ak1004

On our two previous sailings (Dawn and Spirit) jackets were enforced only in the dining venues. You could see may men on the theater without jackets on informal and even formal nights. Hopefully it will stay this way.

So this is what I read: For people who sailed on the Nova, is this enforced? I know that even with the current dress code, people would still have dinner in the Grill without a jacket, but if I want to go to one of the lounges or see an evening show, will they turn me down?

I think there is a huge disconnect between corporate actions and on board experience, and this is true for most lines. Just look at Oceania, Regent etc. We did 2 SS cruises so far, both post Covid. I cannot compare to what it was before Covid and before the acquisition, but overall we had a great time. It was not perfect, we did notice some service issues, but we would gladly sail on SS again given the right itinerary and pricing. Food was not as good as O in my opinion, but still very good overall. So I guess it's all relative - people who can compare with how it was few years ago, probably notice some cutbacks, but this is probably true for all lines. P.S. What was the “you can’t eat your caviar here” incident in the lounge?

I think you are right - just tried to do a booking online and there is no option to take air credit, only upgrade to business class.

If this is the case, then there is no point to take D2D with air credit, even if this is possible. From what I see, the price difference between D2D and P2P is always more than the cost of economy air, and since P2P now has the same cancellation policy, and also qualifies to Venetian society, what's the point to take D2D if you want to book your own flights?

Agree. But there are currently many complaints across most lines. Carnival is destroying SB, and NCL is destroying Regent and Oceania, etc. At the end of the day, we look at value for money and try to separate the management style/decisions from on board experience, otherwise we would be staying at home and stop cruising. Based on our 2 cruises with SS, they still offer excellent on board experience, but with the new pricing, it just doesn't make sense to book them. To me, they are not 50-60% better than O, so I'm not willing to pay 50-60% more.

It depends. The Nova photo opp was a disaster, there is no argument here. Introduction of a new fare that doesn't include excursions is a positive because many people prefer to book their own excursions. However, since those fares are 100% non refundable, they have to be discounted (like previous P2P pre paid) - but in reality, not only they are not discounted, they are actually similar to previous P2P pricing, but now without excursions and 100% non refundable. The devil is in details. The intention was good (maybe), the implementation terrible. But of course everything they do, the main goal is to benefit their bottom line. No different than any other business. Looks like our upcoming SS cruise in May will be our last one.

Yes, but those fares are 100% non refundable, and they used this change for massive price increase. D2D and P2P increased by 20-30%, and the new Essential fares are now similar to previous P2P fares, but without excursions and non refundable.

The cruise starts from Fusina.

Probably, but Essential fare excludes air and excursions, and looks like it's still priced higher than previous P2P. Anyway, the competition will take care of the pricing. We book based on itinerary and pricing. If SS inclusions are similar to SB with Essential fare, but prices are significantly higher, personally I won't book SS anymore unless there is another promotion.

This is a very good change, with more flexibility. However, it seems like Essential prices are now similar to what used to be P2P, but exclude excursions. So in terms of inclusions, Essential is similar to SB, but with prices at least 10-15% higher. For example, European cruises now start at $550-600 per night, with no excursions. SB has many sailings around $500 or less.

We are on the same cruise. We asked for quote and SS quoted us almost the same price per person as the price for the room, so basically almost double. With all potential changes, and significantly higher prices, why people still book hotels via cruise lines? I understand that you also get transfers, but transfers in places like Venice are peanuts compared to what you overpay compared to booking independently.

Like you, I cannot express an opinion about cruise lines I haven't sailed on such SB, Regent or EJ. All I'm saying is that my opinion is that O has the best food out of 12 lines we sailed on.. and this includes SS, Crystal and Azamara plus few mass market lines. I don't care much about their advertising slogan, in the same way I don't care much about their other advertising BS (like 2 for 1 fares, FREE excursions, FREE wines etc.) SS markets itself as all inclusive line, but charges extra for 2 out of 8 restaurants, premium internet, laundry etc. I base my opinion on my experience, not advertising slogans or other people's opinions. And yes, O's food isn't objectively the best at sea, it's the best based on my opinion, which I don't pretend to be objective. Maybe after our first cruise on SB in September this title will go to SB, and then to EJ (assuming their prices will come down to earth - and if not, there are more than enough excellent choices).

We did. Still much better than big ships, but not as good as O. But it was in 2019, so things might have changed. I might be not the best person to ask because I like very specific food, and O fits my taste the best. But my wife agrees with me (well, kind of..)

Well, we haven't sailed on SB or EJ yet, so I cannot comment. O was our first cruise line after sailing on mass market (Celebrity, Princess, HAL etc). I think food in the MDR is in a different league compared to MDR on the mass market lines (not suites). I agree that Specialty restaurants on Celebrity are pretty good, but they also cost extra. Then we sailed on Azamara, Old Crystal and SS. I still think that O is marginally better than Crystal and SS, but again, that's my opinion. I know many people who sailed with Crystal and SS and still prefer O food, so I don't think I'm completely off. Personally Red Ginger was my least favorite specialty restaurant, but it's because I like European food more than Asian. So it really comes to personal preferences. For example, I consider O rack of lamb one of the best I had in any restaurant, including some of the top rated restaurants on land.

Except for EJ?

Which cruise line would you consider having better cuisine than O?

If I sailed based on the reviews, I would stay home for the rest of my life.. The only opinion that matters is yours. Some of the reviews are so absurd and ridiculous.

After 2 cruises on SS (Dawn and Spirit), this was not our experience at all. While we liked food on Oceania better, food on SS was overall very good in all venues. I would gladly sail on both given the right itinerary and price.

Good point. We sailed on SS twice, and SS has passenger to crew ratio almost as good as EJ (around 67), and I didn't see significant different between SS and O in terms of crowds. Don't forget that O average cabin size is 25% smaller than EJ, so public areas are not necessarily larger per guest.

EJ has space/passengers ratio of 69 vs Vista 56 (922 vs 1,200 guests with almost the same tonnage). Also better Passenger to Crew ratios. I guess numbers don't lie.. Interesting what you are saying about entertainment because entertainment was never among O strengths.

Well, this is to be expected due to the price difference. But all other factors equal (say same itinerary) - would you say that EJ is worth the price difference? From your description, you enjoyed Vista very much.

Yes, this is correct. SS rate is around 1.30 give or take. It is very easy to check if you are in Canada. Go to cruisecritic "find cruse", select Silversea. Then click on "find a deal", in many cases it will take you to SS website and will show prices in CAD. Then compare. In this case, the rate is 1.308 which is better than the official. Crystal is using 1.38-1.39.

Agree, it's a good deal. But prices for this area have usually been less than Europe. We sailed on Silversea in Dec.2022 a very similar itinerary for $5,500 CAD for 12 nights. And SS includes excursions, plus their cabins are 305 sqft while Crystal is 215. To get a comparable size cabin on Crystal the price will jump to $9,570 CAD even when applying the 12 % discount.

What I meant by "10 days would be significantly more expensive than say 30 day" was that including flights will have much higher impact on the 10 days cruise per day cost. For example: 10 day cruise no flights is $5,000 = $500/day 30 day cruise no flight is $15,000 = same $500/day. Now include business flights at $4,000. 10 day cruise becomes $9,000 or $900/day 30 day cruise becomes $19,000 or $633/day. Hence including flights in a per day cost is meaningless.