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P&O Britannia ship

P&O Britannia ship . Just got back 31st May 2024. Overall cleanliness was not good. Cabin not cleaned each day unless you requested it. Restaurant was dirty. Tables & bar seating in Buffet grout lines filthy. Waiter service in main Restaurant was very slow. No attention to details, missing condiments, dirty table table cloths. Carpets had food left from previous sittings especially in buffet. No seating available on 1st sail day. Passengers allowed into restaurants without cleaning hands. Hand gel empty on occasions.

Date of experience : May 28, 2024

CHECK OTHERS BEFORE YOU BOOK

Very disappointed even before we cruise. REF. XC9WHG which is ashame, parking we lose, credits less than others, Errors on booking for our guests who we persuaded to come with us, etc....

Date of experience : June 02, 2024

Don't believe everything you read

Don't believe everything you read. My family's cruise on Ventura (25th May to 1st June) was excellent. Yes, the ship is a bit tired but there was NO evidence of sickness on board and everything was done to keep everyone safe. Cleaning was constant and standards at food outlets were excellent. Media reports and moaning customers are blown out of all proportion.

Date of experience : May 25, 2024

Our first cruise

Our first cruise and was pleasantly surprised. Some very good entertainment (a couple that were not to our taste) excellent service in the restaurants and bars. Cabin facilities were fine as was the cleanliness of our room and public areas. Want to be picky - the lifts need to be improved. Also not impressed with the Children’s entertainer who thought it funny to educate children in the art of picking their nose. We had a lovely time, relaxing, entertaining and saw some stunning scenery along the way.

Britannia v Ventura

I found Britannia to be generally clean and well maintained. The food was very good. Although there are hand wash stations and gel dispensers around people are able to get into buffet without using these.( Ventura buffet was manned by staff dispensing gel). There is no central staircase so you have to use lifts which can be frustrating at times. No proper promenade deck unlike Ventura that has a fabulous promenade deck. Thank goodness there is an adult only pool. Shame there are no adult only hot tubs. Ventura has a pool outside as well as an indoor one with retractable roof.I prefer Ventura even though it’s looking a bit old fashioned.

Date of experience : May 24, 2024

Cruise on Arvia was nice with good…

Cruise on Arvia was nice with good stops but we had a sickness bug onboard which spoilt the holiday. Hygiene could probably have been better, but on all the years of travelling with P&O have never been ill so perhaps we were just unlucky. Menus a bit the same including the speciality restaurants. Staff good as always. I think they just need to introduce new ports of call to make it more interesting and change the menus more often.

Date of experience : May 12, 2024

Appalling attitude by P&O

Our outbound flight from Gatwick to Barbados with Maleth Aero on 6th January 2024 was delayed for four and a half hours ( held on tarmac with very limited refreshment….small bottle of water & one chocolate ) Our claim for STATUTORY compensation to Maleth has not been actioned . P&O say this is nothing to do with them and have refused to take any action . Maleth are based in Malta , so beyond further action . We paid our money to P&O , not Maleth . The service level from P&O has been the worst we have experienced by a holiday company . Be aware , if you book with P&O and there is an issue , you are highly likely to receive zero support . Spread the word and avoid P&O . We are not alone in not receiving either support from P&O or compensation from Maleth ( look on Facebook ) We will never use P&O again and would advise others follow our example . There are more reputable cruise firms out there .

Date of experience : January 06, 2024

Good time had

Iona is a great ship. Food really good. Entertainment good. Staff excellent, so polite, smart and work really hard, although at times there is not enough of them which of course is down to management. Loads going on. Went to Norway which was amazing, glacier trip a must (before it disappears). Sea days are very busy but we didn’t find this a problem, just be aware. At times the lifts are very busy, stairs available but if you are going up 10 floors it’s an absolute killer. Not so good: Toilets kept blocking, resolved but then occurred again, almost every day. Dress code was not being adhered to by everyone, which was a shame. Lots of flip flops and shorts in the evening, even in speciality restaurants.

Just arrived back from our first ever…

Just arrived back from our first ever cruise - Norwegian Fjords cruise on Iona. What a fabulous ship! Amazing staff who do as much as possible for everyone, so polite, very professional, very smart and super helpful! Gorgeous destinations - opening the curtains in a morning WOW!! Would highly recommend a balcony cabin 👍 amazing food and a very clean ship with lots of hand sanitizer stations and handwashing stations around. A wonderful, relaxing holiday which we definitely would do again! Had a fabulous week. The only slight criticism would be that the hot tubs and pools were full of children most days so struggled to get in one, but that’s the price you pay for working in a school and can only go in school holidays. There was an adult only area called the retreat but there was an additional charge sadly.

Wonderful staff great food and drink .

Wonderful staff great food and drink . Ship was huge and very family oriented. Will be booking a P&O cruise again but being a couple of a certain age will be looking for a more adult only experience. Forgot to say we were travelling on the Iona .

Fabulous felt special experience

Just returned from the Aurora..the staff were incredible and couldn't do enough for you. The food was good and many options.there was buffet service and more formal sit down 3 courses were available. I have a dietary issue and there was never a problem with me finding plenty to eat. Really good vegan options available and the vegan desserts were to die for. We had an inside cabin which was cleaned daily and was ample for sleeping and showering in. The service at the spa was excellent/good massage but there was a really hard sales pitch which spoiled the experience. Entertainment was a bit dodgy from time to time but it's personal choice at the end of the day. Would I recommend P&,O from our 1st experience yes I would and I will be booking another cruise in the near future.

Date of experience : May 26, 2024

Beautiful Iona, stunning Norway

Amazing staff who do as much as possible for everyone, so polite and super helpful! Gorgeous destinations, amazing food, clean ship….. lovely, relaxing holiday and would definitely do it again! Had a fabulous week thank you x

Date of experience : June 01, 2024

Iona is a lovely ship

Iona is a lovely ship, 98% of the staff where lovely the odd few let it down. My first cruise so wasn't sure what to really expect and it didn't really disappoint. Would have given 5 stars if I didn't have issues with a trip and how the staff dealt with it.

Absolutely need more call centre staff

Absolutely need more call centre staff, trying to contact them for days. Always over a hour wait and if you ask for a call back it never happens, very poor customer service.

Hi just back from Britannia 24th May

Hi just back from Britannia 24th May - 31st May 24. Norway. Sea was calm and the weather dry, we got on a Hop on off bus trip to see different areas which stopped outside or along from the Ship, also booked the viewing point trip which was excellent in Flam, at the Tourist Info. Ship is large, but cabins clean if you put the ticket in the door slot. Food good, Shows great we went to The Circus one twice, good choices. Would recommend if you would like to see Norway for a week very pretty, good ship,

P & O Iona cruise

The cruise did not start well. Lack of good info from the agent, unanswered basic queries. And then why did P & O give us a specified embarkation time at Southampton then make everyone wait for over an hour whilst they dithered around? Prior to this was the regular inane repetitive marketing emails eg..."are you excited, 39 days to your cruise"... "then, 33 days to your cruise" etc etc (as you might address a 5 year old waiting for Father Christmas!). So the preparation was not great - but this changed as soon as we boarded. The staff on Iona were superb in every respect, as was the food, facilities and general organisation. A truly ultra slick operation.

Date of experience : May 18, 2024

First time cruising as a 60th surprise…

First time cruising as a 60th surprise present from my husband. I can truly say I couldn’t wish for anything better. The whole experience from embarking went without a glitch. Balcony cabin ample for 2 and lovely to relax and watch the world go by.

I thoroughly enjoyed my 60 celebration…

I thoroughly enjoyed my 60 celebration holiday with my two sons and friends. Every thing was ace! With no complaints as we all had a great time together and doing our own thing. Staff are lovely all my questions were answered when I asked they are only happy to help. Food was spot on and with freedom dinning you ate when you wanted to. The excursions are so organised you are told and shown where to go with fab hosts who will answer any questions and have excellent knowledge of the area. I have been on two P&O cruises now with a seven year gap in between, but still the excellent service given by all the team on board is very much appreciated well done to you all. 👏

Customer satisfaction.

Customer service staff very professional and rectified problem straightaway however I have been trying to contact them on several occasions and after an hour wait I gave up. Today I got through after 30 minutes, I recommend more staff at peak times. Overall I have always been extremely happy with PO and looking forward to my next cruise in the Caribbean January 2025

Date of experience : May 31, 2024

Upsetting and worrying customer treatment

My mother and father, both in their late 70’s, booked a ‘dream cruise’ for my father’s 80th Birthday earlier in the year, whilst on another cruise with P&O. The lady who booked it for them wrote on their documents a transfer from Cheshire to Southampton was required. A few weeks to the cruise date my parents found out their tickets didn’t include a transfer. They were told this hadn’t been put through and the transfer coach always fully booked. Now they have no choice but to drive the length of England. They have complained but got nowhere. No one from P&O helped them secure alternative transfer information, just caused them more stress and upset. My parents are too polite to ‘create a fuss’. However, I want to call out P&O for what they are - disgusting. A customer’s treatment impacts those around them too - and the whole family are disgusted. How they treat vulnerable customers has been shocking. I would not recommend them to anyone, and my parents have confirmed this will be their last ever cruise with P&O.

Date of experience : May 29, 2024

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• Cruise news
• P&O Cruises UK denies link between Hepatitis A cases and Ventura...

P&O Cruises UK denies link between Hepatitis A cases and Ventura ship

A UK-based cruise company has stated that recent cases of Hepatitis A among passengers are not connected to its ship. Travelers who recently sailed on P&O UK 's cruise liner Ventura have reported contracting the liver infection, but the company denies any link to the vessel and asserts its collaboration with relevant health authorities.

MS Ventura, which returned to Southampton UK on Saturday, June 1st, after a week-long voyage to Spain and France, previously experienced a norovirus outbreak , affecting numerous passengers who had to isolate in their cabins.

One passenger reported ongoing symptoms of Hepatitis A, including back pain and fatigue, more than a week after disembarking from Ventura. His diagnosis, confirmed by a doctor, was shared on Facebook, prompting others to recount similar experiences.

As a precaution, several individuals are now scheduling Hepatitis A vaccinations before embarking Ventura. P&O emphasized there is no evidence connecting the ship to the Hepatitis A cases. A spokesperson confirmed they had worked with relevant agencies, including Port Health and the UKHSA, and there was no indication of a link between these cases and the Ventura.

Following the norovirus outbreak, Ventura underwent a deep clean , delaying her departure from Southampton last weekend. On May 25th, officials from Southampton Port Health Authority inspected the ship.

Earlier in May, passengers on a voyage from Southampton to Amsterdam reported severe illness, hospitalization, and difficulties obtaining clean bedding after contracting norovirus. P&O maintained that it adhered to strict hygiene protocols and informed passengers of the outbreak beforehand.

For more P&O Ventura incidents and accidents see the ship's  CruiseMinus page .

P&O Australia Cancels Visit to New Caledonia

• May 31, 2024

P&O Cruises Australia is cancelling the Pacific Encounter’s visits to New Caledonia that were scheduled for late June.

According to a statement sent to booked guests, the change affects the June 22, 2024 sailing, which is now set to visit different islands in the South Pacific.

“Unfortunately, due to recent civil unrest, we are no longer able to visit Noumea or Lifou,” P&O Cruises Australia said.

Sailing from Brisbane on June 22, the Pacific Encounter was scheduled to visit Noumea and Lifou as part of a seven-night cruise.

In addition to three days at sea, the original itinerary also included a nine-hour visit to Port Vila in Vanuatu.

“Everyone’s safety is our priority and unfortunately, we have no choice other than to make these changes. We know you were looking forward to the original itinerary we had planned and share your disappointment for this unexpected change,” the company said.

To provide passengers with “the best possible experience,” P&O Australia is adding a full day visit to Vanuatu’s Mystery Island to the Encounter’s June 22 sailing, the statement added.

As part of the change, the ship is now scheduled to leave from Brisbane on June 22 one hour later, at 3:00 pm. Encounter’s return to its Australian homeport was also altered and is now set to take place at 7:00 am on June 29.

Pre-paid shore excursions for Noumea and Lifou will be refunded to their original method of payment, P&O Australia added in the statement.

“Our thoughts are with the communities of New Caledonia at this time,” the company said.

Sailing from Brisbane on a year-round basis, the Pacific Encounter offers three- to ten-night cruises to destinations in Australia and the South Pacific, such as Airlie Beach, Cairns, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga.

Formerly operated by Princess Cruises , the 110,000-ton ship originally entered service in 2002 as the Star Princess.

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Under Pressure, Biden Allows Ukraine to Use U.S. Weapons to Strike Inside Russia

White House officials said the president’s major policy shift extended only to what they characterized as acts of self-defense so that Ukraine could protect Kharkiv, its second-largest city.

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By David E. Sanger and Edward Wong

David E. Sanger, reporting from Washington, has covered superpower competition for three decades. Edward Wong, reporting from Prague, has long experience as a foreign correspondent and is traveling with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.

President Biden, in a major shift pressed by his advisers and key allies, has authorized Ukraine to conduct limited strikes inside Russia with American-made weapons, opening what could well be a new chapter in the war for Ukraine, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Mr. Biden’s decision appears to mark the first time that an American president has allowed limited military responses on artillery, missile bases and command centers inside the borders of a nuclear-armed adversary. White House officials insisted, however, that the authorization extended only to what they characterized as acts of self-defense, so that Ukraine could protect Kharkiv, its second-largest city, and the surrounding areas from missiles, glide bombs and artillery shells from just over the border.

“The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S.-supplied weapons for counter-fire purposes in the Kharkiv region so Ukraine can hit back against Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them,” a U.S. official said in a statement issued by the administration. “Our policy with respect to prohibiting the use of ATACMS or long-range strikes inside of Russia has not changed,” the statement continued, referring to an artillery system, provided to Ukraine, that has the capability to reach deep inside Russian territory.

The decision by Mr. Biden was reported earlier on Thursday by Politico.

American officials said that the change in policy went into effect on Thursday.

Though the White House cast the decision as a narrow one, allowing the Ukrainians to strike pre-emptively if they see evidence of preparations for an attack, or in response to a Russian barrage near Kharkiv, the implications are clearly much broader. Until now, Mr. Biden has flatly refused to let Ukraine use American-made weapons outside of Ukrainian borders, no matter what the provocation, saying that any attack on Russian territory risked violating his mandate to “avoid World War III.”

But having reversed his position, even in limited circumstances, Mr. Biden has clearly crossed a red line that he himself drew. And administration officials conceded that if Russia mounted other attacks from inside its territory beyond Kharkiv, the president’s restrictions could be subject to further loosening. “This is a new reality,” one senior official said, declining to speak on the record, “and perhaps a new era” in the Ukraine conflict.

Much may depend on how the Russians react to the change in the next days and weeks — or whether they react at all. Russia has warned that it will respond, in unspecified ways, if the United States shifts policy. Last week, as word of an impending change took place, Russia conducted drills for the forces that move and deploy tactical nuclear weapons, in what appeared to be a signal to Washington.

Russia has repeatedly played the nuclear card in the 27 months since it invaded Ukraine, mostly notably in October 2022, when it appeared the entire Russian military invasion of Ukraine could collapse. Gen. Mark A. Milley, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, often talked about the “nuclear paradox,” that the closer the Russians came to losing in Ukraine, the higher the nuclear peril.

But now Mr. Biden’s reversal raises a new question: How will Russia react to strikes that employ American weapons inside its territory? It is impossible to know exactly where President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will draw his red line. Mr. Putin has not responded to Britain’s decision to ease the restrictions on its weapons, but in the Russian leader’s mind, the United States is a different kind of rival.

Inside the White House, Mr. Biden’s deliberations were very closely held, known only to a very narrow group of aides. But The New York Times revealed last week that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken had come back from a sobering trip to Kyiv and privately told the president that his 27-month-long ban against shooting American weapons into Russian territory was now placing parts of Ukraine in peril. The Russians, he said, were exploiting the president’s ban and mounting constant attacks from a safe haven just inside the Russian border.

But by that time, Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III had already concluded that the geography of the battle around Kharkiv would require an exception to the hard rule that the United States had set against firing into Russia, senior officials said. Ukraine was suffering from what one official called “an artificial line” in the middle of the battlefield that kept them from responding to devastating attacks. Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Austin concluded that it made no sense to restrict the Ukrainians from responding — even while maintaining a ban on using American equipment for long-range strikes deep into Russia.

Some American allies had already gone further. Britain weeks ago allowed Ukraine to use its Storm Shadow long-range missile systems for attacks anywhere in Russia, and France and Germany recently took the same position. So did Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO.

From the outside, it appeared that each of those countries was mounting a campaign to get Mr. Biden to change his mind. But American officials insisted that only Britain reached its decision before Washington did, and that by the time the major European allies supported the change, they had been told Mr. Biden was headed in the same direction.

The decision follows weeks of intense behind-the-scenes conversation with the Ukrainians, made more urgent after Russia began a major assault on Kharkiv around May 10.

Three days later, on May 13, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Austin and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., held one of their regularly scheduled secure video conferences with their Ukrainian counterparts. Once again, the Ukrainians pressed for Mr. Biden to lift U.S. restrictions on firing into Russian territory, arguing that the president’s concerns about escalation were overblown. But now, they said, the issue had become more urgent because the Russians were shelling civilian sites around Kharkiv from inside their border — knowing that the Ukrainians could not fully respond.

After the meeting, officials said, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Austin and General Brown decided to recommend to the president that he reverse his position. But they kept the decision very close. Two days later, on May 15, Mr. Sullivan conveyed the recommendation to Mr. Biden, who — for the first time — said he was inclined to carve out an exception that would allow the Ukrainians to strike back, even if Russian attacks were coming from just a few miles behind the Russian border. By then, Mr. Blinken was already in Kyiv and had heard the case for a reversal directly from President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The same day as the private meeting with Mr. Sullivan, the president saw Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, the four-star commander of the U.S. European Command and the supreme allied commander for Europe. He was in Washington for an annual meeting of all the combatant commanders, and told Mr. Biden that he also agreed that the ban on firing into Russia was posing a danger to Ukraine — though he, too, one official said, was concerned about the possible Russian reactions.

Mr. Blinken returned from Kyiv and saw Mr. Biden and Mr. Sullivan on the evening of May 17 in the Oval Office, saying that he emerged convinced that the United States had to alter its stance. It was clear by then that Mr. Biden was in agreement, officials said, but the president insisted that before he issued a formal decision, he wanted a meeting of his national security “principals” to consider the risks. That meeting did not take place until last week, just as news of Mr. Blinken’s change of view leaked out.

White House officials were clearly angry about the leak, and some said they were worried it would tip off the Russians or interfere with the final decision-making. The formal orders did not get conveyed to the Pentagon until earlier this week. Mr. Blinken, who knew the change was coming, hinted at the possibility in Moldova, where he left open the possibility that the United States might “adapt and adjust” its stance because the situation on the ground had changed. But he did not say that the president had already reversed course, and White House officials refused to comment.

Mr. Biden has never publicly commented on the internal debate that led him to change his approach. So it is unclear whether he now believes that the risk of escalation — including nuclear escalation — has declined, or whether the prospect that Ukraine might lose more territory changed his view.

So few members of the National Security Council or the Pentagon knew of the change that a Pentagon spokeswoman, Sabrina Singh, was still defending the old policy on Thursday afternoon in a briefing for reporters. She repeatedly said that there was no change. “The security assistance that we provide Ukraine is to be used within Ukraine, and we don’t encourage attacks or enable attacks inside of Russia,” she said.

But she insisted that Ukraine could be effective by focusing on tactical and operational targets that directly influence the conflict within its boundaries, she said. “So our policy hasn’t changed.”

In fact, it had, days before. No one had told her, defense officials say, that Mr. Austin had already released orders to allow Ukraine to open fire, with American weapons, on military targets over the Russian border. U.S. officials now say they expect that the first counterattacks with American weapons will begin within hours or days.

David E. Sanger covers the Biden administration and national security. He has been a Times journalist for more than four decades and has written several books on challenges to American national security. More about David E. Sanger

Edward Wong is a diplomatic correspondent who has reported for The Times for more than 24 years from New York, Baghdad, Beijing and Washington. He was on a team of Pulitzer Prize finalists for Iraq War coverage. More about Edward Wong

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

News and Analysis

The decision by the Biden administration to allow Ukraine to strike inside Russia  with American-made weapons fulfills a long-held wish by officials in Kyiv  that they claimed was essential to level the playing field.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested that Ukraine’s use of U.S.-supplied arms could expand beyond the current limitation  to strikes in the Kharkiv area.

Top Ukrainian military officials have warned that Russia is building up troops near northeastern Ukraine , raising fears that a new offensive push could be imminent.

Zelensky Interview: In an interview with The New York Times, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine challenged the West  over its reluctance to take bolder action.

Fleeing a War Zone: A 98-year-old Ukrainian grandmother stumbled past corpses and bomb craters  to escape Russia’s attacks.

Russia’s RT Network : RT, which the U.S. State Department describes as a key player in the Kremlin’s propaganda apparatus, has been blocked in Europe since the war started. Its content is still spreading .

How We Verify Our Reporting

Our team of visual journalists analyzes satellite images, photographs , videos and radio transmissions  to independently confirm troop movements and other details.

We monitor and authenticate reports on social media, corroborating these with eyewitness accounts and interviews. Read more about our reporting efforts .