B511 Britannia review - Norwegian Fjords

[kikki21]

Lots of heavy industry too - not so nice views looking down on this big rig!

 

 

The threatened storms looked like they were going to happen but we were steaming on out of there!

 

 

There were some last bits of land before once again we were in open water and heading down the North Sea!

 

 

It was the 2nd formal night of the cruise tonight!

 

 

We had booked to go into the Limelight Club tonight with a performance by Jaki Graham!

 

Was it worth it? Hell yeah! The evening was compered by Abbie one of the entertainment hosts and she explained the format of the evening to us all.

 

There are 4 different menus for the Limelight club and I have to say that we were very impressed with the food.... we had the starters and main course and Jaki came out for about 15 minutes as a taster and then she did a longer set after desserts.

 

We had an amuse bouche to start, think it was some kind of goats cheese tart and then we both choose the pea custard and ham terrine starter which was gorgeous.

 

Both of also had the fillet of beef main which was cooked to perfection - medium and tender and soft as you like - this was definitely one of the best meals of the cruise!

 

The dessert was a trio combination - there was no choice here, you had what there was - it was a Greek inspired trio and they were all very nice, it was a pistachio cake, a Greek yoghurt pannacotta and some sort of sorbet! I didn't take my camera with me, just my iPhone hence the lack of pics and for some reason Photobucket has only copied over some of my photos and not ALL of them!:rolleyes:

 

Onto Jaki - she was a real personality, very engaging and her voice was superb! She didn't walk amongst the tables which was a bit of a shame but she did interact with the audience and it was clear she LOVED to sing and do what she is doing and was very proud being part of the Limelight Club or as she called it Jaki's Club lol! Would thoroughly recommend anyone going to see her sing!

 

10/10

[kikki21]

Yay another sea day - I remember when I used to be annoyed at sea days - this was when I had energy! Nowadays, I LOVE sea days!

 

 

There were a lot of oil rigs again sailing through the North Sea and it was a lovely sunny day - bonus!

 

It was time to potter around the ship and relax and take more photos!

 

 

Here's a pic of the trinket I finally managed to find - despite selling freshwater pearl jewellery, I am not keen on pearls but I totally loved this!

 

 

We sort of knew our way around but still had to consult the maps around the ship! The one place we hadn't been to on all travels was the Oriental Restaurant but we were remedying that later with a planned afternoon tea visit!

 

 

Another photo of my favourite piece of ship art.

 

 

There were quite a few fresh flower arrangements around the ship too.

[kikki21]

As we hadn't had breakfast due to a lie in - we decided that we would go to Sindhu for lunch seeing as the Glass House were not doing the lobster sandwich - sob! :(

 

This was the Sindhu lunch menu - you pick 3 each for the cover charge.

 

 

This time we managed to bag a booth table,

 

 

I decided to have the signature Benares cocktail which was very good.

 

 

This was the Mr's food choices

 

[kikki21]

These were mine

 

 

I think I choose the best ones! :)

 

We then needed a bit of a stroll around the ship!

 

 

 

It was time to go and shop for those souvenirs as well - we always like to get ship fridge magnets to add to our collection :)

 

We then had a photo competition between us as to who could get the most interesting photo!

 

[kikki21]

More ship art!

 

 

Sexy lighting

 

 

Blue Bar lighting

 

 

It was time to go and relax on deck :)

 

 

We managed to find a surprisingly quiet spot for a read and a sunbathe - can't believe that we were doing this in the North Sea as you always think it will be freezing there!

 

[kikki21]

It was then time for the included afternoon tea in the Oriental Restaurant where we hadn't been before!

 

 

I have to say that the afternoon tea was a bit of an odd experience - there were quite a few people taking advantage and the restaurant staff were getting everyone to sit on the right hand side of the restaurant but we were being encouraged to sit together!

 

I don't know if this is normal practice but we just wanted a table for two and eventually moved to one in the middle of the restaurant where other people were now being seated. I have to admit that it did take ages to actually get served with anything as well and although we were patient there was a table that totally kicked off about it as all the waiters were serving people on the right hand side and not in the middle of the restaurant - it wasn't until after that table kicked off that we all got served - that said everything was really nice and the scones were still warm and fresh out of the oven!

 

 

 

So loved our cabin!

[kikki21]

We had to go back to the cabin and start our packing up as we were doing so, we noticed that we were seeing more and more ships, the closer we got to the English Channel.

 

 

We suddenly saw a cruise ship on the horizon and it was actually another P&O ship the Azura who was also sailing into Southampton and who kept us company all the way in!

 

Time to go and have our final dinner on board!

 

[kikki21]

So we were just about all packed and popped the suitcases out in the corridor before the 8pm time - we had been given a disembarkation time of 10.30am which was fine.

 

 

Tonight's MDR starter menu

 

 

I had the Beef Tian which was yummy and the Mr had the prawn cocktail.

 

 

The mains menu - the Mr had the Monkfish

 

 

I had the duck main

 

[kikki21]

Dessert menu

 

 

I could have happily eaten any of the desserts and I have to say that we sometimes had the cheese board as well as both of us are partial to a good bit of cheese! :)

 

We both opted for the always available Sultana Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding with custard!

 

 

We had a quick stroll after dinner to get some sea air and just caught the sun going down in the Channel.

 

 

The Azura was still keeping up with our formation sail into Southampton! :)

 

 

And with that, it was time to drink a few more cocktails and spin those slots a few more times before we cashed out and went to sleep lulled by the ocean waves.

[kikki21]

I woke up at stupid o clock and it was still dark but then I woke up again just as the ship was doing the Isle of Wight turn!

 

 

I opened the balcony door and my ears were pierced by the very loud sounds of the buoys in the water! Ouch!

 

There were quite a few ships sailing into Southampton today and I really wanted to catch a glimpse of the Anthem of the Seas and the Marine Traffic app on my phone told me that she was just ahead of us and yep there she was!

 

 

It was interesting to see the sights of what lies behind the other side of Southampton water which we missed being on the port side of the ship sailing out.

 

 

We were just about berthed in dock in time for sunrise!

 

 

It seemed nice and clear at sunrise but then got very murky but we could still see what was going on! The Mr got some breakfast on the go in the Horizon buffet and took it down to our room and got some funny looks in the lift!

 

 

Here comes the Azura and a special ship behind her! :)

[kikki21]

It was the Azamara Quest and she's a special ship to us as we were on her last year for our honeymoon cruise so it brought back fantastic memories to see the ship again!

 

 

Ha, she's sooooo tiny compared to Britannia!

 

 

Here's the Azura sailing past us....

 

 

We went up to the buffet after we had left out cabin and spent some time up there and then in the Sunset Bar chilling out and enjoying the sun and then it was time to leave!

 

 

The enormous Anthem of the Seas!

 

 

Disembarkation that late was SO easy - it literally took us 10 minutes to get off the ship and our luggage was waiting and that was it! A quick phone call for the taxi to take us back to the Holiday Inn to our car and job done!

 

It took us a few hours to get home as the traffic was bad in places and it was nice to actually get home with the weather still holding up!

[kikki21]

So would we sail from Southampton again?

 

Yes..... we really enjoyed exploring Southampton and it was especially useful to come down the night before we sailed and stay at a hotel so we could start to relax.

 

Would we go to Norway again?

 

Very much so - it would be great to see some other fjords and cities in Norway as well as to revisit the places we saw on this cruise. We could be tempted to go in the winter season to hopefully catch the Northern Lights!

 

Would we sail with P&O again?

 

Seeing as we haven't experienced any other of the ships in the fleet then I would say yes we would sail with P&O again and that we wouldn't hesitate at all going back on Britannia.

 

Both of us thought Britannia lived up to our expectations.

 

Yes the common complaint of the lack of stairs midships above deck 7 is a pain but to anyone who is able bodied - all it means is that you have to walk further round the ship and burn some more calories!

 

The oddest bit of design layout to me was that the spa and gym were not next to each other and that the gym was next to the Cookery Club - just seemed an odd placement to me!

 

Much has been said about the decor - well I have to say we liked it, it is modern and yes the Atrium may look like a hotel but that's because it was designed by a company who design hotel interiors which isn't a bad thing to us!

 

It may not be a ship that wows decor wise but she's very elegantly understated in our view.

 

We loved our cabin and wouldn't change anything about it, yes the balcony could be larger but it was more than sufficient for the 2 of us.

 

The food was excellent everywhere we ate especially in the Glass House, even though Sindhu gave me a bit of a upset tummy both times I ate there!

 

We are not really ones for organised entertainment so we never took in a show apart from Jaki Graham in the Limelight Club - which was well worth it!

 

All in all, it was an excellent holiday which we thoroughly enjoyed.

[P&O SUE]

Great review Kikki, thanks. We went to Norway in 2013 (In April) and really want to go back as the waterfalls were still frozen then! Good to see Britannia too :)

[stocktonmackem]

Fabulous review and photos. Thank you for sharing.

[kikki21]

Great review Kikki, thanks. We went to Norway in 2013 (In April) and really want to go back as the waterfalls were still frozen then! Good to see Britannia too :)

 

 

Thank you P&O SUE - we would do this cruise again, no question and we really enjoyed Britannia too :)

[kikki21]

Fabulous review and photos. Thank you for sharing.

 

 

Glad you enjoyed it! :) the scenery was amazing and one of the reasons why we wanted to go!