Britannia or Azura for Caribbean ?

[jody75]

We in our early 60's and ever cruised with P&O but have over 25 cruises with other lines and considering the Caribbean for end of this year.

Which of P&O ships should we try as both have similar itineraries?

Like the idea of avoiding flying to the USA and wasting all those sea days just to get to the Caribbean. Need help in deciding which ship would be best.

 

Azura appears to get much better reviews or less people mourning. I am sure there are many P&O Fans who can advise on the positives and negatives of each ship. Thanks for your help.

[Pennbank]

I personally would opt For Britannia,

The Azura is similar to Ventura and has no forward facing bar like The Crows Nest. The Manhattan Room is the Main Bar on Azura and Ventura which is situated at the Aft end of the ship only giving the view after you have passed.

 

On Britannia you have The Crows Nest which is Forward with views out like most other ships.

[frenchmartiniplease]

Britannia is lovely inside with lots of entertainment venues, such as the Crystal Room and the Limelight Club. If you are used to a big ship you should enjoy her.

 

A couple of things I would mention in case they are important to you. The balconies are very small compared to Azura and if you like strolling along Deck 7 (Promenade Decks) there isn't one on Britannia other than a sort of jutting out section/shelf/deck area either side midship. The lifeboats are tucked in to the ship where you would have had a deck to walk on.

 

You can't walk all the way round on Azura, you just cut through by the theatre, but if like me you like to sit on a sheltered side and watch the sea or stroll along the deck you might not fancy Britannia's Promenade Deck up on top of the ship.

[daiB]

We in our early 60's and ever cruised with P&O but have over 25 cruises with other lines and considering the Caribbean for end of this year.

 

Which of P&O ships should we try as both have similar itineraries?

 

Like the idea of avoiding flying to the USA and wasting all those sea days just to get to the Caribbean. Need help in deciding which ship would be best.

 

 

 

Azura appears to get much better reviews or less people mourning. I am sure there are many P&O Fans who can advise on the positives and negatives of each ship. Thanks for your help.

 

 

I think that the experience you get is similar on both. I would go with either, Britannia suffers from the new ship on the block syndrome and people who like other ships tend not to like her.. The same thing happened with Arcadia and then Ventura and then Azura.

 

:) :) :)

 

 

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[sammybonny]

We have been to the Caribbean on both ships the most recent on Britannia in December.

We enjoyed both cruises and ships, both ships have pluses and minuses in our opinion.

 

One of the big pluses on Azura is the size of the balconies on C Deck which are about three times as big as the balconies on Britannia and we find we use the balcony more in the Caribbean.So if you enjoy spending time on the balcony it might be a better option for you.

 

The big plus on Britannia for us is the Crows Nest bar which is our favourite bar.

 

But if I didnt have a choice I would be happy with either.

[soobs]

If you like dancing then the Britannia because it has the Crystal room with a dance floor unlike the Azura and Ventura where they use the Atrium.

 

If not then I would go for Azura, we have been in the Caribbean on Azura, Ventura and Britannia and with out a doubt prefer Ventura and Azura.

We had a lovely holiday on Britannia and it is a lovely ship with a lot of pluses to the other 2 ships, the bathrooms with the glass shower screen are great, the buffet arrangement is much improved, more tables for 2 in the MDR again much better, TV's much better.

Why we like the other 2 best, prefer the pool arrangements, the pool at the back of the ship is much better, the balcony's, we prefer the entertainment venues as we like the Marlbar and Tamirind bars for the light music they provide every night.

The only reason we would choose Britannia over Azura in the future would be if it was a lot cheaper, we would pay slightly more for the Azura this is of course subject to the itinerary if there was a particular island that we really wanted to visit again we could be swayed.

[Patsy Flower]

I echo everything that Soobs has said.

 

We have been on Azura several and times but this year for the Caribbean decided to try Britannia.

 

Britannia is a lovely ship and the buffet area is much improved.

 

However, we love sitting on our balcony and it is a huge part of our holiday. We did know that balconies on Britannia would be small but nothing quite prepared us for the "window boxes". In fact they were so small we almost felt ripped off and as such have decided that Britannia is not for us.

 

If a balcony is not important Britannia really does have some lovely areas so each to their own.

 

Whichever ship you go on enjoy your cruise.

[geecee1]

Looking at either Azura or Britannia for Nov/Dec this year.

 

Some ports state"possible tenders" and I wondered what the experience would be like on a ship the size of Britannia with over 3000 pax.

 

Any comments would be appreciated.

[soobs]

We have cruised the Caribbean 5 times with P & O and only once done a tender (Tortola when they were building the new port) we are not early risers so missed the queues.

[Somerset Cruiser]

I think tendering from either ship is quite unlikely, I wouldn't let it be a factor when choosing which ship to go on.

[kevinyork]

Britannia: great adults only pool, smaller retreat (yeh), lots of nooks and crannies on deck to find a sunny space, great dancing venue, nice crows nest bar ( could be bigger). Small balconys. Great buffet layout.

 

Azura: less passengers, retreat takes away deck space, nice choice of evening venues: theatre plus two show bars. Bigger balconies.

 

If you like BIG ships then Britannia possibly better for you, otherwise Azura. Yes the direct flights to the ship are really convenient. I would ignore comparing reviews for now. Every ship takes a while to find its market and its early days for Britannia.

 

 

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[loobs40]

Our itinerary this year for the Caribbean had numerous 'possible tenders' marked against islands, but in the end there were none. I was a bit hacked off about that as I was unable to book a private tour on Grenada as I could not guarantee being able to get off the ship by 9.00pm.

 

We prefer Azura over Britannia, though the latter does have improvements, including the buffet

[NauticalMiss]

Over the last few years, we have cruised on Azura for 2 weeks over New Year, but for 2016 we decided to do something different on NYE. Then we decided that we 'needed' our Caribbean fix, so we have opted for a 1-week cruise on Britannia in early December. We think Britannia is a lovely ship; we prefer the Crow's Nest bar rather than the Planet Bar on Azura; we prefer the Live Lounge to the Manhattan on Azura; we prefer the Atrium on Britannia to that on Azura; we prefer the Britannia shower with its improved shelving for shampoos, conditioners and shower gel; but we prefer the cabins and bigger balconies on Azura, and the mid-ship stairs.

 

Ultimately, we get bonded luggage, in-room kettles (and biscuits :rolleyes: ), excellent service, comfortable beds, varied entertainment on both ships - can't complain.