Inside Britannia

INSIDE BRITANNIA

REVIEW AND COMMENTARY

Britannia was the first in a new line of large cruise ships built with the British market in mind. The ship reflects contemporary British tastes. It is not a collection of the cliches that foreigners think of when they think of Britain. Rather, it seeks to be in harmony with what the British people like.
      Her public spaces and accommodations are reminiscent of a contemporary West End hotel. This is not surprising in light of the fact that an award-winning team of British hotel designers
designed the interior of the ship.   The artwork is also by contemporary British artists.
      Britannia is the sister ship to Princess Cruises' Royal Princess and Regal Princess, all built by the Italian shipyard Fincantieri to the same basic design. However, the P&O Cruises' ship is not just a Princess ship with another name. Britannia is different in layout and décor than her Princess
predecessors.. The line-up of dining and entertainment venues is different. There are differences in the accommodations (e.g., Britannia has single cabins while the Princess ships do not).
Britannia has two funnels while the Princess ships have their exhausts grouped into one funnel.
      In addition, the cruise experience is different. Princess has characterized its style as American luxury whereas Britannia's style is contemporary British. You see this in the dining, the
entertainment, the smaller size of the casino and in such things as the quiz questions in the ship's pub. The service is more distant and respectful. Both experiences are good, just different.
      Britannia is significantly larger than the P&O Cruises' ships that preceded her. Indeed, she is more than 20
percent larger than her immediate predecessor, Azura, in gross tons. However, the ship is well laid out with numerous dining and entertainment venues to disperse the passengers. Still, the atmosphere is less traditional than P&O Cruises' prior ships
excepting Azura and Ventura.
       Along the same lines, Britannia is a family-friendly ship with a large area dedicated to young passengers. Thus, she is by definition different than P&O Cruises' adults-only ships.
However, Britannia does have adults-only areas.

INTERIOR HIGHLIGHTS

Review, Commentary and Slideshow - P&O Cruises - Britannia