Who are P&Os rivals?

[TRLD]

As far as UK focused mass market cruise lines you basically have P&O and Cunard. Though Cunard tends to have a bit wider audience and a bit higher price point, where as P&O UK has a pretty concentrated customer base.

 

The other UK focused lines tend to fall more into the premium  price range. Though not totally sure about the price point of Marella (TUI UK) these days

 

MSC, TUI (German), AiDA, Costa tend to be more EU focused mass market

 

Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Carnival are North American focused mass market lines.

 

You will find a fairly wide range of nationalities on the NA focused lines, the the majority of passengers are usually US and Canada even for cruises starting in other countries.

Edited May 9 by TRLD

[Megabear2]

17 minutes ago, TRLD said:

As far as UK focused mass market cruise lines you basically have P&O and Cunard. Though Cunard tends to have a bit wider audience and a bit higher price point, where as P&O UK has a pretty concentrated customer base.

 

The other UK focused lines tend to fall more into the premium  price range. Though not totally sure about the price point of Marella (TUI UK) these days

 

MSC, TUI (German), AiDA, Costa tend to be more EU focused mass market

 

Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Carnival are North American focused mass market lines.

In my humble opinion Cunard are now a very long way from being a UK focused cruise line.  Queen Anne appears to have been brought in to try to remedy the situation, however the fact is if you take out the transatlantic crossings of QM2 in recent years they have offered very few ex UK sailings with a huge focus on servicing European fly cruises with QV, Japan, Alaska and Australia with QE with the odd handful of ex Southampton "real" cruises on QM2.

 

The mix of international guests on any Cunard ship is very high even on ex UK sailings. Also the pricing structure is very geared to the US market being is US$ and culturally aligned with tipping etc.  

 

All of the marketing for QA has stated she is a ship for the UK market and clearly the intention is for her to become the predominant Queen ex UK. Despite "abandoning" the Asian and Australian markets in 2025/6 Cunard are still basing QE in Alaska and Miami, she's still going to be internationa.

 

Realistically P&O will remain the standout UK company with people tinkering as they've always done with others.

Edited May 9 by Megabear2

[TRLD]

22 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

In my humble opinion Cunard are now a very long way from being a UK focused cruise line.  Queen Anne appears to have been brought in to try to remedy the situation, however the fact is if you take out the transatlantic crossings of QM2 in recent years they have offered very few ex UK sailings with a huge focus on servicing European fly cruises with QV, Japan, Alaska and Australia with QE with the odd handful of ex Southampton "real" cruises on QM2.

 

The mix of international guests on any Cunard ship is very high even on ex UK sailings. Also the pricing structure is very geared to the US market being is US$ and culturally aligned with tipping etc.  

 

All of the marketing for QA has stated she is a ship for the UK market and clearly the intention is for her to become the predominant Queen ex UK. Despite "abandoning" the Asian and Australian markets in 2025/6 Cunard are still basing QE in Alaska and Miami, she's still going to be internationa.

 

Realistically P&O will remain the standout UK company with people tinkering as they've always done with others.

While there are certainly a mix of nationalities on Cunard, passengers from the UK still tend to make up the largest block of passengers. The culture on board still tends to have a UK focus compared to other mass market lines.

 

By focus i mean their marketing and passenger concentrations, more so then the home porting of their itineraries.

[Megabear2]

5 minutes ago, TRLD said:

While there are certainly a mix of nationalities on Cunard, passengers from the UK still tend to make up the largest block of passengers. The culture on board still tends to have a UK focus compared to other mass market lines.

 

By focus i mean their marketing and passenger concentrations, more so then the home porting of their itineraries.

I have sailed Cunard for very many years and am Diamond and on most of the sailings I make around 50% are international. That to me is actually the attraction of sailing Cunard, I like the mix. The "culture" seems to be very much the drawing for those international guests along with those who prefer the traditional approach.  I guess we will have to disagree on this one.

[zap99]

13 hours ago, carlanthony24 said:

Thread seems pointless. All cruise lines would be rivals in someway shape or form.

Seems that way. P&O are the bestest cruise line there ever there was. So there. Every one that competes is a competitor and hence a rival.🥱

[Denarius]

In my early days of sailing with P&O I would have regarded Cunard, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity as P&Os main rivals, offering a similar product at a similar price point. Since then P&O have imo moved down market and operate at a lower price point than those named; people comment on these boards how expensive these companies now are, whereas the reality is that P&O are now cheap. Currently I would regard Marella, Ambasador and possibly MSC as P&Os main rivals for the market they are now chasing, with the next tier up reprented by those previously named and the one above by the likes of Viking, Saga and Oceania.

[lancashire_cruisers]

13 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Are you not interested in a comparison to enable you to decide if you would be interested in a different cruise line?

I’ve sailed with plenty of different cruise lines already thank you with another new one booked for later this year. Whilst most of my cruising history is with P&O it isn’t exclusively so.

 

[John Bull]

We have no cruise-line loyalty, we sail on itinerary, price and value-for-money (which too many folk equate to "cheap" but means that we'll buy something at twice the price if it's twice as good.

To use @Lee Jones Jnr's analogy, we don't compare Mercedes with Kia - so we don't consider cruise lines like Cunard, Oceania, Seabourn, Azamara, Celebrity or even Ambassador to be P&O competition because of the price differences

 

This has been out experience.....

Nearest equivalent is probably Princess, a former subsidiary of P&O, though more stylish and a little more expensive - and with some Brit touches.

 

RCI and MSC sailing out of Southampton are competition, especially for those with kids, RCI tending to be a little more expensive and MSC usually significantly less expensive but with higher on-board costs. RCI crew very friendly and interactive (to the point of being-in-your-face, which you may like or dislike). MSC crew, like P&O crew, are more reserved than most cruise lines. Both have more glitzy ships, MSC in particular have the most modern & stylish ships in the business, far better than many of the more expensive cruise lines. But we wouldn't sail MSC or Costa except from the UK.

 

Marella (a TUI cruise line) is in the same price bracket as P&O after allowing for the included alc & non-alc. drinks, and like P&O ship's currency is sterling and no daily charges. Very British clientele, very friendly passengers & crew. And often unusual itineraries like Columbia, Cuba and until recent conflicts the Red Sea. Second-hand ships but much more modern than some of the rust-buckets they used to sail.

 

Fred Olsen has some tired but well-maintained ships. Small & friendly, none of the whistles & bells friendly atmosphere, most passengers are recently-retireds, prices compete with P&O. We don't feel that we're ready yet for Fred Olsen, but that day will come and we';; be happy to give them a try.

 

P&O can't be beaten for a Caribbean fly-cruise (or I'm told Mediterranean fly-cruises) on either convenience or value-for money - P&O charter aircraft for direct flights from a number of UK airports. Seamless transfers - direct from aircraft to transfer bus to the port without even entering the airport terminal, none of the usual grief of immigration, security, baggage carousel or customs. You check in your luggage at your UK airport & won't see it again until it appears at your cabin door. And on the last day the freedom of the ship incl dining, bars, pools, etc (but not your cabin) until your return transfer bus is called - that's important because west-to-east flights are overnight, so when you disembark a US ship in Florida at about 9am you're stuck with your bags all day.

Fred Olsen have a very few similar Caribbean fly-cruises, Marella (TUI) have quite a few - transfers aren't quite as smooth because aircraft passengers are a mix of cruisers and resort-bound TUI holidaymakers.

 

All just MHO as always - and different horses for different courses

 

JB 🙂

 

 

[john watson]

I should say that major rivals to P&O are likely to be alternative UK and foreign package holidays. Many people I know compare a cruise to a land based holiday. This type of holiday would likely attract a huge number of people who P&O try to attract their way. Warners Leisure Hotels short breaks are a major consideration as against a P&O taster cruise for example to a certain age demographic.

 

Regards John