P&O (UK) vs MSC vs Princess

[Narinna]

Hey all!

I'm trying to decide between three cruises, and I'd love your thoughts on which one you'd recommend. For context, I'm 42, a solo traveller (female) and pretty active and out there, but not in a 'party all night' or 'get drunk' kind of way. You can find me reading quietly in a corner, in a pool or even at a show or party, who knows.

 

So, based on where I'll be for work/timing/pricing/flights, I have three main options to choose from (this will be my first cruise). They are:

• P&O Iona - 12 night cruise to Portugal/Spain (early March 2025)
• MSC Preziosa - 7 night cruise in Northern Europe (late Feb/early March 2025)
• Magestic Princess - 7 night cruise in the Med (early March 2025)

 

Based on demographics/activities/quality of offering, if everything were equal, which would you recommend for someone like me?

 

Thanks 🙂 

[Gettingwarmer]

If everything equal I would go Majestic,  Iona then Preziosa. 
Sailed sister ships of Majestic all good. Sailed Iona rather open in plan and thin cabins. Only sailed yacht club on Preziosa but rest of ship full of bars etc but very noisy. 
I really would think of the ports and where you want to visit.

[Narinna]

12 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

I really would think of the ports and where you want to visit.

Thanks! They all actually have ports of interest to me - P&O has a few more sea days, which I don’t mind, but then I read that people under 60 are often bored on P&O because they’re more tailored to older crowds, so I wasn’t sure if that many sea days would be wise.

[Gettingwarmer]

5 minutes ago, Narinna said:

Thanks! They all actually have ports of interest to me - P&O has a few more sea days, which I don’t mind, but then I read that people under 60 are often bored on P&O because they’re more tailored to older crowds, so I wasn’t sure if that many sea days would be wise.

The adult only ships on P&O may have an older crowd but Iona is a family ship and well used by the younger generations. It is very modern and bright. 

[sandancer]

Never sailed on MSC so can’t comment on that. Of the other 2 I would go with Princess. We are about to sail on Iona for the 3rd time and like the ship for all the different restaurants and entertainment but prefer Princess overall.  Tips are not included on Princess though as they are on P&O so factor that into your budget. Drinks are more expensive on Princess and will be charged in US$ rather than £s as will all your onboard costs. In March you are more likely to get better weather in the Canary Islands. It’s all down to personal choice. I hope you enjoy whichever cruise you take. 

[jh1809]

I've been on one cruise on a MSC ship about ten years ago, which I enjoyed. The biggest drawback was that all the announcements over the public address system had to be made in about four languages because of the multi-national nature of the passengers, and the English version always seemed to be the last one. Since then I've stuck to P&O.

[showingdiva]

33 minutes ago, jh1809 said:

I've been on one cruise on a MSC ship about ten years ago, which I enjoyed. The biggest drawback was that all the announcements over the public address system had to be made in about four languages because of the multi-national nature of the passengers, and the English version always seemed to be the last one. Since then I've stuck to P&O.

 

Which is still the case on whichever ship is doing the winter loop which Preziosa is doing this year (and Euribia did last year).   However, Virtuosa in the summer, home ported in Southampton, is English announcements only.

[Cathygh]

Re Majestic: I like Princess cruises but if you like a drink and don't take the package then a glass of wine starts at $12 plus 20% ( I think?) service charge. 

 

We have just come off Enchanted and on the whole the food is better than on P&O but Princess is more expensive overall IMHO.

My only experience of MSC turned out to be a booze cruise, ( it was 3 nights) We didn't see any issues with this but we are on bed before midnight, and the food was on a par with P&O.

 

 

I

[Lee Jones Jnr]

Those are not three equivalent ships.

Undoubtedly Princess is the pick of the three.

[LittleTinker]

9 hours ago, Narinna said:

Thanks! They all actually have ports of interest to me - P&O has a few more sea days, which I don’t mind, but then I read that people under 60 are often bored on P&O because they’re more tailored to older crowds, so I wasn’t sure if that many sea days would be wise.

I love sea days. I've cruised many many times under 60. 
Even on Fred Olsen, Im never bored.

[LittleTinker]

9 hours ago, Gettingwarmer said:

The adult only ships on P&O may have an older crowd but Iona is a family ship and well used by the younger generations. It is very modern and bright. 

The adult only ships on P&O are fantastic and have plenty of younger people on board.

 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

For me it would depend on weather and ports i want to visit.

P&O its british you know what ypu are getting and would be one of the cheapest i imagine. 

Princess, expensive and i think that equates to a more tailed experience with food and entertainment etc. 

MSC, been on a couple ships world europa and Virturosa. They are very European with their food so lots of fish and med veg. Shows were......different and during the day not a huge amount to do.

 

For me for a 1st cruise id go with P&O. This will give you value for money but on a british cruiseline to learn the ropes so to speak..if you enjoy cruising you can then use that as a base line to try different lines. 

Edited October 8 by FamilyCruiserUK

[Narinna]

Thanks everyone for all of your thoughts and feedback. You're right in saying they are 3 very different trips, and honestly I'll probably end up doing them all at some stage. I think I'm just nervous because it's my first, but it really seems like everyone's experiences are different, so maybe I'll just go P&O (who for the number of days is really the cheapest) and see how I go.

[AchileLauro]

It absolutely all comes down to personal taste.

I have sailed on Iona and hated it. I've tried MSC (Bellissima) certainly not to my liking. I've never tried Princess but from all the reports that I've read it would probably be the one most suited to me.

[Narinna]

Just now, AchileLauro said:

It absolutely all comes down to personal taste.

I have sailed on Iona and hated it. I've tried MSC (Bellissima) certainly not to my liking. I've never tried Princess but from all the reports that I've read it would probably be the one most suited to me.

What made you hate Iona?

[AchileLauro]

The complete and utter shambles of the dinning arrangements. (The "app" is a waste of time.)

The overcrowding, the piddling little swimming pools (jammed in like sardines in a tin). The parents who allowed their children to run riot while they sat at the bar drinking all day.

The awful acoustics in the skydome.

The disappointment that was Andersons and the crow's nest. The dreadfully poor seating in many areas (perching on a shallow ledge rather than sitting on a seat).

The lack of choice of drinks in all the bars (some drinks available in some bars but not in others).

 

Then on disembarkation taking 3/4 of a hour to get out of the car park. 

Edited October 9 by AchileLauro

[Megabear2]

8 minutes ago, AchileLauro said:

The complete and utter shambles of the dinning arrangements. (The "app" is a waste of time.)

The overcrowding, the piddling little swimming pools (jammed in like sardines in a tin). The parents who allowed their children to run riot while they sat at the bar drinking all day.

The awful acoustics in the skydome.

The disappointment that was Andersons and the crow's nest. The dreadfully poor seating in many areas (perching on a shallow ledge rather than sitting on a seat).

The lack of choice of drinks in all the bars (some drinks available in some bars but not in others).

 

Then on disembarkation taking 3/4 of a hour to get out of the car park. 

Don't mince your words then!!

 

[Fionboard]

14 minutes ago, AchileLauro said:

The complete and utter shambles of the dinning arrangements. (The "app" is a waste of time.)

The overcrowding, the piddling little swimming pools (jammed in like sardines in a tin). The parents who allowed their children to run riot while they sat at the bar drinking all day.

The awful acoustics in the skydome.

The disappointment that was Andersons and the crow's nest. The dreadfully poor seating in many areas (perching on a shallow ledge rather than sitting on a seat).

The lack of choice of drinks in all the bars (some drinks available in some bars but not in others).

 

Then on disembarkation taking 3/4 of a hour to get out of the car park. 

Agree entirely with this. Glad I am not the only one. Arvia is the same! 

[Megabear2]

23 minutes ago, Narinna said:

What made you hate Iona?

To look at Iona from a different point of view, I have a very large family base of adult cruisers ranging from 18 years old to 85, the latter having completed 10 world cruises across P&O and Princess ships.  Personally I haven't sailed Iona (her sister Arvia yes) but of all the "new" ships, ie first sailing just before the pandemic or later, the general consensus amongst that group of over 20 people is that Iona is their favourite and particularly the under 45 group love her.

 

Personally I'm not a fan of Arvia the sister ship but then again having now sailed Aurora - a large number of the posters on this forum favourite ship - I wouldn’t say she is a ship I'd choose to sail again either.

 

My point being to the OP is that others views and opinions are just that, personal views.  I would say I can very much see the attraction of Iona for a younger demographic as the innovations onboard are outstanding.  Yes, the dining aspect was a little flakey to start with but I can't recall very many comments recently that indicate the problems are not insurmountable even if they still exists.  Beginning of March should also avoid UK school holidays so the number of children would be reduced.  Yes, there will inevitably be some but hopefully not overrun.

 

Iona cannot be described as a party ship with drunks, in fact none of your choice of ships would have that moniker. You will find high tech stage shows in the theatre, good quality guest appearances in the Limelight Club and theatre and a reasonable level of other entertainment  all of course subjective to your personal taste.

 

I found her sister ship noisey, but that was mainly attributable to the Atrium- very large - and my cabin location.  If you choose Iona I'd suggest paying the select price and choosing your cabin carefully.  Many on here have sailed Iona and love her and I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help you choose a quiet location.

[Narinna]

17 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Many on here have sailed Iona and love her and I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help you choose a quiet location.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! That’s a good call about choosing a cabin too, I like my sleep so I’ll have to ask what cabins people recommend.

[waddle]

We’ve sailed all 3 companies and would rank Princess just ahead of P&O but largely depends on the ship

 

Been on Diamond Princess & Regent Princess, the former being about 10 years older. Regent had the edge for us in terms of layout and really liked the medallion technology. We are considering one of the brand new Princess liners for next year

 

Iona is our favourite P&O ship (sailing on her again in December). Again for us as it is a newer vessel, has that extra quality and love the Limelight Club, 710, Olive Grove the Quays which the older ships don’t have

 

Been on MSC once and whilst the Splendida was very nice - decor, atrium etc had the wow factor, the atmosphere was a little stale. Maybe catering for so many nationalities, it lacked an identity - a lot of the entertainment was just dancing with no singing or dialogue in the shows. For us the evenings put us off trying them again but it depends on what your priorities are on a cruise

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, Narinna said:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! That’s a good call about choosing a cabin too, I like my sleep so I’ll have to ask what cabins people recommend.

Make sure you have a brochure with deck plans of your chosen ship. In general choose a cabin that has cabins above and below, and avoid being near blank spaces, which could indicate crew access points which could be noisy. For balcony cabins, look carefully at a few photos of the ship, and note which decks might have an overhang above that could restrict the sun on your balcony. Cabins near lifts are useful, but you may find them noisy, especially at night with happy passengers chatting with each other as they return. I have never found launderette areas to be noisy, but have never had a cabin near a launderette.

I doubt that is exhaustive, but should give you something to consider.

[Ambrynni]

Hi! I went on P&O's Iona for my first cruise with a friend this year, and honestly loved it. I am not typically a cruiser and have travelled a lot, and do think some of the comments criticising Iona/P&O maybe come from people that have cruised tonnes - I don't know.

 

Ultimately, one thing I love about P&O is the price difference can end up being massive. Compared to more American based cruise lines, drinks are very reasonable - we got a package which was great but without the package, drinks were pretty reasonable honestly and there was a lot of choice. Another huge one, there's no additional tips required! Look into Princess for example, you will get an amount automatically added on to your bill every day for tips. So alongside the cost of your cruise, that gets added on top which is honestly extremely off putting to me. I want to know what the real price is when I pay, not have tonnes of extras. Due to this, I'm very likely to choose P&O again for a Caribbean cruise as the price difference is just insane when you factor in tips and drinks.

 

Iona was great - its a cruise, so food is not always perfect but generally we ate really well. There's sit down three course restaurants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and a few places for quicker bites to eat like fish and chips (which honestly, we actually really liked - and I'm a food snob!), buffet for really easy food, and some other restaurants you can book. There's different bars, and they sometimes have unique cocktails (Anderson's had a gorgeous apple mojito which I loved!), some bars do live music, some are big and some have a more cosy vibe. There's plenty to do on the ship - spa, events, quizzes, crafting, movies, swimming, shows.

 

When it came to booking dinner, honestly we had very few issues. I don't know if we just have more patience, but there's four sit down large main restaurants for three course meals and we never waited more than 30 minutes max to get a table. If the app doesn't work (it did for us, in browser form) you can go to the desk at the restaurant and request a table too. For the limited space restaurants like the Olive Grove, I'd actually advise checking these out on the first day when you board as no one is there (and then maybe booking for another day manually at the desk if you like it). If you truly had a long wait there's the easier more casual options. 

 

I'd definitely do Iona again and honestly I'm even more encouraged seeing how expensive things like drinks are and how many hidden charges are added on other cruiselines. 

 

Edited October 9 by Ambrynni
Correcting restaurant name

[LittleTinker]

7 hours ago, Narinna said:

What made you hate Iona?

Its not just about the cruise line as different lines all have different ships.

MSC are just odd.
Princess, I loved it on Sapphire but had my worst cruise experience on Sun. Awful.
P&O I wouldn't go on Iona or Ariva, but the adult only are fantastic.

If I were to pick a cruise tomorrow, Id probably go with Fred Olsen or P&O or Princess but make sure I pick the right ship.
They are not all the same.

 

[LittleTinker]

6 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Agree entirely with this. Glad I am not the only one. Arvia is the same! 

I wouldn't go on either of them.

Described as 'Benidorm at Sea'