Comparison of P&O Australia & Carnival Australia

Havingdone two cruises within 12 months of each other I thought it would beinteresting to post my views on comparing the two lines.

Embarkation

Usingwheelchair assistance our experience is a little different to most but we haveused this for both lines so can compare.

We lovedthat Carnival had luggage helpers curbside, out suitcases were taken straightfrom the taxi from us. They were veryattentive and there were plenty of them. Our suitcases arrived while we were at early seating for dinner and wereundamaged.

ForP&O our name was on a list with special assistance as was our expected timeof arrival. There were at least threepeople assigned to WC embarkation and it moved very quickly.

WithCarnival you went through the priority line to a table inside, there you signedup and waited your turn. Even though wehad pre-registered (and had a call from the special assistance department) theyhad no idea of who might use this service. People were encouraged to sign up on the spot if need be.

Thereseemed to be only two people as pushers and we had a long wait - over 40minutes. What we didn't realise was thatbecause of this we could have ignored our boarding time and embarked at anytime. No one checked our boarding passlike they do with regular boarding.

Sidenote: Carnival reached out a number of times during the cruise to ensure thatthe hubby had everything he needed. Wealso had access to a specially assigned customer service rep who wasresponsible for facilitating special assistance. Our one small issue was the muster drill, itwould have been nice if this could have been done sitting down - either in alounge (like P&O) or chairs on the deck for those who have issuesstanding. Even allowing us to wait in alounge until the drill was about to start would have helped. It was a very long time on deck. Also givingthose with mobility issues a head start after the drill would have beengreat. The wait for the lifts draggedthe standing out even longer.

Verdict -we liked the carnival baggage handlers but the delay waiting for a pusher madethis a tie.

Entertainment

Carnivalhad a good range of items on offer. Thecraft activities (even for a cost) was a good addition to the normal fare. Trivia seemed very popular and they almostneed to reconsider the locations they held this as it was sometimes verydifficult to get a seat. One day wasparticularly bad when the venue was right by where they were raising thetenders which made it impossible to hear.

Howeverthe things we didn't like was the entertainment was very evening focused. Apart from a smattering of activities throughthe day most activities were in the evening.

We alsoreally missed live music like on P&O. Carnival had some live groups (3-4) but again they were mainly in theevening. On P&O you could prettymuch find something anytime through out the day.

The showswent to P&O for a couple of reasons. Firstly they weren't shows as much as songs grouped to a theme. There was no plot or storyline, it was justsongs. They were visually spectacularand there was up to 10 set changes in each one and pyrotechnics.

Thesecond reason is the number of shows - the entertainment staff did five showson a nine night cruise which I think is normal but there was a three day gapwhere they didn't perform. One of thenights was a guest performer which hands down was the best thing we watched alltrip but on the other nights the shows were very ho hum. We certainly didn't appreciate the Hasbrogame night.

We weredisappointed they didn't have a crew night like on P&O. This was one of our favorite events on ourcruise and considering the talent staff had they missed an opportunity here. Every night waiters sang in the MDR and therewas one in particular that should be a professional singer. It was disappointing that the best talent(and I am serious with that comment) was serving us at dinner.

Verdict -Hands down P&O win this.

Cabin

Fulldisclosure we had a balcony on Carnival and ocean view on P&O. We loved thebalcony - especially at sail away, when we were able to enjoy our departurewithout the crush on the main decks. Itwas also wonderful to sleep with the curtains open and look outside from thebed.

TheCarnival cabin had a couch vs a tub chair and while we didn't particularly useit found it gave us more options (and more dumping space).

The bedwas nice - we didn't need a topper like on P&O. The shower seemed bigger, but there was noshelving for those who bring their own toiletries. We won't comment on the blue vanity top…

We didprefer the P&O layout of having one large hanging space and lots of drawersbut overall the layout of Carnival was better.

What wasfar far worse on Carnival was the tv. Firstly it was tiny and secondly there was very few channels. There was multiple channels promotingCarnival - at least six dedicated to shopping, shore excursions etc. But in the terms of general watching theywere very limited.

Also wespend a great deal of time in our room and bring ipads / media play to watchour own programmes and movies. HoweverCarnival has cut off the usb ports on the tv so you can't plug in your ownmedia. While we could live with this iftheir own entertainment options were up to snuff it made our cruise a bit lessenjoyable.

Verdict -While Carnival felt bigger P&O win it for the enjoyment while in the room.

Décor

Sorry Ijust can't find many positives for Carnival here. It certainly was unique. P&O has a nice elegant look rather thanover the top and garish. It was alsosurprising that P&O felt more opulent and large as the ships aresmaller. The atrium on P&O waslarger and a lovely place to relax. P&O also had rooms the width of the ship, whereas Carnival broke thespaces up more. This made for moreoptions but they sometimes felt small.

What Idid appreciate was the art auctions being held in a conference room so we neverhad to encounter it.

Verdict -no question about it P&O win by a mile

Food

I realisethis is very subjective and full disclosure we have food intolerances. We are both gluten intolerant, and thehusband has sensitivities to onion, spices and fried food. He is also diabetic so we need to monitorcarbs and sugar. I realise people viewquality differently and there were some hits and misses on that front. The buffet was in general good but did have acafeteria feel to it - but that is to be expected when serving over 2000 peoplea day.

We reallyreally struggled with food on this cruise. Lunch was the hardest meal by far, the MDR was only open for lunch 2 ofthe 9 days (brunch took out the other 2 sea days). The buffet was very limited when you have myhusband's issues. He ended up havingsalads and being grumpy that he couldn't find food that he could eat. I fared better as I loved the soft shelltacos from the cantina and could also do a bun less burger from guys.

Dinneritself was a let down - the menu planning was very unbalanced. While there are six starters there wasn't agreat deal of variety. For example onone night there were two prawn dishes, two soups and two salads. We don't eat sea food and not big soup fansso it left salad.

The mainswere the same - often two seafood dishes out of the six. On the day there were the two prawn startersthere was also prawns for the mains. Ican appreciate that most people eat seafood but good menu planning will providea range of options.

The go todish is normally steak but he did not appreciate the thin cut on the everydaymenu. P&O did an amazing rump steakwhich he happily ate every night. OnCarnival it was difficult finding acceptable choices easily.

Wherethey did shine was in the dessert department. P&O produces rubbery tasteless desserts but oh my Carnivalexcelled. The sorbet was fantastic.

We alsoappreciated the free soft serve and tea / lemon drink. There was also ice water everywhere which wasvery welcome. The hubby is verysensitive to taste and couldn't drink the P&O water but on Carnival it wasdelicious.

P&Oalso won breakfast, while the food is similar P&O had more options. I knowCarnival had the brunch menu which was interesting and delicious but I muchpreferred P&O.

Bread andbaked goods also shined on Carnival - my notes for P&O describe hard rollsand dense danishes. Carnival the breadwas soft and fluffy and the baked goods were a saving grace. We also appreciated the ease of gettinggluten free bread & muffins.

Latenight the only option was the 24hr pizza or up till 11 the for fee seafoodjoint. We didn't do seafood so I had apizza. This was tasteless and not worththe hype. It would be much better with adecent whack of sauce and if the toppings were not so thin you could seethrough them.

WhileP&O get criticized for having the grill at for a fee, the food was muchnicer and there were options. I wouldsooner pay $3 for a late night nachos or hotdog than to only have the freepizza as an option.

Verdict -while Carnival had good bread and deserts it did not make up for the dailystruggle. Food is normally a big part ofthe cruise and we came home loosing weight :(

Service

This isreally hard to compare as they are both excellent and different. Carnival makes a big deal of using your name- this is to make you feel special. Idid like the wait team of three in the MDR, they were very cohesive and whilethey had set jobs they all worked in together to get something done. We only had one night that there was a smallissue - I just couldn't eat my main and so they got me something else but thisthrew out the timing to the extent they forgot our desserts.

This wasa blip on otherwise flawless service. Weare very low maintenance and this meant the team could spend more time on the12 top that had 9 kids.

I lovedhow friendly the team were and once during lunch I ran into the juniorassistant waiter who was on buffet duty. He was so lovely and knew me by name and offered to help get things forme. This was a step up from the level ofservice on P&O - which was good as well.

Thedancing and singing in the dinning room was interesting. Not sure how I really feel about it to behonest. The wait staff got into it -they did seem to not dance if they didn't want to. The waiters that sung the feature songs wereAMAZING!!!! They were better singers than the entertainment staff.

We neversore our room steward or his assistant apart from the first day. He introduced himself as we were sailing awayand asked if we only wanted the once a day service. This was fine with us - as we spend so muchtime in our room it was nice not to be interrupted in the morning. We choose evening service as we love havingthe bed turned down. The one time weneeded more towels we just asked to take some off another stewardstrolley.

So whilewe didn't see them they kept the cabin nice and tidy and we had no complaints.

Verdict -Carnival takes this one out

Technology

Thisagain is a mixed bag. P&O's websiteallows via cruise control booking shore excursions, drinks packages etc priorto boarding. Carnival Australia has avery basic website that didn't allow anything. It was hard to find prices for things like bottled water.

But whereCarnival does win is the use of the carnival hub app. This is hooked into the ships wifi (so youdon't need an internet package to use it) which has the daily planner, youraccount and a for fee messaging system.

We lovedthis app and never really glanced at the paper copy of the planner. It would be good if you could opt out ofreceiving these.

Verdict -We used the app daily so Carnival takes this one

OverallResult:

Werealised Carnival is not the line for us. While we can see how it can suit many people, we do prefer P&O. If it wasn't for the food we may haveconsidered Carnival again as they have some really great things going forthem. But ultimately for our style ofcruising P&O is best for us.

Thanks for the comparison! Maybe I should give P&O a shot

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Thanks for your insights and comparisons. Very much appreciated.

Thanks for the comparison

I havent been on Carnival yet, but I loved P&O

Great posts. We've done two P&O and one Carnival this year and would agree with the comments. At the end of the day, we'd prefer to be at sea rather than at work but one has to pay for the other! The garish decor of carnival is a bit too much for us, but there were lots of things to like about Carnival. However we've had two great cruises on P&O so I'm happy to do either if the itinerary and price suits. One other post that may not be relevant is the amount of children. P&O definitely seem to have the win here with limited spaces for kids. Our 13 year old won't do a Carnival kids club as there's too many kids around and there's no control. He's a very confident boy and not at all shy or retiring (not sure where he gets it from...) but he ended up spending a lot of time with the four friends he made, and the 24 hour pizza seemed to be a major benefit for them. Also, we all loved the free hot chocolate, especially at bed time!

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We've done 4 Carnival and 1 P & O and doing another P & O in a few weeks, either cruise line suits us but I did notice a different vibe on our last Carnival cruise ( March 2016 ), maybe we just needed a change.

Thanks for the review - much appreciated.

Have only done P&O so far because I go from Melb but will be trying Carnival when they get here in 2018. I must admit comparing P&O's older ships, Jewel etc with Eden/Aria will give a different perspective regarding the meals because of Dragon Lady and Angelo's. Much more free choice. Also Eden is much more boutiquee and confined in layout. Different vibes.

Love honest reviews from members.

Haven't cruised Carnival but will one day when timing, itinerary and price suit. Currently, P&O has suited me for the short cruises while X, royal and Princess, do for the longer cruises.

Thanks for the review. That is helpful as I am researching P&O. I am only finding it does short cruises. What line would you recommend for longer 12-15 day Australia/NZ itineraries? I don't usually travel with Carnival.

Thanks for the review. That is helpful as I am researching P&O. I am only finding it does short cruises. What line would you recommend for longer 12-15 day Australia/NZ itineraries? I don't usually travel with Carnival.

Celebrity

I just came off a 15 night cruise on P&O, this is one of the longest they do. We enjoyed it but did find the entertainment was a bit hit and miss. The food was fine and we had six ports of call. If you like the P&O product you will be fine with a 15 night cruise.