PO vs RC - Southampon Cruise newbie

[woodyuk]

I went on a cruise in 2004 on P&O on Adonia (adults only) and had an amazing holiday, and loved the whole experience.

 

I am now with my current partner and are in our mid 30’s - no kids. She has never cruised before, and have been looking at a cruise for this summer. My current thinking was Adventure of the Seas from Southampton.

 

My main concern is the difference between P&O and RC ? Also the fact its family / kids based ? Worried its more like Butlins at sea! :)

 

I had an inside cabin on Adonia and had no issues, so do not think it's worth paying extra for the outside cabin.

 

Any other tips for cruising with RC?

 

I like the idea of a bigger ship which was why I was thinking RC over PO.

 

Thanks

[John Bull]

Hi, & welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

So is Adonia the P&O ship you're considering vs Adventure of the Seas?

She's the smallest of the P&O fleet, a very mixed fleet including two leviathons, Azura & Ventura, which also have sailings out of Southampton.

 

And what itineraries?

The Med or Canaries out of Southampton involve a number of sea days, trans-Atlantic involves more, round-Britain, Fjords, Baltic etc involve less. Adonia being smaller will have less entertainment for sea-days, probably no worries if its a day or two, possibly boring for more days unless you're into reading or just sunbathing.

 

Aots will be more stable than Adonia if the Channel or Bay of Biscay are stormy. We had poor weather there on Aots & also had a stern-facing cabin - not the best place for stormy weather - but very stable, no worries.

 

Aots is very much more lively than P&O, but popular venues such as evenings along Grand Parade can get very crowded - in the evenings you might find yourselves not in the bar of your choosing but in whatever bar you can find seats. Great atmosphere though.

 

One big difference is on-board costs, which will be much higher on RCI & other cruise lines than P&O:

 

- drinks prices are much higher on RCI, though last year the usual 15% service charge wasn't added for sailings out of the UK on Aots or Independence ots & I think that concession still applies.

 

- on P&O you can take aboard for consumption in your cabin any alcohol you like - wines, beers, spirits, any quantity you like - though P&O draw the line when they think passengers are intent on having a booze-cruise. On RCI, like most cruise lines, you are limited to taking aboard only two bottles of wine per cabin & only at your embarkation port, no other alcohol.

 

- grammatically-incorrect "gratuities" added to your on-board account on P&O are at half the level of RCI. (only introduced on P&O a couple of years ago)

 

- on-board currency on RCI is the US dollar. Although you'll not need cash dollars, you'll be at the mercy of exchange rates, and there'll be a conversion costs.

NB RCI will offer to convert your on-board account to sterling before charging your credit/debit card. Decline that offer, allow your card supplier to convert, your card supplier will convert at a much better exchange rate. Applies to all non-sterling cruise lines.

 

- but P&O now has two types of ticket, "select" and "saver".

Free shuttles in the ports are now only for "select" bookers, others have to pay though the cost is chickenfeed.

No free parking/transfers now on"saver" tickets.

And no choice of dinner sitting on "saver", your sitting is when they say it is.

So it's not the value it was, but all cruise lines are reducing standards/freebies & ladling on the extras, rather than putting up ticket-prices.

 

RCI is much less-reserved than P&O, though it's not Butlins-at-sea unless you want to participate in that sort of thing.

 

Adonia is adults-only. Sounds good, but it means she appeals particularly to the elderly - that's much older than "pensioners".

How many kids on Aots will depend on date & itinerary, we sailed her May last year and there were so few kids that I had to play with the buttons in the lifts all by myself :D

 

Virtually all passengers on P&O are Brits, but not a lot different on RCI ships to the Med out of Southampton - most Americans & other nationals use ships based in Barcelona, Rome, Venice etc.

 

JB :)

Edited April 28, 2014 by John Bull

[whogo]

That was a fun read, John Bull!