P&O vs Princess

[JamesOceanVillage]

Hi , I have cruised with the Ov1 and Ov2 and want to try a new ship next year with a good intinary for the Caribbean. My searches show it is between P&O's Ventura and Princess's Sea Princess. If anyone has cruised with both of these lines or ships what line/ship seems to be..

 

More Imformal ?

More Friendly ?

 

And Have...

 

More Younger Passengers ?

Better/More Imformal Options ?

And have more Relaxed/Family/Imformal Friendly Passengers ?

 

What line would you suggest compares more to Ocean Village ?

 

Thank You Very Much, I do Know these cruises lines are related in many ways,

 

James. :confused:

[daiB]

Hi , I have cruised with the Ov1 and Ov2 and want to try a new ship next year with a good intinary for the Caribbean. My searches show it is between P&O's Ventura and Princess's Sea Princess. If anyone has cruised with both of these lines or ships what line/ship seems to be..

 

More Imformal ?

More Friendly ?

 

And Have...

 

More Younger Passengers ?

Better/More Imformal Options ?

And have more Relaxed/Family/Imformal Friendly Passengers ?

 

What line would you suggest compares more to Ocean Village ?

 

Thank You Very Much, I do Know these cruises lines are related in many ways,

 

James. :confused:

 

 

James, as you know Sea Princess was Adonia sister to Oceana. Since she has left P&O she has followed the same sort of itineraries as she did with P&O. If she is going from Barbados then she will be carrying mostly brits. As I understand she was Anglicized, menus etc.

 

As for your other questions I would think it would depend on the individual cruises rather on the ship or cruise line.

 

Going from the UK Barbados is the best for UK passengers as it avoids the problems of an entry into the US.

 

Earlier this year NCL, Fred Olson and Island cruises, were also sailinhg from here.

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[OldJerseycruiser]

Hi James,

 

Having been on both Ventura and Sea Princess, I personally would say that Ventura is more informal.

 

If you are looking another line which is possibly closer to Ocean Village, I would say NCL, as I felt they had quite an informal feel. Also, RCL isn't very formal, but opinions are all very subjective.

[berlingo]

Hi we have sailed on OV2 previously and sailed on the Ventura for the first time this year. We found Ventura to be much, much more formal than OV. Friends who went with us and have done many OV cruises also felt the same. The formality was particularly evident in the dress codes and the dining. We actually found the people lot friendlier than OV and thought it was also better value for money. We booked ventura because we were looking for a more traditional, more formal cruise experience than OV and found that Ventura fitted the bill. For us Ventura exactly matched our requirements and we had a fabulous time but it was very different from OV.

[maritime mick]

We cruised the Caribbean on Ventura back in February and we cruised to Scandanavia on the Grand Princess last month. We found that on formal nights, around 98-99% of Ventura passengers complied with the dress code. On Grand Princess, the figure was closer to 70% - those who did not want to dress for dinner simply stayed out of the restaurants and went to the self service buffets. We attended an after dinner show on the Grand Princess on a formal night and no more than 50% of the audience were dressed in suits of any sort. From observation, it seemed to me that the MUTS (movies under the stars) facility on the Grand meant that far more passengers stayed outside all evening in good weather and would not want to dress up formally. I would imagine that this would be even more common in the heat of the Caribbean.

We found that there although there were subtle differences in the cruise experience of each ship, the overall enjoyment of the cruise was very similar - we thought both ships were excellent, the crew and the passengers were friendly and curteous and the food was excellent. You really can't go wrong whichever you choose.

We cruised on the Sea Princess when she was Adonia in the P&O fleet. Its a lovely ship and we have booked her for our Caribbean cruise in February of next year.

 

Happy cruising - Mick

[Moonbeam Sailor]

Hey James,

 

Having been on Ventura and Aurora with P&O and Emerald Princess I would definitely say that the Princess ship was the more informal. Have not been on Ventura this year though, it now apparently has a more informal approach.

[JamesOceanVillage]

Thank you vry much, So would u recomend a Ov Cruiser to Princess/P&O ??

[Moonbeam Sailor]

Thank you vry much, So would u recomend a Ov Cruiser to Princess/P&O ??

 

From personal experience, I would recommend the Emerald Princess over either of the P&O ships I've been on. I can't, obviously, speak for the rest of the ships in either fleet - as I have not travelled on them. BTW, I personally thought, as a ship, the emerald Princess was nicer than Ventura (they are the same class I believe - virtually identical).

[JamesOceanVillage]

Thanks you all had all positive replys for imformal cruisers on Princess thanks for your help also are the yanks less or more formal??

[terrierjohn]

Thanks you all had all positive replys for imformal cruisers on Princess thanks for your help also are the yanks less or more formal??

Some Yanks are more formal some less, they are as varied as we Brits.

 

If you really want a more informal cruise, then maybe you should consider, NCL, Royal Caribbean or Carnival, these lines are less formal than Princess and the age demographic will be younger.

 

Our only experience with P&O so far was that it was very similar to Princess, but there were too many Brits on board.:rolleyes:

[daiB]

Some Yanks are more formal some less, they are as varied as we Brits.

 

If you really want a more informal cruise, then maybe you should consider, NCL, Royal Caribbean or Carnival, these lines are less formal than Princess and the age demographic will be younger.

 

Our only experience with P&O so far was that it was very similar to Princess, but there were too many Brits on board.:rolleyes:

 

JamesOceanVillage

 

I think you said you looked at Sea Princess, well that also will have lots of Brits as it is mainly marketed here. To get the American feel I think you should try a different Princess ship and you may find one less formal but I fear not as informal as you are looking for.

 

I would tend to agree with terrierjohn and go for NCL as it is my understanding that their ships are the most informal.

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[thranite]

The standard of formality on P&O depends on the ship. The Sun class (Oceana and Adonia) were never designed for this side of the pond and that is apparent in the internal styling, but I don't like them, so, as with all opinion, subjectivity very much in vogue.

Princess, depending on the ship, time of year and location is every bit as formal as P&O and more formal than Ocean Village. My own personal Princess favourites are the former "R Class" ships at 30,700 grt and Coral and Island Princess. The Grand class, and I include the new P&O monstrosities are not for me.

 

If you want to approach the OV style of cruising, then NCL may be the one for you.

 

Remember the only views that you will get here are subjective. None wrong and all correct in the eye of the poster.

 

:)

[sheeper370]

 

...If you want to approach the OV style of cruising, then NCL may be the one for you...

:)

 

Be patient! One of the operators will realise that a whole market will shortly be left untapped and come up with an alternative.

[JamesOceanVillage]

I no I should try NCL and RCI but their Intinarys are very bad compared to OV, P&O and Princess, we would rather have a good intinary with a ship with imformal options than a imformal ship with a bad intinary.

[ocngypz]

If you are looking for informality on a cruiseline, Princess is NOT the cruiseline for you.

 

The most informal and least restrictive cruiseline is NCL, with minimum dresscodes and open dining. Followed by Carnival.

 

Princess does have dresscodes. The longer the itinerary, the more formal passengers dress.

Princess has both traditional fixed dining times and open seating.. except on their smaller former R-class ships... which are fixed.

 

In sailing Princess I've found that on very port intensive itineraries passengers tend to dress less formally (tuxedo, gowns) but they are by no means..............casual whatever

 

BTW, I have over 300 nights with Princess myself and half of my business .. are Princess cruisers.

[daiB]

I no I should try NCL and RCI but their Intinarys are very bad compared to OV, P&O and Princess, we would rather have a good intinary with a ship with imformal options than a imformal ship with a bad intinary.

 

 

Don't know if you like a drink but these prices from a review of a Princess cruise would put me off:-

 

 

"Bar prices were expensive, with a further 15% gratuity applied to every drink. This worked out at approximately $6 per shot of spirit, $8 for a pint of beer $2.25 for a coke and a minimum of $25 for a bottle of wine. The plus side of this was that you did not encounter any drunks, as most passengers could not afford to get drunk."

 

 

 

:):)Happy cruising:):)

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[SueFrankuk]

Having gone on our first P&O this year we found the food, especially the steak and lobster far superior on Princess, also love their French and Italian nights.

The drink and tips were cheaper on P&O.

I prefer to be on a ship woth mostly American/Canadian, far more relaxed than the Brits.

I love the big ships, the balconies are very small on the Sea Princess, built into the hull, once you've had a balcony on Caribe deck on the grand class ships there's no going back.

My sister went on Ncl and found it too informal.

I also love anytime dining on Princess, which can now be found on some P&O ships.

Have a wonderful cruise

Sue

[Tripgy]

I've been on OV P&O and NCL. OVis very informal no other company i know have all buffet so wherever you decide to go the food will be an inprovement. The ventura has a younger vibe especially during the day I found the entertainment much closer to OV. We actually found freedom diningon NCL more of a hassle as we were always having to wait around (you get a buzzer if theres no available table) NCL's alchohol was very expensive so were their trips however in my opinion their food was far superior. Hope this is of some help,by the way me and my hubbies in our late forties x