The P & O Cruises

P&O’s Britannia — not all that
I feel that Britannia cruise ship even though new (April 2015) is quite outdated already due to the colours that they have used mainly on her in the dining areas etc. Main colours used are different browns and beiges. Also the furniture that has been used on Britannia is quite cheap and so many scratches has occurred already on the tables and dirty marks & chips have appeared on the walls. The snooker table is also very cheap and so yet again with the use which has only been 4 months usage has already started to show. The felt on the table is already wearing down and the snooker balls all have chips on them especially the white ball looks more like a moon. The space in the theatre and live lounge is so small it is nowhere near enough space for over 3,000 plus passengers. The cabins are ok but again cheap material and colours outdated. Also I feel the staff on board at the time of our cruise was not very helpful, communication issues and they did not smile enough. The food in the buffet area Horizon was not great luke warm and the fish always seemed dry and the bacon in morning no flavour very bland. Excursions all went wrong so don’t recommend doing any excursions do your own thing. Pool turned us blue etc.
However the restaurants that you pay for e.g. Sindhu, Epicurean, Beach House etc was really good. I especially loved the carved salmon that was performed in front of us in the Epicurean and the sizzling steak on lava rock in the Beach House so unique and amazing. The entertainment of the quiz’s etc was really good as well especially Nick who was a great laugh and so entertaining. The quiz’s was particularly good as all questions was read and shown on screens which was great especially for for people that may have been hard of hearing. However I feel the shows some of them lacked good actors this could be improved if they employ better actors. The cookery schools with the celeb chefs that may be on board at that time of your cruise is worth doing though. I done with James Martin, Mary Berry and Theo Randall I highly recommend especially if you love chefs as much as I do. Also the hosted dinner with them was also great a unique experience and very tasty high standard food served on the nigh along with the Wiston wine that the queen used to launch the ship back in April. The spa area is brilliant and highly recommend to anyone a great chill out area especially the hydro area and retreat but if you want to have these private areas then book when you get on board as only 60 places for the whole cruise available and gets booked up quick. A great way to escape all the people that are on board using the lidos around the pools etc.
All in all would I go back on Britannia NO only if Rick Stein was going on her perhaps. Reason I would not go back is because I think she is too small for the size of people she holds, not enough staff, staff not friendly enough, not enough classes to do during day, theatre productions not West End class, outdated colours, food in free restaurants not great and cheap furnishings. I felt I was on a 3 star cruise rather than a 4.

I suppose on one level it’s hard to review a cruise line when it’s the only cruise I’ve been on. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but I did have some expectations, and well, I’m not sure any of them were met by P&O. We thought a cruise would be perfect because I like to go out and explore stuff while we’re on vacation, and the other half likes to relax at the pool or the bar and drink a bunch of cocktails. It sounded like a perfect combination of the two.
So we went on an 11 night cruise down the Atlantic coast leaving from Southampton. We had stops in La Coruna, Casablanca, Cadiz, Malaga, Gibraltar and Lisbon as well as four sea days. The cruise sounded great (we were really excited about Casablanca) and there was a fine dining restaurant on board with Marco PIerre White’s name attached. I’d never been to one of his restaurants, but I knew the name, so I was hoping for good things.
So first off, our room was fantastic. We did splurge and go for a mini-​suite. (Because hey, it’s a honeymoon, so why not?) It had a balcony. We also got canapes every night. It’s a good thing we did splurge because we spent quite a bit of time there. (The reasons will be clear later.) We even brought four bottles of our own wine to enjoy on board because again, hey why not?
So after we arrived, we had several hours before our room was ready, so we went and grabbed a bite at the buffet. After having lunch at the buffet, I realized that I pretty much didn’t want to go back to the buffet again. Luckily there are several restaurants and places to eat, so it really wouldn’t be an issue. We also checked out some of the bars and had some cocktails. While cheap, they were clearly watered down and not really that great. This isn’t boding well. The pools were quite small, and honestly, there were always a lot of very sun-​burned white people around them.
Speaking of white people, apparently cruise lines are places where it’s still okay for the primarily white passengers to be served by minorities. It felt very Victorian. I know that they probably pay well, and they probably make a lot of money, but there was a level of discomfort attached that I wasn’t okay with.
They were also obsessed with hand sanitizer on the ship. There were always people try to squirt you with it outside of the restaurants and when you were boarding the ship. Apparently they were worried about norovirus which is a virus that isn’t killed by hand sanitizers. It really was frustrating and at one point a very elderly woman complained quite loudly that we weren’t using it. I actually didn’t hear, but I probably would have said something quite rude if I had.
But speaking of the restaurants… The first night we ate at the «fine dining» restaurant. It’s not fine dining. We were severely disappointed (especially with our cheese plate that was cold and the cheeses were boring). So we figured we wouldn’t go back. However, after a few meals at the standard restaurant, we realized that it was far worse (except for the cheese) and maybe we should go back to the other place just for something decent. The Italian restaurant on the ship was far better. We basically decided to eat in port whenever possible. The wines were okay, but not great, although if you want expensive champagne, it was quite a bit cheaper than getting back in the UK. Basically, the food was geared toward an older, British palate instead of having a more interesting selection.
So with the lack of good food, good wine and good cocktails, we spent a lot of time in the room reading or drinking our own wine while we were on the ship. Or in port if we could. We also frequented the casino for something to do and played a lot of blackjack.
The port selection was great, except most of the time we arrived at 8:00 am. When I’m on vacation, I don’t want to have to get up early, so we did miss a lot of time in port. I’m not sure why they were obsessed with making us get there incredibly early, but it was probably due to the obscene amount of elderly people on the ship. They like mornings or something, don’t they? It was alright in most cases, as we could leave later and didn’t need to be back until 5:30 or so, but in Gibraltar we were only there from 8:00 — 12:30 so unfortunately we were forced to have an early morning so we could rush to the rock and see stuff then head back. It does give the opportunity to try places and I definitely want to go back to Malaga and Lisbon.
The onboard entertainment was pretty goofy. I think I did Karaōke. Otherwise there was a lot of cabaret shows (which I saw a bit of one and realized how awful it was) and other stuff, but nothing I was really interested in. Again, I feel like it was geared to a different age group and people who really like to do British things. Lots of quizzes and ballroom dancing. So it was disappointing on that end as well.
I’m still not against cruises after this, I think it will just involve a lot more research into what the ships have to offer first.

Two week Caribbean cruise from Barbados on The Ventura. Entertainment absolutely superb West End stuff and I loved the 80s music show. I liked the fact our balcony cabin had tea and coffee making facilities in the room and we could smoke on our balcony. Not so much of an in-​your-​face tipping culture on this ship compared to the American lines. No complaints. The only downside is that the passengers were not very upmarket and plenty of boozers on board but that’s not P & O’s fault.
Have just returned from the 85 day South American Odyssey Cruise with P & O. Good class of passenger on board, wonderful trip, managed to get into the Falklands for my second visit and superb weather for the stunning Chilean Fjords. The only downside was that the Adonia was a touch puritanical with no casino on board.