Will Britannia Rule The Waves?

So not long now until the much anticipated launch of P&O’s latest incarnation, the Britannia.

A huge amount of excitement from everyone involved in the cruise industry, but probably more so, the future passengers of the ship that are already booked to sail on this British behemoth!

This year looks set to be one of the biggest battles for supremacy in terms of UK cruising, thanks to the likes of P&O, Royal Caribbean, Cunard and Fred Olsen. All with ships sailing from UK ports, mainly Southampton this year.

In terms of volume, you would expect P&O to run away with it this year, with it’s current two biggest ships, Ventura and Azura both sailing from Southampton. However, I’ve read a lot of negative comments about both ships from 2014 reviews and returns, with customers reluctant to rebook. So maybe the pendulum will swing in favour of one of the other lines?

As readers of my blog will know, I sailed earlier this year on Fred Olsens biggest ship, Balmoral, and I was astounded when I spoke to many of the passengers, who told me that they had switched from P&O to Fred Olsen because the service and quality was slipping on board the most trusted and reputable ships such as Oriana and Oceana.

Now I’m not sure if it’s coincidental, but these negative comments about standards aboard P&O seem to tie in with the building of the Britannia. I think they have pulled the plug in a few areas in order to fuel more profits into the new ship. So I really hope it works for P&O.

I’ve sailed with them twice and enjoyed myself both times, but to be fair it was a few years ago, so perhaps times have changed.

However, I am pleased to let my readers know that I will be among the first lucky people to experience Britannia when I go and stay aboard for a night in early March!

I am hugely excited about the prospect of seeing what all the fuss is about, and lets be fair, with the amount of time and money spent her, and with some of the profits dwindling aboard the other ships, it could really be a case of make or break for P&O.

But looking at the early shots of Britannia, and with new ideas such as the Food Heroes influence, I think Britannia is going to be a real hit with the British public.

So I look forward to reporting back in a few weeks as to my own personal views and experiences about the new kid on the block!

So watch this space!

I’d love to hear what people think about Britannia, and P&O on the whole, so any comments would be appreciated, good and bad.

As always thanks for reading, and until next time…………..