Britannia Review
Rating by category
Additional details
This was our first time on Britannia, and our first transatlantic, with a few days in the Caribbean first. It was our fourth P&O cruise since cruising restarted after the pandemic. We are usually big fans of P&O but this is the first time I’ve left a negative review. In hindsight, an eastbound transatlantic wasn’t a good choice, but there were other disappointments, and we didn’t get the cruising experience we normally do.
The first few days in the Caribbean were fine, although we had 4 port days in a row, which was quite tiring, especially with the time difference from the UK.
The issues started once we began the transatlantic part. We had been really looking forward to our first time in an aft suite with a wraparound balcony, but we couldn’t make the most of it. There were awful vibrations whenever the ship was in motion, and I had sea/motion sickness symptoms 24/7 on the 8 sea days, even on days with very little swell. (I don’t normally suffer from sea sickness, and we’ve had lots of aft cabins on other ships.) On 3 nights I felt too ill to leave the cabin but thankfully our butler brought meals to us. During the daytime I couldn’t use our lovely balcony but had to stay midships.
Cabin Review
Non stop vibrations when the ship was moving, and sometimes with noxious fumes on aft suite balcony ( See main review). Fine on port days, but not on sea days.
The suite itself was lovely - comfortable, clean, lots of storage, nice decor. No atlas or binoculars, which are supposed to be provided.
Port Reviews
Antigua
Booked the P&O Valley Church Beach excursion. It was chaos on arrival. There weren't enough sun loungers set up, even though they were included as standard, and surely they had been given numbers in advance. We had to wait about 30 minutes in the burning sun for them to get more out, and for umbrellas.
St. Kitts (Port Zante)
Our favourite island. Took a shared taxi to the beach, organised through the kiosk on the docks. Very handy supermarket just across the road from the port to stock up on essentials.
St. Lucia
A good P&O excursion to see the Pitons by boat, stopping at a beach for a snorkel. Great atmosphere on board, with rum punch and dancing.
Nice little port, especially Rum Therapy karaoke bar.
Barbados
Took a shared taxi to Harbour Lights beach club. Our first time there. It was ok, but we preferred the Boatyard that we have visited previously.
Barbados port has a few duty free shops and a convenience store.