this was our first cruise with P&O and we deliberately chose the Britannia in the belief that being the fleet flagship and indeed the newest vessel that their would be a "wow" factor to beat or at least rival it's competitors like Royal carribean, Princess and Celebrity, sadly we were to be very very disappointed. Unfortunately, this ship cannot compete on so many levels with it's rivals in the "wow" factor as it just doesn't have any worthy of note. Yes, the furnishings and material used in the public area's are of good quality but not better than those of it's rivals. It appears as though the "interior designers" have acquired a job lot of dull and dark materials and equipped the entire ship in them, which in our and many other guests opinions made the ship dull, dark and somewhat dreary.

The entire layout/design of the ship has to be questioned as well, as the ship seems fragmented in many area's. You simply cannot walk on the communal upper decks without the constant need to either go up and down stairs and along deck sections in order to get to any particular place, this is a major nuisance for those who are disabled or just simply cannot manage stairs for whatever reason. Also the lack of any decks whereby you could just stroll along without the constant need to avoid loungers or barriers is also a miss.

It is also evident just how many outside facilities such a large ship is lacking, for a passenger total of 3600+, for example their are just 2 jacuzzii situated on deck seventeeen with a capacity of "eight" people each (realistically 5-6 max) , only 12 lockers and 1 shower in the "mens" changing area and a shared sauna, this beggars belief..By contrast howver there are plenty of loungers but sadly they are so close togther that getting on them easily is difficult in many cases especially on "sea days" These are but a few of the more obviuos but by no means all of the misgivings of Britannia with a special thumbs down to the lifts, expect to allocate a day of your holiday waiting around for these slow and inefficient devices, probably more if once again you cannot manage the stairs. Read more