National Museum of the Royal Navy — Attraction in Portsmouth

My husband and I visited the museums last month. Unfortunately, upon arrival we were greeted with very poor customer service from management.

We both work for National Museums Liverpool and had planned a lovely south coast trip. Working for national museums you gain free entry to all the national museums in the UK. Therefore, we called ahead in advance to ensure everything would be okay on the day of our visit. The guy on the phone was very helpful and explained that as long as we provide our museum ID there should be no problems.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. The manager who served us was very patronising, condescending and ignorant. I’m not sure if he was new (the brunette guy with painted nails). He had us there for around 20 minutes continuously asking our names etc and who we work for (after providing him with our ID). He exclaimed he knew nothing about it and as we explained our prior phone called, he responded with “I don’t think any guys were working that day?” Almost insinuating that we were lying? It made the vibe super weird and awkward. He finally called someone and eventually let us in.

It set the day off in a negative light but we quickly decided to brush it off as we didn’t want to let his attitude ruin our day.

The highlight for me was the HMS Victory - the audio tour really brought the ship to life.

I think maybe the management/ staff need some training on how to deliver a high standard museum customer service.

We...

Whilst visiting the historic dockyard yielded some fascinating insights into our past Navy (Victory, Mary Rose, Warrior), it was quite apparent the lack of more modern warfare exhibits. There is a ‘nod’ to the modern Navy in one building but it kind of seemed an afterthought rather than a focused exhibit. The Falklands being the biggest and most well known of the recent Navy should see more exhibits in my opinion, as should general modern warfare inc Jets, Submarines, SF, EW, etc… Some years ago the dockyard had a fantastic ‘Action Stations’ building full of Royal Marines stuff, helicopter simulator and plenty of other interesting things for the younger audience - it’s gone now and I felt it was a massive shame to have lost/changed that. The museum will appeal to the older audience for the historical factor, but there isn’t enough to keeper the younger generations excited.

Also disappointing was the Submarine museum in Gosport (included in your annual ticket price). This was tired, worn out and had plenty of interactive exhibits that didn’t work. Again, Submarines have a rich history from WW2 to Modern Warfare, and could be so much better/bigger and exciting, but it just isn’t. This museum could really excel but seems to be held back as it hasn’t really changed much...

This is the worst museum I have ever tried to get in touch with, they do not accept emails, and when you ring the phone line, it doesn’t matter which option you try, it just says no available agents and it drops the call abruptly. I have tried to get in touch with them over a few matters, on the last few years, one was donating some of my grandfathers items. He was a chaplain in the Royal Navy, another one was getting information, another one was taking a group of school children, their communication is appalling and I still have never been. I just fine it shameful, obviously under staffed or have lazy people working there on minimum wage. Why bother with a phone line if it doesn’t work? Called them out of curiosity for weeks now, pressing all the options and I’ve never spoken to a human being once! Beyond useless and and they have the gall to represent the Royal Navy. Whoever is running this place...