Comparing Princess to P&O.

[Ranchi]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Following along John.

We were last on Princess November/December 2019 on a Hawaiian cruise from San Francisco and wondered what our Elite benefits would be on Sky Princess.

Best wishes for a wonderful cruise.

You get early evening lounge with nice nibbles & slightly cheaper drinks. Also entertainment. Now this is a goody! The laundry service is brilliant (obviously not for your best shantung frillies but fine for all else. Send some in day one. Get it back late day two or day 3. Send a second lot day two. Make a copy of you laundry sheet ( we only had one problem when the day our cabin steward had a day off but he sorted it next day.) 

you also get free wine tasting events ( fairly uninspired to be honest). Quick boarding (very) 

[Josy1953]

3 hours ago, Ranchi said:

We particularly liked: the international cafe(?) at the base of the atrium; the pizza restaurant ( though I understand uncharged (Plus)  access is now limited;)The grill (paid for) was quite good; Rudi’s, again quite good - a bit less of the entertainment by the waiters perhaps. The pre dinner get together with snacks & entertainment for higher tiers was also good (although I understand points transfers are no longer possible.) The theatre shows (we thought) were better than P&O ( even with the computer gremlins causing a hiatus during two shows.) The lounge game shows were truly ‘end of the pier’ I’m afraid. Deck sports are much more organised on P&O. Ballroom dancing was scheduled but that simply meant a member of the bar staff moved a few chairs and tables and the piped music played some big band tracks- no compère, even. This might be a common theme, the daily paper lists lots of activities but the vast majority are simply ‘availability of equipment’. Most are un-hosted 
Cabin very well equipped and appointed (std balcony) Steward excellent. 

oh, almost forgot! Good selection of cheese in the buffet in the evening cf Brie & Edam every night in MDR. Why can’t they put some decent stuff in the main restaurant?

The pizza restaurant is now uncharged for your 1st 2 visits each cruise,all subsequent visits have to be paid for but we find that on sea days it is worth paying for a decent pizza rather than going up to the scrum aka the buffet.

I agree that the International cafe in the atrium is very good, the only problem we found on our last cruise was chair hogging. There were a a number of occasions when we couldn't get a seat when we wanted a coffee because people had left books, cardigans and sweaters on chairs and then disappeared.  One day as we went into breakfast I counted 6 tables where jackets, books and sweaters had been spread across the chairs, they were still in exactly the same place 3 hours later after we had been to a port talk, followed by a presentation by a Falklands veteran and then had a stroll round the "tat"shops.  I think that selfish reserving of tables and chairs should be stopped by the staff who could remove the items after a specified length of time with no-one coming back to them.

[david63]

There is only one way to reserve a seat - put your bum on it!

[terrierjohn]

6 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Following along John.

We were last on Princess November/December 2019 on a Hawaiian cruise from San Francisco and wondered what our Elite benefits would be on Sky Princess.

Best wishes for a wonderful cruise.

We have Princess plus so drinks are free, so the elite lounge get together with discounted drink prices is not a benefit,  however we hope to take advantage of the free laundry for elite passengers.

[grapau27]

2 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

We have Princess plus so drinks are free, so the elite lounge get together with discounted drink prices is not a benefit,  however we hope to take advantage of the free laundry for elite passengers.

Is the one time mini bar set up and priority tenders still available?

[terrierjohn]

8 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Is the one time mini bar set up and priority tenders still available?

Minibar set up still in place, and elite passengers do get priority in lots of things, but we dont have a tender port this cruise, and as wheelchair users we probably would not be able to use a tender anyway.

[Ranchi]

56 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

We have Princess plus so drinks are free, so the elite lounge get together with discounted drink prices is not a benefit,  however we hope to take advantage of the free laundry for elite passengers.

Agree, but the nibbles are nice. (it may be (?) that some reduced rate cocktails now fall into the ‘free with plus’ price range.) 

Edited May 9 by Ranchi

[Cloudyrain]

6 hours ago, P&O SUE said:

Since 2020 I haven’t found the deals so good. Add on the dollars onboard as well. I was looking at one that went to Malaga and I wanted the excursion to the Alhambra- nearly 300 dollars each! 

I think it seems really variable: I found that the Sky Princess was £200 (total) more than the same week on the Iona, but that was with Princess Plus and a better balcony cabin. In effect it made the Princess cruise cheaper for more. But, other times I have priced it up and P&O are noteably cheaper. It seems to be that Princess are cheaper than P&O during the school holiday weeks, and then at othet times it's roles reversed 😂

[sandancer]

We have a 14 night cruise on Sky Princess in June 25. We also have a 21 night cruise on Britannia in June 26. There are only a few pounds difference in the cost but Princess includes Princess Premium. We are happy with both deals. 

[CCFC]

5 hours ago, Ranchi said:

Quick boarding (very) 

We were on Caribbean Princess in December and there is no Elite priority boarding any more, was quite frustrating as it took us a good hour of queuing at Fort Lauderdale

[AndyMichelle]

28 minutes ago, Cloudyrain said:

I think it seems really variable: I found that the Sky Princess was £200 (total) more than the same week on the Iona, but that was with Princess Plus and a better balcony cabin. In effect it made the Princess cruise cheaper for more. But, other times I have priced it up and P&O are noteably cheaper. It seems to be that Princess are cheaper than P&O during the school holiday weeks, and then at othet times it's roles reversed 😂

We compared 2 nearly identical Fjords cruises for next year on Britannia and Princess. 

Obviously Princess was more expensive as it included Plus, but adding on what we spent this year on Britannia, P&O were still a couple of hundred pounds cheaper. 

Obviously we would get WiFi etc on Princess that we didn't have or need on Britannia. 

I think it seems a very fair price and I would have a go at drinking that extra £200😂

From reports, that is not that big a difference for what sounds like a better offering, so we will give it a go. 

Andy 

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Ranchi said:

Agree, but the nibbles are nice. (it may be (?) that some reduced rate cocktails now fall into the ‘free with plus’ price range.) 

There are enough cocktails available at under $15.00 to keep me happy, but I am no great connoisseur.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, CCFC said:

We were on Caribbean Princess in December and there is no Elite priority boarding any more, was quite frustrating as it took us a good hour of queuing at Fort Lauderdale

In Southampton we were able to arrive at any time of our choosing, whether that was because we are elite I dont know? 

[Cathygh]

2 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

In Southampton we were able to arrive at any time of our choosing, whether that was because we are elite I dont know? 

We were able to choose out boarding time before became elite, it is one of the ways Princess is better than P&O IMHO

[CCFC]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

In Southampton we were able to arrive at any time of our choosing, whether that was because we are elite I dont know? 

I'm on 27 cruises with Princess. To not have any priority boarding in Fort Lauderdale was quite annoying especially after US customs at Miami airport. Anyone that has flown to Miami will know what I mean!

 

Would be nice to see Southampton keeping to the good old days of boarding.

Edited May 9 by CCFC

[david63]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

In Southampton we were able to arrive at any time of our choosing, whether that was because we are elite I dont know? 

I am sure that I read somewhere that Princess have abolished check-in times everywhere

[terrierjohn]

3 minutes ago, david63 said:

I am sure that I read somewhere that Princess have abolished check-in times everywhere

Their medallion system is now so slick, that waiting for them to pick out your medallion takes the longest time, and of course security is still a pain.

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

We compared 2 nearly identical Fjords cruises for next year on Britannia and Princess. 

Obviously Princess was more expensive as it included Plus, but adding on what we spent this year on Britannia, P&O were still a couple of hundred pounds cheaper. 

Obviously we would get WiFi etc on Princess that we didn't have or need on Britannia. 

I think it seems a very fair price and I would have a go at drinking that extra £200😂

From reports, that is not that big a difference for what sounds like a better offering, so we will give it a go. 

Andy 

Don't forget Princess have Auto gratuities to add on and their on board currency is US dollars.

[david63]

5 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Don't forget Princess have Auto gratuities to add on and their on board currency is US dollars.

Gratuities are included in the Plus package.

[grapau27]

1 minute ago, david63 said:

Gratuities are included in the Plus package.

Thank you.

It is 4 and a half years since our last Princess cruise.

Even as Princess Elite loyalty we prefer P&O.

[TRLD]

10 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

In Southampton we were able to arrive at any time of our choosing, whether that was because we are elite I dont know? 

With Princess you can show up at any time. No enforced boarding time.

 

If one arrives after check in starts, but before actual boarding starts, at most ports there is usually an area for Elites to wait. Then when boarding starts they will board elite first.  Only really a benefit for those that arrive early.

[TRLD]

8 hours ago, david63 said:

I am sure that I read somewhere that Princess have abolished check-in times everywhere

With the exception of a brief period during the restart after Covid, Princess has never enforced check in  times. That can result in long lines for check in during earlier time periods.

[Josy1953]

39 minutes ago, TRLD said:

With the exception of a brief period during the restart after Covid, Princess has never enforced check in  times. That can result in long lines for check in during earlier time periods.

We have done 2 cruises with Princess this year and we did not see long queues for check in.  We are elite so were sent to the elite check in queue but people arriving when we arrived at 11:00 for the 1st cruise and 13:30 for the 2nd cruise were being given a card and asked to take a seat but there were not a lot of people sitting waiting to be called forward.  I imagine that when the transfer coaches arrive from the London airports particularly from trans Atlantic flights which usually arrive early morning there could be a lot of people arriving at the same time.

[terrierjohn]

9 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Don't forget Princess have Auto gratuities to add on and their on board currency is US dollars.

Not if you are on plus.

[terrierjohn]

We have not been to the theatre or live lounge yet, but TBH we find the best evening entertainment is in the Piazza (Atrium to us), and the quality has been excellent.

A duo playing violin and cello covering popular music from classical to pop, ans the violinist is one of the best I have heard.

The party band, Asian soul with a  philpino vocalist who is excellent, she hits all the high notes without any screeching, and they had the dancefloor heaving the other night

Plus we have had a brass section from the orchestra doing New Orleans jazz and dance music, whose philpino trumpet player would have starred in any 30s, 40s or 50s big band.

Then yesterday an ensemble of all three had the Piazza crowd enthralled with a wide selection of music, culminating with Bohemian rhapsody with asian sou'ls lead guitarist giving an excellent imitation of Brian May at his best.

The quality of all these musicians is way ahead of anything we have seen on P&O recently, where the excellence of one of the Pulse singers can be let down by the other, and no real stand out performers among the instrumentalists.