Well I did what so many others do and read Britannia's reviews before we sailed. A huge mistake! The points raised by so many travellers seem to me to not be of the ship we sailed on. Perhaps in some minds there's been confusion between P&O's newest addition and one of their ferries!!
For a start our cabin was on C deck midship and we found no problems at all with there being no central staircase. There was absolutely no difference in getting into a lift than on any other cruise ship we have sailed on. The only really busy times were on embarkation and disembarkation as is the norm. What would help though is if someone in the lift had the savvy to press the 'doors shut' button once people had entered or exited. That certainly speeds up the time it takes the lifts to go up and down. Clever eh?
The atrium is much bigger than on other ships and we really liked its spaciousness and the fact that it was never difficult to find a seat, a fact that more or less applied throughout the ship even though there was a full compliment of passengers.
Embarkation ok but could possibly be better.
Sadly my high expectations of Lisbon were not met. It was basically a busy city.
Prior to Tenerife we stopped at Gran Canaria where a short walk across town took us to a lovely sandy beach with a long promenade with many bars and restaurants. We thought G C the nicest Canary Island of those we saw bearing in mind the limited area we visited on each.
Tenerife we spent shopping in the shops the Port Lecturer said would be closed!
Finally we stopped at Madeira where we have holidayed before. As usual Funchal was very busy and very hot.