chunkster20uk

Thank you for this balanced, helpful review. I was particularly interested in your comments about getting from one end of the ship to the other as I also use a wheelchair.

Going down the accommodation decks can be tricky when the Room Stewards have their trolleys out.

Great. Could you also post this in the reviews section. Thanks

I have done this too.

I thought I would share my experiences with you, in case you find it helpful.

I have cruised 12 times before, Disney, NCL and Royal Caribbean, and I will make some comparisons along the way, and as always it is just my honest opinion.

First of all, Britannia itself:-

The decor and overall standard of upkeep was really good, and there is plenty of space. The issue for me is the design/layout of the ship, probably the worst I have ever been on (a sentiment shared by many fellow travellers, many die hard P&O cruisers), you can only walk the length of the ship on three floors (except accommodation floors), Deck 7, but you have to walk through the Crystal Room, Deck 16, but you have to walk through the Horizon Buffet or Deck 17, but you have to walk through the gym.

No Promenade Deck, I knew about this in advance but found it amusing when my Father-in-Law mentioned this to a member of staff, who said no sir it is on Deck 18. That is not really a Promenade Deck and getting my Mother-in-Law who is in a wheel chair, is a bit challenging.

The Cabin:-

Our Cabin (E701) was pretty good and was fairly quiet apart from the normal doors being left to slam. Clean and spacious, probably lacked a couple more drawers. Our steward was great, cleared the mini bar, kept refilling the ice. No complaints and on a par with other ships/lines.

The Food:-

We (family of 13 across two tables) were on 1st Sitting in The Oriental Restaurant and had great servers who were friendly, attentive and helpful. The standard of the main dining room food was good (not as good as Disney, but probably better than RCI and NCL). I thought the portion sizes were on the small size, but I wonder if that is because they expect everyone to have afternoon tea. There were few odd options on the menu and I think that they could really benefit by having a few tweaks.

The Buffet Restaurant was huge, however extremely disappointing when it came to variety. They basically have 4 stations all doing the same food, which is not an issue at breakfast but at lunchtime was a bit of an issue for me. Don't get me wrong I like curry, but was served 6 out of 7 times at lunchtime, they did Spanish on the other day, there was always a pie or roast, Mexican a couple of times and the same with stir-fry plus a limited pasta choice. Salads were ok, but the cold meats were repetitive. There was no local specialities on offer and overall seemed to lack imagination and I would say that it was the worst cruise buffet restaurant I have experienced.

Also the service in the restaurant was poor to almost sometimes rude.

Bars:-

The bars were nice enough and comfortable, many felt a bit like corridors (same as on other ships/lines). One thing I noticed with the exception of two servers, the service was quite poor, no speed, not attentive and no real interaction. Not willing to mix a drink properly (just using premix out of a carton). Is this because there are no tips? Bar service on the other cruise lines I have used is much better.

The Gym:-

Never seemed to be manned and kids were freely using equipment, some equipment broken and as I said earlier it was a corridor and it seemed to be an after thought compared to other cruise lines.

The Serenity Pool:-

Is this just a quiet zone or an adult only area, as there were a fair few kids in there, and P&O seem to jam so many beds close together it was not really living up to it's name. Disney of all people have this bit nailed.

Lido Deck Pools:-

Strangely deep considering this where the kids are mainly swimming, no life guard (as with the Serenity Pool) means nobody is stopping anyone diving and jumping in (yes this was happening in the Serenity Pool too). As previously mentioned bar service was not great.

Hot Tubs:-

I counted 4 hot tubs 2 above the Lido Deck pools and 2 in the Retreat, that is not enough hot tubs for a ship of that size, and they were small.

The Retreat:-

We paid for one day and whilst it is nice, it is over priced in my opinion and the service in there was not great.

You may think that I am going to say I didn't enjoy my cruise, but I did, it was great, the itinerary was great and I had a great time, I just think I expected more from P&O. Many of my fellow passengers kept saying that don't judge P&O by Britannia, I hope they are right as I am going on Azura in November.

I am not saying that I will never sail on Britannia again as the positives (the fact you are on a cruise) still out weigh the negatives but I would have to be persuaded.

Thank you, that’s great!

Is there an easy way to tell the difference between a 'hands on' course vs just a demonstration?

Like I said I liked the look of the Caribbean one, but it clearly said a demonstration followed by sitting down and eating the prepared food. There is a Thai Street Food one that seems like it might be more hands on.

I was looking at doing one of these and spotted for instance that the Caribbean one was a Demonstration and then sit down and eat the food as a meal and was at 7.30 in the evening. (I have been on other cruises where they do demonstrations and you get a sample and wine pairing, for free)

I was expecting a more hands on experience, are there any?