Our final sea day on board the Britannia

When I first found out that our cruise was going to coincide with the Royal Wedding I was admittedly gutted, there was no way that I could miss it. 

Yet this actually worked out to be a much better than I thought as the wedding was broadcast around the ship with a huge sense of patriotism on deck. 

Believe it or not, the fairytale wedding was not even the highlight of my day as we put on our glad rage and went up to the Epicurean restaurant for Eric Lanlard’s afternoon tea. 

The classic menu with a modern twist including a smoked salmon and cream cheese open sandwich on spinach bread - nom.

Dark chocolate macaroon with smoked salmon and cucumber - double nom and a lemon meringue trifle with blackcurrant coulis.

On our final sea day we were sure to do many of the classic cruise activities including dance classes ( as long as they fitted around the royal wedding) , playing bingo and even a spot of disco dancing. 

A Masterclass with P&O Food Hero, Eric Lanlard

Things were about to get fluffy in the kitchen on the first full day of my P & O Food Heroes cruise to the Norwegian Fjords as this morning I was heading to the Cookery Club for a masterclass with Eric Lanlard! 

First, though, it was time for a quick trip around the ship. Taking a tour of the decks is one of the must-do items on the list of ‘things to do on the first day of a Cruise’ so that you can familiarise yourself with where everything is but I simply ran out of time yesterday. 

Leaving the tour until the morning is actually preferable as you have the ship pretty much to yourself, very useful if you want t take lots of pictures. 

As Norway is an hour ahead of British Summer Time, the ship’s clocks went forward at 2am in the morning. Ok, I thought, I’ll change the clock on my phone so that I don’t miss the masterclass. Ha ha ha.

Needless to say, it didn’t work, I woke up at 8am, thinking it was 7am and very nearly missed the start of the class….just kidding I was still there 15 minutes early. 

The cookery club, on deck 17 is right at the top of the ship and is ironically right next door to the gym. It has room for 24 people around 12 stations; that means 2 people to a bench.  

In the masterclass we were making lemon meringue cupcakes -oooh

apple shuffle -ooooh

and finally, white chocolate and passion fruit cake pops. 

We gathered around the front bench as Eric Lanlard demoed how to make the cupcake sponge and lemon curd. (We didn’t actually make the curd ourselves which I was a bit disappointed about but I guess the class would have gone one for a lot longer than three hours if we had.) 

On our workstations, all of the ingredients were weighed out ready for us to use and Eric Lanlard recommended that you always have your ingredients prepared like this before you start baking for precision and in the interest of being organised.  

There are two main ways of making cake pops, the method I use is spherical cake tins into which I then insert lollipop sticks once the cake is cooked and cooled. 

Alternatively, you can crumb a ready-made sponge cake into buttercream which you then roll into balls before freezing. 

Meanwhile, melt white chocolate over a Bain Marie (or microwave) and dip in the end of a lollipop stick into the chocolate until coated before inserting into the middle before returning the cake pop to the fridge/freezer. 

Once set, dip the cake pop into the chocolate and liberally coat before decorating with sprinkles or whatever else you want. Unfortunately, the kitchen may have been a bit too warm for our cake pops and which made dipping them problematic. I then went on to spill water on them and the chocolate didn’t quite set. 

Finally, the last dish that we did in the masterclass was an apple souffle. Readers of this blog will know that I learnt how to make a souffle du fromage at Le Gargantua last year so I was keen to try a sweet souffle, the problem was that calvados and I do not get along. Although the souffle mix looked alright before going into the oven, it didn’t cook properly so I’m just going to have to try the recipe again at home….sans the calvados. 

There's meringue in the bowl, just checking that those peakes are stiff enough.

After eating all those cake I joined my mother and father for a salsa class before heading over to the Live Lounge for ‘an audience with Eric Lanlard, where the world famous patissier shared stories about his incredible career. From working with Albert and Michel Roux to baking a cake for the Queen Mother. 

What To Do in the First Few Hours On A P&O Cruise

I did my research, wrote down the names and addresses of all the best cafes and places to visit and even revised my knowledge of the history of Norway. The day finally arrived, we were going on a cruise!

Britannia, P&O’s flagship is a large ship but I was not ready for just how big as we drew up to to the cruise terminal. Insert huge gasp! 

I have read quite a few blogs about what to expect on the first day of your cruise (I can see you rolling your eyes at me) but many leave out any information about the embarkation process, so I thought that I would. This only applies to P&O Cruises though as the embarkation can vary between companies....or at least I think so but this is my first ever cruise so I wouldn't really know.....

Your embarkation time depends on which deck your cabin is. Lower decks board the ship first while the higher decks, like deck C where we were staying, go on board later in the afternoon. 

When we pulled into the dock gate, the Cruise Parking Service directed us where to go and wait and wait and wait. 

Eventually, the queue of cars thinned so we were able to drive round to the front of the terminal where a porter loaded our bags onto the ship and the valet parking service drove the car away. We were then free to stroll into the terminal building.

On entering the terminal we were all given a coloured, lettered card which dictated when we could check in, have our credit or debit cards scanned and receive our cruise card. 

The cruise card is basically your identification on the ship and is scanned every time you get off and on at the port stops so that the crew always know who is on board and who isn’t. (The ship won’t wait for latecomers though so make sure you are on board in plenty of time before the ship leaves the dock.) 

Your cruise card is also the key to your room and can be used to pay for extras like drinks and spa sessions which are not included in your package, so try not to lose it or forget it in your room like I did quite a few times.

After check-in, it was time to head through security. Cruise security is pretty much exactly like the security process at an airport but the main difference is that you are not restricted to carrying only 100ml of liquids in your hand luggage. 

Due to a fire alarm having been set off on the ship earlier in the day, the whole embarkation process had been delayed which pushed back the time of the muster drill. 

Jolly good, just enough time to find the cabin and dump our hand luggage. Hey look at that, our main luggage had arrived and was waiting outside the room. 

The muster alarm is a full security drill that is mandatory for the whole ship and demonstrates exactly what you should do if there is a Titanic moment and we hit an iceberg or something else goes wrong. It also meant that we all had a chance to locate and try on our life jackets.

Once this was over, our holiday could begin! 

With so much choice with what to do, the question was, where to start? 

Many blogs and even the cruising series with Jane McDonald have told me that I absolutely must not miss the ‘sail away’ but guess what kids….I did. 

If you are confused by P&O’s freedom or select dining options then let me tell you, so was I... who are we kidding... I still am. 

There are 10 restaurants and places to eat on the Britannia and 5 of those are included in the cruise price. 

We selected freedom dining which meant that we were free to eat at any time. Yet as we found out this didn’t mean that you could pop in and any restaurant and try them all.

The dining card in your cabin shows which restaurant is yours for the week and we were allocated the Peninsular. 

this is actually the glasshouse just to be confusing

A five-course dinner later and feeling decidedly stuffed, we headed over to the Headliner’s Theatre for a dazzling she of Broadway songs in ‘I’ve Got The Music In Me.’ 

Fun fact: 90% of the costumes used in the performance were designed by the team behind Strictly Come Dancing. 

Things you should know before going your first cruise.

Hello little blog, long time no see. 

As some of you may know, I’m going on a cruise in a month’s time, my first ever cruise and to say that I was excited would be the understatement of the century.

Choose your ship wisely

The cruise company and even the ship you choose can greatly impact your holiday as they each offer something different. Some are adult-only, others are family friendly and great for kids whilst cruises like Saga and Fred. Olsen is pretty exclusively for an older clientele. My mother, father and I are going on a P&O Cruise on the Britannia. This is a ‘Food Heroes’ themed cruise and we will be joined on board by Eric Lanlard. 

This is the perfect cruise for a foodie like myself as not only will I joining Eric Lanlard in the kitchen for a masterclass with the Cake Boy himself but will also be going on an additional baking course and have afternoon tea at the Epicurean on our final sea day.

Research the ports.

Much like if you are going on a city break or a weekend away, your time in port can be very limited. Most of the time you’ll arrive in a town in the morning and then leave in the early evening the very same day. It's therefore worth doing your research before you go and having a plan in mind. 

Our week-long cruise to the Norwegian Fjords will be stopping at Stavanger, Alesund, Olden and Bergen and I am looking forward to visiting the ‘Swords In Rock’ monument in Stavanger and Rosenkrantz tower in Bergen. 

Take ID ashore

When you go across border lines whilst on board you do not get your passport checked in real time. At least I hope not, I don’t fancy being woken up at 2am because we have arrived in Norway. 

Instead, passport checks (and sometimes bag scans) happen when you go ashore so make sure to remember your passport and all other travel documents before leaving the cabin. 

Inside Cabins are a good choice for first-time cruisers.

Picking a cabin for the cruise can be a sticking point for many. After all, a balcony has outside space and is often bigger. BUT its also a lot more expensive, sometimes three times more so than an indoor cabin!

As a first time cruiser you need to ask yourself, is it really worth it? How much time am I going to spend in my cabin anyway? 

The way I look at it there are 3 main reasons why an inside cabin is best for the first time cruiser:

1. You are only really going to use your cabin when you sleep - with so much stuff to do and explore on the ship, do you want to be cooped up in your cabin?
2. Good for those who need a blackout to sleep. - If like me, you need complete blackness to sleep then an inside cabin is best. There isn't a window so you won’t be woken up with the rising sun
3. Sit down your rocking the boat. - No seriously. Your inside cabin is going to situated in a more central part of the ship which means less rocking. Great for landlubbers and less chance of getting seasick….at least in your cabin.

You can get seasick.

*Spoiler Alert* you are on a ship and that means that you can get seasick. 

Top tips for avoiding this that I’ve seen include; 

1. looking out of the window, or failing that because you have an inside cabin and don’t have a window,
2. turn on the TV in your cabin and choose the ships camera option
3. Go to the ship’s medical centre and ask for an injection of Phenergan.

Other useful tips include:

1. Take your own tea bags, especially if you are partial to a certain type of brew. I’ve heard it said that a lot of cruise liners stock Lipton’s so if you are a Yorkshire Tea kind of gal you better pack some tea bags.
2. Bring an extension lead, this may come in handy if you have many things that you want to plug in, or if there are a few of you sharing a cabin.
3. As soon as you board, locate your life vest and try it on. Then you can ask for a replacement before it’s too late.
4. Most cruise ships will provide you with a daily program with a full list of what’s happening on board including any classes, theatre shows, discos and kid’s clubs. It's a good idea to keep this on you at all times, even when going off the ship so that you can stay in the know with what’s on.