Respectully requesting help HAL VS OCEANIA

[kazu]

Thanks again Grammie K.

 

I am a little confused on the Marina as it looks like her rooms are a bit bigger, but the size of the ship (passenger wise) is twice the others. So she is like a HAL S&R ship size wise.

 

Am following posts to see if her service and food is equal to the other smaller ships.

 

Thanks again so much for all of your help and insight. It is really appreciated. This board has been very helpful :):)

[LHT28]

I am a little confused on the Marina as it looks like her rooms are a bit bigger, but the size of the ship (passenger wise) is twice the others. So she is like a HAL S&R ship size wise.

 

Yes the cabin are bigger than the R ships

If you click here you can see the size in Sq Ft of the cabins

http://www.oceaniacruises.com/ships/marina/staterooms/default.aspx

 

I am not sure of the sizes on HAL but the PH are 420 sq ft including the balcony on Marina

If you need more space pick an OC they are 1000 sq ft

 

Enjoy

 

Lyn

[kazu]

Yes the cabin are bigger than the R ships

If you click here you can see the size in Sq Ft of the cabins

http://www.oceaniacruises.com/ships/marina/staterooms/default.aspx

 

I am not sure of the sizes on HAL but the PH are 420 sq ft including the balcony on Marina

If you need more space pick an OC they are 1000 sq ft

 

Enjoy

 

Lyn

 

Thanks Lyn very much. FYI the deluxe verandah suites on HAL are between 500 to 700 sq ft. (most are around 550). they are cheaper than the PH on Oceania of course. thanks for the link. Jacqui

[wripro]

They are cheaper for a reason.

 

Sorry, I did not mean to imply that there was anything wring with wanting more personal space. I guess I just feel that it's what goes on outside one's cabin that makes one line nicer than the other.

[Marebear]

We've sailed on Hal's Prinsendam and Westerdam and taken a number of cruises on the Insignia, Nautica and Regatta. We had deluxe veranda suites on Hal and PH suites and a Vista Suite on Oceania as we like a lot of space.

 

We will not go back on Hal because of their smoking policy. That said, Oceania , in all respects, is much better than Hal in food, service, sleeping, and general ambiance. We also like to eat when and where we choose so the open dining also suits us. We do not like formal nights anymore so the dress code on Oceania is perfect for us. We have not been on the Marina as of yet and have no immediate plans to do so because we like the small ships.

 

I think you will like Oceania! The people are very nice and the staff are well trained and wonderful!

[AMPM]

We have done a few HAL cruises and will be doing another in 3 weeks. We also did the Regatta to the Med in '08. I have to say after going back to HAL last year , there was quite a difference. I don't know if HAL has lowered it's standards a bit or we were spoiled by Oceania. I don't think I'd do O for a winter "get away". I just need warm weather and sun to make me happy. We do like the formal nights but it was very nice on O to have the country club casual dress code. Since the line is so port centric and for the Med cruise we were out all day sightseeing it was especially nice to sit and have dinner on the fantail. The night in Monaco was beautiful! I definately want to do the Marina it looks absolutely gorgeous and I'm sure we will but don't have any plans as of yet. I do look at all of these wonderful brochures that we get and it's only a matter of time until I find the right itinerary.

[doowopbob]

My DW and I have sailed on HAL 3 times. The last time was in a Deluxe suite which was really nice with all the added benefits and the Neptune lounge. We have just booked a Mediterranean cruise on Oceania Marina. We could have gone on a similar cruise with Hal and gotten the same Deluxe suite for just a little more than the PH3 on Marina. While we really enjoyed HAL there was really no question. It all boiled down to one thing "SMOKING POLICY. We recently went on Celebrity for the first time and their restrictive smoking policy was wonderful. We were able to enjoy the casino and the piano bar. On HAL we were lucky to be able to last 10 minutes before the smoke drove us out. The idea that we could end up with a balcony with smokers on either side of us is really scary. Actually liked HAL better than Celebrity overall but smoking policy is the elephant in the room

[kazu]

We've sailed on Hal's Prinsendam and Westerdam and taken a number of cruises on the Insignia, Nautica and Regatta. We had deluxe veranda suites on Hal and PH suites and a Vista Suite on Oceania as we like a lot of space.

 

We will not go back on Hal because of their smoking policy. That said, Oceania , in all respects, is much better than Hal in food, service, sleeping, and general ambiance. We also like to eat when and where we choose so the open dining also suits us. We do not like formal nights anymore so the dress code on Oceania is perfect for us. We have not been on the Marina as of yet and have no immediate plans to do so because we like the small ships.

 

I think you will like Oceania! The people are very nice and the staff are well trained and wonderful!

 

Thanks Marebear - the Oceania board is certainly very nice and very helpful

[kazu]

We have done a few HAL cruises and will be doing another in 3 weeks. We also did the Regatta to the Med in '08. I have to say after going back to HAL last year , there was quite a difference. I don't know if HAL has lowered it's standards a bit or we were spoiled by Oceania. I don't think I'd do O for a winter "get away". I just need warm weather and sun to make me happy. We do like the formal nights but it was very nice on O to have the country club casual dress code. Since the line is so port centric and for the Med cruise we were out all day sightseeing it was especially nice to sit and have dinner on the fantail. The night in Monaco was beautiful! I definately want to do the Marina it looks absolutely gorgeous and I'm sure we will but don't have any plans as of yet. I do look at all of these wonderful brochures that we get and it's only a matter of time until I find the right itinerary.

 

Thanks AMPM - the Eurodam is supposed to be nice - I'm with you - for an 'I'm outta here cruise" (and I wish I was) where you just want warm weather, you probably don't need the 'O'. It's the more exotic, different ports that I'm looking at her for. Similar to my Prisendam cruise this fall. She's just a bit bigger passenger wise than the O ships. Thanks again:)

[kazu]

My DW and I have sailed on HAL 3 times. The last time was in a Deluxe suite which was really nice with all the added benefits and the Neptune lounge. We have just booked a Mediterranean cruise on Oceania Marina. We could have gone on a similar cruise with Hal and gotten the same Deluxe suite for just a little more than the PH3 on Marina. While we really enjoyed HAL there was really no question. It all boiled down to one thing "SMOKING POLICY. We recently went on Celebrity for the first time and their restrictive smoking policy was wonderful. We were able to enjoy the casino and the piano bar. On HAL we were lucky to be able to last 10 minutes before the smoke drove us out. The idea that we could end up with a balcony with smokers on either side of us is really scary. Actually liked HAL better than Celebrity overall but smoking policy is the elephant in the room

 

if you took the smoking policy out of the equation (seriously) how would you rate HAl with the delxue verandah suite and the Oceania PH3?

 

when you get back would you mind to share your comparison on the food, service and cabin?

 

We know HAL has smoking - we have never found it pervasive (other than the casino) - anyways, if you have time or don't mind, I would appreciate it, thanks :)