P&O vs Princess

[Denmal]

We are Elite on Princess but looking to do a P&O next year in June to Spain.  It would be on the Britannia.  A few questions about P&O and comparisons to Princess. We are in the US and will fly to London to pick up the ship at Southampton. 

 

Does P&O recognize our Princess Status ?   What are the major differences between the two lines ?  Any suggestions on booking a balcony cabin on the Britannia ?  Are some decks better than others.  

Princess now offers a fare with drinks, tips and wifi, does P&O have a similar package ?  

 

Any information on P&O would be appreciated, maybe Do's and Don'ts ?

 

Thanks

[yorkshirephil]

10 minutes ago, Denmal said:

We are Elite on Princess but looking to do a P&O next year in June to Spain.  It would be on the Britannia.  A few questions about P&O and comparisons to Princess. We are in the US and will fly to London to pick up the ship at Southampton. 

 

Does P&O recognize our Princess Status ?  No

 What are the major differences between the two lines ?  P&O is mainly geared up for Brits, entertainment and food wise.

Any suggestions on booking a balcony cabin on the Britannia ?  Are some decks better than others. Some are better than others as it is with Princess,  really depends on your likes/needs. 

Princess now offers a fare with drinks, tips and wifi, does P&O have a similar package ?  P&O have a drinks package which in my opinion is not nearly as good as Princess, Wifi is expensive on P&O whereas you will have free wifi with Elite status. Tips are included in the price with P&O.

 

Any information on P&O would be appreciated, maybe Do's and Don'ts ? Look at the web sites and do the math. My opinion is that Princess is a better overall package than P&O as P&O is becoming a budget cruise line. However don't let me put you off as sometimes you have to try things and form your own opinions.

 

Thanks

 

[john watson]

Britannia is a Royal Class ship so choice of balcony cabins will be very similar to Royal/Regal Princess etc. although Lido Deck is all single cabins. If you are familiar with those ships you should have a good idea on cabin choice.  The customer base for P&O is largely British citizens and the entertainment is aimed at their culture so some comedians jokes might not be understood.  Singers etc. may also be more aimed at the British market. Cruising history from Princess cruises is no longer taken into consideration on the loyalty programme. Some of the food may vary slightly for example I asked for Fried Bread instead of toast on Princess and they thought I was mad.  Formal dress codes are going to be well respected in comparison to some Princess sailings. Overall I think it will be a good cruise for yourselves.

 

Regards John

Edited November 5, 2021 by john watson

[Britboys]

I have only cruised with Princess ex USA, never from the UK. In my limited experience however, I would say Princess score much higher on food, entertainment and service.

 

P&O prices include gratuities now. Alcohol is much cheaper on P&O but the Princess Plus deal is infinitely better value than the P&O drinks package.

 

I prefer smaller ships but if I were to cruise on a Royal Class ship, at present it would be Princess all the way.

[wowzz]

9 hours ago, Britboys said:

would say Princess score much higher on food, entertainment and service.

 

Having just got off Sky Princess, I would say that currently P&O entertainment is far superior to Princess,  food is roughly the same,  with P&O having the edge, whilst service is definitely better on Princess. I know that Princess in the UK has been having supply issues,  but the food on our recent cruise was at times underwhelming. Previously I would gave agreed that Princess food was superior.

To the OP,  I would say that as long as you are happy to experience a totally British experience, with little in the way of recognition of any specific US requirements,  you will enjoy the experience. 

Your will also be confused as to why your fellow Brits convulse with laughter when the phrase          " Don't answer that Pike!"  is used, and also realise that when meeting anyone for the first  time time,  it is obligatory to mention the weather within the first minute of meeting. 

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by wowzz

[Selbourne]

Friends of ours who, like many seasoned P&O cruisers, have become somewhat disillusioned with P&O given their shift in market positioning in recent years, tried a cruise on Regal Princess recently. Overall, they felt that Princess is the better product.
 

They highlighted food and service as being notably better. I have to say that, with a few minor exceptions, we have never had any complaints with either of these on P&O. We have had a few poor waiters and one awful butler, but considerably more than 90% of the staff we have encountered have been excellent. Far better than the average that you get on land in the U.K.  Main Dining room food on P&O is akin to a 3 star U.K. hotel, but perfectly acceptable to us, especially on gala nights. We use the Select Dining restaurants a lot, which are better quality food and service. Cabins on the older P&O ships are quite tired and even on the newer ships aren’t brilliant, but I guess that’s the case with most cruise lines. They are comparable to rooms in modern Premier Inn hotels (a U.K. budget hotel chain). 
 

Where we feel that P&O is especially weak is entertainment as very little of it appeals to us. Our friends thought that Princess was better but I can’t help but feel that this always depends on the singing / dancing troupe that is on board on any particular cruise (Headliners in P&O’s world). We have seen some really excellent performances on P&O ships but we have also experienced Headliner groups where the lead singers are very poor. I’m sure that’s the case on all cruise lines. It’s often pot luck. 
 

In summary, P&O is very ‘mass market’ but acceptable. It’s not as good as it once was, but prices are now comparably cheaper. 

[cruisenewbie1976]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Having just got off Sky Princess, I would say that currently P&O entertainment is far superior to Princess,  food is roughly the same,  with P&O having the edge, whilst service is definitely better on Princess. I know that Princess in the UK has been having supply issues,  but the food on our recent cruise was at times underwhelming. Previously I would gave agreed that Princess food was superior.

To the OP,  I would say that as long as you are happy to experience a totally British experience, with little in the way of recognition of any specific US requirements,  you will enjoy the experience. 

Your will also be confused as to why your fellow Brits convulse with laughter when the phrase          " Don't answer that Pike!"  is used, and also realise that when meeting anyone for the first  time time,  it is obligatory to mention the weather within the first minute of meeting. 

 

 

 

This was our experience too. Despite lots of people telling us that Princess was far superior to P&O, we noticed very little difference between the two lines. The buffet on Princess was particularly poor when compared to P&O. Having said that, it was a covid era cruise, so I'm willing to make allowances. Good points for Princess were the Princess plus package, which is a bargain, we loved the medallion app (when it worked) and the staff were exceptional. 

[Presto2]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Friends of ours who, like many seasoned P&O cruisers, have become somewhat disillusioned with P&O given their shift in market positioning in recent years, tried a cruise on Regal Princess recently. Overall, they felt that Princess is the better product.
 

They highlighted food and service as being notably better. I have to say that, with a few minor exceptions, we have never had any complaints with either of these on P&O. We have had a few poor waiters and one awful butler, but considerably more than 90% of the staff we have encountered have been excellent. Far better than the average that you get on land in the U.K.  Main Dining room food on P&O is akin to a 3 star U.K. hotel, but perfectly acceptable to us, especially on gala nights. We use the Select Dining restaurants a lot, which are better quality food and service. Cabins on the older P&O ships are quite tired and even on the newer ships aren’t brilliant, but I guess that’s the case with most cruise lines. They are comparable to rooms in modern Premier Inn hotels (a U.K. budget hotel chain). 
 

Where we feel that P&O is especially weak is entertainment as very little of it appeals to us. Our friends thought that Princess was better but I can’t help but feel that this always depends on the singing / dancing troupe that is on board on any particular cruise (Headliners in P&O’s world). We have seen some really excellent performances on P&O ships but we have also experienced Headliner groups where the lead singers are very poor. I’m sure that’s the case on all cruise lines. It’s often pot luck. 
 

In summary, P&O is very ‘mass market’ but acceptable. It’s not as good as it once was, but prices are now comparably cheaper. 

Really useful thread as we have toyed with trying Princess for a while and never got round to it.

Thought your tips above were really helpful Selbourne, but I thought the comparison of a 3 star hotel to the MDR and the cabins to Premier Inn rooms was a bit tight ... unless the hotels and Premier Inns where you live are posher that where I've ever travelled to in the UK. I think that Britannia's cabins are really nice and the food - choice, menu, presentation etc - is excellent value.

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Our friends thought that Princess was better but I can’t help but feel that this always depends on the singing / dancing troupe that is on board on any particular cruise (Headliners in P&O’s world

Just one production show on Princess during our 14 night cruise, and even that had no dancing,  just a stylised singing production. Far inferior to P&O. 

[Britboys]

9 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Just one production show on Princess during our 14 night cruise, and even that had no dancing,  just a stylised singing production. Far inferior to P&O. 

That's interesting. My last Princess cruise was a 7 night Alaska one in July 2019. There were three production shows, two in the theatre and one in the show-lounge. I'm a regular theatre-goer at home and the quality of those on Princess blew P&O's out of the water. All their recent new shows have been written by Steven Schwartz, the famous American Broadway writer. The cast on board was exceptional.

 

I do wonder if the ex-Southampton cruises are 'Princess light'....

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

I do wonder if the ex-Southampton cruises are 'Princess light'..

I think you are probably correct. Too many hurdles to overcome in these covid times to put on proper shows with American cast members.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Presto2 said:

Really useful thread as we have toyed with trying Princess for a while and never got round to it.

Thought your tips above were really helpful Selbourne, but I thought the comparison of a 3 star hotel to the MDR and the cabins to Premier Inn rooms was a bit tight ... unless the hotels and Premier Inns where you live are posher that where I've ever travelled to in the UK. I think that Britannia's cabins are really nice and the food - choice, menu, presentation etc - is excellent value.

When we first cruised with P&O (1996) I would say MDR food & service was 4 star hotel standard. Whilst it’s still perfectly acceptable to us, we have noticed a steady decline over the past 10 years or so and hence the 3 star comparison. MDR lunches have declined far more than dinner in our view. 
 

I stand by the Premier Inn comparison when it comes to cabins. Some people can be quite snobby about Premier Inns (I used to be myself) and I have stayed in some poor ones. However, they have upped their game quite noticeably in recent years and we find that the newest ones are very good. We are currently having our en-suite converted to a wheelchair accessible wetroom for my wife and, as a result, we have had to stay in a number of Premier Inns in recent weeks as their wetrooms are excellent. I deliberately chose new ones in several different areas (to make them short breaks) and I would say that all the rooms we have had have been better than all the cabins we have had on P&O, with the exception of suites. The Premier Inn rooms are much bigger, especially the bathrooms (admittedly it’s a hotel, not a cruise ship), beds are the same size and just as comfortable, TV’s are significantly better, seats more comfortable than those in standard P&O cabins. I would agree that cabins on Britannia (and obviously Iona, though we’ve yet to go on her) are better than the rest of the fleet, but we find most of the other ships cabins to be quite tired and considerably below the standards of ‘luxury hotels’ that some people compare them to. Certainly all the luxury hotels we have stayed in have been in a different league altogether and just not comparable with a P&O cabin, even Suites. 
 

I should stress (before a certain member sarcastically points it out) that we haven’t been on a staycation cruise as they didn’t appeal to us, so my comments refer to P&O as of the beginning of last year. However, unless I have missed something, with the exception of Iona joining the fleet, I don’t believe that P&O has significantly changed its MDR food, cabins or entertainment, but if there have been significant changes then I’d be very keen to hear about them. 
 

As an aside, we are booking a summer 2023 cruise on Iona with our children and their partners. Can’t say that anything that I’ve seen or read so far makes me particularly excited about it, but I guess you should give everything a go before discounting it. We like Britannia so who knows!

[brian1]

28 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

When we first cruised with P&O (1996) I would say MDR food & service was 4 star hotel standard. Whilst it’s still perfectly acceptable to us, we have noticed a steady decline over the past 10 years or so and hence the 3 star comparison. MDR lunches have declined far more than dinner in our view. 
 

I stand by the Premier Inn comparison when it comes to cabins. Some people can be quite snobby about Premier Inns (I used to be myself) and I have stayed in some poor ones. However, they have upped their game quite noticeably in recent years and we find that the newest ones are very good. We are currently having our en-suite converted to a wheelchair accessible wetroom for my wife and, as a result, we have had to stay in a number of Premier Inns in recent weeks as their wetrooms are excellent. I deliberately chose new ones in several different areas (to make them short breaks) and I would say that all the rooms we have had have been better than all the cabins we have had on P&O, with the exception of suites. The Premier Inn rooms are much bigger, especially the bathrooms (admittedly it’s a hotel, not a cruise ship), beds are the same size and just as comfortable, TV’s are significantly better, seats more comfortable than those in standard P&O cabins. I would agree that cabins on Britannia (and obviously Iona, though we’ve yet to go on her) are better than the rest of the fleet, but we find most of the other ships cabins to be quite tired and considerably below the standards of ‘luxury hotels’ that some people compare them to. Certainly all the luxury hotels we have stayed in have been in a different league altogether and just not comparable with a P&O cabin, even Suites. 
 

I should stress (before a certain member sarcastically points it out) that we haven’t been on a staycation cruise as they didn’t appeal to us, so my comments refer to P&O as of the beginning of last year. However, unless I have missed something, with the exception of Iona joining the fleet, I don’t believe that P&O has significantly changed its MDR food, cabins or entertainment, but if there have been significant changes then I’d be very keen to hear about them. 
 

As an aside, we are booking a summer 2023 cruise on Iona with our children and their partners. Can’t say that anything that I’ve seen or read so far makes me particularly excited about it, but I guess you should give everything a go before discounting it. We like Britannia so who knows!

Totally agree regarding Premier Inn Selbourne.We've just returned from 2 nights in Basingstoke visiting SIL and her disabled husband,hence why we stay there frequently.Beafeater attached adds to the experience with good dining and breakfast menus.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

I think you are probably correct. Too many hurdles to overcome in these covid times to put on proper shows with American cast members.

Most of the European based ships for most US cruise lines use a UK based company to provide their entertainment groups.

Edited November 6, 2021 by terrierjohn

[brian1]

I blame Brexit,all the dancers are having HGV lessons.

[wowzz]

26 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Most of the European based ships for most US cruise lines use a UK based company to provide their entertainment groups.

I'm sure that is the case normally,  but for whatever  reasons Princess cut back on their entertainment programme for UK sailings this summer.

[Ardennais]

Premier Inn Holyhead recently was brilliant. Modern, comfortable and spacious room. Great breakfast too. 
 

Oh, and we visited Waitrose Menai Bridge! My first ever visit to a Waitrose, and recommended by someone here months ago! 

[Presto2]

2 hours ago, Ardennais said:

Premier Inn Holyhead recently was brilliant. Modern, comfortable and spacious room. Great breakfast too. 
 

Oh, and we visited Waitrose Menai Bridge! My first ever visit to a Waitrose, and recommended by someone here months ago! 

We've used that one in the past --- very nice 😉

 

Have to add that we have stayed in loads of PI in the past but would still never compare to a cruise ship cabin but that's just us. (Will have to agree to disagree). We still love our various cabins but are also fans of PremierInn and the various pub  / restaurants that are linked to them. 🙂