Britannia reviews

For me, the ship is too large and impersonal, at times appearing to struggle to cope with the number of passengers (shortages in the buffet, slow bar service, average food standards in restaurant). It lacks any culture and I am left with the feeling that P&O is chasing a mass market audience, offering low budget entertainment to fill the ship. The number of restaurants requiring an additional cover charge, the charge of £45 to attend a cookery class and the constant inducements in the daily programme to spend more money on board are not to my liking. For those who like this type of cruise, this is probably a good ship but I shall try to avoid it in future and will not be tempted to try the new Iona. A pity, because the itinerary was good and visited a good, varied selection of the islands.

This cruise was superb. I loved every minute of it. The ship was huge and had many areas which were beautiful! Our room was an adequate size and had everything in it you would have expected. The ship had a host of different venues along with a good variety of entertainment. Dining was absolutely wonderful with a vast range of food choices, even though the food in the restaurants could have been hotter at times. I went as a solo traveller and made many new friends! This cruise as certainly made me catch the cruising bug!

This was our first cruise and we were unsure of what to expect! We couldn't have been happier with the ship, cabin, facilities, entertainment, food and service we received from start to finish. The only reason I did not rate 5 stars for excursions was solely because of the price which I found to be rather on the expensive side and they seemed to want to get you back on board the ship early rather than spending more time on the excursion in resort. That said, the excursions we did go on were extremely well organised, Lastly the rating for value for money 3 stars. . . . we did choose a particular cabin, area of the ship and the deck so we knew we would pay extra for this but the food included in the price was to have food readily available 24 hours a day which no person could ever eat even if they remained awake every hours of the day!! I feel that every customer is penalised for the amount of food that is catered and all the wastage when it is cleared away after a couple of hours and becomes fish food as most people do not consume food minute by minute. All in all we had a fantastic time and it was a pleasant change to the normal kind of vacation we would take.

Overall very good. Couldnt stop in Italy due to unforseen circumstances, tried to get a gesture of good will from them, P&O very rigid on complaints and they make it as difficult and awkward to complain sighting the terms and conditions to the letter of the law. Gave up in the end as were going around in circles.

our first attempt at cruising. . . we enjoyed the experience very much. our balcony cabin was comfortable and adequate for our needs. the tv had plenty of old/recent films to watch. activities and entertainment were ok but nothing spectacular, but felt the entertainment staff worked very hard during the cruise and enjoyed the sailaways!!!. felt the excursions were expensive for what they were and not that interesting to be honest (could have done trips cheaper with local taxis etc). the sunbeds around the pool were so close together and there wasn't that much shade if you wanted it. the dining arrangements worked well, nice to share a table and chat to other passengers but we did feel the informality of the buffet more to our taste. the staff were friendly and efficient. would we go again? on a repositioning cruise - yes, it was a means of going home without jetlag.

Britannia is a great ship and despite her size, didn’t seem too busy. P&O service was excellent as always and the itinerary great.

The Britannia was too large in my opinion but enjoyed every minute of it, the ports where we stopped were beautiful !

Overall the cruise was very nice. Breakfast served was very good, although a change in tables during the latter part of the cruise when the service was a bit haphazard. The evening sitting with our allocated table was excellent with terrific service from the two waiters. We were fine with onboard activities, the quizzes, karaoke nights and the shows. A little disappointed with some of the ports of call in the canaries, we found them a little bleak, although we appreciate they are volcanic islands. One of the islands which put on a shuttle bus for those with walking difficulties took us from the ship to the edge of the town. On the way back the bus picked us up and drove around the container docks then dropped us about 150 metres from where we had got on the bus. This we think was to let us go through the duty free zone, unfortunately that meant a quarter mile walk back then to the ship. Very difficult for a large number of people.

We were a bit worried before we went away because of the size of the ship but we were surprised just how spacious the Britannia was and we never got the feeling of being over crowded. Everything was first class and we would have no hesitation in recommending the cruise company. The on boat activities were v good as we were crossing the Atlantic there were several days at sea. We were exceptionally lucky with the weather for the time of the year which of course the cruise line has no control over.

Our first time with P & O and on their flagship Britannia. I would describe their service as brilliant and the cost real value for money. The ship itself was a big disappointment, whoever designed a ship with no promenade deck should be sacked. No midship stairs either. The whole colour scheme from the stairs to atrium area and even the artworks on display could only be described as “beige”. Great itinerary. We won’t be travelling on this ship again but may try a different P & O ship.