British Isles 2015

[orgutierrez]

Now that some 2015 schedules have been pre-released in the boards, I want to ask for advice for a British Isles cruise in summer 2015. The British Isles is an itinerary I have always been willing to do and in 2015 with P&O's new Britannia, Princess' Royal Princess and Celebrity with the Silhouette it looks like the perfect year to do it.

 

I have cruised only with Celebrity before but cruising this summer with Princess to Alaska. I loved the Eclipse, everything was perfect! But for the British Isles cruise it looks like Celebrity's itinerary is the "worst".

 

Celebrity Silhouette - 15th July 2015 - 12 night cruise

- Amsterdam, Netherlands

- Dover, England

- Edinburgh, Scotland (overnight)

- Invergordon (for Inverness/Loch Ness), Scotland

- Belfast, Ireland

- Dublin, Ireland

- Cobh (for Cork), Ireland

- St. Peter's Port (Guernsey), England

- Amsterdam, Netherlands

 

P&O's Britannia - 6th July 2015 - 12 night cruise

- Southampton, England

- Edinburgh, Scotland

- Invergordon (for Inverness/Loch Ness), Scotland

- Kirkwall, Scotland

- Greenock (for Glasgow), Scotland

- Liverpool, England

- Dublin, Ireland

- Cobh (for Cork), Ireland

- St. Peter's Port (Guernsey), England

- Southampton, England

 

Princess' Royal Princess - 8th July 2015 - 12 night cruise

- Southampton, England

- St. Peter's Port (Guernsey), England

- Cobh (for Cork), Ireland

- Dublin, Ireland

- Liverpool, England

- Greenock (for Glasgow), Scotland

- Kirkwall or Belfast (depending on sailings)

- Invergordon (for Inverness/Loch Ness), Scotland

- Edinburgh, Scotland

- Le Havre (for Paris), France

- Southampton, England

 

In my opinion perhaps the second itinerary is the best out of them all because the only port that skips is Belfast. Even though, sailing out of Amsterdam would be a plus as I haven't been there whilst I have already cruised out of Southampton.

 

Which itinerary is the best?

 

Which one would you choose cruising with a family (a teenager + a 10 year old girl)? Will P&O be too formal and classy having cruised with HAL?

 

Thanks for your opinions. I have posted this post in the P&O, Princess and Celebrity boards so that I can get objective opinions!

[shipfriend_max]

Hi,

 

all three cruises are appealing, but it depends on your decision.

All three ships seem to be great, but if you would like to have the best of the three, than chosse Celebrity. ;)

When considering the itinerary, choose Princess or P&O - but I recommend you to book a cruise without Belfast - not a very appealing town...

Although Celebrity starts from Amsterdam and you get to know this interesting city, it is better to start from Southampton - within the same cruise duration, you get to see more!

We have done the British Isles with Princess in 2009 (CROWN PRINCESS), we really enjoyed it, because there are so many unexpected gems! :)

 

Have fun!

[cruisefan2012]

Belfast is a great city

 

If you chose to go there on a cruise, I highly recommend you visit the Titanic Museum which is close to where the ship will dock in Belfast

[scifimonkey]

Thats a really difficult one, as usual a lot depends on your personal tastes and predjudices and to a certain extent how much if anything you have seen before.

 

P&O will give you the most authentic of British experiences to sit alongside the itinerary plus its a brand new ship. It will most likely have a majority british contingent on board which may or may not suit you. P&O traditionally have brilliant kids clubs so that might be a plus. I can vouch for Ventura and Azura in this regard (my son is now 13 but was 10 on his first cruise). We have reserved a cabin on Britannia for 2015 so obviously we think it will be good (though we will be coming to Spain!!!!!!).

 

Celebrity will be the most classy option and Silhoutte is a superb ship and will likely have the best service. The cabins are not the biggest (so you may want 2 rather than try to cram into one) It will be a very American experience and will have a majority US and Canada based based passenger list. Unfortunately they also take a very American view of the itinerary which is that the only thing worth visiting in England is London from Dover. (Sometimes I think that the US struggles to understand that London is not the entire country). Only downside is entertainment which is not brilliant on Silhouette IMHO. We love the ship though after a cruise on her last year and are booked to sail on her again later this year (we can entertain ourselves!!)

 

Princess I have no experience of, though I seriously considered booking a cruise on Royal Princess last year. I percieve that it will also be a more American experience though I would leave it to those who have sailed with Princess to comment.

 

If it were me I would go with Britannia, the stop in Liverpool gives you the chance to visit areas in the north of England as well as well as adding on a couple of days in the south at the start and the end which would swing it over Celebrity and Silhouette . The ship is more or less the same as Royal Princess but two years newer and P&O will look after you and your children pretty well based on our previous experience, so that would swing it over Princess.

 

Whichever you choose, the ports all give access to some great experiences and a great variety of landscapes and culture. I hope that you have a great time.

[David Owl]

I am a confirmed Celebrity fan but on this occasion I think we will be trying Britannia.

 

I am surprised about the comment above that the passengers will be mostly British. Although I am British I had assumed that this would be a popular trip for the Americans.

 

I have a few other questions and would appreciate any opinions :

 

The crew/passenger ratio on Celebrity is close to 1:2, whereas on Britannia it seems that it will be nearer 3:1. Is this likely to show in a worse service.

 

How close to the coast are we likely to be. I have spent a lot of time on the North Yorkshire coast and touring Scotland but would love to see it from the sea.

 

Does anyone know if (or when) the deck plans will be avaliable for Britannia.

 

Thanks

 

David

[daiB]

I am a confirmed Celebrity fan but on this occasion I think we will be trying Britannia.

 

I am surprised about the comment above that the passengers will be mostly British. Although I am British I had assumed that this would be a popular trip for the Americans.

 

I have a few other questions and would appreciate any opinions :

 

The crew/passenger ratio on Celebrity is close to 1:2, whereas on Britannia it seems that it will be nearer 3:1. Is this likely to show in a worse service.

 

How close to the coast are we likely to be. I have spent a lot of time on the North Yorkshire coast and touring Scotland but would love to see it from the sea.

 

Does anyone know if (or when) the deck plans will be avaliable for Britannia.

 

Thanks

 

David

 

 

David, P&O is about 99% British as there is little or no way of booking the line outside of the UK. The world cruises tend to have a more cosmopolitan feel with a number of Australian cruisers.

 

 

 

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[scifimonkey]

David, P&O is about 99% British as there is little or no way of booking the line outside of the UK. The world cruises tend to have a more cosmopolitan feel with a number of Australian cruisers.

 

 

 

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How does that work given that presumably the internet site and telephone number must work in the US? Most US customers in europe tend to book independent flights and transfers so I had always assumed that the absence of US passengers was the 2-3 sea days it takes to get anywhere from the UK where most P&Odepartures are from (until recently anyway)or conversely the need to fly to Barbados rather than leave direct from the US in the Caribbean?

I would have still have expected the round Britain cruise to be a majority of uk passengers but had thought that the nature of the itinerary would increase the presence of our cousins from over the pond by a considerable amount as it seems ideal for them. Clearly they will have the choice of Celebrity and Princess too and a more familiar environment but I would have thought that P&O would aggressively market such an itinerary to them.after all Britannia is a huge ship to fill?

Edited March 16, 2014 by scifimonkey

[daiB]

David, P&O is about 99% British as there is little or no way of booking the line outside of the UK. The world cruises tend to have a more cosmopolitan feel with a number of Australian cruisers.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app[/

How does that work given that presumably the internet site and telephone number must work in the US? Most US customers in europe tend to book independent flights and transfers so I had always assumed that the absence of US passengers was the 2-3 sea days it takes to get anywhere from the UK where most P&Odepartures are from (until recently anyway)or conversely the need to fly to Barbados rather than leave direct from the US in the Caribbean?

I would have still have expected the round Britain cruise to be a majority of uk passengers but had thought that the nature of the itinerary would increase the presence of our cousins from over the pond by a considerable amount as it seems ideal for them. Clearly they will have the choice of Celebrity and Princess too and a more familiar environment but I would have thought that P&O would aggressively market such an itinerary to them.after all Britannia is a huge ship to fill?

 

 

Well yes you might think that but on these boards there have been a number of Canadians and Americans asking how to book P&O, 'over the pond' they had difficulty with the web site. I do not think the sea days have anything to do with it at all. I understand that the company does not do any marketing at all in the US.

 

 

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[lake5298]

Unless you really want to go on a long coach journey to Paris, Le Havre is a dump. Belfast, however, is a fascinating city and well worth seeing.

 

I personally prefer Princess (their perks are good at Elite level) but I think that P&O have more on offer a teen and 10 year old.

 

P&O aren't as formal as HAL - in my opinion at least - but they are a bit more formal than Princess.

 

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