hubofhockey

I didn’t write excursions should be included. I wrote gratuities on excursions should be covered. WIFI should be free everywhere and is some countries. It’s free at most decent hotels, whether you’re elite or not. It’s also free on some cruise lines. Maybe they’ll give you another benefit. I book Aqua and it forces a drink package on me. Is that fair?

I didn’t write ALL Europeans don’t tip. My point was less tip than US passengers. If you tack it onto everyone’s price, nobody gets hurt. However, I believe prepaid gratuities should cover everything, including drink service, specialty restaurants, and excursions. The October 4 steps are a step backward, not forward. As for options that suit, WIFI should be included to all as part of the cost. Technology has gotten us to that point. Drinks should be a choice. Cruise lines overcharge for packages and most can do better buying by the drink, especially on port days. Every change made by Celebrity lately benefits them and are not customer or employee friendly.

Sounds like OpenTable. 😉

Gratuities should be included with EVERY booking. That would take care of Europeans who don’t tip as it would be part of price and North Americans wouldn’t have to worry about tipping either, if included. These changes seem awkward and detrimental to hard working crew and passengers (only good for X).

He wasn’t a Cruise Critic member when he took this cruise. He didn’t mention what he didn’t like about the food, so not enough to take away from his initial post on Cruise Critic. Seems like he is saying the ingredients aren’t fresh and come from cans like on mass market lines. Just not a lot of credibility in that, unless he knows something.

Silversea fares are a little too high and it may be a little too formal for me. My brother and some friends have been selling me on Oceania for a while. I found an itinerary I liked with an overnight in Bordeaux, so now is the time.

You are always talking apples and oranges when it comes to different types of cruise passengers. I was not referring to people who book insides on Celebrity or even retreats.I was more talking about verandahs or even Aquas. If you enjoy the Carnival experience and are on a tight budget, there's great value there. If you're a partier who enjoys comfort food, especially burgers and pizza, then it might even be a better fit. Many of us started off on Carnival cruises and had great times on the line. When my kids were little, we took them on a Med cruise on the Magic. Great memories. But I have the means and find greater value, not affordability, to go Oceania (I loved Azamara, but will wait out new ownership until they get it together). I can afford Regent, but find more value in Oceania. It costs less and is more casual.

This is an interested thread. Oceania, especially with the new simply more fares, is pretty all inclusive and really not that much more than Celebrity and more than Carnival. Not sure what you mean by affordability. If you get less out of a more affordable vacation, that's not real value.

Emeril will sell anything and his star took a dip when his tv show was canceled in 2007. He sold much of his business to Martha Stewart for $45 million and now has a few restaurants and sells air fryers on QVC. Carnival can do deals with Guy Fierri and Emeril LaGasse and also have the best cat fights at sea, but no thanks.

Food itself is not very subjective. Some ingredients are unhealthy and substandard, especially if those ingredients aren’t fresh, contain transfats, or bad oils (or even comes out of a can!). Chefs can make food taste good with flavors, but I don’t believe the quality of ingredients you get on certain lines are acceptable. If your palate is used to burgers and pizza, then it wouldn’t make a difference.

When I see long time Azamara cruisers this upset, I am relieved that I canceled my cruise a couple of weeks ago. We'll return only after the regulars here says the waters are safe. Booked an Oceania instead.

THIS ↑ I always believe it is a mistake to go back to a line you left for good reason. We also stopped cruising on Princess for what we thought was good reason. The Carnival experience is kind of cheesy. Even with upgraded food, it's not the atmosphere we're looking for. I do congratulate them for being able to attract both young families and partiers at the same time. Not sure how they pull it off, but they do.

You would enjoy and even love Portland and Southern Maine more if you saw it in any other way than from a cruise ship. From a cruise ship, you would even miss the great tourist spots (lighthouse, Kennebunkport, Ogunquit/Perkins Cove). The best thing about Portland, other than the beauty of the old port and cobblestone streets is the great restaurant scene and you’d need time for that and the cruise ships are long gone when you would want to enjoy that.

There are different types of people who take cruises. Some want a floating resort and others who use cruising as a means to see the world. If you want to see Bangkok or Saigon and dock in the city, instead of 2 to 2.5 hours away, your retreats/havens/yachts clubs will do you no good. Some have pointed out other itineraries as well. The smaller ships are an alternative, but I get it that they are not for everyone and there are many Celebrity loyalists who would never even get on an M class ship. The smaller ships are an alternative, but those of us who love them understand that they are an alternative, but not for everyone.

The topic is alternatives to Celebrity. Why aren't smaller ships an alternative?

I am hoping they clean up their act. I will book with them again. Love the line. Just waiting for now.

Agree and that is certainly a valid reason to either choose one line over another. Saw some episodes of the cable show great ships or something like that and it showed some pretty amazing moves by an Azamara captain. It might be worrisome to some and not to others.

No, I had one booked and canceled it and took the $150 cancelation fee hit.

Let’s say it’s an R class ship on Oceania and R class ship on Azamara docks and yours doesn’t. If apples to oranges, I would agree with you but not apples to apples.

In the Caribbean, I’d agree with you. Let’s say it’s Osaka, Japan. That might be problematic if I knew other cruise ships, similar size docked and the captain of the ship I’m on decided against it.

It is not my intention to say that this change is at any means good or even more painful for some and not others. However, if you look around, the grass isn’t any greener anywhere else. Changes impact us all differently. I booked my first Oceania cruise, so booked it eyes wide opened, knowing what is the new reality at Oceania and other cruise lines as well. The difference with Azamara of the $150 may be the risk you take on with Azamara under its new private equity owner (Sycamore) who has proven it doesn’t know what it’s doing with all of the problems on the data transfer. I forfeited my $150 to them because I refuse to go further down that “Journey” with them. Loved my SE Asia cruise with them and might even cruise with them in the future, but not until they get their act together. Celebrity is forcing alcohol and WIFI package on its Aqua passengers. I use Aqua because Blu is a decent dining experience and their MDR is not. Puts me in a rough spot. I won’t consider the other two lines (not a Princess fan or lower level cruise lines). I like Celebrity and will swallow hard on the Aqua inclusions. The one that bothers me most is WIFI because I know on the Japan itinerary that pocket WIFI works well and I’ll use that. Got a great deal on that cruise, but will be hesitant in the future. It’s no secret that the Aqua cabins are the only ones open for my Japan cruise next May. They also now make you forfeit your ENTIRE deposit if you cancel unless you pay so much more for the refundable deposit. The strategy with them has to be to only use future cruise certificates. Easier to lose $200 than $900. In any case, I will still book X, but only if I can find a great deal with an online TA getting some sort of group discount that negates the charge for the BS inclusive.

As a new cruiser to Oceania, I was going to ask if a passenger in a B4 could get access to the Aquamar Spa Terrace. $25 seems like a good deal. Is it the same price when ships are at sea all day?

😇 Nah, you’re just an easy read.

We loved our Azamara cruise before Covid. I am very nervous about them now with a new owner, a private equity firm, with no experience in the industry and the conversion of software and booking info has been a horror show. We canceled our cruise with them and took a different itinerary with Oceania (the new Vista) for peace of mind. We also only book Aqua because we like the food and service in Blu. The MDR on Celebrity is below what we want on a cruise.

The largest ship I would take now is M class. I do wonder what will happen when these ships’ useful life comes to an end. They have all of the main things from a big ship I want and are not crowded and do some great itineraries. I wish Royal Caribbean had invested more in Azamara and built more smaller ships. They bought Silverseas, but I have no interest in those prices. We liked Azamara, but no thanks on the new owners. We are using Oceania as an alternative and will book M class on Celebrity when they have itineraries which we like. Our last large ship cruise was nine years ago on the Royal Princess. It was new at the time, but the ship part of the vacation seemed annoying - waiting at elevators and crowds everywhere. It was also our last cruise with Princess. Just awful in every way and docked so far away from Stockholm that it was an annoyance.