Thinking of switching from PandO to Celebrity

[millyontoast]

Hi All, Just looking for some advice....

 

I have done 5 cruises all with PandO. Nothing wrong with any of them. (booked on the queen vic with cunard in May09). The new Azura brochure from PandO did not inspire me and we are thinking of looking at cruising out of Southhampton on the Eclipse.

 

We have no idea what to expect from Celebrity or how it compares to PandO. Have heard a few positive comments that's all.

 

We are a young couple - 30 years old and we have a 1 year old. We still sail outside of school holidays but babies' club is useful to us. We like the social side of cruisng so the bars and restaurants and we normally book a superior balcony cabin.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts or comments about comparing the two companies?

 

I'll probably post the same comment on the Celebrity board.

 

Many thanks,

 

Milly

[tom_uk]

I've cruised on both P&O (Oriana & Ventura) and Celebrity (Galaxy, two Med fly cruises), and our cruise this year will be on Solstice. There are many similarities between them, but also significant differences.

 

The main similarities are that both lines practice traditional dining, and value formality. So if you prefer normal dining - a set sitting - then what you'll get on Celebrity will be very similar to what you get on P&O.

 

Differences: The most obvious one is that the ships are american: menus will consist of american dishes (e.g. Prime Rib instead of roast beef), and prices will be in US$. On Galaxy in the Med the great majority of passengers were american, and generally quite wealthy & well-travelled americans at that, but that may not be the case on Eclipse, or at least not to the same extent. Late in the evening the large casino will be the busiest place on the ship.

 

 

Prices for drinks, excursions, etc, will seem high, especially with the current exchange rate. At £1=US$2 or thereabouts we didn't mind $7.50 and upwards for a glass of wine on Galaxy in 2006 & 2007, but it's going to hurt a lot more this year. And of course all prices on board have 15% added on to them, as a non-avoidable gratuity. And Celebrity charge for shuttles where they're needed, e.g. from the quayside at Livorno into Livorno town. Some of these charges can seem quite high, given the very short distances involved.

 

If all that seems rather negative, there are some positives. First, I enjoyed the very positive attitude of the american fellow-passengers - very few complainers. Second, at least with those americans, there was quite a lot of bling and flash on display on the formal nights, and even on the not-so-formal nights. Both my wife and I thought that the gowns the american ladies were wearing were better than the typical dress we saw on P&O. The new Solstice class ships look exceptional - considerable internal quality, and lots of high-quality decor. And finally I think we preferred the service on Celebrity. The actual service itself was the same on both lines, but on Celebrity it was generally done with more of a smile, especially in the dining room.

 

Have a look at these pages from my blog for info about Solstice, and links to pictures. The ones by David Pierce are especially good.

[lostinvegas]

Great info Tom, we are also looking at going with an American line on our next cruise but at the moment the prices are putting us off. We like the formal dinning and also the casino is where we normally hang out in the evenings. I think though we the £ being so poor at the moment we might wait until next year.

 

Does anyone have any experience on how Princess and RCI compare with Celebrity and P&O. I don't expect many people to have cruised on all 4 but any info would be much appreciated?

 

Chris

[Gerrym]

I am a big P&O fan but after the letdown of Ventura I am really hoping that Solstice (in May) restores my faith in cruise holidays.

 

We have travelled on Celebrity (Summit) before and I woud say that I consider Celebrity to be a class (or star) above P&O.

 

The main attractions for us with P&O was the competitive prices and the ability to sail from Southampton.

Now that Celebrity prices seem to undercut those of P&O and the fact that they will start sailing from Southampton next year, I wonder if we will sail P&O again. It would certainly have to be a great itinerary to get our business. After receiving the Azura brochure, I know she does not have the itineraries to tempt us.

 

 

Gerry

[millyontoast]

That's exactly how we feel Gerry (although I'm not part of the Ventura bashing club - we have a baby and it was great for him)

 

Agree Azura intineries are disappointing. I can't believe PandO have gone down the route of one med itinery for the whole summer. How boring for the staff as well!

 

We are booked on Cunard in May so we'll see what we think of that too.

 

Otherwise we'll be on Celebrity in 2010.

 

Milly

[Suebiker]

Great info Tom, we are also looking at going with an American line on our next cruise but at the moment the prices are putting us off. We like the formal dinning and also the casino is where we normally hang out in the evenings. I think though we the £ being so poor at the moment we might wait until next year.

 

Does anyone have any experience on how Princess and RCI compare with Celebrity and P&O. I don't expect many people to have cruised on all 4 but any info would be much appreciated?

 

Chris

 

Hi Chris

 

I havn't sailed on Celebrity and Princess but I have sailed on P and O and RCI. For me the main difference is that the service on P and O is much better than RCI as is the food in the main dining room. The menu is quite limited and bland on RCI - vegetables are pretty non existant!!!!! Many of the dishes on the menu are repeated night after night. On some nights I struggled to find something to eat.

 

However entertainment on RCI is much better than P and O and the range of activies on offer is better. Both P and O and RCI have beautiful ships.

 

RCI charged for shuttle buses in most ports whilst I don't think I have paid before on P and O. You cannot take any alcohol on board RCI or even drink alcohol you bought in the ships shop!!!!!

 

In general I felt RCI was fantastic in some areas but very poor in others - embarkation was fantastic (the best i've ever experienced) but onboard activities were often changed without notice. On one occasion the venue was changed twice - so I spent ages searching for it - I went to reception and was then sent to another wrong location!!!!!!!

 

In summary if food and good service are important to you - I would choose P and O. If you are not to bothered about food and service but want good entertainment and lots of activities then I would choose RCI

 

Personally I'm not sure if I would sail RCI again. But I would do P and O.

 

I have also heard alot of praise for Princess - so I might consider them too.

 

Sorry for the long post - hope this helps

 

Sue

 

P.S Casino is very big and popular on RCI .Dress is generally less formal on RCI too!

[jeanlyon]

I think the drinks prices on Celebrity would put me off for a start $7.50 for a glass of wine? And gratuities on top of that? No way.

 

Never fancied RCI - ships are way too big.

[MattOsprey]

We have cruised P&O, Celebrity, Holland America and Princess.

We loved all of them, and although my next 2 cruises are P&O this year, that is because of the terrible dollar exchange rate.

We found that Holland America had a slightly more international feel, with passengers from a variety of countries, but mainly American. White glove service in the restaurant, and a somelier to give good wine advice, and not try to steer you towards expensive bottles. The only thing that wasn't great was that the ship was older and a bit tired, but still fantastic.

Celebrity Constellation was beautiful, with great service and food. Again a good mix of passengers and a great feel to the modern ship.

Princess ships are very similar to P&O as they are built on the same design. But the finishing details are varied. The food wasn't as good, but the service was great. The crew are our favourites, and the fellow passengers were brilliant.

P&O is very similar to Princess, but we found that the American passengers were more pleasant to be around. Not as much hogging of sun loungers, with Princess.

Overall Princess is our preferred cruise line, as they treat returning customers with proper loyalty bonuses, such as on board credit and free internet use plus a few other benefits. They also go to better destinations than P&O. In fact all the American companies do.

You may think from this that I don't like P&O very much, but you'd be wrong. Our last cruise and next two are both with P&O and we can't wait.

I think cruising is always great if you go with the right attitude, but it helps a bit if the company treats you well for loyalty, and can come up with varied ports.

P&O do have varied ports, but are very expensive if you want anything other than the norm.

The exchange rate makes American companies prohibitively expensive for us, but other can afford it.

I should point out that I am 37 and my wife is 32 and we don't have children. From what I saw, Princess & P&O had very good facilities for kids.

I hope this rambling helps a bit.

Matt

[msg_girl]

Like Matt, I've cruised with Princess, P&O, HAL and Celebrity. As always we each have our individual view of what we like best. I'm 40 and usually travel with my parents (off to Alaska with them in a few weeks time) so this influences what I want from a cruise. I like nice food with unobtrusive service, quiet areas to sit and read out of the sun and good quality entertainment but nothing blue. My experience on Ventura was fabulous - I travelled on my own on the transatlantic last year and the enrichment lectures made my trip as well as being invited to dine with the commodore! After all my previous cruises being American biased it was strange travelling with so many British cruisers and agree with previous comments about the Americans being much more positive. Princess have an advantage in the entertainment areas but little or no enrichment unless you count bingo, if I remember correctly Princess have no facilities for children under 3 and no baby sitting service whereas the other 3 have either baby sitting or night nursery available. Celebrity make a lot of their service but I find it a bit in your face, I do like their buffet and evening table service in the lido as a change from the main dining room. HAL are similar to Celebrity but service is slightly less in your face, a good lido and good venues for music.

Overall I would rate Princess as good value for money but with HAL and Celebrity having the edge for service but my trip on Ventura was the best experience but may be very hard to repeat.

I don't feel tied to any one company (never tried RCI since they charge 100% supplement for singles making it too expensive) and tend to book based on cost, timing and ports but if there's a particular facility you want (for example child facitilites) that would influence my view. Hope this is helpful, G.

[lostinvegas]

Thanks for all the info myself and my partner are 30. Food is very important but only because my partner has an intolerance to wheat. We really like the itinerary on Ocean Village 2 but the problem is without waiter service of sit down meals its very difficult to be certain the food is gluten free.

 

So were looking for a similar itinerary but on another cruise line, but its very difficult to find this on dates we can go and at a price that is reasonable.

 

Chris

[jenny wren]

We were looking at booking Azura for next year but Celebrity Eclipse was considerably less money for a comparable cruise (Baltic) and we have booked it in the knowledge that if the price comes down we will have the difference refunded!!

[salsalady]

HI Millie

 

We have done 2 P & O cruises (Arcadia & Oceana) and 2 more booked with P&O, (Arcadia & Oceana).

 

We have also done 2 Celebrity cruise on their Millenium class ships (Infinity and Summit), and we have just recently booked a Baltic cruise on the yet to be launched Eclipse, for June 2010.

 

I could go into reams of dialogue comparing the ships, but IMO Celebrity are most definately the better cruise line. They are a 5* line as opposed to P&O's 4*?

 

The service, food, entertainment and venues are far superior on Celebrity, as are the speciality dining restaurants.

 

The drinks on board are more expensive, but this expense is well and truly made up in the prices of the cruises.

 

You may well ask, why then, do we continue to sail on P&O and the simple truth is, that for the Caribbean season, you cant beat the convenience of direct flights from regional airports, flying to Fort Lauderdale to meet Celebrity ships can be somewhat more expensive as invariably you have to fly scheduled.

 

Hope this helps

 

Karen

[LibraLass41]

Well Celebrity, even though 5* are much cheaper ex Southampton 2010 than p&o !

 

I have priced up a balcony cabin top grade on a MED cruise begining Sept2010:

 

Arcadia £2300pp

Eclipse £1350pp both 14n both Med, both good balconies !!!

[Gerrym]

Sue, would seem a 'no-brainer' on the face of it wouldn't it?

 

Gerry

[tom_uk]

We've been wondering about Eclipse for 2010 as well. I think, though, that we'll go with P&O for that year. We've priced up a 14-night cruise in late May on Ventura for just over £1600pp; with the £100 per person OBC that effectively brings it down to just over £1500 each. That's still more than Eclipse, but we'll live with that. I'm still a little worried about the cost of things on Celebrity: the last time we cruised with them the exchange rate was £1=$2 or thereabouts, whereas at present it's £1=$1.45. At the same time I think Celebrity on-board prices have gone up, so I have a feeling that we will end up spending a lot.

 

We're on Solstice this September - a fly-cruise in the E Med - which we chose as much for the itinerary as anything. Once we've been on Solstice we'll know a lot more about Celebrity's new ships, and might feel more comfortable about booking a longer cruise with them. But we're just about on the point of deciding that we'll stick with P&O for 2010.

 

But looking at the P&O preview brochure, it would seem that Ventura & Oceana are being priced quite differently from Arcadia & Azura.

[K8T]

Hi there

 

We were on the Celebrity Galaxy with our daughter who was two. The ship was beautiful, a bit more glitzy and showy than P&O, food fantastic, if an American slant, dressy evenings and was I think a bit better than P&O.

 

The other passengers mainly American were mostly great, if a little annoying at times, but the younger crowd on our table made the trip.

 

However, we found the children facilities very poor and were of great concern to us.

 

Firstly, the cot we asked for was not supplied and after a long wait, appeared at 11pm, our dd was exhausted. As we put our own sheet on the base (to smell of home), we realised it was filthy, stained with urine and goodness knows what else. I was shocked. dd slept with us that night and in the morning they found another which was just as bad, but we washed it down with a solution of milton in water ourselves, as there was no other option.

 

The childrens club was one big club, with toddlers through to teens in one space (this may be different on the new ships, but worth checking). Subsequently it wasn't very relaxing spending time with her, because we were so worried about the older ones running around with very little supervison. Also note that children in nappies cannot use the ball pool, or the swimming pools (even with swim nappies).

 

We couldn't leave our dd as they don't change nappies etc and although she was dry at that stage, they won't assist with toileting (again, check this may have changed). The toilet facilities in the childrens club was dreadfully dirty, because little ones are going unsupervised, the floor was wet, the whole place smelly and needed a good clean, no one seemed bothered, which was a huge difference to our experience on P&O.

 

We also found that the safety aspect of the ships weren't good, something I hadn't really noticed on P&O. but most of the ships rails were wide spaced, where on P&O there are close together or filled in. In fact so much so that we kept our daughter on her 'reins' most of the time and then wondered why we were getting some strange looks from the other passengers, until we were told that using any harness on children in the States is a real no no!!! Well to be honest if it is my daughter falling overboard, or running amok I will keep the reins on thankyou.

 

Whilst we loved the cruise, I distincly remember saying never again on Celebrity with a child, at least not while she is small. We felt that children were not at all welcome on board from either the passengers or staff and the facilities are just not geared up for them.

 

Having said this, the new ships may be different and I have been trying to find out a bit more, as we too are thinking of 'jumping ship'.

 

What is strange however, is that our memories of that cruise are some of the nicest we have!?!

 

I would suggest you do a bit of homework and find out more, but don't expect the sort of service you have on P&O with children. The only ship we have been on that surpasses them is Disney Wonder!!

 

Kate

[upwarduk]

We sailed Infinity to Alaska 2003 & did a Transatlantic on Galaxy in October 2005. We had an American TA on our dining table. She said that Celebrity were renowned for 5*service for 4 * prices.

Next cruise was on P&O Artemis. I think the service was superior on Artemis including warm dinner rolls, sorbet & a cheese course after the sweet course. However I would not complain about the service we had on Mercury in Jan 2008( Oz & NZ) and up until then Celebrity was our favourite cruise line.

What I did find difficult to stomach was the rudeness of some the American Passengers, even children tried telling me what to do( thankfully, there were very few on the cruise) I had verbal abuse from one passenger, "if you were a better shape you could have squeezed through there,"- she had her chair well away from the table she was sitting at, so I said 'excuse me' so I could gain access to the only vacant table in the room. She was no stick insect herself! In fact the arrogance of some of the passengers has put me off Celebrity, so we are next sailing P&O from Southampton, on Arcadia.

Yes, the P&O prices are 'high;' we calculated that our Galaxy cruise + air fare = the P&O starting price; they have the command of the British market, hence no competitive prices.

 

But the one aspect that would sway me to choose P&O if sailing with a baby: P&O have self service laundry facilities.You can use the FREE washing machines & irons at your leisure.

Celebrity provide a brown paper bag, which you ram as full as possible with your dirty clothes. We used the facility 3x, as we had been away from home for 10 days before our cruise started. The normal charge was $20, but we had a book of vouchers as we were Captain's Club members, so they only cost us $15 per bag. All shirts came back ironed & on hangers.

So the choice is yours.

 

I have never used the children's clubs, in fact as ex-teachers, my husband & I choose not to sail on 'Family ships.' .