P&O Cruises

Gourmet Food Cruises

Southampton

Europe - All

Europe - British Isles & Western

Mediterranean

Europe - Western Mediterranean

Spain

Baltic Sea

Norwegian Fjords

Canary Islands

Norway

Europe River

France

Portugal

Rhine River

Italy

Douro River

Belgium

Caribbean - All

Germany

Caribbean - Eastern

Denmark

Sweden

Caribbean - Southern

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Transatlantic

Netherlands

Europe - River Cruise

Panama Canal & Central America

Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

Cruise to Nowhere

Scotland

Eastern Mediterranean

Hawaii

Excellent

Average

Terrible

Arcadia

Ventura

Azura

Britannia

Kusadasi

We had a wonderful trip to Norway on the Britannia.  The entire crew go out of their way to make sure the service is outstanding.  However, the food was quite disappointing in the main dining areas.  We had menu fatigue on day 2 and were forced to try the select dining where you pay more but you shouldn’t really be in this position.  Another annoying feature is having to constantly fork out for activities onboard.  If you are budgeting spending money I would allow £1000 per week for two.  That allowed us a bottle of wine and a few drinks every night, the spa for the week, a massage each and 3 select dining experiences.  If it wasn’t for the average food quality we would definetely go back.  The Gala night is always a nice evening on cruise ships when you get dressed up.  We were slightly amused with Sausage and Mash being featured on the menu that night.  My advice for P&O is to find a new Executive Chef.

No fault of the crew but the Britannia doesn’t have a promenade deck and neither a central staircase.  

The entertainment team are really good. Although it’s noticeable their spending budget has been reduced over the past few years.  We had a super pianist on board but the resident band wasn’t so good.  The main show of the week in the Headliners theatre was pretty good but other nights not so great.

Everything great except...

First time with P O cruised with other lines to various destinations and can honestly say that this was the best!Embarkation reasonably quick considering that there was over 3000 guests to get on board.Cabin was on Fdeck forward with balcony Camille was our cabin steward who did an excellent job keeping it clean and tidy also very friendly.We were on freedom dining allocated to the meridian restaurant this worked very well for us.We ate in the horizon buffet for breakfast on 4 mornings the other mornings we had room service which was very good this meant we could take our time and get ready at our leisure for our planned trips out.We only did one P O excursion all the others we did our own thing which was so much cheaper.Booked Flam railway online before we sailed this meant we had a carriage almost to ourselves with another couple instead of being crammed into one with the masses off the ship.Briksdal glacier booked independently well worth seeing Stavenger and Bergen easy to get around from the ship.To sum up in our opinion Brittania is a lovely ship with good food brilliant entertainment comfy cabins and excellent staff and crew what more is there to say!!!

This was our first cruise travelled with parents in a Balcony Cabin for a wedding anniversary, as I have not cruised before can only go on as I found. we were on D deck 

Embarkation/ Disembarkation:

We went with Inter cruises coach benefit, first class service, from moment bags on coach all sorted on arrival for you outside cabin, arrival was pretty straightforward and as a coach benefit went in faster, also leaving was so quick from cabin to coach in about 15 minutes. 

The Cabin - modern immaculatly clean, we found balcony big enough and would reccomend on a fjords crusie to make most of scenary cabin steward very friendly and helpful as we required sofabed it was made easier just had to pop card out when going for dinner bed made up and in morning popped away for you. 

We also found cabin location very ideal as you were half way between deck 7 which was main atrium and deck 16 which was pool deck area. 

Be mindfull of booking A deck cabins on aft side especially under sunset bar as there are chairs there which are constalty moved which could affect cabins below. 

The Ship - Very luxurious feel to it very LA hotel style the Atrium is really lovely place to sit in the evening overlooking the 3 levels, despite it's size we never felt overcrowed. 

although no promenade deck the mini promenade deck on deck 18 was more than adequte. the ship also has very Brittish feel to it so at times it can feel a home from home which we liked. 

Crows nest a great bar with vista at front of ship also a quieter area away from hustle and the piano player in the evening very good. 

Main dining - Freedom Meridan we found this option easy and on few times they did not have a table we had a pager to come back which was never more than 20 minutes. 

As it was our first cruise did not feel the need to book speciality dining apart from one in Beach House this is converted part of buffet we chose this option when sailing out of fjords enabled us to still enjoy scenary i would advise booking though as was a wait for food.  cover charge this was about £8.00 each. 

Horizon Buffet - breakfast really good and was constantly kept clean granted at times it can get busy so would recomend getting a table then taking in turns to go up. it might be walk but uif you approach from the far aft side just outside sunset bar which found this end much less busy. 

Sunset bar - a great sometimes forgotton bar at the back of ship if you go up stairs to deck 17 and 18 a great quieter spot to enjoy views. 

lifts at times yes can be busy but mostly never had to wait escessive amount of time as other have said no stairs in middle seems an odd omission. some people have said ships seem confusing best advice is navigate ship on deck 7 (Starboard) especially going one end to the other much quicker than going across lido deck. 

live lounge busy venue mostly focused on live music

Entertainment was varied to suit different taste we found live singing good much more relaxed in atrium and harmony 3 also good in live lounge bit more lively. only slight negative is some activies were repeated each day but such as games etc but this does provide a great oppourntunity to meet regularly with others. Astonishing was also good. 

british sailaway in port very good 

As others have said book shore excurisons yourself where you can we paid almost double for Flam railway if you looking forward to waterfall stop on the way this is only few minutes, as it is in effect same journey back heard good feedback bike riding back down. 

Bergen Funnicular was only £10.00 return approx but would advise going early as can get busy but they do move pretty quick. 

Stavanger - port right in town recommend a walk round world heritage site of old town but be advised can be steep to approach in places

Flam see above 

Older port right in town stunning scenary

Bergen more of walk into town but can get shuttle bus

although we did no do many especially if active some great shore excursions just book yourself where you can.

point to note if bergen last port on 7 night you are back on board by 2:30pm

Summary Britannia is a great ship with great service if doing our cruise would reccomend a balcony however there are some areas of ships where scenary can still be enjoyed. only negative is evening buffet not the best but overall food excellent.

First ever cruise. Chose the Norwegian Fjords.

Smooth arrival, well directed by the port security and marshals to the car queue, which we only waited in for 10 minutes or so.  Parking staff very efficient and knew our names as soon as car was directed to the drop off. Bags taken and gone, car driven away, then into the terminal and aboard within 15 minutes. No hassle. No stress. Very little queuing. Our boarding time was 1300 so on nice and early. 

Once aboard you have your photo taken in the Atrium. At this stage being newbies you are still Rabbits in the headlights so it is all a bit over your head and you're looking round so much! They then direct you up to the Buffet. We found our Cabin 35 minutes later and suitcases were outside. Very good.  

I will now try to debunk some of the moaners. I've been reading lots of reviews here, and, while some passengers may well have had unfortunate mishaps, bad luck with staff, and so on much of it seems to be moans for the sake of it!  They obviously have Silver Service and being treated like Gods in mind.....

Ship:  Smart. Clean. Muted Browns and Greys. I've read comments by people complaining about the lack of fresh colours! Deary me. If those are the colours then those are the colours. Did not bother us! 

It takes time of course to find your way around but they give you a little pocket guide which is easy to use and understand, so we had no problem familiarising ourselves.

Lots of artwork everywhere. Not our taste at all. We are both artists and I like more traditional scenes but again, like the colour schemes who cares? It's a ship not a gallery, we are not there to be bothered by the art.

I agree with other comments that there is too little lift capacity for the number of guests. 

The answer, if you're able, just use the stairs! Simple. We planned to as much as possible as we were wondering what we would weigh at the end of the voyage, so planned to walk off excesses! So no real issues with the lifts from us.

I also agree with other reviews that there are no stairs mid ships up to the higher decks, and this indeed impacts those with cabins mid ships. An odd omission to be sure. Again this did not affect us as we had a cabin on Deck G well forward where there are stairs.

Cabin commented on in other section.

Dining: We used Freedom dining in the Meridian first two nights. Posh food, certainly in our book. Service as quick as to be expected considering the numbers of people. I don't know what the moans of others are about maybe they expect to be hand fed the finest Caviar? Portions fine, and I'm a gannet too so no worries there. 

At that point my wife sadly had tummy upset, though I stress she was feeling not right before we boarded. So for the rest of the trip we used the buffet, sometimes just myself when my wife was not up to eating. 

We both liked the Buffet. Eat as much as you like, with a wide selection. Again I have read the moans and just don't recognise the comments from people who were on the same trip!?  Breakfast fantastic, dinners not as good but still perfectly happy with what was on offer and the sheer range of choice. I've read one review that moaned there was no egg station frying eggs order? Silver Service Brigade again? Oh well. We took ours from the tray and they were fine.

Staff very on the ball, making sure hands washed on entry or using the hand sanitizer machines. The staff are so aware hygiene wise they make sure you used a fresh plate and tray every new trip from your table. They remove your plates promptly and helped my wife a few times to find certain items politely and professionally. 

It can get busy in there so either go up one at a time, or, do as we did most mornings and go outside to the Lido area and sit at the empty tables there! No different that the ones in the buffet proper, so moaners complaining there are too many people and no where to sit should get off bums and walk a bit further to where there are plenty!

We didn't use the premium restaurants this cruise so cannot comment on those but we will next time. 

Entertainment: They publish a little magazine called Horizon with the activities each day, times and venues. Something for everyone. 

We saw two shows in the Headliners Theatre. Astonishing, and an acrobatic/ dance act from two amazing performers, forget their names, but awesome. Astonishing is good but all a bit too hyped in my opinion.

Neil Oliver who leads the entertainment team. What a character. Very good indeed.

We loved the Great British Sail away as we departed Bergan.  All mass round the top decks around the pool, get the flags out, sing, dance, and be patriotic! I personally love that sort of stuff, there is far too little of it in our PC obsessed country. I make no apology for admitting I was almost in tears on more than one occasion with Rule Britannia, Land of Hope and Glory, and Jerusalem being sung by the masses. Unpatriotic moaners can go back to their cabins if they don't like it. This is a British ship with British styles and tastes.

Service: Very attentive, especially in the bars we tried. Crows Nest the best as you can see out the front of the ship. I have again read complaints about the drinks packages available, we didn't go for any of that, just order what you want when you want. They give you spending money anyway, which accounted for most of our spend.

Excursions: Enjoyed them all, but very expensive for what you get though. We did two, Norway in a Nutshell at Flam and Briksdal Glacier at Olden.

The Flam railway is really not all that, considering the cost. The coach trip before hand was better getting into the countryside and seeing the views from some hair raising little lanes high up the mountains. The views of the Fjords from the ship are better. The best bit of the Flam Railway is the stop to see a waterfall where two lunatics in Red dresses frolic and dance up on the rocks by the waterfall like Odin's Valkries! They must be cold! Do they wait up there for every train??!

The glacier is amazing, and Lake Olden which you pass on the coach something else. Beautiful.

We did not do excursions in Stavanger or Bergan as you're in the town, we just walked everywhere seeing what we could.

Now for my only moans. Why, why P&O, with the billions you must be making, is there no free Wi Fi? The packages were very expensive so we did not bother. It seems every café, pub and public shopping mall in the land has free Wi fi but not a huge cruise liner? Come on....

The first sea day evening is Captain's Gala night. You all stand round the Atrium in your finest then the Captain makes a speech, introduces his senior officers, then vanishes!!

He does not go round mingling and meeting the passengers, at least not where we were. So this is all a bit over hyped in my view. One for the in crowd wanting to be seen.

We loved it. You are paying for the novelty of a mobile hotel taking you to your destination, while you relax! Takes the stress out of travel for us. We are now hooked and have already booked our next cruise, on Britannia, deliberately, next year. It will be interesting to arrive next time already knowing where you are going on board and feeling right at home.

Rule Britannia!!!!

Ignore the moaners!

This was a surprise cruise for our Wedding Anniversary and wanted to celebrate in style on a 5 star Cruise ship and always wanted to enjoy the beautiful scenic views of the Norwegian Fjords. I chose The Britannia which is described as a 5 star Hotel as I wanted to enjoy the luxuries that you would expected of a 5 star Ship... including the food.

We were informed that there had been a previous outbreak of Norovirus on board and were asked to declare any recent sickness/stomach problems as we checked in...not a great start !!! As we boarded were horrified to see crew members wearing purple plastic gloves cleaning the bannisters of the Atrium.

We were very disappointed in the quality and quantity of the Freedom Dining Restaurants, The Main Buffet Restaurants and the outside grill snack food. All meat including the sirloin steak were of very poor quality and bland in flavour and lacking in presentation and vegetables were very sparse. I dared to ask for wholegrain mustard but was informed there was jalapeno (English) and french mustard by waiting staff who spoke only in very broken English.

I asked for the mussel starter one night, there were plenty of shells and sauce was tasty but struggled to find the minute mussels (approx 2 cm). Very disappointing as spoke to a Retired Scottish Mussel Farmer who said it was very embarrassing!!! Prawns were very small more like shrimps. The chicken main course looked like a works canteen meal with  two small pieces of meat on the plate very poorly presented with very few vegetables.

Cheese and biscuits were very hit and miss not allowed to have certain cheeses on different night...were we on rations!!! I asked for Brie one night and was informed I could only have "monster cheese" !!! again the waitress in the Pensinular Restaurant spoke little English and could not explain the origin of the cheese. 

The main Buffet was also very disappointing, only small areas were open at a time, with poor quality food. Cottage pie with low quality mince, frozen/tinned carrots and  were cold, Curry night again lacking in quality or quantity only 2 main curries, chicken was chewy and braised beef !!! rice very watery, very few chutneys/pickles and no Nan breads/chapatis etc...

Every time we visited the Buffet we were asked if we wanted to book an extra experience for £25 each for a galley tour/sail away party as we could have unlimited canapes and a cocktail??? We were constantly encouraged to book at the Al-a-cart  Restaurants for an extra £25 per person each time. 

The outside grill and pizzeria were equally poor, tasteless meat patties posed as beef burgers, chewy cold chicken in breadcrumbs sat next to uncovered salad and chips in small bowls, slices of very thin anemic looking pizza looked very unappetising. 

I could write reams regarding the food experiences in the main Restaurants on the Britannia but won't bore the reader too much. I feel I had to make the above comments as I compare this very disappointing experience to the great food experience aboard The Arcadia we made over 3 years ago, where the quality and quantity of the food surpassed our expectations. 

We will not cruise on The Britannia again or entertain the new Ship Iona this was also the opinion of many we spoke to on this trip!!!

Sorry to say P and O have compromised their high standards and will lose loyal customers.

Not 5 star food/service

I just cannot believe some of these negative comments as the one it was full of over 70's, yes there was a fair share of the older generation, but this cruise was a good cross section of people. This was my 1st cruise as a passenger, as for 7 years in the 1990's I was a staff member on many different ships. So this should be a very critical review as I am aware of customer service. I cannot fault anything apart from the shop sale day and it was a mad scram, but that too was fun and never realised there were that many passengers on here as the ship is so well equipped with lounges, bars and restaurants and all very clean. The cabin was brilliant our stewardess was Barbara and nothing was too much trouble. The entertainment was great although we never saw many shows and finally the dining experience was amazing, we had freedom dining, which I can highly recommended, the choices were excellent, but if you wanted something that wasn't on the menu, they would always try and oblige. And finally the on board photographers were polite, very professional and not pushy on you purchasing there photos, but helped it was all done by computer and you can view and order at your convenience. Sorry this is such a long review, but I cannot say enough about this beautiful ship and all of it's staff. Also it helped because the weather was superb and that is just luck of the draw. So although the shore excursions were quite pricey we were very selective what we went on and they were well knowledgeable and friendly.

Cannot fault on anything

What a beautiful ship was amazing ,our cabin on b deck was to a very high standard and the cabin steward went out of his way to help us . I work a lot of hours and so we decided to take our two children out of school and pay the fine we had such a good family holiday the reef was brilliant and we had to literally drag the kids out on a night .we spent a lot of time round the pool , the pools were very deep even for a good swimmer the service round the pool was brilliant . During the evening we spent our time trying out the bars and restaurants we never struggled to get a seat together ,we tried the sinhdu and the beach house both were very very good . 

There are a couple of things that let the holiday down the lifts were terrible they were very small and took you forever to get anywhere for such a new modern ship they were prehistoric . Another let down was the it was just like been in a floating care home I would say the average age was 70 and we felt awkward some of these old people had obviously never seen children it was like been on chitty chitty bang bang and waiting for the kid catcher, the rudeness of some of the elderly people was unbelievable I felt looked down upon as if we shouldn't be there because we're a young family also when goin in the theatre an the restaurant it was like a car park for mobility scooters ! But I just don't understand  if you don't like children why not go on a adult only ship !! After a while u learn to ignore this and we managed to have a really fantastic holiday to rember. I also paid £200 to do the cookery school with James Martin and Antonio this was really worth  every penny.

Floating Old Folks Home!

Booked a balcony cabin for maiden voyage of the overhyped Britannia.This was our 10th cruise. This ship will damage P&Os brand image if the poor standards continue. Bad layout of ship caused lots of conjestion and pinchpoints in many areas,  a theatre that only accomadates a third of the passengers in narrow sweaty seats, the atriums wow factor consists of a 3 storey high lampshade which changes colour now and again with a few seats underneath with passengers sat waiting for some entertainment which never happens. Ive had more fun in a hospital a&e ward. Midships staircase stops at deck 7 so if like us your cabin is on deck 8 you have to walk to forward or aft stairs or suffer trying to squash into the smallest lifts at sea. This encouter with P&O has convinced us to cruise with Celebrity Cruises in the future.

Maiden Disaster

Filters

1-8 of 8