Comparing our recent cruise on Arvia to Saga and Cunard (suitesand QG)

[Windsurfboy]

Like Grapau we have just come back from a 14 day on Arvia which we thoroughly enjoyed. I don’t want to repeat what Grapau said about it being an excellent cruise, so I thought I'd compare it to our last two cruises on Saga and Cunard. 

 

P&O aft suite va Saga Midship suite  vs Cunard QG

 

This is not going to be a whingefest as we enjoyed all three cruises. However there are differences.

 

Our first cruise was P&O Aurora 8 years ago, the best entertainment on any ship. We saw the new ships and the abundance of restaurants and thought we'd give it ago.

 

EMBARKATION 

 

The P&O promise of whisking suite passengers through Embarkation is about as realistic as the election manifestos,  but boarding wasn't that bad , very similar to Cunard , about 50 minutes. Saga of course as you come by their cars all spread out nicely is smoother.

 

Saga best  , P&O Cunard equal second.

 

THE SUITES

 

P&O Arvia is the clear winner,  it is just that little bigger inside, most wardrobe space, but with an outstanding balcony. along with Saga it has a separate bath and shower,  Cunard shower over bath let's it down for money you pay.

 

P&O Best

Saga second

Cunard definitely last

 

DINNING 

 

Hear let me explain our strategy,

 

Dinner

 

we booked ahead on P&O every night in speciality 10 nights in Epicurean, Limelight 2, Sindhu 1, Mizuhana 1.

 

On Saga we made extensive use of the speciality dining,  eating half our meals there. In Cunard in QG restaurant. 

 

This was a close call .

 

The quality on P&O is excellent the option of combining eating and entertainment in Limelight is a bonus. The staff in Epicurean really made use feel at-home but then we ate breakfast and dinner with them most nights.  The first week menu was fine, we alternated between 4 mains. The second week the Epicurean fish and chips was a real let down batter rock solid, better in quays. But we were given a free bottle of champagne (tattenger). So only 3 mains (not steak eaters) However still great experience.  Sushi and Sindhu first class.

 

Saga food in main dining room is good ,not quite Epicurean but menu changes daily.  The  3 speciality restaurants are very good , our first choice coast to coast and East to West.

 

Cunard we like QG set up , has fixed single tables but can chat to same neighbours if you want. You have daily changing menus,  ala carte and order off menu. However the main menu is a bit old fashioned. Cunard had most variable quality,  I  rejected two meals

 

All in all

 

Saga squeezes ahead of P&O on variety   Cunard and P&O joint second.

 

WINE.  The non inclusive aspect of P&O and Cunard suits us best. P&O doesn't have the extensive wine list of Cunard, but who in reality spends thousands on a Petrus. P&O had some excellent reds (Barolo,  St Emillion, Shiraz) and nice champagne for reasonable prices ,cheaper than Cunard and no service 18%.

 

Saga is all inclusive,  but you need to spend extra for a good wine. I begrudge this and have cocktail before and a included 15 Yr malt after 

 

Winner P&O 

 

BREAKFAST 

 

Breakfast in Epicurean,  it's quite and spacious fabulous staff. Cunard QG and Saga not as spacious 

 

P&O winner.

 

Lunch

 

We normally have light lunch. Mrs WB doesn't like crowds. Sea days therefore ate in room. Onport days , if we were back or didn't go ashore Quays offered something well-worth going to especially fish and chips 

 

saga had more options for quiet lunch simple sandwiches in Living room lounge.

 

Cunard QG dinning , just have starter , or sandwich in room

 

Winner

 

Sea days Saga

Port days P&O 

 

AMBIENCE 

 

 

Arvia is a very very busy ship, Port days hard to find anywhere quiet to sit, and a sunbed gone before breakfast. Luckily nice cabin, big balcony 2 sunbeds , 2 steamers and table and chairs . Plenty of space on Port days. 

 

Cunard very busy ship , but grills deck and lounge offer space and quiet. 

 

Saga a much less busy ship.

 

ENTERTAINMENT and bars

 

This was one of the reasons to try P&O again.

 

All the ships offer varying forms of day time talks Cunard is the most extensive. 

 

Only P&O offer Limelight.

 

I found Headliners not to be as good as  before, so not much difference between the main theatres. Cunard had most guest entertainment but, often a bit pretentious. Saga knows its audience, with 60s and 70s , Beatles tribute  , 3 degrees tribute , a great tenor.

 

Saga clear winner because of the Brittania lounge, with the band , and singers on some nights, a nice food for some granddad dancing.

 

Bars Saga again win , at 10pm great pianist comedian in Supper club if we don't want to dance.

 

ITINERARY 

 

This is hard to compare, but we do like ports where you walk off and more likely to get this on smaller ship.

 

VALUE

 

This is all in eye of beholder.

 

There is absolutely no doubt you can get a very enjoyable  , luxurious holiday on P&O for not much more than half the price of Cunard or Saga. As long as you can manage to book the restaurants you want. If these are full, and you can't get in , it becomes a very different proposition not luxurious. Especially if you don't like queues

 

Although we thoroughly enjoyed this cruise it taught us Weare definitely small ship people.  Our next cruise is Saga , after that we want to try Seabourne to see if we like even smaller ships

 

 

 

Edited June 25 by Windsurfboy

[david63]

Out of interest which Cunard and Saga ships?

[Windsurfboy]

Saga, both but preferred restaurants on discovery. Cunard all 3 older ones not  Q ANNE 

[Windsurfboy]

I made a typo on AMBIENCE  section meant to say on sea days very hard to find quiet place or sunbed on Arvia , not port days

[Lady Meer]

Thank-you for this interesting comparison. It certainly gives more information and food for thought than an ‘everything was great’ review.

 

One of our favourite things about Saga, is the lovely forward facing lounge.

 

Again, thank-you.

[happy v]

I found this very interesting. Thank you for doing this.

Edited June 25 by happy v

[nosapphire]

Maybe it was a straighftorward mistype? The bar service charge is 15%, the added gratuity charge for QG is $18 pppd.

 

Personal opinions and reviews are always helpful, and equally helpful to have incorrect facts pointed out.

 

But I fail to see how one incorrect fact can make the entire review - clearly stated as a personal opinion - "lose credibility".

 

 

 

[Windsurfboy]

I really didn't  address value for money properly. 

 

Given including dining and wine Arvia cruise cost just over  £7k whilst Saga and Cunard nearer to £14k.

 

Then I asked myself question.  Would I  choose Arvia  over £7k options on others.

 

Arvia suite vs Brittania or even Brittania  club on Cunard.  No doubt  choose  Arvia. 

 

Arvia suite vs balcony cabin on Saga very close call  , heart is Saga , head Arvia 

[zap99]

18 minutes ago, nosapphire said:

Maybe it was a straighftorward mistype? The bar service charge is 15%, the added gratuity charge for QG is $18 pppd.

 

Personal opinions and reviews are always helpful, and equally helpful to have incorrect facts pointed out.

 

But I fail to see how one incorrect fact can make the entire review - clearly stated as a personal opinion - "lose credibility".

 

 

 

For those of us who don't eat every night in speciality restaurants, book suites or Queens grill, or don't want to sail with Saga, or Cunard, it's not important.

[nosapphire]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

For those of us who don't eat every night in speciality restaurants, book suites or Queens grill, or don't want to sail with Saga, or Cunard, it's not important.

Important - no.

Interesting - yes.

[AlexMcSpot]

Thank you for taking the time to give us your experiences (you are a braver person than I). I enjoyed reading your take on the three companies.

[Megabear2]

Very interesting from a normally high spending passenger perspective, but not really a proper comparison overall regarding most passengers experiences but it should not be questioned as to voracity.

 

I'd liken this to a Waitrose customer visiting Lidl to buy groceries on a one off and describing how they found the experience.  Would they do it every week or would they miss their little extras after a while? Arvia operates more or less the same itineraries year in year out, virtually the same ports every single cruise.  Clearly the Saga and Cunard ships will offer variety.  Would this be a problem to our more discerning guest who travels more high end?  To get this clearly enjoyable experience he has used the top cabin and the paid for restaurants which is fine but does the itinerary not changing bother him in the long term - it is the same for 2024, 2025 and 2026 as it was in 2023?

I guess I'm saying is this intended to be that one trip to Lidl!

 

Using the paid for restaurants on any line will obviously give a skewed vision of the general cruise experience. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, particularly when the thread states clearly what it is comparing.  

 

Thank you for taking the time to let us know how you found it.  

 

[zap99]

3 hours ago, nosapphire said:

Important - no.

Interesting - yes.

Actually as I don't intend to sail on Cunard, not even that. We are on Royal Caribbean in September and have paid gratuities in advance.  Bar service charge is included on UK sailings.

[Windsurfboy]

4 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Very interesting from a normally high spending passenger perspective, but not really a proper comparison overall regarding most passengers experiences but it should not be questioned as to voracity.

 

I'd liken this to a Waitrose customer visiting Lidl to buy groceries on a one off and describing how they found the experience.  Would they do it every week or would they miss their little extras after a while? Arvia operates more or less the same itineraries year in year out, virtually the same ports every single cruise.  Clearly the Saga and Cunard ships will offer variety.  Would this be a problem to our more discerning guest who travels more high end?  To get this clearly enjoyable experience he has used the top cabin and the paid for restaurants which is fine but does the itinerary not changing bother him in the long term - it is the same for 2024, 2025 and 2026 as it was in 2023?

I guess I'm saying is this intended to be that one trip to Lidl!

 

Using the paid for restaurants on any line will obviously give a skewed vision of the general cruise experience. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, particularly when the thread states clearly what it is comparing.  

 

Thank you for taking the time to let us know how you found it.  

 

 

Thank you  for your thoughtful response.  I think your itinerary commitment is dead on. However I think it applies to all summer cruises out of UK not just Arvia , especially if you want to go south. There are few cruises in summer longer than 14 days , so the itineraries soon repeat out of UK. That is a key reason why we will be looking at fly cruises and smaller ships with more variety of ports.

 

However if the ship is the destination then Arvia works

[Eglesbrech]

A really interesting comparison. Thank you for taking the time to post it.

[Leomins]

I always enjoy comparisons when I have used at least one of the cruise lines. I compare your thoughts on P&O with my views, it doesn’t matter whether I agree with you or not, From this, I can gain a worthwhile insight into the other lines. 

[Eddie99]

It’s informative to get other people’s views on cruises/cruise lines, and this comparison has been an interesting read

imho we should welcome such threads.  It takes time and patience to compose them.  
 

 

 

 

[Trevor Fountain]

On 6/26/2024 at 10:48 AM, Windsurfboy said:

I really didn't  address value for money properly. 

 

Given including dining and wine Arvia cruise cost just over  £7k whilst Saga and Cunard nearer to £14k.

 

Then I asked myself question.  Would I  choose Arvia  over £7k options on others.

 

Arvia suite vs Brittania or even Brittania  club on Cunard.  No doubt  choose  Arvia. 

 

Arvia suite vs balcony cabin on Saga very close call  , heart is Saga , head Arvia 

Thanks for the interesting comparison.

I am a little confused with your choosing between Arvia Suite and Britannia or Britannia club staterooms. As these are balcony cabins and not suites, you obviously cannot dine in either the Princess or Queens Grill. Are you comparing these purely on cost? There is a massive difference between Britannia Club and Queen's grill, which is what I thought you were comparing with a Arvia suite.

[Windsurfboy]

1 hour ago, Trevor Fountain said:

Thanks for the interesting comparison.

I am a little confused with your choosing between Arvia Suite and Britannia or Britannia club staterooms. As these are balcony cabins and not suites, you obviously cannot dine in either the Princess or Queens Grill. Are you comparing these purely on cost? There is a massive difference between Britannia Club and Queen's grill, which is what I thought you were comparing with a Arvia suite.

 

I was comparing to cabins on other lines that cost the same money as the Arvia suite plus Arvia speciality dining. Another way to think of value for money. 

[Trevor Fountain]

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

I was comparing to cabins on other lines that cost the same money as the Arvia suite plus Arvia speciality dining. Another way to think of value for money. 

Got You.

[P&O SUE]

Thank you, an interesting read.

[grapau27]

@Windsurfboy.

I enjoyed reading your review and comparison with Saga and Cunard.

For us Saga and Cunard are not on our radar.

Our 3 main cruise lines are

P&O,Princess and Royal Caribbean and speciality restaurants food wise P&O come top.

Loyalty benefits wise 

Royal Caribbean easily top followed by Princess then P&O.

We always sail in balcony cabins and IMO 

P&O Top.

Best wishes.

Graham.

 

[zap99]

15 hours ago, grapau27 said:

@Windsurfboy.

I enjoyed reading your review and comparison with Saga and Cunard.

For us Saga and Cunard are not on our radar.

Our 3 main cruise lines are

P&O,Princess and Royal Caribbean and speciality restaurants food wise P&O come top.

Loyalty benefits wise 

Royal Caribbean easily top followed by Princess then P&O.

We always sail in balcony cabins and IMO 

P&O Top.

Best wishes.

Graham.

 

We sail with P&O, Celebrity , NCL and RC. Next is Anthem. That will move us up to Diamond. Once there, the perks are better than P&O and Celebrity, but NCL is good as well. We mix Southampton departures with fly cruises. P&O are generally at the top of our list, but only just. We don't intend to Cruise with Saga, or Cunard, but may give Princess a go....Very loyal We are🤣

[Windsurfboy]

17 hours ago, grapau27 said:

@Windsurfboy.

I enjoyed reading your review and comparison with Saga and Cunard.

For us Saga and Cunard are not on our radar.

Our 3 main cruise lines are

P&O,Princess and Royal Caribbean and speciality restaurants food wise P&O come top.

Loyalty benefits wise 

Royal Caribbean easily top followed by Princess then P&O.

We always sail in balcony cabins and IMO 

P&O Top.

Best wishes.

Graham.

 

 

Your tactic of using speciality restaurants ensures P&O is a sure winner.

[Gettingwarmer]

I think a 14 night cruise on Arvia including speciality diners every night and drinks for just over £7000 per cabin in a full suite is very exceptional. I can't find anything like that at present.