Princess Cruises or Carnival UK? Fleetwood or Warsash?

[A Smith]

I have been offered cadetships by both Princess Cruises and Carnival UK for the September 2012 intake and i now have to make a decision on which one i am going to go with. Both companies are very similar in a lot of ways with Princess perhaps having the edge because they have more cruise ships and therefore there may be more chances of promotion in the future. I was wondering if anyone had experience of the two companies and could possibly advise me on which one to go with, or how well cadets are treated at each company.

Both companies have also said that i can have my preference of college because i live equal distances from them all. I think i will either go with fleetwood or warsash, and would like some feedback from cadets on both colleges, if possible, to help me make my decision.

Many thanks

A Smith

[Waddo]

I accepted a cadetship with Princess the week before I was due to attend an assessment day with Carnival, I therefore withdrew my Carnival application. I have very little to offer in terms of advice (very helpful I know) but as you say they are similar companies in many respects (both under the Carnival group don't forget!), congratulations on finding yourself in a position where you have a choice

[Ducki52]

I assume you've had a typo A, but Carnival is the bigger company

I'd say go for Carnival, as, like you said, they will probably be able to offer you better pay, promotion and many more ships for you to be appointed to. CharlieDelta (the site's owner) is a Carnival cadet, so you could PM him to see how they roll, but he's away at sea at the moment so don't expect an immediate response.

[Steve]

Knowing a few people who work for different Carnival brands, choose very carefully if you intend to make a career with your cadet sponsor. Conditions of employment vary substantially between different Carnival brands. Research carefully (which is what you are doing anyway).

I don't see how promotion prospects are related to fleet size, especially as both operate large-ish fleets. Which (if either) favours British officers?

[Waddo]

I feel that we could benefit from some clarity here.

Carnival Corporation & PLC (a dual listed company with operations in Southampton and Miami)

Carnival Corporation:
Carnival Cruise Line
Holland America Line
Princess Cruises
Seabourn Cruise Line
Costs Cruises Group:
Costa Cruises
AIDA Cruises
Ibero Cruises

Carnival PLC:
Carnival UK:
P&O Cruises
Cunard Line

@Ducki, quite confusing I know! Carnival UK is the company offering UK sponsorship, NOT the much larger Carnival group. Essentially, 'A Smith' has access to the P&O and Cunard fleets by accepting sponsorship with Carnival UK. This totals 10 ships. Princess Cruises currently operate 16 ships so at the moment Princess are the larger company!

Ocean Village vanished a few years ago and for anyone wondering where P&O Australia has gone...they are now part of Princess Cruises! *HEAD EXPLODES*

I hope this is at least semi-accurate, CD may be able to clarify at some point.

[Bulman]

I applied for princess, unlike you I had no reply back, nothing at all, just the auto email saying they had got my CV etc and looking around it seems this has happened to other people, so I don't know much about the whole process but it seems Princess is harder to get through to the next stage with? (could be wrong)

but what ever you choose I think you will get the same sort of experience, it just depends on what you're looking for in a company and doing a bit of research into what being a cadet for both companies is like and what the differences between them is, hopefully you'll get a view off a princess cadet and carnival cadet on here.

[SierraTango]

I am in the same situation as Waddo (also been offered a cadetship with Princess this Sept) and back up totally what he had to say. I believe the more ships the company has, the better promotion prospects you have.

Although they are both great companies and you were lucky enough to attend both assessment days, didn't you instinctively get a good feeling about one or the other? How else can you judge other than having done your homework on both?

Come on other Carnival and Princess (deck) cadets, let's have your opinions too!...

[HolyNougat]

Go with CUK - you will probably get better training, spend at least some time running in and out of the UK, the cruises are more interesting and varied, there is a wider range of ships and you will get to experience both the P&O and Cunard brands. In my experience promotion has historically been quicker within CUK than Princess although I do know that is now changing. Additionally the high number of Italian officers on the Princess side means that you wont be surrounded by officers who all went through the same process as you.
To be honest, I would not go with either, but that is a different story...

[A Smith]

Thank you all for your feedback on the two companies. In the end I made the decision to go with Princess Cruises, this was because i believe that i will have a more enjoyable experience on board the Princess ships working with mostly American passengers and a range of nationality of officers. I also felt that I would have the opportunity to see more of the world and gain better life experience with Princess, especially as the majority of Carnival UK ships embark from Southampton. I also believe that i will receive an extremely high standard of training with Princess Cruises and will be treated well as a cadet, with great opportunity of promotion in the future with a large fleet of 20 cruise ships and two new ones currently being built. I believe that the decision is down to personal preference, as there is very little to choose between these two great companies. Princess actually pays quite a lot less as well at the minute, but I tried not to let money influence my decision too much as its a great career choice and by the time i graduate i will be up tens of thousands of pounds on my peers that are choosing to go to university this year.

So thats the company chosen, however I still need to decide upon which college to go to. Any advice on this will be very much appreciated. I was wondering if anybody knew the accomodation fees at both colleges?

[SierraTango]

Welcome to our new Princess! There's at least two of us going to Warsash!

I found the accomodation fees (valid until Aug 12) for WMA on their website:

Weekly rent (Minimum stay 1 week)

Meal option one
Includes 7 days accommodation and 5 days catering:
Single room: ?117.60
Twin room: ?99.40*

Meal option two
Includes 7 days accommodation and 7 days catering:
Single room: ?154.00
Twin room: ?140.00*

*Twin room prices are per person

(http://www.warsashacademy.co.uk/faci...ash2011-12.pdf)

Hope this helps you make your mind up!

[Faust]

Quite a few Princesses at Warsash now.

Remember and going the Facebook group!