Britannia, Sapphire Princess or Celebrity Silouhette?

[harryspotter]

Last year went on first cruise with Oceania Riveria.  Really enjoyed it.

 

This year will go with in laws.  Age range 50 - 75

 

We need to depart from UK to the Med so came up with these 3 ships.  What are your thoughts?  Pros and cons?

 

An example is I have just seen a review about one of the ships that is rolled a lot.  Can't remember which one..

 

Anyway, any help will be appreciated.

 

H

[Aquahound]

I haven't been on any of those ships, but I have been on their sister ships.  I recommend Silhouette.  Celebrity's Solstice Class ships are gorgeous and in my opinion, they're designed a lot better than those other 2.  

[LHT28]

Are  the itineraries  the same?

Britannia  I think would be more formal  than the other &  more British feel

The others will have a lot more pax  than Oceania  😉

 

That  said  go with  the one that ticks more of your boxes  &  budget

 

Enjoy

 

[lenquixote66]

We were on the Silhouette and it is our favorite ship of all time.

[jocap]

Britannia is only formal on a couple of nights in the main dining room, which is easily avoided by eating elsewhere if you don't want to dress up; she is very large and has plenty of other dining areas. Other than that, she's a family ship, so there's nothing stuffy or formal about her.

Sapphire Princess is smaller, but of a similar design (Princess and P&O have the same build of ship because they used to be one company- their Royal Princess etc is the same as Britannia.). I believe they still have formal nights?

If you're going from Southampton, the majority of people will be Brit/Irish on any ship.

There is a difference in tipping, if you're going this summer, as P&O has ended tipping this May.

[Heidi13]

All three ships are larger than your previous cruise, with the Celebrity & Princess ships being fairly similar in size. The Britannia is larger, but is designed for the UK market, so will have more of a British feel. The other 2 ships were built predominantly for the North American market.

 

As jocap noted, on Britannia, as of May 2019, P&O are including tips in the base fare. The other 2 ships you will be charged about $15 pp/day auto-tips to your shipboard account.

 

For onboard currency, although not 100% certain, I believe Celebrity & Princess will continue using US $, while the Britannia will be Sterling. 

 

If any of your party are beer lovers, the Britannia is most definitely the best choice. They have an amazing selection of real British ales, bitter, IPA, etc.

[cabin4three]

as others have posted

Britannia - P&O UK based, prices include gratuity, onboard prices in  GB Sterling, plug sockets are UK three pin style, food in MDR has UK "favourites",  will have lots of Brits aboard

Princess - gratuities on top of fare shown on website, plug sockets are USA or European style, will have a lot of Brits aboard but we have found passengers a little more varied on Princess than P&O

 

Have a look at the cabin sizes offered.

 

Have sailed on P&O  and Princess a number of times and like both.  Another option is Cunard - sometimes they are cheaper than P&O or Princess,  cruising isnt as formal as it once was.

[cabin4three]

If you are big drinkers then you might want to have a look at the cost of the drinks packages, as this might have a big impact on the overall price of the cruise.

P&O and Princess (sailing out of UK) have kettles in cabin - dont know if Celebrity do

 

non-alcoholic package on P&O:£19.95 per person per day

Alcohol drinks package P&O: £39.95 per person per day

 

soda package on Princess:$8.05 per person per day

Alcohol drinks package Princess: $68.99 per person per day

 

soda package on Celebrity:$9 per person per day

Alcohol drinks package Celebrity: $59 per person per day for classic, $69 for premium

 

There are limits to which drinks or how many are included,  and you have to buy  the package for the length of the cruise, might not work out good value if you are in ports every day

[jocap]

Yes, Celebrity (and RCI) sailing from the UK have kettles in all cabins.

[Velvetwater]

2 hours ago, jocap said:

Yes, Celebrity (and RCI) sailing from the UK have kettles in all cabins.

 

It's not a given for Royal. We didn't have them on the indy from Southampton.

 

Celebrity vote here....pretty ship with a mix of everything. We personally avoid UK lines as we aren't very British haha. 🙂 

[jocap]

18 hours ago, Velvetwater said:

 

It's not a given for Royal. We didn't have them on the indy from Southampton.

 

Celebrity vote here....pretty ship with a mix of everything. We personally avoid UK lines as we aren't very British haha. 🙂 

 

You should have had a kettle, because Indy was the great trial for kettles in every cabin when Robin Shaw was UK manager. It was a way of attracting people across from the British managed lines such as P&O and Fred O, along with adding tips on drinks. I think we were all impressed with his announcement. I haven't heard of others missing out- certainly we had a kettle and tea tray- I would have enquired otherwise.

[Velvetwater]

16 hours ago, jocap said:

 

You should have had a kettle, because Indy was the great trial for kettles in every cabin when Robin Shaw was UK manager. It was a way of attracting people across from the British managed lines such as P&O and Fred O, along with adding tips on drinks. I think we were all impressed with his announcement. I haven't heard of others missing out- certainly we had a kettle and tea tray- I would have enquired otherwise.

 

We asked and no luck and found out that most cabins did not except suites and a few balconies.

 

This was 2016