7-night Mediterranean Havens Voyage

[planner123456]

Hi,

 

We're from the US and planning to cruise the Mediterranean in September. I had not heard of Oceania prior to researching this trip. Their Havens Voyage itinerary is exactly what I'm looking for, tho the price is a good bit higher than some almost-as-good ones. Are the Oceania ships considered "better" than the Royal Carribean/NCL/Holland type ships which are the ones we have used in the past?

 

thanks!

[gbits]

"Better" is of course a subjective term. Different for sure. Whether you are on an O ship (1250 people) or an R ship (680 people), you are almost definitely traveling with far fewer passengers than on the lines you mentioned. I have never been on RC or NCL but I can tell you that the food on Oceania is far superior to HAL. Your fellow passengers on O will be late 40s and up, with very few, if any, children on board. I find O's itineraries to provide longer periods in port than many of the others, with few (if any) sea days. After cruising on O & Seabourn, not sure I could go back to the mass market lines, even if they are less expensive.

 

 

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[planner123456]

Thanks very much! Do you have any opinion on Costa?

[gbits]

Have never been, but have friends who were and did not care for it.

 

 

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[Flatbush Flyer]

Hi,

 

 

 

We're from the US and planning to cruise the Mediterranean in September. I had not heard of Oceania prior to researching this trip. Their Havens Voyage itinerary is exactly what I'm looking for, tho the price is a good bit higher than some almost-as-good ones. Are the Oceania ships considered "better" than the Royal Carribean/NCL/Holland type ships which are the ones we have used in the past?

 

 

 

thanks!

 

 

 

Instead of comparing cabin prices, compare the "net daily rate," I.e., all your anticipated costs (including airfare and many other amenities, which are included in the Oceania cabin price. It not on the other lines) divided by the total days of your trip.

That rate with consideration of the far superior food and service quality on Oceania. compared to the mass market lines you've mentioned, should make the choice of Oceania as the value leader very easy.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Instead of comparing cabin prices, compare the "net daily rate," I.e., all your anticipated costs (including airfare and many other amenities, which are included in the Oceania cabin price. It not on the other lines) divided by the total days of your trip.

That rate with consideration of the far superior food and service quality on Oceania. compared to the mass market lines you've mentioned, should make the choice of Oceania as the value leader very easy.

 

 

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Good point!

 

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[Mura]

I find O's itineraries to provide longer periods in port than many of the others, with few (if any) sea days. After cruising on O & Seabourn, not sure I could go back to the mass market lines, even if they are less expensive./quote]

 

 

I can't quite agree about fewer sea days on O. It depends on the itinerary. Sure, many are port intensive -- we started out that way. But there are itineraries with sea days (obviously repositioning cruise have many more) and these are the ones we have chosen to do. We started out not liking sea days but now we love them.

 

Mura

[Floridiana]

I can only compare with HAL out of the group mentioned. If you are happy with HAL food, you may regret spending more money on an Oceania cruise. I think HAL's food resembles hospital food, bland, uninspired. I have not been back on a HAL ship for while, so I cannot judge the present state of service and amenities. I was on the last HAL cruise that had 2x daily Thai Chi class. I am still doing the routine I learned there.

[happy cruzer]

I think you are the Riviera one of the R ships. Small is wonderful for getting on and off in ports that will add at least 1 hour to port stop. Plus it looks like you have long port days on the Med Havens itinerary. So if you are focused on the ports that is a big advantage.

 

The difference we noticed when sailing on Riviera to the larger cruise lines. The size of the ship is more intimate, easier to walk to different spots. The pool and hot tubs are not crowded, lovely padded chairs. Fairly quiet during the day at the pools. In general the entertainment provided is more subdued on O. The main dining room is more formally decorated, service is formal on china and nicer glasses/flatware, dress is informal/casual (plenty of threads on that), and food items are comparable to other lines formal night selections but prepared better.

Speciality restaurants are by reservation and no charge, and Wonderful. Buffet and grill is no way to compare. Way less crowded, better choices and service on O. O is probably not a good choice for younger children.

 

There are other differences but mainly if you are going for the ports and/or a less crowded experience O should be the choice. JMHO

[LHT28]

I think you are the Riviera one of the R ships.

I think you might be confused

 

Riviera is an O class ship it is larger than the R ships

[Flatbush Flyer]

I think you are the Riviera one of the R ships. Small is wonderful for getting on and off in ports that will add at least 1 hour to port stop. Plus it looks like you have long port days on the Med Havens itinerary. So if you are focused on the ports that is a big advantage.

 

The difference we noticed when sailing on Riviera to the larger cruise lines. The size of the ship is more intimate, easier to walk to different spots. The pool and hot tubs are not crowded, lovely padded chairs. Fairly quiet during the day at the pools. In general the entertainment provided is more subdued on O. The main dining room is more formally decorated, service is formal on china and nicer glasses/flatware, dress is informal/casual (plenty of threads on that), and food items are comparable to other lines formal night selections but prepared better.

Speciality restaurants are by reservation and no charge, and Wonderful. Buffet and grill is no way to compare. Way less crowded, better choices and service on O. O is probably not a good choice for younger children.

 

There are other differences but mainly if you are going for the ports and/or a less crowded experience O should be the choice. JMHO

 

 

 

Just to be clear: Oceania's "R" ships refer to the four smaller ones with <700 passengers (Regatta. Insignia, Nautica and Sirena). Their larger, <1200 passenger ones are the "O" ships (Riviera and Marina).

 

 

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[happy cruzer]

yes, confused Regatta / Riviera those two Rs. MY Bad. They are on the larger O ship Riviera. Still will save time at ports. Thanks for catching that!

[Sny]

My husband and I did Riviera in the Med for 10 days in November 2016 to celebrate our 50th anniversary. Everything was wonderful. It's like being at a 5 star hotel, on the ocean.

So, like most of the other passengers, we booked another cruise on Oceania before disembarking - Alaska in August. Can't wait!

[ronrick1943]

I think it's the size of the ship and the food. The suites are great on "O". Older group and sub par shows. We enjoy "O" and Regent because of the size, suites, service and food. That makes a great cruise for us. Ports aren't so important to us-but we've traveled a lot before.

[hiccups]

Hi,

 

We're from the US and planning to cruise the Mediterranean in September. I had not heard of Oceania prior to researching this trip. Their Havens Voyage itinerary is exactly what I'm looking for, tho the price is a good bit higher than some almost-as-good ones. Are the Oceania ships considered "better" than the Royal Carribean/NCL/Holland type ships which are the ones we have used in the past?

 

thanks!

 

One of the things we appreciate about O and its smaller ships is less congestion in general. At one tender port, for example, we just walked right up and bordered the tender back to the ship, while passengers on the larger ships had to stand in a very long line and wait (and wait and wait).

 

We took a HAL cruise in December because it was a great price. It was okay, but we placed it below RCI and of course O. I'm not a drinker, so O's balance of including soft drinks, smoothies, etc. worked out nicely. I've also posted in another thread that for us, their included airfare is a better deal than we can find on our own.

 

O doesn't have the level of entertainment that the larger lines have, though.

[dingsterkat]

Hi Planner - there is really no comparison between O and Costa. Kinda like comparing a macaw and a buzzard. Yes they are both birds, but oh my how different! We were on Costa Concordia back in 2008 and found the ship large, congested, gaudy, the food nothing special. It really did take forever to get on or off the ship. Many nationalities sounded like an interesting perk but turned out to be the opposite. Announcements went on forever in many languages. Now very sadly the ship we went on sunk years later in an awful tragedy. But even in 2008 the cruise before ours hit the dock in Sicily, was late to Civitavecchia to start our cruise. They fixed the damage bit by bit in successive ports. Ship so big it couldn't enter Malta port on a rough sea day. The all inclusive drink package at mealtime was sadly the best part of the trip, but we don't really drink much.

 

It's not even fair really to compare to our 2017 Greek cruise on Riviera. The ship was beautiful, service excellent, easy to get to land, food simply amazing. Yes it cost many times the price on Costa. No there isn't much nighttime entertainment. Still...Worth every penny. I don't get that much vacation - so when I go on a trip I want a trip that is memorable for all the right reasons. Oh, and now thanks to Oceania and the fellow members of this board I also want crispy duck and watermelon salad and miso glazed sea bass. Go on Oceania and you'll learn the significance of that great tip!

 

Choose wisely and have fun!

 

 

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[GICNJC]

My wife and I are booked on your proposed cruise. We have sailed a number of lines as have my friends and neighbours. All agree to avoid Costa at all costs. Other lines depend on your personal wants and needs. For us it is food, site seeing and conversations with diverse individuals. We get that on Oceania more than the other cruise lines.