Princess v P&O

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Manoverboard
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Re: Princess v P&O

#26

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towny44 wrote: 12 Jul 2018, 18:24
Manoverboard wrote: 12 Jul 2018, 18:16
We have stayed in top Hotels in Canada and ' Formal ' is simply a word they do not use … nor indeed require or understand the need for.

We prefer to have choice, to us that means elegant casual but others may prefer to go Black Tie … fine as long as we each respect each others wishes. We found this to be true on every Line, including Princess, bar P&O.
My Canadian BIL always wears his DJ on formal nights on all cruise lines, mainly Princess but also Celebrity, RCI and Carnival as well as P&O.
There will always be exceptions to any generalisation :lol:
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Gill W
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Re: Princess v P&O

#27

Post by Gill W »

We were seriously considering Sapphire Princes for a cruise next May or June, but in the end a CMV cruise caught our eye for that time period.

So far there's nothing to scare the horses in your comparison, so Princess would still be on the cards for us at some point in the future.
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Re: Princess v P&O

#28

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Manoverboard wrote: 12 Jul 2018, 18:29
towny44 wrote: 12 Jul 2018, 18:24
Manoverboard wrote: 12 Jul 2018, 18:16
We have stayed in top Hotels in Canada and ' Formal ' is simply a word they do not use … nor indeed require or understand the need for.

We prefer to have choice, to us that means elegant casual but others may prefer to go Black Tie … fine as long as we each respect each others wishes. We found this to be true on every Line, including Princess, bar P&O.
My Canadian BIL always wears his DJ on formal nights on all cruise lines, mainly Princess but also Celebrity, RCI and Carnival as well as P&O.
There will always be exceptions to any generalisation :lol:
Yes my BIL considers himself to be exceptional! :roll:
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Mervyn and Trish
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Re: Princess v P&O

#29

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

Gill W wrote: 14 Jul 2018, 14:51
We were seriously considering Sapphire Princes for a cruise next May or June, but in the end a CMV cruise caught our eye for that time period.

So far there's nothing to scare the horses in your comparison, so Princess would still be on the cards for us at some point in the future.
I've not written or posted the final instalments yet but I think the horses will remain unscared!

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oldbluefox
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Re: Princess v P&O

#30

Post by oldbluefox »

Interesting to see the differences between the two lines. Well done Merv!!!

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allatc
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Re: Princess v P&O

#31

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We've done equal numbers of cruises on P&O and Princess and will happily cruise on either if itinerary and price are right.

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Re: Princess v P&O

#32

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

Entertainment

We’d feared that the entertainment might be too US focussed, our previous cruise Alaska featuring an impressionist who clearly went down well with the Americans but taking off people we’d never heard of. I suppose like Alistair McGowan doing his Dot Cotton to a bemused US crowd.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Everything worked across the board, with several acts probably better known to the Brits.

The production shows were of a similar standard and style to P&O’s Headliners, though with slightly more live music and less reliance on pre-recorded tracks, though the latter did feature. Staging used an LED backdrop as pioneered on Britannia but now being introduced across the fleet.
We enjoyed the shows more but I think that was mainly because we’d not seen them before. If we were regular Princess travellers maybe they’d lose their edge.

All the solo acts were excellent, though we didn’t recognise any of the names when we first saw them.

However they included vocalist Peter Howarth (lead singer with the Hollies for the past 15 years), Chris Watkins, an amazing and energetic violinist (Trish hates the violin, but loved him), The Backbeat Beatles (as part of a Beatles theme that also included an interview with their original drummer, Pete Best), Amethyst (magician and illusionist), Gareth Oliver (a wonderfully original ventriloquist), comedian Jeff Stevenson (whom I’ve also seen praised elsewhere on this forum) and a few others we didn’t sample.

The theatre was packed every night except the first when some passengers had travelled a day to get there.

There were as number of excellent musicians who performed in venues around the ship and no-one really duff.

The Cruise Director was, by the way, Welsh, despite his name, Duke Christopher, sounding more California than Cardiff.

The last night was a variety show featuring a number of the resident and visiting artistes.

Daytime entertainment was very much like P&O, with quizzes, bingo, deck games, craft classes and sales promotions promenading as enrichment seminars! And of course there were daily jumble sales cluttering up the Atrium and the inevitable karaoke.

With fewer venues than Azura and Ventura there was less choice in the evenings, but there was always enough for us.

Our only big disappointment was ballroom dancing, a recent discovery for us on Ventura last year. There was nothing like P&O’s on board dance professionals to run classes and host evening events. The former were done by members of the Entertainment team and a quick glance showed they were not for us. There were some short early evening dance sessions to recorded music, but with no host it took us half the tune to work out what dance it was supposed to be. And what looked like a promising dance with live musicians was again unhosted. And the six piece band outnumbered the dancers.

This may be a classic chicken and egg. Because Princess don’t take it seriously there are few takers. And because there are few takers Princess don’t take it seriously.

But that was the only let down.

Overall, partly through the quality of the guest artistes and partly through the novelty of production shows we’d not seen before, this one was a clear win for Princess.
Last edited by Mervyn and Trish on 15 Jul 2018, 14:57, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Princess v P&O

#33

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Mervyn and Trish wrote: 15 Jul 2018, 14:52
The Cruise Director was, by the way, Welsh, despite his name, Duke Christopher, sounding more California than Cardiff.
Was he the one that was on one of The Cruise TV shows? There was certainly a "British" CD on one of them.

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Re: Princess v P&O

#34

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Costs

I’m doing this as a straight financial comparison but with no attempt to judge value for money.

We chose Princess because we wanted to do this itinerary right up to the North Cape.

P&O were not doing it this year, though they used to. I’m not sure why not as it is clearly very popular and this one was sold out. In fact we heard that before sailing they were offering some passengers incentives to cancel so they could resell the cabins at a higher price!

Cunard offered a 12 night version but wanted more money for a standard balcony than Princess did for 14 nights in the mini-suite – based on prices when we booked.

We paid £2800 each on the first day of booking for our near mid-ships cabin, more than 18 months before we sailed. The same cabin for the equivalent cruise in 2019 is currently around £3800 if you book now (though bear mind the cabin has now been upgraded to Club Class, which accounts for about £300 of that). That’s pricey for a 14 night cruise. However, as I said, this is a hugely popular and now unusual itinerary.

To compare something a more common and frequent itinerary, 14 nights to the Baltic on Sapphire next June in a mini-suite is “from” £2800. That’s is not the Club Class deal of course. It compares with “from” £2500 for a Superior Deluxe Balcony (the same cabin) on a similar cruise at a similar time on Azura. So not a lot different really.

On board prices are higher though, but bear in mind spirits come in larger measures. My Malt whisky and Trish’s brandy were each $8, but then of course there is the 15% addition (“for your convenience”). So $9.20 really.

Photos are horrendous. $25 for a single 10x8 print. Their option for all your pictures on a USB (though I think you got the prints as well) is $249. Compared to £90 last time we were on Ventura for the USB but no prints). We bought one! There was a decent deal on scenic port photos on a USB and a very scenic DVD of the transit through Geirangerfjord, which we did buy.

Excursions are more expensive too and a similar quality to P&O. We did four. Two were great, one was too rushed and one didn’t include everything advertised. We pointed out the latter on return and without being asked they refunded 15% to our account.

On top of all this of course, the on board stuff is charged in $ so you are the mercy of your bank in turning it back to £. Some offer better deals that others but the exchange rate when we took into account the foreign currency transaction charge wasn’t great with ours.

So on straightforward maths this has to be a victory for P&O, but not so much as to rule out Princess for the future.

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Re: Princess v P&O

#35

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

david63 wrote: 15 Jul 2018, 15:05
Mervyn and Trish wrote: 15 Jul 2018, 14:52
The Cruise Director was, by the way, Welsh, despite his name, Duke Christopher, sounding more California than Cardiff.
Was he the one that was on one of The Cruise TV shows? There was certainly a "British" CD on one of them.
Don't know. I was washing my hair that day!

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Re: Princess v P&O

#36

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

Loyalty

Sorry for the brief intermission, but this is the final instalment.

We are Caribbean on P&O, though we haven’t yet sailed under that category so can’t comment fully on some of the benefits. We are Elite on Princess, mainly due to our P&O cruises, though they have now ended the link for those who’ve not yet sailed with them. Fortunately we got under the wire.

On shore both offer preferential pricing on some cruises and a magazine. Both have a dedicated telephone hotline.

Both offer priority booking ahead of the public release of cruises.

At check in both operate priority boarding, though it works differently. P&O offer an earlier check in time to Caribbean members, with refreshments in the terminal and on board. Princess have a staggered boarding process, deck by deck, and Elite passengers get priority check in within their group. There are no freebies to be had on shore or aboard, but they do also prioritise cabin preparation deck by deck so if you board at your correct times cabins are ready. Our time this cruise was 1pm. On P&O cabins are not usually ready until 2pm. We didn’t try to beat the system by arriving early so I can’t say what would have happened. But at our correct time we were on board within 10 minutes.

Once aboard P&O offer vouchers for champagne for sailaway. On Princess we got two glasses of champagne delivered to the cabin, though I’m not entirely sure whether that was an Elite benefit or a Club Class thing.

P&O offer slippers, Princess polish your shoes for nothing. They also offer complimentary laundry.

Princess give you upgraded bathroom stuff, normally reserved only for suite guests. They also give you a free mini-bar set up to start you off and you can swap items to suit your personal preferences. There were 8 spirit miniatures, plus mixers, a couple of beers and some mineral water. P&O offer a half bottle of champagne on the first formal night. On each formal night Princess deliver (on request) a selection of canapes.
Both offer cocktail parties. P&O does an officer hosted lunch, Princess a complimentary wine tasting (open to other passengers for a modest price).

Princess will deliver complimentary afternoon tea to your cabin. I assume more than a pot of builders’ brew though we didn’t try it. I imagine it’s the same as the posh tea served at a price in one of the dining rooms.

Both have loyalty managers on board.

P&O offer a 10% discount on anything you purchase aboard. On Princess that only applies to stuff bought in the shops.

Princess give free internet time – 250 minutes on our 14 night cruise.

Princess also give priority access to the tenders, though that didn’t affect us as the queues had gone long before we were ready to go ashore.

Finally at disembarkation there is a separate lounge for Elite and the next grade down (Platinum) passengers to await their slot, as well as priority to choose your time.

So on the practical issues such as boarding and disembarking, not huge differences.

On the frills some pluses and minuses on each side.

On things that cost, I priced the things we got for nothing on Princess, along with our 10% shopping discount, and tried to set it against the overall 10% discount on P&O. I reckon it worked out about even, but if we hadn’t them free there are some things we wouldn’t bother with, like the wine tasting.

So on loyalty benefits overall, probably another score draw, but maybe a win on penalties for Princess if it goes to extra time!

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Re: Princess v P&O

#37

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

So what's the final result?

One question in the inevitable passenger survey (delivered by email on return, rather than on the ship) is would Princess be your first choice when you next book a cruise.

The honest answer is it would be one of two, along with P&O, or maybe three, adding in Cunard, depending on dates, itinerary and price.

It's definitely in the mix.

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Re: Princess v P&O

#38

Post by Happydays »

Good review, I read it all😉
I'm glad you enjoyed it. We were on Princess 2016 (I think) we had the elite benefits but not club class.
We were disappointed with Princess a lovely ship (Regal princess) As I have mentioned before it may make a difference sailing from Southampton but from New York the ship had no atmosphere, we used to think it was the Marie Celeste everyone vanished by 9.30pm! I
We thought the wine tasting was joke we hardly got enough to wet the glass😂 the only people there were getting it free via elite or suites there was a man came with someone who was getting it free but he wasn't entitled to it and wouldn't pay just sat and watched😕

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Re: Princess v P&O

#39

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

Happydays wrote: 21 Jul 2018, 20:02
We thought the wine tasting was joke we hardly got enough to wet the glass😂 the only people there were getting it free via elite or suites there was a man came with someone who was getting it free but he wasn't entitled to it and wouldn't pay just sat and watched😕
I must say we weren't very impressed with the wines we tasted. We preferred the rather cheaper ones we chose with our dinner.

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Jan Rosser
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Re: Princess v P&O

#40

Post by Jan Rosser »

Thanks for posting your review Merv - good read and I agree with your conclusions - not much to choose between P&O and Princess. I'm actually going on a cruise next year with Royal Caribbean - itinerary being the main reason - I'm anticipating it is going to be pretty casual :roll:
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Re: Princess v P&O

#41

Post by towny44 »

Jan Rosser wrote: 21 Jul 2018, 21:56
Thanks for posting your review Merv - good read and I agree with your conclusions - not much to choose between P&O and Princess. I'm actually going on a cruise next year with Royal Caribbean - itinerary being the main reason - I'm anticipating it is going to be pretty casual :roll:
It will be compared with P&O but, if its from Southampton with a high British contingent, the formal dress code will be fairly well observed.
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Jan Rosser
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Re: Princess v P&O

#42

Post by Jan Rosser »

towny44 wrote: 21 Jul 2018, 22:52
Jan Rosser wrote: 21 Jul 2018, 21:56
Thanks for posting your review Merv - good read and I agree with your conclusions - not much to choose between P&O and Princess. I'm actually going on a cruise next year with Royal Caribbean - itinerary being the main reason - I'm anticipating it is going to be pretty casual :roll:
It will be compared with P&O but, if its from Southampton with a high British contingent, the formal dress code will be fairly well observed.
It is from Southampton John - Baltic cruise - my granddaughters chose it - “the Med is too hot in August” !!!

They have definitely got the cruising bug :lol:
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Re: Princess v P&O

#43

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Mervyn and Trish wrote: 21 Jul 2018, 19:19
So what's the final result?

One question in the inevitable passenger survey (delivered by email on return, rather than on the ship) is would Princess be your first choice when you next book a cruise.

The honest answer is it would be one of two, along with P&O, or maybe three, adding in Cunard, depending on dates, itinerary and price.

It's definitely in the mix.
I agree a score draw. We both found that the experience of Princess was very close to P&O 80 to 90 % the same. In fact 2/3 of the acts had been seen by my OH on P&O.

You missed out the Elite lounge with the cocktails for $4.99. Along with the mini buffet. A definite plus for me. Compensation for the lack of carry on Gin or cheap Gin to buy for in cabin use.

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Re: Princess v P&O

#44

Post by towny44 »

Jan Rosser wrote: 21 Jul 2018, 23:00
towny44 wrote: 21 Jul 2018, 22:52
Jan Rosser wrote: 21 Jul 2018, 21:56
Thanks for posting your review Merv - good read and I agree with your conclusions - not much to choose between P&O and Princess. I'm actually going on a cruise next year with Royal Caribbean - itinerary being the main reason - I'm anticipating it is going to be pretty casual :roll:
It will be compared with P&O but, if its from Southampton with a high British contingent, the formal dress code will be fairly well observed.
It is from Southampton John - Baltic cruise - my granddaughters chose it - “the Med is too hot in August” !!!

They have definitely got the cruising bug :lol:
The Baltic will have quite a few Americans on it, but the Brits should still outnumber them, it was 60/40 on our Canaries cruise last September.
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Re: Princess v P&O

#45

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

daib GC wrote: 22 Jul 2018, 08:01
Mervyn and Trish wrote: 21 Jul 2018, 19:19
So what's the final result?

One question in the inevitable passenger survey (delivered by email on return, rather than on the ship) is would Princess be your first choice when you next book a cruise.

The honest answer is it would be one of two, along with P&O, or maybe three, adding in Cunard, depending on dates, itinerary and price.

It's definitely in the mix.
I agree a score draw. We both found that the experience of Princess was very close to P&O 80 to 90 % the same. In fact 2/3 of the acts had been seen by my OH on P&O.

You missed out the Elite lounge with the cocktails for $4.99. Along with the mini buffet. A definite plus for me. Compensation for the lack of carry on Gin or cheap Gin to buy for in cabin use.
You're right Dai - forgot that. We never tried it. Too busy!


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Re: Princess v P&O

#46

Post by cruisin_duo »

Thank you for posting your review. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences.

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