P&O v's Celebrity

[Chrisclaire]

We are thinking about a cruise from Southampton on Iona April 2024.

We have only ever cruised with Celebrity.

Has anyone recently sailed on any Celebrity ship And Iona?

If so, what in your opinion are the main differences?

We will be looking to travel outwith school holidays.

Thanks in advance ☺️ 

[Megabear2]

55 minutes ago, Chrisclaire said:

We are thinking about a cruise from Southampton on Iona April 2024.

We have only ever cruised with Celebrity.

Has anyone recently sailed on any Celebrity ship And Iona?

If so, what in your opinion are the main differences?

We will be looking to travel outwith school holidays.

Thanks in advance ☺️ 

I sailed Celebrity Edge last year and Arvia this, not Iona but basically the same ship.  Edge wins hands down no competition on food or service.  Arvia wins on entertainment - as Iona and Arvia have the same set up and entertainment offering I'd expect that to hold true for both.

 

Cost on Edge, we were lucky to have free select dining package and drinks and wifi.  The price in 2023 was however far higher than last year which is why Arvia was given a whirl.

 

That said we cancelled our Christmas booking for Arvia Caribbean and moved to Celebrity despite the less convenient flights to Miami and no bonded luggage.  I've also booked Apex for next year, but saying that I've got two Britannia cruises coming up and an Aurora one just booked.  

 

If cost wasn't taken into account I'd definitely choose Celebrity but P&O offer a good product still with at the moment decent prices so we save Celebrity and Cunard for when we want something a little different/better service and food.

[GSPG]

As Megabear says, it’s all down to affordability.

But if money isn’t too much of a problem it’s definitely Celebrity for us. Found it a totally different experience, but in this case you get what you pay for.

 

[mrsgoggins]

I’ve had 2 Celebrity back to back cruises so far this year (Equinox in the Caribbean) with a Silhouette cruise due shortly and have also sailed on Iona. For balance, I’m also not a fan of Celebrity Apex so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that I didn’t care for Iona either!  I think the new mega ships, aimed largely at a younger clientele, are not for me.

 

We enjoyed our Iona cruise overall (Canaries), just not some aspects of the ship. In particular, we enjoyed the Limelight club, 711 and dining in Epicurean.

 

You asked about the main differences and I would say service levels and food in general. We found it easy enough to use the App on Iona and are early diners and so didn’t have the problems that others report In getting tables when they were ready to dine, or even being unable to join the virtual queue! 

 

Ours was not a ‘cheap as chips’ cruise that many got and happily shared details about (eg ‘I couldn’t eat like this at home for the £50 a day I’ve paid) because I wanted a mid ship deluxe balcony cabin - with a sofa, which is standard in a regular Celebrity cabin.  Essentially I didn’t consider the Iona cruise to be worth what we paid.  We have since done a Princess cruise and found their levels of service and food to be similar to Celebrity.  We have also sailed on Ventura this year and enjoyed that cruise too despite service levels being below par IMO, but, importantly, I did consider we had value for money on that cruise.

 

Sitting in what felt like an airport in Iona’s atrium, could in no way compete with Celebrity’s atrium or my favourite Bacio.  Lots on here love Iona and so I suggest reading many people’s views to decide what’s important to you.

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by mrsgoggins

[frozenflowers]

Standard balcony cabins on Iona and Arvia do have sofas (this isn’t the case on the older P&O ships though, which I agree is an annoyance). 
 

I haven’t sailed with Celebrity. I’d love to but it always comes out as enormously more expensive than P&O for us - we’ve got a child and as we are able to sail outside of the English school holidays on P&O we’ve always been able to pay almost nothing (once actually nothing!) to have her in the cabin with us. No other line has ever had such a good deal that I’ve found. 
 

I get the impression from what I’ve read that service is better on the US based lines. Generally I’ve also heard that the food on Celebrity is better quality than P&O. We do well enough on P&O so it’s probably for the best that we don’t find out for ourselves that we vastly prefer more expensive options!

[Megabear2]

18 minutes ago, mrsgoggins said:

I’ve had 2 Celebrity back to back cruises so far this year (Equinox in the Caribbean) with a Silhouette cruise due shortly and have also sailed on Iona. For balance, I’m also not a fan of Celebrity Apex so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that I didn’t care for Iona either!  I think the new mega ships, aimed largely at a younger clientele, are not for me.

 

We enjoyed our Iona cruise overall (Canaries), just not some aspects of the ship. In particular, we enjoyed the Limelight club, 711 and dining in Epicurean.

 

You asked about the main differences and I would say service levels and food in general. We found it easy enough to use the App on Iona and are early diners and so didn’t have the problems that others report In getting tables when they were ready to dine, or even being unable to join the virtual queue! 

 

Ours was not a ‘cheap as chips’ cruise that many got and happily shared details about (eg ‘I couldn’t eat like this at home for the £50 a day I’ve paid) because I wanted a mid ship deluxe balcony cabin - ie with a sofa, which is standard in a regular Celebrity cabin.  Essentially I didn’t consider the Iona cruise to be worth what we paid.  We have since done a Princess cruise and found their levels of service and food to be similar to Celebrity.  We have also sailed on Ventura this year and enjoyed that cruise too despite service levels being below par IMO, but, importantly, I did consider we had value for money on that cruise.

 

Sitting in what felt like an airport in Iona’s atrium, could in no way compete with Celebrity’s atrium or my favourite Bacio.  Lots on here love Iona and so I suggest reading many people’s views to decide what’s important to you.

 

 

 

Apex only carries 2,900 guests compared to Iona/Arvia's 5,000 so not a mega ship.  However the Edge class is very unique so I'd agree with it being very modern.  I've never sailed any other Celebrity ships apart from Edge class but my family love them.

Edited August 10, 2023 by Megabear2

[Fionboard]

Sailed on all the Solstice class ships plus Constellation. Nice ships. However, Celebrity do not want solo travellers (too expensive) so switched to P &O back in 2013, which I have found suits me better. 

[Gettingwarmer]

50 minutes ago, mrsgoggins said:

I wanted a mid ship deluxe balcony cabin - with a sofa, which is standard in a regular Celebrity cabin.

 

40 minutes ago, frozenflowers said:

Standard balcony cabins on Iona and Arvia do have sofas (this isn’t the case on the older P&O ships though, which I agree is an annoyance). 

I like @mrsgoggins thought that only deluxe balcony had a sofa, I booked before there were any sailings and the cabin pictures were not clear. I now know that standard balcony also has a sofa fthough the room is smaller. 
Love Celebrity Solstice class, not that keen on Iona though we are going on Arvia in 2025. 

Edited August 10, 2023 by Gettingwarmer

[mrsgoggins]

57 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Apex only carries 2,900 guests compared to Iona/Arvia's 5,000 so not a mega ship.  However the Edge class is very unique so I'd agree with it being very modern.  I've never sailed any other Celebrity ships apart from Edge class but my family love them.

Ah, thank you, I hadn’t realised that.  We were on Apex in January of 2022 when it was little over half full so had a good experience (as in lifts arriving in seconds, good tables in dining rooms etc) with excellent food and service. I just know that I like ‘traditional’ when it comes to cruising so that would definitely influence the way I felt about Iona.

[Chrisclaire]

Thanks everyone for your valuable replies!

It's good to get a varied view on both.

Much appreciated!

[AndyLovesCruises]

18 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Apex only carries 2,900 guests compared to Iona/Arvia's 5,000 so not a mega ship.  However the Edge class is very unique so I'd agree with it being very modern.  I've never sailed any other Celebrity ships apart from Edge class but my family love them.

 

Its all about guests per square meter Iona is about 20% larger then Apex but carries 40% more passengers so.  Id love to sail celeb one day but they want a full faire cost for my 2 year old so its a no from me for now.    

[Megabear2]

2 minutes ago, AndyLovesCruises said:

 

Its all about guests per square meter Iona is about 20% larger then Apex but carries 40% more passengers so.  Id love to sail celeb one day but they want a full faire cost for my 2 year old so its a no from me for now.    

Not too good for me when I sail alone either.  A recent quote for a 13 night cruise was a mere £13,000!!

[Presto2]

6 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Not too good for me when I sail alone either.  A recent quote for a 13 night cruise was a mere £13,000!!

Where were you going? Better to book for 2 and one of you not turn up ..it would be far, far cheaper.. Celebrity is more expensive but not that much

[Megabear2]

30 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Where were you going? Better to book for 2 and one of you not turn up ..it would be far, far cheaper.. Celebrity is more expensive but not that much

Alaska next August.  I priced another one for Spain and Portugal with the iceman in case it was a computer glitch. It wasn't!  30/7/2024 - 9 nights on Celebrity Equinox from Barcelona including the flight is £11,683.  I don't think with the best will in the world I'll be going.

 

 

[Presto2]

7 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Alaska next August.  I priced another one for Spain and Portugal with the iceman in case it was a computer glitch. It wasn't!  30/7/2024 - 9 nights on Celebrity Equinox from Barcelona including the flight is £11,683.  I don't think with the best will in the world I'll be going.

 

 

For our 25th anniversary in 2019 we went mad and went on the Edge in August in a sunset veranda cabin plus  3 nights in a 4 star hotel in Rome, flights and transfers and 11 nights Greece and Amalfi Coast. It was about £8500 for 2 of us for the package. Those prices you quote sound extreme. ouch. It would have been cheaper when we booked but we swapped from an infinite veranda cabin to the sunset one thanks to the advice from CC friends on the Celebrity board in the March before we sailed. It was expensive but a special cruise.

[Megabear2]

26 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

For our 25th anniversary in 2019 we went mad and went on the Edge in August in a sunset veranda cabin plus  3 nights in a 4 star hotel in Rome, flights and transfers and 11 nights Greece and Amalfi Coast. It was about £8500 for 2 of us for the package. Those prices you quote sound extreme. ouch. It would have been cheaper when we booked but we swapped from an infinite veranda cabin to the sunset one thanks to the advice from CC friends on the Celebrity board in the March before we sailed. It was expensive but a special cruise.

I love Edge.  My friend and I went on her last year. Flights, 4 nights in Rome in a 4* hotel, private transfers from the airport and to the port, 7 nights in a sunset veranda with the superior drinks, wifi and gratuities, private transfer to Barcelona airport from the ship £4,032 for the two of us (that also included a 2 day HOHO Rome bus.

 

That was good value as we priced Azura and Wonder of the Seas and the Edge was the best value.  My OH and I are sailing on Apex in the Caribbean over Christmas, that was actually cheaper than Arvia was goingbto cost us but currently nearly all things I'm pricing on Celebrity, Cunard and even P&O are coming in very high for 2024.  At the moment we are waiting to see how our two Britannia cruises go before committing to anything else as a couple.  

 

I will continue to seek out solo deals - my Canadian adventure beckons next month.

[Presto2]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

I love Edge.  My friend and I went on her last year. Flights, 4 nights in Rome in a 4* hotel, private transfers from the airport and to the port, 7 nights in a sunset veranda with the superior drinks, wifi and gratuities, private transfer to Barcelona airport from the ship £4,032 for the two of us (that also included a 2 day HOHO Rome bus.

 

That was good value as we priced Azura and Wonder of the Seas and the Edge was the best value.  My OH and I are sailing on Apex in the Caribbean over Christmas, that was actually cheaper than Arvia was goingbto cost us but currently nearly all things I'm pricing on Celebrity, Cunard and even P&O are coming in very high for 2024.  At the moment we are waiting to see how our two Britannia cruises go before committing to anything else as a couple.  

 

I will continue to seek out solo deals - my Canadian adventure beckons next month.

We are seeing how things go on Britannia and looking ahead we may stick to land holidays or go mad and another Edge class cruise. Probably means cruising less though but it was am amazing holiday.

Ps did you meet Mr Edge? 

[Megabear2]

10 hours ago, Presto2 said:

We are seeing how things go on Britannia and looking ahead we may stick to land holidays or go mad and another Edge class cruise. Probably means cruising less though but it was am amazing holiday.

Ps did you meet Mr Edge? 

Yes, visited him most days!!  I loved that part of the ship at night and spent a lot of time just sitting on the sofas near the bar.  We also ate in the open air restaurant in Cannes when we sailed at 11.00pm so we could watch the fireworks.

 

I was very sad to see Edge is going off to Australia now that Beyond is in operation as i had hoped to go on her again soon.  My friend and i have booked Apex for next year.

 

 

Edited August 12, 2023 by Megabear2

[Presto2]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Yes, visited him most days!!  I loved that part of the ship at night and spent a lot of time just sitting on the sofas near the bar.  We also ate in the open air restaurant in Cannes when we sailed at 11.00pm so we could watch the fireworks.

 

I was very sad to see Edge is going off to Australia now that Beyond is in operation as i had hoped to go on her again soon.  My friend and i have booked Apex for next year.

 

 

Gosh that brings back memories. I used to stroke his nose every evening once I'd had a glass of wine or two of course. Could just about reach. Didn't go the last night as I was so upset as I didn't want to get off !!! Can't believe Mr Edge has gone down south.. oh well perhaps one day. 

We can share Edge stories in Barbados !

[Megabear2]

31 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Gosh that brings back memories. I used to stroke his nose every evening once I'd had a glass of wine or two of course. Could just about reach. Didn't go the last night as I was so upset as I didn't want to get off !!! Can't believe Mr Edge has gone down south.. oh well perhaps one day. 

We can share Edge stories in Barbados !

She's still in Europe at the moment, some good 7 night deals through to October on Iceman site.  Next year doing some Alaska (ones I looked at) and Hawaii cruises before going down south.  I was very tempted by the quick week but they want £3,700for a single.

 

 

 

[heatherb1958]

To the OP if booking a balcony on Iona definitely do not book GZ grade , be careful if booking saver rate and it mentions this grade as these cabins do NOT have sofas . We sailed Iona in Jan 2021 and had booked that grade not realising luckily I managed to catch it and paid £50 pp more to move up  to the standard balcony GTY and ended up with cabin 14524. 

 

We have cruised equally with Celebrity and P&O,  our most recent Celebrity cruise was on Silhouette in June 23 . The food on there  in the buffet for choice was outstanding much better than in the dining room. The speciality restaurants are too expensive on Celebrity for us , on P&O they are very reasonable and we don't hesitate to go 2 or 3 times during the cruise , Limelight club is a great concept, meal and a show .

The cabins , standard balcony , on Silhouette and Iona were both lovely , tea and coffee in cabins are standard with P&O . We never book drinks packages with P&O as you are allowed to take onboard a litre of spirits each for in cabin consumption and bottles of wine are not exorbitant in the restuarants plus they do wine packages which we always purchase. 

Gratuities are always included with P&O.

At the end of the day itinerary and price win.

[Presto2]

I think that in 2024 Silhouette is being replaced by the Apex. The 2 ships are very different and the dining concept too. The Edge class ships are unique and Edge just blew us away. We have sailed Silly 3 times and thought she'd take some beating. To us Edge was even better and if price was not an issue we would sail on that class ship above any other ship and line any time.

Incidentally we have also sailed on the Celebrity Constellation and didn't like her much at all ... 

Edited August 12, 2023 by Presto2

[emam]

The only Celebrity ship we have been on is the Eclipse. We had an inside cabin which had a sofa, great to use as a dumping ground. The bathroom had plenty of space with a large shower and plenty cupboards/storage. It took a few steps to get to the toilet, unlike on the P&O ships. It was the noisiest cabin we have been in. 

 

The buffet was fabulous with loads of food from different countries. They had what they called minute steaks which to me was a full size steak. American, Italian, Chinese, British, Caviar, whole hams, make your own sandwich are just some of what I remember. Free ice cream and juice. P&O don't come anywhere near this in their buffets. I didn't think the mdr food was anything special. 

 

As it was a Baltic cruise I was often sat alone on the deck, wrapped in towels to keep warm. In fact people didn't seem to come out apart from meals and at night. I don't know how this would compare to a warm weather cruise. 

 

The casino was a lot bigger and busier. The toilets often had attendants in them who would open the door when you leave. 

 

On the downside for Celebrity is the initial cost, daily gratuities to pay, dearer drinks plus extra tax on them. No kettle in room though we did ask for one.

 

The passengers are more diverse on Celebrity, whether that is good or bad is your choice. Any announcements are made multiple times in different languages.

 

I haven't been on Iona or Ariva so can't compare those ships.

 

I would say Celebrity are a class above P&O, but you pay more for it. Having said that we have had great cruises on P&O. Crew are all lovely but not ott. 

 

Writing this Celebrity has a lot going for them. However it is only now and years later that I can appreciate that. At the time we could only see the good points of P&O and enjoyed those holidays more.

[laslomas]

6 hours ago, emam said:

The only Celebrity ship we have been on is the Eclipse. We had an inside cabin which had a sofa, great to use as a dumping ground. The bathroom had plenty of space with a large shower and plenty cupboards/storage. It took a few steps to get to the toilet, unlike on the P&O ships. It was the noisiest cabin we have been in. 

 

The buffet was fabulous with loads of food from different countries. They had what they called minute steaks which to me was a full size steak. American, Italian, Chinese, British, Caviar, whole hams, make your own sandwich are just some of what I remember. Free ice cream and juice. P&O don't come anywhere near this in their buffets. I didn't think the mdr food was anything special. 

 

As it was a Baltic cruise I was often sat alone on the deck, wrapped in towels to keep warm. In fact people didn't seem to come out apart from meals and at night. I don't know how this would compare to a warm weather cruise. 

 

The casino was a lot bigger and busier. The toilets often had attendants in them who would open the door when you leave. 

 

On the downside for Celebrity is the initial cost, daily gratuities to pay, dearer drinks plus extra tax on them. No kettle in room though we did ask for one.

 

The passengers are more diverse on Celebrity, whether that is good or bad is your choice. Any announcements are made multiple times in different languages.

 

I haven't been on Iona or Ariva so can't compare those ships.

 

I would say Celebrity are a class above P&O, but you pay more for it. Having said that we have had great cruises on P&O. Crew are all lovely but not ott. 

 

Writing this Celebrity has a lot going for them. However it is only now and years later that I can appreciate that. At the time we could only see the good points of P&O and enjoyed those holidays more.

 

I have been a Celebrity cruiser for the last 10 years, on Eclipse, Infinity, Silhouette, Reflection and Equinox. I agree with most described here. I now have my first P&O cruise booked, on Arvia, as I want to sail from Southampton next year and do not like the idea of the Infinite Veranda on Celebrity Edge class ships. Celebrity only have one ship sailing from Southampton. So at the moment I am not able to compare Celebrity and P&O but I am trying to gain as much information I can from the P&O forum, and am looking forward to trying P&O.

 

The only comment I disagree with above is the mention of announcements in multiple languages repeated several times. I never heard this on any of the ships. But I only sailed Mediterranean, Caribbean and British Isles itineraries. The availability of wonderful ice cream and sorbet, without charge is great. The lovely hand mixed martinis in the Martini bar are amazing. The happy and chatty attendants in the washrooms mean they are spotless. The speciality dining on Celebrity is very expensive, in my opinion, as are the drinks packages, and the itineraries on the Edge class ships seem way higher in price than the other ships in their fleet. Celebrity are adding more and more suites, and bigger suites. Suite Class have a separate dining room, bar and Retreat area.

 

I realise P&O will be a different experience especially as the passenger demographic is probably 90%+ British, I am not saying that is bad - just different. I will keep reading this thread so to be prepared for my P&O cruise. I just wish P&O offered some kind of status match with Celebrity Captain's Club loyalty scheme, similar to that offered by MSC. I now have to start at the bottom again 😞

[Presto2]

6 minutes ago, laslomas said:

 

I have been a Celebrity cruiser for the last 10 years, on Eclipse, Infinity, Silhouette, Reflection and Equinox. I agree with most described here. I now have my first P&O cruise booked, on Arvia, as I want to sail from Southampton next year and do not like the idea of the Infinite Veranda on Celebrity Edge class ships. Celebrity only have one ship sailing from Southampton. So at the moment I am not able to compare Celebrity and P&O but I am trying to gain as much information I can from the P&O forum, and am looking forward to trying P&O.

 

The only comment I disagree with above is the mention of announcements in multiple languages repeated several times. I never heard this on any of the ships. But I only sailed Mediterranean, Caribbean and British Isles itineraries. The availability of wonderful ice cream and sorbet, without charge is great. The lovely hand mixed martinis in the Martini bar are amazing. The happy and chatty attendants in the washrooms mean they are spotless. The speciality dining on Celebrity is very expensive, in my opinion, as are the drinks packages, and the itineraries on the Edge class ships seem way higher in price than the other ships in their fleet. Celebrity are adding more and more suites, and bigger suites. Suite Class have a separate dining room, bar and Retreat area.

 

I realise P&O will be a different experience especially as the passenger demographic is probably 90%+ British, I am not saying that is bad - just different. I will keep reading this thread so to be prepared for my P&O cruise. I just wish P&O offered some kind of status match with Celebrity Captain's Club loyalty scheme, similar to that offered by MSC. I now have to start at the bottom again 😞

We didn't have an infinite veranda cabin on Edge. The aft cabins are normal doors / balconies 😉