Britannia – A Work In Progress?

Well, was it worth the 6.00 am start and  4 hour drive to Southampton last week to be one of the first passengers to sail out of Southampton on board Britannia? The Jury is still out on this one. I don’t wish to sound as though I am sitting on the fence here but P & O have a lot of work to do, and quickly, to make sure that they aren’t left behind when Anthem sails into town.

First impressions are good, when you arrive at the docks,  she looks fantastic, shiny and new and resplendent in the sunlight. But, I have to say, there is definitely a lack of the WOW factor. I appreciate that the designers have built her for the British market, but who asked us if we wanted beige as the colour scheme?

The cabins are pleasant, although a little on the small side. In general, the facilities are good, the Kids Clubs are great, spacious, colourful soft play areas, up to date gizmos for the teenagers the whole area is very secure.

But why put the cookery club on the Sun Deck? it is hidden away behind the heaviest door I have ever tried to open, surely after all the publicity that has been given to the Food Heroes it should be in a far more prominent area.

The tapas we had whilst having a glass of vino in the glass house was really good, but when you looked at the table, there was already a big scratch on its surface, poor quality veneered MDF – thats not going to last long.

I have 2 memorable experiences though, 1 good and 1 not so good – let’s start with the good – I have to say that the afternoon tea experience at the Epicurean restaurant was superb, really unusual cakes and sandwiches were  on offer and I am sure that on land in a posh hotel the experience  would of cost a great deal more than the £15.00 a head we paid.  But, what I was really looking forward to was the supper club experience at the ” Limelight Club “, this was so disappointing, 2 courses in 2 and 1/2 hours, no entertainment until 9.45pm, 3 choices of main course one of which was a veggie option, but when we asked for our lamb to be cooked medium, we were told NO, it only comes pink. Now, when you are paying £22 a head for the experience I really think they should allow you to have your meat cooked as you want it, don’t you?

I have to say though, that after offering some feedback to the food and beverage Manager they did put some changes into force the following evening, so I was pleased with that.

To finish, yes she looks lovely but she is definitely a work in progress……..