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Possible Oceania Convert - help please


Chunky2219

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This link also gives some good information (you do need to scroll down a bit) http://www.shipcruise.org/cruise-ship-passenger-capacity-ratings/

 

At the risk of seeming like an Oceania spokesperson, Oceania Marina has a CruiseCritic score on the link of only 2.5. That is the lowest of all the scores shown, and even Carnival Triumph got a 4...

 

The low score seems especially bizarre since Marina also made it to be #4 on their list of Best in the World for Midsize ships, being beaten only by Crystal Symphony, Crystal Serenity and RSSC Voyager.....

 

http://www.shipcruise.org/top-10-best-cruise-ships-in-the-world/

 

The information on classifications, space ratios and staffing etc. is very interesting, however.

 

Thanks for posting!

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At the risk of seeming like an Oceania spokesperson, Oceania Marina has a CruiseCritic score on the link of only 2.5. That is the lowest of all the scores shown, and even Carnival Triumph got a 4...

 

The low score seems especially bizarre since Marina also made it to be #4 on their list of Best in the World for Midsize ships, being beaten only by Crystal Symphony, Crystal Serenity and RSSC Voyager.....

 

http://www.shipcruise.org/top-10-best-cruise-ships-in-the-world/

 

The information on classifications, space ratios and staffing etc. is very interesting, however.

 

Thanks for posting!

Perhaps the voting is skewed a bit by the people who vote ..maybe not all Oceania cruisers vote in such polls ;)

 

Just my observations on polls ;)

It all depends on who they are marketed to & how they are conducted

 

A nice read but but no means the deciding factor in if the product is good or not

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Many of the cruse line web sites and/or brochures show the staff and the passenger counts.

 

An easy way to get this information, a nice writeup on just about every ship you can imagine and even definition of luxury, premium, mass market and so forth is a book that is written by Douglas Ward, published by Berlitz/ updated annually, and is called Cruising and Cruise ships. It gives lots of very good information about each cruise ship and shows the staff to passenger ratio and the space to passenger ratios.

 

I highly recommend the book and it is available on Amazon.Com or at places such as Barnes & Noble.

 

In terms of guest counts, it's no different than land. For example Four Season and Ritz Carlton provide a luxury experience and the size of the hotels within each chain varies. Same goes for Cruise Line and ships.

 

As to Luxury Lines and Premium lines most places that I look at (books, sites, etc.) consider Oceania Premium but Cruise Critic categorized them as Luxury and that is their prerogative.

 

Keith

 

How Douglas Ward rates the ships:

The 284 hard-hitting reviews in the Berlitz Cruise Guide expose the best and worst scoring cruise ships using an internationally accepted rating system devised by Douglas Ward, who is the most respected (and feared) critic in the business. The only source of independent star-ratings for virtually all ocean-going cruise ships worldwide, the guide takes into account a remarkable 400 separate items based on personal cruises, visits and revisits to ships, as well as observations and comments from Douglas’s team.

Ward's ratings, compiled independently & unsubsidized by sponsorship, base its Berlitz stars on points for an unbiased appraisal of what's best & worst in the world of cruising.

Here are the top three in each ship size category for 2013

 

Mid-size ships (751 – 1,750 passengers)

 

1st – Crystal Serenity (Crystal Cruises)

2nd – Riviera (Oceania Cruises)

3rd – Crystal Symphony (Crystal Cruises)

 

Small ships (251 – 750 passengers)

 

1st – Europa (Hapag-Lloyd Cruises)

2nd – Seabourn Quest (Seabourn)

3rd – Seabourn Odyssey (Seabourn)

 

Boutique ships (50 – 250 passengers)

1st – SeaDream II (SeaDream Yacht Club)

2nd – SeaDream I (SeaDream Yacht Club)

3rd – Seabourn Legend (Seabourn)

2012 rankings:

 

Mid-Size Ships (600 – 1,600 passengers)

1 Crystal (Serenity) 1,717 points

Tie (2) Crystal (Symphony) & Oceania (Marina)

1,701 points

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I have always found that the only ranking that matters in mine.

I agree

We should choose a cruise line/ship based on what we want or need in a cruise experience

No labels required

 

Choose what works best for you

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I don't use the book for the ratings although I think he does a wonderful job with them.

 

What I do use the book is for all of the facts that he provides on each of the cruise ship. It includes about a three page very useful summary on each ship.

 

I actually used the book to pick out our first cruise though.

 

It's a very good book and the writeup actually help in the decision process in terms of the verbiage and not the ratings although as I said he does a nice job on giving a rating for one of several categories.

 

To me anyone who likes cruising should have a copy. Just my two cents. Oh, well maybe three cents.

 

Keith

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I don't use the book for the ratings although I think he does a wonderful job with them.

 

What I do use the book is for all of the facts that he provides on each of the cruise ship. It includes about a three page very useful summary on each ship.

 

I actually used the book to pick out our first cruise though.

 

It's a very good book and the writeup actually help in the decision process in terms of the verbiage and not the ratings although as I said he does a nice job on giving a rating for one of several categories.

 

To me anyone who likes cruising should have a copy. Just my two cents. Oh, well maybe three cents.

 

Keith

 

Keith, I'm finding the book very interesting. So far, its confirming a lot of what I've picked up elsewhere, particularly in the descriptions of some of the mainstream lines. The author is British, I assume? I haven't seen the term "lager lout" in a book (or anywhere else) in a long time.

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FreedomSeeker, you are correct. He was born in England and lived relatively close to the port of Southampton.

 

I get his updates usually each year or two.

 

It's a good source for experienced cruisers and great for those who are new to cruising and just another nice source when one is considering cruise lines they are not familiar with.

 

Keith

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Agree that it is only your own opinion that counts. I find it interesting that the link I posted had such a low rating for Oceania. I found it through a Bing search -- the title and content seemed to answer the question. I did not have time to read it and wonder why it seems so skewed:confused:

 

I would be interested in seeing a non-bias report of the percentage of repeat customers a cruise line gets. IMO, no matter how a cruise line is rated, they need both new and repeat customers to fill the ship.

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