Britannia Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Chose this cruise because of the ports and the time of year. First three days were excellent then the Norovirus outbreak god out of hand and pools were emptied, buffet was closed, all venues on the ship were single entry with staff enforcing the use of hand sanitisers. Loungers were put away mid afternoon to scrub the decks. Handrails and lift buttons could not be touched. Menus, condiments, etc were removed from the restaurants. Crew were wiping down everything daily with virox. Crew were ignoring the sanitisers. This lasted for the following 11 days. Atmosphere on board was ruined. Compensation from P&O: nothing. Would not sail on this ship again. Entertainment was really good, particularly main theatre. Ports were really interesting and not leaving Barcelona until late night was a bonus. Dress code, however, was not enforced and hygiene standards were poor. Crew attitude was very variable, cabin steward was the exception.
Cabin Review
Cabin was excellent, decent shower with glass door and good space.
Port Reviews
Seville
Very short bus transfers, well organised and some great views.
Monaco (Monte Carlo)
Bus had access all the way up to Royal Palace which saved steep climb, guise was very good and views across the bay were fantastic.
Cartagena (Spain)
Bus tour to lighthouse, Cabo de Palos, and mining district was a waste of time, fortunately it concluded with a visit to the Roman theatre which was well worth it.
Gibraltar
Once you have been up the rock and visited the gardens it becomes rather pointless, great for firdt time visitors though.
Itinerary on this cruise was shortened as Rome was included in previous years, this meant more sea days. The quality of food was average and seemed to vary day to day as did the level of service in the two mail restaurants, dinner could take an hour or it could take almost two. You tend to avoid the buffet during a serious Norovirus outbreak especially when guests are projectile vomiting over the tables. Quite a few guest reviews have described this ship as Butlins at sea and I can see where they are coming from. The Captians announcements starting with good morning boys and girls when the average age of the guests was well over 60 is a little Hi-de-Hi. This is the second time I have travelled on this ship and the second time I have had to complain, the previous occasion being over noisy teenagers in the cabin next door coming and going to the disco till 3 in the morning running along the corridor, shouting and banging doors. This is the life, dont think so. Fortunately other ships in the P & O fleet seem able to do a much better job of maintaining standards and have considerably better standards of hygiene. As for guest relations at P&O, Southampton They admitted in writing and apologised for, poor hygiene standards failure to enforce precautionary measures the serious impact it had on my holidaya culture change on-board being needed among staff. In the light of this to then refuse compensation: really! In conclusion I can only say regarding this ship, dont believe the adverts, read the reviews.