On Iona now 28th Sept

[Ardennais]

2 hours ago, picsa said:

Only if you are an alcoholic - 6 pints a day, every day is a bit excessive. Tips are zero on P&O and WiFi is irrelevant for most.

 

And then you have the base price of the cruise, do Princess cruises start at under £43 per person per day?

Even I, being teetotal, have to defend my wine drinking friends on this forum. 6 alcoholic drinks a day ON HOLIDAY isn’t really excessive spread throughout the day. And how do you know that WiFi “is irrelevant for most”?

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Ardennais said:

Even I, being teetotal, have to defend my wine drinking friends on this forum. 6 alcoholic drinks a day ON HOLIDAY isn’t really excessive spread throughout the day. And how do you know that WiFi “is irrelevant for most”?

If the cost is £30pppd and tips are normally about £10pppd, I would pay about £5 for WiFi.£15 for drinks ,soda and coffee seems a good deal.

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, picsa said:

Only if you are an alcoholic - 6 pints a day, every day is a bit excessive. Tips are zero on P&O and WiFi is irrelevant for most.

 

And then you have the base price of the cruise, do Princess cruises start at under £43 per person per day?

Sorry folks, I know this is a P&O forum,  but I just want to clear the air. 

Princess Plus is £30 pppd. As that includes the autotips,  the nett cost is therefore around £20 pppd.

Given the cost of drinks on Princess,  that equates to  around three glasses of wine,  or a couple of speciality coffees and a couple of mocktails per day. I don't think that makes me an alcoholic!

The value of the wifi  obviously  depends on the individual, but is basically free.  

The drinks package on P&O is basically £40 a day - in comparison the  Princess price is a bargain. 

Finally, the cost of my forthcoming cruise on Sky Princess in a minisuite,  with a Princess Plus package, is costing less pppd than our Canaries cruise on Arcadia in a standard balcony cabin with no drinks and no wifi.

Just the facts - no subjective comments.

[grapau27]

39 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Sorry folks, I know this is a P&O forum,  but I just want to clear the air. 

Princess Plus is £30 pppd. As that includes the autotips,  the nett cost is therefore around £20 pppd.

Given the cost of drinks on Princess,  that equates to  around three glasses of wine,  or a couple of speciality coffees and a couple of mocktails per day. I don't think that makes me an alcoholic!

The value of the wifi  obviously  depends on the individual, but is basically free.  

The drinks package on P&O is basically £40 a day - in comparison the  Princess price is a bargain. 

Finally, the cost of my forthcoming cruise on Sky Princess in a minisuite,  with a Princess Plus package, is costing less pppd than our Canaries cruise on Arcadia in a standard balcony cabin with no drinks and no wifi.

Just the facts - no subjective comments.

It is great value for money Wowzz especially as it includes tips and WiFi too.

We always pre-pay or autotip on Princess and Royal Caribbean so see the value.

Graham.

[Peanut006]

47 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Sorry folks, I know this is a P&O forum,  but I just want to clear the air. 

Princess Plus is £30 pppd. As that includes the autotips,  the nett cost is therefore around £20 pppd.

Given the cost of drinks on Princess,  that equates to  around three glasses of wine,  or a couple of speciality coffees and a couple of mocktails per day. I don't think that makes me an alcoholic!

The value of the wifi  obviously  depends on the individual, but is basically free.  

The drinks package on P&O is basically £40 a day - in comparison the  Princess price is a bargain. 

Finally, the cost of my forthcoming cruise on Sky Princess in a minisuite,  with a Princess Plus package, is costing less pppd than our Canaries cruise on Arcadia in a standard balcony cabin with no drinks and no wifi.

Just the facts - no subjective comments.

We have booked Princess Plus next year on Sky Princess, it’s a no-brainier - really good value 

Michelle

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

It is great value for money Wowzz especially as it includes tips and WiFi too.

We always pre-pay or autotip on Princess and Royal Caribbean so see the value.

Graham.

 

3 minutes ago, Peanut006 said:

We have booked Princess Plus next year on Sky Princess, it’s a no-brainier - really good value 

Michelle

Well, according to our friend Picsa, that makes all of us alcoholics ! Hic! 

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

If the cost is £30pppd and tips are normally about £10pppd, I would pay about £5 for WiFi.£15 for drinks ,soda and coffee seems a good deal.

I suspect the current £30pppd being charged by Princess is something of a loss leader in these special covid circumstances, so to keep quoting this as long term competition to P&O is very misleading.

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I suspect the current £30pppd being charged by Princess is something of a loss leader in these special covid circumstances, so to keep quoting this as long term competition to P&O is very misleading.

Not really - the same package is available right through next year, on all Princess cruises. 

I suspect the package is aimed more at attracting Celebrity cruisers.

Princess are not really worried about attracting P&O cruisers,  given their common corporate background. 

 

[Britboys]

7 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Not really - the same package is available right through next year, on all Princess cruises. 

I suspect the package is aimed more at attracting Celebrity cruisers.

Princess are not really worried about attracting P&O cruisers,  given their common corporate background. 

 

Princess may not be overly bothered about attracting P&O cruisers but maybe Carnival Corp are keen for P&O cruisers to try Princess so that they can ramp up their 'casualisation' of P&O?????

[terrierjohn]

16 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Not really - the same package is available right through next year, on all Princess cruises. 

I suspect the package is aimed more at attracting Celebrity cruisers.

Princess are not really worried about attracting P&O cruisers,  given their common corporate background. 

 

I may be be totally wrong wowzz, but I think this low price will disappear once the Princess 2023 launch period is over, and I was meaning you quoting it as competition not Princess.

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I may be be totally wrong wowzz, but I think this low price will disappear once the Princess 2023 launch period is over, and I was meaning you quoting it as competition not Princess.

If that is the case, why is the same package available worldwide on Princess. They are not worried about P&O in Alaska! 

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

If that is the case, why is the same package available worldwide on Princess. They are not worried about P&O in Alaska! 

Who said Princess were worried about P&O, I said you were the one advertising this as competition on the P&O board.

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Who said Princess were worried about P&O, I said you were the one advertising this as competition on the P&O board.

Actually,  Picsa stated that Princess were charging more because they were offering free wifi.

But, to be honest,  does it really matter?

We just need to decide what is best for each of us,  knowing exactly what the full details of any particular deal may be.

[terrierjohn]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Actually,  Picsa stated that Princess were charging more because they were offering free wifi.

But, to be honest,  does it really matter?

We just need to decide what is best for each of us,  knowing exactly what the full details of any particular deal may be.

Dont get me wrong I think this Princess Plus deal is a great offer, I just don't think its tenable long term, doomed to increase just like energy prices.

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Dont get me wrong I think this Princess Plus deal is a great offer, I just don't think its tenable long term, doomed to increase just like energy prices.

Strangely enough, it came down in price from £35 to £30 about 6 months ago. 

I probably agree with you, but if Princess massage their cruise prices up by 5 £/$ a day, they can probably keep PP going for a while longer.

Whilst many drinkers will make the most of the deal, there are still significant numbers who will just have soft drinks and speciality coffees.

[showingdiva]

The $30 PP is great value.   I'm also teetotal, but having had a premium drinks package on MSC Virtuosa, between the mocktails, strawberry slushies and cans of fizzy juice, I could easily have made the PP offer viable had it been on a Princess ship.   My only two regrets are that P&O don't offer something comparable for adults who don't drink alcohol, and that given their prices, Princess don't seem very keen on solo passengers.

[Guest]

The Princes Plus deal is fantastic, and the cocktail selection is immense. And even before the PP, the base fares are cheaper than P&O. 
 

For a 14 night B2B in the Caribbean on the Sky in 2023 with PP, it is £4000 cheaper for a family of 4 in 2 cabins than it is on Arvia without drinks. Flights and hotels come in way under that £4000 before you even take drinks into consideration.  
 

I’m not P&O bashing as I have 2 more booked, but for me Princess provide a better product. P&O need to start changing a few things if they keep charging those prices. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

9 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

The Princes Plus deal is fantastic, and the cocktail selection is immense. And even before the PP, the base fares are cheaper than P&O. 
 

For a 14 night B2B in the Caribbean on the Sky in 2023 with PP, it is £4000 cheaper for a family of 4 in 2 cabins than it is on Arvia without drinks. Flights and hotels come in way under that £4000 before you even take drinks into consideration.  
 

I’m not P&O bashing as I have 2 more booked, but for me Princess provide a better product. P&O need to start changing a few things if they keep charging those prices. 

Out of interest are you comparing an old Princess boat with a new P and O boat?

 

Would you be able to post the breakdown comparison. I've always assumed Princess to be more expensive than P and O when ive looked at cruises. 

[Bgees]

5 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I've always assumed Princess to be more expensive than P and O when ive looked at cruises. 

 

I have noticed that Princess are nearly always cheaper than P&O when looking at cruise prices recently. That is selecting the Princess Plus price as well.

[wowzz]

20 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Out of interest are you comparing an old Princess boat with a new P and O boat?

 

Would you be able to post the breakdown comparison. I've always assumed Princess to be more expensive than P and O when ive looked at cruises. 

Sky Princess was launched in 2019, so considerably newer than all the P&O fleet, apart from Iona and Our Vera.

[Interestedcruisefan]

17 minutes ago, Bgees said:

 

I have noticed that Princess are nearly always cheaper than P&O when looking at cruise prices recently. That is selecting the Princess Plus price as well.

For standard cabins without balconies etc and without add ons?

 

I always look at the basic price ?

 

Does someone have an example to post ?

[wowzz]

38 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

For standard cabins without balconies etc and without add ons?

 

I always look at the basic price ?

 

Does someone have an example to post ?

It's essy enought to do your own search,  but a quick look shows 14 nights on Azura from Malta in May 2022 at 1529, compared to 14 night night on Regal from Barcelona at £1449. Obviously you need to take air fares into account with Regal, but it shows that there is really nothing between them , for the cheapest cabins.

[zap99]

11 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I suspect the current £30pppd being charged by Princess is something of a loss leader in these special covid circumstances, so to keep quoting this as long term competition to P&O is very misleading.

I didn't start this, just making an observation🤣. We don't have a Princess cruise booked ,or planned. Our Celebrity Fjords cruise includes this kind of package, but was a lot more money. On the American ships we often get a drinks package, but wait til they are on special. Not on P&O as no way would we ever get anywhere near £40 pppd. 

[Dermotsgirl]

For the people on this cruise - have their been any announcements onboard about the Covid people offloaded in Cadiz? and have protocols been tightened up?

[Cruisemeister2002]

Thanks for the revue of Iona. As far as Oriana and Aurora go they were both great ships in their day. Sadly as with us oldies they grow tired and loose their youthful gloss. I think I'm right in saying Oriana first sailed in 1996 and Aurora in 2000. We sailed on Oriana three times to the Caribbean and Aurora four times up the East coast of America and Canada. The only time I can remember any real problems was a fire on Oriana whilst leaving Miami which meant we had to miss a port call in Key West, which myself and wife weren't too bothered as we had visited before. But many were annoyed. Anyone remember Victoria ? She was formerly tha Sea Princess and when bought by P&O the Kungsholm. That was our first cruise and although by todays standards wouldn't be accepted was a beautiful ship. The cabin had a port hole and me and the wife had separate beds. The dining room had lovely etched glass mirrors and wood panelling. I believe she was bought by a German cruise company and called the Mona Lisa, but had a serious fire onboard and I think no longer exists know. She was built in 1966.