Some advice would be great!!

[Kynance103]

Hi all, we have sailed with Royal Caribbean on a number of occasions but are thinking about trying an P&O cruise. I am sorry if this question has been asked before but could someone please let us know what are the main differences between Royal Caribbean and P&O. When we have cruised with RC before we have tended to use there bigger ships e.g. Independence of the seas.

 

We would be looking to use the Southampton port.

 

Thank you for any help given.

[the english lady]

Obvious ones P and O are aimed at a British market, so entertainment and food will be aimed at their tastes.

Drinks will be a lot cheaper as will gratuities.

Dependent on which ship you pick, they could also be a lot more formal dress wise.

On Aurora you will find people dress up most nights, and on formal nights a good 99% will be in DJ's and psoh frocks.

[richleeds]

As per the english lady, also to summarise we find RCCL more showbiz/loud and international and P&O more British/understated.

 

Both have strengths/weaknesses.

[Presto2]

Hi

We have only done P&O twice on Oceana and sailed with RCI on the IOTS for a 4 night cruise for my birthday last October - both from Southampton.

 

Off the top of my head, just a few thoughts:

 

The Oceana is much smaller and an older ship, but made for the US market and very pretty - has a great atrium.

 

P&O is more traditional - though they have Freedom dining in the same way as RCI / Celebrity so no difference.

 

P&O tend to be more formal on Formal Nights, but we found the IOTS was more formal that Celebrity by far and most people dressed up

 

ON P&O the Select Dining venues are MUCH cheaper and you still get the turn down service with a chocolate on your pillow. A little thing but we love it !

 

Muster drill is FAR more professional on P&O - it was a shambles on IOTS when we were there.

 

P&O is far cheaper if you like a drink - you can take on a box of wine and drinks are a decent price - no service charges. It is a MUCH cheaper holiday if you drink. It was also soooo much easier to order 6 litre bottles of water on P&O and far cheaper.

 

On P&O you get a kettle with lots of teas, coffees and milks and loads of biscuits that are replenished every day.

 

Cabins about the same standard and staff great on both

 

P&O have family friendly ships as well as RCI -

 

We got the feeling on IOTS that in the warmer months the decks would be very very busy - almost like an amusement park with all the added extras. Not our idea of a holiday - but we prefer adults only holidays if possible. Having said that P&O have Family Friendly Ships and Adults only.

 

If you prefer bigger ships P&O have large ships too - Azura, Ventura and the new Britannia.

 

Entertainment - not too sure as we don't really do the shows. They did the Great British Sailaway on P&O and something similar on IOTS

 

On IOTS we hated the promenade shopping area but loved the Champagne Bar - and the wrap round Promenade..

 

On IOTS we thought the buffet for breakfast was a nightmare - P&O was less chaotic

 

I could go on and on ---- why not give P&O a go. We gave RCI a go and had a lovely time. A cruise is very often what YOU make it. :D:)

 

Any more questions just ask

 

:)

[Kynance103]

Hi

 

Thank you very much for the reply's. I must admit we do enjoy the bigger ships and would be very interested in the new Britannia ship. We are a family of 4 with 2 children, the youngest being 17 months. We are thinking about a cruise in the summer 2015, will Britannia be ready by then and will it be child friendly? We was thinking about Anthem but the pricing is pretty high.

 

What is the boarding process like with P&O, because we have sailed with RC before we never have to Que, which is a advantage with children.

 

Any more help and advice would be great. Thank you once again for the advice so far.

[Kynance103]

Hi

 

Another question, with Royal Caribbean child prices are reduced is this the case with P&O? I just tried a booking on Britannia and there appeared to be no discount for children?

[Presto2]

Hi

 

Another question, with Royal Caribbean child prices are reduced is this the case with P&O? I just tried a booking on Britannia and there appeared to be no discount for children?

 

Sorry, can't help on this one as we are a couple with no children.

 

Re boarding - I think it all depends on where the ship is for embarkation.

On both occasions though we didn't really have to queue at all - well apart from 15 minutes this time when we arrived early.

 

We are on Britannia for July 2015 so am hoping that she will, most definitely, be ready to sail by then :D;) She is classed as a Family Friendly ship

Edited June 1, 2014 by Presto2

[groovechick]

Hi Kynance,

 

Our first cruise 3 years ago, after a gap of many years (previously sailed with P&O), was on VoyagerOTS, out of Venice. We have since had two cruises on P&O - one on Aurora, one on Azura. Both are family friendly - Aurora is mid-sized, Azura is similar in size to Voyager (3100 pax). Our children are teenagers.

 

The main differences we noted were the additional charges and upselling on RCI. Drinks were massively more expensive on VOTS. Had to pay for shuttles, photos were more expensive, ditto speciality restaurant cover charges. We felt that people were trying to take more money off us all the time.

 

Photographers were much more in our faces and wouldn't leave us alone even when we said we didn't want photos. Harder sell of drinks when out on deck and positive sneers from some RCI waiters when we declined. Our children found the constant music booming out around the pools just too much, and this from two music-mad teens. They didn't use the RCI children's clubs but love the P&O clubs. Unfortunately the oldest is now out of age range.

 

P&O embarkation is much more civilised. Maybe it was just because it was Venice, but apart from the airport to port transfer, the rest of the RCI process was hot, bad tempered (RCI staff) and chaotic. The muster drill was a shambles too.

 

You're unlikely to have to wait long to board at Southampton with P&O. The whole process has only ever taken us about 30 minutes, and you're in a comfortable, air-conditioned space with plenty of seating.

 

Voyager's buffet was better (I love the crispy bacon :D) and RCI probably slightly edged it on MDR service too.

 

Entertainment: more spectacular on RCI (ice show) but more geared to American market and very badly organised (in terms of ticketing for the must-sees like the ice show).

 

I sound like I'm really down on RCI, but we had a super cruise and would happily go with them again, depending on price and itinerary, which is the reason our last two sailings have been with P&O.

[Kynance103]

Hi, thank you for the reply. I must admit we are leaning towards P&O. The Britannia ship is of great interest to us.

[rooftop]

Hi

 

Another question, with Royal Caribbean child prices are reduced is this the case with P&O? I just tried a booking on Britannia and there appeared to be no discount for children?

 

I think it depends on the particular P&O cruise - we've just paid 60% of the adult fare for our 6 year old.