Where to next? And with who?

[Alicop21]

Hello. We went on our first cruise earlier this year (2 adults, 2 kids between 7-10) sailing on P&O's Iona and it was fantastic! We loved it so much that we booked another for the summer on Ventura. It was a completely different experience. I understand a lot of this will be down to the summer holidays etc but the whole ship and enjoyment of the holiday was completely different.

 

We want to go on another cruise but there are so many cruise lines I'm a bit lost as to where to start. We want to sail Southampton to Southampton and obviously we'll need a cruise line that is child friendly. I looked at Royal Caribbean but their prices seemed almost double to something similar on P&O next year so maybe they are above our budget? Who else should I look at? Are MSC any good? I heard mixed things. Gah! So many choices and not enough experience!

 

So, any recommendations for family cruise lines around the same price as P&O (and standard of Iona) would be greatly appreciated.  

[Britboys]

I'm not much help with family-friendly cruising but if you loved Iona, have you thought about trying P&O's new ship Arvia, which will be very similar to Iona?

[Gettingwarmer]

5 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I'm not much help with family-friendly cruising but if you loved Iona, have you thought about trying P&O's new ship Arvia, which will be very similar to Iona?

Exactly, with a few more family friendly items as well. Although I don’t think she will be based from Southampton. 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Gettingwarmer

[BouncingWheel]

Hi, it may help if you say what you loved about Iona and what you disliked about Ventura so that people can give you better advice.

 

For better all round entertainment for kids 7-10 then RCL definitely have the most activities but it comes at a price and not all their ships have the same features.

 

Funny enough Ventura is a popular family ship. It is older but has the arcade area which kids love and, in normal times (which we haven't made it back to) have one of the best kids clubs/teams though I have heard that Iona's is better.

[wowzz]

16 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Exactly, with a few more family friendly items as well. Although I don’t think she will be based from Southampton. 

She will be in summer 2023.

[Mark36]

Princess newer ships good prices with drinks tips if you book plus fare. We have done RCCL. Celebrity PO and Princess with Kids and they enjoyed them all. RCCL have a lot of kid friendly stuff but if price is too high try Princess.

[Vampiress88]

Can’t actually help with this one. Only been on Britannia and azura. 
will be going on iona in November and doing msc before that so will be able to give a better answer. My kids are 7&6 currently 

[Cruisemeister2002]

We, that's myself and the wife have been on 16 cruises so far. 15 of them with P&O and although a bit long in the tooth compared to yourselves it can be quite amazing how the enjoyment of one cruise is different to another. Like the old saying goes " You never forget your first time " not sure that related to cruising, but never mind. You get my drift. Some ships seem to have it and some don't and really it's personal choice. We have loved Oriana, Aurora and even Artemis. We liked Britannia and Azura. Didn't enjoy Oceana or Adonia and wasn't as keen on Ventura as we were on Azura although very similar. We adored Victoria, our first cruise. As I put in an album " A true Queen " Many would totally disagree with our assessment of these ships. Iona is obviously pretty new and we look forward to cruising on her next year. But as a fellow shipmate has pointed out it really does depend on what you found good on one ship and poor on another.

[Cruisemeister2002]

4 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

Can’t actually help with this one. Only been on Britannia and azura. 
will be going on iona in November and doing msc before that so will be able to give a better answer. My kids are 7&6 currently 

Kids seem pretty cheap to me.(7s6d) Don't need any though as I have four of my own and 8 Grandkids . Showing my age with old pounds and pence. No offence meant.

[Peanut006]

We are taking our grandchildren next year, four of them age 15,12,10 & 5, we are going on Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas, 7 nights Southampton to Southampton in adjoining cabins for a week and i have paid roughly the same as I would with P & O for two cabins.

 

Michelle

[Thejuggler]

Over 13 years we have done P&O Ventura twice, Grand Princess and Celebrity Eclipse twice.

 

Of the three Celebrity was by far the best in terms of ship layout, ship facilities, food (the buffet is actually a food court), crew and daily activities.  The ABP parking in Southampton is also much better than the CPS system used by P&O/Princess.

 

It was also the best value as the inclusive drinks package and OBC made it an all inclusive holiday.  GTY fares for both trips was also welcome. Our on board spend was limited to excursions.

 

Princess second as Grand has fewer cabins than Ventura, so more space, Ventura last.  Our first trip was when Ventura was almost brand new and even in a year between the two trips some facilities were removed.  Its only bonus is an indoor pool.

 

We haven't cruised now for about 5 years, but next trip will be Canada with an Alaskan cruise, probably in 2024 and will likely be with Princess due to the routes they take.

 

 

[majortom10]

There seems to be some very good deals on Arvia in 2023 might be worth considering if you liked Iona.

[jh1809]

I went on a cruise with MSC about 10 years ago. I enjoyed it, though it did get a bit wearisome that all the on-board announcement were in 4 or 5 different languages, with the English version seeming to be the last. Though I don't have any children, I did form the impression that the ship was very good with kids, which I suppose you might expect from an Italian company.

[Alicop21]

Thanks for all the advice! I suppose, when you are spending a lol of money on a holiday (like anything) you just want to make sure you are doing the right thing. Iona was a dream. Genuinely better than we could have hoped for in a holiday for all four us (maybe we just lucked out on our first cruise) and then Ventura felt like such a step down (but was the same price). 

 

On your recommendations, I've found a couple of good ones on Arvia for next year (we're hampered by school holiday times only unfortunately) which I'm sure we'll enjoy.

[Bobblehat71]

RCL would be my first choice with kids but it does come at a price.  MSC have had good reviews lately and the Southampton cruises now cater for the UK clientele more than they used to. Probably more child friendly than P&O. Arvia  is probably going to be the best bet if sticking with P&O. 

[wowzz]

32 minutes ago, Alicop21 said:

On your recommendations, I've found a couple of good ones on Arvia for next year (we're hampered by school holiday times only unfortunately) which I'm sure we'll enjoy.

Sounds like a good decision to me. 

[grapau27]

18 hours ago, Alicop21 said:

Hello. We went on our first cruise earlier this year (2 adults, 2 kids between 7-10) sailing on P&O's Iona and it was fantastic! We loved it so much that we booked another for the summer on Ventura. It was a completely different experience. I understand a lot of this will be down to the summer holidays etc but the whole ship and enjoyment of the holiday was completely different.

 

We want to go on another cruise but there are so many cruise lines I'm a bit lost as to where to start. We want to sail Southampton to Southampton and obviously we'll need a cruise line that is child friendly. I looked at Royal Caribbean but their prices seemed almost double to something similar on P&O next year so maybe they are above our budget? Who else should I look at? Are MSC any good? I heard mixed things. Gah! So many choices and not enough experience!

 

So, any recommendations for family cruise lines around the same price as P&O (and standard of Iona) would be greatly appreciated.  

The kids will love the dodgems on Royal Caribbean Anthem of the seas.

No need to book and they are free.

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

No need to book and they are free

Although you indirectly pay  for them through the fares which are higher than on P&O. 

[grapau27]

Just now, wowzz said:

Although you indirectly pay  for them through the fares which are higher than on P&O. 

Michelle @Peanut006 on her post #10 gave a great response for prices.

It all depends on dates and cabin requirements you want plus extra discounts you can negotiate.

[SarahHben]

1 hour ago, Alicop21 said:

Thanks for all the advice! I suppose, when you are spending a lol of money on a holiday (like anything) you just want to make sure you are doing the right thing. Iona was a dream. Genuinely better than we could have hoped for in a holiday for all four us (maybe we just lucked out on our first cruise) and then Ventura felt like such a step down (but was the same price). 

 

On your recommendations, I've found a couple of good ones on Arvia for next year (we're hampered by school holiday times only unfortunately) which I'm sure we'll enjoy.

Do you mind me asking what kind of things made it feel like a step down? Was it the newness, cabin decor etc?

We cruised for the first time this May, went on Iona and loved it. We have now booked 2 weeks to the Canaries on Ventura next summer. We are also tied to going in the school holidays so we realise it’s likely to be very busy. So I’m just interested to know how you found it.

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Michelle @Peanut006 on her post #10 gave a great response for prices.

It all depends on dates and cabin requirements you want plus extra discounts you can negotiate.

Although the OP did say that prices were double those of P&O.  But as you say,  you need to compare like for like.

[grapau27]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Although the OP did say that prices were double those of P&O.  But as you say,  you need to compare like for like.

For children and young adults the facilities on Royal Caribbean are awesome and very much worth paying extra for.

It is just Pauline and me and we have 4 P&O and 2 RC booked.

[Interestedcruisefan]

We've had great family cruises on P and O, Royal Caribbean and Carnival

 

Carnival have some very affordable cruises. They are good quality and great fun for families. Probably the most fun we've had.

 

However, I doubt they will be cruising from Southampton

 

We did a great 14 night Mediterranean Cruise from Barcelona on Carnival Vista in the past

[Interestedcruisefan]

I know someone who loves MSC who's also cruised the other main lines. But they like their drinks and get their money's worth from the All Inclusive MSC do

 

We like a nice cocktail but are not big enough drinkers to benefit from all inclusive

[Alicop21]

48 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

Do you mind me asking what kind of things made it feel like a step down? Was it the newness, cabin decor etc?

We cruised for the first time this May, went on Iona and loved it. We have now booked 2 weeks to the Canaries on Ventura next summer. We are also tied to going in the school holidays so we realise it’s likely to be very busy. So I’m just interested to know how you found it.

For us, it just all felt completely different. The Iona cruise was to the Norwegian Fjords and we splashed out on a balcony cabin. We were blessed with glorious weather (we went during the Easter holidays) and it was off the back of such an amazing holiday high that we decided to book another.

 

The cruise on Ventura was in the summer holidays and it felt very 'summer holiday.' The pools were rammed and a lot of parents were just off drinking all day and leaving their kids to their own devices. Clearly it was a 'different kind of holiday' and we were totally open to that. All our kids wanted to do was be in the pool too!

 

The ships though are completely different. Ventura felt very 'tired.' We realised it wound't be as 'modern' as Iona but bits of the pool were coming off, parts of the deck had holes in it, the food was as good but not as much choice. The big difference was how dark it felt. Iona felt bright, light and wanted you to see the sea. On Ventura, we struggled to find anywhere inside where we could just watch the world sail by. The staff on both were amazing though and all of them deserve praise for working with masks on and having to deal with 'brits abroad.'

 

Maybe I am being overly critical and maybe we just lucked out on our Iona cruise. But for, us, they felt like two totally different cruise lines yet they were both P&O we paid pretty much the same price.