The prodigal son returns, and tries Oceania!!!!

[iancal]

We are the same. We have no interest in receiving snail mail. We much prefer email. All we require is a booking reference number. The rest is bumph. If we have to tag a bag we simply do it at the port.

[rkacruiser]

UPNYGuy.

 

I agree that the former HAL pre-cruise hard copy materials, including the sturdy blue portfolios (which I have saved and still use for all of my travel documents) were classy and convenient.

 

But why all of the repetitive advertising for Oceania and Regent? The cost for all of that has to be built into the cost of the cruise. And, as a consumer, I am unwilling to pay for such. Sailing on either of these lines would be "buying a pig in a poke" for me. There are reviews that are glowing; there are people whom I know that have less than positive experiences on both of these lines. Why pay more for a cruise product that may or may not deliver on what is "promised" as compared to a HAL product, that has changed, but still delivers a cruise experience that I enjoy?

 

Since the principal involved in the late and lamented Royal Viking Line has now started Viking Ocean Cruises (along with their successful river cruises), if I wanted to invest the sums required for a Viking, Oceania, or Regent cruise, it would be for Viking. My two Royal Viking Line cruises on the Royal Viking Sky are standouts in my memory.

Edited August 3, 2017 by rkacruiser

[G&G]

Like you, I have looked at Oceania and Regent several times but I keep going back to other lines due to the cost.

 

 

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We first started sailing Oceania in March 2013 after many cruises on HAL. We were also concerned about costs but found a TA who offered significant discounts on Oceania. We ignore the brochure discount pricing and email discount pricing because it really is not much of a discount. Been very lucky that on seven O cruises received discounts below O discount between 20% to 45%.

[MMDown Under]

We have no issue sailing on HAL. However we limit ourselves to the newer HAL ships.

We have zero interest on sailing on HAL's older ships, most especially those that are either on the auction block or those that have been sold at the time of our booking. No different than other cruise line ships that we avoid. This is down to personal preferences and our desire to reduce the odds of having a less than satisfactory cabin or cruise experience. Meeting a gentleman who had been 'Veedamized" (his words) twice in nine months was enough info for us.

Plus the marine engineer who told us chapter and verse what can happensto cabin area HVAC and plumbing systems/runs when additional cabins are added at a later date in order to increase revenue.

 

Despite wanting to cruise on HAL's smaller ships, because of their interesting itineraries, I am put off by the lack of maintenance on these older ships, e.g. constant plumbing issues. I hadn't thought of addition of additional cabins compounding problems. What is HVAC?

 

I decided to cruise less often so I can afford to cruise on more expensive small ships, which provide good value and interesting itineraries.

[UPNYGuy]

UPNYGuy.

 

I agree that the former HAL pre-cruise hard copy materials, including the sturdy blue portfolios (which I have saved and still use for all of my travel documents) were classy and convenient.

 

But why all of the repetitive advertising for Oceania and Regent? The cost for all of that has to be built into the cost of the cruise. And, as a consumer, I am unwilling to pay for such. Sailing on either of these lines would be "buying a pig in a poke" for me. There are reviews that are glowing; there are people whom I know that have less than positive experiences on both of these lines. Why pay more for a cruise product that may or may not deliver on what is "promised" as compared to a HAL product, that has changed, but still delivers a cruise experience that I enjoy?

 

Since the principal involved in the late and lamented Royal Viking Line has now started Viking Ocean Cruises (along with their successful river cruises), if I wanted to invest the sums required for a Viking, Oceania, or Regent cruise, it would be for Viking. My two Royal Viking Line cruises on the Royal Viking Sky are standouts in my memory.

 

 

 

It is built into the cost. And the average O customer quite frankly isn't that cost conscious, or they wouldn't be sailing on them. The average Oceana customer will just pay for it. My 2 cents.

 

 

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[sandbag7]

Despite wanting to cruise on HAL's smaller ships, because of their interesting itineraries, I am put off by the lack of maintenance on these older ships, e.g. constant plumbing issues. I hadn't thought of addition of additional cabins compounding problems. What is HVAC?

 

 

Heating, ventilation, Air Conditioning.

[MMDown Under]

Despite wanting to cruise on HAL's smaller ships, because of their interesting itineraries, I am put off by the lack of maintenance on these older ships, e.g. constant plumbing issues. I hadn't thought of addition of additional cabins compounding problems. What is HVAC?

Heating, ventilation, Air Conditioning.

 

Thank you. I guessed air conditioning was involved, because that is a regular complaint, however, I couldn't guess what H and V stood for (but now makes sense).

[UPNYGuy]

Here are two sets of dailies from our O cruise, just to give an idea what the entertainment was like. Steve would give (usually daily) a lecture about Alaska. The lecture topic would ALWAYS differ. If it was Tracy Arm day, it was all about the glacial activity.

 

The Avista String Quartet would play 3, sometimes 4 times per day. They were what the Adagio Strings USED to be on a good day. DW and I would do and listen to them at least once a day, just about every day. They were in the main hall, which is equivalent to a small atrium.

 

The production shows were also very high quality. DW and I had a chance to talk to Doug Cameron one morning in the Terrace Grill. He mentioned that Oceania puts a decent amount of money into entertainment now. What you hear and see is all live. You don't hear a backing track and lip syncing. You see and hear the orchestra playing, and the cast members are singing and dancing simultaneously. So you are getting the real deal. He explained that on the megaships, they tend to go for slick production, so you hear a backing track to plump up the sound. O does not do that. What you hear and see is the real deal. I greatly appreciate that.

 

Also, it was a REASONABLE VOLUME, and was good quality audio.

 

 

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[mancunian]

We have been on Oceania three times, twice on Riviera and once recently on a sector of the world cruise on Insignia. We loved the ship in the case of Riviera but had the strange feeling we were on the Marie Celeste - a lot of the time there were few people around. I was really happy on Insignia - a small cabin and bathroom do not really bother us - and everything was fine except reservations with the food. I actually thought breakfasts were better on HAL, and where we had chosen identical things to HAL, HAL was better. My real problem came with four of our 17 dinners. At three of them I ordered steak, carefully reading their chart on how to order and asked for well done. All three came anything but well done. The fourth of the nights I had ordered poached salmon which look beautiful when the waiter served it, but in practice only the top surface was cooked - the inner part was raw. I know you can send things back but you then get out of sync with the others on the table, and I do feel that a line that is supposed to be so good on food should get these things right. I can honestly say, that minus the chart on HAL my steak has always been as ordered.

 

Why did we go on Oceania. Well we had done 15 cruises on HAL and although very satisfied decided we really ought to try something else to see what was out there, so we did the three cruises on Oceania and one on Seabourn. We would not go on Seabourn again as I think it is far too expensive if you drink only one or two glasses of wine a day. The food was nowhere as good as Oceania, and I was really put out to discover you could not eat breakfast or lunch in the restaurant.

 

So now we have HAL and Oceania as our two options and are very happy with both. But you know deep down I still really have a soft spot for HAL which is probably why our next three cruises are booked with them.