Just off Britannia, my thoughts and happy to try and answer questions

[wowzz]

29 minutes ago, brian1 said:

You're allowed to transit Italy in 36 hrs before quarantining.A day tour should be ok.Don't know about multiple Italian ports though,cheers,Brian.

That's interesting - thanks Brian.

Not sure how three successive port visits would be viewed! 

[brian1]

4 minutes ago, wowzz said:

That's interesting - thanks Brian.

Not sure how three successive port visits would be viewed! 

 

4 minutes ago, wowzz said:

 

That I don't know as I said,hopefully going out to sea and back again it resets the process,lol.We're driving to Como in Sept and have 36 hrs to get to our village to isolate.765 miles with 1 stopover doable.Cheers,Brian.

[Camberley]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

Some of the fellow guests can a bit moanny though. Perhaps they should realise they are on holiday.

Yes - some people are never happy unless they have something to moan about.  Or are seeing what they can get out of it……Ie) the more vocal, attention-seeking ones who, by their presence, suggest they normally get their way in life. But thankfully these are the minority - and you can normally spot them a mile off harrumphing and showing themselves up, while spouse lurks embarrassed. Although to be fair this is sometimes good entertainment in itself 🤣

[sam49]

22 minutes ago, Camberley said:

Yes - some people are never happy unless they have something to moan about.  Or are seeing what they can get out of it……Ie) the more vocal, attention-seeking ones who, by their presence, suggest they normally get their way in life. But thankfully these are the minority - and you can normally spot them a mile off harrumphing and showing themselves up, while spouse lurks embarrassed. Although to be fair this is sometimes good entertainment in itself 🤣

And some people, often Brits put up with poor service/poor facilities because they ‘don’t want to make a fuss’ or are embarrassed if other people look at them. 
Probably good attitude to make the best of things in the war, but not so good when you are not getting what you paid for. 

[Camberley]

30 minutes ago, sam49 said:

And some people, often Brits put up with poor service/poor facilities because they ‘don’t want to make a fuss’ or are embarrassed if other people look at them. 
Probably good attitude to make the best of things in the war, but not so good when you are not getting what you paid for. 

🤣 Well yes and more fool them if they do/say nothing to the powers that be when they feel something is off (slightly off or a major off - but of course slightly to some can be major to another and vice-versa).

 

But arguably there’s a way to do things that do not need to be so dramatically attention-seeking either onboard or offshore in a restaurant, hotel etc,,, for that matter. And I am only referring to those pompous folk who can’t stop themselves from making a scene. And thankfully most people are capable of mentioning and following-up something in a way without feeling the need to resort to asserting their self-importance or even verbal sparring. Which is thankfully a small number of people on board.

Edited August 18, 2021 by Camberley

[kalos]

It is such a shame when someone dislikes their cruise and their expectations are 

not met . No one should have to wait 1.5 hours to be seated on any cruise-line and 

lets hope they get back to something like but using a rushed out "App" that clearly has

problems does not help the situation . When you have only cruised with an American 

style cruise company who do things different and the same goes for a UK style cruise

you are going to compare but would you really expect them to be the same ? As for the

smile they would be hard to see at the moment as all the staff are wearing a mask.

When we don't like something we tend to look for other faults that really are not there.

That's not to say they could have been better to what we expected . I personally don't

expect a beaming smile when they come to my table .Polite swift service and maybe 

a "is your meal OK sir "during my meal is fine by me . It's worth remembering what  we

were doing a few months back ,certainly not cruising ,most likely moaning and rightly

so about where our money was from our cancelled cruises and that would be all cruise 

lines !  We are still in a pandemic and most cruise-lines are still just starting up really so 

lets remember that ,Nothing going to be perfect and if we don't like something  sad as 

it maybe ,lets just move on to a more happier suitable cruise that does suit us .

 

 

[jamiebarnzy]

Good morning 

 

Does anyone know if the thermal suites are open now? 
 

[sam49]

Just now, jamiebarnzy said:

Good morning 

 

Does anyone know if the thermal suites are open now? 
 

No unfortunately not.

[sandancer]

 Can you help me with info on The Retreat. Is this area open to all guests or suite guests only.? Can you book pre-cruise and what is the cost? Thanks

[sam49]

I have just got off Britannia and the  retreat was closed for the whole cruise. Not sure if it is due to open at any time.

[sandancer]

Thanks Sam. As it is 7 nights it would have been nice to spend some time there. I I could ring them up and ask. There again do I really want to spend my whole day off work being told that they think a 45 minute wait is unacceptable so go away. 

[debsjc]

26 minutes ago, sandancer said:

Thanks Sam. As it is 7 nights it would have been nice to spend some time there. I I could ring them up and ask. There again do I really want to spend my whole day off work being told that they think a 45 minute wait is unacceptable so go away. 

 

The retreat was definitely open on our Aug 8 cruise, we spent 2 days in there! The thermal suite was closed.
Definitely recommend the retreat, it's £25 a day, you book at the spa reception, and they give you a card to access it. I think a 4 day pass was £80 

[silkworms]

Hi Debsjc

 

We are on Med 9 Oct cruise, I am a bit confused as to dining

arrangements, relating to the app.

Were you ALL on freedom dining?  Is Club dining (6.30/8.30} no

longer on Britannia?

We have booked freedom dining but would now prefer the

8.30 sitting and am happy to change it via phone but am

concerned that freedom seemed the only option. Would appreciate 

 your thoughts.

 

Terri

[sandancer]

1 hour ago, debsjc said:

 

The retreat was definitely open on our Aug 8 cruise, we spent 2 days in there! The thermal suite was closed.
Definitely recommend the retreat, it's £25 a day, you book at the spa reception, and they give you a card to access it. I think a 4 day pass was £80 

Fingers crossed. Def want to try it. 

[debsjc]

58 minutes ago, silkworms said:

Hi Debsjc

 

We are on Med 9 Oct cruise, I am a bit confused as to dining

arrangements, relating to the app.

Were you ALL on freedom dining?  Is Club dining (6.30/8.30} no

longer on Britannia?

We have booked freedom dining but would now prefer the

8.30 sitting and am happy to change it via phone but am

concerned that freedom seemed the only option. Would appreciate 

 your thoughts.

 

Terri

 

I believe everyone was on freedom dining.

 

When we embarked it was possible to dinner every day on the app, but only for upto 6pm ,,,,, after that it's just 'virtual waitlist' or turn up and get a pager

[EM35]

6 hours ago, jamiebarnzy said:

Good morning 

 

Does anyone know if the thermal suites are open now? 
 

Hi Jamie, 

I was on Britannia from the 12th-15th August and the Thermal suites were open for the first time during this cruise. You had to book a two hour slot and there was a maximum of 10 people per 2 hour slot. It was £25 per person per session. 

[hamrag]

5 hours ago, sam49 said:

I have just got off Britannia and the  retreat was closed for the whole cruise. Not sure if it is due to open at any time.

It was definitely open on our 3 night 12 August Britannia cruise, although we didn't use it.

[L751]

5 hours ago, debsjc said:

 

I believe everyone was on freedom dining.

 

When we embarked it was possible to dinner every day on the app, but only for upto 6pm ,,,,, after that it's just 'virtual waitlist' or turn up and get a pager

We are on the Med 9th Oct I think it is just freedom for the staycations we have booked first sitting

[silkworms]

43 minutes ago, L751 said:

We are on the Med 9th Oct I think it is just freedom for the staycations we have booked first sitting

Yes, you are correct, I had originally booked freedom but have

now changed it to second sitting, it must have just been the

staycations which were all freedom. Did not want to be hanging

around for an hour or so as described by app users so am quite

happy with 8.30 club dining. Looking forward to it now, why don’t you 

join the roll call which I started a while ago.

 

Terri

[BestGuessed]

45 minutes ago, L751 said:

We are on the Med 9th Oct I think it is just freedom for the staycations we have booked first sitting

I agree that the freedom dining is probably only for the staycation cruises.
We are booked on the 25th September cruise which is the first leaving British waters and our booking confirmation shows we are booked at the second sitting in the main dining room.

[PJL1973]

My thoughts on my first cruise on the Brittania (or any ship on any line) on 15/08:

 

1a. Embarkation was thankfully largely hassle-free and faster than I expected or feared. I got to the terminal by public transport / foot by 12:10 (I had a boarding time of 12:30) and was onboard by 13:20. Didn't take long to have the covid test & was told that test result would come through after 30 minutes, which was the case. But this was more like 20 minutes waiting time as the health check questionaire was done straight after the covid testimg. Boarding / check in was fine. Then security and on to the ship.

 

1b. It helped that I had done a lot of prepation & printing of forms beforehand which greatly helped things - I later learned 20 passengers were turned away from the terminal due to incomplete documentation / misunderstood rules & protocols, including one woman from Edinburgh who thought 2 proofs of identity was all that was needed in lieu of a passport. She was travelling with a freind who ended up boarding the ship without her.

 

2. Couldn't really fault the service. Had no issues with the waiters or any of the crew members. There were a couple of busy periods where I struggled to get noticed, but it was never a long wait before I had service.,

 

3. Food in the MDR was excellent (well apart from the odd cheese platter selection). The buffet selection felt rather limited (though that could just due to covid issues), but was otherwise fine. Pizzas in the poolside grill / pizzeria was good, the hot dog & fries less so.

 

4. Loved the Crows Nest, both in the daytime & at night. Best part of the ship IMO.

 

5. Entertainment was excellent. The music was good & couldn't really fault it as long as you had realistic expectations of what was being played. Though I never expected to hear sea-shanties on a cruise ship. 

 

6. Met some lovely passengers at mealtimes & randomly elsewhere. Overall the atmosphere felt very friendly and safe.

 

7. Disembarkation was super quick and ahead of schedule - 20 minutes from the lido to out of the terminal.

[sandancer]

 

QUOTE 

It helped that I had done a lot of prepation & printing of forms beforehand which greatly helped things - I later learned 20 passengers were turned away from the terminal due to incomplete documentation / misunderstood rules & protocols, 
 

Thanks for all the useful info. 
We are having a little road trip/staycation on the way down to Southampton and will not have access to a printer. The health questionnaire will arrive 3 days before the cruise and we will have left home by then. I note that you mention printing documents. Did this include the questionnaire or would we be able to show it on the phone? I’ve already printed everything else. 

[cruisenewbie1976]

3 minutes ago, sandancer said:

 

QUOTE 

It helped that I had done a lot of prepation & printing of forms beforehand which greatly helped things - I later learned 20 passengers were turned away from the terminal due to incomplete documentation / misunderstood rules & protocols, 
 

Thanks for all the useful info. 
We are having a little road trip/staycation on the way down to Southampton and will not have access to a printer. The health questionnaire will arrive 3 days before the cruise and we will have left home by then. I note that you mention printing documents. Did this include the questionnaire or would we be able to show it on the phone? I’ve already printed everything else. 

You can show it on your phone 🙂

[zap99]

14 minutes ago, sandancer said:

 

QUOTE 

It helped that I had done a lot of prepation & printing of forms beforehand which greatly helped things - I later learned 20 passengers were turned away from the terminal due to incomplete documentation / misunderstood rules & protocols, 
 

Thanks for all the useful info. 
We are having a little road trip/staycation on the way down to Southampton and will not have access to a printer. The health questionnaire will arrive 3 days before the cruise and we will have left home by then. I note that you mention printing documents. Did this include the questionnaire or would we be able to show it on the phone? I’ve already printed everything else. 

They will look at your phone, or the printed form and ask you the same questions again before you check in. If they don't like the photos you uploaded, they will take them again. 

[PJL1973]

I don't have a printer either, but I live just a few minutes away from the nearest library and printed all my stuff there. At 15p a sheet, it wasn't that expensive, and I'll print less next time, knowing what I do now. Also, I've heard phone reception in the terminal isn't the best in the world, so I printed everything to be on the safe side.

Edited August 22, 2021 by PJL1973