B511 Britannia review - Norwegian Fjords

[kikki21]

Cheers Carol there's more to come! [emoji3]

[kikki21]

So yes we went off all over the ship well as much as we could before muster drill where we had to take our life jacket and OMG actually put it on!!!

 

In a tight space...

 

With lots of people around you....

 

And getting yourself in a knot with the tapes - talk about practicing becoming a contortionist! [emoji38]

 

It was interesting put it that way and the fact that people were still getting on the ship as muster had to be put back some time!

[kikki21]

 

The lovely Crows Nest

 

 

Land ahoy!

 

 

Art in the Horizon buffet

 

 

Golf nets (someone needs the practice hehe!)

[kikki21]

 

In the spa area - there were lots of lovely treatments available but apparently as I was told day passes are not generally available in advance as they want to sell weekly passes first and then if you want to see if a day pass is available you can come on the day - er ok no sale then!!!

 

 

Gelato in the Market Cafe and no didn't have a single ice cream on board all week! Sad!

 

 

We waved bye to the Eclipse and before long we were underway ourselves - I think we had dispatched a fair amount of our champagne by that time and it was time to get ready for dinner at Sindhu.

We were pretty excited about this as we love our food and we pretty much love the Food Hero chefs so we were looking forward to some nice spice!

[kikki21]

 

Me dressed for dinner!

 

 

Starter menu

 

 

I had the scallops

 

 

Hubby had the lamb cakes

[kikki21]

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Main course menu

 

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I had the lobster dish

 

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Hubby had the signature plate and there were also accompaniments.

 

[kikki21]

 

Palate cleansing sorbet

 

 

Logo

 

 

Dessert menu

 

 

I had the chocolate pudding

 

 

Hubby had the souffle

[kikki21]

Sindhu - the verdict - well I enjoyed my starter and pudding - the main course was quite disappointing as it lacked general flavour and the lobster part seemed quite tough. Hubby also was a bit underwhelmed - there was some spice but it all seemed quite bland but what was used seemed a bit rough in the tummy department!

Sorry for the TMI alert here but we had dinner here and lunch one day and both times our tummies had a little revolt and that's not normally the case when we eat Indian inspired food :( as we really wanted it to be a top class experience and furthermore even though you have paid extra to eat there - you are allowed just 1 starter, 1 main and 1 dessert!!!!

 

Shocker!!!

[kikki21]

So the next day was a sea day - hurrah!

In the past I've thought sea day nahhhhh but now I appreciate a sea day for more rest & relaxation in terms of a lie in, brunch etc before getting to see another new place!

Today's sea day was pretty busy, we had a very light brunch indeed as it was a grab and go for our Cruise Critic roll call meeting at the Sunset Bar where we met up and had a chat with some fellow B511'ers! [emoji4]

 

Afterwards we were still a wee bit peckish so had a very light lunch so as not to spoil our date with Eric at the Epicurean a bit later on and then after that it was the first formal night!!!!

 

Maybe we should just call this day, food, food and more food!!!!

[kikki21]

 

The invite to tea

 

 

Tea for 2!

 

 

The menu - it was all really nice but think we could have done away with 1 sweet option and replaced it with another savoury one for a better balance!

 

 

Do not think of the calories - just eat!

 

 

How do I eat this then?!

[kikki21]

I'd try & finish this review quicker but we are having serious internet speed problems - grrrr! Anyway our verdict on the afternoon tea was that it was yummy and altogether a nicer experience than the slight shambles we experienced later in the cruise having the included afternoon tea in the Oriental restaurant which resulted in several incidents!

[kikki21]

As has been stated previously - go to Eric's tea hungry - we needed a few laps of the ship to get rid of some calories before the first gala formal night's dinner!

[kikki21]

 

Beautiful sea and cloud views

 

 

All dressed up

 

 

Me too!

[kikki21]

Not sure why the pictures are coming out so weird as I have been reviewing the cruise from my iPhone and directly uploading pics from that and they aren't showing up as they should or is it our weird internet at the moment?!

 

Anyway - we enjoyed the first gala night and even got to met the Captain and had a photo taken with him which turned out very well - so we bought it!

 

The gala dinner was also very good indeed and we enjoyed a lobster dinner again - this time the lobster was soft, beautiful and tender and a real joy to eat - hurrah! We ended up choosing most of the gala dinner from the Marco Pierre White choices - well done Marco!

 

No doubt we retired again after dinner to the sounds of the slots in the Casino - we have sort of been seduced by the sounds and the fact that you can have a good game for a while without losing your shirt on the roulette table or blackjack although my husband did try to do just that!

 

Mmmm my photos are not loading from my computer so it looks like I need to reopen and remember my Photobucket passwords again!

[walkingbry]

Hi Kikki, enjoying your review it brings back the memories of a great cruise and makes us wonder why there are so many negative reviews. Yes there are some problems with navigating around the ship due to the weird layout, but you get there!

No health issues for us just wish we were back onboard, Your comments on Sindhu were in line with others, we just love Indian inspired food and thought it would be disappointing after the local Indian restaurant- you know where! Lovely meeting everyone and look forward to meeting again. Bryan

[kikki21]

Hi Kikki, enjoying your review it brings back the memories of a great cruise and makes us wonder why there are so many negative reviews. Yes there are some problems with navigating around the ship due to the weird layout, but you get there!

No health issues for us just wish we were back onboard, Your comments on Sindhu were in line with others, we just love Indian inspired food and thought it would be disappointing after the local Indian restaurant- you know where! Lovely meeting everyone and look forward to meeting again. Bryan

 

It was really lovely meeting you and your wife Bryan - shame we didnt bump into you further on into the cruise and talk more about the county - I think we have been a bit spoilt with Indian food as we have a couple of very good takeaways near us and also a very good restaurant in Leicester so verdict is still out on Sindhu!

[kikki21]

Right let's hope as we now have workable internet that we can get this review underway properly!

 

Edited July 20, 2015 by kikki21

[kikki21]

Hurrah this is finally working as it should! Well this was our view from the Holiday Inn hotel on the 3rd Floor - it was exciting as we knew that Britannia would be berthed where the Royal Princess was this time tomorrow - well a lot earlier lol!

 

Our journey to Southampton on Friday early afternoon was relatively straightforward, no traffic jams or hold ups!

 

We had booked into a local tapas restaurant La Regata just 5 mins away and it was well worth it, a really delicious meal - think we might go there again!

 

So the next morning - we were greeted by this sight!

 

[kikki21]

Check out was at midday so after a good English breakfast - we packed up, checked out the ships at City Cruise terminal and waited for our taxi coming at midday - much had been made out of the embarkation times that P&O were experimenting with - we were fully prepared for a wait but we were actually onboard before 1pm!!! Shock!

 

This is what we like - get on board, explore the ship and then get into your cabin which were ready at 1pm as well! :) grab a bite to eat and then chill out before sailaway!

 

[kikki21]

 

We spent a bit of time in the Casino part of Brodie's on the cruise!

 

We managed to move up to the Glass House and hubby suggested we needed to have a drink!

 

 

 

Well done that man - very welcome glass of Prosecco!

[kikki21]

We had done a fair bit of running around decks 5,6 and 7 so we decided that after our welcome drink, it was time to meet our cabin for the cruise!

 

 

We had treated ourselves to a superior deluxe balcony cabin and boy we were very pleased with what we had on B deck.

 

 

Champagne and chocs in the room - don't mind if we do!

 

 

Indeed the room looked huge from this angle right by the balcony and plenty of drawer space too!

 

[kikki21]

 

After discovering our cabin, we proceeded to go up the ship and continue our explorations :)

 

 

The Ivory Room

 

 

The very popular and lovely looking Crow's Nest

 

 

The Celebrity Eclipse also getting ready to sail out.

[kikki21]

 

The Horizon buffet area seemed HUGE!

 

Lots of art around the ship - we liked a lot of them.

 

 

The Blue Bar was a very funky area but not a lot of people seemed to use it!

 

 

Never sampled any of the cakes or ice creams at the Market Cafe!!!

 

 

We explored our assigned dining room on the ship for Freedom dining - The Peninsula

 

[kikki21]

It was then back to our cabin in preparation for Muster drill - the Mr decided to unpack, I decided to drink more champagne lol! :D

 

 

We did the Muster which was delayed as people were still getting on board the ship and then it was away back to the cabin to prepare for sailaway - we do like sailaways to be just us if we are honest, it's a bit more romantic that way!

 

 

We could well have been on this cruise on the Eclipse!

 

 

I need to Google what this building is!

 

[kikki21]

 

As the Captain explained, it's quite a turn past the Isle of Wight, the ship basically has to list to do this move!

 

 

It was a great sailaway past the forts of the Solent and Portsmouth.

 

 

So here we were toasting to a very good cruise as we got ready for dinner!