Jump to content

P&O vs Princess Cruises


Swindonpete
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi all. We've been on a mini cruise with P&O and are thinking of a cruise to the Fjords next for a week. Could anyone tell us the differences between a cruise on a Princess ship and a P&O ship as both owned by same company of course. Thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all. We've been on a mini cruise with P&O and are thinking of a cruise to the Fjords next for a week. Could anyone tell us the differences between a cruise on a Princess ship and a P&O ship as both owned by same company of course. Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic Swindonpete. I would suggest asking your question on both the P&O boards and Princess boards, you will get the most replies that way.

 

Jonathan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, Pete, & welcome.

 

Both lines fly the red duster, Princess is actually a subsidiary of P&O, which in turn is controlled by the Carnival group.

 

But as you know, P&O is very much a British experience. Princess is very American, though it's perhaps less in-your-face "American" than other American lines.

You'll know that P&O's clientele is overwhelmingly British, Princess is much more cosmopolitan. Fjords from the UK will have a higher proportion of Brits than other itineraries, but you'll meet a fair few Americans & other nationalities.

Princess is perhaps rather more glitzy, certainly compared to P&O's more subtle & traditional design & colours.

The downsides:

- On-board currency is the US dollar. Although cruise ships are cashless, you'll need to do a little simple mental arithmetic. More important, use your credit or debit card rather than cash to settle your on-board account or you'll be skinned on ship's exchange rates.

Princess will offer to convert to sterling before charging your card "for your convenience" :rolleyes: DECLINE that offer, allow your card to be charged in dollars, your bank or card issuer will then convert to sterling at a very much better exchange rate. By the same token, don't use any ship's currency desk for your Norwegian kroner.

- On-board prices are higher. Drinks, excursions, etc. And whereas you can take on board P&O any reasonable amount & type of alcohol to drink in your cabin, on Princess - like most cruise lines - you can only take aboard, and only at your embarkation port, two bottles of wine between you.

- On top of those higher prices, Princess - again like most cruise lines - add a 15% service charge to drinks & some other services. It's a mandatory charge, and applies even if you buy at the bar.

- And the daily charge, something like £4 pppd on P&O, is around $11 pppd on Princess.

Those increased on-board costs can add significantly to your spend.

 

Food on Princess is undoubtedly more varied, and IMHO it's also better food, better service, & served in better surroundings.

The whole atmosphere on Princess I find more refined than on P&O, and there are other subjective differences.

 

Overall I think you'll be happy with Princess, and hopefully the higher on-board costs will be balanced out by the better overall experience.

We've enjoyed many cruises on both.

 

JB :)

Edited by John Bull
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How to do what, Pete?

Post on the two cruise line forums?

 

Several ways, here's how I do it.

Near the bottom of this page, click on the arrow alongside "forum jump".

This brings up a list of forums.

Including Cruise Lines A to O and P to Z.

In the P to Z list, click on P&O (UK), & on the forum that opens click on "new thread", same as when you posted here.

Ditto for Princess.

There'll be plenty (mainly Brits) who've sailed both.

 

If you ever get lost on Cruise Critic, just click on your screen-name, it's top right on any page. You can then navigate to your posts.

 

JB :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to disagree just a little with John Bull where he call's Princess ships "glitzy".

Rather I would call the decor on Princess classy. Most ships use pastel colors and light woods, giving the ships interiors a bright airy feeling. There are no rock climbing walls, wave riders, etc (Thank goodness!).

The few exceptions would be the small ships (the Pacific and the Ocean), which utilize more classic decor with dark wood and "parlor style" furniture. Lovely ships, but definitely different from most Princess ships.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We wouldn't go to the fjords again on a ship designed specifically for the Caribbean, ie without sufficient under cover viewing spots. This means, for us, a covered pool with seating/viewing areas all round, and enough indoor spots with windows overlooking the sea. We made the big mistake of going on the Independence OTS this May; the weather was wet, even snowy on some days, so the lido deck with a massive sea screen was mainly deserted, and the interior, with few windows, was overcrowded.

The Princess ships from Southampton are firstly of the Vista Class, I believe 1 or 2 have an indoor pool; of the 2 P&O Vista Class (identical ships to Princess) only Ventura has an indoor pool. I'm not sure which Princess Vista is coming next year, nor have I discovered whether the new Royal P or the new Britannia (again, identical ships) have this feature.

We will choose our next ship very carefully, and it will be Ventura, Aurora or one of the other P&Os with good under cover seating, or a Cunard or Celebrity....we're still trying to find out about the Royal/Britannia pair.

People will mention that they had excellent weather in the fjords in May, June- whatever....just think that like the north of Scotland, this isn't guaranteed!:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...