P&O vs HAL

[Hflors]

I am thinking of a world cruise on P&O.  I have cruised on HAL.  hal and P&O LOOK SIMULAR. If you have sailed both how are they simular and how are they different?  Thanks for sny imput.

[GOQ]

I have very limited experience on this, so I apologise for a limited viewpoint.

 

I suppose it depends on where you sail from.

 

On a HAL Alaska cruise from Vancouver we were the only Brits on board the most of the other passengers were from  the US and Australia.

 

Sailing from Southampton to Norway it was, I guess, 100% Brits. 

 

Again , a limited viewpoint but hope it helps.

Edited October 5, 2021 by GOQ

[yorkshirephil]

I have had many cruises with P&O and only one with HAL on Koningsdam. P&O are generally cheaper than HAL and aimed at the British cruiser which is usually no problem for a US cruiser. I would choose HAL over P&O if the price and itinerary was similar or if HAL cruised out of the UK. If you have seen a cruise you like then give P&O a try, only you can really decide.

[alpha whiskey]

Hi 

We have done cruises on HAL and P&O. I would choose HAL over P&O for the food and service alone. We also prefer sailing with a bit more of an international mix of passengers.

I would also suggest booking a 7+ day cruise with P&O just to make sure you like the product before committing to a world cruise.

Having said that my sister in law has done 2 world cruises with P&O and had a superb time on each occasion. She does however have limited experience of other cruise lines.

We enjoy sailing with P&O out of Southampton during the winter months, but  do sample other lines during the summer when there is more choice of cruise ships.

 

 

 

[picsa]

HAL - Generally more affluent and younger Americans who want good service delivered efficiently.

 

P&O - Umm, their customers are generally not that.

 

To be frank I think that is what P&O struggles with, that it is trying to appeal to a wide range of very different market segments.

[Bgees]

When you read some of the comments from regular P&O cruisers on this forum you realise why P&O don't appeal to a wider audience.

I hope with our first P&O cruise coming up we don't meet the attitude that seems to prevail about what P&O should be like, compared to what they appear to be hoping to become with ships such as Iona, etc. 

 

I would go HAL.

 

 

 

[Britboys]

Sadly, I haven't yet sailed with HAL but would like to. I would suggest it is very risky for you to book a World Cruise on P&O without trying a shorter one first. The service-style on British lines is very different to that on American ones and the response to any issues of concern leaves a lot to be desired. Food and entertainment is also very much geared to British tastes.

[picsa]

2 hours ago, Bgees said:

I hope with our first P&O cruise coming up we don't meet the attitude that seems to prevail about what P&O should be like, compared to what they appear to be hoping to become with ships such as Iona, etc. 

 

The issue isn’t the size of ship, it is that Carnival Corp are marketing the P&O brand to far more diverse groups of consumers than they were 20 or 30 years ago, but people seem to try to tell themselves that isn’t true.

 

Back in the past P&O was marketed towards older couples who were reasonably well off, and who wanted the reassurance of dealing with a British company that provided food they recognised and tea with breakfast.

 

Now, well although Carnival brands like HAL aim at a single customer group, P&O aim for a number of different groups. You still have the reasonably well off older customers (who constantly moan about the changes), but you also have the ‘bargain bucket’ brigade who want cheap beer and all the food they can eat, the ‘too fat to fly’ group, the ‘too old to fly’ group, the family group who can’t be bothered with airports, etc. And each group wants something different.

Edited October 5, 2021 by picsa

[Son of Anarchy]

3 minutes ago, picsa said:

Now, well although Carnival brands like HAL aim at a single customer group, P&O aim for a number of different groups. You still have the reasonably well off older customers (who constantly moan about the changes), but you also have the ‘bargain bucket’ brigade who want cheap beer and all the food they can eat, the ‘too fat to fly’ group, the ‘too old to fly’ group, the family group who can’t be bothered with airports, etc. And each group wants something different.

I self identify as bargain bucket brigade 🍻🍔🍟🍕

 

What everyone self identify as? 🤣

[picsa]

6 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

I self identify as bargain bucket brigade 🍻🍔🍟🍕

 

Ah but there is bargain bucket and bargain bucket.

 

In the first group are those who like a deal, and the second group - well they waddled up to the cafe I was sat in this morning, sat down and immediately lit up, despite smoking being banned in pavement cafes in Spain. Tried to order from a waiter who spoke little English by simply speaking louder - I mean how hard is it to understand a few words of the local language to order a drink. And then after continuing to chain smoke, asked for directions to the nearest tobacco shop and then waddled off in that direction. P&O must have been so happy they were wearing their branded caps and t shirts.

[Son of Anarchy]

1 minute ago, picsa said:

Ah but there is bargain bucket and bargain bucket.

 

In the first group are those who like a deal, and the second group - well they waddled up to the cafe I was sat in this morning, sat down and immediately lit up, despite smoking being banned in pavement cafes in Spain. Tried to order from a waiter who spoke little English by simply speaking louder - I mean how hard is it to understand a few words of the local language to order a drink. And then after continuing to chain smoke, asked for directions to the nearest tobacco shop and then waddled off in that direction. P&O must have been so happy they were wearing their branded caps and t shirts.

In which I self identify as the first group of bargain bucket.  Thankfully!

[Gettingwarmer]

3 hours ago, Hflors said:

I am thinking of a world cruise on P&O.  I have cruised on HAL.  hal and P&O LOOK SIMULAR. If you have sailed both how are they simular and how are they different?  Thanks for sny imput.

This might help

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2678144-princesshalcelebrityrccl-cruiser-looking-at-po-world-cruise-what-can-i-expect/?tab=comments#comment-58081236

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

36 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

I self identify as bargain bucket brigade 🍻🍔🍟🍕

 

What everyone self identify as? 🤣

I'm bargain bucket but still slim and young enough to fly (providing its a good deal)

 

Lol

 

Plus any money I save being bargain bucket and not caring about balconies etc I will then happily blow two or three times over on cocktails, private excursions and speciality dining etc

 

But never waste any money in the cruise ship shops apart from on chocolate!

 

And never use ship excursions.  If I see something worth doing try to organise direct etc and get another deal etc or better experience

 

Edit having seen the post above - I don't smoke

 

When trying to communicate with Spanish waiters I just speak English slowly but with an attempt at a Spanish accent thrown in !

 

I try the same in all languages tbh

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by Interestedcruisefan

[terrierjohn]

39 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

I self identify as bargain bucket brigade 🍻🍔🍟🍕

 

What everyone self identify as? 🤣

I like to be cosmopolitan, so I identify with all of them.

But I do like the idea of speaking slowly with a Spanish accent like Manuel in fawlty towers.

Edited October 5, 2021 by terrierjohn

[Snibs]

39 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

I self identify as bargain bucket brigade 🍻🍔🍟🍕

 

What everyone self identify as? 🤣

Can I identify as a few?

Family who avoids airports (except the last cruise and the next two are fly cruises)

Like a bargain (but never get one as go in the school holidays)

Don’t smoke, hopefully don’t waddle and try (badly) to order a drink in the native tongue.

 

Apologies to the OP as I have no experience of  HAL except for seeing a couple of ships in port 

[Bgees]

Worse cruise we ever had was a 2 week cruise from Southampton to the Med on Navigator of the seas. It started badly (she was delayed by bad weather from Russia which meant 6000 people getting off and getting on at the same time. This was the only cruise where we had teenagers singing and shouting around the ship, insulting staff and being chased by security. This happened for the full two weeks. I was never so glad to be off a ship. Speaking to some Americans they said this was the sorst cruise they had ever gone on. 

 

That is why we would always cruise from Venice/Rome, etc so we can avoid the all-inclusive 'Blackpool' crows.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Bgees said:

Worse cruise we ever had was a 2 week cruise from Southampton to the Med on Navigator of the seas. It started badly (she was delayed by bad weather from Russia which meant 6000 people getting off and getting on at the same time. This was the only cruise where we had teenagers singing and shouting around the ship, insulting staff and being chased by security. This happened for the full two weeks. I was never so glad to be off a ship. Speaking to some Americans they said this was the sorst cruise they had ever gone on. 

 

That is why we would always cruise from Venice/Rome, etc so we can avoid the all-inclusive 'Blackpool' crows.

You must be plain unlucky, we sailed on Indy on a summer holiday cruise, but despite loads of children we never experienced the sort of behaviour you did.

[Castle25]

RCI are aiming at a different market to P&O - not too many flowriders/climbing walls/slides on P&O ships

[Interestedcruisefan]

11 hours ago, Castle25 said:

RCI are aiming at a different market to P&O - not too many flowriders/climbing walls/slides on P&O ships

We find the US ships way better than P and O for teenager behaviour

 

UK teenagers trying to get alcohol for first time etc with the law being 18 to drink. 

 

In the US  you have to be 21 to drink so the US teenagers aren't even thinking they can get away with drinking. Different mindset. By and large. 

 

Hence the more US teenagers on a boat compared to UK teenagers the better.

 

 

[JCEdin]

I have been on a P&O world cruise and also on a 5 week HAL cruise around South America. No teenagers at all on either ship, so that wasn't a worry 🙂

There's nothing wrong with the food on P&O, but the food is better on HAL and it's also more geared to American tastes. 

We met many, many people on the world cruise who do the trip every year;  we found the atmosphere calm and friendly. The whole cruise is too long to be party, party every night, so it has a gentle atmosphere, if that makes sense.

Someone suggested that you should do a short cruise on P&O before committing yourselves to a world cruise, but as there is a big difference between a two week P&O cruise and their world cruise, I don't think it would be a useful comparison. That's partly because the world cruises are on the smaller ships and partly because the standard of entertainment on the world cruise is much higher. 

On the world cruise you will inevitably get long stretches of sea time; we had 10 sea days together when crossing the Pacific. That means that the daytime onboard entertainment becomes more important to you than it does on a two week cruise. We found the entertainment on the P&O world cruise to be excellent; with speakers on crime, music, antiques and astronomy etc. 

HAL's entertainment is themed around music, but we found that P&O offered a greater variety of shows. So it really depends what you like to do while you are at sea, because you need to work out how you will enjoy all day of the 3-4 months you will be at sea.

You have a nice problem. Either choice would be a good one 🙂

 

 

[Angel57]

19 minutes ago, LynnForestgate said:

Changing direction slightly ... Quick question on this, regarding the Waiters/ Cabin crew. I have never been on a world cruise myself. On cruises that are 7 day and 14 day, the crew  are tipped at the end of the cruise. How does this work on a world cruise ?

The 3-4 months duration of the cruise, would be half the waiters / cabin crew contract isnt it ?

I mean how do they get paid?

We tipped at the end of each leg (5 legs over 15 weeks) but that was before gratuities were included and we were at a fixed table every night in the MDR.

[Angel57]

49 minutes ago, LynnForestgate said:

Thanks for explaining.

I dont have the funds to do a world cruise, and see that it is "Broken down" in what you describe as "Legs".

I sure it is wonderful to pack your bags for several months and have a great time.

well done 🙂

 

It was a fabulous adventure and a retirement present to myself.

As a solo passenger I would never have been brave enough to visit all those wonderful places on my own. I made lifelong friends and loved every moment. The world was a different place in 2012 tho. No Covid and no security issues (altho we did have a problem with a couple trying to smuggle drugs into San Francisco  and then another guy trying to smuggle 30kilos of cocaine into Sydney -  all added to the excitement tho… 🤣).
 

[Bazrat]

On 10/5/2021 at 3:42 PM, Son of Anarchy said:

I self identify as bargain bucket brigade 🍻🍔🍟🍕

 

What everyone self identify as? 🤣

We are completely the bargain bucket brigade, lots of food cheap beer what more could you ask 🍕🍟🍣🍔🌭🥓🥃🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🥃🥃🥃🍻🍻🍻🍻

[Gettingwarmer]

On 10/5/2021 at 12:10 PM, Hflors said:

I am thinking of a world cruise on P&O.  I have cruised on HAL.  hal and P&O LOOK SIMULAR. If you have sailed both how are they simular and how are they different?  Thanks for sny imput.

 

8 hours ago, JCEdin said:

I have been on a P&O world cruise and also on a 5 week HAL cruise around South America. No teenagers at all on either ship, so that wasn't a worry 🙂

There's nothing wrong with the food on P&O, but the food is better on HAL and it's also more geared to American tastes. 

We met many, many people on the world cruise who do the trip every year;  we found the atmosphere calm and friendly. The whole cruise is too long to be party, party every night, so it has a gentle atmosphere, if that makes sense.

Someone suggested that you should do a short cruise on P&O before committing yourselves to a world cruise, but as there is a big difference between a two week P&O cruise and their world cruise, I don't think it would be a useful comparison. That's partly because the world cruises are on the smaller ships and partly because the standard of entertainment on the world cruise is much higher. 

On the world cruise you will inevitably get long stretches of sea time; we had 10 sea days together when crossing the Pacific. That means that the daytime onboard entertainment becomes more important to you than it does on a two week cruise. We found the entertainment on the P&O world cruise to be excellent; with speakers on crime, music, antiques and astronomy etc. 

HAL's entertainment is themed around music, but we found that P&O offered a greater variety of shows. So it really depends what you like to do while you are at sea, because you need to work out how you will enjoy all day of the 3-4 months you will be at sea.

You have a nice problem. Either choice would be a good one 🙂

 

 

This is very useful information.