Oceania Cruises vs the Luxury Lines

[JimandStan]

You can bring a glass of wine (or an alcoholic drink) purchased in a bar to the dining room. You are not supposed to bring your "own" wine in a restaurant unless you pay a corkage fee. In that case it's easier to bring the bottle of wine to the restaurant rather than just the glass. (Some people cheat of course.)

 

You can bring wine, etc., on the ship at the embarkation port or any port along the way.

 

Mura

 

Honestly, I cannot believe that this is even a consideration, given the pricepoint of an Oceania cruise.

[orchestrapal]

Honestly, I cannot believe that this is even a consideration, given the pricepoint of an Oceania cruise.

 

Reminds me of a discussion during which my father was asked "how much gas does your Cadillac use ?"

Hopefully if one can afford the cruise they can also afford the corkage fee.:rolleyes:

[Cruiser John]

On our 14 day Marina cruise last Feb we carted 14 bottles of premium wine purchased in San Francisco on board and enjoyed a bottle of premium California wine each night with dinner for a corkage of 20$. A bargain price to enjoy with Oceania's premium cuisine

[Mura]

Forgive me, fellas, but I don't see where the corkage fee was the problem.

 

Someone didn't know what the Oceania policy was on bringing his own liquor into a restaurant and he was told he could -- but there is a corkage fee.

 

I didn't see anyone objecting to the idea of a corkage fee. At least not yet.

 

Mura

[RetiredFL]

Honestly, I cannot believe that this is even a consideration, given the pricepoint of an Oceania cruise.

 

It is not always a price consideration. We enjoy a glass of house wine in Martinis and then take the second glass to the dining room to enjoy with dinner. We don't always chose to drink two glasses of wine before dinner.

We have also, on occasion, enjoyed one mixed drink during happy hour and taken the second into the GDR to enjoy while ordering. We have, on occasion, had the Martinis waiter take our drink into the GDR.

What is nice is that Oceania treats you in a civilized manner and works with you to have the experience you want, whether that is one or multiple drinks during happy hour, a bottle of house wine or a $20 corkage fee to bring your own wine.

[LHT28]

Someone didn't know what the Oceania policy was on bringing his own liquor into a restaurant and he was told he could -- but there is a corkage fee

Mura

I do not think you can take your own liquor but you can certainly take your own wine by the bottle not by the glass as I think was also asked

 

Lyn

[peapod2]

 

"Yet one of the most important thing to me, in regards to purchasing a cruise, is value for money- this isn't necessarily expense, for some cruises can be quite a mouthful of dollars and yet still retain value for the amount paid. This is where I am slightly concerned in regards to Oceania. For the price of that voyage, Seabourn has quoted me less in a larger suite for 10 nights- and Seabourn is quite possibly my most favorite line. Silversea, too, has quoted me a very similar rate for a voyage heading to more or less the same destinations.

 

Naturally, whether I like Seabourn, Oceania or any other line more is completely subjective, yet from the experienced O cruisers, my question is simply, if an O cruise really does lean towards a luxury experience strongly, and that Oceania is worth the price you pay to board one of their ships, or if the new Oceania ships are just premium cruise lines with service standards to match, yet at rates of the luxury lines?"

 

 

 

 

I hope this board will allow me to answer the OP's initial question from a somewhat different point of view without my being criticized for having a different opinion.

 

Having recently completed a 14-day British Isles & Norway cruise on Marina, and having previously been on a number of luxury cruises prior to that (all on Crystal) as well as having sailed several times on mass market lines, it is my own opinion that the cruise on Marina did not come sufficiently close to a luxury cruise experience for me to consider it having been worth the (nearly luxury-level) price paid. Please remember: I am not trying to argue with anyone; I am merely speaking for myself and am attempting to answer the OP's question as best I can. I cannot speak for the other Oceania ships (on which I have not sailed), but in my own opinion Marina would best be described as being at the very upper end of the premium or mass-market lines, but it is still simply not a luxury ship (nor, I might add, does Oceania hold it out to be one). Perhaps if my cruise on Marina had been at a sufficiently lower-than-luxury-level price point, I might have felt we received better value for the dollar. But we were on a high-demand European itinerary during the expensive midsummer season, were eager to try the new Marina, and therefore had to pay the freight if we wanted to take the cruise. By the time we were finished paying for the entire trip, we realized we had easily spent as much as if we had been on Crystal (although admittedly it might not have been in the identical cabin category, but still close). As a result, and speaking only for ourselves and our own travel dollars, if we ever find ourselves comparing roughly comparable itineraries in the future, we will choose to go with the luxury line and not Oceania, or at least not Marina.

 

Primarily it was in the area of service (i.e. a frequent lack of polished, professional service) that we felt Marina most often fell short, but there were other aspects, too: sometimes it was a sense of being crowded (e.g. difficulty finding a table during certain mealtime "rush hours"); other times it was in failures to communicate important information (e.g. not advising passengers at all [!] that a significant port change had been made); and sometimes (dare I even say it on these boards?) we were not always quite as in love with the food as so many others on this board genuinely seem to be. (I realize this last is so utterly subjective that I say it only to explain how we happen to feel about it but not to argue the subject.) All that said, however, we did think the ship was lovely, the accomodations were excellent though the shower could use some fine-tuning (what a fabulous bed!), there were many fine aspects to the experience to warrant the "upper premium" rating. But since the OP's initial question was to inquire whether Oceania but particularly its new ships (e.g. Marina) really do "lean towards a luxury experience strongly," I just wanted to offer this perhaps-minority opinion to say I personally don't think it does lean sufficiently strongly towards a luxury experience to justify paying luxury level prices in the future. Just one person's opinion.

[orchestrapal]

Having recently completed a 14-day British Isles & Norway cruise on Marina, and having previously been on a number of luxury cruises prior to that (all on Crystal) as well as having sailed several times on mass market lines, it is my own opinion that the cruise on Marina did not come sufficiently close to a luxury cruise experience for me to consider it having been worth the (nearly luxury-level) price paid. Please remember: I am not trying to argue with anyone; I am merely speaking for myself and am attempting to answer the OP's question as best I can. I cannot speak for the other Oceania ships (on which I have not sailed), but in my own opinion Marina would best be described as being at the very upper end of the premium or mass-market lines, but it is still simply not a luxury ship (nor, I might add, does Oceania hold it out to be one). Perhaps if my cruise on Marina had been at a sufficiently lower-than-luxury-level price point, I might have felt we received better value for the dollar. But we were on a high-demand European itinerary during the expensive midsummer season, were eager to try the new Marina, and therefore had to pay the freight if we wanted to take the cruise. By the time we were finished paying for the entire trip, we realized we had easily spent as much as if we had been on Crystal (although admittedly it might not have been in the identical cabin category, but still close). As a result, and speaking only for ourselves and our own travel dollars, if we ever find ourselves comparing roughly comparable itineraries in the future, we will choose to go with the luxury line and not Oceania, or at least not Marina.

 

Primarily it was in the area of service (i.e. a frequent lack of polished, professional service) that we felt Marina most often fell short, but there were other aspects, too: sometimes it was a sense of being crowded (e.g. difficulty finding a table during certain mealtime "rush hours"); other times it was in failures to communicate important information (e.g. not advising passengers at all [!] that a significant port change had been made); and sometimes (dare I even say it on these boards?) we were not always quite as in love with the food as so many others on this board genuinely seem to be. (I realize this last is so utterly subjective that I say it only to explain how we happen to feel about it but not to argue the subject.) All that said, however, we did think the ship was lovely, the accomodations were excellent though the shower could use some fine-tuning (what a fabulous bed!), there were many fine aspects to the experience to warrant the "upper premium" rating. But since the OP's initial question was to inquire whether Oceania but particularly its new ships (e.g. Marina) really do "lean towards a luxury experience strongly," I just wanted to offer this perhaps-minority opinion to say I personally don't think it does lean sufficiently strongly towards a luxury experience to justify paying luxury level prices in the future. Just one person's opinion.

\

Even if we were able to get the same space for the same price on Crystal..the smoking, formal dress and set dining times would cause us to pick Oceania every time.:)

[BPCruiser]

It is not always a price consideration. We enjoy a glass of house wine in Martinis and then take the second glass to the dining room to enjoy with dinner. We don't always chose to drink two glasses of wine before dinner.

We have also, on occasion, enjoyed one mixed drink during happy hour and taken the second into the GDR to enjoy while ordering. We have, on occasion, had the Martinis waiter take our drink into the GDR.

What is nice is that Oceania treats you in a civilized manner and works with you to have the experience you want, whether that is one or multiple drinks during happy hour, a bottle of house wine or a $20 corkage fee to bring your own wine.

 

Thanks for all the info regarding drinking wine on board, in cabin and in Dining Room. We like to do the same.....have a glass of wine or mixed drink before Dinner, not always 2 and then bring our drink to Dining Room. Paying a corkerage fee for a bottle of our favorite wine would be a great option!;)

[Oceans&Rivers]

Even if we were able to get the same space for the same price on Crystal..the smoking, formal dress and set dining times would cause us to pick Oceania every time.:)

 

Crystal's smoking policy (Crystal is really dragging their heels kicking and screaming into the 21st century with regard to this issue) and the formal dress policy (which is lessening somewhat, I think) definitely drove us to select Oceania over Crystal for Alaska and we will soon have an opinion of our own to express.

 

I am very hopeful that we will come back with a very favorable impression of Oceania, and I will give my honest opinion in the next few weeks.

[LHT28]

sometimes (dare I even say it on these boards?) we were not always quite as in love with the food as so many others on this board genuinely seem to be. (I realize this last is so utterly subjective that I say it only to explain how we happen to feel about it but not to argue the subject.)

We have not sailed on any Luxury lines so cannot compare but I do agree with you on the food ...

We prefer simple dishes without sauces that still have flavour but food is very subjective

 

You should cruise with the line that fits your needs & wants

 

Lyn

[TERRIER1]

On deck 7 forward and aft are some extended balconies. The extended balconies are only on deck 7. We were in 7115 which is an extended verandah. Part of the deck is covered by the balcony above and the other half is open. The deck is very large. However, as Lyn stated, people can look down from the upper decks onto the open space of these extended balconies. We liked the extended balcony and book it again next year on the Riviera.

[wripro]

Peapod2,

 

You are not unique in your opinions. I happen to love Oceania for its casual ambience on board, the great specialty restaurants (Red Ginger and Jacques equal anything on luxury lines imo) and friendly service. But by the time I pay for a PH, gratuities, alcohol and outrageous internet charges I am spending at least what I would on Seabourn on a per diem basis. And terrific as Oceania is it is not a luxury line (and they do not advertise themselves as such.) There is a difference indeed. Personally, I have never found smoking to be a problem on Seabourn and now their dress code is much more casual. Most nights just a jacket with no tie is fine including on formal optional nights. I will happily continue to include Oceania in my cruise planning but when I board I do not expect and do not receive a luxury product.

[LHT28]

I hope you are also reading the luxury forums as well

 

Seems the ocean is not any bluer for the extra $$

[JPR]

I thought that the food, wine and service in La Reserve, the massive spa and spa facilities, exercise room, coffee bar, golf putting course, espresso bar, food classroom, swimming pool and pool chaises, and art room on the Marina were all equal or superior to those on the luxury cruise lines. The other specialty restaurants were comparable too.

 

Yes, service and food in the Grand Dining Room and tendering in particular, as well as the design of the Marina Lounge and of the showers in the suites, was below the standard of the luxury lines. Our future voyages on Marina (and Riviera) will be in a PH3 suite.

[wripro]

Service and food in the GDR is way below lux line levels. Nevertheless, you have to make an overall assessment and know what you can expect. In general, O delivers a great product.

As I have often said where O shines is its ability to deliver such a high quality product for less money if one books a regular verandah or deluxe cabin.

[SanFranCruizer]

Service and food in the GDR is way below lux line levels. Nevertheless, you have to make an overall assessment and know what you can expect. In general, O delivers a great product.

As I have often said where O shines is its ability to deliver such a high quality product for less money if one books a regular verandah or deluxe cabin.

 

That really seems to be how it works out for me as well. I love Oceania and check its itineraries often. Would sail with them again in a heartbeat. But once you start booking at the PH level and above, it starts to be, at times, more expensive than the same size room on a luxury line. Having sailed recently on Regent and Silversea, I can tell you there are not a lot of people smoking. And the people who smoke smoke in the areas they are allowed to smoke.

[SomersetI]

We loved Seabourne, the one trip we took with them but keep on coming back to Oceania for its overall value. Beyond the rooms, etc. we are always struck by the wonderful service and the attention to detail that we receive. We also enjoy the greater variety of dining venues, as well as the overall ambience. At the end, it is a hobson's choice but for us, nothing beats Oceania.

[katjamed]

Hi Cruiser John, I was on same cruise as Judy and John from London Ontario June 3 Dover to Stockholm on Seabourn Pride. You were going to give me some tips abot booking cruises but I missed seeing you before we disembarked. You will remember Ross and Ros from Brisbane Australia. Hope you enjoy your Oceana cruise down or way in February 2012.

Cheers Ross.

[GeorgesGal]

b - n - d, Glad you have come to a decision. I agree that the best way to determine which ship you take is itinerary, itinerary, itinerary! This is exactly how I decide!

[ShopperfiendTO]

b - n - d, Glad you have come to a decision. I agree that the best way to determine which ship you take is itinerary, itinerary, itinerary! This is exactly how I decide!

 

You might want to take a read of this recent thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1501240

 

One is an isolated incident, two may be a coincidence... more can be viewed as a trend.:confused: