F-s Islander

And the Sicilian fish stew was my favourite, I had it twice. Admittedly it was more along the lines of a Bouillabaise with whole fish, rather than lots of bits of fish. Having said that we were not impressed at all by the Epicurean, too slow and decorous, and nothing special

We didn't like menu in the Glass House on the Arvia. We only ate there once. That was last year. On Britannia this year it was just as we remembered it from previous cruises

Only karaoke as far as I know, and one of those was held so late that most people had left the bar and they didn't get much interest. The entertainment team were having to fill the gaps. Having a choir is a really good way of bringing people together and the performance at the end of the cruise is always popular.

They texted on the day of departure and asked us to text them when we were 30 minutes away which we did. The whole process was really fast, we just dropped off our bags at the terminal, drove the very short distance to the Short Stay car park where they were waiting for us. They were meticulous in taking photos, agreeing mileage etc so we felt really confident. On our return they texted us to say our car was ready before the ship had even docked. And all very friendly, couldn't fault them. This was all for at least £100 less than CPS and we took the slightly more expensive flexible option.

You're right, not the Keel & Cow, but these restaurants in the Atrium don't have a clearly defined area, all a bit haphazard and sprawling. The Britannia is much nicer and the food was better too.

We love the Glass House on Britannia. The food has always been good and we have eaten there several times on each cruise. We loved the selection this year, especially the Sicilian fish stew and there are lots of wines that you don't find elsewhere on the ship, particularly the Bacchus from our local New Hall vineyard - (flying the flag for Essex!) The Glass House on Britannia is a real "glass house" with glass panelling which is quite elegant and in the past we've enjoyed a drink outside cruising through the fjords. The Glass House on Arvia is just a section of that deck and you don't know where it starts and finishes, to become the Keel & Cow. The food wasn't the same either

To be fair we only had an hour, but some people were producing some really good paintings.. I did feel I learnt basic macrame, which I had never done before, but would have preferred more painting sessions in a better venue. It would also be better if you could book in advance, as you would a restaurant, to ensure numbers are controlled

Just returned from a cruise on Britannia and attended several Creative Waves sessions. I did water colours, sketching the horizon and life drawing (the fully clothed guitarist was the model and played songs throughout). There were also crafts but I only tried macrame which went well. Overall I think there was a good range of things, aimed at all skills and ages, but a lot were on port days when we went ashore. However there aren't many suitable venues for this sort of thing, especially the painting = the water colour session was absolutely rammed and we were spilling out into the blue bar, where we couldn't actually take advantage of the tuition. I'd been hoping for a cruise choir or at least Vocal Training which I did last year on Arvia. The art sessions went some way to making up for the disappointment but I hope they haven't ditched that completely

we've just got back after using Parking 4 Cruises and they were excellent in every way. We have previously used CPS but they have either been fully booked or much more expensive. They were nearly double the price and I don't see you get anything else for your money. Parking4 cruises were in constant contact, did everything they promised and were really friendly. CPS was just a very rushed, get them through quickly operation. Have also used Park on my drive which worked well

Thanks for that inside information. Fingers crossed it's the postal service and they'll arrive eventually. I won't be trying again though!

I can see that's impractical, but in that case P&O should be a bit more careful before they take your money under false pretences. I am still wondering what happened to the other post I saw waiting to go, and it was literally hours before the cut off time. If they failed to deliver the post over to the agent or the agent failed in some way they should have contacted all passengers concerned for a refund. Someone surely would have known. I will never do it again and will certainly make it known to them

They do if for some reason the port agent does not take them until the ship is next in that country, which in some case could be the next day. In my case Britannia won't be in Sweden again till next year - why can't they just post in the next country

That's good to know. I realised there's a risk but I can honestly say that I used to be a big user of postal services, in many countries, and only once or twice in my entire life did anything not arrive eventually (I'm in my late sixties..). I have actually had a lot more experience of emails never arriving in both directions, snail mail usually works - perhaps I've been lucky, but I've also always found mail to and from Sweden and Norway to be super fast. The cards were addressed to different locations so it sounds as if a whole bag may have been lost unless someone from the same cruise can tell me otherwise.. I'd be interested to hear if anyone sent post from that cruise that actually arrived!

We were told in Horizon: "P&O Cruises uses a 'Concierge Postal Service' offering a flat rate for posting postcards or letters at £3.25 from today's port of call, to anywhere in the world. The postal service will close two hours before the back on board time" I left mine in reception after breakfast when we were in Stockholm, several hours before back on board time and lots of other people had done the same, so I was wondering if any of them know if their mail was received. I don't sent many cards these days, and usually post them myself in the port. This just seemed like a good opportunity, but I won't bother again. I don't think Britannia will be in Sweden again this year, so if they're holding on to them I think we should be told! Where to complain? I have found that postcards from anywhere in the world normally arrive within 3 weeks, and have always had a good experience with post from Scandinavia. I wouldn't be surprised if Royal Mail are sitting on them somewhere though.

I paid to post 2 cards from Britannia on the Baltic cruise in May. We were promised the cards would be posted from the next port of call for a fee of £3.50 per card. The cards have not arrived after 6 weeks. There was a pile of about 50 cards waiting when I left mine in reception, so I am just wondering if anyone has any experience of using the ship's service?