From start to finish the cruise was spectacular so let me tell you why.
Flight – Thomas cook airlines. Economy seats were comfortable with enough legroom even for my long legs. Entertainment by the way of films and music on personal screens. Meals were reasonable. Serving a hot meal and later with a cream tea. Apart from tea/coffee with meals drinks were extra. The flight was on time and baggage was so organised it went straight to the ship without us worrying about it.
Coach to ship- coach was there to greet us so no waiting around at the airport. A bottle of water on each seat to keep us hydrated. Our guide informed us of the process and the timings of the journey. Gave us a little information of St Lucia but mainly let us rest after a long journey.
Embarkation- was quick and smooth. Staff were friendly and welcoming. Given a welcome map of the ship along with our room card. We were directed to the lifts so cabin was easy to find. We had our emergency drill as a requirement by law.
Cabin- was double with balcony and clean, stylish and roomy. Complimentary toiletries were of good standard. More than adequate hanging and shelf space for all our clothing. Room included a safety deposit box, tea and coffee making facilities, fridge and well organised bathroom with shower cubicle.
Ship- was stylish in decor and a reasonable size. I thought it was easy to navigate having only 3 floors to really think about. This being where the shops eateries and entertainment were.
Food- during the day for breakfast and if we were onboard for lunch, we chose to eat in the buffet. This had a wide variety of foods to suit everyone. On an evening we were seated in the Oriental restaurant in first sitting on a table of 6. We were lucky enough to have a table where there was a window to view outside. The food was to a good standard which was served to us by some professional yet friendly waiters. The menus were created by Marco Pierre White and had an excellent varied choice each night.
We also took the opportunity to eat at some of their signature restaurants at a supplement. We ate at the sindhu Asian fusion food which was outstanding. We ate at the market cafe where we had a fabulous lunch and finally we ate at the limelight club where it was a set menu with a celebrity show. Once again a good standard
Entertainment- was a high standard and good variety. We had in-house entertainment as well as celebrity entertainers in the headliner theatre which had plenty of seating. It was varied from singing,comedy and ventriloquist acts. Other entertainment was held in the crystal room for those who enjoyed ballroom dancing, live lounge for those who enjoyed up to date music and dancing, brodie’s bar for sporting and quizzes, a studio for cinema as well as other venues we didn’t attend.
Daily activity- we only attended this on sea days and there was a daily programme for you to get involved in if you wished. Also onboard was a gym, cookery club, spa and salon.
Formal nights- 4 formal nights and one optional for new year in all. One was captains night and one was black and white night. Was lovely to be able to wear long gowns for such occasions.
Excursions- wide variety for all ages to choose from. They varied in price and in the amount of activity. Alternatively there were plenty of taxis offering tours at each port of call. We took part in 6 excursions in total and decided to do our own sight seeing on 3 islands on our own. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and experienced.l
Itinerary- having never been to the Caribbean before I have nothing to compare with but I certainly enjoyed this itinerary. Places we toured were- Dominica (chocolate experience), Antigua (island sights), Barbados (in photography), Grenada ( Grenada Highlights), St Vincent( best of St Vincent ). Other places we visited was St Maartin where we took a taxi to Maho beach, Curaçao and Aruba where we walked round the city on our own and another day in Barbados where we took a taxi to Carlisle bay.
All tours were well organised, informative and enjoyable. All were half day tours so didn’t feel it was too much.
Sea days were my least enjoyable mainly because the decks were crowded. Having said that I’m guessing all ships are like this on sea days. We had our balcony so tended to spend part of our time watching the world go by.
Cruisers- there was a wide age group on board from babies to elderly and less mobile. They had clubs to suit children of various ages and accessible toilets as well as plenty of lifts at midship ,forward and aft. However it may have been too much walking from one end of the ship to the other for less able as its a large ship.
Hope this review has given you good insight of cruising on P&O Britannia.
