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Will Oceania pull a Crystal ?


UDSpud
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Since another thread indicates no new ships planed in the near future for Oceania, I wonder if Oceania will pull a Crystal with some, or all, of their "R" ships.

 

By this I mean, reducing the number of veranda staterooms and replacing them with a smaller number of additional suites. This is what Crystal did recently with one of their two ships. Fewer passengers, but more higher (than stateroom) passenger fares for the suites and bigger cabins (suites vs staterooms). This could also result in some labor cost reductions and lesser crowds at dining venues.

 

Good idea or not? I have no idea if Oceania officials have considered, discussed or voted on this.

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Good idea or not?

As a knee jerk reaction to the new players and ships, I will guess the answer is no. Down the road a few years, maybe???

 

I know many posters here on CC like the R ships and some of them dislike the idea of change. But, change is the part of the travel business and the "standard" veranda cabins on R ships will be eventually too small in size for what most new passengers may want (IMHO).

 

King size beds and larger bathrooms will be needed to keep up (again IMHO). Nothing wrong with the size of ship to me but then again I don't have the $ to pay for a large suit. I will not book a regular cabin on R ships myself.

 

I don't think they need to try to change to Crystal's model (I would cruise on Crystal if I liked that) but, changing the spaces inside the ship likely will need to happen sometime down the road. Remember when cruise ships didn't have any balcony cabins? That sure changed over time. Things will change over time, they always do ;)

 

Cheers,

John

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I would think if they took, for example 30 cabins and made them 20 cabins the cost of doing so would be very expensive and would take the ship out of service longer than a normal dry dock. Were talking about ships that are near 20 years old so they would need to last a lot longer to get pay back.

 

Cutting back 1 or 2 waiters and stewards would be a small saving as most of their pay is from the gratuities.

 

With fewer passengers there is a small food cost saving but less on board spending.

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I cruise Crystal, Oceania and Regent.

 

For me, Crystal did NOTHING. The suite is only slightly larger and they still only have one bath.

 

You can not put lipstick on a pig.

 

Hope everyone keeps that in mind and doesn't try a half baked redo.

 

I guess it goes without saying that I do not like the R ships.

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The OS on the R ships is kind of O.K. I only did it on another cruise line who had the Sirena prior to her being sold to O. I believe it had a shower over the tub and not sure about the second bath. That being said, it was completely refurbished when it was sold to O.

 

Someone on this board may address this. Not too big. Balcony does not have glass and the sides are solid so you have to stand up to see the view.

 

Not enough dining options.

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I believe someone very much in the know recently posted that the R ships are going to be gutted and completely rebuilt, starting with Insignia.

 

+1

At least that means that the Engineers feel that their hulls are good for a number of years yet.

5-ovation-seas-hull-770.jpg

Considering the "throw away" mentality of 2018, that is certainly a triumph! :hearteyes:

Edited by JimandStan
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I believe someone very much in the know recently posted that the R ships are going to be gutted and completely rebuilt, starting with Insignia.

Sounds like a great idea. Hope they build bigger cabins. For us that is the biggest downside with the R ships. Lets get it done. :):):)

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maybe they will make her all OS & PH so the RTW cruise people will have more room

If they upgrade the bathrooms there will be some loss of cabins for sure

I think we all need more room in the bathrooms. Much too small. :(:(:(

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My last couple of cruises on R ships, plus my next booked one, PH and above booked up really quickly, as within a week or so of release. Availability for all other cabins continued until sailing or near so. I believe demand exists for additional PH and above suites primarily because of the cramped quarters.

 

The unknown is whether NCL would prefer to tempt those late lookers that missed booking the suites over to similar routes on Regent?

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Sounds like a great idea. Hope they build bigger cabins. For us that is the biggest downside with the R ships. Lets get it done. :):):)

 

As they say, "heat rises, water runs down hill and there is no free lunch" Some years ago Seabourn and then HAL aquired the Royal Viking Queen... a 700 pax ship and the ultimate ship for its time. The went about eliminating bars, deck space increasing to almost 900 on the same ship... Pack the rats in more rats more rat money. The result was obscene when compared to the original concept and design

.

If O does a rebuild of the R ships, making cabins larger by calling then Suites or Jr Suites by eliminating inside, ocean view and a lot of verandas it will be more comfortable .

 

But that comfort comes with a price$$$$$$ Lets say they eliminate 20% of their existing cabins for more square footage but less cabins... But no free lunch , you can expect fares to rise 20% or more. Ya' I know less passengers means less crew and less provisions.

So bottom line....bigger cabins ...much higher fares... less crew. Same as if Chevrolet decided to have Marcedes make all their cars... a Chevy-Benz with the Benz comfort and performance but the with the Benz price.

Sell less cars but at a greater profit overall.

Cruise lines are all too eager to up-sell you as high as possible...pandering to a customers vanity more than anything...

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As they say, "heat rises, water runs down hill and there is no free lunch" Some years ago Seabourn and then HAL aquired the Royal Viking Queen... a 700 pax ship and the ultimate ship for its time. The went about eliminating bars, deck space increasing to almost 900 on the same ship... Pack the rats in more rats more rat money. The result was obscene when compared to the original concept and design

.

If O does a rebuild of the R ships, making cabins larger by calling then Suites or Jr Suites by eliminating inside, ocean view and a lot of verandas it will be more comfortable .

 

But that comfort comes with a price$$$$$$ Lets say they eliminate 20% of their existing cabins for more square footage but less cabins... But no free lunch , you can expect fares to rise 20% or more. Ya' I know less passengers means less crew and less provisions.

So bottom line....bigger cabins ...much higher fares... less crew. Same as if Chevrolet decided to have Marcedes make all their cars... a Chevy-Benz with the Benz comfort and performance but the with the Benz price.

Sell less cars but at a greater profit overall.

Cruise lines are all too eager to up-sell you as high as possible...pandering to a customers vanity more than anything...

Question is how many of those smaller cabins, ie inside and ocean view are staying empty. WE will never know as they have no reason to tell us. If that is the case than it is a win for them to have bigger cabins that will sell out. Empty makes no money for them. It is all about comfort and these days people will pay for it.

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Question is how many of those smaller cabins, ie inside and ocean view are staying empty. WE will never know as they have no reason to tell us. If that is the case than it is a win for them to have bigger cabins that will sell out. Empty makes no money for them. It is all about comfort and these days people will pay for it.

 

True...but looking at most cruises, the G inside to C ocean view are almost totally sold out. At the same time the PH are sold out.. but there are twice as many of the cheap seats as the expensive ones. A win for the bigger cabins is also a win for the cruise line because they can gouge more folk$ with much larger fares.. Supply and demand. However, it also shrinks the demographic of who will sail... a smaller pool of customers and shrink the lines market a lot..

 

As to comfort, I have booked every class of cabin from PH to the least expensive inside and in truth I do not think a PH is worth the price. I found no real functional differences from a Inside. In fact the Insides on deck 7 are right there with the PH cabins and have the very same excellent access and stability..

 

To me the bed in a PH is the same as an inside, the storage too, toilet and basin same, I dont use a bathtub so a shower is just fine even on an R ship., I eat the same food as a PH , walk the same deck, swim in the same pool and sit in the same bar....

 

When it cost me 2.7 times more for a PH I see no value in it. I like to cruise... so translated I can take almost 3 cruises in an inside as a PH passenger. and experience 3 times more enjoyment of discovery of people and places... That is value to me I dont pay for status but for performance and I can not see any real difference in comfort between the highest to the lowest cat......q

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No clue as to why they would do such a thing. It would be revenue negative if you include the investment costs and pp spending on "additionals" (excursions, shops, spa, casino, alcohol). "Additionals" add more revenue and are highly profitable. It make more sense to do the opposite. Take the PH's and add passengers.

 

For Crystal likely was neutral to revenue positive. They reduced the number of passengers by making more PH w/verandas (now called Seabreeze PH) from veranda cabins. That is almost the same as converting and A2 to a PH2 as far as size. They charge 1.6 to1.7X typically what they charged for the cabins they replaced. O typically charges 1.3X for a PH over an A. So from a space revenue standpoint Crystal's doing it makes more sense.

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having spent 6 months on Insignia, a month on Regatta and Nautica, and many weeks on other R ships, (with another 6 month cruise in 2020) I beg the interior designers to do a better job hanging the TV.

 

I know the 'slim' tvs were retrofitted for the space, but they stick out too much and in rough seas trying to get around room I feel they are truly a safety issue.

 

That's the only thing I truly hate on the R ships (well, that and the clingy shower curtain....but that's a First World Problem!!! )

 

hey...maybe this lends itself to a thread on "what we'd like to see changed in a gut job!"

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After 4 cruises in a row on Marina we had gotten used to nice bathrooms in A1 cat. Our next after those was on Sirena and had forgotten how small bathrooms are on R ships. Our first O cruise was in 2007 and I think they have kept the same clingy shower curtains from that time!! We do like cruising on R ships for a number of reasons however. Cbb are you leaving soon for Mumbai cruise?

Francie

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we leave Wed for our Mumbai-Rome cruise. Going to London first to break up the Miami to Mumbai plane trip. London to Mumbai is only 9 hrs!

 

I agree with you--the baths in A1 on Rivera were gorgeous but the rest of the A1 didn't seem to have as much storage as did the A1 on the R ships.

 

Looking forward to our cruise--let's hope the Middle East is calm. I do not want us to get involved in "current events."

 

thanks for asking palakika--remind me...when is your next one?

 

Just received a note from a great ATW friend who signed up for the last segment of ATW2020--the rest of ATW16 people are so thrilled she's coming on board! Looks like the last 2 segments are already filled and on wait list status....wow!

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Our next cruise is Sydney to LA on Insignia, segment of RTW. We leave May 7 on the long Qantas flight to Syd. In Premium Economy on the giant A380. This trip, we are trying Luggage Free so maybe that will make the trip less stressful. Return June 15 making a 38 day cruise.

 

Have a great trip. We really like the middle East as lived and worked in Oman and Yemen. Wouldn't go to Yemen these days! Muscat is a lovely city.

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palakika--that is a lovely cruise. You're going to have a great time!

 

We loved using LuggageFree but it was part of the ATW benefits package so it didn't cost us anything to use them.

 

Good to know about Oman. I'm a little freaked out about what to wear on the O shorex in the UAE.

 

I don't want to appear as the Stupid American and cause offense. Hope long pants to the ankle and long tunic top will be ok. (neither are see-through) Plus a scarf for going into mosques. Have read maybe too much on dress codes for the Middle East!!!

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Sounds like you have the right idea about clothes. If in religious sites, need to have long pants and long shirt. Also scarf is very important. The last time we were in Muscat, as part of tour went to the beautiful mosque. They had Omani religious ladies out side checking all women over to be sure legs and arms were covered and scarf on. They turned a significant number away even though destination services had warned about it. The interesting thing about all this is that you will need to remove your shoes and stow them outside the Mosque. If you are a Muslem, would wash feet, hands, arms and face. In those countries I always have a scarf handy..just in case. Don't remember if you stop in Salallah, but the same applies there if you go to Job's tomb or other religious sites. You are going to have a wonderful trip. We've never been to Petra..hope we do sometime:)

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we leave Wed for our Mumbai-Rome cruise. Going to London first to break up the Miami to Mumbai plane trip. London to Mumbai is only 9 hrs!

 

 

Looking forward to our cruise--let's hope the Middle East is calm. I do not want us to get involved in "current events."

 

thanks for asking palakika--remind me...when is your next one?

 

Cynthia & Mr. Wonderful -

 

Have a super time! Hard to believe it has been over a year since our adventure on Nautica - Mumbai to Athens.

 

Good idea to break up the trip to Mumbai. We flew it in one series from Portland, over 24 hours of traveling.....

 

I leave for our place in France tomorrow for two weeks of "remodeling"....

 

Joe

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