P&O or Marella - anybody know them both well enough to make comparisons?

Always used P&O, never Thomson, but maybe I'm missing something good?

Suite prices on Marella seem a bit high for the size of the suite compared with P&O, and I'd always assumed Marella to be cheaper.

Any recent comparisons between the two, please? Food, entertainment, service?

Always used P&O, never Thomson, but maybe I'm missing something good?

 

Suite prices on Marella seem a bit high for the size of the suite compared with P&O, and I'd always assumed Marella to be cheaper.

 

Any recent comparisons between the two, please? Food, entertainment, service?

We've been cruising with P&O for around 15 years and have sailed on all the fleet except Britannia.

We also tried other lines inc RCI and loved their Legend of the Seas (now Marella Discovery 2).

Last year we tried TUI Discovery, previously Legend's sister ship Splendour of the Seas. We thoroughly enjoyed it, and immediately rebooked for the Caribbean last March.

We'd been to the Caribbean several times with P&O but we thought the Discovery cruise was better. It was more port intensive and longer days in port.

We had a junior suite which, we felt, surpassed most, if not all, the cabins we had on P&O. It was a perfect size with a nice seating area, and a good sized balcony with table, chairs and sunbed. Some of the other suites are very big.

We felt the age range on Discovery was better, a good eclectic mix.

Thoroughly enjoyed the food and service, a good choice of venues, and some excellent menus. The drinks are all inclusive, and, if you peruse some earlier posts, you will see what a superb range of decent quality beverages is available.

Entertainment is what Thomson can do well, probably because they are committed to providing artists and shows in their wide range of holiday resorts.

Where P&O have moved to seminars that primarily sell health products etc to us oldies during the day Thomson (sorry, Marella!) offer more wide ranging entertainment to suit all.

The theatres on the Discovery ships are beautiful, and the theatre company do put on some great West End style shows.

We became fed up with so many formal nights on P&O, and felt it was too pretentious at times, so to have just one 'dress to impress' night suits us. However that is a personal preference.

I haven't compared prices between the two companies but Marella are all inclusive, and gratuities are included so that should be taken into account.

I can't comment on the older ships like Celebration or Dream, but I'm sure TUI are challenging the field with their latest acquisitions and seem to be serious in their intent.

I hope this gives you the comparison you want, but please accept it's a personal opinion, and others may see things differently.

Thanks - that's useful and very interesting. With you entirely on the outdated formal nights with P&O - and the mix. Met some great people on P&O, but also some that don't seem to have changed since Britain had an empire.

I'll take a closer look at Marella. :)

I had P&O in my DNA until I went on Thomson. As a solo traveller there is no comparison. Thomson are just brilliant. The ship I went of was a bit old and in need of some TLC, but the people and staff were amazing. No stuffy formal nights, less sea days and an entertainments team the wanted to entertain the passengers. No tips and all inclusive was great. Trips are very similar to P&O (if not the same).....

I still cruise on both, my next 2 cruises with P&O and the following 2 with Marella

The latest Marella ships are just as good as the mid sized P&O ones and it appears the Mein Schiffs will be even batter.

Positives for Marella

no long haul around spain

more ports

integration with land holidays if you wish as standard

more relaxed dress code

excellent atmosphere

excellent crew

good food IMO

the latest ships have good single cabins

single supplement much lower than P&O

much better social programme for solo cruisers

tips included in the fare

drinks package included in fare on latest ships

drinks package very good value

IMO entertainment team more talented than P&O

negatives

older ships have vibration issues

you pay extra to reserve your cabin

Celebration single cabins in bad location

Dream single cabins you have to chose the right one.

no fridges in most cabins

on older ships you are charged to use the cabin safe

HQ operation can be shambolic

lack of balconies on older ships

negatives

 

older ships have vibration issues

you pay extra to reserve your cabin

Celebration single cabins in bad location

Dream single cabins you have to chose the right one.

no fridges in most cabins

on older ships you are charged to use the cabin safe

HQ operation can be shambolic

lack of balconies on older ships

In fact, you do actually pay extra to reserve a specific cabin on P&O too. It is what makes the difference between a 'Select' and a 'Saver' fare. (As well as choosing dining and free shuttle buses. But selecting the cabin number is the main thing.)

All of the above plus.....the itineraries are better than P and O offer with only one sea day per week on fly cruises to the Med. We have just booked two weeks on Discovery 2 flying from Exeter....oh yes flights can be from local airports rather than Gatwick or Manchester, so much nicer !!!

All of the above plus.....the itineraries are better than P and O offer with only one sea day per week on fly cruises to the Med. We have just booked two weeks on Discovery 2 flying from Exeter....oh yes flights can be from local airports rather than Gatwick or Manchester, so much nicer !!!

Exeter is our local.

No stress flying from there!

Just got the new Marella brochure today. Having done a similar number of cruises on Thomson and P&O the new itineraries in this brochure are going to blow P&O out of the water.

Not everybody has the means or desire to do a world cruise or section of one.

The latest Marella ships are equal to any of the P&O fleet we have been on although we have not tried Britannia yet.

The all inclusive and tips included make for strong consideration.

All food for thought. Someone posted on here recently about “same old itineraries” on P&O.

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Very interesting reading indeed. We've done P&O 7 times, nothing else, but going on the Discovery to the Caribbean for the new year for two weeks. I think a wise decision.

I can see P&O having to become more competitive as it was the daily increase in price on the internet that put my neck out with them as I couldn't book until I had the leave approved, Thomson don't seem to change on a daily basis.

Looking forward to our next cruise.

My only critisism with Thomson is their website, booking excursions is a seperate login, and it's had me throwing my toys out the pram a couple of times. Why they can't link 'your' excursion page to your cruise login I don't know. Perhaps they will sort this out soon?

Keith (Southend)

My wife and I sailed both cruise lines, most recently P&O's Oceana in the Adriatic and Thomson's Celebration in the Arabian Gulf. I confess we were not overly impressed with Celebration, an old ship with unadventurous food of middling quality. P&O used to be much better but it wasn't on Oceana – lots of "nickel and diming", our room was shabby, no aircon on Day 1 and the toilet packed up on Day 6. Food was no better than Celebration – in fact, it was worse because on two occasions I had meals that were inedible (corn-fed chicken that was raw on the bone, roast potatoes that had never seen an oven, and poached pears that needed a pick-axe to cut through, witnessed by the head waiter I might add). I would rate both P&O and Thomson as no better than a 3* cruise line, but the former is significantly more expensive. We've travelled on Princess, Celebrity, HAL and Regent, and all are much, much better. That said, if the itinerary were right, I would probably now choose Thomson over P&O.

I haven't seen the new brochure yet, admittedly, but I got the impression from the last one that the Marella ships are a lot smaller than Azura, Ventura and Britannia on P&O, and I do like the larger ships. Quite a limited range of cruises UK to UK too, by comparison with P&O.

Has that changed in the new brochure?

I haven't seen the new brochure yet, admittedly, but I got the impression from the last one that the Marella ships are a lot smaller than Azura, Ventura and Britannia on P&O, and I do like the larger ships. Quite a limited range of cruises UK to UK too, by comparison with P&O.

 

Has that changed in the new brochure?

The latest additions to the fleet are similar in size to Aurora, Oriana and Oceana, but have more balconies than those.

The new brochure is, in the main, fly cruise based with excellent itineraries in Asia added for winter 18/19.

There are UK/UK cruises to the Fjords and Baltic similar to P&O standard fare, but I think Marella caters for a wider age range than P&O so advertise cruises from local airports.

If you prefer Ventura sized vessels exUK then Marella isn't for you.