A fantastic cruise

Arrived home 2 weeks ago from a fantastic cruise around the Caribbean on the very beautiful ship Britannia. The ship really does take your breath away when you 1st see her. She is beautifully decorated, very chic and classy. As we walked into the Atrium at the heart of the ship, you are struck by the spectacular chandelier in the centre of the room. I have to say I was a little apprehensive about Britannia after reading some of the previous passengers reviews but we could not fault the ship at all. I got the feeling that some complain people just for the sake of it. The are some beautiful shops on board and of course I did spend a few ?œ’s. Our room was very lovely and comfortable, the balcony if I am honest was slightly smaller than on the Azura but it was still adequate for what we wanted. We didn’t experience any problems with the lifts (mentioned in some previous reviews). Yes they were sometimes busy but you either waited or used the stairs. The buffet restaurant is excellent. We found the layout much improved from Azura. The buffet area itself is in the middle of the room with seating down both sides. This meant queuing was reduced as it is very spacious and easy to move around. This was a really plus for us. There were always plenty of tables free so you were never having to wait to be seated. Around the pool area there were 2 sections of ‘Grab & Go’ food. This consisted of on one side, pizza’s, burgers, chicken burgers, hotdogs, chips, salad and coleslaw. All these were freshly made and wrapped so you could just pick up what you wanted. The other side was boxed salads, wraps, baguettes, fresh fruits and other desserts. The is something to suit even the fussiest eaters, no one could go hungry. The passenger area’s were spotless. There must be an army of cleaners. All the staff are a credit to P&O. They are obviously hard working but they always are pleasant, smiling and polite. Nothing is too much trouble for any of them. We did the ‘Behind The Scenes’ tour. It was ?œ75 each but if you think you know everything there is to know about the ship, (which you don’t) then this is a must do. We went backstage in the theatre, into 1 of the 13 galley kitchens where we were informed that at the start of the cruise they brought on 330 tonnes of food and get through an average of 1 tonne of potatoes per day!!! All the pastries, cakes, bread and rolls are cooked fresh daily. We went on the bridge and met Captain Paul Brown who is a very lovely person and answered all of our questions and queries. It is a 3 hour tour and it was one of the highlights for us. The next day we all received in our cabins a gift and thank-you letter from the captain. Neil Oliver, Entertainment Manager is just FAB!! With his team including Wes and Emma they went out of their way to keep us entertained day and night. From a quiz on deck or in Brodies to the excellent ‘Sail Away parties around the pool. The highlight for us was ‘The Great British Sail Away’. There must have been well over 1000 people on the 3 decks waving flags, dancing and singing. Well done Neil and his team. The evening entertainment was excellent, comedian Jeff Stevenson and Mark Walker, Jeff Dingle as Bruno Mars was fantastic and of course not forgetting the Britannia Show Cast in the Headliners theatre who put on some spectacular shows. We went into 2 of the speciality restaurants, Sindu (twice) and The Beach House. There is a cover charge of ?œ15 per person for Sindu and ?œ5 per person for the Beach House. I advise booking for both as they are very popular. We were very sad to leave and have already looked at booking again. Well done P&O