Baltic on Britannia?

[poorer]

The standard balcony is great plenty of space for two. We stayed in C510

But with having a growing teenager we decided to go for the superior for the double sofa bed and the privacy of the curtain.We stayed in A327

We like the suite as he has got older it has more privacy as the room is divided by the wardrobes .Suite number C737.

 

I see you have the price for the Limelight we saw Boyzlife really good show ,it was also a formal night so nice to dress up.

 

[joeecco]

1 minute ago, poorer said:

The standard balcony is great plenty of space for two. We stayed in C510

But with having a growing teenager we decided to go for the superior for the double sofa bed and the privacy of the curtain.We stayed in A327

We like the suite as he has got older it has more privacy as the room is divided by the wardrobes .Suite number C737.

 

I see you have the price for the Limelight we saw Boyzlife really good show ,it was also a formal night so nice to dress up.

 

Oh fab! 
 

think we’re pretty much sold. 
 

final question is just whether May is okay for the Baltics. We see there’s a September sailing too but are hoping to do Aurora in October so couldn’t have the time off so close together. We aren’t bothered about a little rain as long as everyone thinks it’s still worth doing that time of year? 

[poorer]

Not too sure, first time to the Baltics for us as well.

But you know make the best of it considering what we have been through this year.

We went to Norway in August one year really good weather apart from Bergen which rained so you can never predict but go and enjoy !!

 

Cruises are well worth doing anytime of the year 😃

[joeecco]

4 minutes ago, poorer said:

Not too sure, first time to the Baltics for us as well.

But you know make the best of it considering what we have been through this year.

We went to Norway in August one year really good weather apart from Bergen which rained so you can never predict but go and enjoy !!

 

Cruises are well worth doing anytime of the year 😃

You’re so right. 
 

we did Norway first in September with rain every day and then again year after in July with 30degree heat every day and we actually preferred it a little more in the rain because of the waterfalls. Like you say, best to make the most of any weather as long as you’re on holiday! 

[Britboys]

23 minutes ago, joeecco said:

Oh fab! 
 

think we’re pretty much sold. 
 

final question is just whether May is okay for the Baltics. We see there’s a September sailing too but are hoping to do Aurora in October so couldn’t have the time off so close together. We aren’t bothered about a little rain as long as everyone thinks it’s still worth doing that time of year? 

It is Northern Europe, so you can never be guaranteed but looking at the brochure, it seems to be the second half of May, so should be settling down into some (hopefully) nice spring weather. You will also get lots of daylight hours too then.

[terrierjohn]

11 minutes ago, Britboys said:

It is Northern Europe, so you can never be guaranteed but looking at the brochure, it seems to be the second half of May, so should be settling down into some (hopefully) nice spring weather. You will also get lots of daylight hours too then.

The longer days and the sun higher in the sky would make me choose May over September. We did early June to the Baltics one year and apart from Zeebrugge and Warnemunde the weather was excellent.

[joeecco]

Just now, terrierjohn said:

The longer days and the sun higher in the sky would make me choose May over September. We did early June to the Baltics one year and apart from Zeebrugge and Warnemunde the weather was excellent.

That’s a good point yeah, perfect. Means we can do Aurora in October for Nothern lights then 👌

[joeecco]

Just watched a YouTube Video and I didn’t realise Britannia is registered to Southampton. We’re getting married on Azura next year and now I remember that Britannia wasn’t an option to get married on because of where it’s registered. Does anyone know the reason why they registered this ship to Southampton? 

[Josy1953]

11 hours ago, joeecco said:

We are considering booking the 14 night Baltic itinerary for May 2022 on Britannia. We have looked at this itinerary many times but we aren’t fans of Ventura and so we booked other things, but now Britannia is going north we are very interested. What’s everyone’s opinion on Britannia, especially for this type of itinerary? We think the price is good for 2 of us in a select price balcony at around £3150 total. 

 

Also, we have not yet cruised with Princess or Celebrity but would like to in the future, is either of these companies a better choice for the Baltic for price/standards/entertainment etc. The only thing that we are nervous about is whether Celebrity and Princess sailings have lots of American passengers as we find them, generally speaking, a little overwhelming onboard.. 

 

many advice would be appreciated! 

We have done the Baltics with Princess, P&O and Celebrity and enjoyed them all. My order of preference is Celebrity, Princess and then P&O.

Britannia was fine when we went on her maiden voyage but we have not been on her again but if she was going where we wanted to go when we wanted to go we wouldn't hesitate.

Celebrity and Princess are American lines so have tips which P&O don't.  P&O drinks are a lot cheaper.  It really comes down to how much cost is a consideration because P&O are usually cheaper.  Our reason for going on more P&O cruises is that we can't fly now and P&O have more cruises from Southampton otherwise they would be our last choice.

[Haworth]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

It is Northern Europe, so you can never be guaranteed but looking at the brochure, it seems to be the second half of May, so should be settling down into some (hopefully) nice spring weather. You will also get lots of daylight hours too then.

A guide told us that St Petersburg has 2 seasons, August and Winter, true of a lot of the Baltic 

[joeecco]

7 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

We have done the Baltics with Princess, P&O and Celebrity and enjoyed them all. My order of preference is Celebrity, Princess and then P&O.

Britannia was fine when we went on her maiden voyage but we have not been on her again but if she was going where we wanted to go when we wanted to go we wouldn't hesitate.

Celebrity and Princess are American lines so have tips which P&O don't.  P&O drinks are a lot cheaper.  It really comes down to how much cost is a consideration because P&O are usually cheaper.  Our reason for going on more P&O cruises is that we can't fly now and P&O have more cruises from Southampton otherwise they would be our last choice.

Can I ask why P&O would be your last choice? Is it because P&O do lots of things you don’t like or is it simply because you like P&O but Princess and Celebrity just happen to do things better? We’re interested to know your thoughts 👌

[P&O SUE]

We went on Princess last year - definitely dearer for drinks and most notably excursions and shuttle buses.

[Josy1953]

50 minutes ago, joeecco said:

Can I ask why P&O would be your last choice? Is it because P&O do lots of things you don’t like or is it simply because you like P&O but Princess and Celebrity just happen to do things better? We’re interested to know your thoughts 👌

Princess and Celebrity are a step up from P&O in terms of service.  The food is better on Princess and Celebrity.  The shows are better with the exception of when there are comedians because American humour is different British humour.

P&O is usually cheaper so they have to make cuts somewhere to make a profit and over the last few years they seem to have cut back a bit too much.

[boogybaby]

Our preference would be celebrity, rccl, then p&o, we didn’t enjoy Brittania but we have booked again for May21 so hope I change my mind! Janice

[Britboys]

3 hours ago, joeecco said:

Just watched a YouTube Video and I didn’t realise Britannia is registered to Southampton. We’re getting married on Azura next year and now I remember that Britannia wasn’t an option to get married on because of where it’s registered. Does anyone know the reason why they registered this ship to Southampton? 

My guess at the time was that they felt registering a ship called Britannia overseas might bring adverse publicity. I see however that Iona has also been registered in Southampton so perhaps it is a change of policy for new ships. Interestingly, Cunard ships went the other way. They were registered in Southampton but were changed to Bermuda...

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, joeecco said:

Can I ask why P&O would be your last choice? Is it because P&O do lots of things you don’t like or is it simply because you like P&O but Princess and Celebrity just happen to do things better? We’re interested to know your thoughts 👌

Princess and Celebrity, and RCI as well, have that American can do attitude to any problems you have, P&O passenger services tend to adopt the attitude that their job would be much better without pesky passengers.  But, they are getting better, and the food is very similar on all the main stream cruise lines, however RCI have by far the best shows at sea.

[July morning]

We've been to the Baltic's three times twice on Arcadia and once on Azura. First time was in July (2010)  we had hot sunny weather every day except for one afternoon in Oslo when we had a rain shower.  The other times were more recent May 2014 again lovely weather and the last time June 2017 (I think) that time the weather wasn't as good, a bit mixed but every time we thoroughly enjoyed the ports of call IMO some of the most interesting places to visit St Peterburg  is well worth a visit there is so much to see.

 

Of the cruise lines you mentioned we have only been on P&O and Princess and didn't really notice much difference between them.  We preferred the entertainment on P&O when we went but on the last two cruises with P&O we were disappointed with the customer service when we had a problem on board and have since jumped ship to FO  and Princess twice each.

 

The rewards on Princess are much better than P&O.   We are elite with Princess and they do have some nice touches when you are at that level.  We actually earned most of the points with P&O cruises ;)

[joeecco]

12 hours ago, July morning said:

We've been to the Baltic's three times twice on Arcadia and once on Azura. First time was in July (2010)  we had hot sunny weather every day except for one afternoon in Oslo when we had a rain shower.  The other times were more recent May 2014 again lovely weather and the last time June 2017 (I think) that time the weather wasn't as good, a bit mixed but every time we thoroughly enjoyed the ports of call IMO some of the most interesting places to visit St Peterburg  is well worth a visit there is so much to see.

 

Of the cruise lines you mentioned we have only been on P&O and Princess and didn't really notice much difference between them.  We preferred the entertainment on P&O when we went but on the last two cruises with P&O we were disappointed with the customer service when we had a problem on board and have since jumped ship to FO  and Princess twice each.

 

The rewards on Princess are much better than P&O.   We are elite with Princess and they do have some nice touches when you are at that level.  We actually earned most of the points with P&O cruises 😉

That’s really useful thank you!

 

can I ask how you transfer P&O loyalty to other lines such as Princess? Didn’t know that was an option haha!

[BrianI]

43 minutes ago, joeecco said:

That’s really useful thank you!

 

can I ask how you transfer P&O loyalty to other lines such as Princess? Didn’t know that was an option haha!

It was an option but it stopped a couple of years, or so, ago.

Brian

[majortom10]

We are going to transfer our cruise booked on Britannia in May 2021 to the Baltics on Britannia 15th May 2022 as soon as bookings open.

[purplesea]

We did the Baltic on Britannia June/July 2018 and we had good weather most of the time. The only iffy days were in St Petersburg, dry but overcast and rain in Tallinn, the other days we had brilliant weather with wall to wall sunshine. 

I have been thinking of transfering our cruise next year to the Baltic or Med, just can't decide!

[Cathygh]

Regarding Princess, I think they now offer a package which includes drinks, tips & wifi for £35ppd.

I think it looks like good value for money. In SPB we used a Russian Tour Company, SPB Tours, which was cheaper than P&O tours, and we had better lunches included. 

Cathy

 

[molecrochip]

22 hours ago, Britboys said:

My guess at the time was that they felt registering a ship called Britannia overseas might bring adverse publicity. I see however that Iona has also been registered in Southampton so perhaps it is a change of policy for new ships. Interestingly, Cunard ships went the other way. They were registered in Southampton but were changed to Bermuda...

Diamond, Sapphire and Majestic Princess are also registered in London. Three ships that operate solely in Asia. Additionally P&O Australia's ships are normally registered to London.

 

Cunard moved their registrations from London in 2011. All other ships have been registered since 2013. So it may be that something changed between 2011 and 2013.