard they were critical)

 

The cost of diverting , docking the shop must have been ridiculous and my first thought was that I hoped they had cruise cover. I think it cost us an extra fiver but covered eventualities like this.

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My review of this cruise has now been published. Link below. As with all reviews, these are my personal experiences and views which will differ from the experiences and opinions of others.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=588197&et_cid=2974649&et_rid=134107201&et_referrer=Boards

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My review of this cruise has now been published. Link below. As with all reviews, these are my personal experiences and views which will differ from the experiences and opinions of others.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=588197&et_cid=2974649&et_rid=134107201&et_referrer=Boards

 

Thanks for this Selbourne. We were on this cruise too & agree the entertainment was extremely poor. The lecturer was actually very good but I agree they didn't sell it very well. Shame you didn't like Marseilles -we were pleasantly surprised by it!

I agree it was an average cruise - really let down by the entertainment (or lack of!) in our opinion.

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Thanks for this Selbourne. We were on this cruise too & agree the entertainment was extremely poor. The lecturer was actually very good but I agree they didn't sell it very well. Shame you didn't like Marseilles -we were pleasantly surprised by it!

I agree it was an average cruise - really let down by the entertainment (or lack of!) in our opinion.

 

Hi DolphinWatcher. Glad you agreed with the review. Thanks for the feedback on the lecturer. I will give her a go if she appears on another cruise (they tend to appear regularly). Given your choice of username, I hope that you saw the dolphins as we left Gibraltar?

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Always watching for dolphins, whales, turtles and anything else that comes along Selbourne! Hubby knows better than to talk to me when we're sailing out of Gib - in fact usually joins me in staring out at the sea these days. Take a pair of binoculars specifically for that purpose :D

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We thought Marseille was a highlight. We jumped onto the first little train and enjoyed a few hours at the Notre Dam De La Garde which was spectacular. The shopping and restaurants were something else.

 

We've done Monaco on a few cruises but this time found the Exotic gardens - brilliant.

 

We're not into entertainment so would never judge a cruise by that alone. The few acts we saw were fine but simply a sideshow in what was a superb cruise.

 

The Dolphins were great as well.

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The excursion desk representative said you have to give a minimum of 24 hours notice of cancellation, otherwise there is no refund. The excursion cost (Florence on your own) was just under £90, which was slightly less than the policy excess.

 

You can always get a full refund if the ship's medical centre will stamp your ticket. You need to balance cost of seeing doctor or nurse against cost of excursion.

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My review of this cruise has now been published. Link below. As with all reviews, these are my personal experiences and views which will differ from the experiences and opinions of others.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=588197&et_cid=2974649&et_rid=134107201&et_referrer=Boards

 

We were on Britannia in June Selbourne and we gave our cruise 5 stars. Your ports seems a bit lack-lustre than ours certainly (The Baltic) but I have to say we find Marseilles a perfect base to explore the area and indeed have spent a holiday there as a result. Sorry you didn't enjoy it.

 

We also found the entertainment to be head and shoulders above any other ship we've been on and we've done a lot of cruises with P&O. We used the Limelight x3, the Live Lounge where we had an Adele Tribute, Jimmy James and a Gary Barlow tribute who were all fantastic. We also enjoyed the Headliners shows and The 4Tunes in the theatre and it was a treat to end our evening listening to Adam Allison in the Crows Nest. There wasn't a night on our 14 days we didn't enjoy.

 

The big down side was the soot on our aft balcony - just along from yours, F727- and we took this up with P&O when we got back. We certainly felt we should have been warned that this was a serious problem and in fact we stopped using our balcony because of the constant threat of soot failing on us. I don't know who your steward was but our poor steward appeared every day with a hose and wellies ready to wash our balcony down. Shame as it was a decent size compared to regular balconies.

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