workstocruise

Good for you that it turned out so well. I wouldn't worry much about leaving Royal for another cruise line. We did that years ago. We used to be very loyal to RCI trying to build up our status, but sometimes that's just not worth forfeiting new experiences with other lines. We outgrew them as we got older, we don't need flow riders and rock climbing walls or skating rinks, but we do need good food and good service. We stepped up to Princess, and then Celebrity and now Oceania and couldn't be happier. Good luck with whichever line you choose to sail with. I'm no longer loyal to any company, only family and friends.

FYI- Hobby Airport is closed till Wednesday. IAH is also closed but not sure for how long. I live in Houston area.

Sorry RCI did not handle this better.

We just returned from the Insignia and we thought the service was excellent. Several of the staff always called us by name and all of them nearly fell over trying to help us or say hello or good morning or whatever. We are sailing on the Marina in October so I hope the service is as good. I will post back our experience. As far as drinks go, we mostly drink wine at dinner, and margaritas and specialty coffees other times and they were fine.

We have sailed 4 times on Princess and 4 times on Celebrity and prefer Celebrity over Princess. I think the entertainment on Celebrity is much better and I agree that the officers are everywhere on Celebrity's ships. We are sailing over New Years on the Regal and from what I read on these boards I'm planning to be "wowed" by that ships buffet. I think the ocean view buffet is hard to be (except for Oceania) so we'll see what the Regal has to offer. I will say that Celebrity's food has declined somewhat since our first sailing which is why we are cruising other lines now. Oceania has become our new cruise line of choice but we still look at itineraries first. Plus we've started river cruising and love that. It's nice we have so many choices!

Thank you all for the info. It's not in my documents, but I may call Oceania as we get closer to sail date or I may just rely on the taxi driver knowing where it's docked.

does anyone know where Oceania docks in Lisbon? I'm looking for the name of the terminal they use. We are planning to take a taxi from the airport and I think there are 3 or 5 terminals there.

We just got off the Insignia Iceland to New York cruise which was wonderful, it was our first time on that size ship and we felt it was a little small for us. We sailed on the Marina in 2014 and we sail on her again in about 5 weeks. We love the O class but that being said, the public areas on the Insignia were absolutely stunning. However our veranda cabin was a disappointment. The bathroom was extremely small and I hated the shower curtain. Our balcony desperately needed new furniture and the railing needed painting. The windows on that ship were badly in need of cleaning but during the 15 day cruise not once did I see anyone doing that. We also found the terrace cafe extremely crowded at both lunch and dinner which made it very hard to find a table to sit at. We never had that problem on the Marina. Given the right itinerary, I would consider an R class again, but probably in a different cabin. I did hear comments from other guests in suites that they were disappointed in the bathroom size as well.

Thank you everyone. Yes we are excited and no I probably won't be happy with anything less than a suite:D but on the other hand l'll take the veranda if it means going on another cruise. When we first started cruising we only booked inside cabins till we tried that first veranda, then we were hooked on balconies and never went back. I'm afraid this may happen again. Oh well!

We got the upsell from a B4 veranda on deck 7 to a Ph3 on deck 10. We had our choice of several Ph2 and Ph3 and 1 Ph1 but that one was right under the terrace which I didn't want. The Ph2 were all on the starboard side and we wanted port side so we took the Ph3. It is all the way forward on deck 10 but we don't mind the walk so we're happy. The total cost was $1600. Plus after we booked this cruise, we got a $1500 price drop so it's almost a wash.

Thanks both of you for the advice. This is my first time to be offered an upsell for a suite and it took me by surprise. I've decided we will take it if it's still available, and if not that's ok too.

TA emailed and called yesterday with offer from O regarding upsell, but I wasn't home and missed him before he left for the day. Also called Oceania number and they close at 5. My question is, "did I miss the window to accept their offer?" The email from O says first come, first served.

Is the pub lunch free?

I did get to change to Delta comfort with more leg room. We are flying from Houston to Minneapolis to Reykjavik all on Delta. About 50 days out I called Oceania To ask when they would ticket the flights. At the time she told me 45 days but that because of the way Oceania books I might not be able to upgrade my seat. So I called Delta and she could see my reservation but since it was not ticketed she told me to check everyday to see if the Delta comfort seats were still available. Some of them did sell out but when Oceania finally ticketed the flights I was still able to grab 2 seats together with more legroom but I did have to pay extra for them. Sorry you did not get to do that.

We booked our air thru Oceania and it's on Delta to Reykjavik. I had no problems upgrading my seats once they were ticketed which was about 38 days out. I did it myself on my computer and paid with a credit card.

Our first cruise was in the early 90's on board RC Sovereign of the Seas.

We had to go to pursers office for safe deposit box and yes everyone dressed every night for dinner in MDR. One nice thing I remember is the crew passed out streamers to everyone to throw overboard as we sailed away from the Miami port. Keys were the same as today, but drinks were bigger and cheaper and tasted a lot better. Tips were paid with cash.

Wow, hope I never have to complain on these boards. Princess cruisers are a tough crowd.

Food is so subjective. It really is hard to feed several thousand people everyday and have the food be excellent. Everyone has their own opinion.

The last time I sailed Princess, the food was poor everywhere on board. I was so disappointed because we had sailed prior on another Princess ship where the food was very good, not excellent, but good. We like the food on Celebrity better than Princess, but after reading some comments from other cruisers I wonder about my taste. I think Celebrity has some really good ice cream in their buffet both hand made and soft serve. Except in the mdr, I believe Princess only has that soft serve stuff. We are sailing later this year on the Regal for the first time and I am hoping everyone here is right about this ship having the best Princess food at sea!

We used to sail Princess fairly often. We thought it was a small step up from RCI which used to be our cruise line of choice. But after a cruise on the Sapphire was pretty disappointing, we stepped up to Celebrity which we love. However, we just booked a cruise on the Regal over New Years and I admit I am hesitant about going, especially because we have 2 cruises booked on Oceania right before the Regal cruise. 2 concerns I have with Princess are the food and formal nights. Princess seems to be the last cruise line to still do formal nights and I'm not sure why. Oceania is country club casual everywhere and Celebrity is now Evening Chic. Of course if you want to dress up you can, but it's your choice and no one minds if you do or don't. And as everyone on these boards says, you can always eat in the buffet, but on Princess their buffet food is not the best and the food in the MDR on formal nights is usually good so who wants to miss that. I agree with the OP, while I like peanut butter and jelly, who wants to eat that on a cruise?

Good point Jazzbeau, I will keep that in mind regarding suites on Celebrity.

I really do love Celebrity and hate the thought of not cruising with them again.

We've sailed 4 times with Celebrity. The first was in 2013 on the Connie to the Baltics. It was a fabulous cruise on a great ship. We loved the captain and his crew. Entertainment was wonderful, and food everywhere was fantastic. We were sold on Celebrity. Next cruise with X was 2015 on the Equinox to the Med. Food and entertainment were both very good but I gave the edge to the Constellation. Next we sailed the Millie to Alaska that same year and we were so disappointed in the ship and the food. The ship was badly in need of dry dock and the food everywhere was a major disappointment. We again sailed the Connie this past October and she now has a different captain and crew. Entertainment was ok but not as good as our first cruise. Food was good, but far from excellent. We are now cruising with Oceania and Viking. It will take an awesome itinerary and a great price to book with Celebrity anytime soon.

We did an Adriatic cruise on the Connie in October, 2016. We loved loved our itinerary. We were overnight in Dubrovnik and Malta and both places were magical. However, it was our second time on the Constellation and we were somewhat disappointed in the MDR. The quality of the food has changed a lot since our first cruise. In fact I think the M class ships are on their way out with the new Edge class ships. We sailed the Millenium to Alaska 2 years ago and the food was worse than the Connie plus the ship was in very poor shape. We love Celebrity but our next two cruises are on Oceania.

I give my loyalty to my family and my friends but never ever to a cruise line. There are too many beautiful ships and great lines out there to try without cruising the same cruise line over and over. Give one of them a try but go with an open mind.

I agree about trying something new. If you stay with the same line, you begin to get in a rut, and it's fun to explore different cruise lines and see how they are different from each other. We have sailed Royal, Princess, Celebrity, and Oceania. They all have something different and something similar to offer. Right now Oceania has replaced Celebrity as our favorite, but after our last Princess cruise on the Diamond, we both swore we'd never sail Princess again, but I just booked a New Years cruise on the Regal. Never say never! I think choosing a ship depends on what you are interested in. Personally, I think Celebrity has much better food and entertainment than any Princess ship I have been on, but most everyone here will totally disagree with that. But then I am not loyal to any cruise line.

Try a new line, you can always go back to Princess. But you just might be surprised!

I agree with everyone who suggested you sail with RCI. We've only sailed on Carnival one time and that was enough. We were in our late 30s when we started cruising and for the next 15 years RCI was our cruise line of choice. There are so many fun things to do and a very energetic crowd of young people, but as we got older, we wanted a more sedate cruise and we switched to Princess and then Celebrity. We loved Celebrity and decided now that we are in our 60s this would be our new choice of ships. The food was wonderful and we even thought the entertainment was first class. But after 5 Celebrity cruises, their product is not what it used to be. Food is still good but not great, and entertainment is ok. Now we have stepped up to Oceania and have two booked with them this year. We have also become fans of Viking River cruises and are about to book an ocean cruise with them next year. On both of these lines, entertainment is poor at best, but the food is wonderful and their itineraries are the best. So you just have to decide what is important to you and go from there. Food was not as important in our 30s but it is more so now. Good luck!

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. Have not made up my mind yet, but the regular balcony or obstructed deluxe sounds like the way to go.