Oceania Marina compared to Celebrity....Have a look.

[cruiseerf]

We are Elite plus cruisers and have been cruising Celebrity for years. We have enjoyed Celebrity immensely however have gotten a bit fed up with the cutbacks in Food on board their ships. That said, we enjoy very much The Solstice class vessels and all the ships have to offer.

 

This Sept we planned our Med cruise and Celebrity's cruises were repetitive for us visiting mostly the same places we had seen in May. We are suite cruisers so was important that our itinerary have a newish ship and large cabin offerings. Oceania fit the dates, itinerary and had big cabins. All good.

 

Oceania's boarding was easy.....No lines, no waiting and pushing into Elevators etc. We were in our rooms in 10 minutes. I really feel Celebrity needed another Elevator bank on the S class ships and this shows on Arrival and departure days.

 

Our cabin a PH was beautiful 400+square feet and the mid suite you could book. We had a Butler and cabin attendant similar to celebrity. We found the staffing here to be exactly the same to Celebrity. Our butler was a friendly guy from India and our Housekeeper was from the Honduras. Ship main dining room was gorgeous double high one level.....The Buffet was a claustrophobic mess with not many options. Celebrity beats Oceania hands down on the Buffet. Oceania might have had a higher quality....but the ?Oceania buffet really left us cold.

 

Itinerary was a KILLER 10 ports in 11 days. NO sea days and by the end of this vacation we needed another vacation. We will NEVER do an itinerary like this again and think spreading it out like Celebrity does with sea days is great. We were exhausted.

 

Food onboard was Excellent, some of the best we have had at sea and we understand that is what Oceania is known for. There were 4 specialty restaurants....Steakhouse with all the sides you could want....Creamed Spinach, truffled mashed, giant baked potato etc....The featured T bones that were unbelievable quite frankly. Italian was also very good as was Asian and #4 was a French restaurant, all in addition to the main dining room. You are allowed to eat in all specialties one time during the cruise and if they have room other nights they will accommodate you at no additional charge. 4 advance bookings are allowed. Then our butler called each night to see who had room where....We ate 7-10 nights in specialties and 3 in the main dining room. Celebrities main dining room food is most definitely two steps down from anything on Oceania. That said, Celebrities specialty restaurants were on par with Oceania's offerings.

 

We did Not like the fact that by dining around at 5 restaurants onboard, we never got to know any of the staff, nor them us. So while the food was excellent we never received any personalized service and had to repeat our special requests at each meal....Bottled water with lemon, She likes soup hot, he likes cold, no nuts for him, etc. On Celebrity we have experienced wonderful waiters and helpers who have made our trips exceptional....Helpful smiling faces who KNOW what we want before we even sit down. We missed this terribly onboard Oceania. The service was quite good on Oceania, just "cold". We really missed the Celebrity staff.

 

We had the top drink package which was similarly priced as Celebrity. We were told that rarely do people purchase this. Keep in mind Water and all fresh coffees are included. For us this worked out as we drink but in general we would go to the main bar at 7:30PM at there were maybe 7 people there? We tried the bar on the top and there was 10 people there? This was on a ship of 1200 people? These people were NOT drinkers. The only night the bars were almost full was when the captains welcome party offered free drinks from 5-8PM at all bars that evening...Maybe there were 60 people out.

 

For you Trivia folk, they do evening Trivia at 8:30PM at the main bar by the dining room. This effectively forces out everyone who is drinking there to either go to dinner or flee to the upstairs bar. I found this ridiculous and why they would force their revenue deriving drinkers from a bar for a free activity is beyond me especially when there are other rooms they could do this in?

 

Entertainment onboard Oceania was terrible. Celebrity beats them hands down across the board.....And I really don't like entertainment so Oceania's was THAT BAD.

 

Demographic onboard was 65-90 year olds....People who want to see and do and NOT people who want to relax with sea days etc. Pool area EMPTY...Everyone was friendly and cordial and we enjoyed the casual atmosphere with no sport jacket required throughout the cruise. Most people didn't dress up.....Few did. The clothing people wore was not high brow at all and much of it looked frumpy and not elegant at all. We missed the Celebrity mix of younger and older people, fancy and causal etc....There really was not much of that on Oceania.

 

If you didn't go to the show lounge to meet the officers for the party, you never saw them. Nobody walked around, nobody shook our hands, nobody asked how we were enjoying our cruise but our Butler. We saw exactly 1 officer in uniform in 10 days. That said we had no problems so perhaps thats why?

 

Overall, we were food saturated within a 6 days...how much can you eat? And we were eating amazing European gourmet meals for lunch! Ultimately we enjoyed our cruise but missed several things that Celebrity does right, the intimacy we find onboard and the "fun". For us, we would sail both lines again but we now know better for which cruises and depending what we are looking for. I hope this review is helpful to you all as you make your choices.

 

Happy Sails.

[portofrome]

Thank you so much for your review and comparison.

[Project_gal]

Thanks for posting this. I always find these direct comparisons interesting and useful.

[cruiseerf]

My pleasure to provide an opinion, I always like to read these as well.

 

Pricing for our cruise was expensive by Celebrity standards. Where we pay usually $400-$500 per person per day on a Celebrity cruise in a suite in Europe, Oceania was $600 per person per day.

 

Also, Many people we met had received upgrade offers from Concierge cabins to Suites for nominal amounts and took those offers. We received an offer to upgrade from our 400 Square foot PH to A 1000+ square foot Oceania suite for an extra $1000 per person however we waited too long and missed the opportunity. As our ship was not heavily sold they apparently offered upgrades across all classes to fill the top down.....Interesting as I have never seen this on Celebrity. Ultimately our ship sailed full I was told.

 

I certainly wish Celebrity offered opportunities to upgrade when available.

 

Just an FYI.

 

Safe sails to all!

[fleckle]

Thanks for posting this.

 

We have never been on Oceania but keep talking about trying it one day, so comparisons like this are very welcome and appreciated.

[Sloop-JohnB]

Great Report... Thanks for doing this, comparisons are indeed very interesting.

 

Happy to hear that Celebrity continues to make the grade for you in several categories... Makes me happy to know I don't have to stray, or pay more to have a great cruise experience.

 

We've been satisfied since day one, and reports like yours just confirm we started our cruising career on the right foot with a great company :D

 

Cheers!

[swigso]

Thanks for that revue I was looking at that ship, but think I will

stay with Celebrity, the Martini Bar is a great place to

while away an evening before hitting the Casino :D:D

[Texed]

Erf,

 

Thanks for posting. :)

[pl281]

Great review -

 

I've been on Oceania a few times (the smaller ships) and although I have not been on Celebrity yet...my expectations are exactly as you described.

 

I would say that Oceania is great for those that want to do a lot of touring / exploring and that the ship is your hotel / transportation

 

vs

 

Celebrity (RCCL and Similar) are the lines to "get away" where some people tour and most hang out.

[hcat]

Thanks for the concise and helpul review. We have been getting many brochures from Oceania and are tempted to try them mainly because of a more varied itinerary selection..even in the Carib, but not yet sold on the idea. We'll see what X offers for the next booking releases.

 

so far BLU works for us with visits to Specialty rest as a break. Does Oceania have options for lunch other than the buffet? We mostly avoid any buffet. Also disappointing that you saw folks dressed not so nice. We like country club casual..sounds you did not see much of that,

 

As much as we dislike Celeb's trend to louder music/DJs, and being more about bars and drink packages than in the past, seems Oceania would be too quiet for us,,

 

Appreciate your taking time to post....good choice of title for this thread...

[gsb]

Demographic onboard was 65-90 year olds....People who want to see and do and NOT people who want to relax with sea days etc. Pool area EMPTY...

Happy Sails.

 

Sounds a lot like Holland America--"where the lights go out at nine":rolleyes:

[Muushka]

I love your comparison report! Honest, no agenda, just the facts. And paragraphs!

Thank you.

[Ruthk]

I totally agree with your view that Oceania's food is excellent. We totally loved their menu and we also liked to occasionally eat at the buffet because they served Paella and we could eat out on the back deck. I agree that the pools are not used but I think that is because their itinerary is so port intensive, and the night life was nonexistent because when people got back on board they got ready for dinner and then hit the hay. I had heard that Oceania puts their money into the food they serve instead of into the entertainment. Oceania's staff is excellent, but then so is Celebrity.

We love Oceania and I would love to cruise with them a bit more but they are expensive compared to Celebrity. And that being said, we love Celebrity and all they have to offer.

[TeaBag]

Interesting report.

[s1amblue]

Thanks for the concise and helpul review. We have been getting many brochures from Oceania and are tempted to try them mainly because of a more varied itinerary selection..even in the Carib, but not yet sold on the idea. We'll see what X offers for the next booking releases.

 

 

 

so far BLU works for us with visits to Specialty rest as a break. Does Oceania have options for lunch other than the buffet? We mostly avoid any buffet. Also disappointing that you saw folks dressed not so nice. We like country club casual..sounds you did not see much of that,

 

 

 

As much as we dislike Celeb's trend to louder music/DJs, and being more about bars and drink packages than in the past, seems Oceania would be too quiet for us,,

 

 

 

Appreciate your taking time to post....good choice of title for this thread...

 

 

We reached Bronze (10 cruises) with Oceania before we tried Celebrity. We were actually shocked at the price difference between the two for the comparisons are so similar!

 

Lunch on Oceania - You can eat in the MDR, buffet or grill - all are open each day.

 

Our comparisons:

We did find Country Club Casual to the norm on our O cruises.

No self service laundry on Celebrity.

Penthouse Suite on Oceania Marina was significantly pricier than Celebrity Suite on S class ship. (May have been just the sailing but I keep comparing & seeing bigger $$ on O) Plus, the Celeb suite was bigger with private bedroom, double door bathroom, extra closet and designated living room separated from bedroom with a bedroom door!

Coffee in MDR & buffet horrible on both but worse on O. BUT, free specialty coffees on O at Barista vs pay for coffees/teas at al Bacio on celeb. However, pastries & cookies free at both coffee shops are free and Celeb wins for selection & taste hands down.

 

Because we had a suite on B2B Celeb sailings it allowed us to get to Elite quickly. (In 5 cruises!) There are far more perks for Elite on Celeb than there were at Bronze on Oceania.

 

We loved Oceania but we get so much more on Celebrity. Plus, we can cruise 2-3 times a year with .celebrity for the $$ saved....

[notl342]

We did a transatlantic on Oceania on one of the small ships. We found the MDR to be very good but the buffets were poor and cramped. The ship soon became too small for us. We like Celebrity ships as they seem to have lots of spots where you can sit quietly and read. The entertainment was dreadful, some old Las Vegas comedian well past his sell-by date and a troop of local singers they brought in in Madeira. Awful.

Although I was told that you get free specialty dinners, I'm old enough to know that it's all included in the price. And some of the pricing is outrageous.

[cpj]

I agree the food on Oceana is excellent compared to Celebrity.but I honestly did not like the small ship experence. I also enjoyed the casual dressing but once you get used to the larger ships its a different experence for sure. I'm waiting for the Quantum of the seas and I think cruising is heading for the dynamic dining and more freestyle. More cruise lines will be offering this in the future with more pay for dining. NCL has proven there is a market for this.

[monicajay]

I love your comparison report! Honest, no agenda, just the facts. And paragraphs!

Thank you.

 

Agree, like those paragraphs.

 

@OP

I'd been looking at this cruise line for a future Med. cruise but now you have me thinking I'll stick with Celebrity. I love the busy Martini Bar.

[karska]

We like celebrity, but just did our first Oceania. There are definite differences. We do celebrity for Caribbean, wouldn't spend the money for O there.

Entertainment is lacking on O, but you know that going in. It's an older crowd, but there were folks in there 40's.

People did dress on O, much better than celebrity. Food much better on O and no nickel and diming. We did western Europe very port intensive. 14 nights docked at all but one port. Huge plus. Pool area was busy on sea day and afternoons. In Europe itinerary is the deciding factor for us. How this helps. Also we booked another Europe cruise with O next fall.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

[markf]

we recently returned from a 13 night medit. cruise on X Equinox.

While we were pleased, you mentioned 1 thing that many don't realize the # of back to back port days.

we had the last 4 days as port days and that was too much , especially when you are travelling 1 + hours from port to city, like Rome -Florence.

I believe Oceania is know to be port intensive which for Europe is a turn off--It is ok in Caribbean as there is nothing that one needs to see..

[Cruise Junky]

Thanks for the comparison. We booked Marina's sister, Riviera today for Greece. Will be interesting to compare.

[hcat]

We reached Bronze (10 cruises) with Oceania before we tried Celebrity. We were actually shocked at the price difference between the two for the comparisons are so similar!

 

Lunch on Oceania - You can eat in the MDR, buffet or grill - all are open each day.

 

Our comparisons:

We did find Country Club Casual to the norm on our O cruises.

No self service laundry on Celebrity.

Penthouse Suite on Oceania Marina was significantly pricier than Celebrity Suite on S class ship. (May have been just the sailing but I keep comparing & seeing bigger $$ on O) Plus, the Celeb suite was bigger with private bedroom, double door bathroom, extra closet and designated living room separated from bedroom with a bedroom door!

Coffee in MDR & buffet horrible on both but worse on O. BUT, free specialty coffees on O at Barista vs pay for coffees/teas at al Bacio on celeb. However, pastries & cookies free at both coffee shops are free and Celeb wins for selection & taste hands down.

 

Because we had a suite on B2B Celeb sailings it allowed us to get to Elite quickly. (In 5 cruises!) There are far more perks for Elite on Celeb than there were at Bronze on Oceania.

 

We loved Oceania but we get so much more on Celebrity. Plus, we can cruise 2-3 times a year with .celebrity for the $$ saved....

 

with Classic Bev package which we received as a booking perk, you do get specialty coffee (non-alcohol), tea, juices and many other options including alcoholic bevs ,

We enjoy Cafe al Baccio....

 

Could not imagine mdr and buffet coffee being worse than Celeb!

 

appreciate your info about the comparisons...for now sticking with X

[karska]

we recently returned from a 13 night medit. cruise on X Equinox.

While we were pleased, you mentioned 1 thing that many don't realize the # of back to back port days.

we had the last 4 days as port days and that was too much , especially when you are travelling 1 + hours from port to city, like Rome -Florence.

I believe Oceania is know to be port intensive which for Europe is a turn off--It is ok in Caribbean as there is nothing that one needs to see..

 

That was the beauty of O, all but one port docked right in the town center. Yes, Rome is far. Not one of our ports. O goes to alot of smaller places which we loved. We are doing the equinox in January, Caribbean.

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

[Host Jazzbeau]

There are options, of course.

 

OP missed getting to know the waiters because of a choice to eat almost exclusively in specialty restaurants. You could also choose to eat in the MDR (which is excellent on O) and ask for the same station each night -- then you would have the same "get to know you" experience.

 

Too many port days? Who forces you to get off the ship? Make your own "sea days" [and the pool and spa will be even less crowded]!

 

Entertainment? I guess X is better than O, but neither is truly Broadway caliber.

[gsb]

There are options, of course.

 

Entertainment? I guess X is better than O, but neither is truly Broadway caliber.

 

Like the Oasis and Allure??