Britannia photo review by a P&O newbie

[TheGinBoy]

Hi guys,

 

Thought I'd share my review of our P&O Britannia cruise at the beginning of August. 

 

We're totally new to P&O, and aware we're not necessarily the target demographic, so we booked on as an experiment and boarded with an open mind.

 

Just a bit of background. I'm Tom (36) and I was sailing with my best mate, Craig (35). We're both gay and live and work in London.

 

It's a bit of long review, covers everything from COVID measures, to ship decor, the MyHoliday "app", and dining options - peppered with dozens and dozens of photos which you can click to enlarge.

 

Happy to answer any questions you might have.

 

LINK: https://www.tomlovescruising.com/2021/08/23/britannia/

[shopaholic6]

Great review and pictures! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[TheGinBoy]

Thank you @shopaholic6 - really appreciate it 🙂 

[P&O SUE]

Great review thanks. Been on Britannia for a six night cruise and really looking forward to my 14 night cruise planned for next year.

[TheGinBoy]

3 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Great review thanks. Been on Britannia for a six night cruise and really looking forward to my 14 night cruise planned for next year.

 

You'll have a wonderful time 🙂

[ann141]

Thank YouTom.Great review and a must read for anyone going on or considering Britannia for the first time

[TheGinBoy]

2 minutes ago, ann141 said:

Thank YouTom.Great review and a must read for anyone going on or considering Britannia for the first time

 

Thanks Ann! 🙂

[L751]

Great review Tom

[TheGinBoy]

1 minute ago, L751 said:

Great review Tom

Cheers 🙂

[Son of Anarchy]

Great review Tom, thank you.  Your review of Epicurean may even tempt me to part with some money on Iona next month. 😀

[Astrajet]

9 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Great review Tom, thank you.  Your review of Epicurean may even tempt me to part with some money on Iona next month. 😀

I was thinking exactly the same - we're on Iona this Saturday, so will try and get booked in! 

Thanks Tom - great review. 

[TheGinBoy]

Thanks guys. Glad you found it useful - not too long winded I hope!

[sandancer]

Thanks for a very informative review Tom. We are on. Britannia this Sunday for 7 nights and your review is very helpful. This is only our second P&O cruise and the previous one was a Christmas cruise out of Barbados. So quite a different experience. We are so happy to be cruising again and although the experience is obviously (from your report) not perfect we will make the most of it. 

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Great review Tom, thank you.  Your review of Epicurean may even tempt me to part with some money on Iona next month. 😀

He certainly did make it sound mouth wateringly delicious.

[purplesea]

Good informative review. We have sailed on Britannia on several occasions and enjoyed them all.

[Britboys]

Great, very balanced review Tom. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Purely for future reference, Brodie's isn't actually fleet-wide, it is on Azura, Britannia and Iona. The equivalent on Ventura is The Exchange. Aurora has a sports bar called Champions and Arcadia has a pub named the Rising Sun.

With the two new ships, P&O do seem to be trying to woo a younger demographic (which isn't me 😂) and I feel there will be a much wider age range on Iona and Arvia when she enters service.

[Ardennais]

Thank you, really enjoyed your review. Very well set out and great photos too.

[Dermotsgirl]

Very interesting  to read, Tom, and I liked all the photos too 👍

[suekay]

Great review - thank you.  I'm going on Britannia for the first time in December, although I;ve been on many other cruises,  so your review was really helpful

[smokey01]

Thanks for the review. I was a bit concerned about this

 

’we waited for nearly an hour for our buffet spot when we somehow fell out the queue and had to start the process all over again’

 

so you have to queue to just get in the buffet? I recently saw a YouTube from an Iona cruise and there they just walked in, found their own seat and could make their own tea/coffee. We tend to eat breakfast and lunch in the buffet so not being able to just walk in when ready will be a pain.

 

when joining the virtual queue, either for the buffet or main dining, can you be in your stateroom then just go when the app says to or do you need to be nearby the venue?

[TheGinBoy]

Thanks for all the positive comments and feedback guys. It’s much appreciated - makes all the hours work worth it 😂

[TheGinBoy]

9 minutes ago, smokey01 said:

Thanks for the review. I was a bit concerned about this

 

’we waited for nearly an hour for our buffet spot when we somehow fell out the queue and had to start the process all over again’

 

when joining the virtual queue, either for the buffet or main dining, can you be in your stateroom then just go when the app says to or do you need to be nearby the venue?

You have to join the virtual queue via the MyHoliday app/web page. 
 

You can do this from anywhere on the ship using your phone. If you want to choose the buffet for breakfast (though I’d recommend the MDR) you’d go onto the app, dining choices, and press join queue. I’d recommend doing this as you get ready to head out - they’ll hold your table for 15 mins after you’ve been called. 

[Beckett]

13 hours ago, TheGinBoy said:

Hi guys,

 

Thought I'd share my review of our P&O Britannia cruise at the beginning of August. 

 

We're totally new to P&O, and aware we're not necessarily the target demographic, so we booked on as an experiment and boarded with an open mind.

 

Just a bit of background. I'm Tom (36) and I was sailing with my best mate, Craig (35). We're both gay and live and work in London.

 

It's a bit of long review, covers everything from COVID measures, to ship decor, the MyHoliday "app", and dining options - peppered with dozens and dozens of photos which you can click to enlarge.

 

Happy to answer any questions you might have.

 

LINK: https://www.tomlovescruising.com/2021/08/23/britannia/

What a fantastic and well-balanced review Tom. I really enjoyed reading it and the pictures were great. Thank you very much. Jane.x

[Angel57]

13 hours ago, TheGinBoy said:

Hi guys,

 

Thought I'd share my review of our P&O Britannia cruise at the beginning of August. 

 

We're totally new to P&O, and aware we're not necessarily the target demographic, so we booked on as an experiment and boarded with an open mind.

 

Just a bit of background. I'm Tom (36) and I was sailing with my best mate, Craig (35). We're both gay and live and work in London.

 

It's a bit of long review, covers everything from COVID measures, to ship decor, the MyHoliday "app", and dining options - peppered with dozens and dozens of photos which you can click to enlarge.

 

Happy to answer any questions you might have.

 

LINK: https://www.tomlovescruising.com/2021/08/23/britannia/

Great review Tom. Thank you for posting such a clear and interesting review.

Gill

[Golfwidow100]

This is a great review Tom, very interesting and informative so thank you for taking the time to do it. Love the layout, it's really clear and the photos are an added bonus. We will be first timers on P & O in November when we go on Iona. Looking forward to experiencing a different line and it will be wonderful being back on a ship again.