Oceania vs. Celebrity suites

[Sea42]

Really? The cruise industry is segmented and the “fun” ships such as Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean are designed and marketed for the family demographic. The premium lines are designed for an older, wealthier demographic. It appears to me that the premium lines are doing very well as evidenced by the increasing fleet sizes and will continue to do so.

I think though that the premium lines may be noticing that there are many middle aged people that have sufficient funds to sail on their lines and those cruise lines would be happy to tap into that market.

[JimandStan]

I think though that the premium lines may be noticing that there are many middle aged people that have sufficient funds to sail on their lines and those cruise lines would be happy to tap into that market.

Certainly the Premium Lines are not averse to taking anyone's money; the concern is that too many moving up at one time will disturb the carefully constructed ambiance which makes them Premium in the first place.

It IS a delicate balance

[ABoatNerd]

Transatlantic cruises do not get the free perk/drink package so I think you'll need to find another reason for the perceived anti-social behavior. Maybe people bought it on their own because they had nothing else to do on the crossing.

 

You sound like the HAL fans complaining about that cruise line trying to attract younger cruisers. You can't have a business model where the average age of customers is 60.

 

Greetings MisterBill99 - considering this is the Oceania board, my impression is the average age is at least 60, was at least that on my Oceania voyage. Does this mean that you believe that Oceania & Azamara & Crystal & Regent & Viking have no future?

 

Your posting was in reference to something I posted, I started Celebrity in 1991 and their guests did have an average age of 60 - Celebrity has done quite well since that time. Celebrity is choosing to change their product offering thinking they will make more money.

 

Considering the incredible wave of baby boomers to come, there are many businesses who are focused on this demographic.

 

Your thoughts?

[MisterBill99]

Greetings MisterBill99 - considering this is the Oceania board, my impression is the average age is at least 60, was at least that on my Oceania voyage. Does this mean that you believe that Oceania & Azamara & Crystal & Regent & Viking have no future?

 

Your posting was in reference to something I posted, I started Celebrity in 1991 and their guests did have an average age of 60 - Celebrity has done quite well since that time. Celebrity is choosing to change their product offering thinking they will make more money.

 

Considering the incredible wave of baby boomers to come, there are many businesses who are focused on this demographic.

 

Your thoughts?

You've confusing issues and I'm not sure if it is intentional. When I said that an average passenger age of 60 was not sustainable i was referring to Celebrity and HAL and then you turned it around to refer to the premium lines like Oceania. Obviously Oceania with its longer cruises is catering to the older crowd since they can afford both the time and price.

 

And telling us that Celebrity's average passenger age 27 years ago is irrelevant to the discussion. They weren't even owned by Royal Caribbean at that point.

 

And you were the one who said that offering the drink package free related to "a portion of the guests were definitely different than in the past and there was a distinct increase in loudness, rude behavior and other anti-social behavior", yet one of your examples was a transatlantic where passengers don't get the free drink package. That's what I was objecting to in my post.

[ABoatNerd]

Thanks MisterBill99. Been observing posts on the Celebrity board for the past year with guests not pleased with the elimination of the very popular 14 day cruises in order to attract younger customers and bigger on board spends - hence the booze packages and shorter itineraries. Changes results. Speaks to your point.

 

Also interesting are Celebrity guest posts about the routineness of their itineraries with guests referencing moving to HAL and Princess and Oceania to get fresh itineraries.

 

To the OP - Oceania is very different than Celebrity - know what you want from a cruise and purchase the cruise line best able to provide.

[Cruise Junky]

Thanks MisterBill99. Been observing posts on the Celebrity board for the past year with guests not pleased with the elimination of the very popular 14 day cruises in order to attract younger customers and bigger on board spends - hence the booze packages and shorter itineraries. Changes results. Speaks to your point.

 

Also interesting are Celebrity guest posts about the routineness of their itineraries with guests referencing moving to HAL and Princess and Oceania to get fresh itineraries.

 

To the OP - Oceania is very different than Celebrity - know what you want from a cruise and purchase the cruise line best able to provide.

 

The 14 day cruise hasn’t been elimated, it’s just down to one sailing per season. I do agree with them though about having more 12 day instead. Not for the younger person, but for the working person.

[MisterBill99]

Thanks MisterBill99. Been observing posts on the Celebrity board for the past year with guests not pleased with the elimination of the very popular 14 day cruises in order to attract younger customers and bigger on board spends - hence the booze packages and shorter itineraries. Changes results. Speaks to your point.

 

Also interesting are Celebrity guest posts about the routineness of their itineraries with guests referencing moving to HAL and Princess and Oceania to get fresh itineraries.

 

To the OP - Oceania is very different than Celebrity - know what you want from a cruise and purchase the cruise line best able to provide.

I still disagree with you on Celebrity trying to attract a party crowd with the drink package and suggest you either go back to Celebrity and experience it yourself to see if it's true or stop posting what you've merely read other people report.

 

I will agree with you on moving to other lines for fresh itineraries. We just did a 14 night cruise on HAL to Norway because Celebrity did not offer a comparable cruise. I could have done one on Azamara for WAY more money than I paid on HAL.

[MisterBill99]

The 14 day cruise hasn’t been elimated, it’s just down to one sailing per season. I do agree with them though about having more 12 day instead. Not for the younger person, but for the working person.

Not sure which 14 night cruises you're talking about but I just searched Celebrity's cruises on a popular travel agent website that allows you to filter and sort and they have plenty of them in Europe and Asia. If you're talking about the Caribbean I agree with you, but as you say it's also to make it more attractive for working people. Longer cruises definitely attract an older crowd. You can also do a B2B but obviously won't get to the more distant Caribbean ports that way.

Edited July 30, 2018 by MisterBill99

[Cruise Junky]

Not sure which 14 night cruises you're talking about but I just searched Celebrity's cruises on a popular travel agent website that allows you to filter and sort and they have plenty of them in Europe and Asia. If you're talking about the Caribbean I agree with you, but as you say it's also to make it more attractive for working people. Longer cruises definitely attract an older crowd. You can also do a B2B but obviously won't get to the more distant Caribbean ports that way.

 

I think ABOATNERD was referring to the 14 day Caribbean that was a pretty regular route. Now down to 1 per year. If it makes money and they can fill it, I'm sure they'll add more back. We'll see if it remains popular with all the 12 day options.

[harryspotter]

This thread suggests the X is a lower cost than O.  But I just priced up Edge for 2 weeks in Med in suite = £17600

2 weeks in Riviera is 13k

 

Why is this?

 

H

[ORV]

12 minutes ago, harryspotter said:

This thread suggests the X is a lower cost than O.  But I just priced up Edge for 2 weeks in Med in suite = £17600

2 weeks in Riviera is 13k

 

Why is this?

 

H

What category did you price on Oceania? 

 

One reason is that Edge is a brand new ship and is commanding premium prices for now. 

[ABoatNerd]

Those 14 day caribbean cruises were wonderful and relaxing. Especially because they included the ABC's.  

 

 

[ilikewhatisgood]

On 7/29/2018 at 12:06 AM, Mura said:

 

Okay, it's harder to get a two top at the "middle" times, but not impossible.

 

What's a two top?

[LHT28]

55 minutes ago, ilikewhatisgood said:

 

What's a two top?

a  table  for 2 people

[Ken the cruiser]

We just boarded the Celebrity Reflection in our corner aft-facing S1 sky suite cabin for a 21 day b2b Caribbean cruise and our first sea day tomorrow has 3 lectures, 4 trivias and a bunch of other events during the morning and afternoon! The pp cost was just $325/day and that includes free gratuities, premium bev package, unlimited internet for 2 people and $300 OBC.

 

Also, we dined in the suite-only guests Illuminae restaurant this evening, which opened at 5:15 pm, and the food was fantastic! So, yes, we have no problem going back to Celebrity if we can get a sky suite at around the same price, if not cheaper, than an A3 balcony on any O ship. I’m not saying anything against O as they offer a great product, but rather there is a lot to be said for cruising in a Celebrity suite if the price is right and you’re looking for more excitement while you’re cruising on sea days. 

 

BTW the internet service is great in our cabin with no degradation is service. Download speed .5 mbps, upload speed 4.1 mbps. 

Edited January 19, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[MisterBill99]

On 1/10/2019 at 3:44 PM, ORV said:

One reason is that Edge is a brand new ship and is commanding premium prices for now. 

 

And even if it isn't getting enough people to book at the higher prices, they're not lowering them to meet demand, at least for the current Caribbean cruises.

 

Also they are offering all 4 perks for Oceaniew and up for Edge salings thru the end of the year, so it's effectively an all-inclusive experience. Oceania is not.

Edited January 19, 2019 by MisterBill99

[Punam]

Hi!

We're considering Oceania for a Baltic cruise. Have been on Celebrity in Sky SSuite and Celbrity Suite in the past and liked it more a few years ago than we do lately, but would book them again if itineray looked good. O beats them for the Baltic on iteineray alone IMO.  Reading through this thread I'm surprised to learn that we wouldn't necessarily be able to get a table for 2 when we'd like it. Although we enjoy meeting other people, I'd like that to be choice at dinner, not a ' there's no other table available' situation. Am I misunderstanding this part?

What about having breakfast in our cabin? Is that only for suites (like Celeb)? Looks like the smallest suite is 420 sq ft - about the size of a Celeb suite, but the videos I've seen show a tight shower space. Is that right?

Closet space in a regular cabin looks pretty tight for a 12 day cruise. Your feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

[Paulchili]

1 You should have no problem with a 2 top in MDR or Terrace; ditto for specialties if you can book early or are flexible with times. In the MDR sometimes they can sit a couple at a table for 4 if not too busy

2 Everyone can have breakfast in cabin but you need concierge or above for hot breakfast; otherwise it’s continental

3 Showers are small in reg cabins on the R ships, much better on the O ships. No problem in PH or above on either class of ship

4 Plenty of storage for a 12 day cruise. TONS of people cruise on the R ships on RTW for 180 days and manage just fine.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Paulchili

[Punam]

Thanks so much. Clearly those tons of people don't travel with my husband 😁

So I'm sorry to be daft, but is Marina R or O... not sure what those stand for. Newbie Oceania inquiry.

 

[Paulchili]

Marina is an O ship. I suspect they you will enjoy it and might even get hooked on O 🙂

What cabin cat are thinking of booking?

PS R class are the smaller ships with capacity of 680 (former Renaissance ships)

O class are newer and larger at capacity of 1200

Edited January 21, 2019 by Paulchili

[Mura]

To elucidate a bit more, the "R" ships are the old Renaissance 684 passenger  ships.  On Oceania they are Regatta, Insignia, Nautica and Sirena.  The "O" ships are the two newer, larger ships -- Marina and Riviera.

 

So far I haven't seen an abbreviation for the two new ships that have been ordered and won't be available for a few years (2023?).  Maybe they'll the the "A" ships?

 

Mura

 

[Punam]

44 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

Marina is an O ship. I suspect they you will enjoy it and might even get hooked on O 🙂

What cabin cat are thinking of booking?

PS R class are the smaller ships with capacity of 680 (former Renaissance ships)

O class are newer and larger at capacity of 1200

Thanks so much. We want to like it. A lot. 🙂

[Punam]

2 minutes ago, Mura said:

To elucidate a bit more, the "R" ships are the old Renaissance 684 passenger  ships.  On Oceania they are Regatta, Insignia, Nautica and Sirena.  The "O" ships are the two newer, larger ships -- Marina and Riviera.

 

So far I haven't seen an abbreviation for the two new ships that have been ordered and won't be available for a few years (2023?).  Maybe they'll the the "A" ships?

 

Mura

 

Nice! Larger ships, or about the same as O? I'm watching Celeberity ruin what we used to enjoy and doing it at a fast pace with Edge, so I'm hoping Oceania stays the course so to speak 🙂

 

[Mura]

I've said this before but I guess I'm saying it again.  We've never had a problem getting a table for two in the GDR, especially since we usually want to share (and therefore are unhappy with a table for two!).  We also tend to go into dinner around 7:30-8:00, so from our perspective you do NOT have to dine extra early or late in order to get one.  But for us, if there aren't enough people wanting to share around the time we come in then we end up at a two-top.

 

This doesn't happen all the time, of course.  But it has happened rather frequently in the past several years.  In the early years we never ended up at a two-top -- unless we wanted one.

 

Mura

 

 

[Punam]

What throws me off is that I'm used to Celeb's Luminae which isn't a large MDR and is actually the main reason we like it. The food... meh. But it's nice to have a quieter place. Their MDR is noisy and after a day of touring we'd like a quietter spot for dinner. So I think that's why I'm asking.

Another question (are you tired of me yet? ) ... re entertainment. I enjoy the evening shows on Celeb. It's just a fun hour even though sometimes it's overdone and tries too hard to be Vegas. But I do like something to do in the evening. Oceania has a reputation for being iffy in this departement, and I know it's subjective, but - your opinion please?