LIVE FROM Eclipse with video and photographs

[Albert Ross]

P&O or Celebrity?

[Jo and Rob]

P&O or Celebrity?

 

P&O or Celebrity?

That is a good question! We book our cruises based on itinerary, time and price and are happy to bounce about cruise companies as our past cruises show! In order to address this question carefully I will try and assess different components of our cruise. We have only cruised with each company once and are aware that our experience on Celebrity was on a new ship as opposed to the older Oceana on P&O, however as that is all we know so our judgement to date is as follows:

 

1. Cabins – P&O was an outside and Celebrity was a balcony. The bathroom on Celebrity was much bigger and there was more storage in the bathroom. Wardrobe space was much greater on P&O with 50% more hanging space. Storage space was also much greater on P&O with numerous drawers and shelf space. Both had kettles sailing out of Southampton. Complementary water on embarkation day and biscuits daily on P&O, but not on Celebrity. Both turned down the beds and put chocolates on our pillows. Neither did towel animals. Preferred the cabin on Celebrity.

2. Alcohol rules – 2 bottles of wine (or a 3 litre box) on Celebrity on embarkation day only. P&O allow passengers to bring any wine and spirits onboard or buy duty free throughout the cruise. P&O wine hands down.

3. Drinks prices – I had a non-alcoholic package fortunately on Celebrity so I wasn’t watching the price of every coffee and iced drink however most passengers complained repeatedly about the drinks’ prices. P&O prices are much lower (home bar prices) so you can drink what you want without worrying. P&O wins again.

4. Pools – Both are fresh water, both provide towels without the need for a cruise card (unlike Royal Caribbean). Sun beds much plusher with Celebrity plus Eclipse had the water fountains. Eclipse also had a no extra charge (unlike Princess) adult only area with indoor pool etc called the Solarium. Both had a grill by the main pool but Eclipse was much quicker serving. Eclipse also had free ice-cream. Celebrity wins.

5. Entertainment – Didn’t experience a lot on P&O and Eclipse after a worrying start had excellent entertainment with Mike Doyle as the star guest. P&O and Celebrity draw on this one.

6. Port shuttle buses – The Celebrity shuttles were extremely expensive and a rip off quite frankly. P&O provides free shuttles which is huge attraction for us as it helps us do ports independently. P&O wins.

7. Meet and greet at the ports – Celebrity always welcomed us with iced flannels, water and fruit punch, P&O just had a gangway. Celebrity wins.

8. Excursions - Similar excursions offered with both but P&O are cheaper. P&O wins.

9. Tips – Celebrity had the most expensive tips of any cruise line we have sailed (Costa, Royal Caribbean, Princess, P&O and Celebrity) and P&O are by far the cheapest. P&O wins.

10. Evening Dining – Quality of ingredients on the Eclipse was superb and the food in the Main Dining Room was excellent. There was an any time menu on one side of the menu and a changing menu on the other. Eclipse served some of the best steaks we have ever eaten. Celebrity wins.

11. Lunch and afternoon tea – Celebrity only opens MDR on sea days and only offered “elegant tea” twice in the MDR in 14 days. On P&O the MDR is open every day for lunch and afternoon tea is also served everyday. P&O wins.

12. Buffet – Eclispe lay out with islands of food stations was so much better than Oceana which had long queues. Eclipse also had a fabulous selection of scoop and soft serve ice-cream with sauce and goodies. Celebrity wins hands down.

13. Service – Our waiters rushed us on Eclipse and cleared starters and set down the soup for one person while others were still eating their starters. The problem improved but returned again and was a real issue for us. Service was always very good on P&O. P&O wins.

14. Cabin Steward – Our steward on the Eclipse repeatedly delivered the wrong kids club schedule for either Oliver or Emily and was very careless, constantly banging our neighbours’ door when going in and out (so much so we went outside our cabin to see who was messing about only to find it was our steward not being bothered to close the door quietly!) No complaints on P&O. P&O wins.

15. Ship – Eclipse was a beautiful ship. We loved the lawn club and all areas looked light and modern. Oceana has an attractive atrium which provides the wow factor and a focal point of the ship which is one aspect we felt that the Eclipse lacked however the rest of the ship more than made up for this. Celebrity wins.

16. Kids’ clubs – Our children enjoyed the clubs on both lines. I was surprised how small the cadets’ room was on Eclipse for such a big ship but their craft activities were very popular with Emily. P&O and Celebrity draw on this one.

 

I’m sure there are other aspects I have not remembered but hopefully this has answered your question.

 

 

 

We would be happy to sail with both lines again without hesitation. :)

[Courier95]

We have enjoyed your postings and videos especially as our next sailing will be the first time on a Solstice class ship.

 

Is the alcohol rule you mention regarding the 3 litre box of wine now an official Celebrity ruling? From what I can see their terms and conditions still state 2 bottles per stateroom, albeit no size is given. There is another thread on the Celebrity roll call entitled Box wine - what was the verdict? which has differing views. Just looking for clarification before our sailing!

[uktog]

Is the alcohol rule you mention regarding the 3 litre box of wine now an official Celebrity ruling?

 

 

From what I can see their terms and conditions still state 2 bottles per stateroom, albeit no size is given. There is another thread on the Celebrity roll call entitled Box wine - what was the verdict? which has differing views. Just looking for clarification before our sailing!

 

The official ruling in the terms and conditions is 2 bottles and whilst guests may report success with wine boxes, technically these could be confiscated. If you accept there is a risk you will lose the wine box then you can rely on the recent views of some passengers, if you want to stay 100% safe, stick to 2 bottles

[Dorset Cruiser]

Thank you Kathy

I had never heard of the term bucket list until this cruise but I love it and will adopt it!

 

 

You must watch the DVD of the film entitled 'The Bucket List'. It stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman and is a wonderful film. Won't give away the storyline too much but it is about a man who is terminally ill and wants to fulfill all the wishes on his bucket list before he 'kicks the bucket'!!!!

 

It's what me and DH are attempting to do.

 

Like you we are trying different cruiselines at the moment although we are nearly up to Elite on Princess, our favourite line so far, and I would love to achieve that, if only for the free laundry:D

 

Our last two cruises have been on P&O and Royal Caribbean. After two RC cruises, we are not really struck on the line, and we felt that P&O Ventura had something missing - but could not really put a finger on it. Our next cruise is Celebrity Silhouette in January so we will see what you have been talking (and videoing) so eloquently about:D

[upwarduk]

Celebrity win on initial costings ( after having had a 2A balcony on Mercury in OZ/NZ we could only match the price with an obstructed view on Arcadia)

 

P&O have the advantage that if you don't like flying you can sail from Southampton & because of this they still hold their fares relatively high.

There used to be no competition from UK, but now the Eclipse has entered the market-???

Also Eclipse is doing Northern European itineries in 2012- as Jo says, we book by itinerary.

 

P&O wine/ beer prices are much lower & because of this Celebrity are going to loose out IMO.

 

However, after our next cruise, we will be Elite on Celebrity, so we will get a 'free drinks Happy Hour.' Is this the reason that drinks are so highly priced for other passengers on Celebrity?

[rolfecms]

P&O or Celebrity?

That is a good question! We book our cruises based on itinerary, time and price and are happy to bounce about cruise companies as our past cruises show! In order to address this question carefully I will try and assess different components of our cruise. We have only cruised with each company once and are aware that our experience on Celebrity was on a new ship as opposed to the older Oceana on P&O, however as that is all we know so our judgement to date is as follows...

 

Thanks for the great comparisons between Celebrity and P&O. Can you comment on value for money between the two lines? We book our cruises on the US side so prices are always quoted in USD. We have contemplated P&O but in dollars they seem to have higher prices than Celebrity for comparable accommodations.

 

Also, how many Americans did you see on your P&O cruise?

[Mermen]

Getting Confused with Rob and Jo's thread -

 

Sorry will post over on Rob's. LOL

Edited August 18, 2011 by Mermen

[tartanexile81]

P&O or Celebrity?

5. Entertainment – Didn’t experience a lot on P&O and Eclipse after a worrying start had excellent entertainment with Mike Doyle as the star guest. P&O and Celebrity draw on this one.

 

We would be happy to sail with both lines again without hesitation. :)

 

I agree that we'd happily sail again with either as we've sailed with various lines as well, but these days we prefer to sail from Southampton so P&O offer more options for us than any other line.

 

On the whole we'd pretty much agree with what Jo and Rob said in their comparisons. I think they might have been on P&O Oceana as well where the cabins are a bit frayed round the edges, so Solstice class cabins are much better. As a child-free couple of 50+, for us P&O wins hands-down in the entertainment department and this is another of the main reasons we like them.

[Jo and Rob]

Rolfecms, Celebrity were much much cheaper when we booked it over a year ago (which is why we booked Celebrity!) However, the price of our cabin went up from £5000 that we paid to £8000 so we were glad we booked it when we did and like that Celebrity may not always be cheaper. Our only experience on P&O was definitely mainly UK market but don't let that put you off. We are quite friendly. ;)

 

Our next two cruises are booked with P&O as we booked them as soon as the brochure came out and got some very competitive prices. Another comparison I have thought of:

Laundrette and ironing facilities - no self serve launderette or ironing facilities on Celebrity and the individual item service is extremely expensive. P&O has free washing machines and tumble dryers as well as ironing boards and irons for passengers to us. This is a huge bonus for us. P&O win.

 

Courier 95, we felt that a box of wine (3 litres) was less likely to break and checked it in at luggage drop off in a rucksack so we didn't have to lug it about. Celebrity also let passengers bring alcohol onboard at some ports but not others so they certainly didn't follow the rules stated on these boards at times telling passengers to go ahead and enjoy it. We never tried to do this but shared lifts with passengers clinking in the lift and expressing surprise when they were told to keep their alcohol. This certainly went down well with passengers but was not always the case.

 

Dorset Cruiser, what was missing on Ventura? We are sailing on her sister ship next August and would appreciate your views.

[upwarduk]

we felt that P&O Ventura had something missing - but could not really put a finger on it.

 

Ventura was initially marketed as a child friendly ship.

[Jo and Rob]

I appreciate you taking the time to share your insights with us, as this is your thread!

 

I have a Sony HD camcorder and like you, my wide angle is most always on my cam.

 

I do not yet have the light for my camera hotfoot, but will purchase one before our next sailing, glad to know what you use. Can I ask though about this? I seem to always have a problem with low-light. For example, if I'm taking footage in the cabin, it generally gets washed out. Do you always use the LED lights for indoor or do you also use the little cam switch for low-light? It's usually hard for me to tell when I need to switch over, and if I look at the pull-out LCD screen and switch the little button, don't really see a difference. My apologies if you had already planned on covering this issue, but would love to hear your opinion.

 

Second question: I know that you produced a 1 to 2-minute video every day for family, friends and the board here - but do you produce longer videos of your complete vacation? Another words, do you have a larger project of say 20-40 minutes of your vacations? Just curious.

 

Thanks again for your time and feedback, we really enjoyed watching your videos.

 

Hi Mermen,

 

My Canon camera like most camcorders suffers in low light indoors. I usually have the histogram scale on (in most camera's menu settings) and as soon as drops off the underexposure scale the pictures become very noisy and grainy. This is when I use the Lite panels LED light which has an infinitely variable dimmer switch so I can see how well it is exposing the subject in the camera's LCD screen whilst using the dimmer switch. The light also gives a great fill in light to your subjects eyes which often are in shadows due to overhead lighting. I think being able to see you subjects eyes is key and if you subject is moving during the shot I find the LED light with a dimmer switch very useful.

 

The video's I produce onboard are all low quality. I compress them all at around 10-15 MB per video this is due to the slow upload speeds over the ship's satellite Wifi. When I return home I re-compress them all together at a much higher quality and send the video file to our downstairs Lacie High Definition 1TB Media player for playback on our HD TV. Next I produce a small imovie style trailer

and put this up on You tube for friends and family to see as a small taster and finally I will produce a longer video of around 15 mins.

 

PS. I loved your video and the quality was fantastic

 

Kind Regards

 

Rob

[LovesBeagles]

I'm having withdrawls:)

 

Have you thought about continuing this thread with your daily life?;)

 

Maria

[u2cruiser]

Very interesting to read the comparisons on P&O and Celebrity. I've sailed on both within the last year. They are like chalk and cheese to me, but both great cruise experiences.

 

While Celebrity definitely has the best trained staff as a whole, and has that little extra regarding service and decorum, P&O has something unique. I can only describe it as a camaraderie between officers, crew and passengers that I've never experienced before on any other line.

 

I didn't expect to like being amongst all Brits as I love the more international feel of the American cruiselines, but I was amazed how comfortable the experience was, not to mention the ship (Ventura) and very comfortable cabins with tea and coffee facilities. I wonder if the lack of an International feel was what you found lacking Dorset Cruiser?

 

If I had to choose between the 2, on identical itineraries I would choose Celebrity, for the refined service, cafe al bacio, Martini bar and lack of chair hogs. :)

[Dorset Cruiser]

Rolfecms, Celebrity were much much cheaper when we booked it over a year ago (which is why we booked Celebrity!) However, the price of our cabin went up from £5000 that we paid to £8000 so we were glad we booked it when we did and like that Celebrity may not always be cheaper. Our only experience on P&O was definitely mainly UK market but don't let that put you off. We are quite friendly. ;)

 

Our next two cruises are booked with P&O as we booked them as soon as the brochure came out and got some very competitive prices. Another comparison I have thought of:

Laundrette and ironing facilities - no self serve launderette or ironing facilities on Celebrity and the individual item service is extremely expensive. P&O has free washing machines and tumble dryers as well as ironing boards and irons for passengers to us. This is a huge bonus for us. P&O win.

 

Courier 95, we felt that a box of wine (3 litres) was less likely to break and checked it in at luggage drop off in a rucksack so we didn't have to lug it about. Celebrity also let passengers bring alcohol onboard at some ports but not others so they certainly didn't follow the rules stated on these boards at times telling passengers to go ahead and enjoy it. We never tried to do this but shared lifts with passengers clinking in the lift and expressing surprise when they were told to keep their alcohol. This certainly went down well with passengers but was not always the case.

 

Dorset Cruiser, what was missing on Ventura? We are sailing on her sister ship next August and would appreciate your views.

 

 

Jo - don't get me wrong, Ventura is a lovely ship; identical to some of the Princess ships such as Golden and Sapphire but we felt that there was something 'missing' in terms of the atmosphere on the ship - it all seemed a little 'flat' when compared to Princess.

 

We also felt the service in the dining room was not very friendly - our waiters couldn't even raise a smile most days. The food was good and aimed more at British palates than the American ships and, of course, the drinks prices were very good indeed.

 

The service in the buffet in the Waterside irritated us a bit as they were for ever closing down sides of the buffet at lunch and breakfast and sending diners down to the far end which functions as The Beach House in the evenings. Also we found the crockery extremely heavy - I have never come across such heavy plates on a cruise ship and when you have a tray with a plate of food, cutlery and possibly a beverage and are hunting around for that non-existent seat - nightmare:eek:

 

Ramblas tapas restaurant looks really good and the menu reads well but we found that the food did not have any authentic Spanish flavour - we had chicken which was identical to what I serve at home for a weekday supper - not at all what I was expecting and also my almond pudding dessert had obviously been microwaved - even I don't do that:(

 

However, nothing but praise for The White Room - superb meal and service - a lovely experience, worth every penny. You have Sindhu on Azura by Atul Kochhar - what a treat and also The Glass House wine bar with selections by Olly Smith - lucky you.

 

Entertainment was not very inspiring with quite a few repeat acts, tribute acts and acrobats; it appeared to us that P&O are aiming Ventura at the Ocean Village market and there is nothing wrong with that, it is only that we tried Ocean Village and did not like that kind of cruise experience.

 

We had an upgrade to a Superior Deluxe balcony which was excellent - so nice to have the bath and the room was the equivalent to the Princess mini-suite but for far less money as we only paid for a standard balcony.

 

We would cruise P&O again but probably not on Ventura - might try Oceana as that is similar to Sea and Dawn Princess which are ships we really enjoy or may be on Azura (if I like your live-from:D).

 

Chris

[Lois R]

I'm having withdrawls:)

 

Have you thought about continuing this thread with your daily life?;)

 

Maria

 

Maria, now that was good:D.....

[Growl]

Fantastic video's on you tube, well done it must have been a lot of work, but what a great job.

brought back lots of memories, Thank you, Graham & Sam.

[Britchic4]

 

Dorset Cruiser, what was missing on Ventura? We are sailing on her sister ship next August and would appreciate your views.

 

Azura is fabulous Jo, you will love her. Don't miss the speciality restaurants, The Glass House, Sindhu and Seventeen. In fact Seventeen was so fantastic we went twice.

We are on Oceana next year from 21st March, I wonder if you are on the same cruise from your sig?

[Jo and Rob]

Fantastic video's on you tube, well done it must have been a lot of work, but what a great job.

brought back lots of memories, Thank you, Graham & Sam.

 

Thank you. Rob is an absolute star I don't know how he did it.

 

I thought I would share some more photos.

We really loved the frozed drinks, and there are a lot more non-alcoholic cocktails available than the zero proof ones listed at the bars. A really good one is a strawberry daiquiri (without the alcohol), which can also be a raspberry daiquiri or any flavour they have juice for!

 

 

 

The food on Eclipse was amazing so I thought I'd share some of the delights we experienced in the Main Dining Room.

 

Here are a few of examples of lunch which was always smaller portions than dinner and ideal for a bit of gastronomic pampering without the cover charge! Interesting it was also listed as open in Gibraltar but apart from that it was only open on sea days.

 

 

 

 

The steak in the evening was always a safe bet. As well as the New York Sirloin on the anytime menu other steaks would appear on the daily menu which might have added seasoning but steaks didn't regularly come with a sauce. The good news is they were so full of flavour it wasn't an issue.

 

 

 

 

I will post more pictures but can only do six at a time! Doesn't it make you feel hungry!! Oh to be back on board!

[curiouscat]

This is a most wonderful family video....and of course we just love your brit accents...:p

 

But !!! In Gibralter you have it marked as Spain... It borders Spain but is a British Colony ...Just an fyi...

 

And for us that was the worst port we ever went to (19 cruises)..... :mad: There was no English hospitality there for us....

 

CC

[nik23]

The videos were AMAZING....it made my decision to cruise on Celebrity an easy one!! Thank you so much for sharing. Your family is beautiful.

[Tiggertastic]

This was great, we got off this ship on the day you got on, 30th July and it was lovely to see the ship etc all over again

 

I can't believe we didn;t spot that 1 bing was up and 2 was down - we kept watching to see which arrow lit up - but now we know

[Vol fan]

Thank you. Rob is an absolute star I don't know how he did it.

 

I thought I would share some more photos.

We really loved the frozed drinks, and there are a lot more non-alcoholic cocktails available than the zero proof ones listed at the bars. A really good one is a strawberry daiquiri (without the alcohol), which can also be a raspberry daiquiri or any flavour they have juice for!

 

 

 

The food on Eclipse was amazing so I thought I'd share some of the delights we experienced in the Main Dining Room.

 

Here are a few of examples of lunch which was always smaller portions than dinner and ideal for a bit of gastronomic pampering without the cover charge! Interesting it was also listed as open in Gibraltar but apart from that it was only open on sea days.

 

 

 

 

The steak in the evening was always a safe bet. As well as the New York Sirloin on the anytime menu other steaks would appear on the daily menu which might have added seasoning but steaks didn't regularly come with a sauce. The good news is they were so full of flavour it wasn't an issue.

 

 

 

 

I will post more pictures but can only do six at a time! Doesn't it make you feel hungry!! Oh to be back on board!

Jo,

I notice in the picture of Rob that he has on a Cruise Critic name tag. Did the ship supply these or did someone on the Roll Call make them?

I am planning to make name tags for our Connections Party on the Sept. 17 Solstice cruise as on our previous Celebrity cruises the ship has never supplied name tags.

 

Carole

[Jo and Rob]

Yes, Derekthesailor from our roll call offered to make everyone badges and it was really appreciated by everyone. We actually met before the connections party which was a great idea. We chose the Ocean View Bar at Sailaway (aft) and Derek had all the badges ready to give out. This worked really well as it meant that we had already met by the Connections Party the next day and which was also well attended. Poor Derek didn't get invited to the Connections Party for some reason so I would suggest if you don't get a phone call and letter on the first night ask guest services so you don't miss out. We bumped into people from our roll call throughout the cruise and it was really great to catch up again (it was if we were old friends!)

[Vol fan]

Yes, Derekthesailor from our roll call offered to make everyone badges and it was really appreciated by everyone. We actually met before the connections party which was a great idea. We chose the Ocean View Bar at Sailaway (aft) and Derek had all the badges ready to give out. This worked really well as it meant that we had already met by the Connections Party the next day and which was also well attended. Poor Derek didn't get invited to the Connections Party for some reason so I would suggest if you don't get a phone call and letter on the first night ask guest services so you don't miss out. We bumped into people from our roll call throughout the cruise and it was really great to catch up again (it was if we were old friends!)

 

Thanks, Jo. I have made name tags for our last 5 or 6 cruises. On our last cruise on the Eclipse, I didn't get an invite either, but, luckily, had spoken with everyone at the Sail Away Party and knew when the Connections Party was being held! Thanks, again.

Carole