Differences between P&O & Princess

We have cruised Princess twice but would like to go from Southampton - has anyone cruised on both lines who can offer any opinion on the differences between the two lines.

Island Princes, February 2004

Golden Princess, June 2002

Opps sorry

WallyGator

"Keep smiling and never stop cruising"

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Celebrity Galaxy, Med Cruise

Caribbean Princess

NCL Dawn Adventurers II

Princess (Dawn)10/97

Carnival (Holiday)10/2001

Princess (Grand)01/2002

Norwegian(Star)09/2002 (Hawaii)

Princess (Dawn) 11/05/2002 (Panama Canal)

Celebrity (Constellation)Transatlantic East Bound

04/26/2003

Norwegian Sky (Alaska) 08/30/2003

Norwegian Dawn 10/19/03

Norwegian Dawn, Crazy Cruisers 1/25/2004

wclark1192@aol.com

Hi Kittycat,

We have been on both lines. Thought both were very good but it really is a personal taste thing. Also depends on which ship. Aurora has the best cabins in P&O as she was built with the US market in mind and are comparable to Princess but the other ships cabins in P&O are on the small side. We enjoy cruising with a mix of nationalities but P&O is obviously mainly all (older) Brits and the food is slanted towards UK market. However, they still have silver service at the table rather than the plate being already prepared with the whole meal and we thought this was better, so we do prefer P&O dining to Princess, other people prefer Princess, purely personal taste again.

The biggest difference we found was with the entertainment - P&O's was awful and you could not get a drink in the Theatre - some people would find that a plus but we enjoy a drink after dinner at the show.

I am sure overall that you would enjoy P&O but whatever you do don't book via a high street shop. Do your homework on the net etc. If you go to the P&O site I think they have preferred travel agents listed, we have always booked with one agency that has weekly special offers and we have saved a fortune. We book all our Celebrity/Princess cruises through a US travel agent and get much better prices than in the UK.

Hope this helps.

Lyn Mc

Haven't been on P&O since 1970, and sail Princess rather often.

Responder above right on - food very British on P&O, much more Continental/International (with American tastes in mind) on Princess.

Entertainment also much different - more "pub night" style on P&O, Vegas style production shows on Princess. P&O probably has higher caliber guest lecturers than Princess, and more offerings of chamber type music.

Two very different markets.

Michael

This is the question I was about to post so hope you don't mind me joining the thread

We usually book Princess or Royal Caribbean through a US TA as it's so much cheaper, but are quite interested in the Arcadia Caribbean itinerary for Nov 2005.

A couple of questions.....is P&O really snobby and class conscious? I was once put off by reading a review of the Oriana which said "there was a constant air of yob versus snob, and there was always someone to look down on"!!!! That is NOT my idea of a pleasant cruise.

Also, are there different restaurants depending on the type of cabin booked ie. a two class system?

My next question to Lynn is...would you mind telling me which UK TA you use to book P&O?

All the prices I have seen are identical to the penny

Hi Sue,

Re your questions re P&O, they are definately not snobby! There are two dining rooms but that is just because of the numbers on board, there definately isn't a two tier system as per QE2 and QM2 etc. You can also dine al fresco at the french style cafe and on some nights thay have a speciality night in the conservatory/orangery (depends which ship you are on) buffet style restaurants.

I don't think we are supposed to name travel agents on the boards but as you asked, we book with SavenSail but we never book early, best prices are two months or so out from sail date. However, having said that we have no children and so dates are not set in stone. If you have to book for a family then a late booking is not always the best idea because your dates are not always fluid. But their prices are very good and their service is second to none. Find a price for a cruise and then ring them or go online at their website, I am sure they will be only to willing to help you get the best deal.

Hope this helps.

Lyn

Lyn

I don't think we've breached the rules....as I understand it, we can ask for the name of the agency and how others have found them, but we can't give the name of individual agents eg "Jane at ....com"

Anyway, thanks for your reply - I didn't expect to get an answer so quickly as the P&O board is not so active as the US cruiseline boards

I get regular emails from SavenSail and they do seem to have good late deals. My problem is that I need to request my leave up to 12 months in advance for popular times, so I've decided to request mid Sept and mid Nov so as to cover all eventualities (Med or Caribbean deals) , then cancel the weeks I don't need nearer the time. I'm lucky enough to get 8 weeks a year from October. Hope this strategy pays off!

Nice to know P&O isn't snobby.We're still leaning towards Princess - we KNOW we'll like it and amongst other things we'd miss the Americans onboard - makes for interesting conversations. We'll probably book something through our US TA knowing that we can cancel without penalty if we find a better deal, but in the end we'll probably go for the best deal - be it P&O or Princess

We've taken the plunge and booked Oceana for Nov 2005 after getting a brilliant deal from Savensail (via email which arrived just after my last posting - must have been an omen LOL)

Looking forward to seeing the differences between P&O and Princess, especially as we've been on sister ship Dawn Princess

Been on 15 Princess cruises and one on Oriania on segment of world cruise.

Bars are pubs. Everything quoted in pounds not dollars. Beer is a pound a can and not $3.50. Ice tea is a special order. Salad are had to find. Shows have brittish flavor and a refreshing raunchy humor. The officers are Brittish. The people are friendly after all their not the French. Lay out of ships are similar to Princess. I think you will enjoy. You feel you are in Europe wiithout even getting off ship.

We have cruised Princess twice but would like to go from Southampton - has anyone cruised on both lines who can offer any opinion on the differences between the two lines.

 

Island Princes, February 2004

Golden Princess, June 2002

Hi

Oriana will go from England in Nov round trip, we hope to be on it.

http://community.webshots.com/user/jamesraymondcox

We have sailed with both and yes the P & O brand is very English, some people prefer this to American.

We found that the Brits keep to the dress code which some pople prefer they know when they go on a cruise that people are expected to dress accordingly.

I cannot agree that the shows are better on Princess, they used to be, but the last time I was on Dawn Princess the shaows were terrible. Alot of people complained and walked out of the production shows. The dancers seemed to be just going through the motions.

I am travelling on Adonia in 2 weeks so will see how this ship fares.

Yes as other posters have said SavenSail in Blackpool are very very good with discounts.

Have recently booked both a Princess (Alaska 2005) and P&O (Arcadia Jan 2006) cruise so will eventually establish if there are many differences. We did a Panama Canal cruise on the Coral Princess in Jan this year and really enjoyed the whole experience.

Now that both are owned by Carnival, and once Arcadia is launched P&O's fleet will mainly be US style ships, I would expect the style to be fairly similar, the difference will be in the passenger mix so we just have to persuade more Americans to book with P&O.

Terrierjohn

I think more Americans would book P&O if they would make it easier. Princess computers do not talk to P&O computers (I am told that they are working on that problem).

Few US travel agents like to sell P&O, partly due to the computer problem, and mainly because of the currency exchange. P&O has not quoted prices in US$, but only BPS, and many American TAs won't deal with the exchange rate. Allegedly, P&O pays less commission than Princess to TAs, which also impacts US sales.

I was told last May, while on Sun Princess, that both of the above problems would be resolved, perhaps later this year (that from a Princess Cruise Consultant).

Oddly enough, although Princess is getting Sea Princess back from P&O, ,most of the marketing is geared to the UK and continental markets.

Michael

There are some astounding offers about at the moment but you have to shop around.

It appears that TA's are getting group incentives.

Tried Savensail my regular TA for Feb 2006. He offered 45%+11% off brochure.

However I finally settled with another TA who offered the same deal plus £285 each OBC.

By the way question for lawyers out there. If I damage my liver by drinking all the OBC, who do I sue the TA or P&O.

Regards

Ray

we are looking for a good t.a. in u.k or u.s can you halp us

thank you.

lior

We just got a good deal on P&O for 11/11/05 from Savensail but it sounds as though cruisebore did even better - don't know which sailing

We use buycruises in Florida for most of our cruises but they don't sell P&O

There are some fantastic deals to be had out there from your local TA. We use an independent cruise specialist based in Newtownards who has always gone that little bit extra to ensure we get a good deal. I have seen some fantastic deals in various windows for late 2005/early 2006. I think that the UK TAs have realised the threat of people booking through American TAs and the deals/prices are becoming much more competitive - always remember that a UK TA usually includes port taxes and air-fare, some American TAs exclude port taxes in their quotes and I don't think any include the air-fare.

Ray - What grade of cabin have you gone for (I presume to get the £265 OBC it is not a basic inside cabin).

Ken

Hi Ken

Balcony Grade BC amidships, sailing 16? February. Would be content with an inside, but the balcony enables me to moderate wife's behaviour. I threaten to chuck her overboard if she gets out of hand.

BTW received an URGENT e-mail from Savensail to-day stating that due to massive demand all special offers for winter 2005/6 would be withdrawn at 5.30 p.m. this evening

Princess's 2005/6 Caribbean brochure arrived to-day offering Barbados departures on the Sea Princess, departures Gatwick, selected departures Manchester Birmingham East Midlands and Glasgow. I think flights are Virgin Atlantic.

Prices around £1500 for balcony assuming extra 10% from TA.

Regards

Ray

Received P&O's 2005 brochure in the mail yesterday, and it includes the new Arcadia (on a HAL Vista hull that was going to be Cunard's Queen Victoria).

It appears that they have addressed some of the complaints about the design as delivered to HAL. There are now more public bathrooms scattered about the entertainment decks, and they do have self-serve laundries on several of the cabin decks.

Too bad they make it so difficult for us Colonials to book.

Michael

Hi SueKay, Ken, Cruisebore et al,

Couldn't resist responding. Fancy meeting you all here!! :D I'm in the same boat (so to speak)... trying to decide whether to book another Princess cruise for summer 2005 (via the US) or try P&O. Oh what a dilemma. Am really happy with Princess, but the Greek cruise I want next July is on the Grand and there are numerous reports of her looking shabby (and talk of her going into 'wetdock' for 5 days in October is doing little to allay my fears). Think we've been spoilt ;)

Hi SueKay, Ken, Cruisebore et al,

 

Grand and there are numerous reports of her looking shabby (and talk of her going into 'wetdock' for 5 days in October is doing little to allay my fears). Think we've been spoilt ;)

Ourlol

What I want to know is, who has been messing up the Grand?

She is only 6 years old in October. One of our favourites the Dawn, was in pristine condition when we were last on her 2 years ago.

Come on American cousins, own up, who is to blame.

Regards

Ray

Hi to you all,

Looking at giving P&O a go with the Oceana 26Nov what do the regulars think would be a good price for this trip. Is it going to be worth hanging on for a late deal or not. current prices are around £1200 which is a little high for us even with the saving on the lower beer prices.

Glad you found us Ourlol!

Insidecabin - welcome

Is that Price from P&O or one of the discount agencies such as savensail, check-in cruiseclub, cruiseclub uk, cruisecontrol?

Unfortunately, savensail's huge discounts were removed suddenly last week due to massive demand, but I'm sure you'll still get a good deal out there. I'll keep an eye out for you

Thanks Suekay

All the published pricing seems to be around the £1200 mark on all the sites, P&O are currently at £1300+ so there is a bit of agent discount. Another option was the Golden Princess 28Nov which is about the same money or Coral Princess with a partial Panama transit.

We have a window from about 23Nov through 16Dec to fit in a trip of 2weeks(ish) Last year the Sunbird pricing got down to £600 so we could wait for that but we fancy spending a bit more and getting something a bit more upmarket and the Oceana trip fits the bill. Target price is about £1000.

I will give sailnsave a ring and see what they can do.

insidecabin

I just checked the savensail website - it's showing the cheapest inside cabin at £1010 for the Oceana 25/11/2005 Are you looking at 2004 or 2005?