Bloomin Brilliant Britannia

The perks of the job mean that when a new ship comes along we are lucky enough to go and sample it as an agent and this was the case with the brand new P&O Britannia. What a welcome we had when we arrived at Southampton with floral displays in red , white and blue all over the place , very patriotic and made you proud to be British but somehow Don’t think they were for us measly agents benefit !!

The Britannia looked amazing on arrival and I was quite surprised at the size of her and the quantity of balcony cabins on-board. I have been on a few P&O ships but after this trip I must say Britannia is by far my favourite. The modern, hotel boutique feel really struck home and they have done it really well. The feel of the ship was very spacious and particularly impressed with the atrium and the main feature starburst does give it that wow factor.

Dotted around the atrium are designer shops for you to spend your days at seas browsing around and feature the likes of Pandora , Michael Kors , Ted Baker and Swarovski to name but a few.

Who knows if you strike lucky at the casino then you could treat yourself.

We managed to have a good look around the ship and the one of the highlights was the cooking club. A fantastic light room with huge windows and all the equipment to make you the next Mary Berry at sea with the ocean as your background, I could see this as being a really popular thing to do on-board and a great way to learn some cooking skills to show off when you arrive back home.

The ship was very easy to get around I felt and the décor was very chique with gold, creams and blues being the main colour. I was impressed with the cabin numbers being high lightened in a glass plaque outside the doors making the ship feel ultra-modern.

We had a balcony cabin which was a good size, not enormous but designed well with a big wardrobe tucked behind the room and good amenities like the white stuff toiletries, good strong hairdryer that actually worked and the age old question from loyal P&O customers ‘IS THERE TEA AND COFFEE IN THE ROOM’…………Yes people there is. The balcony wasn’t the biggest but ample enough for having a chill out to escape in peace.

At dinner we ate in the main dining room the Peninsular restaurant. I really liked the layout of the room as it felt really spacious and the tables were all spread out not to much on top of each other. The service was a tad slow but this is to be expected on brand new ships and I’m sure will improve over time.

I ordered from the special Marco Pierre menu and the absolute highlight was the beef wellington. It’s my favourite anyway and cooked to perfection it was a memorable meal. I also had some other tasty dishes such as cream of Asparagus soup , Goats cheese and champagne sorbet . The cheese and biscuits were ordered but to be honest I had to pass onto my colleague as at that point I was defeated by the great food hero’s.

After dinner we sampled some of the cocktails in the Sports Bar Brodie’s, which had a really good atmosphere and a perfect place to meet up after dinner. I must recommend the Long Island Iced Tea was a winner me on the cocktail menu but I had to sample a few to make this decision – it’s a hard job but somebody has to do it!!!!!

The evening ended in the live lounge which is the ships nightclub. A really good size and the dance floor was plenty big enough to get up and have a little dance but lots of seating areas if you prefer to people watch.

My overall conclusion of the ship was a breath of fresh air for P&O and think they have done a fantastic job of making this British line a real contender for the big boys such as Royal Caribbean. My only regret was that I couldn’t spend another few days on-board getting to see more of the ship and sampling all aspects of it. Would I holiday on this ship ……… absolutely and will be wishing her well on her maiden voyage.

A big pat on the back to us Brits!!!