Live from Britannia

[TigerB]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks. Interesting to hear that you prefer Iona. We are on her in 4 weeks time and I’m still quite anxious about it, in spite of just having had a good cruise on Britannia. August school holidays would be our absolute last choice for a cruise on Iona or Arvia, but one of our daughters partners is a teacher so we have no choice 😱

 

I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Yes, there will be a fair few kids on board, that may impact on MDR reservations but, of the seven nights I would expect you will likely be eating in speciality restaurants for three of those; twice in Epicurean, with one being the tasting menu, and once in Sindhu maybe.

At least you can book ahead on the Cruise Planner for those restaurants, and in doing so, benefit from the 20% early booking discount and also your Peninsular discount.  

TOP TIP: Make sure you go on the planner as soon as the dining is released, even if it is a little after your bedtime, to secure the tasting menu reservation; as I have previously written, they went very quickly.

 

I know you eat later than us, and will have an expectation of using the app for your MDR reservations; however, as I've previously said, a visit early doors to ask about a six-seater table for the evenings you want may pay off, particularly as there are four MDRs. 

Unlike Britannia, I don't think you'll have a problem getting into an MDR for lunch with a very short or no wait.

 

I know it is a bit 'marmite' with folk on here, but you may wish to try the Chef's Table, just to say you've done it and so you can write about your experience on here. We didn't like it on Arvia, but some folk have had a better experience of it on Iona.

Don't forget also the Olive Grove on Iona is, in my opinion, easier to get into and better than the one on Arvia. If you fancied it for lunch instead of the MDR, you shouldn't find a problem getting in.

 

Good luck with your final planning for that trip.  I can't remember if you said you've been to Hellesylt before; I have a feeling you have. If not, approach the top of the waterfall from the left as it will be easier for you pushing the wheelchair. 

[P&O SUE]

On 7/19/2023 at 12:40 PM, Presto2 said:

That's what makes it even more annoying re the other ships allowing it and they have more choice. Just ridiculous. We've always been able to do it in the past before we cruised so why not now?

I don't get that one at all.

You can do most of them on Ventura before you go! Strange all the ships are different.

[P&O SUE]

Thank you Selbourne for a very enjoyable read. Looking forward to the next one!

[AndyMichelle]

17 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks. Interesting to hear that you prefer Iona. We are on her in 4 weeks time and I’m still quite anxious about it, in spite of just having had a good cruise on Britannia. August school holidays would be our absolute last choice for a cruise on Iona or Arvia, but one of our daughters partners is a teacher so we have no choice 😱

I'm not sure you have anything to worry about with Iona. 

Like you, it would have been our last choice, but talking to our youngest yesterday and wanting to plan a cruise with her and her partner, Iona seems to be the winner. 

It will be a different holiday, but they would much prefer more choice of dining and entertainment and I'm sure we would embrace it. 

Thinking about the food options on the other ships, it was fine for us, but I think they would find it repetitive and boring. 

I have told them we won't book anything until after your cruise as we trust your judgement 😊

No pressure...😂😂😂

Andy 

[Selbourne]

15 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Yes, there will be a fair few kids on board, that may impact on MDR reservations but, of the seven nights I would expect you will likely be eating in speciality restaurants for three of those; twice in Epicurean, with one being the tasting menu, and once in Sindhu maybe.

At least you can book ahead on the Cruise Planner for those restaurants, and in doing so, benefit from the 20% early booking discount and also your Peninsular discount.  

TOP TIP: Make sure you go on the planner as soon as the dining is released, even if it is a little after your bedtime, to secure the tasting menu reservation; as I have previously written, they went very quickly.

 

I know you eat later than us, and will have an expectation of using the app for your MDR reservations; however, as I've previously said, a visit early doors to ask about a six-seater table for the evenings you want may pay off, particularly as there are four MDRs. 

Unlike Britannia, I don't think you'll have a problem getting into an MDR for lunch with a very short or no wait.

 

I know it is a bit 'marmite' with folk on here, but you may wish to try the Chef's Table, just to say you've done it and so you can write about your experience on here. We didn't like it on Arvia, but some folk have had a better experience of it on Iona.

Don't forget also the Olive Grove on Iona is, in my opinion, easier to get into and better than the one on Arvia. If you fancied it for lunch instead of the MDR, you shouldn't find a problem getting in.

 

Good luck with your final planning for that trip.  I can't remember if you said you've been to Hellesylt before; I have a feeling you have. If not, approach the top of the waterfall from the left as it will be easier for you pushing the wheelchair. 

Thanks. I shall be booking everything as soon as I can. The Chefs Table concept just doesn’t appeal, so we will aim for the MDR for the formal night. When chatting to DaiB on Britannia he gave me a good tip that Keel & Cow is better for dinner than lunch, so we might go for an evening reservation in there and use Olive Grove for one or two lunches. We haven’t been to Hellesylt so thanks for the tip. We specifically booked this cruise as Geiranger was the only one of the ‘big 3’ fjords that we hadn’t been to. The irony is that after going on this cruise we still won’t have been there 🙄

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

I'm not sure you have anything to worry about with Iona. 

Like you, it would have been our last choice, but talking to our youngest yesterday and wanting to plan a cruise with her and her partner, Iona seems to be the winner. 

It will be a different holiday, but they would much prefer more choice of dining and entertainment and I'm sure we would embrace it. 

Thinking about the food options on the other ships, it was fine for us, but I think they would find it repetitive and boring. 

I have told them we won't book anything until after your cruise as we trust your judgement 😊

No pressure...😂😂😂

Andy 

Yes, our daughters felt the same Andy. They prefer the newer ships with better options, but it will be Dad who has all the stress of the pre-planning and staying up until the early hours securing reservations etc 😂 In truth, my wife and I are looking forward to trying the ship as well, as we have been on all the other P&O ships (except Arvia) as well a few that are no longer with us and we were booked on the very original maiden cruise - but that wasn’t due to be in the school summer holidays!

[TigerB]

45 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks. I shall be booking everything as soon as I can. The Chefs Table concept just doesn’t appeal, so we will aim for the MDR for the formal night. When chatting to DaiB on Britannia he gave me a good tip that Keel & Cow is better for dinner than lunch, so we might go for an evening reservation in there and use Olive Grove for one or two lunches. We haven’t been to Hellesylt so thanks for the tip. We specifically booked this cruise as Geiranger was the only one of the ‘big 3’ fjords that we hadn’t been to. The irony is that after going on this cruise we still won’t have been there 🙄

 

Yes, it would have been on the itinerary for us when we originally booked for the maiden season in 2020.  One day, maybe.🤞

 

Here's a link to that waterfall post, to save you searching...

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2943400-not-quite-live-from-iona-g318-fjords-10th-june/page/5/#comment-65551769

[daiB]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Yes, our daughters felt the same Andy. They prefer the newer ships with better options, but it will be Dad who has all the stress of the pre-planning and staying up until the early hours securing reservations etc 😂 In truth, my wife and I are looking forward to trying the ship as well, as we have been on all the other P&O ships (except Arvia) as well a few that are no longer with us and we were booked on the very original maiden cruise - but that wasn’t due to be in the school summer holidays!

So you are on Iona during the school summer holidays. 😈 Be afraid be very afraid. 😈

 

Gan Canny

 

Dai.

 

😎 😎 😎

[CruisingConnor]

Thank you @Selbourne for your informative blog. I have been following in the run up to my own 14-night Britannia cruise, which I boarded yesterday.

 

This is my fifth post-Covid P&O cruise and third on Britannia, but it surprises me how much changes and I learn each time. I come especially open-minded to this one, being my first ‘on-peak’ summer holidays sailing since Covid, and also the first likely to be at 100% occupancy.

 

I won’t promise to keep anything as thorough as yours going but I have time for some initial impressions at least…

 

Positives:

 

- Boarding was very efficient. I do wonder at what cost - no more health declaration, no questions about travel insurance, and so on. But quicker as a result.

 

- The crew have noticeably improved. They appear to be back in the swing of things and are warm and polite.

 

- The ship looks in decent nick for her age.

 

- Wi-Fi is working well once you stomach the price.

 

- The buffet (or trough as I like to call it!) is far better than feared, helped I’m sure by the fact they are opening more of them at once. Getting rid of the trays sounded like a pain but is a good thing… less waste, less space.

 

- I was pleasantly surprised at the MDR food on the first night, and the service was brilliant.

 

- The new drinks package is good. I went for the classic one. With the Peninsular discount it worked out about £500 for the two weeks, which isn’t bad. The crew are well-trained on it. Mixers come in bottles and cans rather than draught splashes, which was a pleasant surprise as I thought that might be reserved for deluxe. So far I am pleased. 

 

Less positive:

 

- One of the main pools is out of service. There have been no comms as to why or how long. Terrible timing.

 

- I’m in a mid-deck aft balcony cabin and the vibration is constant. It’s not horrendous but I haven’t noticed this on Britannia before and it did make it harder to fall asleep. I acknowledge we are currently steaming ahead at full speed in slight seas to make it to Gibraltar in just two sea days, so perhaps this will improve at slower cruising speeds.

 

- I have never had an issue with the app that isn’t an app. But it seems freedom dining simply doesn’t work so far. In addition to the ‘queue full’ mentioned above, some restaurants just disappear only half way through their opening time as if they never existed. I am fortunately on club dining which I prefer, but I believe that I am only enjoying that due to my booking being TWID’d with a suite and we dine together. Otherwise I’d probably have freedom and be dealing with that. Selfishly then, this is not affecting me at the moment, and we have plenty of speciality restaurants booked which I am looking forward to. But it is something I will bear in mind for the future, as I generally book late saver fares with a luck of the draw balcony cabin, meaning I’d be last in the queue for club dining on my own.

 

- As always a minority of passengers letting the side down, such as an individual this morning refilling a personal bottle at the buffet water machine. I could turn a blind eye but not when you’ve put the full narrow neck of the previously enjoyed bottle right round the nozzle. What is wrong with some people. 
 

- The lack of midship stairs continues to annoy. Lifts naturally very busy but I have committed to stairs only this cruise!

 

But so far so good. Let’s hope for some warmer weather soon!

[CruisingConnor]

On and a couple more things re the drinks package I forgot to mention:

 

- The sticker comes on your cruise card already. No more having to go to a bar and queue to get your sticker (how silly was that!).

 

- If you have an early boarding time, before cabins are ready, the first thing you might want to do is get a drink and a bite to eat. Well, this is before you have your cruise card, so explaining you have a package is quite cumbersome and you may need a copy of the receipt like I did. Room for improvement there P&O. The kind crew did sort in the end though. 

[Presto2]

Many thanks for this. Looking forward to following your 'adventures' ! 🙂

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, daiB said:

So you are on Iona during the school summer holidays. 😈 Be afraid be very afraid. 😈

 

Gan Canny

 

Dai.

 

😎 😎 😎

Thanks for your support Dai 🤣 It was good to meet you both and I hope that you had a good journey back up to the North East. 

[Britboys]

On 7/21/2023 at 1:08 PM, Astrajet said:

We had a super two week Med cruise on Britannia last September and DH, who is a dedicated walker, used "The Promenade" on deck 18 to walk several miles on most days. Like yourself, our favourite ship is Aurora but we really enjoyed Britannia and have booked on her again for next year and also 2025!  We too sincerely hope that Club Dining on her remains in place.

 

Have a great cruise to Norway on Aurora - we thoroughly enjoyed ours and it was great to be back on Aurora.

Glad to hear you had a great time. The problem with deck 18 is that it's (as far as I am aware) open to the elements of wind, rain and sun. Also, I tend to be down on the Promenade Deck at sailaways too. I prefer being closer to the water...

[Astrajet]

5 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Glad to hear you had a great time. The problem with deck 18 is that it's (as far as I am aware) open to the elements of wind, rain and sun. Also, I tend to be down on the Promenade Deck at sailaways too. I prefer being closer to the water...

Hubby says it was ok up on 18 but you are indeed open to the elements! I didn't venture up there, so can't comment 😉! 

 

Enjoy the sailaways & walks on Aurora next month - I'll keep an eye on Herts whilst you're away!

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, CruisingConnor said:

Thank you @Selbourne for your informative blog. I have been following in the run up to my own 14-night Britannia cruise, which I boarded yesterday.

 

This is my fifth post-Covid P&O cruise and third on Britannia, but it surprises me how much changes and I learn each time. I come especially open-minded to this one, being my first ‘on-peak’ summer holidays sailing since Covid, and also the first likely to be at 100% occupancy.

 

I won’t promise to keep anything as thorough as yours going but I have time for some initial impressions at least…

 

Positives:

 

- Boarding was very efficient. I do wonder at what cost - no more health declaration, no questions about travel insurance, and so on. But quicker as a result.

 

- The crew have noticeably improved. They appear to be back in the swing of things and are warm and polite.

 

- The ship looks in decent nick for her age.

 

- Wi-Fi is working well once you stomach the price.

 

- The buffet (or trough as I like to call it!) is far better than feared, helped I’m sure by the fact they are opening more of them at once. Getting rid of the trays sounded like a pain but is a good thing… less waste, less space.

 

- I was pleasantly surprised at the MDR food on the first night, and the service was brilliant.

 

- The new drinks package is good. I went for the classic one. With the Peninsular discount it worked out about £500 for the two weeks, which isn’t bad. The crew are well-trained on it. Mixers come in bottles and cans rather than draught splashes, which was a pleasant surprise as I thought that might be reserved for deluxe. So far I am pleased. 

 

Less positive:

 

- One of the main pools is out of service. There have been no comms as to why or how long. Terrible timing.

 

- I’m in a mid-deck aft balcony cabin and the vibration is constant. It’s not horrendous but I haven’t noticed this on Britannia before and it did make it harder to fall asleep. I acknowledge we are currently steaming ahead at full speed in slight seas to make it to Gibraltar in just two sea days, so perhaps this will improve at slower cruising speeds.

 

- I have never had an issue with the app that isn’t an app. But it seems freedom dining simply doesn’t work so far. In addition to the ‘queue full’ mentioned above, some restaurants just disappear only half way through their opening time as if they never existed. I am fortunately on club dining which I prefer, but I believe that I am only enjoying that due to my booking being TWID’d with a suite and we dine together. Otherwise I’d probably have freedom and be dealing with that. Selfishly then, this is not affecting me at the moment, and we have plenty of speciality restaurants booked which I am looking forward to. But it is something I will bear in mind for the future, as I generally book late saver fares with a luck of the draw balcony cabin, meaning I’d be last in the queue for club dining on my own.

 

- As always a minority of passengers letting the side down, such as an individual this morning refilling a personal bottle at the buffet water machine. I could turn a blind eye but not when you’ve put the full narrow neck of the previously enjoyed bottle right round the nozzle. What is wrong with some people. 
 

- The lack of midship stairs continues to annoy. Lifts naturally very busy but I have committed to stairs only this cruise!

 

But so far so good. Let’s hope for some warmer weather soon!

Have a great cruise. We left her in good shape for you 😂 

 

The vibration was a weird one. It was quite persistent some days and wasn’t dependent on sea conditions. Hamburg back to Southampton was like a mill pond (never seen the English Channel so calm) and yet the vibration in our cabin was noticeable all the time. It didn’t really bother us but might unsettle some. From memory, it wasn’t as bad at slower speeds. 
 

Freedom Dining definitely brings its challenges and having had a really good road test of the app for almost every meal over 14 days it gives me no pleasure to say that the problems that I could foresee with it before using it were clear for all to see at peak times. Early diners will have no issues with it, but we are late diners and we found that we had to adopt a ‘strategy’ so that we could eat roughly when we wanted to, which was a level of hassle that we hadn’t had before. I shall cover all of this, and some tips for others based on our experiences, in my final thoughts post. 

[July morning]

Selbourne,  Thank you for your updates I've read them all 🙂 I also look forward to your thoughts on Iona as I have seen a cruise on her that would fit in with my Daughter and Grandson (he's well behaved!) 

We were on Britannia last year and on Ventura in October and I'm silently hoping it's not going to be "old Fashioned" I have been on Ventura many times pre "C" fingers crossed for me!

[smokey01]

5 hours ago, CruisingConnor said:

As always a minority of passengers letting the side down, such as an individual this morning refilling a personal bottle at the buffet water machine. I could turn a blind eye but not when you’ve put the full narrow neck of the previously enjoyed bottle right round the nozzle. What is wrong with some people. 
 

I saw this on Arvia last April, I was shocked. Yes, if the bottle was below the nozzle I would have been ‘well that’s not so bad’ but this was touching the nozzle. I’m ashamed to say I did not say anything or mention it to staff.

 

[9265359]

50 minutes ago, smokey01 said:

I saw this on Arvia last April, I was shocked. Yes, if the bottle was below the nozzle I would have been ‘well that’s not so bad’ but this was touching the nozzle. I’m ashamed to say I did not say anything or mention it to staff.

 

 

As mentioned on another thread, I saw someone doing exactly the same thing. I mentioned it to the staff member who was stood immediately next to the 'bottle filler' to ask them to clean it and the miscreant (an elderly well dressed poshly spoken person) reacted rather poorly.

 

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

The vibration was a weird one. It was quite persistent some days and wasn’t dependent on sea conditions. Hamburg back to Southampton was like a mill pond (never seen the English Channel so calm) and yet the vibration in our cabin was noticeable all the time. It didn’t really bother us but might unsettle some. From memory, it wasn’t as bad at slower speeds. 

 

I guess it depends where your cabin is as there was no vibration at all in mine (front section, A deck).

 

Other thoughts - 

 

Ship design - a B minus to the designer - no way to promenade around the outside. Dead-ends on deck 17 at the gym with the only way to the rear sun decks being up or down stairs. Awful layout of seats in the cinema. Virtually no natural light in the atrium. And as for whoever programmed the lifts - make them walk the plank. 

 

Cabins - inside more spacious than other ships, a decent TV and range of in-house films, but no USB sockets and too few plug sockets. Outside on the balcony - well don't go swinging any cats unless you want them to have concussion.

 

Food - MDR - Had worse, had better. The main issue with the MRD evening menus is they have gone backwards and they are now as dull as ditch water. For goodness sake, not everyone wants a roast meat meal - how about some imaginative food from the rest of the world. Glass House food was good, but the menu was limited.

 

MDR service - chaotic at lunchtime on seadays, and on the odd occasion in the evenings (fixed late seating) when it was full (although most nights it wasn't).

 

Cinema - other than the seating arrangement, the issue was the films they were showing, which were mainly 'straight to video' stuff that nobody had ever heard of, or stuff that was decades old. And the timing of films was daft - almost designed on purpose to clash with meal times.

 

Entertainment - Mostly good, but... for goodness sake accurately represent what the act is - don't entice people by saying it is X and then delivering Y because no matter how good Y is the audience will not be happy.

 

Gym - turn the damn aircon down, as it was far too hot in there.

 

Bars - glad to see that they have moved away from 'only that bar will serve that drink' although the menus still imply it, but still disappointed that the canapés have not returned in the Crows nest. Also surprised to see quite how many people were willing to pay the exorbitant price for the drinks package - and then trying to get their money's worth. 

 

Boarding and disembarkation - all worked fine for me.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, 9265359 said:

 

As mentioned on another thread, I saw someone doing exactly the same thing. I mentioned it to the staff member who was stood immediately next to the 'bottle filler' to ask them to clean it and the miscreant (an elderly well dressed poshly spoken person) reacted rather poorly.

 

 

I guess it depends where your cabin is as there was no vibration at all in mine (front section, A deck).

 

Other thoughts - 

 

Ship design - a B minus to the designer - no way to promenade around the outside. Dead-ends on deck 17 at the gym with the only way to the rear sun decks being up or down stairs. Awful layout of seats in the cinema. Virtually no natural light in the atrium. And as for whoever programmed the lifts - make them walk the plank. 

 

Cabins - inside more spacious than other ships, a decent TV and range of in-house films, but no USB sockets and too few plug sockets. Outside on the balcony - well don't go swinging any cats unless you want them to have concussion.

 

Food - MDR - Had worse, had better. The main issue with the MRD evening menus is they have gone backwards and they are now as dull as ditch water. For goodness sake, not everyone wants a roast meat meal - how about some imaginative food from the rest of the world. Glass House food was good, but the menu was limited.

 

MDR service - chaotic at lunchtime on seadays, and on the odd occasion in the evenings (fixed late seating) when it was full (although most nights it wasn't).

 

Cinema - other than the seating arrangement, the issue was the films they were showing, which were mainly 'straight to video' stuff that nobody had ever heard of, or stuff that was decades old. And the timing of films was daft - almost designed on purpose to clash with meal times.

 

Entertainment - Mostly good, but... for goodness sake accurately represent what the act is - don't entice people by saying it is X and then delivering Y because no matter how good Y is the audience will not be happy.

 

Gym - turn the damn aircon down, as it was far too hot in there.

 

Bars - glad to see that they have moved away from 'only that bar will serve that drink' although the menus still imply it, but still disappointed that the canapés have not returned in the Crows nest. Also surprised to see quite how many people were willing to pay the exorbitant price for the drinks package - and then trying to get their money's worth. 

 

Boarding and disembarkation - all worked fine for me.

Vibration issues tend to be restricted to the aft section, as it’s caused by the propellers. 
 

FYI you can walk through the gym from the lift area to the sun decks. It involves a dog leg, so isn’t obvious, but I did it several times.
 

Your comment about the air con reminded me of something that my wife and I both noticed, but I forgot to mention in my review. On cruise ships the air con is always a bit too cool for my wife (fine for me) but Britannia was noticeably warmer than usual. We felt that some areas were quite warm and only one place that still felt quite cool (Crystal Room). It dawned on me that given how expensive it must be to cool a ship the size of Britannia, I can see why they would crank up the thermostat a few degrees. In warmer months it will save them an absolute fortune - far more than a lot of the other cost saving measures combined!

 

One other thing that I forgot to mention was that the scrapping of the ability to have a part used bottle of wine kept for your next meal in the MDR resulted in us spending significantly less on wine for this cruise than previous ones. That policy is certainly one where the accountants didn’t allow for unintended consequences!

 

It was almost the end of the cruise before we worked out that you can get drinks in bars that aren’t on the menu. I wonder who came up with the daft idea to only list ‘selected’ drinks? 🤔

[Gettingwarmer]

Although this is good news on Britannia we found on Iona that they didn’t have the basic drink ingredients behind the bar  to provide drinks, this was especially in the Crows Nest and the atrium. 

[Presto2]

We noticed that the cocktail menu was massively reduced. We asked for basic cocktails not on the list and it was a major issue for some less experienced staff

[ohnonotmeagain]

12 hours ago, Presto2 said:

We noticed that the cocktail menu was massively reduced. We asked for basic cocktails not on the list and it was a major issue for some less experienced staff

The same for us on Britannia in April. Crows nest couldn't make a  Tom Collins even though they had the ingredients behind the bar for making other drinks. 

I don't know if it's inexperienced stuff or what 🤔

[9265359]

15 hours ago, Selbourne said:

FYI you can walk through the gym from the lift area to the sun decks. It involves a dog leg, so isn’t obvious, but I did it several times.

 

Only if you go through the Cookery Club, which you can't if it is running a class, as the other side is 'The Reef' teenagers club (which none of them were using).

 

16 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Your comment about the air con reminded me of something that my wife and I both noticed, but I forgot to mention in my review. On cruise ships the air con is always a bit too cool for my wife (fine for me) but Britannia was noticeably warmer than usual. We felt that some areas were quite warm and only one place that still felt quite cool (Crystal Room). It dawned on me that given how expensive it must be to cool a ship the size of Britannia, I can see why they would crank up the thermostat a few degrees. In warmer months it will save them an absolute fortune - far more than a lot of the other cost saving measures combined!

 

True, but as the gym is a discrete area they could have just that section set to a cooler temperature.

 

16 hours ago, Selbourne said:

It was almost the end of the cruise before we worked out that you can get drinks in bars that aren’t on the menu. I wonder who came up with the daft idea to only list ‘selected’ drinks? 🤔

 

I can sort of see the logic that you might want to make certain areas 'special', for example Brodies with the beer, the Glass House with wine, and the Crows Nest or the Blue Bar with cocktails. 

 

The trouble was that the range of "classic cocktails" in the Crows Nest were nothing of the sort - they were things that had been invented by P&O and were certainly not 'classics' and so previously if you did want something drinkable then you had to bring it from another bar.

[Selbourne]

35 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

Only if you go through the Cookery Club, which you can't if it is running a class, as the other side is 'The Reef' teenagers club (which none of them were using).

 

I’m going to struggle to explain how I did, it but I’ll try. I entered the gym from open deck side. I walked the length of the gym, past all the exercise equipment and past the aerobics studio on the right where they do classes (and have more equipment). I then did a dog-leg right and immediately left, which lead me directly out to the aft lift area. I definitely didn’t go through the Cookery Club. I’ve just looked at the deck plan and you can see the route I’m describing. I should say that although I walked through the gym 3 or 4 times, it was always from the open deck side towards the lift lobby, not the other way around. I guess that there’s a possibility that the door out to the deck area from the gym can only be opened from the outside, but if so that would seem to be a fire risk?

 

Edit - Just re-read your post and you meant the little bit with the terrace pool right at the back. I thought you meant the main open deck areas of deck 17 which are all forward of the gym. Apologies. I never went to that bit. 
 

 

Edited July 23, 2023 by Selbourne

[9265359]

6 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Edit - Just re-read your post and you meant the little bit with the terrace pool right at the back. I thought you meant the main open deck areas of deck 17 which are all forward of the gym.

 

That's exactly it - head towards the back of the ship through the gym and into the lift lobby, on your left is the Cookery Club and on your right is the H2O Reef club, so the only exit is up the narrow set of stairs next to the Cookery Club to get outside (or go down the main stairs to deck 16 and then back up the outside stairs to deck 17).

 

It just seemed a pretty poor design to me.

 

6 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Apologies. I never went to that bit. 

 

That area on 17 with the small pool was quite a nice area to sit or sunbathe because like you, few people actually found it!