Just booked P&O Britannia for new year, anyone been on?

[heyok]

Would really appreciate some reassurance from Anyone that's been on this ship.

It will be our first cruise and I'm so so nervous.

Bump

My parents went on it last year and thought it was great.

I've been on Britannia twice and she's my favourite ship! It's very classy and understated, with the decor/feel of a 5* London hotel.

They've put a lot of thought into making all the lounges and bars comfortable with plush seating everywhere and the atrium is just stunning. You must go in the spa for a day too, the hydrotherapy pool is amazing! Have a lovely time!

I am going on her for the first time in August, will be my 4th p and o cruise all on different ships and so far all have been great

A friend recently had her honeymoon on it & said it was wonderful. Her photos looked fab.

Balconies are tiny, especially compared to Azura & Ventura. It's also a little frustrating that there are no stairs in some parts of the ship. However, these are just niggles. Service is great, my teenager enjoys the kids club, menus are good. You can each take on board up to 1 litre of spirits or wine to drink in your cabin.We're going on her again the the summer, but I've started saving up for the £7 per person per night service charge which is hidden in the small print.

Stickers if you go to reception you can get a form to take off or reduce the amount of service charge

Perhaps controversial but you don't have to pay the service charge. £7 per person, per night is a lot. Just go to the pursers desk (reception) and they can adjust for you the amount you want to tip/if you want to tip.

I know some people take off tips, but I can never be bothered to work out how much each person deserves and I don't really think It's that expensive. It's just a pain when you see all you OBC disappear on tips not on having fun! First timers may not realise P&O add tips to your bill. RCI let you prepay them.

Tips will be coming off. I don't get tipped in my work as a nurse, I don't understand how companies get away with this. If someone goes above and beyond I will happily tip but for doing their job, they get paid x

Re tips. You do realise OP that the workers on these ships do not get paid a decent wage? They rely on tips to make up their wages in the same way as waitresses in America don’t get a minimum wage.

And yes I agree it is not right but it’s not the workers faults but the company yet you would be penalising the workers by removing the tip.

In 2012 P&O paid some cabin crew and waiters 75p per hour. It has gone up a little, but the tips we pay are still a core part of the crew's income. As the ships aren't registered in the UK, Carnival Group doesn't have to pay National Minimum Wage to the majority of staff on board. I think £14 per day for DD & I is actually more than fair until P&O put up prices across the board and start paying fair wages. It's just a shock to the system if you're not expecting the charge to be added and haven't budgeted for it.

No way! Are they allowed to do this? Aren't they governed by the law?

Do the staff treat you differently if you remove your service charge? I'd be worried about doing it if so!

Do the staff treat you differently if you remove your service charge?

I would assume that the majority of the staff wouldn’t know , especially if you removed them at the end of the cruise.

That said, please don’t remove them, as PP have said, most staff are in a very low basic wage, and rely on the service charge to top up wages to a decent level.

I know some passengers say they prefer to remove the charges, and then tip the staff who they consider to have given exceptional service, such as waiters, room stewards etc. The problem with this is that you are rewarding staff who are not customer facing, such as kitchen staff, laundry staff etc, who also get a share of the service charges.

Sorry -NOT rewarding staff

No way! Are they allowed to do this? Aren't they governed by the law?

Carnival are USA owned, so presumably are governed by US employment law, which can be very different to the UK

Have been on Britannia once and other cruise ships a number of times. Totally agree about tipping staff on the ships. They deserve it 100%. Britannia is a great ship and has fantastic kids' facilities. You will have a great time, I'm sure. :-)

As the ships are registered in Bermuda, their laws apply.

We went for 2 weeks in January 2016. I would recommend to book the a la Carte restaurants such as Sindhu & Epicurean as they are really very good. Beautiful ship and excellent staff.

P&O staff are paid a fair and above industry average wage - their words! Plus they have increased the service charge by 125% in under 7 years .... who else has had any increase on that level?! Also, why should I pay towards butlers when I can’t use that service? Why should a 12 year old pay too? It is too much. Look at cruisecritic.com for interesting views.

I haven’t but I’m looking at it now, I’m on the Queen Victoria going past it!

Don’t remove tips! The staff are relying on that money. This is one reason I don’t like sailing on P&O - all the passengers removing their tips. Never seen this on other lines. I wish the line would just raise the fare. It results in staff looking markedly more miserable than on other lines in my experience.

Just looking at Britannia now. Also looking at a Cunard one. Are there huge differences between P&O and Cunard does anybody know? Prices seem pretty similar.