Selbourne

When all 6 lifts are working, as they are now, it’s no problem at all. When one goes out it’s a bit challenging at times. When two are broken it starts to become a nightmare!

Lift Update Well who d’a thunked it? 10 minutes after writing this post we went back to the lifts to find that both lifts that have been out of action for the past few days are now back in service. I’d like to claim credit, but as this was only 20 minutes after I’d mentioned it to reception when picking up my Britain Today newspaper I suspect it’s more coincidence, or down to the ladies who have been announcing very loudly as they had finally entered the lifts that were still working that “the lift situation is a disgrace and everyone should make a complaint about it”. 😂

That’s good to hear Dai. We are keeping our second reservation. Still debating our other Epicurean reservations, especially as the MDR is proving to be better than we expected.

LIFTS! There is a problem that is beginning to cause a lot of consternation amongst my fellow passengers at present. As many of you will know, Britannia has a major design flaw in that there are no stairs midships, so even able bodied folk just moving between one or two floors have to use a lift. Usually this is just an inconvenience but, for the last few days, we have had 2 of the 6 midships lifts out of action. This is causing real problems at peak times in ports. Full lifts aren’t stopping, those that do stop are also full and waits are getting quite long. A number of passengers are getting quite vocal about this. The added problem that we have is that wheelchair users can only disembark via the midships exit 🙄. We are going to try to get off soon. Wish me luck 🤞

Yep, that’s a fair description 😂

To be fair, nobody was being particularly rowdy, but I’ll just be polite and say that it was obvious that one or two people were approaching their daily limit on the drinks package 😂 Nothing of concern, but we dislike crowded and noisy places. There aren’t as many kids on here as we expected (or they are well hidden) and as it’s a family ship we don’t have a problem with them. It’s the poor parenting that grates at times when the preferences of the parents are put ahead of what is best for the youngsters, and dining late with little ones comes into that category IMHO. The kids in the cabin next to us crash and bang around a lot and let the cabin door slam, which is irritating, but we are sleeping OK which is the most important thing.

DAY 4 This was going to be the most scenic day of the cruise as we were calling at Skjolden, which is at the end of the longest fjord in Norway. Having woken up at 0445 and noticing that we were already in the fjord, I decided not to go back to sleep and to watch the transit, especially as this is the only place during the entire cruise that we haven’t been to before. Whilst the Norwegian fjords are amongst the most scenic places in Europe, it’s ironic that the inward cruise down the fjord is missed by almost all the passengers, as most of it happens whilst people are still asleep, and the outbound cruise is missed by many due to dinner etc. The tranquility of the fjords is magical and at around 0530 we passed a Silver Seas cruise ship that was heading off down a different branch of the fjord. According to Horizon we weren’t due to berth until 0930 but we arrived around 2 hours earlier. I had read that there is now a SeaWalk here, but we berthed at the cruise pier and I didn’t see the SeaWalk when we were in the centre later. After breakfast in the Peninsular restaurant we sorted ourselves out and decided to have a wander into the village. An overcast day but still quite mild, and the darkened skies added quite a spectacle to the already dramatic scenery. As with most fjord ports, Skjolden is tiny. The centre was basically a hotel and a small store plus a couple of tourist related places, but not much else. The walk to and from the ship is a pleasant level path alongside the waters edge, past some holiday lodges. We noticed that all the cars parked at the lodges were from Belgium and Netherlands, plus one from Germany. There is a lively river cascading down from the mountains into the fjord and separate pedestrian and vehicle bridges across it. We walked as far as a viewpoint from where I posted the photo yesterday. After an hour we’d pretty much seen everything and wandered back to the ship. A very relaxing and easy visit to a lovely place. I picked up a Britain Today paper and we just relaxed on board until lunch, back in the Peninsular restaurant. Yet again, we were called within minutes of joining the virtual queue, even though we ask for a table for 2 with the wheelchair user box ticked. I had vegetarian sushi as a starter and it was absolutely delicious. The nicest I’ve ever had in fact. There was a hilarious moment thereafter when my pie arrived. It was meant to be shortcrust pastry, but was unlike any pastry I have ever eaten in my life, but not in a good way! I can’t really describe it, but balsa wood probably comes closest. I forced my wife to sample a small piece of it and her face was a picture 😂 Thankfully the pie filling and veg were all lovely, as was the pud (rhubarb and ginger crumble). Once again, the food was served piping hot. The waiter had asked what we wanted for desert when we first ordered, but a polite “we will decide what we’d like once we’ve had our main course” is always accepted. A quiet afternoon reading before the sailaway. Gliding along a fjord is always a special experience and reminded me of why I always say to people who are debating whether or not a cruise is right for them that a 7 night fjord cruise is the best first cruise. Not too long (if you don’t like it) but long enough (if you do), spectacular scenery and usually affordable prices. Unfortunately the cloud cover got worse and the weather started to draw in, so what could have been a whole evening of scenic cruising got a bit murky. Still much better than just looking at the sea though. Dinner was booked for the Beach House. When our kids were young we always dined early to suit them. Many parents nowadays dine when it suits them, rather than the little ones, and don’t seem to be at all bothered that their kids are over tired. Also, on the rare occasion that one of ours would start creating or crying, one of us would take them out of the restaurant until they had calmed down, so as not to spoil the experience for other diners. Rarely is such courtesy shown these days and, sure enough, one little tot spent virtually the whole evening crying. Suddenly, Aurora was looking more attractive again 😂 Thankfully the food was better than the ambiance. I had nachos with chorizo which was lovely. My wife didn’t want a starter again (such a lightweight) but I forced her to order the Hush Puppies, as the description sounds right up my street, but I remember having them years ago and they were rubbish. They still are 😂. Both our mains were absolutely superb. My wife had the seafood skewer and I had the fillet steak cooked on lava stone. I rarely eat steak but every time I’ve had one in the Beach House it’s been 10/10 and this was no exception. Deserts are a weak point of the Beach House menu IMHO, a menu which hasn’t changed since as long as I can remember. My wife didn’t have one and I just asked for a few scoops of ice cream which was quite enough after the steak. Our intention was to end the day with the Pulse rock show, which had been recommended but, even though we got there around 25 mins before show time, the place was rammed and there was nowhere suitable for us to sit, especially with the wheelchair. It was also very noisy in there (reminded me why we’d had noise issues in an aft suite 2 decks above the Live Lounge some years ago on Britannia) and, looking around, I think there were a few in there who perhaps were getting their moneys worth from the drinks package 😂 We decided that it wasn’t for us so retired for the evening. All in all, another pleasant day. Next stop Andalsnes.

Guilty as charged Sue 😂 The MDR usually is a bit chaotic on the first night. Epicurean was certainly relaxed and a nice way to spend the first evening, but the food was below par and, as happened with Andy as well, we were short changed with some of the touches that make it special. Ironically, we made loads of speciality restaurant bookings because of so many reports on here of the MDR being poor (app problems, small portions, patchy quality, cold meals etc), yet Epicurean and Sindhu were both below their best whereas, other than a long wait on Celebration night, we have been very pleased with the MDR. Admittedly we have only had one dinner in there so far, but we have used it for breakfast each day and a few lunches and it’s been fine 😂 EDIT - We have only used the Peninsular MDR based on feedback from those who have been on Britannia recently, which might help explain why our MDR experience has been good so far.

Nope we definitely didn’t have that and I also had to tell them that we hadn’t had the amuse bouche when the starter arrived. The more I think about it, our first night in Epicurean was poor, especially as there were so few of us in there, and I have said so on the ‘First Impressions’ form.

Blackcurrant lolly? This list of things that @AndyMichelle and me were deprived of in Epicurean just doesn’t stop growing. 😂

I got the impression that, having read my expression, we will now get them daily. Keep posted for updates on this critical matter 🤣

The lack of an evening cabin service hasn’t bothered us at all Graham. The lack of biscuits, however, is another matter altogether 🤣

Here’s yet another Andy. Saw our cabin steward doing nightly cabin service on the nearby suites (they still have them) and mentioned that we had one packet of biscuits on day 1, which I’d eaten, and never seen another since. “Ah Sir. You get one on the first day but then they are by request only” 🤣

Damn. I love watching the latecomers and we are on that side too 😂 Must try harder tomorrow. You can still get the little ship maps / cruise card holders - on request from reception 🙄

You have summed up our thoughts perfectly. We discussed this exact subject over dinner last night. We genuinely haven’t been looking for things that have changed for the worse or have disappeared, but when you are so familiar with how things used to be you just can’t help but notice the changes. I’m not keeping count, but suspect that we have noticed at least 20 things so far. All pretty minor and, of course, those who are new to cruising wouldn’t have noticed any of them, but they do add up. By way of balance. all of these small things will add up to millions of pounds worth of cost savings for P&O, based on their scale. If that was going into owners pockets that would be one thing, but they are going in to reducing prices, enabling P&O to offer the cheapest ex-UK cruises. Ok, some of us might prefer to pay a bit more and have many of these nice touches restored, but I suspect that we are in the minority.

They do serve free tea and coffee in Sindhu, but we had to ask for it as it wasn’t offered. They just asked if we wanted anything from the bar. Whilst the previous petit fours in Sindhu were a bit weird, to now offer nothing feels a bit like penny pinching, especially in an extra cost restaurant.

My wife asked for the sharing platter just for herself today but, unlike me, asked if it could be scaled down to a portion for 1 😂

I fancied both of those dishes as well, but went for Italian as we were dining in Sindhu in the evening! I must confess that on previous cruises I have asked for the sharing platter just for me, partly because that’s what I fancied and partly to make a point 😂

Here’s a shot from the end of the longest Fjord in Norway, taken during our stop in Skjolden. Spot the tiny little ship that is Britannia

Because we walked straight on, I actually didn’t get chance to book until we had been to the muster station and sat down at the priority lunch. To answer your question, whilst they didn’t come to our table (not that we needed them to) I did see someone walking around touting for bookings. I looked out of curiosity last night (Day 3) as to what was still available to book. Pretty much nothing left at peak times (7-8.30) but still some limited availability if you are prepared to eat early (6pm) or late (9pm). Oddly, remaining Epicurean tables are mostly for parties of 5 or 6. Virtually no tables for 2.

DAY 3 I had a much better nights sleep, as a combination of no coffee after dinner, plus the accumulation of most of a bottle of Peller Ice Cuvée at lunchtime, a few glasses of something fizzy at the captains welcome, a large Shiraz with dinner and a double liquor whilst watching Pulse (and no, we aren’t on the drinks package 😂). The weather was glorious all day in Haugesund and I sat on the balcony watching the sail in. Breakfast in Peninsular was as straight forward as the previous day. Joined the virtual queue and we were called within minutes. I hadn’t realised that you are meant to go to the starboard restaurant entrance if you have booked and the port side if you haven’t. There are signs with arrows, but I’d stupidly misinterpreted them as meaning either side of the tensator barrier that they are perched on, not either side of the ship🙄 Breakfast itself was fine. A few very minor changes from the breakfasts of old. You don't get the little new pots of marmalade or jam on the table any more. You have to ask for it and you now get jam that is served in little open tubs. The fruit smoothies that we used to like seem to have been watered down and now have a bit of an odd texture, so aren’t as nice. I don’t like orange juice in restaurants as it’s invariably processed or isn’t freshly squeezed as they state, but a waitress approached us this morning and asked if we wanted a proper freshly squeezed orange juice at extra cost. There were two sizes and I went for the small at £2.25. I’m pleased to report that it was indeed proper freshly squeezed orange. Top tip - if you fancy this, order the small one. It’s actually a very large glass. We had a wander on the open decks overlooking Haugesund and then chilled on our balcony until lunch time. Back to Peninsular for lunch (we were called within a minute of joining the queue). As previously mentioned, I find the lunch menus to be unnecessarily confusing. Apart from the few items described as large plates, it’s impossible to tell whether some of the items are starters or mains. Anyway, what followed was in all honesty the nicest and most flavoursome meal I have had on the ship so far. Beef Braesola, Parma Ham and Gorgonzola as a starter (would have been a bit small if someone had ordered it as a main), lasagne main (with a really tasty sauce) and Caramel Apple Betty pud with ice cream rather than custard! Loved it all. Our friendly waiter asked if we liked the table (we did) and, if so, would we like it reserved for us every night. We said that was very kind of him, but as we are planning on eating at the speciality restaurants most nights we won’t be there enough to take up his kind offer. However, if Epicurean is no better next time we might look him up 😂 Having chatted to some people who’d been ashore we decided to stay on the ship. Apparently, being a Sunday, everything was closed and the transport options were all quite expensive for somewhere we have been before and are returning to again in 6 weeks time (on a weekday). So more balcony time in lovely temperatures overlooking the town. Dinner was booked in Sindhu, but on the way I swung by the Glasshouse to say hi to DaiB, as we’d never met before. Just a very brief hello but hopefully we will meet again later in the cruise. We wanted to have pre dinner drinks in the Sindhu bar, as someone on the forum had mentioned that the East India Punch was very good. Bizarrely, even though it was on the drinks menu, we were told that they don’t do it there! I asked where else we might get it and just had a blank look. Oh well. 2 Cobra’s then. The ambiance of the Sindhu on Britannia is ten times better than the one on Aurora, as it’s a proper intimate restaurant rather than an open extension of the atrium coffee shop. My wife didn’t feel up to a starter as well as a main, but I ordered the Beef Pepper Fry. This was very dry compared to the better one that I’d had on Ventura some years back (which I still remember as being fantastic) but was tasty none the less. It arrived a bit too quick though, as they hadn’t long given us the mini popadoms and dips (although there wasn’t enough of them to dip - it was a tiny smear of each 😂). For mains I had the signature plate. It was OK but, call me uncouth, I prefer the curries from the curry houses at home! My wife had the lobster biryani. She said that the lobster itself was very nice but the flavours weren’t as good as previous visits. We couldn’t remember when Atul Kucher parted company with P&O. You certainly don’t go hungry here, with loads of rice and Indian breads to accompany the mains, as well as a cabbage dish (which was OK) and a lentil Dahl, the look of which was enough to prevent me from trying it 😂 My wife did and said it lacked any flavour. For puds we both had Kulfi which we enjoyed. You get chocolate, mango and (my favourite) pistachio. One thing that has been cut here is the scented jelly sweets and sweet seeds etc that they used to give you with the tea or coffee, and there are no other petit fours provided now. That reminds me. When we were in Epicurean (and as Andy had reported last week), the petit fours are now just the same two chocolate’s that they give you in the MDR. The tiered stand with the lovely quirky petit fours (diddy ice cream cone shaped chocs etc) have also succumbed to the accountants axe! To end the day we went to the theatre for the Vinylettes first show ‘Stop! In the name of love’ for some toe tapping Motown. Weird that when we got back to the cabin at 11.30pm it was still light! So, to conclude, whilst I am trying to give as balanced a review as I can, the positives continue to outweigh the minor negatives. We are enjoying the cruise and the ship. Service has been on the whole very good and whilst we are noticing that, in some areas, the food isn’t as good as it was, we haven’t had a ‘bad’ meal yet. I haven’t even asked for extra veg or larger portions 😂 I am coping fine with the using the App and, aside from the kids in the next cabin stomping around, we seem to have a lovely group of fellow passengers on board. Next stop Skjolden on Monday.

Yep. I woke extremely early, and as I went to the loo I looked through the curtains and saw that we were already in the beautiful fjord, so decided that I would get up and make the most of it. For me, the transit down the fjord is better than the time in port, yet it’s done when most people are asleep, which is a real shame. Just so tranquil and scenic and we passed a Silver Seas ship earlier that turned off down a different section of fjord. Not quite so sunny as yesterday yet, but it’s still early. Thankfully it’s dry though, and there was snow on the higher peaks earlier. We love Norway.

Correct. Re the toothbrush / shaver charger socket being the wrong size thankfully, like others, my wife packs an adapter for her toothbrush charger, so it’s not been a problem for us, but at least others are now forewarned!

Yes. We decided not to go ashore in the end as we are back here in 6 weeks on a weekday when everything will be open!

We have two meals booked in the Beach House so I’ll let you know. Limelight is Ray Quinn (X-Factor) and Joel Harper Jackson (musical theatre). We are going to see the latter. I forgot to mention in my review of yesterday that there’s a singer on board called Angelika Eklind who sings in the atrium. She is excellent.