Never cruised P&O

[kruzgal]

In the past we have mostly cruised with Royal and Celebrity, but this year we have sailed Anthem and Iona, both from Southampton. They depart from different docks. For us Iona wins hands down and we would happily go again, but would be very unlikely to sail Anthem.

 

For us, an all adult party, we loved the fact that we could see the sea on Iona. There are lots of open decks at the aft where you can sit and watch the wake, plus the Crow’s Nest (forward) to sit and watch the views of the fjords with a drink as you go. Neither of these venues exist on Anthem. We struggled in the evening to get a seat in a bar on Anthem but had no issues on Iona during the summer holidays. 

 

The food in the main dining room is better on P&O than Royal, although the buffet has much less choice. We never use the buffet so no impact there. We loved the variety of dining venues with speciality dining being at relatively low cost compared to Anthem. We dined in most of the restaurants and enjoyed them all. Desserts are much better on P&O than Royal where it is mostly jelly and gelatine! 
 

We really enjoyed the 710 club and went most evenings. The theatre is nowhere near the standard of Royal but we always found things to do, music to listen to etc. 

 

We are diamond with Royal and enjoyed our vouchers for free drinks, but taking into account the cost of the trip, gratuities etc. it was cheaper on P&O, even with the speciality dining taken into account. We loved Wonderland, Jamie’s and Chops on Royal but they were the only decent meals we had. I hate the begging for tips from the waiters towards the end, which you don’t get on P&O - a refreshing change. 
 

Personally I wouldn’t sail on older P&O ships (we have done Britannia a few years ago) but wouldn’t hesitate to go on Iona or Arvia. If we had children in the party I am sure they would prefer Anthem but as adults only it’s definitely Iona for us. 

 

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, kruzgal said:

In the past we have mostly cruised with Royal and Celebrity, but this year we have sailed Anthem and Iona, both from Southampton. They depart from different docks. For us Iona wins hands down and we would happily go again, but would be very unlikely to sail Anthem.

 

For us, an all adult party, we loved the fact that we could see the sea on Iona. There are lots of open decks at the aft where you can sit and watch the wake, plus the Crow’s Nest (forward) to sit and watch the views of the fjords with a drink as you go. Neither of these venues exist on Anthem. We struggled in the evening to get a seat in a bar on Anthem but had no issues on Iona during the summer holidays. 

 

The food in the main dining room is better on P&O than Royal, although the buffet has much less choice. We never use the buffet so no impact there. We loved the variety of dining venues with speciality dining being at relatively low cost compared to Anthem. We dined in most of the restaurants and enjoyed them all. Desserts are much better on P&O than Royal where it is mostly jelly and gelatine! 
 

We really enjoyed the 710 club and went most evenings. The theatre is nowhere near the standard of Royal but we always found things to do, music to listen to etc. 

 

We are diamond with Royal and enjoyed our vouchers for free drinks, but taking into account the cost of the trip, gratuities etc. it was cheaper on P&O, even with the speciality dining taken into account. We loved Wonderland, Jamie’s and Chops on Royal but they were the only decent meals we had. I hate the begging for tips from the waiters towards the end, which you don’t get on P&O - a refreshing change. 
 

Personally I wouldn’t sail on older P&O ships (we have done Britannia a few years ago) but wouldn’t hesitate to go on Iona or Arvia. If we had children in the party I am sure they would prefer Anthem but as adults only it’s definitely Iona for us. 

 

That is a very interesting and thought provoking post, makes me think that maybe the glamour of RCI is not really worth the extra cost after all, at least for adult cruisers.

Edited October 31, 2023 by terrierjohn

[kruzgal]

On Royal it’s all about the gimmicks…bumper cars, laser tag, x box  etc but we are not interested in any of that now. It takes up lots of space and, combined with the promenade, results in less space for bars, lounges etc hence the difficulty in finding a seat in the evening. 
 

We had no issues with service on Iona and personally I prefer the low key interactions as opposed to the more ‘in your face’ style on Royal. The service on Royal in the dining room was poor and they haven’t moved on in the last 20 years - waiters parading singing ‘O sole mio’ to canned music and waving napkins is so dated to the point of being naff. Why the management of Royal aren’t moving it on with the times is beyond me. It shows a complete lack of imagination that they just keep churning out the same format. 

 

The gratuities on Royal and Celebrity are now way out of hand and I find the expectation uncomfortable. I would much prefer staff are paid a proper wage and tipping is for extra good service if desired. It really puts me off cruising with either line and is a big draw for P&O. 
 

You can take 1 litre of spirits on to Iona per person for in cabin consumption plus soft drinks. For beer drinkers the choice on Iona is way better than Anthem and our bill, despite the lack of complementary drinks on Iona compared to Royal (as a result of our diamond status we got 4 free drinks a day)  was very reasonable. We didn’t buy a drinks package on either trip.
 

We also made use of the free laundry on Iona which is very handy. 
 

Overall we loved the dining concept on Iona with so many venues to choose from. It really felt varied and the band in the 710 club provided some of the best entertainment. We loved our trip and would happily go on her again.