Aft cabins on Britannia

[Megabear2]

Despite Britannia being my favourite P&O ship I've never stayed at the aft.  I'm now looking at her 4th and 18th August Mediterranean cruises with my friend.  Last year we stayed in an aft wake view cabin on Celebrity Edge and my friend is keen to have a similar position this year if possible.

 

I know the cabins on deck 15 have the canopy which makes them totally shaded.  Are the lower decks also completely in shade as well?

 

4th August available decks are 8, 10, 11 and 15

18 August available decks are 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12

 

Any thoughts on these much appreciated.  Obviously they are school holiday cruises so we anticipate using the balcony a lot and my friend is a sun baby!

 

Thank you.

[AuroraCruiser08]

22 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Despite Britannia being my favourite P&O ship I've never stayed at the aft.  I'm now looking at her 4th and 18th August Mediterranean cruises with my friend.  Last year we stayed in an aft wake view cabin on Celebrity Edge and my friend is keen to have a similar position this year if possible.

 

I know the cabins on deck 15 have the canopy which makes them totally shaded.  Are the lower decks also completely in shade as well?

 

4th August available decks are 8, 10, 11 and 15

18 August available decks are 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12

 

Any thoughts on these much appreciated.  Obviously they are school holiday cruises so we anticipate using the balcony a lot and my friend is a sun baby!

 

Thank you.

Britannias aft cabins are amazing. We had E741. Brilliant sized balcony no soot either since the canopies have been installed. Only downside is a bit of vibration when the stern thrusters run in heavy wind on port days but no major issue. Definitely recommend over standard side balconies 

[Selbourne]

We had multiple problems with aft corner wrap suite F730 (Deck 9) which, if you search, you should be able to find. I would strongly advise against decks 8 and 9 aft. 

[Megabear2]

16 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

 

For reasons best known to itself the quotation with nothing appears!

 

Thank you, I have found your post on the problems.  I believe this cruise was before the canopy was put on to stop the soot, but I'm not sure.

 

Aurora Cruisers E741 is available - deck 10.  Looking at the rave review I'm learning towards that.   Just looking at the itineraries now. Bit concerned one of them includes an overnight in Majorca reading the thread about Arvia being cancelled from there.

[AuroraCruiser08]

15 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

For reasons best known to itself the quotation with nothing appears!

 

Thank you, I have found your post on the problems.  I believe this cruise was before the canopy was put on to stop the soot, but I'm not sure.

 

Aurora Cruisers E741 is available - deck 10.  Looking at the rave review I'm learning towards that.   Just looking at the itineraries now. Bit concerned one of them includes an overnight in Majorca reading the thread about Arvia being cancelled from there.

We had no issues with E741. Balcony is a good size and the view is fantastic. Very limited vibration as well when underway! If it's available I would definitely recommend. 

[Selbourne]

11 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

For reasons best known to itself the quotation with nothing appears!

 

Thank you, I have found your post on the problems.  I believe this cruise was before the canopy was put on to stop the soot, but I'm not sure.

 

Aurora Cruisers E741 is available - deck 10.  Looking at the rave review I'm learning towards that.   Just looking at the itineraries now. Bit concerned one of them includes an overnight in Majorca reading the thread about Arvia being cancelled from there.

Yes it was before the canopies. Others will need to advise whether they have completely cured the soot problems, which were only apparent in certain weather conditions. However, once present, the soot could never be completely removed. One major problem was unique to the suite and if you go higher up the ship you shouldn’t be blighted with the noise from the Live Lounge. It’s possible that the vibration may lessen the higher up you go, but I can’t vouch for that. It wasn’t so much the vibration that bothered us, but the countless rattles that it caused! I should think deck 10 and above are far less problematic. 

[Presto2]

We've had an aft cabin on EDGE and had F729 on Britannia twice. They are both excellent!

I think (am not sure) that the larger ones go alternatively so the next larger one above would be on deck D ... but may be wrong. Have to say there will be some soot on there!

 

We tend to avoid the top as it is less private (well used to be) and not deck E as it is too close to the Live Lounge and the noise.

 

Whatever, enjoy those wake views - 

 

We have F728 for our cruise in May (swapped from an aft on IONA) and are really looking forward to it.

 

EDGE is our favourite Celebrity ship and Britannia now our favourite P&O. They are both great ships in their own way (and the cabins great) but remember when you go that there is a significant difference in the price you pay ...

 

PS re a rattle. Have yet to be in an aft cabin without some vibration when docking ...

 

PPS I am a sun baby too and you will get the sun there, when facing the right way of course !!!!

Edited February 6, 2023 by Presto2

[AuroraCruiser08]

19 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Yes it was before the canopies. Others will need to advise whether they have completely cured the soot problems, which were only apparent in certain weather conditions. However, once present, the soot could never be completely removed. One major problem was unique to the suite and if you go higher up the ship you shouldn’t be blighted with the noise from the Live Lounge. It’s possible that the vibration may lessen the higher up you go, but I can’t vouch for that. It wasn’t so much the vibration that bothered us, but the countless rattles that it caused! I should think deck 10 and above are far less problematic. 

Can confirm soot issue solved. Nit an issue for us bar one day when the wind was quite cyclonic, steward was straight on it though to clean up. 

[Selbourne]

1 minute ago, AuroraCruiser08 said:

Can confirm soot issue solved. Nit an issue for us bar one day when the wind was quite cyclonic, steward was straight on it though to clean up. 

That’s good to hear, although we found that the stewards could never get rid of all of it, so some risk clearly remains, albeit much reduced. It was really frustrating, for example, leaning on the hand rail only to then find a soot smudge on your sleeve. The canopy would also be beneficial to us as we don’t sunbathe. 

[snaefell]

Biggest problem we had with our corner aft suite on Britannia was how far it was to get back there after a hard night in the Crows Nest!😙

Loved the view over the wake,great balcony,sheltered by the superstructure on sea days,hardly used the living area or the butler so both of those were a bit of a waste!

[Presto2]

Where are the canopies? Want to move cruises but don't want to be in an aft cabin with no sun at all. Looking deck D. Had deck F and balconies are big. Are they a similar size?

 

 

 

 

[smokey01]

3 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Where are the canopies? Want to move cruises but don't want to be in an aft cabin with no sun at all. Looking deck D. Had deck F and balconies are big. Are they a similar size?

 

 

 

 

The canopies are on deck A and B

Edited February 11, 2023 by smokey01

[Presto2]

Thanks we found them on a photo. Have gone with a deck E aft above the one we normally have as it was not available 🙂

[Selbourne]

43 minutes ago, smokey01 said:

The canopies are on deck A and B

Are they only on those two decks? The soot affected all levels when we were on Britannia.

[smokey01]

2 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Are they only on those two decks? The soot affected all levels when we were on Britannia.

Yes we have just booked an Aft suite and so have done a bit of investigation. I think it maybe also due to these 2 decks being overlooked by the pool/bar deck above.

[terrierjohn]

19 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Are they only on those two decks? The soot affected all levels when we were on Britannia.

But the top 2 decks should protect the ones below, as the canopies collect most of the soot.

[Selbourne]

1 minute ago, terrierjohn said:

But the top 2 decks should protect the ones below, as the canopies collect most of the soot.

Not sure that they would, as the stern is tiered, so each deck protrudes out from the one above. They may well help, but I doubt that they completely resolve it. 
 

The soot issue is very much dependent on the weather though. In hot and dry weather the soot clears the ship. If it rains, it falls short and fouls the decks. The night we left Southampton we had heavy rain and the next morning our balcony was absolutely covered in soot. On other cruises, with no rain at all, I suspect that people may well have a ‘soot free’ cruise!
 

The stewards can never completely clear it, so although we only had ‘fresh’ soot on two other occasions over the 14 days, there was always some present. 

[Presto2]

We have had aft cabins on a number of ships and always take a flannel to wipe down the rail etc -- sad but it works and the view etc more than makes up for it

[Selbourne]

21 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

We have had aft cabins on a number of ships and always take a flannel to wipe down the rail etc -- sad but it works and the view etc more than makes up for it

Out of interest, have you ever had soot on any of the other ships? We’ve had aft suites on Britannia, Ventura and Arcadia, but only had a soot problem on Britannia. We also love aft cabins, but the soot on Britannia was a ruddy nuisance.

[Presto2]

3 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Out of interest, have you ever had soot on any of the other ships? We’ve had aft suites on Britannia, Ventura and Arcadia, but only had a soot problem on Britannia. We also love aft cabins, but the soot on Britannia was a ruddy nuisance.

We had a lot of soot on the Celebrity Silhouette each time we sailed on her. It was our first aft cabin so I suppose we just expected it on them then.

Not on the Celebrity Constellation but the balcony was huge and much of it was under cover. 

Azura no soot but those cabins are straight down if you get me, not stepped

Think we did on Celebrity Edge --- these are stepped too

 

 

 

 

 

[snaefell]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Out of interest, have you ever had soot on any of the other ships? We’ve had aft suites on Britannia, Ventura and Arcadia, but only had a soot problem on Britannia. We also love aft cabins, but the soot on Britannia was a ruddy nuisance.

Our last cruise was on RCI's Quantum Of The Seas,beautiful ship but on some days we were seeing soot on the upper aft decks.

[Fionboard]

15 hours ago, Presto2 said:

We had a lot of soot on the Celebrity Silhouette each time we sailed on her. It was our first aft cabin so I suppose we just expected it on them then.

Not on the Celebrity Constellation but the balcony was huge and much of it was under cover. 

Azura no soot but those cabins are straight down if you get me, not stepped

Think we did on Celebrity Edge --- these are stepped too

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, had this problem on the Solstice class ships, even in the Sunset Bar occasionally.