2023-04-04 15:39:19

Our first Caribbean cruise since the pandemic. On this occasion we took a scheduled flight and had a couple of days on Barbados before joining our ship and this proved to be very enjoyable. We have undertaken over 12 cruises with P&O, along with many others with other lines and it is noticeable how in recent years the overall cruise experience has declined. Whether this being savings on the variety and quality of food, the reduction in the servicing of your cabin, the need to ask for what at one time was considered the norm, the lack of a chocolate on the pillow at night and the increase in costs for speciality dining etc., this is the same with all companies and has greatly accelerated in recent years . The Caribbean in our winter cannot be beaten and we enjoyed revisiting many islands all of which are very different. All of the locals seemed delighted to have the tourists back after the difficulties of the past few years. Of the P&O ships Azura is our one of choice but as she is no longer in the Caribbean during the winter we had no choice but to use Brattania. This was our second cruise on Brittania, the previous one to the Caribbean four years ago, when in all honesty we found the ship a little bland and lacking in atmosphere. After our latest cruise we revised our opinion and would happily choose this ship dependant on itinary. There are always moaners on a cruise and as I have already stated standards have slipped as the companies try to claw back some of the lost revenue from the pandemic days, however, our overall experience was very positive and we personally had little to complain about on this cruise. We found the food to be acceptable in all venues and the service mainly pretty good. Our outside superior balcony cabin was fine although the balcony itself a little on the cosy side. The ship was in excellent condition throughout with a high level of cleanliness and maintenance. We enjoyed our evenings sitting having a drink and listening to the pianist and we also saw a couple of the theatre productions, which in the main were very good although a little too loud at times. Why the sound staff think that loud volume levels equate to levels of enjoyment I will never know. P&O have the winter Caribbean cruise package down to a fine art and hopefully we will be able to have another winter cruise in the next couple of years.