How does Oceania compare?

[SusieV]

I have to go to New York next spring or summer so I was looking at adding a cruise to my trip if timing and price works out. I was looking at Summit to Bermuda and the prices seem very high for a 7 night cruise. I saw a 10 night on Oceania Insignia for not much more money but I actually don't know all that much about Oceania. What's included and what is not? How does it compare to Celebrity?

[CincyAL]

First off the two ships are a very different size over 2200 and approximately 680. Oceania is well known for excellent food. Specialty restaurants are free. however not always available. Entertainment much more scaled back on Oceania. Perhaps two singers and 4 dancers in a production number. You will have access to washers and dryers on Oceania. I would try Oceania and I am elite plus on Celebrity

[bphman]

That is a tough comparison. I really enjoy Celebrity but favor Oceania. Celebrity seems to be raising its prices so that they can approach those of Oceania, My experience with Oceania was on the Marina with 1,250 passengers unlike the Insignia with 680. We dis sail on Azamara and enjoyed the size of the ship very much. Oceania has better food and the specialty restaurants are a cut above. Entertainment and lounges on Celebrity I find to be livelier. Even though the Oceania cabins are smaller, they are nicely appointed. I think it boils down to what you like. If you like an active ship, go Celebrity. If you want a more sedate cruising experience with an older demographic, Oceania may suit you better. I prefer Oceania and the more intimate experience but others will disagree.

[SusieV]

Are drinks included on Oceania?

[Cruise Junky]

Are drinks included on Oceania?

 

Their current offering usually gives drinks with meals and you can upgrade to all inclusive for $20 pp pd

 

When looking at prices, did you get a quote in Canadian? Last I checked they were offering around 24%

Edited January 15, 2017 by Cruise Junky

[globevest]

Are drinks included on Oceania?

 

The normal published Oceania pricing includes air flights. You get a credit if you chose to arrange your own travel flights.

Drinks are not normally included but for some time now they have had a Special Offer on most cruises which includes internet plus a choice one of:- free shore excursions.... standard drinks package.....or an OBC of $300/$400 depending on the cruise. The Special Offer is a bit like the Perks packages that Celebrity offers....but Oceania provides the Special Offer at no charge.

[globevest]

Forgot to mention...all non alcoholic drinks are included on Oceania.

[sabrefan]

We are elite on Celebrity and bronze on Oceania. I really like S class ships on Celebrity. On Oceania we have been on Riveria, Marina and Regatta. Overall food is more diverse and better quality on Oceania, although specialty restaurants on Celebrity are very good as well. You can buy a drink package on Oceania but you can bring on your own liquor in your carry on. As long as you only consume in your cabin. Overall I give a slight edge to Oceania.

[Softball20]

We did one Oceania cruise on the Regatta in 2015 to South America, and although we had a great time, I'd give the edge to Celebrity. The Regatta is the same size as the Insignia, about 680, and it's beautiful. While I had expected amazing food, I didn't find it to be that much better than Celebrity, with the caveat, however, that on our last few Celebrity sailings we have eaten in Blu since we sailed in Aqua Class. The specialty restaurants on Oceania were very good, but I didn't find them that much better than Celebrity. I wasn't disappointed in the food, but I guess I expected more after all the hype. The service in the dining rooms was inconsistent; sometimes very good but others pretty slow and inattentive. To me and my husband, it just wasn't worth the cost relative to Celebrity.

 

We did buy a drink package, which, at the time, was similar in pricing to Celebrity's package. As others have mentioned, it was more laid back. We did enjoy the entertainers (singers/dancers) on board. They were a group of four young and talented entertainers, and as they are supposed to be sort of ambassadors, they even invited us to dinner on an occasion or two. Lots of fun!

[Oville]

Susie, the cabins on the R class ships of Oceania are quite small.

Edited January 15, 2017 by Oville

[SkystheLimit]

We have been fortunate to have sailed on both lines. Love the S class ships on Celebrity. We are big fans of the original R ships which includes the Insignia. With that in mind the standard balcony cabins and baths are smaller. But, getting on and off the ship is so easy with the reduced number of passengers.

 

The one thing we favor on Oceania is the buffet. We don't always want to go to the dining room at night. The buffet offerings are far superior on Oceania.

 

We find the ship's officers to be more visible and engaging on Celebrity. That may not matter to you but just an observation from our standpoint.

 

Whatever you decide, hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[redjetz]

We just did a 17-night Carribbean on Oceania Riviera after more than a dozen on X. The food is, indeed, superior on Oceania. We enjoyed our time aboard but decided that we'd rather do 2 or 3 X cruises on Celebrity for the same money, at least in the Caribbean.

 

The state rooms are larger and well-appointed on Oceania, but honestly, the vibe is just too staid for us. We missed having live music all around the ship - and music that is somewhat current As well as other entertainment.

 

We appreciated the better service in the dining rooms on Oceania and the Terrace buffet is very good, but we had a real problem with Guest Services, as did many others on our B2B, and Oceania did nothing to address and resolve the issues, not on board and not since even with the survey results, which is not acceptable at that price point, in my opinion.

 

We are likely to try O again, just not any time soon. YMMV

Edited January 15, 2017 by redjetz

[Mr. Click]

We were looking at an Oceania cruise in the Med (Spain, Portugal, France etc) for Sept 2016 but opted for the Silhouette from Amsterdam to Rome. First, it was half the price, second Oceania made a big deal about including airfare but if you want to go early or stay late there were upcharges, second they said "excusions are included" That is fine if you want to go on a big bus with 50 others, we don't so those excursions had no value to us. We ended up in Aqua on Celebrity after a post final payment price drop and we loved the whole cruise from soup to nuts. We used some of the money saved to fly back to Barcelona and enjoyed our 3 days there.

[Cruise Junky]

 

The state rooms are larger and well-appointed on Oceania, but honestly, the vibe is just too staid for us. We missed having live music all around the ship - and music that is somewhat current �� As well as other entertainment.

 

We originally booked our 2018 med cruise on Oceania but ended up cancelling it. Just felt the vibe for us wasn't right for us. And I think Susie and her husband are younger than me.

Edited January 15, 2017 by Cruise Junky

[maggie.1008]

We are Elite Plus on X. Cruised on the Riviera twice in the last year. Also 2 on X. We found Oceania to be a great value. We brought our own wine on board and paid $25 corkage dining at night. We had $600. OBC and it more than paid for all we wanted. Food is much better than X. We will continue to sail both lines depending on the price. We paid the same for Oceania balcony cabin as AQ on X. Traveling to Europe we upgraded to Premium Economy on BA for $99. each way. Great deal.

[Mynki]

There's a few sweeping statements suggesting that the food is better on Oceania. But what is it being compared to on X?

 

Is it the MDR? Blu, Luminae or the specialty restaurants or even the buffet etc?

 

How does Murano and the Tuscan Grill for example stack up against the restaurants on Oceania? :)

[ECCruise]

Please note that the OP said it was a 10 day cruise on O that was "not that much more" than a 7 day cruise on =X=. Those saying that O is 2 and 3 times more expensive are not making an adequate comparison.

 

As much as we love Celebrity, if the price was even in the ballpark for 10 days on O vs. 7 on =X=, it would be the ultimate no brainer.

 

As far as food, it is better in every venue, MDR Specialties (free) and buffet. Just sailed last month and dined in Blu for 2 weeks, not bad, but not of the same caliber as O, frankly.

 

Entertainment not a big deal for us. Once you have seen the production shows, e.g., how many times can you see them since they don't change on an individual ship and have become more and more similar ship-to-ship since entertainment was brought in house from Poet.

 

We are 1) Itinerary and 2) Price driven. Would never pay double for O, but as =X= keeps raising the prices (some of the 2019 prices are absurd), that may happen less frequently.

[h20cruzer]

I know this is kind of a crazy question, but here it goes. We met some people who sailed Oceania and they said the bars and casino closed at 10pm every night. I had a hard time believing that, can anyone speak to that? Also said if you didn't have the drink package a martini was 21.00.

I would love to try Oceania, but those comments kind of scared me off. The people who told us this have cruised a lot and seem like normal people.

Norma

[mafig]

There's a few sweeping statements suggesting that the food is better on Oceania. But what is it being compared to on X?

 

Is it the MDR? Blu, Luminae or the specialty restaurants or even the buffet etc?

 

How does Murano and the Tuscan Grill for example stack up against the restaurants on Oceania? :)

 

I was doing some research on them and decided against them mainly because of the difficulty getting a table for two (this was Regatta). Especially in the specialty restaurants, which can be booked, but by stateroom order (suites get first dibs). If you pick the included drinks package (with lunch and dinner) it is only wine or beer. Otherwise, the cost for their cocktails are very expensive (even more than Celebrity) and their forums state you probably will order doubles because they are small.

 

I did like that they have lobster and filet mignon every night at their buffet.:D

[redjetz]

The bars didn't close at 10 on the Oceania Riviera in December, but the number of people out and socializing started dropping off, except at the bar on the top level where people tended to congregate after the show.

 

We had the upgraded drinks package but we observed those who did not received smaller sized drinks in the bars.

[SusieV]

We originally booked our 2018 med cruise on Oceania but ended up cancelling it. Just felt the vibe for us wasn't right for us. And I think Susie and her husband are younger than me.

 

I'm 34 and my fiance is 30 (second time's a charm, right?)

 

I hadn't ever considered Oceania since I figured they'd be out of my price range. I only noticed since I was looking at summer sailings out of NY and saw that Insignia sailing pop up and was surprised that the pricing was comparable to the 7 night Summit to Bermuda.

 

We do drink a lot on vacation which is why I'd want to make sure there's an apples to apples comparison in terms of having a drink package. Food is important to us, too. I like the specialty restaurants on X much more than the MDR although I've noticed a decline everywhere.

 

I'm not sure which currency I was searching in, to be honest :P But it was the same site for both cruises!

 

All of their pricing normally includes air? So if I want to book my own air than the Oceania cruise will be even less? Plus it's three extra days. That seems kind of weird to me. I'm looking at an oceanview on Summit or whatever the cheapest thing on Insignia is. My budget doesn't have a lot of flex to it, but this would be for my honeymoon if that makes a difference.

 

What kinds of activities are available during the day?

 

We're basically considering between booking this Oceania New England in July 2018 on Insignia, a last minute transatlantic for April 2018 (only if prices drop though, because the up front pricing is out of budget), Alaska on Millennium for May 2018, pacific coastal on Infinity in May 2018, if prices drop, Millennium transpacific in April 2018 if prices drop, or a land trip to Thailand.

[Mynki]

In the UK, Oceania only offer a limited number of cruises with air included. Definitely not all of them!

[Mynki]

 

We're basically considering between booking this Oceania New England in July 2018 on Insignia, a last minute transatlantic for April 2018 (only if prices drop though, because the up front pricing is out of budget), Alaska on Millennium for May 2018, pacific coastal on Infinity in May 2018, if prices drop, Millennium transpacific in April 2018 if prices drop, or a land trip to Thailand.

 

I know this is a cruise forum, but I'd choose the Thai land trip in a heartbeat! Great diverse country with lots to do and see and really friendly people not to mention fantastic cuisine.

[SusieV]

I know this is a cruise forum, but I'd choose the Thai land trip in a heartbeat! Great diverse country with lots to do and see and really friendly people not to mention fantastic cuisine.

 

I've been there for three weeks in 2006 and enjoyed it, but my fiance has not. The reason I'm giving preference to the other options is that they are all places neither of us has been to.

 

So I'm really not sure!

[TrulyBlonde]

I cruise both X and O and it all depends on timing and itinerary. We just spent close to a month on Insignia in S. America.

There was one young couple in their 30's and if it is a port intensive cruise you will be very busy most of the day. In July I would take the pool on O over X anytime. It will be rather sedate but nice cushions, towels, peaceful and much more elegant. I am not a fan of X pools.

 

Due to the timing (Summer) of the O cruise, I would anticipate younger people and also I just saw that O is offering children cruise for free on some of those NY cruises you were looking at.

 

The food is much better on O than X and the Terrace Cafe serves sushi, lobster, lamb chops, steak, shrimp in the evenings with white table cloths etc. You can also get surf and turf for lunch at the poolside grill.

 

Our 1st cruise on X was Summit to Bermuda in August and far too busy and noisy for us. We prefer the elegance of O. If you want constant music, better entertainment, more things to do on board, I would suggest you stick with X.

 

If you want a more refined experience then O would be wonderful. Specialities are free and main DR is very elegant too.

 

Drinks are expensive on O but you could get OBC to possibly offset the difference and they have a very reasonable happy hour each evening, also.

 

Hope I have helped and if all is equal, I would always choose O. But...you are younger ;-)

Edited January 15, 2017 by portofinoitaly