P&O's new ship on sale in sep.

What does everyone think of it? Anyone keen on the maiden voyage? My wife is, i'm not fussed.

Not interested. Much too big for my tastes, as was Brittannia. Ventura/Azura is about my limit.

Yes my wife and I would like to sail on the maiden voyage. Looking forward to seeing what dining and other options it can offer us. Just hope the cabins/suites do not get any smaller than Britannia.

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Can the balconies get any smaller!?

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Not for me. Hated Azura, so if she was too big, this will be a monster.

Has it got a name yet?

Can I ask?? What is the intended passenger capacity.I seem to have missed this information somewhere along the line. And will the "sister" ship be a duplicate, or with a slight variable?

Thank you

Can I ask?? What is the intended passenger capacity.I seem to have missed this information somewhere along the line. And will the "sister" ship be a duplicate, or with a slight variable?

Thank you

Capacity is 5,200. Details on the sister are thin on the ground. I'm of the same opinion as you, only slight differences between them. I can't see them making a straight up copy.

......

Here's a recent promo-video for the AIDAnova, which is of the same class as the new P&O sisters.

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A bit of me fancies the maiden voyage, but those with more experience say that they are best avoided as there are usually a number of teething problems.

I find it quite amusing how many P&O traditionalists dismiss these large ships. Their loss. Britannia is a lovely ship with the best Select Dining restaurants and best cabin facilities in the fleet. She feels no more crowded than the other ships as the greater passenger numbers are spread across a much bigger area and far more venues. No P&O ship is perfect and Britannia lacks a promenade deck, midships stairs (to be rectified at refit), aft balconies plagued by soot and shallow balconies throughout. The new ship will address all but the last of these (assuming that the balconies are a similar depth) and add many more facilities.

We are P&O traditionalists ourselves and went on our first cruise in 1996 on Oriana when she was a year old. The ship was full of P&O traditionalists complaining about how big she was and how they preferred Canberra. Those same passengers (if still alive) now swear by her! It’s fair to say that we prefer the passenger profile of the older / smaller ships, but we will definitely be trying the new ships, probably out of season.

Does any one know when the first voyage is?

A bit of me fancies the maiden voyage, but those with more experience say that they are best avoided as there are usually a number of teething problems.

 

I find it quite amusing how many P&O traditionalists dismiss these large ships. Their loss. Britannia is a lovely ship with the best Select Dining restaurants and best cabin facilities in the fleet. She feels no more crowded than the other ships as the greater passenger numbers are spread across a much bigger area and far more venues. No P&O ship is perfect and Britannia lacks a promenade deck, midships stairs (to be rectified at refit), aft balconies plagued by soot and shallow balconies throughout. The new ship will address all but the last of these (assuming that the balconies are a similar depth) and add many more facilities.

 

We are P&O traditionalists ourselves and went on our first cruise in 1996 on Oriana when she was a year old. The ship was full of P&O traditionalists complaining about how big she was and how they preferred Canberra. Those same passengers (if still alive) now swear by her! It’s fair to say that we prefer the passenger profile of the older / smaller ships, but we will definitely be trying the new ships, probably out of season.

We cruise on all the ships and we will sail on the new ones as well only not on the maidens.

September or October would be favourite if they come into service in the spring.

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While I prefer something smaller I’ll certainly give the ship a try but not on a maiden voyage or even first year.

We have been on maidens before and there can be issues that have not been resolved via the shakedown cruise. They are also generally overpriced.

The upside is that the ship is pristine, you get a nice bit of cursing memorabilia and better entertainment, usually someone slightly better known.

The downside is staff who don’t quite know the ship, missing bar and kitchen stock, tripping over people constantly taking photos and videos to be the “first” to get them out there.

We went on Britannia's third cruise, do not remember that we experienced any teething problems and the staff seemed to know what they were doing, and the better design of the buffet and far less noisy midship MDR's, along with the new cabins and widescreen TVs were the stand out features I remember.

But she is only really an overgrown Grand class ship and suffers from most of the design flaws present on Azura and Ventura, poor access to the aft dining room, congestion at peek times on the deck 7 route between the theatre and the aft show lounge, as well as inadequate lifts, and is far too bland for my tastes.

I am hoping the two new ships will have all Britannia's good points, rectify the inherently poor design of the Grand class, have bigger balconies and be far more jazzy.

I didn't like Azura for the following reasons. Very narrow Prom Deck that doesn't go all the way round. very noisy everywhere. The Seascreen at one pool, piped music at the other pool. Public loos out of order for most of the cruise. Massive queues getting on and off the ship.

I didn't like Azura for the following reasons. Very narrow Prom Deck that doesn't go all the way round. very noisy everywhere. The Seascreen at one pool, piped music at the other pool. Public loos out of order for most of the cruise. Massive queues getting on and off the ship.

If I had experienced all those faults I think I would also have a downer on Azura, fortunately my experiences have been much more enjoyable.

However I am surprised at your comments about a narrow prom deck, if any of your favourite little ships have much wider prom decks than Azura then I am a bit surprised there is any room left for any cabins.;p:cool: