Ardennais

Just a short summary of our Britannia cruise. Very relaxing ports of call, all repeats for us (Vigo, Lisbon, Cartagena, Gibraltar, Malaga and Cadiz), and fantastic weather. We only did one excursion from Vigo to Santiago de Compostela - I’ve wanted to go there for ages and we enjoyed that. Lovely clean ship but it struck us how dark it was, compared to Iona a few months ago. We do miss a proper promenade deck. Cabin layout much better than Iona and roomier too. Also had a shaver socket in the bathroom and drawers! Good staffing levels, so much easier to get a coffee and a drink. Ok, not school holidays and very few children, but that’s the sort of service which should be the norm. Entertainment - excellent. We had 4 Headliner shows. Gareth Oliver is always good and we particularly enjoyed Duo Escencias - a professional Flamenco dancer and a violinist. Limelight Club - Joel Harper Jones was a delight. Plenty of films in the Studio - I’ve listed them on another thread. We decided to change our 10.30 bookings for 8.30 but the theatre was quite full by about 8.15 and they were checking at the door nearly every time, Food - quite poor in our opinion. Often cold and tasteless. Limited choices in the Horizon. 3 themed buffets - British, Indian and Asian. We were spoiled on Iona I suppose! My cousin was boarding Britannia as we were leaving - their first cruise. It will be interesting to hear what he and his family have to say next week! The best meal was room service - pie, chips and peas. This was tasty and piping hot so they can do it! I’m in two minds about a cruise we have booked on Arcadia later in the year. They’re all repeat ports so we might sacrifice the lowish deposit and book a self-catering holiday in Scotland!

Same for us. I honestly don’t know why people arrive before their allocated time! What’s the big rush?

The best meal we had on Britannia was ….. Room service! Very tasty and piping hot! How they managed to do that for room service, and fail elsewhere, I don’t know!

This photo was taken at 8.15.

On Britannia, last week. I had pre-booked the 10.30 theatre shows before boarding but as we felt rather tired, we decided to change our normal habits so I cancelled them all and booked the 8.30 shows. They were checking by the door and some were fully booked. The theatre was full by about 8.15 and so if you were a bigger group, you might find it difficult to find seats together. In fact, they were mainly single seats free. So it seems that people still like to sit early and chat or just rest before a show. We found the same people sitting in the same area every evening and got chatting to quite a few of them.

We could only book the Limelight Club before boarding Britannia. We didn’t use the other speciality restaurants at all. I’m sorry to say that the food offering generally was quite limited. Limelight meal was nice. Less choice than before in the Horizon and food was generally on the cold side. My husband had sponge pudding and custard for lunch in the Peninsular Restaurant one day too and it was really cold. We weren’t impressed to be honest. Iona was so much better in February, food wise,

And the next 6 days.

Britannia 16-28 April. Studio - Deck 7 Midship.

Not always, I’m afraid!

I’m currently sitting in the atrium on Britannia. People are dressed casually of course. The concept of ‘smart’ is a funny one. As I see it, some people always look smart no matter what they’re wearing. They have good figures, bearing and are well groomed. They would look good wearing a bin bag! And yes, they look smart in football shirts! Just wearing a DJ doesn’t magically make someone look smart. It makes them look older for a start.

Got that email a few hours ago. If it was a non-Coronation cruise, I might be tempted!

No drawers on Iona!

I’m sorry they were upset and can understand their fear regarding the train. There were people muttering in the Britannia queue behind us when we arrived but told us that their boarding time was 3.30 - and it was 1.30 at the time! What did they expect! Ours was 1.45 and the gentleman led us to the front having checked our paperwork.

CPS were very quick! No waiting at all.

I had never seen queues outside the terminal before getting on Britannia last week. On Iona in Feb, the line kept moving and embarkation was very efficient. If people turn up well before their boarding time, it will be their own fault if they have to stand outside.

There was a lengthy queue outside the terminal for Britannia last week. A gentleman was going up and down the queue asking for specific boarding times and as we were on time, he told us to go straight in.

We’ve had vastly different boarding times in the past when my parents were with us. The sensible thing to do, in my opinion anyway, is arrive for the latest time. I would never expect my travelling companions to be able to jump the queue.

I can cope with this weather but any hotter and we would be wilting. Good job it’s our last stop!

Cadiz today. Gorgeous weather.

Not a spelling mistake as such, but a non Welsh word which didn’t make any sense!

I remember now that there used to be a sort of overview in the cabin on arrival. Nothing this time and I keep everything!

It has been full there on the sea days and most pleasant. Staffed properly too!

Exactly. Well said.

No complaints from us on Britannia. Don’t think the cabin has been vacuumed but not a problem.

I never mentioned over-crowding. We were in fact pleasantly surprised at all the space and seating available. I still think there should have been better planning beforehand and possibly staff could be better deployed. How about fewer passenger cabins and more crew berths in the first place? It seems to me that some people think that school holiday cruisers should just put up with slow service as it’s their own fault for choosing these cruises. We are currently on Britannia. It’s probably over-staffed!! The waiters are hovering in the atrium, actively looking for orders and clearing tables almost as you put your cup and fork down.