Britannia breaks booking records

Britannia brought in a record number of advance bookings for P&O Cruises this week. The company claims that the first day of sales on Thursday delivered 24 per cent more business than their previous best – when Ventura went on sale in 2007.
The bookings – and accompanying deposits – came pouring in despite a computer system meltdown that crippled the company’s systems for much of the morning.
P&O said the technical issues were a result of “unprecedented demand” which caused the failure of all three booking engines.
Marketing director Christopher Edgington published a number of apologies on P&O’s Facebook page before he was able to say at 12.50pm that all booking options were fully operational.
Sales and distribution support director Chris Truscott said: “We really appreciate the patience shown yesterday by our trade partners in the early part of yesterday when due to circumstances beyond our control they experienced difficulties making bookings with us.”
Britannia, carrying almost 4,000 passengers, will make her maiden voyage from Southampton on March 14 next year.