Caribbean cruise P&O v Marella

[Presto2]

Hi, we are researching Caribbean cruises for what may be a special cruise / date! We love Celebrity but don't like the ports, so are looking at P&O Britannia for 2 weeks or a 2 week cruise and stay with Marella. 

 

Just wondering if anyone who has been on both cruise lines has a view re the best choice and best time of the year to go. We are thinking late February or early March. (Never been in school holidays before so this would be the first time so exciting !!!!)

 

Thanks everyone

[pennib]

Where to start? We have been to the Caribbean many many times both cruises and land holidays. If you have not been before I think you should do a cruise as you get to a lot of islands and P&O have all the best. We really like Britannia and will be on her again this Christmas. The other thing is that P& O have the travelling bit really sorted. You put your cases in at check in and the next time you see them is outside your cabin door.  
We have done Marella once and will be doing  them again next month in the Canaries. We were really impressed. Don’t think they are quite on a par with P&O but it is a close call. 
January, February,March should be fine for weather but you can get rain any time. I would favour a cruise rather than a cruise and stay.

Hope this helps and have a wonderful trip.

[1160451]

Agree with Pennib.
Been on a Carribean cruise around 10 times.

Always go mid Jan or mid Feb.

Cruised there with P and O, Marrella, Fred Olsen and HAL.

Cruised with Celebrity to the Med and Alaska. 

To be honest it’s difficult to split P and O and Marrella.

I think P and O are more up market.

As we drink a lot on a cruise, the drinks included on Marrella were a plus.

We are Ballroom Dancers and P and O cater for us better than Marrella.

We liked the Stricter Dress Code of P and O over Marrella.

One thing we didn’t like with Marrella is that they are basically two 7 day cruises back to back so you end up in Barbados again after 7 days.

If you like Celebrity I think P and O is your option.

Never done a cruise and stay so no comment.

I think the answer is with the fact you like Celebrity which is nearer P and O than Marrella.

Have a good time whichever you choose. 

 

 

 

 

 

[paulatsea]

Both good - Marella are all inclusive so that might swing it. Marella Explorer 2 is adults only.

P&O is a higher standard.

 

I did a cruise and stay in the Caribbean once - 

I found that an extra week on the ship is better than a week staying in a hotel so I would just do the cruise and not the hotel.

 

Jan / Feb are good times to go.

[davecttr]

I like the idea that you come back to the embarkation port mid cruise as you get a full day there. The reason Marella do this is because they offer a number of hotel stays also of 7 days. You can do 2 cruises or a hotel/cruise or cruise/hotel.

 

I find there are more similarities than differences between Marella and P&O with Marella more relaxed and they have a good social program for solo cruisers with hosted lunch, dinners etc if you want. P&O used to have a 'programme' that was little more than a hosted coffee break but now that has all stopped.

 

I still cruise with P&O and tried Iona which had lots of alternative venues despite being totally unsuitable for Norway cruises. Marella ships now have more alternative dining options than the older P&O ships Aurora, Arcadia, Azura and Ventura. I don't like Brittania because she does not have a promenade deck.

 

I am comfortable with both lines and have 3 Marella and 2 P&O cruises booked.

[paulatsea]

I also like going all the way and back from Southampton with p&o.

I think the entertainment especially pre dinner music is better on Marella and it’s a more relaxed and fun cruise generally. The staff on Marella are brilliant.

 

hard to choose ! 
 

I have Marella booked in may to Croatia / Italy 

and p&o Portugal in September and canaries in December.

[davecttr]

I had a fantastic 24 night cruise with P&O to the Caribbean and back from Southampton on Oceana. When the TA priced it  I was very pleased, £130 more expensive than the equivalent 14 night fly cruise so £13 per night with 2 visits to the Azores as well. 😁

[paulatsea]

23 minutes ago, davecttr said:

I had a fantastic 24 night cruise with P&O to the Caribbean and back from Southampton on Oceana. When the TA priced it  I was very pleased, £130 more expensive than the equivalent 14 night fly cruise so £13 per night with 2 visits to the Azores as well. 😁

👍

We did similar on Adonia  - Azores were fantastic.
We loved the journey out - getting warmer everyday.

 

Edited September 25, 2022 by paulatsea

[Presto2]

Thank you so much everyone. That is really helpful 🙂

We do love Britannia and have sailed on her twice now in the same aft cabin.

Price wise PO is coming out a lot cheaper than a cruise and stay -- we could probably have another one week cruise with the difference to be honest.

Off to continue our research, so any more views are really appreciated.

 

[pennib]

To all of you who are comparing prices, don’t forget Marella is all inclusive with an option to upgrade the basic all inclusive (which we found to be very cost effective) and P& O are not all inclusive and a glass of wine will set you back a fair amount.

[Presto2]

4 hours ago, pennib said:

To all of you who are comparing prices, don’t forget Marella is all inclusive with an option to upgrade the basic all inclusive (which we found to be very cost effective) and P& O are not all inclusive and a glass of wine will set you back a fair amount.

Hi thanks. To be fair we have priced a cruise and stay with a nice hotel with a sea view and a decent sized balcony cabin for Marella AI. For Britannia it was not AI and 14 nights on the ship in an aft balcony cabin. Knowing how much our drinks bill normally is I can't see us making up the £2K difference unless we get totally plastered from morn til night 😉

[paularmstrong]

every time we have been caribbean with princess , we have booked flights indipendently which involved getting out of cabin 8am last day , breakfast then making your way back to airport for an evening flight ie waiting  hours around an airport , unable to go anywhere because of suitcases , We said we would never do this again so allways round off with at least 2 days at another resort. We think marella do have the best itineries and the ships have come a long way, allways a better atmosphere and as much booze as you want 

[Jayneykul]

We have done P&O Britannia celebrity and Marella and (purely our opinion before the P&o people start kicking us) Marella wins hands down for the following reasons

britannia balconies are ridiculously small

the entertainment was very poor

if you haven’t sailed with them before the drinks are expensive and English pub measures when we went there was no drinks package available (may have changed) 

when we went the food was not great (may have been again our bad luck) 

that’s just on our take on it and as we enjoy a drink on our cruises it’s a no brainer

[Jayneykul]

Now if you were comparing celebrity and Marella that’s a different story!

[Rob1966]

Hey Presto!

 

We have sailed on both and they are similar in some things but not in others.

 

Advantages of Marella for us, is adult only and inclusive drinks packages available.

 

P&O are stricter on formal nights, my Wife forgot to pack my Tuxedo one Christmas and we were not allowed into certain bars and the MDR on formal evenings, Marella are not so strict, we can take or leave the formal evenings (It's hot in the Caribbean wearing a Tux) but we also enjoy them, more so on Celebrity.

We like the Limelight club on P&O, it's intimate and entertaining.

 

We think the entertainment on Marella is better than P&O.

We preferred the room on Marella but that is being picky.

We chose Marella this year mainly because the itinery has 2 new islands we haven't visited before,  the inclusive drinks is a big thing for us, we don't go mad but it's nice to know you can drink anything anytime.

 

Our decision is usually based on itinery, both cruise lines are fantastic, our preferred cruise line is Celebrity but we were happily surprised at the quality of Marella and we think it's as good as P&O.

 

[Red Ray]

P&O 100%. By no means perfect but we have cruised a lot and Marella was by far the worst experience we have had.

[Sawdan]

IMO we would be comfortable with either line as have always enjoyed both, although there are many pros and cons for both!! On Marella we do prefer the Discovery ships to the Explorers but am sure many will be the other way round.

     We love the Caribbean as there are so many Islands to visit and its interesting each time you go back to see how they have developed. 

     I could see people being drawn to Marella as its AI so good if you like a tipple but TBH we are normally driven by the price and itinerary. 

   Ref P&O we didn't like Britannia at first but grew to like her more each time. I think that was because we were fond of Ventura and Azura from new and it was different. Just back from Iona so hopefully it will be the same with that ship?? We do like the promenade decks on the older ships!!

    I am sure you will enjoy whoever you choose. We have always travelled between mid Jan and late Feb and have always had great weather. 

Casbantam

   

[pinktulipshopping]

We have been to the Caribbean late Feb and March, great time to go.The main difference for us between these companies is the amount of sea days on a 2 week cruise.We went with P&O a few times which we really enjoyed but on the last one with them it was too windy to berth at St Kitts so that meant 5 sea days which for us was too many.

So we switched to Marella as their itineraries have only 1 or 2 sea days so we visited more islands which was what we wanted.Really enjoyed the cruises with them too and hope to do one next March.

[Presto2]

Hi, have just read these and noticed that I have been rude and not replied to the latter ones. Thank you everyone - we are still researching and going around in circles ! Will let you know what we finally decide.

Thanks again

[rubyclaret]

On 10/12/2022 at 9:19 AM, Red Ray said:

P&O 100%. By no means perfect but we have cruised a lot and Marella was by far the worst experience we have had.

Are you willing to elaborate why Marella was the worst experience Ray....we too are thinking of a Marella Cruise for the 1st time. Thanks.

[pennib]

We did 2 Marella cruises this year on their Explorer round the Canaries and they were excellent. We did the Christmas Cruise on P&O Britannia and therefore had a good chance to compare. We have been on Britannia several times. This time, we thought P&O had cut back so much that it was not good. For example we like to have dinner in the Epicurean restaurant and this time we went twice- once in the first week of the cruise and then on Christmas Day for dinner. We can honestly say that our experience on both occasions was such that the Epicurean could not hold a candle to the Dining Club on Explorer, both in terms of the food but also service and ambience. The Beach House on Britannia and Surf and Turf on Explorer are about on a par and there is not much to choose between Sindhu on.Britannia and Kora La on Explorer. 
we have booked Explorer again for November and we are already on Britannia for Christmas. 
 

To anyone who is wondering about whether to book Marella, I would say go for it. We spoke to others this Christmas who have had good experiences on Marella on other of their ships.

[paulatsea]

 Been on marella explorer 2 and it was excellent. Booked again for this May.