Carnival vs P & O Comparison.

[lagoon380]

Having cruised twice on the Carnival Spirit and Twice on the Carnival Legend and now recently with P & O on the Pacific Jewel, I thought I would do a comparison between the cruises as the cruise on the Jewel was 11 nights and our last cruise on the legend was also 11 nights and both cruises were the same price and both as oceanview cabins so I think a fair comparison for what you can get for your cruising dollar.

 

We have enjoyed all our cruises so far including the last one on the Jewel.

 

The cabins, food, service and entertainment were all of equal or close to it on all cruises, all were excellent in our opinion and staff as well.

 

There were only two areas that let P & O & The Pacific Jewel down compared to Carnival.

The first was the age of the ship and size, you could feel far more movement on the Jewel compared to the 2 Carnival ships, I suppose that was to be expected as it's a smaller ship.

Solid steel and steel bars for railings compared to glass you can see through on Carnival.

 

The second was the embarkation, it took 1.5 hrs to board at the OPT at Circular Quay on the Jewel, far longer than any of our Carnival cruises.

 

These are only minor issues to us but should be a consideration none the less.

I will say that if you expect a 5 star ship, food etc don't cruise with either as that is not there market but it surprises me that some people compare a much more expensive cruise to P & O and then complain that it not like so and so, of course you get what you pay for.

 

Now I would certainly cruise with Carnival & P & O again, When we booked the P & O cruise we were a bit hesitant because of the bad reviews but were pleasantly surprised with our cruise on the Pacific Jewel.

 

So if you are considering a P & O cruise but worried about all the bad reviews, don't worry and give it go, you may be surprised as we were.:)

[GUT2407]

Having cruised twice on the Carnival Spirit and Twice on the Carnival Legend and now recently with P & O on the Pacific Jewel, I thought I would do a comparison between the cruises as the cruise on the Jewel was 11 nights and our last cruise on the legend was also 11 nights and both cruises were the same price and both as oceanview cabins so I think a fair comparison for what you can get for your cruising dollar.

 

We have enjoyed all our cruises so far including the last one on the Jewel.

 

The cabins, food, service and entertainment were all of equal or close to it on all cruises, all were excellent in our opinion and staff as well.

 

There were only two areas that let P & O & The Pacific Jewel down compared to Carnival.

The first was the age of the ship and size, you could feel far more movement on the Jewel compared to the 2 Carnival ships, I suppose that was to be expected as it's a smaller ship.

Solid steel and steel bars for railings compared to glass you can see through on Carnival.

 

The second was the embarkation, it took 1.5 hrs to board at the OPT at Circular Quay on the Jewel, far longer than any of our Carnival cruises.

 

These are only minor issues to us but should be a consideration none the less.

I will say that if you expect a 5 star ship, food etc don't cruise with either as that is not there market but it surprises me that some people compare a much more expensive cruise to P & O and then complain that it not like so and so, of course you get what you pay for.

 

Now I would certainly cruise with Carnival & P & O again, When we booked the P & O cruise we were a bit hesitant because of the bad reviews but were pleasantly surprised with our cruise on the Pacific Jewel.

 

So if you are considering a P & O cruise but worried about all the bad reviews, don't worry and give it go, you may be surprised as we were.:)

 

I'd imagine it's the same company taking care of boarding for both lines, so not sure why the difference other than just different days.

 

That movement you mention is one of the reasons we love smaller ships.

[Aus Traveller]

I will say that if you expect a 5 star ship, food etc don't cruise with either as that is not there market but it surprises me that some people compare a much more expensive cruise to P & O and then complain that it not like so and so, of course you get what you pay for. :)

I agree with this comment. On one of our recent cruises, someone was comparing Princess unfavourably with Seaborne. When I asked (nicely) what they paid for a cabin on Seaborne, they said it was $700 a night. That was not for a suite.

[cheznandy]

Thanks for the comparison, have not cruised Carnival before so good to know what they offer.

 

How were the cabins in comparison, as well as service, extras that needed to be payed for etc.

[lagoon380]

The cabins were of similar size, slightly different layout, slight preference to Carnivals layout over P & O.

Service was great on both, staff did a great job.

The extra's - Carnival has free ice cream (soft serve) but I would rather pay for New Zealand ice cream as you really can't compare the two.

Carnival has free pizza 24/7, P & O $9.50 each.

Other than that not much else, if I had to choose between them Carnival would be the winner.

If you cruise with kids, Carnival would be my suggestion.

[Mr&MrsCookie]

Anyone finding P&O are getting more expensive? They really are only a 3 1/2 star company but the prices aren't reflecting it. A 2 or 3 day cruise is about $1000 for 2 in an oceanview room or $1500 for balcony. And then there's so many extras that you have to pay for on board. Makes for a very expensive cruise on an average ship. When it comes to P&O I don't think you really are getting what you paid for. I don't think I will be going on them anytime soon. Which is annoying when it's pretty much only P&O that leave from Brisbane all the time.

[The_Big_M]

Well, they offer convenience! :-)

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed all the cruises.

[wagtail_syd]

Thanks for posting this. We've cruised twice on Legend and now booked on Eden over the summer holidays. I was a bit worried based on the negative reviews but feel a bit reassured now. We loved the food on Carnival Legend so I think would be disappointed if it is really bad on Eden. I found we were able to get a cheaper deal on P&O than Carnival during school holidays. It's a tough time to get a bargain on any line.

[lagoon380]

We only booked the cruise on the Jewel as a last minute thing, some friends were looking to go on a cruise and I was keeping an eye on the PNG cruise when a cheap oceanview triple popped up out of the blue where none were available earlier so booked it and it was the only triple oceanview left but our friends booked an interior triple for $507pp, we paid $618pp so they were happy with that.:)

If you enjoyed the food on the Carnival Legend I think you be fine with the food on P & O, very similar, not much difference between them.

Edited September 15, 2016 by lagoon380

[eaglebowler]

Thanks for this interesting comparison.