Cloudyrain

No, I thought I read Britannia had a new venue with flavoured donuts… I mean saying it out loud it does sound like a dream 😂

They are very good with food restrictions and alternatives are available. Contact MSC before you travel: this is really important and means they can assist a lot better. They will then ask your father to speak to the Food and Beverage manager: they usually provide an open appointment hours on a card in the cabin. They can ensure that adjustments are made in the MDR for food by checking the menu for the following day and choosing food in advance. We found there were options in the buffet for Oat, Soya, and Almond or Coconut milk - not all were always available, but staff were able to get them if they had ran out. In the MDR is was only Soya I my experience, most other venues about the ship didn’t have any alternative milks when we asked (that’s not to say they might not usually, but we stopped asking as I’m ok with black coffee).

The hotels in Southampton have very variable prices and are no different now to pre-Covid, it just depends on what is on at the time you are travelling (boat show etc). It doesn’t really matter where you stay in comparison with the terminal your ship is leaving from as a taxi from hotel to port isn’t expensive and can be arranged by the hotel. I wouldn’t let terminal affect your decision. Personally the Leonardo was a complete omnishambles - although I understand it has improved. There is a Novotel a 5 minute walk from the shopping centre and a 5 minute taxi ride to the Oceana/Mayflower terminal (the most commonly used Princess terminals). But honestly, there are lots of options from £35 per room 2* Ibis and upwards: but I would book early as soon as the rooms are released. I have seen £35 rooms being sold at £120 later to date when there is higher demand and less availability!

No grats on P&O. Personally I don’t think the drinks package is worth it. The prices are standard UK City prices, and don’t add tax and service on, so relatively reasonable. It depends on if your G&Ts are double G and use a whole T every time: you might be borderline for making it worthwhile. There are drinks menus with prices on here and also places like Cruise Mummy and Emma Cruises websites have details too, including calculators.

Have a great time 😊 Haven’t they added a new dining venue option, or was that something I dreamt?

I think on balance the majority of people feel quite positive about P&O: and it’s the same with all the other lines I follow on here. In fact it seems sometimes that complaints from some are met by cheerleading from others. there are the occasional whinge-fest, but predominantly it’s pretty balanced. People talk about “the good old days” but for me personally we cruised with P&O for the first time over 10 years ago and thought it was dreadful and didn’t go with them again for many years. I now think they are great: they provide decent ships with a good options for evening entertainment, to good destinations at a very competitive price. My only slight criticism is that the itineraries are very static and a bit of variety would be nice. P&O aren’t promising anyone a rose garden, it’s not a 6* line, and sometimes they don’t do things right, but overall they do a decent job - quite clearly so considering they manage to fill so many ships with so many people on a frequent basis!

With that many people/cabins I would get a TA - ideally one that you can contact directly (rather than a call centre) who is a cruise specialist. I wouldn’t recommend doing this direct with P&O as their contact centre is pretty horrific to deal with (not the people, just getting through). We now use an independent TA as we can literally ring their direct line or email them directly with no call centre. If you have an actual Travel Agent office near you that’s also good as you can sit down and book a lot easier: especially if you are selecting cabins etc.

Totally. We went on a cruise in America at Thanksgiving once and by the time Muster started about 75% of the guests were hammered, some even fell asleep 😬 I just take the “I’m alright Jack” attitude to it all these days: my son is obsessed with the safety video and knowing where the muster station and boats are, so we are fully versed at least 😂

Urgh, not full Muster Drills 😭 The only good thing that came out of Covid was the change to muster drill 😂 although I do tend to think that must people checking in at their muster station after they get onboard have no clue what the place is or how to get there again 😂

Yes it will be open X amount of minutes after sailing.

Use an agent, they can book a cabin for you.

I think the “British Vibe” is less now than it was 10 years ago: I mean there is no denying it’s a massive part of the branding, and the customer base is mostly Brits. But over recent years I think the offerings regarding food and entertainment are more similar to what you find on the American lines on European sailings. Drinks are reasonably priced, no grats or tax on top, no daily grats, reasonably priced wi-fi.

We had the upgraded download internet and were able to watch the live football on an app. Occasionally it buffered, but that was probably the dodgy app 😂

They are great ports to go to: La Coruna is one of my faves and very walkable. La Rochelle is beautiful, but it is a shuttle and we unfortunately had a really bad journey back with people queuing for hours due to a problem with the buses and a taxi strike. It was worth it though and a nice town and harbour with an aquarium. La Harve is a nice town, once you get there. You can also do trips to other places from there quite easily, not just Paris, but places a lot closer like Honfleurs. Bilbao is interesting but you need to travel to get there. we love these itineraries as they are quite port intensive, and we like a city/town day.

We found the Wi-Fi on Ventura was excellent 😊