P&O Azura VS Celebrity Infinity

[Technoman2]

Hi Folks 

I have posted this question on the Celebrity forum but i wonder if anyone on here has had experience of both ships or even cruise lines?

 

Hi Folks

We normally sail with P&O but are considering a cruise around the canaries and Med in December on Infinity. We just fancy a change mainly of Entertainment and perhaps food options but i have a few questions which im hoping some of you may be able to help me with.

Firstly my wife is a very plain eater and on the P&O ship mainly ate the roast Chicken or Steak during the cruise as there was no Pasta options in the main dining room and she doesnt eat Fish, Pork or Lamb  so i just wonder what options there are on infinity in the main dining rooms. Im sure there will probably be some option she could have in the buffet but we prefer a sit down meal with service rather than the bun fight buffets sometimes are.

We never use speciality restaurants.

Do they have west end style shows on board as well as comedians and bands?

I have read some of the reviews and it seems that the dress code is pretty informal and relaxed i.e Trousers and shirts rather than suits except maybe for formal nights, what is your experience?

Are there quiet areas on the ship maybe on the promenade deck where you can sunbathe , read or listen to your own music?

What are the price of shore excursions like in comparison to P&O (if you have done both)

I know drinks are expensive but we dont drink a lot so the drinks package would not suit  us and as they are going to charge a service charge with the drinks i would be reluctant to pay the gratuities at the end of the cruise and reading their terms and conditions this can be done the day before disembarkation, is this correct and is it a straightforward process.

Thanks for any help you can offer and any links to current main dining room menus would be a great help.

[ElmaLee]

I’ve sailed several times with Celebrity and P&O, including a few on Azura but not on Infinity. I have enjoyed both cruise lines.  Infinity is older and smaller than Azura.

 Celebrity caters more for American guests and purchases attract a gratuity added to bill.  Gratuities on P&O are included but are (optional) extras on Celebrity.  I found meals on Celebrity to be better than on P&O.  Celebrity menus fairly extensive and you should always find something to suit.  Entertainments on both are first rate, with theatre shows, comedians etc.  American ships tend to have a more relaxed dress code but guests are mainly ‘smartly dressed’.  Relevant web sites will help with excursion prices.

 I would happily cruise again with Celebrity.

[Josy1953]

Having travelled with both I would choose Celebrity over P&O every time if there were similar cruises going out of Southampton at the same time on itineraries that we wanted to do.

Celebrity ships attract more international passengers than P&O who seem to be predominately British. 

The food on Celebrity is more to our taste than P&O's bland, repetitive menus. 

P&O entertainment is more targeted to British tastes Celebrity is more towards American passengers.

We usually book Aqua Class on Celebrity so we eat breakfast and dinner in Blu which is quieter than the main dining rooms and the food is better than we have ever had on P&O.

Celebrity tends to be more expensive but at the end of the day you get what you pay for.

Enjoy whichever you choose to go with.

[sandancer]

11 hours ago, ElmaLee said:

I’ve sailed several times with Celebrity and P&O, including a few on Azura but not on Infinity. I have enjoyed both cruise lines.  Infinity is older and smaller than Azura.

 Celebrity caters more for American guests and purchases attract a gratuity added to bill.  Gratuities on P&O are included but are (optional) extras on Celebrity.  I found meals on Celebrity to be better than on P&O.  Celebrity menus fairly extensive and you should always find something to suit.  Entertainments on both are first rate, with theatre shows, comedians etc.  American ships tend to have a more relaxed dress code but guests are mainly ‘smartly dressed’.  Relevant web sites will help with excursion prices.

 I would happily cruise again with Celebrity.

We have cruised many times with Celebrity, not so many with P&O.  We have cruised on both ships and if Celebrity were sailing out of Southampton outside of the summer season we would do so again. Infinity is an older ship but we found that they keep all of their ships in good condition. We much prefer the Solstice class.  I think it’s worth mentioning that whilst gratuities are optional we were told by a senior staff member that they will always want to know the reason why they are being removed. Also the 18% tip on all onboard purchases cannot be removed and this includes drinks. As ElmaLee commented the whole cruise line is more orientated to the US market and of course they have a very different view on tipping. 

Edited Thursday at 08:30 AM by sandancer

[Gettingwarmer]

10 minutes ago, sandancer said:

We have cruised many times with Celebrity, not so many with P&O.  We have cruised on both ships and if Celebrity were sailing out of Southampton outside of the summer season we would do so again. Infinity is an older ship but we found that they keep all of their ships in good condition. We much prefer the Solstice class.  I think it’s worth mentioning that whilst gratuities are optional we were told by a senior staff member that they will always want to know the reason why they are being removed. Also the 18% tip on all onboard purchases cannot be removed and this includes drinks. As ElmaLee commented the whole cruise line is more orientated to the US market and of course they have a very different view on tipping. 

I agree with all of this.
If you don’t want to pay the added price of tips or gratuities then sail P&O where it is included and drinks are cheaper. 

Edited Thursday at 08:38 AM by Gettingwarmer
Paragraph

[Technoman2]

1 minute ago, Gettingwarmer said:

I agree with all of this. If you don’t want to pay the added price of tips or gratuities then sail P&O where it is included and drinks are cheaper. 

To be honest i would but in this instance the itinerary takes in not only the canaries but spain and north africa, I am a P&O shareholder and i can get £150 onboard credit for each 14 day cruise and the issue with 14 days on Azura is that she sails to madeira and back twice and its such a waste of time and becomes boring. So its either gonna be Celebrity, or P&O to the Carribean or maybe NCL around South africa  and Mauritius. Worldwide travel insurance is so expensive now you have got to make use of it while you can.

[waddle]

We’ve sailed Celebrity on a number of occasions on their Solstice class ships and they are our favourite

 

Not sailed from Southampton and therefore found the passengers to be mainly American which does drive the entertainment etc - casino always full !

 

Certainly there are less people getting dressed up for the ‘evening chic’ night, where we do prefer P&O

 

Gratuities are hard to swallow - we try and go for their all in package (including drinks) to avoid a very hefty bill at the end. We have been known to join the queue on the first morning to have them removed and then tip relevant staff in cash based on individual service

[Bawlanootin]

We have sailed on Azura and Celebrity including the Edge which was fabulous.

Celebrity are more expensive generally and the gratuities add up if you don’t factor them in to the overall fare, but P&O are a good value for money cruise line.

The food is much better on Celebrity but we found the entertainment much better on P&O.

We hate the dressing up part you get on P&O as you are treated as second class passengers if you do not comply, so Celebrity wins this.

All in all you pay for what you get.

[Thejuggler]

We are just off a trip on Celebrity, our first cruise with them since 2016.

 

Pasta should be available.  Although the sauce may be a mystery.  My wife had it one night and the sauce looked like HP sauce.  She said it tasted heavily of soy sauce so heaven knows what it was.

Dress code is very relaxed.  Chic nights if you want to dress up, but if jeans, polo shirt and baseball cap are your thing you will see it.

Excursions are now very expensive (we paid £100 for an independent 3.5 hour food tour of Reykjavik, ship wanted about £300) and £200+ is not unusual for most Celebrity trips.  There were lots of complaints from US passengers about the poor value for money on the trips from Greenock.  You do need to check prices daily using the app as they do change.

No west end show, but they have their own on board shows.  Other entertainment is always down to what you enjoy.  Generally singers, comedians, mix of both, bands etc,

European cruise drinks prices already include the 20% tip.  Drinks are expensive - $10 minimum for anything with alcohol.  Coffees/tea $5 in the coffee shop.  Kettle in cabin if you want to brew your own, just take a travel mug.  Hot water and coffee is free in buffet, but coffee is not the best.  Again the drinks package prices are on offer almost all the time before booking.  On board the premium pacakage (up to $20 drinks, soft drinks and coffees and all premium brands) is $100 a day.  Before the cruise it will be on offer at 30-50% off.

Daily gratuities of $19 each will be charged if you don't pay up front when booking.

 

[Technoman2]

14 minutes ago, Thejuggler said:

We are just off a trip on Celebrity, our first cruise with them since 2016.

 

Pasta should be available.  Although the sauce may be a mystery.  My wife had it one night and the sauce looked like HP sauce.  She said it tasted heavily of soy sauce so heaven knows what it was.

Dress code is very relaxed.  Chic nights if you want to dress up, but if jeans, polo shirt and baseball cap are your thing you will see it.

Excursions are now very expensive (we paid £100 for an independent 3.5 hour food tour of Reykjavik, ship wanted about £300) and £200+ is not unusual for most Celebrity trips.  There were lots of complaints from US passengers about the poor value for money on the trips from Greenock.  You do need to check prices daily using the app as they do change.

No west end show, but they have their own on board shows.  Other entertainment is always down to what you enjoy.  Generally singers, comedians, mix of both, bands etc,

European cruise drinks prices already include the 20% tip.  Drinks are expensive - $10 minimum for anything with alcohol.  Coffees/tea $5 in the coffee shop.  Kettle in cabin if you want to brew your own, just take a travel mug.  Hot water and coffee is free in buffet, but coffee is not the best.  Again the drinks package prices are on offer almost all the time before booking.  On board the premium pacakage (up to $20 drinks, soft drinks and coffees and all premium brands) is $100 a day.  Before the cruise it will be on offer at 30-50% off.

Daily gratuities of $19 each will be charged if you don't pay up front when booking.

 

This is really helpful thanks, interesting re excursion costs. Can i just check your comment re drink packages, do you mean if we wait after booking that we may be able to book the drinks package at a discount before departure or if we book the cruise say a month before then maybe the drinks package may be on offer cheaper. 

[mrsgoggins]

I have sailed on both Azura and Infinity, but not for some years.

 

Just a point about the kettle in the room made by a PP; Celebrity only routinely do this for cruises out of Southampton and to the best of my knowledge, Infinity has never sailed from there and so is unlikely to carry them.

 

I'm another who would always prefer Celebrity over P&O but admit they have become very expensive over the last few years unless you can drop on a bargain. And I pre-pay gratuities when I book if I don't have a package, and would not consider removing them.

 

As has been said, Infinity is an older ship and belongs to their M class, and like many others, I prefer the more modern S class, but would still book Infinity if the itinerary appealed to me. It depends what you value. We don't care for the 'dressing up' beloved by so many Brits so that's another plus for Celebrity for us.

[KforKitty]

17 minutes ago, Technoman2 said:

Can i just check your comment re drink packages, do you mean if we wait after booking that we may be able to book the drinks package at a discount before departure or if we book the cruise say a month before then maybe the drinks package may be on offer cheaper. 

Yes, I purchased the drinks (and Wi-Fi) packages post booking during a “Flash Sale” with a 40% discount.  Purchasing the package in the UK, also includes gratuities.

 

Catherine

 

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, mrsgoggins said:

I have sailed on both Azura and Infinity, but not for some years.

 

Just a point about the kettle in the room made by a PP; Celebrity only routinely do this for cruises out of Southampton and to the best of my knowledge, Infinity has never sailed from there and so is unlikely to carry them.

 

I'm another who would always prefer Celebrity over P&O but admit they have become very expensive over the last few years unless you can drop on a bargain. And I pre-pay gratuities when I book if I don't have a package, and would not consider removing them.

 

As has been said, Infinity is an older ship and belongs to their M class, and like many others, I prefer the more modern S class, but would still book Infinity if the itinerary appealed to me. It depends what you value. We don't care for the 'dressing up' beloved by so many Brits so that's another plus for Celebrity for us.

All the Millenium class ships have been refurbished throughout, so should be quite a good standard. I just hope that included a balcony floor covering that was not carried inside the cabin on footwear, leaving the carpet looking very dirty.

[Presto2]

We've sailed on Azura and Celebrity Constellation Infinity's sister ship. Without repeating much of what has been said already if given a choice we would prefer to sail on Azura. We weren't keen on the Constellation at all.

Now if it was the Silhouette or Edge that would be a different matter..... if money was not an issue of course!

Edited Thursday at 09:16 PM by Presto2