P&O Cruises is a quintessentially British cruise line, as its naming ceremony in Southampton underlined when Take That singer Gary Barlow belted out Greatest Day and their anthem Rule The World.

I sailed in balcony rooms on Royal Caribbean's Utopia of the Seas and Virgin Voyages' Valiant Lady. My Virgin Voyages' balcony room had a nicer bathroom and these cabins tend to be a good value.

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