P&O newbie where dose it "fit" compared to the other lines I have sailed

[fragilek]

 Looking at P&O for the first time doing a Caribbean cruise probably on the Britannia,  We have had a few cruises in the past  and usually now sail with Celebrity (Infinity, Summit and Edge)  but they haven't got a Barbados departure,  In the past we have sailed Royal  (Vision & Rhapsody)  few times when we had our teenage daughters but haven't done then for a while  We have also sailed on Carnival (Legend  & Valour ) a  good many years ago.  We have sailed Marella (Explorer) from Barbados once before and although not on a par with Celebrity we still thoroughly enjoyed it.  The only cruise line we not sail again is Costa although value for

money and had great music in the evening the food was too much of a let down for us even the additional cost restaurants were below par of normal cruise dining .

 

  For those who have sailed any of the other lines mentioned above where does P&O fit especially wrt  the food on board.  Is there a choice of different restaurants included in the base price we particularly enjoyed this on the Edge and was a big plus for the Marella cruise too.   Also can you always get choose anytime type dining no showing in the booking process.

[yorkshirephil]

Having sailed with all 3 I would say P&O is more aligned with Marella than RC, similar clientele, more brits. Food similar on P&O and Marella but that can vary from ship to ship. Entertainment similar with P&O and Marella, again aimed at the English speaking clientele, I would give Marella the edge, they work very hard. P&O will likely be the cheapest but need to consider Marella is all inclusive for drinks, both AI tips. RC is more expensive for drinks and tours so you need to do the math. It is sometimes difficult to compare prices depending what is included,  P&O is a bit more expensive for speciality restaurants so that needs to be factored in, they do sometimes have specials if not busy. You can choose anytime dining on P&O if you book select price, pending it not being booked up.

[Britboys]

Only sailed Marella once, which was on Discovery 2 in the Caribbean 3 years ago. I woud agree with Phil that they are probably the closest fit to P&O and that in terms of quality, the entertainment is pretty similar but I feel there is a little more variety on P&O. On the basis of that one cruise I would however disagree with Phil about the food. I thought the food on Discovery 2 was the worst food I have had on any cruise. On P&O, the only included dining is in the mdr, buffet and poolside snack venues. Part of the buffet in the evening has a different menu available with table service for a very small extra charge. Sadly, I also found service to be poor in both the mdr and many of the bars. Service on P&O in my experience is quite good but it is much more reserved than the American lines.

Did you know that Royal Caribbean are due to base Grandeur of the Seas in Barbados this winter doing 7 & 14 night itineraries?

[fragilek]

thanks for that.  The price for p&o is £700 cheaper even having factored in adding on the drinks package.  We enjoyed our only Marella cruise the last time. Not quite as good food wise and show wise as Celebrity especially the Edge but wouldn't hesitate to go back.  Just with the £830 less for P&O (that's with factoring in  the £39.95 pp/day on to the P&O price). So the only other thing I haven't factored in to p&o is the tips thus  thought it was worth checking P&O out 

[joeecco]

3 minutes ago, fragilek said:

thanks for that.  The price for p&o is £700 cheaper even having factored in adding on the drinks package.  We enjoyed our only Marella cruise the last time. Not quite as good food wise and show wise as Celebrity especially the Edge but wouldn't hesitate to go back.  Just with the £830 less for P&O (that's with factoring in  the £39.95 pp/day on to the P&O price). So the only other thing I haven't factored in to p&o is the tips thus  thought it was worth checking P&O out 

There are no additional tips when sailing with P&O now. 

Edited March 13, 2021 by joeecco

[Britboys]

4 minutes ago, fragilek said:

thanks for that.  The price for p&o is £700 cheaper even having factored in adding on the drinks package.  We enjoyed our only Marella cruise the last time. Not quite as good food wise and show wise as Celebrity especially the Edge but wouldn't hesitate to go back.  Just with the £830 less for P&O (that's with factoring in  the £39.95 pp/day on to the P&O price). So the only other thing I haven't factored in to p&o is the tips thus  thought it was worth checking P&O out 

P&O now say that gratuities are no longer required.

[yorkshirephil]

8 minutes ago, fragilek said:

thanks for that.  The price for p&o is £700 cheaper even having factored in adding on the drinks package.  We enjoyed our only Marella cruise the last time. Not quite as good food wise and show wise as Celebrity especially the Edge but wouldn't hesitate to go back.  Just with the £830 less for P&O (that's with factoring in  the £39.95 pp/day on to the P&O price). So the only other thing I haven't factored in to p&o is the tips thus  thought it was worth checking P&O out 

That would make it a no brainer for me, £700 would pay for a few speciality meals and tours if so desired. Again you need to do the math as to whether the drinks package is worth the money as drinks on P&O are relatively cheap, certainly when comparing to RC.

[fragilek]

We had a look at that too, but I think I fancy being on a British package for our first trip since lockdown. Like the idea that by far the majority will be vaccinated on the ship   

[fragilek]

16 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Only sailed Marella once, which was on Discovery 2 in the Caribbean 3 years ago. I woud agree with Phil that they are probably the closest fit to P&O and that in terms of quality, the entertainment is pretty similar but I feel there is a little more variety on P&O. On the basis of that one cruise I would however disagree with Phil about the food. I thought the food on Discovery 2 was the worst food I have had on any cruise. On P&O, the only included dining is in the mdr, buffet and poolside snack venues. Part of the buffet in the evening has a different menu available with table service for a very small extra charge. Sadly, I also found service to be poor in both the mdr and many of the bars. Service on P&O in my experience is quite good but it is much more reserved than the American lines.

Did you know that Royal Caribbean are due to base Grandeur of the Seas in Barbados this winter doing 7 & 14 night itineraries?

 if you thought discovery food was bad don't try Costa it was dire!! I require gluten free food so had a different menu one night my main course choice was fish fingers or white rice with peas.  I kid you not!! - 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

All depends on what you want. P&O are cheaper then RCL and the "Tips" are not required/already added to the price. I like P &O esp for a uk cruiser as they do the flight package as well. 

However that said since we had our daughter, shes now 7 RCL just offer so much more for her to do, so last few cruises have been on RCL.

 

The food on both is just as good and the speciality restaurants are equal for us. Trips about the same although i find RCL so much more expensive.

 

However i am looking at cruises for 2022 in the school holidays and at the mo P&O out of Malta is looking favourite

 

 

 

 

[No pager thank you]

I can provide a comparison between Marella and P&O based on our own experiences:

 

-- On board ambience, standard of decor, comfort: higher on P&O.

 

-- Entertainment: Better on Marella, in terms of quality, choice, and imagination; you rarely get bored on a sea day.  The "vibe" is also less stuffy and reserved.  This is a case of personal preference of course.

 

-- Food: Better on P&O - by some margin.  I would go as far to say that the restaurants on Marella are on a par with a bad buffet on P&O, with the exception of the Thai/Fusion which is good.

 

The food on Marella did spoil our holiday and I was very surprised to read reviews that it had improved.  We wouldn't travel with Marella for this reason, even if the itineraries are more varied.

 

-- Staff - on board staff friendly on both, although I would suggest that ship's company are friendlier on Marella.  What I would say is that if you do have a problem, it is a case of bad and worse when it comes to Marella and P&O.

 

The only other point I would make is that the P&O drinks package is not as comprehensive as it first seems and again, whilst opinions vary, it is not taken out by the majority of passengers.  It's worthwhile looking online for a drinks and price menu to see if you would get value for money.  Prices on board are similar to London pub prices, so personally, we wouldn't consume any near £40 of drinks per passenger per day.

 

Overall, P&O better value for money.

 

We are thinking about a Fred Olsen cruise and potentially giving Royal Caribbean a try (from Southampton), as we can't fly significant distances, in a significant part because standards of customer care on P&O have slipped

 

Hope this helps you - with these things it is a question of opinion etc.

[Britboys]

18 minutes ago, fragilek said:

 if you thought discovery food was bad don't try Costa it was dire!! I require gluten free food so had a different menu one night my main course choice was fish fingers or white rice with peas.  I kid you not!! - 

I'm really not a big eater these days and find that three courses on P&O are more than sufficient - sometimes a bit of a challenge. One night on D2, I had to go off on a food hunt about 10pm because I was so hungry - and we had only gone into dinner about 7.15 that night...

[fragilek]

2 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I'm really not a big eater these days and find that three courses on P&O are more than sufficient - sometimes a bit of a challenge. One night on D2, I had to go off on a food hunt about 10pm because I was so hungry - and we had only gone into dinner about 7.15 that night...

when did you cruise on D2.  We did D1 in Jan 18 and enjoyed it the food was OK nothing to write home about but nice enough.  Not on a par with Celebrity but not much below than RCI and Carnival.  

[Britboys]

5 minutes ago, fragilek said:

when did you cruise on D2.  We did D1 in Jan 18 and enjoyed it the food was OK nothing to write home about but nice enough.  Not on a par with Celebrity but not much below than RCI and Carnival.  

Sailed from Jamaica on 23rd Jan 18! I sat at the same dining table every evening with a party of solos. I certainly wasn't the only one who thought the food was poor. What made it even worse was that the senior table waiter asked how the food was each night after serving the main course and whether the feedback was good or bad, he just totally ignored it. The assistant waiter was much nicer and friendlier.

[Francisdrake]

Haven't been on Marella to compare that one to it but have previously been with Princess, RCI and Carnival as well as P&O.

 

From my experiences I found P&O and Princess to have similar level of food and entertainment but the P&O ships were in better general condition, though I guess in part that will be down to Caribbean Princess being older than the P&O ships i've travelled on (Azura and Ventura)   Princess did have a nice touch with the free Ice cream machine that P&O don't have though.

 

Royal Caribbean I found the food to be of a similar level to P&O generally but the ship was generally livelier with more activities going on throughout the day & night.

Carnival the food wasn't quite as good as P&O, Princess and Royal Caribbean but it was passable, again the ship was generally livelier than the P&O/Princess ones but the entertainment tended to cater towards an American audience, having said that it could have been due to the Itinerary and passenger manifest that it was so American centric. (there was only around 30 of us from the UK on that particular cruise as it was one out of Los Angeles during term time)   Despite this though it's a contender for my favourite cruise.