26 Hens Take Over Britannia

Last weekend I joined 25 other girls on a 2-night mini cruise to Bruges on Britannia for our lovely friend Laura’s hen party.

So what did I think?

We had an absolutely brilliant weekend. The atmosphere onboard was great, there were lots of other hen and stag do’s onboard so the ship had a real party vibe and I was very surprised the bars stayed open until 06:00!

I’m sure they would close much earlier on longer cruises, especially when people have purchased drinks packages but P&O seemed happy to keep them open as long as people were still partying and must have made a fortune at the bars.

An interesting aspect and something I’ve never had to consider before was how P&O Cater for vegetarians.

I’m being vegetarian for lent so this was my first veggie cruise so to speak. I was pleasantly surprised with the Buffett on day 1 and enjoyed salad followed by a lovely vegetarian curry. I wasn’t so impressed with the buffet on day 2 when I realised the vegetarian station was exactly the same as on day 1. I sure hope they offer more variety on a longer voyages.

Main dining room meals were also hit and miss. On the first evening, the only vegetarian starter was wild mushroom with panna cotta which was very grey and tasted terrible but then my main of spiced cauliflower & Lentil Pie was delicious.

On the second evening, I had Buttered Asparagus with a soft poached egg which you can’t really go wrong with. The only option for main course was a twice baked goats cheese souffle which was so bad I couldn’t eat it and there was no alternative so I had to go hungry.

My conclusion is P&O do the bare minimum when it comes to catering for vegetarians which is disappointing.  Other than the cruise I’ve really enjoyed trying out this new diet and I’ve decided post Lent to become Pescatarian so at least next time I sail with P&O I have more choices.

Speaking of which, we had such a good time we’ve all decided to go again next year so watch out Ventura….