Caribbean cruise on Oceania Riviera/Regatta or Celebrity Eclipse

[Hawaiidan]

Regent, Seabourn, Oceana, Crystal are what I would call niche markets built to appeal to a very specific target/select market that has similar taste and values. .

 

Mass Market is a line which, to me, targets the widest possible spectrum of potential customers from minimum wage to millionaires and everything in between in order fill as many cabins and appeal in as many levels as possible all in one ship.. a melting pot.

Like Jim and Stan I find their active selling of status to be less wholesome; appealing to some peoples ego more than others.

 

And yes I was on a 28 day with them recently...

[roothy123]

Regent, Seabourn, Oceana, Crystal are what I would call niche markets built to appeal to a very specific target/select market that has similar taste and values. .

 

Mass Market is a line which, to me, targets the widest possible spectrum of potential customers from minimum wage to millionaires and everything in between in order fill as many cabins and appeal in as many levels as possible all in one ship.. a melting pot.

Like Jim and Stan I find their active selling of status to be less wholesome; appealing to some peoples ego more than others.

 

And yes I was on a 28 day with them recently...

 

Interesting - I didn't really pick up on the active selling of status, but I've only been on one week-long cruise with Celebrity, and that was (by choice) in a (gasp) inside cabin. I didn't even consider Aqua class, although as someone pointed out, it's not so much a status thing as a "spa" or "foodie" thing. Celebrity is pretty "meat & potatoes" based in the food department, so if Blu offers more of a variety, whether healthy or not, that sounds like a good idea to me!

 

It's really interesting what the cruise lines do to try to carve out their own niche. The Azamara "free" (or I should really say "included") choice of at least one excursion in a port selected by Azamara is an interesting marketing tactic. Some people's reaction is, "Do I really want to go somewhere with half the ship?" Other people's is, "Wow, that sounds fun, especially being out at night."

[roothy123]

You cannot judge the demographic by the pictures in the brochures ;)

 

YMMV

 

Lyn

 

I keep waiting to see those pictures in the Oceania brochures to pop up in some other cruise line's brochure (perhaps Crystal?) After all, they are mostly just stock photos that the cruise lines WANT to reflect their typical cruisers!

[buggins0402]

Well - I didn't think that Aqua was the class segregation that some posters had mentioned - but it turns out that Celebrity has just announced a true class segregation:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5728

[buggins0402]

Link isn't working ....here's the Celebrity thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1988943