Tell Me About Oceania

[10X]

We recently received a large brochure from Oceania and have looked it over. The cruises and cruise line look pretty nice but we know nothing about them. We are not new to cruising having been on 17 cruises with our 18th booked for January. Our favorite line is Princess. The sale brochure makes pricing nearly identical. Anyone care to tell us a little about Oceania and/or make a comparison with Princess. Thank you.

[Andee]

We like Oceania for the small ships, wonderful staff, port intensive itineraries, lack of formal nights, open seating dining, free specialty dining rooms, tourist office reps that get on at every port.

[sitraveler]

Don't forget- almost no smoking, small ports. It is hard to go back to the larger ships unless you want bigger shows, more nightlife and the hubbub that goes with the mass market ships.

 

Each has their following.

[Mura]

I believe there have been threads in the past quite specific to your inquiry. Do a search on something like "Oceania and Princess". You should find a lot of posts answering your question.

 

I personally like the ability to choose when *I* want to eat dinner! And, yes, the no smoking policies.

[Bruin Steve]

We recently received a large brochure from Oceania and have looked it over. The cruises and cruise line look pretty nice but we know nothing about them. We are not new to cruising having been on 17 cruises with our 18th booked for January. Our favorite line is Princess. The sale brochure makes pricing nearly identical. Anyone care to tell us a little about Oceania and/or make a comparison with Princess. Thank you.

 

IMHO, if prices are "nearly identical", it's a complete no brainer...

 

Actually, in the latest Oceania sale brochures, I was shocked as to just how good some of the offers were...If only I had the time to cruise more!

 

Personally, I am not a big fan of Princess...I find their ships too crowded and poorly designed. I don't think their dinner seating systems are well managed...it's an "okay" cruise at best...

 

Oceania is a far higher quality product...The food and service is vastly superior to what you get on Princess...The ships are smaller (for te most part) and far less crowded...

 

Of course, a lot of this (except for the ship size/crowding) is personal opinion...but I really don't think I am "off" in any way here...The only edge I'd give Princess is in Entertainment...Oceania is notorious for not having the greatest entertainment...but we've also had some dreadful entertainment on Princess--and have had to deal with undersized and crowded showrooms...

 

But, in every other respect, Oceania has a moderate to large edge.

 

A couple of additional noteworthy points: Oceania is all "open seating" and, with these smaller ships, it works very well...since the main dining room is more than ample for the number of passengers...

There are NO formal nights...makes planning and packing a breeze...

The specialty restaurants (which are really a treat) have NO additional charge...

The itineraries, as you might tell from the brochures, are interesting and excellent...The smaller ships can get into a lot of smaller and unusual ports that cannot accommodate the big ships...

 

I'd tell you to go ahead and book yourself an Oceania cruise at one of these sale prices...and enjoy...

[Paulchili]

It comes to me as a big surprise (even a shock) that the prices for the Princess and Oceania should be the same (or nearly same). Given that fact, I too would choose Oceania without much hesitation.

Where Princess has an edge over Oceania is in perks for elites, faster/cheaper internet (if you have to pay for it at all) and much more varied itineraries (obviously not important here, as OP is comparing similar itineraries). I also like the 2 nightly shows on Princess so if we eat early (as we always do) I can see the show right after dinner instead of waiting till 9:45 PM. Food on Oceania is far superior to that on Princess and we love the country club casual of Oceania.

There is no question that Oceania is a higher end product than Princess (this fact is usually confirmed in significant price difference), but for us Princess often fits our needs due to its itineraries & prices - especially on the Princess R ships.

We are doing several Princess cruises that I wish Oceania had (circumnavigation of Australia, Northern crossings of Pacific/Atlantic come to mind) but until they do, Princess will be just fine.

To OP - as suggested above, do a search for "Oceania vs Princess" and v.v on both boards; you'll get lots of good info.

[Wannaknow]

I am a new Oceania cruiser, having just returned from my 1st Oceania cruise. Previously I cruised on RCI, Princess, HAL etc.

Oceania is hand over heels better than any other line I've ever been on. No waiting at dinnertime like Princess. Just walk in. No crowds, no long lines, no vendors cluttering up the public spaces with tables of trinkets. Much, MUCH better food in all venues. Incredibly good staff. Beautiful ships. My only complaint is the smallness of the cabins; however they are extremely comfortable and attractive.

[sunlover12]

One of the things that I love about Oceania is no photographers! I haven't sailed on Princess but I have been on Royal Caribbean, where the photographers will stick a camera in your face when you're trying to enjoy a nice meal. Not to mention that their prices for buying those pictures are ridiculous. On Oceania, there is none of that nonsense.

I also like the smaller ships and open seating dining as some of the previous posters have mentioned.

[ebobh]

We've sailed both the R Class ships, and the Marina earlier this year. We've also previously sailed up and down the food chain re cruise lines over the years, so like many on this board, we speak from experience.

 

IMHO, on Oceania, you will find a more consistent experienced-cruiser element, meaning folks generally know their way around, have realistic expectations about what they get in terms of service, ambiance, etc., and also know more fully how to act to enhance the experience of others (e.g., no loud drunken parties, no jello shot contests on the pool deck, etc. Not saying those are bad things, but most on Oceania are looking for something classy, and almost always get it). No costumed characters, loud announcements, art auctions, photographers; certainly, those are for some folks, and if we were doing a family cruise, we might look at some other options so younger people would have some company. Except for that, though, you would have a tough time finding a glaring issue about which to complain.

 

The food on Oceania is unparalleled, the dining policies are very customer-conscious, the staff is consistently helpful and professional, and the ship's ambiance is low-key, English country inn casual. Your fellow passengers are also very nice people. If you move around and check some boards, there is a recurring element of snarkiness (a formal term...), chronic complaints, adverse comments aimed at other posters, etc. I have found this phenomena to be almost absent on Oceania, and have also found the passengers onboard to be the same way (e.g., pleasant, considerate, interesting and good mates for sailing).

 

On the R ships, and even on the Marina, I wish the cabins were bigger (just a little), but that is about it. Of course, each to his or her own, and the itinerary does drive some of our decision-making. All things equal, it is tough to beat the total package on Oceania, and they are an easy step up from their larger competitors.

 

Regards, Bob H

[skandls]

We did an Oceania cruise last year and have another booked for next year. The service is outstanding, the food very good. We were on the Insignia and the cabins are on the small side. Next year we are booked on the Marina which seems to have much larger cabins. We are doing a port intensive cruise - entertainment is not a highlight on Oceania.

 

Wen cruising overseas it is so nice to come back from a long day of seeing the sights (on our own or with a tour) and be able to wander into dinner when we want. I liked the dress 'code' - people dressed well no shorts or denim at dinner.

[shedridt]

Oceania is a far step above Celebrity & Princess, & a step below Seabourn. If you've only sailed on Celebrity or Princess or HAL in the past you'll fall in love with O.

[Ricky Chan]

Oceania is a far step above Celebrity & Princess, & a step below Seabourn. If you've only sailed on Celebrity or Princess or HAL in the past you'll fall in love with O.

 

 

I hope you are right. We had sailed with all the cruise lines that you mentioned. This will be first time with Oceania next June.

 

Ricky

[10X]

Thank you for all the nice responses. It looks like we might have to give Oceania a try.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

"no loud drunken parties"

 

Bummer.

[ZZROX]

What is the average age of those cruising on Oceania?

[sunchaser1008]

What is the average age of those cruising on Oceania?

Not sure, but I think someone said 50's & up.

[Mura]

The average age can go up or down depending on the itinerary.

 

On the Midnight Sun cruise last summer it seemed to us that the average age was quite a bit older than we were used to.

 

OTOH, we have been seeing more people in the younger demographics on O in the past year or two than we used to see on Renaissance, for example.