koko's_mom Posted July 13, 2012 #1 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I am considering a Riviera western caribbean voyage this fall for my husband's birthday. We have developed a taste for cruising after sailing with Crystal a few times over the last couple years. Despite really enjoying our Crystal experiences, I have not found an itinerary that is either of interest to us, or is logistically feasible. We know a good number of people who speak very highly of Oceania, the "country club casual" is enticing to us, and I am curious about Oceania's newest ship (casual dining options, cooking classes, etc.). I am, however, a bit hesitant because of what seems to be "cabin class distinctions" beyond the normal cabin bar set-up, butler, etc.. Am I correct in thinking there are strict embarkation regulations dictating when certain cabin classes may board, along with lower priced cabins not having access to a hot room service breakfast? Will we have a difficult time getting specialty dining reservations if we don't book a certain cabin category? I guess it comes down to me being curious if it is simply a few added amenities, or is there a general tone where my cabin class is going to be branded on my forehead :p ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klscaz Posted July 13, 2012 #2 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I am considering a Riviera western caribbean voyage this fall for my husband's birthday. We have developed a taste for cruising after sailing with Crystal a few times over the last couple years. Despite really enjoying our Crystal experiences' date=' I have not found an itinerary that is either of interest to us, or is logistically feasible. We know a good number of people who speak very highly of Oceania, the "country club casual" is enticing to us, and I am curious about Oceania's newest ship (casual dining options, cooking classes, etc.). I am, however, a bit hesitant because of what seems to be "cabin class distinctions" beyond the normal cabin bar set-up, butler, etc.. Am I correct in thinking there are strict embarkation regulations dictating when certain cabin classes may board, along with lower priced cabins not having access to a hot room service breakfast? Will we have a difficult time getting specialty dining reservations if we don't book a certain cabin category? I guess it comes down to me being curious if it is simply a few added amenities, or is there a general tone where my cabin class is going to be branded on my forehead :p ?[/quote'] I'm wondering the same thing. I'm in a B4 veranda and I see that we cannot book specialty restaurants until days after everyone else has made their reservations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted July 13, 2012 #3 Share Posted July 13, 2012 There are class distinctions but they aren't as extreme as, say, Cunard. The fact is that if you have booked a lower-end cabin but want to check in at an earlier hour -- well, the chances are very good that you can do so. The rules aren't as strict as they may seem. It really depends on how many people are in line or sitting in the Terrace Cafe waiting for their room to be ready when you arrive. On our last cruise on Regatta we shared a table in Terrace with people who were in a lower-level cabin but got separated from their friends. They were having lunch and their friends were waiting. But their friends were waiting because the Terrace Cafe was full. Once the suites were available for occupancy (around 1pm), those who were waiting could board. You are entitled to your specialty dining reservations but you just cannot book them online as early as higher cabins. You are still entitled to your reservations. And you can always check in with the maitre d' and depending on availability, get extra reservations. Most people post that they have had no problem getting EXTRA reservations when they want them. There are also people like DH and myself who often don't use all the reservations we are entitled to. We like the Grand Dining Room and Terrace! And often we aren't that impressed with Polo or Toscana. So we will probably book those dining rooms once on a cruise (there were times when we didn't book them at all), but we rarely use all our reservations. We did like the extra restaurants on Marina (haven't been on Riviera yet but we assume it is the same) and dined there when we could. So far it is true that below-suite cabins don't get a hot breakfast in the cabin, but many prefer breakfast in Terrace or the GDR. We usually are in a suite but the only time we have breakfast in our suite is if we have an early tour. That's an extra convenience, yes, but we wouldn't mind having to go to Terrace for a quick hot breakfast. We book a suite for the extra room, not the perks like a hot breakfast. We've traveled on Cunard (twice on the QE2 although obviously not recently) and the class distinctions were very evident there. They really are not on Oceania. Some cabin levels get more benefits than others, but nothing will be branded on your forehead! The staff will treat you the same as passengers in higher level cabins! Hope you enjoy your cruise! Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted July 13, 2012 #4 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I'm wondering the same thing. I'm in a B4 veranda and I see that we cannot book specialty restaurants until days after everyone else has made their reservations. Everyone else will NOT have made their reservations. The hold back space in fact. Even if you couldn't book until you boarded, you could get a reservation. Even though we're usually in a suite (PH more likely than an OS or VS) we tend not to use all the specialty reservations available to us. But since O started permitting online booking in advance of the cruise, they don't sell out the restaurants to all the upper suites, leaving no space to the other passengers. I don't doubt that you could get a reservation that is only made once you have boarded ... it might not be for the date or time you prefer, but you can get it. At the same time as I say that, I understand your concern. I preferred it myself when everyone booked their reservations upon boarding. It bothers me that I might have a better chance to get a reservation just because I'm in a PH and not a C or D ... Personally, I appreciate the benefit ... but I also think it's unfair and I wouldn't mind at all if they went back to the old system. But you WILL get the number of reservations you are entitled to! And maybe you will be like us and prefer the GDR ... the specialty restaurants have set menus that rarely change ... the GDR has a greater choice of dishes. Yes, many people prefer the specialty restaurants and take pride in "never" dining in the GDR. But we aren't the only ones who tend to prefer the variety available in the GDR (or Terrace on more casual nights). You know, if you've been on a long tour in port -- you may prefer the more casual Terrace ... Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koko's_mom Posted July 13, 2012 Author #5 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Mura....thank you for your thoughtful and friendly response. We have only used room service once in our 4 Crystal cruises, as we enjoy having breakfast outside of the Lido...I think I was simply surprised by hot room service breakfast being an added amenity. Thank you again...I will continue to troll this board for fun and useful information :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted July 13, 2012 #6 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Actually, I've Oceania to be much less class conscious than Crystal, where I almost felt obligated to bring my investment portfolio to dinner with me. There are distinctions between the cabin categories on Oceania, but if you don't believe that they exist on Crystal too, then you must have never discussed this topic with the Occupants of a Crystal Suite. By the way, my dear friend Mura was incorrect in her Post above. Hot breakfast is available through room service to all passengers in Concierge Level and above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koko's_mom Posted July 13, 2012 Author #7 Share Posted July 13, 2012 JimandStan....I did not say that there were not distinctions between cabin classes on Crystal, I just feel some of the "added amenities" are much more obvious on the Oceania website versus Crystal. Once a passenger pays in full for a Crystal cruise they have access to making dining reservations along with shore excursions and enrichment classes. I was simply asking for past Oceania passengers opinion because I feel it is a great source of information....I already know how I feel about Crystal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted July 13, 2012 #8 Share Posted July 13, 2012 JimandStan....I did not say that there were not distinctions between cabin classes on Crystal' date=' I just feel some of the "added amenities" are much more obvious on the Oceania website versus Crystal. Once a passenger pays in full for a Crystal cruise they have access to making dining reservations along with shore excursions and enrichment classes. I was simply asking for past Oceania passengers opinion because I feel it is a great source of information....I already know how I feel about Crystal.[/quote'] Yes ma'am, but as your original post referenced a concern over how Oceania treated the distinctions between cabins as opposed to the way that Crystal does it, I was trying to reassure you that the two lines are more similar than you might have been led to believe. Every Passenger on the ship, for example, is guaranteed a certain number of Specialty Restaurant reservations, regardless of cabin category. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted July 13, 2012 #9 Share Posted July 13, 2012 By the way, my dear friend Mura was incorrect in her Post above. Hot breakfast is available through room service to all passengers in Concierge Level and above. Mea culpa! I was being more general than specific ... Jim&Stan are far more familiar with the fine tuning than I am! By the way, though ... I've heard that some people game the system by ordering from room service in the morning. They don't necessarily get omelets ... And of course, now that O doesn't give out lunch boxes you can get something from room service to take with you on the tour ... or go up to Terrace and grab some fruit and such. Or should I not have said that???? I know that we are going to do that on some of our Black Sea tours next month ... so as to avoid a lunch stop. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koko's_mom Posted July 13, 2012 Author #10 Share Posted July 13, 2012 JimandStan....my original post simply questioned the way Oceania treated their passengers as related to their cabin category, not in comparison to Crystal. I appreciate you expressing your feeling that my concern is unfounded, but we both know you also were also making an unnecessary knock on Crystal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted July 13, 2012 #11 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Once a passenger pays in full for a Crystal cruise they have access to making dining reservations along with shore excursions and enrichment classes. The specialty dining reservation are the only thing that you have to wait to book based on your cabin CAt You can book shore excursions, La Reserve, spa appts & cooking classes at anytime even before final payment but you pay at the time of booking We usually book a B or C class cabin & NO stamp on our foreheads :D Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koko's_mom Posted July 13, 2012 Author #12 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Thanks Lyn! I am growing out my bangs these days, so a stamp would be rather obvious :) I think the cooking classes sound like a lot of fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koko's_mom Posted July 13, 2012 Author #13 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Speaking of cooking classes....can I assume things like cooking or art classes are offered on sea days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klscaz Posted July 13, 2012 #14 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Everyone else will NOT have made their reservations. The hold back space in fact. Even if you couldn't book until you boarded, you could get a reservation. Even though we're usually in a suite (PH more likely than an OS or VS) we tend not to use all the specialty reservations available to us. But since O started permitting online booking in advance of the cruise, they don't sell out the restaurants to all the upper suites, leaving no space to the other passengers. I don't doubt that you could get a reservation that is only made once you have boarded ... it might not be for the date or time you prefer, but you can get it. At the same time as I say that, I understand your concern. I preferred it myself when everyone booked their reservations upon boarding. It bothers me that I might have a better chance to get a reservation just because I'm in a PH and not a C or D ... Personally, I appreciate the benefit ... but I also think it's unfair and I wouldn't mind at all if they went back to the old system. But you WILL get the number of reservations you are entitled to! And maybe you will be like us and prefer the GDR ... the specialty restaurants have set menus that rarely change ... the GDR has a greater choice of dishes. Yes, many people prefer the specialty restaurants and take pride in "never" dining in the GDR. But we aren't the only ones who tend to prefer the variety available in the GDR (or Terrace on more casual nights). You know, if you've been on a long tour in port -- you may prefer the more casual Terrace ... Mura Thanks Mura. We will definitely try the GDR. It looks lovely in the pics that I have seen. Not sure if we will try the Terrace for dinner. I've been following the thread by Reposado and he is making the specialty restaurants look really interesting! It is good to know that we won't have a problem with getting a reservation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aZ4me Posted July 13, 2012 #15 Share Posted July 13, 2012 ..... I guess it comes down to me being curious if it is simply a few added amenities' date=' or is there a general tone where my cabin class is going to be branded on my forehead :p ?[/quote'] While I've only been on one O cruise so far (have another one coming up), I can tell you that we were extremely pleased with everything on our cruise. There was NO way we could have known what other people's accommodations were. We were treated extremely well by everyone on the ship. We never used room service for breakfast--the food was great in Terrace Cafe, so we enjoyed that. And it was an easy process to get reservations for dinner in the specialty restaurants. (Sometimes I think discussions here make it seem far more difficult than it is.) As far as the amenities afforded those in the higher suites, as long as I'm not having to pay their "admission", it's all good. There are so many amenities in general that I'm sure you will be pleased, regardless of what stateroom you reserve. This cruise line is outstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted July 13, 2012 #16 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The specialty restaurants are marvelous on Marina, so I assume they are on Riviera as well. But I ORDER you to try the Terrace Cafe! I enjoy the Cafe on the "R" ships but there is so much more space on the new ships and so many more choices. You can have seafood and steaks cooked to order ... Many people have just opted for dining ONLY there. I wouldn't go that far, but you really should try it. You might try it for lunch to get a sense of how much it has to offer. As for the specialty restaurants, I had thought we'd really love Red Ginger -- and we did not. Even though my dish was spiced up as I requested. We LOVED Jacques. (And others have not.) I have seen differing opinions across the board, so you will have to decide for yourselves. But for all the criticisms I've seen about the GDR on Marina (and I assume Riviera) we enjoyed the few meals we had there. You certainly will not starve ... Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted July 13, 2012 #17 Share Posted July 13, 2012 JimandStan....my original post simply questioned the way Oceania treated their passengers as related to their cabin category' date=' not in comparison to Crystal. I appreciate you expressing your feeling that my concern is unfounded, but we both know you also were also making an unnecessary knock on Crystal.[/quote'] There is an 8 pages long discussion on this topic in a different thread here on Oceania forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1623653&highlight=class+distinction It's full of excellent information and may answer many of your questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aZ4me Posted July 13, 2012 #18 Share Posted July 13, 2012 .... You certainly will not starve ... Mura Mura, I had to laugh....this IS the understatement of the year. :) *I enjoy your posts a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted July 13, 2012 #19 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Speaking of cooking classes....can I assume things like cooking or art classes are offered on sea days? I think they are offered on port days as well but maybe later in the day Maybe it has changed since our cruise in 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondorner Posted July 13, 2012 #20 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The culinary classes on port intensive cruises are generally offered around 4 PM. We took our Greek Cooking class at that time on Riviera's Maiden Voyage. Most tours are back by that time. If you accidentally book a clinary class at the same time as a late tour, I'm sure they would work to find you a different class, or give a full refund. We've taken cuinary classes on Marina and on Riviera, and think they're fabulous fun. All the ingredients are prepped by assistants before you arrive, the cooking stations are fully equipped, the TV system on the chef's counter is terrific, and they usually serve some wines that pair well with whatever you're preparing. I'm hoping to get on a cruise with the shopping excursion at some point (they're not offered on every cruise). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koko's_mom Posted July 13, 2012 Author #21 Share Posted July 13, 2012 While I've only been on one O cruise so far (have another one coming up), I can tell you that we were extremely pleased with everything on our cruise. There was NO way we could have known what other people's accommodations were. We were treated extremely well by everyone on the ship. We never used room service for breakfast--the food was great in Terrace Cafe, so we enjoyed that. And it was an easy process to get reservations for dinner in the specialty restaurants. (Sometimes I think discussions here make it seem far more difficult than it is.) As far as the amenities afforded those in the higher suites, as long as I'm not having to pay their "admission", it's all good. There are so many amenities in general that I'm sure you will be pleased, regardless of what stateroom you reserve. This cruise line is outstanding. Suzan....thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree that often discussions on various CC boards can build a subject into something more extreme than it is. We have never opted for room service breakfast on previous cruises....I simply used the "hot breakfast" as an example of what motivated my inital question. From the sounds of most posts, we would really enjoy the Riviera! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koko's_mom Posted July 13, 2012 Author #22 Share Posted July 13, 2012 There is an 8 pages long discussion on this topic in a different thread here on Oceania forum:http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1623653&highlight=class+distinction It's full of excellent information and may answer many of your questions. Thank you...these CC boards are a wealth of information and entertainment :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koko's_mom Posted July 13, 2012 Author #23 Share Posted July 13, 2012 LHT28 and Hondorner....thank you for the culinary class info. Nice to know there may be multiple classes offered despite our possible itinerary only having one sea day. We are definitely not "foodies", but I admit to having Foodnetwork channel on whenever I am playing in the kitchen :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chester8 Posted July 13, 2012 #24 Share Posted July 13, 2012 JimandStan....my original post simply questioned the way Oceania treated their passengers as related to their cabin category' date=' not in comparison to Crystal. I appreciate you expressing your feeling that my concern is unfounded, but we both know you also were also making an unnecessary knock on Crystal.[/quote']Koko's mom.I agree with you too.Both cruiselines have very nice passengers and crew.Crystal may be a bit more formal but it is certainly not stuffy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don P Posted July 13, 2012 #25 Share Posted July 13, 2012 If you buy an orchestra seat at a Broadway show it is more expensive than a seat in the balcony. You've paid extra because you wanted that seat near the front of the stage. Someone who buys at the concierge level and above is paying a great deal more money for that "seat" than for a non-concierge berth. It is clearly spelled out when you purchase either category what you are entitled to for what you are paying. I don't understand the sentiment of resentment that some people express because they want what others may have paid several thousand dollars extra for. The old adage is true....."you get what you pay for". Suzan....thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree that often discussions on various CC boards can build a subject into something more extreme than it is. We have never opted for room service breakfast on previous cruises....I simply used the "hot breakfast" as an example of what motivated my inital question. From the sounds of most posts' date=' we would really enjoy the Riviera![/quote'] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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