Britannia v Celebrity Eclipse

Am looking at cruising options for Sept in the Canaries. Have sailed on Britannia and am keen to know of any comparisons with the Celebrity Eclipse. we like a balcony cabin. The gratuities on celebrity and the drinks packages are way in excess of P and O and there seem to be more areas for suite passengers only?

I have sailed on both, hard for others to tell you what would be best for you. As with all cruises book something at a cost you are happy to pay.

If I was choosing between the two it would probably come down to price. if prices were similar within a couple of hundred pounds I would book Celebrity, knowing that my onboard spend would also be higher. I find the level of service, and the staterooms and amenities better on Celebrity.

Anymore than that and I would book Britannia, and look forward to the Thermal Suite and the gin menu in the Crows Nest.

We did the Eclipse a couple of year ago and the Britannia last xmas/new year.

We had a balcony cabin on the "hump" on Eclipse. The balcony was far bigger than those on the Britannia, and had nice wood-effect flooring. The balcony was bigger than the standard ones though, and we couldn't see towards the back of the ship (due to where our cabin was on the hump), which felt a bit strange. Britannia's balconies are small but functional with 2 chairs and a small table.

I prefer the Britannia cabin overall, with the walk in wardrobe. However the bathroom on Eclipse was far superior, bigger and nice walk-in shower, and the night lights were great.

I found that the food and service wasn't as good on Eclipse as on Britannia, from cabin steward to dining room staff. In fact we stopped going to the main dining room for dinner on Eclipse, and went to the buffet instead, which we'd never done on any previous cruise. I know that service depends on the staff who are there at the time. We both have food allergies (potentially life threatening), and P&O handle this fantastically in the main dining room. This was "ignored" on the Eclipse.

I prefer the layout of the Britannia, and the Crows Nest is lovely during the day. There were some nice spaces just to sit and read on Britannia, and although Eclipse library is much bigger, I found better and more up to date books on P&O.

Its just personal preference, but for me, I wouldn't rush back to Celebrity. Britannia has its "faults" and negatives, but I'd prefer this ship anyway. Thats just my choice.

Have a great cruise whichever one you choose.

We've sailed Britannia once last year and Eclipse 4 times with two more Eclipse sailings this year including the Canary Islands in September.

We enjoyed most of what Britannia offered, the decor, the food, the adults only food, the restaurant service, the grab n go. The downsides were the volume of passengers, small bars (crows nest, the show bar), much smaller theatre than Eclipse despite carrying 800 more passengers, some curmudgeonly passengers, the much mentioned lift situation (too few, too small and unreliable), tiny balcony, tiny bathroom.

However the Eclipse really suits us. 50 yr old couple, no kids. We like that it feels less busy, has nice big bars, really friendly service and has a mix of nationalities. We've met lots of great people from around the world on Eclipse and stayed friends. The ambience to us is more upscale. The cabins are lovely, good sized balcony and terrific bathroom. Yes there are some suite only areas but it's a spacious ship so you don't feel left out. Drinks are pricey but if you get a promotional drinks package included for the right price then that's a superb deal. Our two balcony cabins cruise on Eclipse this year have a total cost below what a Britannia cruise would cost us and our drinks are included.

One thing I would add for anyone reading this is if travelling with kids the P&O would be a better choice.

Of course you've posted this in the P&O section so will probably get more people preferring P&O but each to their own.

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Thanks very much for the comments. We really enjoyed our holidays on the Britannia last year but the present offers on the Eclipse with the drinks package do look tempting.

I'd opt for Celebrity over Britannia. The Solstice class ships are superior to Britannia as is the food IMHO.

Haven't been on Britannia yet but we prefer Celebrity over P&O unless there is a good offer on P&O. Drinks are expensive on Celebrity but you should be able to get a drinks package included. The Celebrity Solstice Class ships are in our opinion superior to any of the P&O ships we have been on for both food and service.

Having sailed on both ships, Britannia last year and have been on the on the Eclipse 4 times. I would go for the Eclipse , As at the moment they are giving a drinks package when you book.

I thought that the Eclipse had more of a WOW factor.:)

John

I would favour Celebrity and according to the reviews so do most others - 86% Celebrity to 54% Britannia, I think that speaks volumes. I agree that the significant difference is that Passenger volume is too large on Britannia which leads to most of the complaints.

Celebrity suite passengers only have a very small lounge that is reserved for them and more recently a suite only restaurant but thats all. All Celebrity open decks are available to all with no additional charges whilst Britannia have extortionate charges to use the Retreat open deck to avoid the overcrowding elsewhere on the ship.

Celebrity is definitely our choice, only wish it sailed from Barbados to avoid US customs/immigration hassle, but even for that they still come out on top. OP - Give Celebrity a try, I am sure you wouldn't regret it.

I would favour Celebrity and according to the reviews so do most others - 86% Celebrity to 54% Britannia, I think that speaks volumes. I agree that the significant difference is that Passenger volume is too large on Britannia which leads to most of the complaints.

Celebrity suite passengers only have a very small lounge that is reserved for them and more recently a suite only restaurant but thats all. All Celebrity open decks are available to all with no additional charges whilst Britannia have extortionate charges to use the Retreat open deck to avoid the overcrowding elsewhere on the ship.

 

Celebrity is definitely our choice, only wish it sailed from Barbados to avoid US customs/immigration hassle, but even for that they still come out on top. OP - Give Celebrity a try, I am sure you wouldn't regret it.

We haven't been on the Eclipse but have sailed on the Silhouette twice and the Britannia once, the two lines are like chalk and cheese, Celebrity is far better especially if you get the drinks package, if you enjoy cocktails upgrade to the premium drinks package for $11.50 per day each as the Classic Drinks package included is a bit restricted on the cocktails. We upgraded to the Premium and everything apart from champagne was covered, the Martini Ice Bar and the Molecular Bar are really something else.

The passengers tend to be a mix of Americans/Canadians/Australians/Brits plus European and it's far better than the Britannia which is predominately Brits who on our cruise in the Caribbean in November last year left a lot to be desired.

I doubt very much if we will sail with P & O again as our experience has really put us off, mickey89 summed it up well, look at the reviews for the two ships 54% versus 86%. The Britannia looks good on paper and the adverts on TV but the reality is instead of being P & O's flagship it is becoming known as "Butlins at sea" which I totally agree with.

Yes I know that little things are being downgraded by all the Cruise Lines but P & O's philosophy now seems to be just fill the ships up, sell the Select fares early at top prices and then when it's getting nearer the sail date and cabins are unsold just knock them out at cheap prices which attracts the wrong type of clientele and alienates the repeat P & O customers that they should be looking after.

We're a 45-55 couple with teenage son, and sailed on Celebrity Eclipse in 2013 and 2014, and Britannia in 2015. Both ships are lovely, and have a reasonable amount of "wow" factor, but if you're regular cruisers, I doubt you'll be looking for that. Eclipse just seemed to us to be a much more tightly-run operation, where you could really relax and know that nothing was going to upset the holiday. It definitely had the edge on staff and on catering too. If you've been on P&O before, and are fine with the older clientele who seem to delight in finding things to moan about, Britannia won't disappoint though.