CruisingConnor

Hi all Several years ago (well before Covid) I did a paid-for behind the scenes tour that included a bridge visit. At the time it was advertised in Horizon. Are these still available? I haven't seen them advertised but thought maybe you have to ask at reception on embarkation day? Thanks, Connor

Sorry not to have an experience-based answer for you, but I can’t imagine them coming for you to pay for no-showing. Indeed, the T&Cs when I last perused them were all about the fact that you would lose all you’d paid if you no showed. Not that they’d come for more on top of that. Perhaps more pertinently - save for some emergency, I couldn’t imagine no-showing on a free cruise! I would go, and try to get into the Retreat on board. I’m not sure what ship you’re on but I’d have thought it very unlikely to be fully booked at this time of year.

Once the seas eased Britannia was able to race along reaching over 23 knots, meaning we were alongside only slightly later than planned at around 0630 this morning and none of the forewarned gangway issues seemed to materialise. However there was no announcement that self-help disembark was underway until just before 0800 (a letter the night before said this wouldn't start until 0830 due to the delay), and when the announcement was made it was retrospective (i.e., 'everything is going swimmingly with the self-help disembarkation!'). With that as my cue I was out my cabin and straight off. Very swift and no wait for a taxi, meaning I even made the 0830 train! An end to a very enjoyable and successful cruise. 😀

Well the worse weather is materialising. Quite a lot of passengers struggling unfortunately, and I understand deck 5 atrium became a sort of makeshift nap zone for the seasick, although the motion on board isn’t particularly severe, registering at no more than three degrees on the admittedly unscientific spirit level app on my phone… 😂 (regardless of what the true number is I’ve certainly had much worse). We’re currently facing a wind from the northwest of around force 8 and swells of around 4.5 metres. This is expected to improve this afternoon. As a result Britannia has been struggling to maintain speed, with us hovering between 18 and 21 knots since Cádiz so far on what needed to be about a consistent 20 knot crossing on the planned departure time. But the medevac further delayed us, so our arrival into Southampton tomorrow might not be until 0800, with us further being warned to expect gangway difficulties due to the tide.

As we were about to sail we received a well-worded warning from the captain that our crossing won’t be the smoothest, with four metre swells expected, and by my maths another high speed run. We are now however returning to Cádiz for a medevac. Thoughts with the person concerned. This has caused some congestion in the port with Sky Princess how holding so we can pass back through into the port. Total manoeuvre time estimated at two hours according to deputy captain. I imagine this will lead to a full speed Biscay crossing to ensure we arrive at Southampton in good time.

Interesting! No sign of a Cruise Director on this cruise. I mean we do see the ents crew around a lot but normally you hear announcements and see someone who is clearly the director. Re vibration - there’s propulsion/thruster vibration (which is horrendous in my cabin, it must be the first time I’ve had an aft one on Britannia - I just go for the saver fare and don’t keep track of where I’ve been). But I’m talking more generally. There’s a background rumbling and general vibration through the ship, especially on open decks, including when in port, that LNG ships don’t have. If you don’t notice it keep it that way and don’t try to listen for it! Haha.

Well today is the last port day as this cruise comes towards an end! I was almost paranoid someone on board is reading these posts as the following day the buffet has snapped back into shape including hand carving the roast meats again. I did roll my eyes as our departure announcement was beamed into our cabins with an anecdote about port and starboard, however it was clarified this was due to ending with an important message: there is chicken pox on board and some crew will be wearing masks as a result. I am getting the feeling she could do with a refit. I believe the first was four years after launch, and we are now four years after that. No doubt this will be delayed due to Covid knock on effects including financial. But there are leaks springing up everywhere in the ceilings including in my cabin. I had to move in the atrium as I noticed I was being dripped on! Sindhu has had fans blowing in it for the last few days to dry the carpets. Buckets are springing up in places. I wonder if it is to do with condensation/air conditioning. There are few other findings to share that I haven’t already covered, although sadly I have decided that save for some exceptional deal or itinerary I will be trying to make this my last trip on a diesel-powered ship. Once you have experienced the serenity of LNG, other ships just seem so vibrational! Not just in my cabin but everywhere. I’ve been spoilt! Also… does anyone know if P&O have got rid of the role of Cruise Director?

Another update now we are seven nights in! - The pool is fixed! - The room vibration thankfully does not occur at lower speeds (currently at 11 knots with no issues). - I have to say again how great it is to see high morale within the crew. There is a clear improvement on this sailing, with crew smiling, gelling with each other, and working very well as a team especially at the Live Lounge in the evenings. - Food overall continues to be good. Epicurean was great and the giant prawns really are giant! Beach House steak continues to impress though disappointed the crispy prawns have been replaced with fairly rubbish onion rings. Limelight tonight, Sindu booked, Beach House will be visited again and I was to try Glass House for a lunch! - Buffet is better than it has been in some ways though still room for improvement in ways that won’t cost anything. The selections are poorly thought out. One day we’ve fish and chips, spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, jerk chicken, and noodles - all fairly safe crowd-pleasers and all were delicious. The next we have seafood curry, seafood pasta, some pretty rank looking sausages, and lentil curry, certainly more acquired tastes. Splitting that menu in two half each would make far more sense. The roast option has been quite poor sadly, and today’s turkey just looks miserable, and isn’t even carved for you, instead pre-cut in chunks, and no potatoes to go with it! But, fresh meats, salads, and other staples have all been solid and plentiful and deck food continues to be a reliable backup option! - Sections of the buffet keep closing and opening with no comms/signage and it is confusing and poorly timed. We happened to pop in for lunch just before 2pm today and all buffet sections were closed or closing! I think one was meant to open and another close, but they timed it wrong. - Buffet seating has been plentiful, which is a pleasant surprise. - Sun loungers continue to be a joke, when will people understand the only way to reserve one for more than 10 minutes or so is by sitting on it. Walking around on sea days there’s never a lounger ‘available’ yet most have no one sat on them, or families with five reserved for their kids who spend all day in the pool anyway. Just selfish. There’s plenty to go round if people behaved themselves, and to think the Brits are often to the first to call out other nationalities for this stereotype! - MDR has been good and our waiter and assistant waiter are lovely. They are so rushed though with the removal of wine waiters and a drinks menu that doesn’t match what’s actually stored locally. E.g. Moretti is on the MDR menu, but it turns out it has to be sent for if you order it in the Oriental. Carling and Corona meanwhile are locally stored. I now just ask the waiter what’s convenient… - Deck bars have a bottleneck caused by one Micros terminal per bar. Another one would halve the queues. I would often sneak up to the Arena Bar to get a drink without queuing. The standard P&O working model of the bar staff making drinks only (i.e. not taking orders) also does not fit the British model; people understandably want to just walk up and order a drink like at a normal bar, not be fobbed off to someone round the side at a computer screen, and are miffed when this happens. Especially when all the computer person does is shout the order over to the barperson anyway. It’s also slow because your drink is made and then just sits in the ether on the side of the bar as you wait for someone to realise and hand it to you. (To be clear that system is sensible in a table service environment e.g. Live Lounge but it doesn’t suit deck bars. P&O should revert to the old pre-Covid way.) - There continues to be too many table clearing staff roaming around the decks and not enough drinks waiters. You can forget getting a drink in the buffet these days, which has been the case since the re-start in my experience. It is also unclear to newer cruisers who’s clean up crew and who’s a waiter, causing some awkward interactions and frustration. I appreciate it’s a different job role but some upskilling/transferable skills wouldn’t go amiss here (and of course this is not their fault but they incur the wrath of thirsty passengers!). - There were long queues for disembarkation and embarkation at Gibraltar though Ibiza was much more smooth. - Reception and bridge staff need to remind themselves of where to broadcast their announcements. Without naming names a certain Iona captain was particularly bad for this and it’s here now. I don’t want updates on disembarkation queues pumped into my cabin five times in an hour thank you. - Just an observation, I am surprised how many older passengers travelling without their families are on a family ship summer holiday cruise. - All in all we are enjoying ourselves and as usual P&O provide great value, you just need to set your expectations fairly and know the tricks of the trade to get the most out of your time. And of course, all these are just my opinions that others will disagree with! 🙂

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.

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!

- Good value. Far cheaper than other lines when I've looked, though I usually cruise off-peak. - I know what I'm going to get. - Modern fleet. - Most cruises are out of Southampton, and those that aren't the flights are included, which doesn't always seem to be the case. - Designed for British tastes. - They are generally good at putting things right when they go wrong (more so on board than shore-side).

I feel vindicated that someone else has noticed this! I always find breakfast in the MDR quite torturous, you wait an age for a tiny breakfast (beans being the stand-out) and thimble of juice, and there's never any sauces at hand so the waiter disappears for another age to find some (even if you make the point of asking for sauce at the time of the order). Small niggle but makes me brave the morning buffet crush more than I'd like.

Thanks 🙂

Hello all, Does anyone know if the 24 hour price promise applies to P&O’s own prices, or is it just third parties? Thank you