Britannia's balconies

[the english lady]

I read a blog from Tom, who was talking to a fellow cruiser on the trip he is on at the moment.

He commented to her about the narrowness/smallness of Britannia's balconies.

He realised that she did not know of this ,having booked a cruise on her.

For all of those who are booked on Britannia, are they aware of the balcony size.

Or have people just booked,with no research,and will have a surprise when they board.

Do we wait until after the maiden ,for people to come on here and complain!!!:rolleyes:

[Mr Blue Sky]

I read a blog from Tom, who was talking to a fellow cruiser on the trip he is on at the moment.

He commented to her about the narrowness/smallness of Britannia's balconies.

He realised that she did not know of this ,having booked a cruise on her.

For all of those who are booked on Britannia, are they aware of the balcony size.

Or have people just booked,with no research,and will have a surprise when they board.

Do we wait until after the maiden ,for people to come on here and complain!!!:rolleyes:

Hi we are booked for Jan 2016 and done our research through Princess Forums and reviews

as Royal appears all most identical and we noticed how narrow the balconies appear, being C deck

on Azura with a lovely size balcony, so on Britannia we have opted for aft as some seem slightly larger, and we enjoyed

Aft on celebrity S class, but yes we were certainly surprised how small in

Depth many appear to be.

 

Mrs Blue Sky

[the english lady]

In his blog Tom comments on a sister build of Britannia that was moored up next to them in the Baltic somewhere and he said all the chairs on the balconies were facing each other as that is the only way you could sit on them..ie you could not sit facing out to sea....

[Josy1953]

We booked on the maiden cruise for Britannia and knowing that she is a sister to the Royal Princess we did look at the Princess Cruise Critic. We have seen that many of the posters have complained that the balcony is smaller than on other ships but we still went ahead and booked the balcony because I like to be outside but I do not particularly like to be lying around the pool as I find the constant comings and goings on the deck to be too disturbing when I am reading or when my husband and I are trying to have a conversation. If we find that we don't like the balconies on Britannia we are only there for 14 nights and no-one will hold a gun to our heads if we decide that it is not for us in the future. Why worry about something that we don't know yet ? I prefer to be on a cruise with a small balcony than no cruise at all.

[davecttr]

We booked on the maiden cruise for Britannia and knowing that she is a sister to the Royal Princess we did look at the Princess Cruise Critic. We have seen that many of the posters have complained that the balcony is smaller than on other ships but we still went ahead and booked the balcony because I like to be outside but I do not particularly like to be lying around the pool as I find the constant comings and goings on the deck to be too disturbing when I am reading or when my husband and I are trying to have a conversation. If we find that we don't like the balconies on Britannia we are only there for 14 nights and no-one will hold a gun to our heads if we decide that it is not for us in the future. Why worry about something that we don't know yet ? I prefer to be on a cruise with a small balcony than no cruise at all.

I agree, try a cruise to help you make up your mind. I usually book an inside and the lack of a promenade deck might be the thing that dissuades me from booking another cruise on Britannia. I am trying a 7 nighter just to check her out and have booked the biggest balcony on the ship, an inside single on Lido deck yards away from all that deck space ;)

[h3rjp]

well here is a balcony from our pre-inaugural Regal Princess cruise (same ship design). Yes they are smaller, but you can still rotate the chairs at about 45 degrees and face out to sea.

 

I found it to be perfectly acceptable and enjoyed the slightly larger feeling of space in the cabin / bathroom and overall I think it balanced out.

 

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[daiB]

I agree, try a cruise to help you make up your mind. I usually book an inside and the lack of a promenade deck might be the thing that dissuades me from booking another cruise on Britannia. I am trying a 7 nighter just to check her out and have booked the biggest balcony on the ship, an inside single on Lido deck yards away from all that deck space ;)

 

 

Your are correct Dave they are a bit little, certainly not like the one we will have on Oceana, and for a G&T I may let you see mine :) :) ;)

 

BTW I see you have bee away....again ;)

 

 

 

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[Presto2]

We did our research and checked with the Princess forum to check on the size of aft balcony cabins. Have booked a great one with a huge balcony. :)

[majortom10]

We did our research and checked with the Princess forum to check on the size of aft balcony cabins. Have booked a great one with a huge balcony. :)

 

We have booked an aft balcony cabin for the maiden.

[Elviex]

Like the other posters we have booked a seven night to try Britannia out.....we just like the open air aspect of a balcony, I must admit though we are both tall people and our knees may bang on the front...but to solve that we could always stand up and drink! There are ways round most things if you look hard enough! We are keeping an open mind about whether we cruise on her again or not, but we are looking forward to trying Britannia.

 

 

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[zap99]

Like the other posters we have booked a seven night to try Britannia out.....we just like the open air aspect of a balcony, I must admit though we are both tall people and our knees may bang on the front...but to solve that we could always stand up and drink! There are ways round most things if you look hard enough! We are keeping an open mind about whether we cruise on her again or not, but we are looking forward to trying Britannia.

 

 

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We have booked the maiden Caribean cruise for next Noverber. Didn't even think about the balcony size. We researched the dates/itineraries etc and chose Britannia. We like to sit on the balcony and watch the world go by with a coffee, or cold drink, or lean on the rail and contemplate life in general. The glass sides mean that laying out in the sun is pointles anyway. Sun decks are for that. If the balcony is small, we can still do most of the above ( do people use balconies for anything else ??:)). TOO small and we won't book again, but it wont spoil this cruise.

Edited July 17, 2014 by zap99
spelling

[HELEN HENRY]

We have booked the maiden Caribean cruise for next Noverber. Didn't even think about the balcony size. We researched the dates/itineraries etc and chose Britannia. We like to sit on the balcony and watch the world go by with a coffee, or cold drink, or lean on the rail and contemplate life in general. The glass sides mean that laying out in the sun is pointles anyway. Sun decks are for that. If the balcony is small, we can still do most of the above ( do people use balconies for anything else ??:)). TOO small and we won't book again, but it wont spoil this cruise.

 

Hi zapp99, we too are on the Transatlantic Maiden Caribbean cruise sailing from Southampton-Barbados 23rd Oct B524/A and continuing on the B2B

Nov 6th 2015 B525/A Barbados-Barbados. We have already two roll calls up and running.

Britannia B524/A Transatlantic and Britannia B525/A. Please do come and join our roll call.

[MrCj]

Hi this will be our first cruise on Britannia, we didn't look into size of balconies, we just booked. As long as we can sit or stand out there first thing and have our morning cup of tea and our coffee before bed and maybe a drink while I wait for other half to get ready for dinner, then that is ok.:D

[Presto2]

We have booked an aft balcony cabin for the maiden.

 

I think we have 729 - what about you?

[WpgCruise]

and for a G&T I may let you see mine :) :) ;)

 

Mother warned me about girls like you.

[elroe1963]

Hi we are booked for Jan 2016 and done our research through Princess Forums and reviews

as Royal appears all most identical and we noticed how narrow the balconies appear, being C deck

on Azura with a lovely size balcony, so on Britannia we have opted for aft as some seem slightly larger, and we enjoyed

Aft on celebrity S class, but yes we were certainly surprised how small in

Depth many appear to be.

 

Mrs Blue Sky

 

Same here! Did research, booked aft balcony for Jan 2016. We fly on the 29th!

[P&O SUE]

I'm not booking on Britannia for next year but I can't wait for everyone to come back and start posting their reviews :D

[kikki21]

I have read a large amount of the Royal Princess reviews etc so made sure we booked a superior deluxe balcony for our trip to the fjords next year on Britannia - really looking forward to cruising on a new ship! :)

[Callyscally]

I have read a large amount of the Royal Princess reviews etc so made sure we booked a superior deluxe balcony for our trip to the fjords next year on Britannia - really looking forward to cruising on a new ship! :)

 

We have booked a 14 night cruise on the Britannia next June :) while looking forward to sailing on this new ship, I was a little bit disappointed to read that the balcony's might be rather small.

this photo was taken on the Celebrity Eclipse last month.

If the Britannia balcony's are similar size to the Eclipse then I would be very happy

 

 

 

John

[kevinyork]

We have booked a 14 night cruise on the Britannia next June :) while looking forward to sailing on this new ship, I was a little bit disappointed to read that the balcony's might be rather small.

 

this photo was taken on the Celebrity Eclipse last month.

 

If the Britannia balcony's are similar size to the Eclipse then I would be very happy

 

 

 

 

 

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John

 

 

No, they are around half the depth of those on the Eclipse.

[jeanlyon]

They sound not worth booking to me, but then we always book an inside. Would rather spend the extra money on other things.

[Host Sharon]

I guess it is the downside of every outside cabin being a balcony. I was on one of the pre-maiden cruises of Royal Princess and any balcony is an improvement on the insides I usually book, but for those used to large balconies they will be in for a shock. I think it is a pity there is no halfway point of an outside cabin though.

 

Edited August 2, 2014 by Host Sharon

[daiB]

I guess it is the downside of every outside cabin being a balcony. I was on one of the pre-maiden cruises of Royal Princess and any balcony is an improvement on the insides I usually book, but for those used to large balconies they will be in for a shock. I think it is a pity there is no halfway point of an outside cabin though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just changing the subject after looking at your photos, the decor In lots of RP reminds me of P&O but that of Britannia is going to be completely different, looking ate artists drawings of the finished interior.

 

 

 

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[kersh]

Sharon, the balcony in your photo doesn't look much different in size to the standard balcony on Azura or Ventura. Where they all this size or was this a superior balcony cabin. Can you remember the cabin number?

 

Thanks.

[terrierjohn]

As someone who has to push a wheelchair, I am glad to see they have dispensed with the "carpetting" and those awful metal strip edges on the sun decks. Just hope that Britannia is the same.

Kersh, I agree with you that Sharons photos make the balcony look bigger than some others, but it is still smaller than Azura/Ventura, and I do not believe that the cabins are any bigger as a result.

Edited August 3, 2014 by terrierjohn