Chunky2219 Posted May 3, 2013 #1 Share Posted May 3, 2013 I made the mistake of posting the following question on the Luxury forum. Woe is me, I felt as welcome as a case of noro. Anyway, maybe you folks can help................ DW and I have planned to try one of the premium or luxury lines for quite a while, but we always seem to end up with just the perfect voyage in Cunard Queens Grill. So that's the benchmark. We've done everything from Q7 to Q1. But I've spotted a really nice looking Oceania itinerary on Marina, so we might see about squeezing into a (slightly) smaller PH cabin than we're used to and I'm looking for any advice and feedback. So, how will we find the comparison, especially food wise? Do any of the restaurants carry an additional cover charge, or are they all free? The smart casual vibe and the lack of formal dress isn't going to be a major loss for us. Being a smaller ship, albeit 1000+, how about heavy seas and is it more important to get a midships cabin? How about accessability for boarding with a wheelchair? How about the excursions and the pricing? And finally, can you offer any experience of the deals with free flights - are they good or are you crammed into a budget airline with close to zero baggage allowance? Anything else would be fine, please fire away! Thanks. . . . __________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no fuss travel Posted May 3, 2013 #2 Share Posted May 3, 2013 There is no extra charge for the four specialty restaurants. If you eat at The Reserve, then yes you pay extra. Food is superior to all of the other cruise lines I have sailed on, but I have not sailed Cunard. Yes, the ship does have wheelchair accessibility. The ships tours are expensive and you will find many of them state not wheelchair accessible or if you have mobility problems, not a good tour for you. We sailed on the Marina across the Tasman sea and did not find it that rough. I find our local ferries to be much rougher. The other questions you have asked, if you try the search button you will probably find your answers there as I know they have been answered many times before and I do not know the answer to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenndale Posted May 3, 2013 #3 Share Posted May 3, 2013 Hi, i asked this question a little over a year ago. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1579804&highlight=cunard We had a wonderful cruise on Nautica and have 2 further cruises booked on Oceania for this year. We returned to Cunard last November and thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Princess Grill. Food was very good although you can't go off menu. Different experiences, but both very enjoyable. Isn't it good to have so many cruising choices? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted May 3, 2013 #4 Share Posted May 3, 2013 One serious advantage that Grill Class has over Oceania is the ability to dine formally al fresco. Oceania has venues with outside seating, but they are a buffet and a very casual Pool Grill. Other than that, we found that the comparisons varied by meal. Dinners on Oceania are much less formal, and has been noted earlier, off menu ordering is not a possibility. Luncheon we found to be almost identical, again with the caveat that one must stay on menu. Breakfast is where we found the most difference between the two lines, as Cunard does a much more traditional take on the first meal of the day. Don't expect any Jam Trolley's on Oceania. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
computerworks Posted May 3, 2013 #5 Share Posted May 3, 2013 One serious advantage that Grill Class has over Oceania is the ability to dine formally al fresco. That's an "advantage?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted May 3, 2013 #6 Share Posted May 3, 2013 That's an "advantage?" Oh yes, it certainly IS! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chunky2219 Posted May 3, 2013 Author #7 Share Posted May 3, 2013 Many thanks for the replies, theyare just what I needed, including the link to a simliar question. I'll keep watching in case anyone else has anything to add. Another thought - they are offering free flights but we want to upgrade to business and fly a few days earlier. Anyone have any experience of this? . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetiredFL Posted May 3, 2013 #8 Share Posted May 3, 2013 You will find most Oceania cruisers are seasoned cruisers who prefer to make many of their own arrangements. We usually only do one ship's tour per cruise and that is only that we have a good credit to use up. For example, for our cruise in July 2014 there is already an active roll call and most of us have already set up private tours. The same goes for air travel. Most of us make our own arrangements and take the air credit. That being said we sometimes see what Oceania is offering before making our own arrangements. You will find Oceania is like staying in a rich uncle's home where everything is catered to and well organized. We have not sailed on Cunard but friends who have tell us the standards are lower than previous. If you are considering Oceania get a good travel agent, if you don't have one, and make it one who specializes in cruises and in Oceania. As you can see from our signature we are confirmed Oceania cruisers and rarely try another line. Give it a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreedomSeeker Posted May 4, 2013 #9 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Many thanks for the replies, theyare just what I needed, including the link to a simliar question. I'll keep watching in case anyone else has anything to add. Another thought - they are offering free flights but we want to upgrade to business and fly a few days earlier. Anyone have any experience of this? . . . . Unless they're offering the "business class air upgrades" as part of a "deal", you probably won't get very far with Oceania. There is a great forum on these boards under the Cruise Topics section, called Cruise Air, and all these questions and more are answered there. Note that you can use membership rewards/miles/points to do upgrades BUT only if the airline will allow it from the fare class and rules on the Oceania supplied economy ticket. So, you might have to pay deviation ($150 pp + any pass thru) to Oceania to get the airlines and flights you want, and then and only then be able to upgrade using miles or points IF the airline lets you. I just went through this, and ended up cancelling the Oceania Air, taking the credit of $550 per person, and then finding every other way imaginable to accumulate points on Delta to arrange my own flights at business class levels - at a huge savings. Oceania offered an upgrade price of $2,499 EACH WAY per person since no "deal" was on the table, and this was an open-jaw....which would be almost $10,000 just to upgrade.....ridiculous. I could have bought my own tickets, with far less restrictions, for less than that for business/first..... Good luck and check out the forum I mentioned....sorry, I'm not familiar enough with how to provide the link..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreedomSeeker Posted May 4, 2013 #10 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Found it! I'm apparently better at this than I thought! http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=530322 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted May 4, 2013 #11 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Many thanks for the replies, theyare just what I needed, including the link to a simliar question. I'll keep watching in case anyone else has anything to add. Another thought - they are offering free flights but we want to upgrade to business and fly a few days earlier. Anyone have any experience of this? I'm not sure anyone has specifically addressed this question. If you use their air you'll pay a deviation to go in early. If you want an upgrade to business through Oceania, you will pay more than you would if you booked your own. So, between O's super high (usually) business fare and the deviation, you really should be able to do better on your own. O has increased the offers for business upgrades at $799, so if your cruise is one of those than it could be beneficial to do that. In our case, Marina's cruise in Nov/Dec 2013 before and after ours all get that discounted business air ... we're the only cruise that does not. However, I can understand that it would be nigh impossible for them to get a cheap business fare when we are flying to Barcelona and returning from Rio. Most likely if you want to fly business you either need to use miles or bite the bullet. Deviations work very well! But only if the flight arrangements are what you want. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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