QuestionEverything

Greetings Gracie115. I have not get used Insight tours, but looking that their offerings for next year. Your tour for Switz, Bavaria and Austria sounds Fab. Hoping they include a trip on the Mighty Train, the Glacier Express, up to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. The said poster who is scoffing at land tours appears to be a cheerleader, maybe paid, for Celebrity. Rather sad to have such a closed mind to river cruises, land tours; there is a big world of travel options out there - I have done most. Safe travels and I hope the sun is out on the Matterhorn - I only got a 3/4 view!

Ex-Airbalancer - like many posters say, try something different. Many options out there and you may be Surprised at what your experiences are. I have done cruises, Mighty Trains, Globus, customized land and driving trips, driving trips all over North America. All are Wonderful, just wonderful. I am BLESSED to be able to do these dear trips. Totally BLESSED. The River Cruises are the next phase of cruising. Have been pretty much everywhere in Europe on bus trips, very detailed, a gazillion photos of everywhere. But would love to do a River Cruise, never done one. More detail but more relaxed. I say to everyone, keep an open mind and go Explore indeed. No one travel venue has the entire platform. Ex-Airblancer, some thought.

So wonderful indeed!!! 👋 Depends on your trajectory in life it seems. I have been cruising since 1989 and seen it all. Now moving away from cruising as ports do not seem as important as they used to be. Enjoy all your voyages in the future and be well, happy and enjoy. We all have our passions indeed.

Different strokes for different folks.

catgirl411 - that is Another big issue with cruising - group bookings, Oh My. I have not been subjected to that. The premium and luxury lines generally are not into that. I would be disgusted. Blessings for your patience.

roothy123 and Hlitner - thank you very much for your posts. Your points are well taken and speak to the many posters who have expressed dismay in the port shortened time, cancelling of ports, cancelling of excursions and no available excursions many months before departure. Oceania has made a deliberate choice to operate this way. I note the many posters who report being ignored by guest relations and excursions desk. This is NOT customer service Oceania. Others have posted of the lack of corporate and onboard communications as well as arrogant communication. The point of cruising is to see ports, with a few exceptions where people make the onboard experience their #1. I have had my fill of Oceania cancelling ports, giving no or a vague explanation and now with SM, not receiving the return of my $ for a product not delivered is frankly unethical and wrong. Thank you for your frankness and analysis. Regards, and safe travels to you both.

Thank you for sharing your experience. SM is the reason I have no Oceania voyages booked nor contemplated. As I have posted before, the Ports Are the reason I cruise. Without a reasonable assurance of being at every port, less "true" weather conditions, a mechanical failure or port incident, I will no longer cruise O. Regent and NCL posters are also noting more port incidents, so I am wary of Regent - it appears to be a happening in the NCL family of lines. So many posters here have reported having excursions cancelled, with no replacement available and you lose your own $. Not acceptable. To each their own, but I do not spend big $ and hassle to fly to get on a ship that I am not confident will deliver the itinerary.

Ex-Airbalancer. To each their own. Globus and Trafalgar tour lines are booming as people wish to see detailed experiences of specific geography. I have undertaken many Globus trips to every nook and cranny in Europe, in comfort, ease, no waiting in line, 4* hotels, local eateries, including Mighty Trains everywhere. I have seen Europe. The buses are always kept 1/2 full. Interesting is that my TA, that specializes in Oceania, has now fully embraced Globus and Trafalgar, and for the 1st time, his advertising how includes bus trips. He told me that so many of his clients are diminishing cruises and looking for more detailed experiences so they are moving their $ to high end bus travel with customized before and after experiences. Ex-Airbalancer, he described me and my many rather former cruising friends perfectly. As I posted earlier, we have all moved most of our cruise $ to land trips and very high end SUV's. I like cruising but not near as much as before given the product cheapening, and the compromise and drama around the ports is the killer for me. What ever you choose, enjoy, but there seems to be some significant shifting in people's travel $ are spent.

phoenix_dream, excellent post and accurate assessment. Much is negatively happening in the world. Time will tell what the fall out is, seen this situation before in the late 1980's. My household and all our cruising friends have ceased booking cruises due to price, product reduction and port cancellation increases across the NCL cruise family. We can afford to cruise, but we all Choose not too. Many have purchased high end SUVs and are now doing long road trips to the Rockies, Maritimes, Grand Canyon etc. I am on a Globus 21 day bus trip through all of Great Britain, with a return on the QM2 to NYC. That is just us, there are many other stories out there that we do not know about. I am not convinced what we hear from and see on the cruise web sites are accurate, I have no evidence, but I know that corporations always put on a positive face to minimize reality. Reality hits when customers have to make final payment, will be interesting to see the "sales" in the future. Time will tell indeed. Whatever travel you undertake, be safe and happy. Regards.

SM, connect, saving port fees, reducing time in port, not able to re-book an excursion due to lack of availability, not return of forced payment of SM due to port cancellation - NOT a flattering profile of Oceania as being posted on Cunard, Celebrity sites.

S1971 - you make a very good post. Serious cruisers keep inventory of the changes and downgrades and it does make a difference in where cruisers book. Recently Celebrity made significant changes to their Retreat class - removing butlers etc. The pushback from cruisers was immense and Celebrity "Retreated" from most of the changes. Celebrity lost business as people left Celebrity and went to Oceania. 2024 - When you are charging more and delivering less - I Cancel you.

On this thread, and others, I note many posters indicating the E Class will not be booked or not rebooked due to the lack of a forward view for all. I will never book the E class because of Celebrity's decision to remove this Fundamental part of a ship, access for all.

Jim_P - excellent assessment. Cunard is a favorite of ours - we will not patronize any mass cruise line that has the ship within a ship partitioned class configuration. It is a ship and everyone should be able to enjoy it - particularly forward views of where you are going which is something Celebrity has killed on their E class and above, they are Cancelled.

Hi Liao: The Britannia is an excellent main restaurant - typical foods. The Alternative dining venue, each night, in the buffet area, a part of which is transformed into an alternative dining area. Each night there is a different theme and the food is more interesting, customized, favorable than the MDR. Very, very excellent service as it is a small dining venue. I give Cunard credit - the food in this venue is better than anything I have had in the specialties' on Oceania. Sooooo, you never know until you try. Enjoy your crossing. Time is precious and it is slipping away - Live Life Now.

Dear OP: You have 0 to be anxious about doing a crossing on the QM2. Our 4th crossing in in late June this year. We Choose, Choose to be in the Britannia "class" as that is all we need to be happy. We can afford the Grills easy, but not interested in formality or a bigger stateroom that we will not use. We book an "in hull" balcony - but most of our time is spent out of the stateroom around the ship. PS - a) there is an open viewing area just under the bridge which has "wings" so you can see the QM2 outside her hull - OMG, the best viewing on any passenger ship - THE BEST b) there is a window viewing area on the bridge deck, where you can watch the folks on the bridge - so great. There is a small elevator (on the left of the QM2) that takes up upwards to both decks... Please do this - Most passengers do not know about this. OK - another - the QM2 has a kennel - with dogs, cats, rabbits and other dear critters - on 11 deck I think and near the back - THE BEST part of the QM2. For Britannia class - 2 options: 1) Book a table for 2 OR with others in the main Britannia restaurant - the MOST stunning at sea 2) Pay $20 pp and do the alternative dining up in the Britannia - a part of the buffet area is transformed - it is a themed evening with different ethnic creations - WAY better than the Grills and most enjoyable - again, not that well known by passengers. __________________ The QM2 is the BEST passenger ship at sea. We LOVE HER. Hope my post is of assistance.

basor, great post. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to do so. Goodness knows the truth these days - my TA or your TA - who knows. What I do know is that there is an incentive (image, $) for a TA and or cruise line to maintain positive karma whether that is true or not. I totally agree with you - there are few options that do not force you to buy everything. We do not drink alcohol and we prefer our own excursions - so I am not interested in purchasing O product or the premium or luxury lines. Cunard works for me and their ships are not too big at this point. It is the increasing cancellation/shortening of ports that is my Biggest concern about cruising - I travel only for the ports, hence I love land tours. As Hiltner posted on another similar thread, O has very poor communication, frankly arrogant communication to guests based on my reads of many posts over the years. You are 100% correct that we are fortunate to have choices. We are ALL on CC fortunate we have personal circumstances to be able to cruise and rant on CC - most folks do not. Safe travels indeed.

We are both one of many long time O cruisers that I personally know that no longer book O. My TA in San Diego indicates there is a significant booking reduction since Simply More (ie Simply Less) arrived. Everyone I know books premium and luxury because of better, more detailed itineraries allowable by the smaller ships and more time. With NCL and O increasing port cancellations as well reported on the O, NCL and Regent sites, these cruise lines are Cancelled. O used to have a competitive advantage - customers could customize their cruise experience - now it is forced everything, rather like the luxury lines. Sdancer - I am tired of all the cruise bull, my $ has moved to luxury land tours with private guides and fabulous driving trips in North America with my new sport vehicle (I am into car racing). I will monitor how things go via CC, but putting $ down on a cruise is not happening until I see the consumer being put first.

Sdancer, thank you for taking the time to post. Over beverages aboard O, I have been told the same thing by numerous guests. The Simply More imposition is not consumer friendly. I travel only for the ports of call, and usually arrange a private tour or tour with other guests - customized so I see what I want. Because of the SM, have no further cruises booked with O as I simply do not trust them anymore. Add in O's 1hr + reduction in time in port, that is enough. Thanks for posting this information, many guests do not realize this.

A good morning pinotlover. Thank you for your post. You have cruised much. Do you have thoughts on why passengers are the last to know? This is very disturbing.

OP thank you for the time to post your analysis. I love the size of O ships, the graciousness of the passengers, the good food but "best at sea", TBD. The staff are welcoming and smiling and they love it when you smile at them. Love the "classless" approach of O and the other premium and luxury lines (albeit with a few perks for the higher level, but no ship within a ship bull) - which is why I exclusively patronize this level of cruise lines. Totally agree with the often lack of value for $ for the size of rooms, especially on port intensive voyages, we are rarely in our room other than to sleep. My concern in the many recent NCL company Oceania, Regent, NCL posts regarding cancelled ports. I cruise only for the ports, no other reason. The O decision in 2023, to reduce the time at ports by 1 hr across the portfolio for "environmental" reasons is total bull to me. Way too many posts over many years about O cancelling ports using "operational reasons" "weather" versus other cruise lines. Other posts will no doubt disagree, that is fine. But this issue has to be remediated before I will book another O cruise.

Yet many complain about a jacket etc on Cunard, but they will go to a wedding with a similar requirement.....hummmmm.

eroller, Jim_lain - thanks to both of you for your engaging and detailed analyses. The Celebrity M class, particularly the Connie, is my favorite ship size, with the exception of the QM2. Everyone is different and thankfully there are many options for cruising. Like you both said, it is very important to research a vessel and voyage before booking. The new ships are too large for my taste with way too many passengers - I am the Connie size or smaller. I started cruising in 1989 on the, innovative for her time, the Sovereign of the Seas. Due to the cost and uncertainty about what product you will actually get on a cruise these days - I am pausing cruising in 2024 and moving my travel to land tours and driving trips in North America - expanding my travel world. Hoping you both have happy, safe and wonderful travel. Blessings to you both.

100%. We will not book any vessel without a forward view. Previous posters are correct - more $ to be made in taking this forward view away. The majority of cruisers seem to be focused on the ship experience - NOT the ocean and views. Big, internal, spending $, pool deck, buy stuff. So that makes sense from a cruise line objective. Hence why we now patronize the premium and luxury lines going forward.

eroller! Thanks so much for spending time to update us on your QM2 experience. We are Blessed to have you. 👋 QM2 is a real ship, not a cruise ship and for that my spouse and I she is the BEST. Q - eroller - you said you like the Celebrity E class. I do not, no forward view, to big, restricted access to the entire ship. Could you advise us on what you like on this class of ship? You are a ship expert, so I am Most interested in your assessment.

Morning Gracie115! I 100% agree with you. Before I book a vessel, I study the deck plans. No forward view for all = No booking. This criteria also applies to many friends who also cruise. It is one of the reasons that we moved to the premium and luxury lines as this is not an issue. Imagine going through the Panama Canal and not being able to see the mules pull the ships into the lock. Have enjoyed many Celebrity - M class going through the Canal with food, beverages etc. They even had a food and beverage station on the bow during transit! Going on inward focused ships is not happening.