Just back from the Fjords with P&O

[mickeyspal]

Originally Posted by SquishTheWhale

We would love to do a DCL cruise when baby is old enough but the prices make me sweat. Maybe one day lol.

I wouldn't want to totally put you off trying P&O- we would consider them again based solely on price but would definitley rank them lower on experience than NCL, RCI and Princess. They certainly aren't a 'never again' like MSC was for us lol. Perhaps if we really wanted to focus on itinerary rather than ship it would be worth it. And it could be that Iona marks the start of them stepping up their ship game.

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We didn't rate MSC either

[Omega1]

All the thumbs down for MSC are giving me the vapours! Our first MSC cruise is in Nov from Genoa to Rio. It was chosen for the itinerary not the cruise line! Very cheap so as long as the food is edible and cabin clean we’ll be ok - we go with low expectations so anything positive is a bonus!😂😂

[Bozza]

We've only ever done three Disney cruises so this thread had me popping over to P&O to see what they charge, as the implication was I'd fine them cheaper than DCL.

Somewhat stunned to find a 7-night Fjords cruise in the 2020 Summer holidays in a balcony room on the Iona (which I've just seen is a new ship next year) for about £3,700 for 2 adults and 2 kids. That's less than I paid for a 4-nighter on the Dream this Summer!

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by Bozza

We've only ever done three Disney cruises so this thread had me popping over to P&O to see what they charge, as the implication was I'd fine them cheaper than DCL.

Somewhat stunned to find a 7-night Fjords cruise in the 2020 Summer holidays in a balcony room on the Iona (which I've just seen is a new ship next year) for about £3,700 for 2 adults and 2 kids. That's less than I paid for a 4-nighter on the Dream this Summer!

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...which, being frank, would worry about some of the clientele that would also be on board.

Is that view justified?!?

[Omega1]

Originally Posted by Bozza

...which, being frank, would worry about some of the clientele that would also be on board.

Is that view justified?!?

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No! You don’t need to pay a fortune to have a great cruise - with lovely people. Our next P&O cruise in April, 18 nights Southampton to Malta via the Greek isles was £1077pp inc flight home - and I’m expecting it to be full of polite, well behaved people - as it was on all the other 40+ cruises we’ve been on.

[Loopylooloo]

Originally Posted by Bozza

...which, being frank, would worry about some of the clientele that would also be on board.

Is that view justified?!?

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DCL is notoriously expensive, as is everything Disney branded, I certainly wouldn't question the clientele on P&O, and quite often a weeks cruise is the same price as a shorter one - they can get away with charging a premium for shorter cruises as more people want to take them.

[SquishTheWhale]

Originally Posted by Omega1

No! You don’t need to pay a fortune to have a great cruise - with lovely people. Our next P&O cruise in April, 18 nights Southampton to Malta via the Greek isles was £1077pp inc flight home - and I’m expecting it to be full of polite, we’ll behaved people - as it was on all the other 40+ cruises we’ve been on.

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We had no real issue with the clientele on P&O. It is a cheaper option (mostly!) so that will attract a wider client base but it didn't feel like 'butlins on sea' as I'd heard it described. On the very last morning a girl did shout at me I was a 'silly b****' for saying 'excuse me' when she was blocking a doorway having a chat lol... but luckily I hadn't run into her (or her like) earlier in the cruise! We did chat to some lovely people.

Originally Posted by Bozza

We've only ever done three Disney cruises so this thread had me popping over to P&O to see what they charge, as the implication was I'd fine them cheaper than DCL.

Somewhat stunned to find a 7-night Fjords cruise in the 2020 Summer holidays in a balcony room on the Iona (which I've just seen is a new ship next year) for about £3,700 for 2 adults and 2 kids. That's less than I paid for a 4-nighter on the Dream this Summer!

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Iona is brand new next summer so that could explain the higher pricing. And of course you're comparing 4 nights to 7, but yeah normally the price gap is higher. As context we sailed just out of the summer holidays (left 31st Aug) and paid £600ish each for an inside 7 night Fjords. My parents paid about £900 each for a balcony.

Originally Posted by Omega1

All the thumbs down for MSC are giving me the vapours! Our first MSC cruise is in Nov from Genoa to Rio. It was chosen for the itinerary not the cruise line! Very cheap so as long as the food is edible and cabin clean we’ll be ok - we go with low expectations so anything positive is a bonus!😂😂

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Although we had a bad experience with MSC I've heard positive stories from others so the only thing you can do is go and see! Our main problem with it was the food was bad and the organisation abysmal (think 3hrs to disembark). However the ship itself was stunning and the cruise was cheap. The cabin was clean and it was large for an inside as well!

[mickeyspal]

Originally Posted by Bozza

We've only ever done three Disney cruises so this thread had me popping over to P&O to see what they charge, as the implication was I'd fine them cheaper than DCL.

Somewhat stunned to find a 7-night Fjords cruise in the 2020 Summer holidays in a balcony room on the Iona (which I've just seen is a new ship next year) for about £3,700 for 2 adults and 2 kids. That's less than I paid for a 4-nighter on the Dream this Summer!

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The ship we were on the meraviglia was gorgeous and spotlessly clean , the food was ok but could have been hotter, only reason we didn't rate it was we didn't like all the announcements in so many languages all the time , it just took forever and the ship was too big ( and we've been on some massive ones) that it just wasn't friendly enough. Also because people to join or leave the cruise at any of the ports you never felt a sense of continuity.
But if you are ok with that don't worry, as the ship itself is lovely

[mickeyspal]

Oops I put this on the wrong quote and can't change it ... sorry

[Omega1]

Originally Posted by mickeyspal

The ship we were on the meraviglia was gorgeous and spotlessly clean , the food was ok but could have been hotter, only reason we didn't rate it was we didn't like all the announcements in so many languages all the time , it just took forever and the ship was too big ( and we've been on some massive ones) that it just wasn't friendly enough. Also because people to join or leave the cruise at any of the ports you never felt a sense of continuity.
But if you are ok with that don't worry, as the ship itself is lovely

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Thanks - we’re on the Fantasia so a bit smaller. We did two trips on Costa 10 years ago so know what you mean about announcements.