Following our first experience on a Royal-class ship all the way back in 2016 – a Mediterranean cruise on Royal Princess – we’d made a conscious decision that this cruise ship design wasn’t one that appealed to us (influenced to some extent as well by the terrible service on that cruise) and so we’d steadfastly refused to book any cruise on any other ship of that design, and P&O‘s Britannia was a variation. On top of that we’d seen pictures of Britannia’s decor aboard and the phrase “1990’s shopping mall” immediately sprung to mind. We like a bit of retro, but there are limits.
We had nevertheless tried to book a cruise on Britannia just before the pandemic for some reason but that plan had been scuppered and we’d put the ship out of our mind once more. However, following a better experience on Royal Princess’s sister ship, Regal, coming out of the pandemic lockdowns and some enjoyable cruises on the next generation along in the Princess fleet in the years after and seeing that Britannia had undergone a bit of a refresh to bring it kicking and screaming into the 21st century we started to reconsider. In May 2023 we made it aboard Britannia after booking a late deal just two months earlier.
As is so often the case with a cruise on a P&O ship, we started just along the coast at Southampton.
I don’t often post photos of what our cabin looks like on cruise ships, largely because for familiar ships it’s not something I think will be interesting to anyone who might read any of the travel write-ups on this website. That’s not to say I don’t take those photos, though, because we often like to taunt friends and family on social media with an “Oh, woe is us! This will be our home for the next week or two weeks while we explore strange new lands!” post. That said, I do know that there are people absolutely obsessed with what a cabin looks like, what a bathroom looks like, etc. and in this case, since this was a new ship, but mostly because I have some things I want to point out, I shall present some pictures.
Let’s take a look at our balcony cabin on Britannia, which was cabin C621. Further back than we typically cruise but beggars can’t be choosers when you’re booking late. We liked the look of this cabin; muted but modern decor, good-sized TV opposite the bed, an additional chair so two entire people could sit down at the same time. But… the bedside cabinet count came to one which was the first annoyance. With a long draw on the desk this wouldn’t have been too bad but the bedside charging points also came to one and that was nowhere near the side I usually sleep on and therefore nowhere near my phone which plays sea sounds at night and has the alarm set to avoid missed breakfasts and port excursions.
Sea sounds at night? On the sea? Yes. I have tinnitus and silence is unpleasant, and leaving the balcony door open is both frowned upon for environmental reasons and something you only do once when trying to open the door to the room before you learn an important science lesson in air pressure dynamics of moving vessels.
To a typical cabin bathroom on Britannia now – I guess; I’ve not been in anyone else’s to be fair – and first impressions, like the room, were that it was bright, airy, modern. A large shower cubicle with a glass door was good. However… the gymnastics involved in getting out of the shower, shimmying around the small space onto a towel without stepping on the tiled floor with your wet feet and skidding off into the mirror, just to get enough room to close the door so you could actually commence drying was a chore. A small chore, yes, but one that the layout caused. And I’m easily irritated.
The balcony was no surprise for a ship of this class in that it was barely worthy of the name. Seats that can’t face the sea unless you’ve had your legs amputated at the knees only make sense when you consider the conspiracy theory I’m just now inventing that this is all a plan by the onboard spa to create sore necks for those who actually like looking at the water on order to generate more massage bookings. That said… it’s always nice to get outside in a little private space of your own, even if it’s just a quick look at the stars at night followed by a “Jesus! That wind’s bitter! I should’ve put some clothes on!”
With it being a bright day in Southampton we decided to go crazy and head up to the top deck and soak up some of the atmosphere of those boarding and getting ready to enjoy a week ahead cruising up to the Norwegian fjords. There were a lot of families around because it was half term – not a time we typically will pick to cruise in but this worked well with my wife’s work schedule – but it wasn’t too hectic. It was, however, quite chilly, so we had one revolting Piña Colada each beside the pool area – very artificial-tasting and it started to separate out as we were drinking it – before making our way to a lounge.
We ended up at the Crow’s Nest. Despite Britannia being derived from the Royal-class, itself an evolution of the Grand-class, both of which were initially designed for Princess, Britannia did have a few unique design quirks and the Crow’s Nest was one of them; a spacious area high up at the front of the ship with panoramic windows out to sea. It also had its own drinks menu with some exclusive offerings, which was nice to see, although the ones they actually had available were few and far between and not of great quality. Nice idea, poor execution. We ended up having one cocktail here then grabbing something larger to take back to our cabin ahead of the sail away from Southampton.
I’ve included scans of the Crow’s Nest drinks menu on Britannia, simply because you just know that someone, somewhere may be looking for them yet be unable to locate them in any of the other million places they’re uploaded on this increasingly awful internet we’ve allowed to fester. Just bear in mind that this is a snapshot of available drinks (well, in theory) and pricing from May 2023, and if you’re reading this site in the future – and if my recently-completed twelve-part course on What Direction Does Time Flow In? is any guide then you will be – then things may be different. And by different I mean more expensive. Wouldn’t it be great if drinks prices went down one year? Can you even imagine!?
Back on our balcony it was time for us to leave Southampton – always a good time even if you’re not on a cruise – and the first sight was that of MSC Virtuosa sailing out down the Solent ahead of us.
“Good prices but terrible reviews,” I mentioned to my wife. “I can’t see us cruising with MSC at all based on what I’ve read online.”
One year later we’d be on that very same ship sailing down that exact same stretch of water. Just goes to show what I know.
Not long afterwards Britannia was on her way too.
In the next post in this 2023 cruise to Norway on Britannia travelogue series I’ll break with tradition and not jump to the next day but continue with what we got up to on this first evening of a new P&O Cruises ship for us: dinner in the Limelight Club and entertainment from Chesney Hawkes.