Caribbean. 2025

[Deeliteful]

Looking at a Caribbean next January. I have cruised many times with various lines including P&O.

Britannia itinerary looks best but reviews of the ship are all pretty dire.

Arvia itinerary ok and enjoyed our fjords cruise on her sister ship.

Any thoughts please from people who have cruised the Caribbean?

TIA

Pat

[terrierjohn]

Britannia has a great pool deck with big pools, and a separate adults only serenity pool, but no prom deck.

Arvia has a great prom deck but teeny weeny pools, although the Sky dome pool does have a swim up bar.

[david63]

5 minutes ago, Deeliteful said:

Britannia itinerary looks best but reviews of the ship are all pretty dire.

Not sure where you have seen these "dire" reviews of Britannia but I have not found any issues with her - in fact she is probably our favourite ship in P&O's fleet.

 

Any problems that have been reported are probably more to do with P&O's current policies and procedures which will apply to all ships.

[Selbourne]

6 minutes ago, Deeliteful said:

Looking at a Caribbean next January. I have cruised many times with various lines including P&O.

Britannia itinerary looks best but reviews of the ship are all pretty dire.

Arvia itinerary ok and enjoyed our fjords cruise on her sister ship.

Any thoughts please from people who have cruised the Caribbean?

TIA

Pat

We went on Britannia last summer (4th time on her) and aside from some problems with Freedom Dining, we enjoyed the cruise and the ship. The lack of promenade deck is an issue if you don’t have a balcony (which we always have).
 

Having recently returned from the Caribbean, I would always pick the ship that visits the most ports. Arvia and Iona cruises tend to be somewhat ‘port lite’ compared to the other ships, and as we aren’t as keen on sea days we would always book the smaller ships over them (not that Britannia is small)!

[Thedonkeycentrehalf]

We were on Britannia around the Caribbean in February and it was fine.  The only issue we had was with hot water in the bathroom sink and that was fixed within a few hours.

 

We are not fans of sea days so visiting so many different places was great for us and would take port choice over days on the 'floating hotel' any day.

[Vampiress88]

I like Britannia, also done iona and Arvia. 
I would normally pick based on itinerary rather than ship

[Barbadossunshine]

If I was being fussy the only issue for me for Britannia is the lack of the Promonade Deck. Booked for February 2025 for the Caribbean and booked because of the Itinary this time. I always go with an open mind. Everyone experience is different. Have been on Arvia which I liked. And on Iona on June 2025.

Edited April 15 by Barbadossunshine

[Deeliteful]

Thanks all. Also just seen she’s in for a refit too.

[silkworms]

Booked for Feb also. Itinerary looks much better on Britannia than Arvia.

Ship is filling up fast!

[janieb1962]

Arvia wasn’t for me (Caribbean Nov 2033)… beautiful decor but didn’t feel like a ship more like a resort ! 5 sea days are too much if you want to sunbathe you need to be on a lounger in the middle of the night!
lots of entertainment and dining options though

 

[janieb1962]

19 hours ago, Deeliteful said:

Thanks all. Also just seen she’s in for a refit too.

Don’t expect much difference I think a lot is behind the scenes and some venue changes. 

We have booked the same suite again for January 2025 so hoping they fix the dripping ceiling ! 🤣

[Presto2]

On 4/15/2024 at 9:46 AM, Deeliteful said:

Looking at a Caribbean next January. I have cruised many times with various lines including P&O.

Britannia itinerary looks best but reviews of the ship are all pretty dire.

Arvia itinerary ok and enjoyed our fjords cruise on her sister ship.

Any thoughts please from people who have cruised the Caribbean?

TIA

Pat

We had a fabulous time on our first Caribbean cruise in January 2024 on Britannia and rebooked for January 2025 on board. Our review is on CC. It is a lovely ship which needs some tlc after being in service now since 2015 but she is now having a refurb.

 

I would recommend a cruise in the Caribbean on her 100%. Just remember, you are not paying lots so value for money is excellent in our opinion and beats other cruise lines (including TUI) hands down in terms of what you pay. 

 

Give it a go - if you go to enjoy yourself and not pick fault you will have a great time

[Presto2]

Ps when we were on Britannia we were told that she was sailing with more passengers than her bigger sister Arvia. How true that is, I can not guarantee, but a number of people on there who had sailed on Arvia said they much preferred their cruise on Britannia. 

Forgot to mention, we took the advice of other CC members and paid for Premium Seats on the flights. It is not cheap, but it was great and we would recommend if you can afford it. If you do want these seats though, you have to book early.

 

Link to our review

 

 

Edited April 16 by Presto2

[Deeliteful]

Thanks all. We’ve booked Britannia incl. premium on flight back. Balcony on Deck 9 midships.

🥳🥳

[Presto2]

10 minutes ago, Deeliteful said:

Thanks all. We’ve booked Britannia incl. premium on flight back. Balcony on Deck 9 midships.

🥳🥳

Great. You will have a lovely time. 

So pleased you took the plunge..

[Deeliteful]

Never had a bad cruise 😂 some better than others but never a bad one!