Ship- P&O Britannia
Built- 2015
Capacity- 3600
pax size- 141,000
Crew- 1350
Length- 330mtr

This was our first P&O cruise and was a bit apprehensive like everyone else I did the silly thing of reading reviews on the Britannia, even as an ex-travel agent/owner I know that the reviews need to be taken with a pinch of salt, but one of the recent moans was about the flow of the ship and no Aft Staircase and at first, the review seemed accurate, but being a bit qualitative we went looking and asked the crew a few discrete the reason was fairly obvious, the Aft 1/5th (20%) from just after the inside cabins were closed off due to there being a Covid-19 Quarantine area for the crew to do their 10-day isolation and in case of an outbreak, which is required in the ‘Return to Sailing Order’, mystery solved.

Due to the current climate of having Covid rules, Britannia could only sail at 70% capacity add to that all the legal flight and vaccination hoops we had to traverse (which I’ll cover later on) she was only about 45-60% capacity which was nice.

As with all the other 5 cruise companies we have sailed with the Crew members were Fantastic and could not serve us enough, the bar staff knew our drinks and names after the first visit and the Java Bar the tenders Jay and Bernard were two of the best so friendly and attentive and Jay actually spoke Welsh phrases which were nice being Welsh ourselves. This bar is a great place for pre or post Theater drinks with new or familiar friends.

All of the Bar’s had a lot of seating and we never had to go hunting for somewhere to sit, the live acts in the bars were very good and a couple were more than above the normal singers, in the Live Lounge we had a Rock night with the band Pulse and a male and female singer (sorry I can’t remember their name to many Gin and Ginger ales drunk), and they were the stars of the whole cruise, singing anthem hits from Bon Jovi, Metalica, Queen, Guns & Rose’s and a lot more and they had fantastic voices.

The Main Theater act ‘HeadLiners’ are very good singers and dancers with high energy shows and even a magical show, with a great LED screen and lighting backdrops, the only problem was that the shows started to become repetitive with the same songs and dance moves, to be fair to them they did very well considering that P&O could not bring any fresh acts on to the ship due to the Covid restrictions and the 10-day isolation rules. The Poolside show they did was fresh with new music and great dancing under the Caribbean stars and there was a great atmosphere on the top deck.

The main restaurant is a very stylish area with glass-walled wine racks and well laid out tables, the table waiters were very attentive and always kept an eye on what you were doing, if they saw you weren’t keen on something they quickly came over and asked if a replacement or an alternative was wanted, on one occasion we were looking at the patterns on the breakfast cups and plates and commenting to each other how good they looked, the head waiter appeared for out of nowhere to ask what was wrong or if they were dirty and seemed confused when we said we were just admiring the patterns on the cups and plates, this is great service attentive but discrete. 

The Food in the main restaurants was of the best quality we have ever had at sea and so well presented, the only slight complaint was the variation it was always meat and two veg, no pasta and only chicken once, but saying that there was Venison, various Fish, Quail, Guinea fowl, and great Steaks all served with veg and mash. The quality of the food was also there at Breakfast and Dinner times, the Canteen (Horizon Food Court) had a limited offering but was very well cooked, there was always a roast joint a vegetarian option and even a Gluten-free option. Cold cut meats, and salmon (or a different fish option) freshly baked bread and plenty of desserts were available, at 11pm a night time snacks were available but nearly the same as the dinner time offering, Pizza and burgers were only on the poolside and only for a few hours per day.

Friends of ours who had massages in Thailand and on other ships had a few Spa treatments and were very pleased saying that they were the Best Massages they have ever had, a bit pricey between £120-£170 plus but worth it, the masses did try to up-sell creams and bath salts which ruins the relaxed feeling and didn’t purchase.

There were 4 formal nights 2 of which had a special menu which was very tasty, on one occasion my son and I wore tailored waistcoats, a shirt and a black tie (I wore a hand made silk tie) and were refused entry to the crow’s nest bar lounge which did not impress us as my outfit must have cost a  lot more than the cheap of the rail suits that were aloud in
Conclusion- Would I cruise with P&O again? That would depend on the Itinerary and the price, we normally choose our cruise by the countries, cities being visited and if we have been there before, some cruise Itinerarys we would do over and over again, such as an Atlantic crossing (5 so far) because each one has been different, and the same as the Baltics, there so much to see on this cruise its worth doing a few times.
                       Would I cruise on Britannia again? That’s a more simple answer and it’s a yes, one good reason was in Saint Maartin we birthed next to the Celebrity Edge and two Oasis-class ships and Britannias Hugh Union Flag painted on her Bow was amazing and made you proud to be British, See below image.