MV ''Britannia'' is a cruise ship of the

P&O Cruises P&O Cruises is a British cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, operated by Carnival Corporation & plc#Carnival UK, Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. It was originally a subsidiary of the freight transp ...

fleet. She was built by

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

at its shipyard in

Monfalcone Monfalcone (; Venetian language#Regional variants, Bisiacco: ; ; ; archaic ) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Gorizia, Regional decentralization entity of Gorizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, located on the Gulf of Tr ...

, Italy. ''Britannia'' is the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of the fleet, taking the honour from . She officially entered service on 14 March 2015, and was named by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. Her first

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

was Paul Brown. ''Britannia'' features a

Union Flag The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

on her bow, the largest of its kind in the world.

Naming and construction

''Britannia'' was ordered in 2011 and was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 15 May 2013. The ship was built at the

yard at

in Italy. The name ''Britannia'' was announced on 24 September 2013 and has historical importance for P&O, as there have been two previous ships named Britannia connected with the company. The first entered service in 1835 for the

General Steam Navigation Company The General Steam Navigation Company (GSN), incorporated in 1824, was London's foremost short sea shipping line for almost 150 years. It was the oldest shipping company in the world to begin business with seagoing steam vessels. Foundation ...

, which went on to become the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company. The second, which entered service in 1887, was one of four ships ordered by the company to mark the golden jubilee of both

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and P&O itself. The ceremonial float out of the third ''Britannia'' took place on the afternoon of 14 February 2014, with the traditional

champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

bottle smashed against the vessel's hull. ''Britannia'' departed the

ship yard on 27 February 2015 for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

via

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. ''Britannia'' was officially named on 10 March 2015 by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

at the Ocean Terminal.

Facilities

On board, ''Britannia'' features 13 bars as well as 13 restaurants and cafés. TV chef James Martin developed "The Cookery Club" on board ''Britannia.'' The venue features celebrity chefs/cooks such as

Mary Berry Dame Mary Rosa Alleyne Hunnings (''née'' Berry; born 24 March 1935) is an English food writer, chef, baker and television presenter. After being encouraged in domestic science classes at school, she studied catering at college. She then move ...

James Tanner James Tanner is an English chef and television personality, best known for co-owning the Tanners Restaurant in Plymouth and cooking on various TV programmes. In 1999, Tanner and his brother Chris set up Tanners Restaurant in Plymouth. Since t ...

Antonio Carluccio Antonio Carluccio, OBE, OMRI (; 19 April 1937 – 8 November 2017) was an Italian chef, restaurateur and food expert, based in London. He was called "the godfather of Italian gastronomy", with a career of more than 50 years. He is perhaps best ...

Paul Rankin Paul Rankin (born 1 October 1959 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a celebrity chef from Ballywalter, County Down, Northern Ireland. Rankin's parents moved back to Ballywalter, where he grew up, some time after he was born. This was stated when he was ...

and

Pierre Koffman Pierre Koffmann (born 21 August 1948) is a French professional chef. He was one of a handful of chefs in the United Kingdom to have been awarded the coveted three Michelin stars at his restaurant La Tante Claire in London. Until December 2016, h ...

Eric Lanlard Éric Lanlard (born 1968) is a French pâtissier and celebrity chef. He was previously a chef for the French Navy, but moved to the UK in 1989 to work with Albert and Michel Roux. He left their company in 1995 to set up his first business, Laborat ...

has his own patisserie, Market Café, in the ship's atrium. He also created an upgraded afternoon tea service in the Epicurean restaurant.

Atul Kochhar Atul Kochhar is an Indian-born, British-based chef and television personality. Kochhar was one of the first two Indian chefs to receive a Michelin star, awarded in London in 2001 whilst at Tamarind. He opened his own restaurant Benares, which w ...

, of the

Michelin-starred The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

Benares restaurant in London, supervises menus in ''Sindhu'' (as also seen on fleetmates and ).

Marco Pierre White Marco Pierre White (born 11 December 1961) is an English chef, restaurateur and television personality. In 1995 he became the youngest chef to earn three Michelin stars. He has trained chefs including Mario Batali, Shannon Bennett, Gordon Ramsa ...

creates menu items served in the main restaurants on gala nights. The ship has a 936-seat theatre. ''Britannia'' has a total of 1,837 cabins with 27 of those being single cabins (inside and balcony), in addition to conventional inside and balcony cabins; 64 of the cabins are designated as suites. For the first time on a P&O Cruises ship, all outside cabins have balconies. ''Britannia'' has four pools including a dedicated pool for teenagers, and the Oasis Spa. In October 2019, ''Britannia'' entered dry dock to undergo a major refit and refurbishment. The changes included the addition of a new art gallery, new shopping outlets and a redesigned Atrium.

Maiden voyage and itineraries

''Britannia''s maiden voyage took place 14–28 March 2015, and included visits to Spain, Italy and France. During her summer season, ''Britannia'' sails to the Mediterranean, Norwegian fjords, the Baltic, Canary Islands and Atlantic Islands. In winter, the ship operates 14-night Caribbean itineraries. ''

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' (referred to simply as ''Saturday Night Takeaway'', ''Takeaway'' or ''SNT'') is a British television variety show, presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially known as Ant & Dec), ...

'' was recorded and shown live on board as the final show of the 13th series, on 2 April 2016.

Similar ships

In 2013,

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California and is incorporated in Bermuda. As of 2025, it is the List of cruise lines#List of cruise lines by size, s ...

began operating the lead vessel in its , . ''Britannia'' is built to the same template, but its character and exterior appearance is tailored for P&O. The second ship of the ''Royal'' class, , was delivered 11 May 2014 to Princess Cruises.

Incidents

In 2019, there was a brawl on board. Six people, including a member of staff, were injured in the late-night fight in one of the restaurants. On 27 August 2023, ''Britannia'' broke her moorings while docked in

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

, Spain, during a sudden storm. She drifted across the harbour and collided with a moored oil tanker, the ''Castillo de Arteaga''. It was reported that a small number of people on ''Britannia'' had sustained minor injuries, and were being cared for by the onboard medical centre.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Britannia (2014) Ships of P&O Cruises Ships built in Monfalcone Ships built by Fincantieri 2014 ships