1st time on Britannia.

[stocktonmackem]

16 hours ago, Monorail Orange said:

I was on the same cruise. I have to agree with what others have said about the health precuations. The crew worked tirelessly to keep everything clean. Thier job it not made any easier by people who ignore the rules and recommendations.

 

Still surprises me the amount of people you see picking their teeth after eating.... an no doubt touching banisters or buttons after.

 

Another, more general issue, is people walking around with food and drink. OK, poolside, but not from one indoor venue to the next. Not only that, but they then leave glassware in random places. Better yet, leaving full trays - I saw one tray of dirty plates and napkins left on one of those decorative tables in the centre lift lobby.

 

Moving on from that..

 

Britannia is a lovely ship decor wise. The layout is ok (thankfully I didn't get lost past the first day) - although I still prefer the way Arcadia and Oceana have a more linear layout. However moving around the ship was fine. I did however miss a proper prom deck. Which leads me to my next point...

 

My main issue was with the number of people. It was very crowded at times - especially on those chilly early sea days. I guess domed pools do help with this (Iona and her sister will be fine).

Causually walking into a day time venue and getting a seat (as on other ships) was not always an option. A couple of times I couldn't get into the Live Lounge of an evening.

 

They'll never change the guest capacity, so I'm shouting into the wind with that.

 

And.. those lifts. Not only usually busy, but also sems like they have a mind of their own. Eventually I took the motto of: "should we walk, or do we have time to take a lift?"

 

The weather and the destinations were great though.

My husband is a wheelchair user and we didn't really have a problem with the lift most of the time, usually busy after shows and embarking. My main bug bear is people going in the lift to go up when they want to go down etc. That doesn't help the lift situation one iota. Another little gripe was the shorts issue. If you are not meant to wear shorts after 6 then the restaurant manager should enforce it. I saw lots of people wearing shorts on an evening on this cruise. Other than than I had a fantastic time. x

[branddad]

Hi, we are just back from our 2nd cruise aboard Britannia and like the first last year (fly cruise Caribbean) this Med cruise was brilliant.  No complaints from us.  We found the adults only serenity pool up on deck 17 forward, much more relaxing than the main pool areas.  Food again was excellent as was service and all staff.  We don’t find problems finding our way around the ship, maybe because we had a cabin on F deck at the front, had the same cabin twice and find it a great position.

our only negative comment would be that people still get away with putting towels out well before 8am and not returning to use the sun bed till 4+ hours later.

[vitrocmax]

We were on C deck, and because we consider ourselves to be relatively fit, we never used the lifts. Towards the end of the fortnight we were slowing down a bit (we live in a bungalow so aren't used to stairs) and as time was never really an issue we left the lifts for those who needed them. My phone says I climbed the equivalent of over 400 flights in the two weeks.

I was concerned about overeating and adding too much weight because of the huge variety of food offered, but in the end only added 2lbs to my pre-cruise weight so I'm happy with that. We made an effort to limit our food intake, smaller portions and less courses, unlike some. I noticed a group of unsupervised children in Horizon after 10 one evening, plates piled high with food that they must have though they could eat, which they then decided was too much and just left it. That irritates me, waste for the sake of it.

One thing I noticed on this particular cruise was the age range - many more 'younger' people than we've noticed previously. I don't know if it was the time (near to the main holidays, after most exams) or the destinations (we haven't done 14 days to the Med before, only a week fly/cruise on Oceana) but there seems to be more families this time. We've been to Norway 3 times and that's been an older average age, it'll be interesting to see what Iona has to offer next June.

 

[Monorail Orange]

6 hours ago, stocktonmackem said:

My husband is a wheelchair user and we didn't really have a problem with the lift most of the time, usually busy after shows and embarking. My main bug bear is people going in the lift to go up when they want to go down etc. That doesn't help the lift situation one iota. Another little gripe was the shorts issue. If you are not meant to wear shorts after 6 then the restaurant manager should enforce it. I saw lots of people wearing shorts on an evening on this cruise. Other than than I had a fantastic time. x

Glad to hear you and your husband didn't have much issue with the lifts.

 

One evening, I was heading from the theatre to Crows (so a fair trek) and a rare empty lift arrived. I stood aside to hold the door open and let a lady in a wheelchair in.... sadly everyone around me took that as a cue to pile in. So the lady wasn't able to get in.

 

As for shorts... I'm with you. I don't think I've ever seen shorts past 6pm on the other ships. No doubt somewhere it states that shorts are acceptable in the Smart Casual dress code, but I don't think it should.

 

I could go on, but I better not, as this'll turn into one of those dress code deabtes...

3 hours ago, vitrocmax said:

We were on C deck, and because we consider ourselves to be relatively fit, we never used the lifts. Towards the end of the fortnight we were slowing down a bit (we live in a bungalow so aren't used to stairs) and as time was never really an issue we left the lifts for those who needed them. My phone says I climbed the equivalent of over 400 flights in the two weeks.

I was concerned about overeating and adding too much weight because of the huge variety of food offered, but in the end only added 2lbs to my pre-cruise weight so I'm happy with that. We made an effort to limit our food intake, smaller portions and less courses, unlike some. I noticed a group of unsupervised children in Horizon after 10 one evening, plates piled high with food that they must have though they could eat, which they then decided was too much and just left it. That irritates me, waste for the sake of it.

One thing I noticed on this particular cruise was the age range - many more 'younger' people than we've noticed previously. I don't know if it was the time (near to the main holidays, after most exams) or the destinations (we haven't done 14 days to the Med before, only a week fly/cruise on Oceana) but there seems to be more families this time. We've been to Norway 3 times and that's been an older average age, it'll be interesting to see what Iona has to offer next June.

 

 

I'm with you on the food waste. I don't see the point of taking food unless you are going to eat it. There are only rare occasions when something is not palletable and I have to leave it. (a chocolate and lavender doughnut is one example. *shudder*).

 

I'd think Iona will have the same "family appeal" as Britannia. One of the things that's putting me off booking.
I think I'll stick to the adult only ships. Which with the retiremet of Oriana means the choice is reduced once again.

 

[vitrocmax]

There appears to be a minor change to the dress code for Horizon (shown on the screens at the entrance) since we last cruised, which makes it clear that the Black Tie rules don't apply there at any time. The notice still leaves it open to interpretation, many were wearing shorts and not the casual style (i.e. no shorts) that I understood it to mean, but I'm possibly wrong. One evening I noticed a person in a vest and shorts complaining to a manager that those of us still wearing lounge suits shouldn't be allowed in Horizon for the late night snacks. Apparently he was going to complain to the very highest level at P&O because since he wasn't allowed in the MDR, why should those with suits be allowed in Horizon?

 

We didn't try the 'signature dessert' of chocolate and pretzel ganache which came with salt and vinegar ice cream; that went on the 'don't bother' list.

[Monorail Orange]

How can you even complain about someone actually adhering to the dress code? Bet they'll have a good chuckle at that one in Carnival House if the complain ever gets sent.

 

It also seems like "smart jeans" just means 'any old pair of jeans' will do now.

 

As for the Salt and Vinegar ice cream.. I'm curious if anyone has actually tried it. They wouldn't keep putting it on the menu if its disgusting. I had the Sweet Fennel ice cream one night. Tastes as you'd imagine but it totally over powered the pistacio flavour of the delice.

 

That's not a complaint mind, it was all very nice. I think the only duff meal I had was in the Limelight Club. That was such a disappointment.Thankfully the entertainment was better than the food.

[AndyMichelle]

9 minutes ago, Monorail Orange said:

How can you even complain about someone actually adhering to the dress code? Bet they'll have a good chuckle at that one in Carnival House if the complain ever gets sent.

 

It also seems like "smart jeans" just means 'any old pair of jeans' will do now.

 

As for the Salt and Vinegar ice cream.. I'm curious if anyone has actually tried it. They wouldn't keep putting it on the menu if its disgusting. I had the Sweet Fennel ice cream one night. Tastes as you'd imagine but it totally over powered the pistacio flavour of the delice.

 

That's not a complaint mind, it was all very nice. I think the only duff meal I had was in the Limelight Club. That was such a disappointment.Thankfully the entertainment was better than the food.

The salt & vinegar ice cream is a bit nothing really.

Its not a bad accompaniment to the chocolate ganache with a random pretzel stuck on top..

I have had it 3 times now and it is not offensive, just nothing special.

I will stick to the apple pie sundae.

Andy

[Monorail Orange]

Thanks for that. I've never been "brave" enough to order it. Far too many other tasty options to choose from for me. haha

 

Those sundaes sure seemed to be popular, I'll bet they're glad they've started to do them.

[Highpeaklad]

On 6/24/2019 at 5:25 PM, vitrocmax said:

Currently passing Majorca on the way to Cartagena and found Movistar 4G is available; enjoying the cruise and having regular walks on the prom deck, 7 laps is a mile uninterrupted apart from a few ignorant people placing sun loungers over the walkway. Only gripe is that I left my ‘tropical’ shirt at home because the personaliser said 80s for the themed night; it’s been changed to tropical!

In Barcelona we walked to the Sagrada Família and back from the shuttle drop off.  Walked the F1 circuit in Monte-Carlo on our own and found a posh shopping centre (in pic), did the boat/trolley trip to Pisa (enough time to see the field of miracles, which was all we wanted to do there ) and not decided what to do in Cartagena yet. Probably just going to walk down the high street in Gibraltar to have a look in M&S.

The hand wash thing is normal for us and we had noticed there was no enforcement until the outbreak, we don’t know how bad it is but the restaurant Manager said they might keep the procedure in place until the end of the week. 

 

Now that is what the atrium on Britannia should look like. 

[Highpeaklad]

On 7/1/2019 at 7:21 PM, Monorail Orange said:

Thanks for that. I've never been "brave" enough to order it. Far too many other tasty options to choose from for me. haha

 

Those sundaes sure seemed to be popular, I'll bet they're glad they've started to do them.

 

You are allowed to order more than one dessert if you just want to try it...😉

[Monorail Orange]

I'll have to remember that in future. Thanks Highpeaklad. 🙂