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Britannia - suite ready time?


sammybonny
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We will be on Britannia next month departing from Southampton. We have recently only done fly cruises and cabins have always been ready when we arrived so I was wondering what time the cabins will be ready. We are in a suite with priority boarding and have an embarktion time of 12.30pm. Will there be a lounge for suite passengers to wait?

 

Thanks

 

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We will be on Britannia next month departing from Southampton. We have recently only done fly cruises and cabins have always been ready when we arrived so I was wondering what time the cabins will be ready. We are in a suite with priority boarding and have an embarktion time of 12.30pm. Will there be a lounge for suite passengers to wait?

 

Thanks

 

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In my experience as soon we board the suite is ready and waiting. We normally sort our any available baggage out and then slip down for the priority lunch which is normally available when you board. Ummm, don't think too much of that experience really but when we have tried the buffet as an alternative, the first day offering there also is pretty bland. Best idea is take some M&S sandwiches on board and enjoy them with the complimentary champers. Smiles.

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We will be on Britannia next month departing from Southampton. We have recently only done fly cruises and cabins have always been ready when we arrived so I was wondering what time the cabins will be ready. We are in a suite with priority boarding and have an embarktion time of 12.30pm. Will there be a lounge for suite passengers to wait?

 

Thanks

 

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We go straight to the lounge and the free booze. The suites are generally ready by 13.00 we do not rush as they are still serving free booze.

[emoji2]

 

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Arrive in Southampton port about midday and be on board by half past. The welcome on board is a snack lunch where you help yourself and are served a couple of House wines/sparkling Chardonnay. Senior tier loyalty members also attend the lunch. Suites for us have usually been ready around 1.30 pm, ie the time we have finished leisurely lunch snacks. If you want a full blown meal go to the buffet.

 

 

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We will be on Britannia next month departing from Southampton. We have recently only done fly cruises and cabins have always been ready when we arrived so I was wondering what time the cabins will be ready. We are in a suite with priority boarding and have an embarktion time of 12.30pm. Will there be a lounge for suite passengers to wait?

 

Thanks

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Forums mobile app

 

Pre boarding, it’s more a holding area than a lounge with free tea and coffee, biscuits and cakes. The last few occasions that we had a suite we found that boarding commenced before the stated 12.30pm time. The earliest was on Ventura where we were on board at 11.45am. On Britannia we have boarded between midday and 12.30pm.

 

We go straight to our suite to drop our hand luggage. Sometimes they are serviced and ready for us, but we don’t expect them to be so just drop our bags and head for the buffet - the one time during the cruise that we use it.

 

We find the priority boarders lunch to be underwhelming and it often doesn’t commence until some time after we have boarded. You don’t get a proper meal, just hot and cold snacks that aren’t up to much. We do pop in after we have had a proper lunch in the buffet for a freebie drink, but be warned that it’s cheap plonk. They say it’s Champagne but it isn’t. It’s a horrible cheap and nasty sparkling wine that leaves an acrid taste in your mouth, as does the white wine (I’m no wine snob, but it’s horrible). The red wine is OK.

 

The best part of having a suite on Britannia (other than the extra space) is the ability to have breakfast in the superb Epicurean restaurant. A very civilised way to start the day - unless there are noisy children in there!

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Pre boarding, it’s more a holding area than a lounge with free tea and coffee, biscuits and cakes. The last few occasions that we had a suite we found that boarding commenced before the stated 12.30pm time. The earliest was on Ventura where we were on board at 11.45am. On Britannia we have boarded between midday and 12.30pm.

 

We go straight to our suite to drop our hand luggage. Sometimes they are serviced and ready for us, but we don’t expect them to be so just drop our bags and head for the buffet - the one time during the cruise that we use it.

 

We find the priority boarders lunch to be underwhelming and it often doesn’t commence until some time after we have boarded. You don’t get a proper meal, just hot and cold snacks that aren’t up to much. We do pop in after we have had a proper lunch in the buffet for a freebie drink, but be warned that it’s cheap plonk. They say it’s Champagne but it isn’t. It’s a horrible cheap and nasty sparkling wine that leaves an acrid taste in your mouth, as does the white wine (I’m no wine snob, but it’s horrible). The red wine is OK.

 

The best part of having a suite on Britannia (other than the extra space) is the ability to have breakfast in the superb Epicurean restaurant. A very civilised way to start the day - unless there are noisy children in there!

Thanks for that.[emoji4]

 

We are looking forward to breakfast in Epicurean. We were in a suite on Azura a few years ago and breakfast was in Seventeen as it was then and we also thought it very civilised and the best part of having a suite.

 

We missed the priority boarders lunch because it was a Caribbean fly cruise.

 

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Pre boarding, it’s more a holding area than a lounge with free tea and coffee, biscuits and cakes. The last few occasions that we had a suite we found that boarding commenced before the stated 12.30pm time. The earliest was on Ventura where we were on board at 11.45am. On Britannia we have boarded between midday and 12.30pm.

 

 

 

We go straight to our suite to drop our hand luggage. Sometimes they are serviced and ready for us, but we don’t expect them to be so just drop our bags and head for the buffet - the one time during the cruise that we use it.

 

 

 

We find the priority boarders lunch to be underwhelming and it often doesn’t commence until some time after we have boarded. You don’t get a proper meal, just hot and cold snacks that aren’t up to much. We do pop in after we have had a proper lunch in the buffet for a freebie drink, but be warned that it’s cheap plonk. They say it’s Champagne but it isn’t. It’s a horrible cheap and nasty sparkling wine that leaves an acrid taste in your mouth, as does the white wine (I’m no wine snob, but it’s horrible). The red wine is OK.

 

 

 

The best part of having a suite on Britannia (other than the extra space) is the ability to have breakfast in the superb Epicurean restaurant. A very civilised way to start the day - unless there are noisy children in there!

 

 

 

I only drink the Red wine.

 

With regard to the coffee on shore, I am now finding you have to be there very early to take advantage of this facility. Boarding seems to be getting earlier and earlier. They now check you in as soon as you arrive and then ask you to sit in the lounge where the tea, coffee is. We have been sitting down on the ship having red wine before 12.00.

 

 

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I only drink the Red wine.

 

With regard to the coffee on shore, I am now finding you have to be there very early to take advantage of this facility. Boarding seems to be getting earlier and earlier. They now check you in as soon as you arrive and then ask you to sit in the lounge where the tea, coffee is. We have been sitting down on the ship having red wine before 12.00.

 

 

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I moved on to the red on your recommendation Dai, not having anything with me that required the paint stripping off it with the white or the fizz!

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Lot's of interesting information here, thank you everyone. We have a suite on our Fjords cruise next Sunday. I like the idea of dropping off our hand luggage in the cabin as soon as we board and then heading either to the buffet for lunch or the welcome reception for nibbles. Do we get to meet our Butler at that point and do we need to know in advance how much we are likely to use his or her services? I quite like the idea of having breakfast in our suite on the days we have excursions booked but want to avail myself of the Epicurean on the sea days. I will also be wanting to have the sofa bed made up as I'm travelling with my mum and it will be lovely to have 2 bedrooms in effect. Do I discuss that with the Butler or with the cabin steward/stewardess?

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Lot's of interesting information here, thank you everyone. We have a suite on our Fjords cruise next Sunday. I like the idea of dropping off our hand luggage in the cabin as soon as we board and then heading either to the buffet for lunch or the welcome reception for nibbles. Do we get to meet our Butler at that point and do we need to know in advance how much we are likely to use his or her services? I quite like the idea of having breakfast in our suite on the days we have excursions booked but want to avail myself of the Epicurean on the sea days. I will also be wanting to have the sofa bed made up as I'm travelling with my mum and it will be lovely to have 2 bedrooms in effect. Do I discuss that with the Butler or with the cabin steward/stewardess?

 

 

 

They should know that already as you have booked for 3.

 

 

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Lot's of interesting information here, thank you everyone. We have a suite on our Fjords cruise next Sunday. I like the idea of dropping off our hand luggage in the cabin as soon as we board and then heading either to the buffet for lunch or the welcome reception for nibbles. Do we get to meet our Butler at that point and do we need to know in advance how much we are likely to use his or her services? I quite like the idea of having breakfast in our suite on the days we have excursions booked but want to avail myself of the Epicurean on the sea days. I will also be wanting to have the sofa bed made up as I'm travelling with my mum and it will be lovely to have 2 bedrooms in effect. Do I discuss that with the Butler or with the cabin steward/stewardess?

 

Your butler will usually turn up to introduce himself late afternoon / early evening. They bring (vile) canapés at around 6pm, so it may not be until then. You do not need to specify there and then what you might want from them, you can do that on a daily basis rather than be tied to something that you may wish to vary. We usually make any requests the night before. If you elect to have breakfast in your suite or on your balcony, the butler will provide it for you. If you want anything whatsoever from room service at any time, ensure that you order via the butler phone number as you will never be charged for any food items. It may not be your butler that delivers it, but it will still be free. We don’t use Butlers very much at all (frankly we find them a bit intrusive) but we retain them for the odd thing that makes life a little easier. Any arrangements regarding bed arrangements should be made with your cabin steward. Have a lovely Cruise and enjoy the Epicurean!

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