Britannia retreat sunshine

Considering going on Britannia next summer as Cunard aren’t going to the med in the school holidays.

We like the idea of The Retreat, but it seems like there is a lot of shade. Can anyone, who has been onboard, let me know how sunny/shady The Retreat is. I want the sun and don’t want to book The Retreat only to find I’m sat in the shade!

Also what is the food like in The Retreat? I heard that you can have breakfast and lunch there- what are the food options?

Thanks

S

There's a fair amount of sun. I'd say it's half and half, of course the sun does move. So sunny places in the morning will be shady in the afternoon. So people did move their loungers round a bit. Can also be very windy depending on the weather. But the main shady areas are in-between the two hot tubs, in front of the cabana thing.

Breakfast & Lunch is correct, plus they serve afternoon tea. The food is very health focused, and the menu on the P&O Website was what we had last year. Breakfast Lunch

Thanks that is really helpful.

There's a fair amount of sun. I'd say it's half and half, of course the sun does move. So sunny places in the morning will be shady in the afternoon. So people did move their loungers round a bit. Can also be very windy depending on the weather. But the main shady areas are in-between the two hot tubs, in front of the cabana thing.

 

Breakfast & Lunch is correct, plus they serve afternoon tea. The food is very health focused, and the menu on the P&O Website was what we had last year. Breakfast Lunch

Don’t bank on booking the Retreat as it is very popular due to the severe congestion on the outside decks. On our cruise in the Caribbean there were only 12 space left when we boarded and the queue was too long an hour before the reservation time. You could only book the complete cruise as they wouldn’t accept booking for Sea Days only.

Much better to choose a different cruise line as Britannia leaves a lot to be desired, we would never repeat the experience and according to their ratings only 53% would - best recommendation is AVOID.

Thank you. We will probably try and book it before we get on board. And yes P&O isn’t our first choice, but I want a med cruise in the school summer holidays. I’m a teacher and don’t break up until 25th July so only P&O to choose from. Cunard has none in the summer hols and can’t afford the likes of Silver Seas and Regent!

Fingers crossed it’s ok!

Don’t bank on booking the Retreat as it is very popular due to the severe congestion on the outside decks. On our cruise in the Caribbean there were only 12 space left when we boarded and the queue was too long an hour before the reservation time. You could only book the complete cruise as they wouldn’t accept booking for Sea Days only.

Much better to choose a different cruise line as Britannia leaves a lot to be desired, we would never repeat the experience and according to their ratings only 53% would - best recommendation is AVOID.

Hi....I haven't cruised on Britannia so can offer no comments about your query. Have you considered Princess cruises or Royal Caribbean...just to give you more possible options....both sail from Southampton.

Better still Celebrity have numerous cruises from Barcelona and Rome during July and August. Celebrity is miles better than P&O, you just can’t compare the two. Take a look and compare the reviews of any P&O ships to Celebrity that should convince you to stay clear of P&O.

Celebrity are offering 50% off for second person currently, check it out you wouldn’t regret it.

I've cruised on Cunard, Fred Olsen, Celebrity, Princess, RCI and P&O and I would place our experience on Britannia in June this year head and shoulders above any other cruise we've done.

The ship is beautiful, the entertainment was fantastic, the food choices and venues perfect - I cannot praise it highly enough. We loved every minute we were onboard. We met lots of lovely people of all ages and without exception they loved the ship.

I agree with everything Tartanexile81 says about Britannia. Lovely ship.

I've cruised on Cunard, Fred Olsen, Celebrity, Princess, RCI and P&O and I would place our experience on Britannia in June this year head and shoulders above any other cruise we've done.

 

The ship is beautiful, the entertainment was fantastic, the food choices and venues perfect - I cannot praise it highly enough. We loved every minute we were onboard. We met lots of lovely people of all ages and without exception they loved the ship.

Absolutely agree. Britannia is a wonderful ship.

I am more of a small ship person so this is all new.

Questions.

Which ships have a Retreat.

I guess this is an extra cost. Can it be booked on a day by day basis. What is the cost.

Thanking you already.

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Yes, extra cost £440 for a couple on a 2 week cruise, another of the typical P&O rip-offs.

Surprise, surprise say anything bad of Pando and the diehard surface like a swarm.

Yes, extra cost £440 for a couple on a 2 week cruise, another of the typical P&O rip-offs.

Surprise, surprise say anything bad of Pando and the diehard surface like a swarm.

So its OK to knock P&O but not to support them? Why can't people just comment as they wish without people like you having a go? Strange view!!

Why are you a diehard just because you agree with someone about something? Odd.

Yes, extra cost £440 for a couple on a 2 week cruise, another of the typical P&O rip-offs.

Surprise, surprise say anything bad of Pando and the diehard surface like a swarm.

You need to read more of my posts if you're including my post in that generalisation. As I said, I cruise with lots of different lines, and I gave my honest opinion about Britannia on which I had an amazing time. I have no need to defend P&O just for the sake of it.

I agree with the comment that some people are happy to knock P&O but those same detractors don't like it that other people have positive comments to make. The term "diehard" is then used in a derogatory sense.

Just posted a similar thread. Was hoping to get some information.

So its OK to knock P&O but not to support them? Why can't people just comment as they wish without people like you having a go? Strange view!!

Agree! We loved Britannia was great last July, can't comment on the retreat as not used it. We had our first ever balcony so we used that - bliss!

I did try and book the retreat on Azura but they really didn't want to sell me just one day - hard sell was going on! So I didn't bother and was pleased we found plenty of sun loungers when we wanted them ( that was Azura though)

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Thank you. We will probably try and book it before we get on board. And yes P&O isn’t our first choice, but I want a med cruise in the school summer holidays. I’m a teacher and don’t break up until 25th July so only P&O to choose from. Cunard has none in the summer hols and can’t afford the likes of Silver Seas and Regent!

Fingers crossed it’s ok!

Don't think that you can book before you board. Has to be done on the ship which is a real pain.

I think the balcony will be ok for catching the views and enjoying a drink or two but we like to get a full lounger on sea days and catch up on much needed rest and relaxation. Sun for me .. shade for partner. You can usually rely on the Retreat to fit the bill.

Just returned from a 15 night trip on Britannia. My wife and I wanted to use the Retreat, so we booked it as soon as we got on board. We were given card numbers 43 and 44. We found out later that they only sold 60 cards in total. You cannot book it online - it has to be done at the Spa Reception on deck 5. We were also advised that no day-passes were sold.

The other thing we encountered was that they tried to charge us £240 each for the 14 days, but I had already downloaded the Retreat PDF document from the P & O web site (Britannia/Life on Board/Spa/Retreat) which clearly states the cost as £400 per couple. If other passengers weren't aware, and we spoke to one couple who definitely were not, then the Spa management could have overcharged by almost £2,500 for the 30 couples that they allowed in.

We found the Retreat was more sunny than shaded - several people were battling to stay out of the sun.

Hope that helps.