P&O vs Celebrity

Just off my 1st P and O cruise( Britannia) and have to say it will be my last. I have sailed RC, Celebrity, Princess and now P and O. Britannia is a lovely ship with great venues and 1st class shows but the food was absolutely dreadful. If you don't eat fish or Indian food you have very little choice. Fast food is the worst i have ever tasted on a ship. Hamburgers are thin and tasteless, pizza never had a fresh slice in 2 weeks. Everytime the pizza was cold and hard. Celebrity would win this contest hands down everytime. Would rather pay more for an experience you remember rather than save a few quid for a unforgettable holiday for all the wrong reasons. Never been on a ship where they have run out of pool towels and knives in the buffet rest. The quality of meat was very poor, i handed the beef back as it was a plate of fat. There is no free room service you have to pay for all the food brought to your room.

Just off my 1st P and O cruise( Britannia) and have to say it will be my last. I have sailed RC, Celebrity, Princess and now P and O. Britannia is a lovely ship with great venues and 1st class shows but the food was absolutely dreadful. If you don't eat fish or Indian food you have very little choice. Fast food is the worst i have ever tasted on a ship. Hamburgers are thin and tasteless, pizza never had a fresh slice in 2 weeks. Everytime the pizza was cold and hard. Celebrity would win this contest hands down everytime. Would rather pay more for an experience you remember rather than save a few quid for a unforgettable holiday for all the wrong reasons. Never been on a ship where they have run out of pool towels and knives in the buffet rest. The quality of meat was very poor, i handed the beef back as it was a plate of fat. There is no free room service you have to pay for all the food brought to your room.

Sorry you had such a bad experience. But must say I don't recognise anything you have said.

Pool towels are supplied direct to your cabin so how can you run out?

Never had to wait more than a minute for cutlery (or any other utensil) to be replenished. Never had any bad quality meat. Pizza from grill is gone in minutes so no chance to get cold and hard. The only place I saw Indian food was in Sindus, the Indian Speciality restaurant, or in themed nights in the buffet., where it is very popular.

Room service is free for breakfast, with a minimal cover charge at other times (used to free until fairly recently).

There were no towels in the bathroom under the sink so i called the room steward and he told me they had run out and he had none. There were people on deck with white towels so they had none also. Every night we went to the buffet there was Indian food which was 8 from 14 nights. I love pizza and was disgusted with what was on offer. I asked the server at the pizza bar when he was making fresh pizza and he told me the pizza on offer was fresh. I took a slice and could not cut it with a knife, i picked it up with my hand and banged it on the plate to show him how hard it was. He was not bothered and still he never cooked anymore. I waited around for 10 mins and eventually left empty handed.

There were no towels in the bathroom under the sink so i called the room steward and he told me they had run out and he had none. There were people on deck with white towels so they had none also. Every night we went to the buffet there was Indian food which was 8 from 14 nights. I love pizza and was disgusted with what was on offer. I asked the server at the pizza bar when he was making fresh pizza and he told me the pizza on offer was fresh. I took a slice and could not cut it with a knife, i picked it up with my hand and banged it on the plate to show him how hard it was. He was not bothered and still he never cooked anymore. I waited around for 10 mins and eventually left empty handed.

I have to say I'm very surprised indeed to hear that. We don't eat Indian food at all and we've never ever only been offered Indian food, in fact it's usually only available on Themed nights. I also have a pizza most days for lunch from the pizza bar and I have only ever had a pizza cooked to order and piping hot / fresh. Don't understand what happened

I will be writing to P and O head office to raise my concerns and find out what did happen on this cruise. If they reply to me i will post the reply on here for all to see, and hopefully this will not happen again. It won't change my mind i will not be back on any P and O ships which is a shame as the entertainment and bars were very good.

my marina bay - I've also cruised on Celebrity several times and here's my verdict. I'm sorry but I don't agree with you.

Off Eclipse yesterday, our first time with Celebrity.

 

Things Celebrity do better -

 

Boarding and disembarkation.

Buffets

Super shows

Smart cabins

Larger bathrooms

Live music

Friendly staff

Captain and Officers regularly walking round talking to guests

Best Cruise Director we have ever seen

Large theatre no need to get there until 5 mins before 9 pm show

We get priority embarkation and disemarkation so very happy with P&O

Yes buffets are better on Celebrity

Entertainment including shows FAR better on P&O. I remember seeing a Cirque Soleil performance on celeb which was dreadful and don't mention the comedians.

Smart Cabins? Have you been on Britannia?

Larger bathrooms- not much in it but maybe a tad bigger on the newer Celebrity ships but not on Infinity, Summit etc

Live music on Celebrity- fine if you like A cappella but not to our taste. Much more variety of live music on P&O in bars and lounges

Friendly staff - P&O staff friendly but they're more brash on Celebrity - culture thing

Captain and Officers regularly walking round talking to guests - Never seen officers but see captains on both lines

Best Cruise Director we have ever seen - Have you met ALL the Ents Managers on P&O ? Some are excellent

Large theatre no need to get there until 5 mins before 9 pm show - Always go to the 2nd show and never had a problem on P&O

I'll also add that we recently booked a cruise on Celebrity for August 2019 and our experience so far has been a nightmare with countless mistakes on their part.

As a top chef myself I have to say the food on P&O in MDR is top notch. You need to factor in just how many people are being served and the quality taking that into account is excellent. Of course there always be odd night I don't rate what I ordered but on whole.mains are super but desserts still lack a little for me. One thing you cannot deny is meat quality is also very good. So I'm sorry I cannot recognise any of the complaints mentioned above. I am amazed at some fellow cruisers taste buds though. On my table last time one of table made real fuss of how awful her food was. I tried it and have to say it was lovely but that goes to show what basic food some are used to. Other old boys on table.complained evety night their meat was tough and chewy. It wasn't but their dentures probably needed a sharpening!

I never listen to bad comments about food until I have tasted it for myself.

Celebrity is 5 star, P&O 4 star, been on both lines several times overall on star rating alone Celebrity should be better and from our experience they are.

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my marina bay - I've also cruised on Celebrity several times and here's my verdict. I'm sorry but I don't agree with you.

 

 

I'll also add that we recently booked a cruise on Celebrity for August 2019 and our experience so far has been a nightmare with countless mistakes on their part.

We have another booked onCelebrity but did enjoy Brittania and wouldn't hesitate to book again at the right price. We have had no problems with the booking process so far ...

Just wondering why you have booked Celebrity again when you enjoy PO so much?

Food in the main dining room on most ships has gone down hill a bit compared to 10 or 20 years ago. It is mass catering and as such fairly basic but pleasant enough. Recent food on Fred was very good and probably the best we have had in a standard dining room for a while.

On Celebrity we have generally eaten in Blu and it is significantly better than P&O MDR in my opinion but then it is limited access to aqua class cabins.

Both Celebrity and P&O offer good extra charge dining, for me Murano is the overall winner for elegance and the amazing menu but that’s personal taste.

I would say that all ships put far too much salt in their food. I add none at home so really taste it and it’s not healthy (and all that salt is probably why there is the phenomenon of cruise ship edima)

I sailed on Britannia in June to the Fjords, and posted on my return that I was not that impressed with the food quality or choices, other than the speciality restaurants.

Indian food was an option at Lunch and Dinner every day at the buffet, and so was either a Pie and/or Roast.

Having done 4 Celebrity cruises we are giving P&O a try next year. The main reasons are:

A) Cost - Celebrity prices are getting ridiculous. I also really don't like the way they charge you for things that used to be included. I don't like the 18% gratuity on drinks/spa treatments.

B) Service - on our last cruise the service was absolutely terrible in the main dining room - we were anytime dining and although did not have a problem waiting for tables, we did have a problem getting any service once seated. We had the drinks package and had to ask several times for the wine list, then had to wait an age for someone to take the order. Our drinks were never topped up. The food was terrible - poor choice, tasteless and served by surly wait staff - not a pleasant experience at all. We have also sailed in Aqua class and eaten in Blu which we really enjoyed but have also enjoyed the MDR in the past, not on our last sailing though.

C) Lack of service on the last night/morning of a cruise - we noticed a definite change in attitude on the last night/morning of all our cruises. Previously staff had said "hello" when passing in the corridors etc., but there was a noticeable disengagement by all staff on the last night/morning, it was like they knew you were leaving and so didn't have to be "nice" to you anymore. It left a really unpleasant impression.

D) Obsession with suite passengers - if you are in a suite it seems they can't do enough for you, if not, they are not interested. One of the things we originally liked about Celebrity was that there was no "class" system, sadly this has changed and not for the better.

So, we are giving P&O a try, it may be better it may not, who knows?

Having done 4 Celebrity cruises we are giving P&O a try next year. The main reasons are:

 

A) Cost - Celebrity prices are getting ridiculous. I also really don't like the way they charge you for things that used to be included. I don't like the 18% gratuity on drinks/spa treatments.

B) Service - on our last cruise the service was absolutely terrible in the main dining room - we were anytime dining and although did not have a problem waiting for tables, we did have a problem getting any service once seated. We had the drinks package and had to ask several times for the wine list, then had to wait an age for someone to take the order. Our drinks were never topped up. The food was terrible - poor choice, tasteless and served by surly wait staff - not a pleasant experience at all. We have also sailed in Aqua class and eaten in Blu which we really enjoyed but have also enjoyed the MDR in the past, not on our last sailing though.

C) Lack of service on the last night/morning of a cruise - we noticed a definite change in attitude on the last night/morning of all our cruises. Previously staff had said "hello" when passing in the corridors etc., but there was a noticeable disengagement by all staff on the last night/morning, it was like they knew you were leaving and so didn't have to be "nice" to you anymore. It left a really unpleasant impression.

D) Obsession with suite passengers - if you are in a suite it seems they can't do enough for you, if not, they are not interested. One of the things we originally liked about Celebrity was that there was no "class" system, sadly this has changed and not for the better.

 

So, we are giving P&O a try, it may be better it may not, who knows?

Interesting, we have just returned from our first Celebrity cruise for 5 yrs on the Constellation. Our review is available.

We too thought that the service in the main dining room was terrible and we really did not enjoy it at all. The service was chaos and the menu limited. It was such a negative experience that we are questioning if we should go with our cruise on Edge next year or change it. We did like the ship though - a nice size and some great crew.

Celebrity and P&O are very different but also have some similarities. Neither is perfect and we are more than happy to consider returning to Oceana the year after Celebrity's new Edge ... if we go

Following this thread with interest. We have sailed with RCL, Cunard, Princess and this year our 1st cruise with Celebrity to the Baltics on Eclipse. We have booked a Fjords cruise for June 19 on Britannia with PO. We found Celebrity to be superb, the service, food and cabins were great. We were very lucky and booked a concierge balcony cabin on Eclipse for less than the price of an inside and saw the price rise to 3 times what we had paid. We even had a free classic drinks package included I don't think I'll get a deal like that again.

I agree Celebrity is a much less formal line even on their chic nights. We are looking forward to our cruise with P and O it will be very interesting to compare with the other lines that we have cruised with. We normally go with the itinerary and as you can see are not loyal to one particular cruise line. Our least favourite is probably Cunard its just too formal and stuffy for us

Hopefully this thread keeps running.

We have had 3 sailings on the Eclipse and recently sailed on Silhouette, we didn't think the ship was as good as the Eclipse (no beer fridges or TVs in the Passport bar being the main drawback for me, if I wanted to watch the football I had to either watch in the Casino bar with no sound or go to my room). Generally the ship seemed the least organised of all my sailings with Celebrity, whether this was down to the itinery or other factors I'm not sure. Maybe we have over done that ship type and it was all a bit familiar.

We had a cruise booked with Celebrity for Summer 2019, we cancelled it last year and booked Britannia due to overall cost. We are excited about the change, however we are a little tentative following feedback from Celebrity cruisers who have also sailed P&O.

We have since booked a week long cruise on Britannia at Easter and I'm hoping this sailing isn't going to make us regret booking our main holiday on Britannia!

Hopefully this thread keeps running.

 

We have had 3 sailings on the Eclipse and recently sailed on Silhouette, we didn't think the ship was as good as the Eclipse (no beer fridges or TVs in the Passport bar being the main drawback for me, if I wanted to watch the football I had to either watch in the Casino bar with no sound or go to my room). Generally the ship seemed the least organised of all my sailings with Celebrity, whether this was down to the itinery or other factors I'm not sure. Maybe we have over done that ship type and it was all a bit familiar.

 

We had a cruise booked with Celebrity for Summer 2019, we cancelled it last year and booked Britannia due to overall cost. We are excited about the change, however we are a little tentative following feedback from Celebrity cruisers who have also sailed P&O.

 

We have since booked a week long cruise on Britannia at Easter and I'm hoping this sailing isn't going to make us regret booking our main holiday on Britannia!

We loved Britannia, but it does split opinion.

I really feel there is something for everyone, so you can adapt to suit you.

We found the service fantastic and I think that can make or break your holiday.

Stop worrying, I am sure you will love it.

Have a fantastic time...

Andy

I personally wouldn’t go on Celebrity again after my poor experience on the Eclipse. They dealt with my food allergy by ignoring it, dining room food poor and wait staff surly and disinterested. Cabin steward did an adequate job, but was also surly, and he emptied the wardrobe (next morning’s clothes) and bathroom on our last evening and put all our things on the bed while we were at dinner!

I didn’t find the staff particularly pleasant overall and would certainly not want to repeat the experience. I can only speak as I found it.

Have been on Britannnia twice and enjoyed both cruises. Good cabin stewards, decent food (I knows that’s subjective) and a nice atmosphere over the ship. Wouldn’t hesitate to go on Britannia again.

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I have cruised mostly with Celebrity and RCL and Almas had great cruises with them. Last year I went on Azura to the Fjords (my very first cruise around 17 years ago was with P&O on the Oriana). I was very pleasantly surprised. I felt that P&O had learned some good stuff from the American lines but also retained some of its a British charm.

I loved the ship and sailed n her again last month.

Will always look at itinerary first but P&O is now back on my list.

I personally wouldn’t go on Celebrity again after my poor experience on the Eclipse. They dealt with my food allergy by ignoring it, dining room food poor and wait staff surly and disinterested. Cabin steward did an adequate job, but was also surly, and he emptied the wardrobe (next morning’s clothes) and bathroom on our last evening and put all our things on the bed while we were at dinner!

I didn’t find the staff particularly pleasant overall and would certainly not want to repeat the experience. I can only speak as I found it.

Have been on Britannnia twice and enjoyed both cruises. Good cabin stewards, decent food (I knows that’s subjective) and a nice atmosphere over the ship. Wouldn’t hesitate to go on Britannia again.

 

 

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How did he expect you to go to bed? That's awful behaviour. Hope you complained.

I have cruised mostly with Celebrity and RCL and Almas had great cruises with them. Last year I went on Azura to the Fjords (my very first cruise around 17 years ago was with P&O on the Oriana). I was very pleasantly surprised. I felt that P&O had learned some good stuff from the American lines but also retained some of its a British charm.

I loved the ship and sailed n her again last month.

Will always look at itinerary first but P&O is now back on my list.

Interesting comment, could you pleased elaborate on what good stuff P&O have learned from the American Lines.:confused:

I think they have improved the embarkation and disembarkation, they are a little less stuffy at dinner, they have more cocktails on offer than they ever used to.

I do like the way you sign a drinks bill and there is no option to tip, wish the US ships would learn from that! :-)

I think they have improved the embarkation and disembarkation, they are a little less stuffy at dinner, they have more cocktails on offer than they ever used to.

I do like the way you sign a drinks bill and there is no option to tip, wish the US ships would learn from that! :-)

Thanks Deeliteful, very interesting observations. :)

I think they have improved the embarkation and disembarkation, they are a little less stuffy at dinner, they have more cocktails on offer than they ever used to.

I do like the way you sign a drinks bill and there is no option to tip, wish the US ships would learn from that! :-)

And on the U.S. ships they add at least 15% service charge and still leave room for a tip :o

And on the U.S. ships they add at least 15% service charge and still leave room for a tip :o

We've just returned from a cruise on Celebrity Constellation, following two previous summer cruises on Ventura. Overall we thought Celebrity edged P&O regarding overall onboard experience. The two P&O cruises were ex Southampton, and the Constellation was a fly cruise Venice-Venice. Although all cruises were in the Summer holidays, our overall impression that the average age of passengers on Celebrity was suprisingly younger. Possibly not as many children on Celebrity v P&O, but certainly the adults on board seemed generally younger.

We had no problems with service in the MDR, and learnt from our experience with P&O in that we would go down to the dining room early and request a table for our preferred time. Invariably we ended up with a window table. Although there were three of us in our party, we always had our own table and were never asked to share. There seemed to be less larger tables in the MDR than on P&O. Service on the whole was exceptional , even to details such as type of bread/butter choices. Although P&O food quality is very good, we also thought that Celebrity's offering were great too; once you had mastered the choice of menu descriptions etc.

The ship never felt crowded, and always sunbeds available if you were prepared to move away from the main pool areas. Entertainment was perhaps a little less British orientated, which in some ways is no bad thing. Lots more areas with low key , more intimate live music etc.

Going forward we were impressed enough to book again with Celebrity next Summer, sailing from Southampton. We had compared pricing with P&O and felt that Celebrity offered the best package overall. Last cruise we had a little onboard credit and left with a total bill of less than 20 US dollars. Obviously we had no drinks to pay for, whereas on P&O we had left the ship owing over £1000 on our cabin account.