Celebrity vs Oceania

[Doug & Cindy Scrap Hunter]

I want to take Cindy out on a cruise next December, but on a newish ship. Which one would you experienced folks choose?

 

Oceania Rivera 7 Days Dec 15

$1,599 Balcony

 

Celebrity Edge 7 Days Dec 15

$1,659 Balcony

 

It looks early but not all folks are liking the Edge and not all the bells and whistles included on Oceania.  Nancyshaw warned me last summer that Oceania was becoming a better deal but I couldn't see it - plus I don't usually dressing up eat fancy critters in upscale restaurants. Reviews are now 1.5 vs 4 out of 5. Maybe she was right?

 

 

[kkmiausa]

You will not regret choosing Riviera!  It is a beautiful ship and the dining is excellent in the many restaurants you have to choose from. The cabins are a bit small until you get to penthouse category. It isn't more when you see the O package which gives you choice of free internet or some shore excursions shipboard credit or beverage packing which you can upgrade for about $25 per day if you choose when you board.  Oceania is our favorite line next to Seabourn. You are not required to dress up in the restaurants. No tie required and there are no formal nights but is nice to have at least a sports jacket.  Also in pricing if you don't need the included air you can remove that as well.   We have only done Celebrity once and that was over 10 years ago.

We have one upcoming because we wanted one near to home and to take our son and his girlfriend. Started out looking for an inexpensive Caribbean but heard about Edge and got sidetracked.  So we are spending more on Celebrity than if we had done Oceania but my son (31) would not have been happy with entertainment venues on Riviera. 

[cruzzzinma]

Oceania! Elite Plus on Celebrity but just completed a back to back on Oceania. Food is better, no bang bang music, can’t comment on shows, martinis are good, and what really matters is what is important to you.

[Doubt It]

Greetings Cindy and Doug:

 

Setting aside price, please consider what attributes of a cruise you want.

 

Oceania is a very different product than Celebrity.  It is essentially a golf and country club afloat. Golf wear, well healed and well traveled guests, subdued environment, more classical music (no loud music), refined entertainment (no vegas shows), intellectual type lectures. Guests entertain themselves via reading and enjoying good food and wine.

 

A key element of the non mass cruise line model is no class segregation - the premium (Oceania) and luxury lines keep their ships for everyone's enjoyment and everyone eats with everyone else (exception being a small lounge for suites).  

 

One of the best aspects of Oceania is the al a cart pricing model noted above. Just buy a cruise, or add on air, or add on OLife or add on beverage package. Totally customized for you and you do not have to pay for items you do not want.

 

Oceania's service staff are the best at sea - the service level everywhere on the ship, for every single guest, blows Celebrity out of the water. However, their guest relations and ship board management are arrogant and dismissive of guests. 

 

As to Oceania's claim "finest cuisine at sea" - not. It is very good, but downgraded with their new August 2018 menus.  Oceania food is generally better than any Celebrity restaurant or specialty. 

 

Oceania's specialty restaurants are quite fancy with olive oil/balsamic table side service etc.  Food choices are very huge - far larger menu than anything on Celebrity. The food in the Grand Dining Room (show up when you want) is excellent.

 

You are looking at the Riviera which is one of the 2 larger ships called the "O" class; excellent ships. Oceania have 4 smaller ships which I am not a fan off at all.

 

For me the Edge is garish and cheap; a vegas hotel at sea. The Riviera is quiet and elegant and refined.

 

Depends upon what you want.

 

 

[nancyshaw]

12 hours ago, Doug & Cindy Scrap Hunter said:

I want to take Cindy out on a cruise next December, but on a newish ship. Which one would you experienced folks choose?

 

Oceania Rivera 7 Days Dec 15

$1,599 Balcony

 

Celebrity Edge 7 Days Dec 15

$1,659 Balcony

 

It looks early but not all folks are liking the Edge and not all the bells and whistles included on Oceania.  Nancyshaw warned me last summer that Oceania was becoming a better deal but I couldn't see it - plus I don't usually dressing up eat fancy critters in upscale restaurants. Reviews are now 1.5 vs 4 out of 5. Maybe she was right?

 

 

 

 

Many have switched to Oceania so the better deal may  not be for long. Try it. Be prepared for low key environment. All venues available to all not just Suites as with Celeb.   We are Elite plus with Celeb  but are giving it up for a couple of cruises on the Viking and one coming up on Oceania. 

[Mr&MrsBee]

Judging by the previous comments I doubt if Dong and Cindy would be comfortable on Oceana.  They do not appear to be well travelled or members of the country club set as the previous poster commented on Oceana cruisers.   Or is this another thread started to have controversy?

[TeeRick]

Wow Doug and Cindy are back!

[bEwAbG]

Yes...starting the same threads over and over.  A version of this question has been asked and answered (by them) several times already.  The real purpose is to get people to post negative things about Celebrity while praising another line.  Very predictable at this point.

[greydog]

We have 30 Celeb cruises and tried O Riviera last year.  It was a notch above X in most regards, except for theater shows, casino (limited scale on O) and very few children. O features mostly 10-12-14, longer itineraries.

 

Now, especially with X's very high Aqua/suite prices, we are always comparing, choosing between X and O itineraries on an apples-to-apples $ basis (considering air, perks, etc)  While X offers GO BIG beverage pkg, O winks at bringing liquor on board (for in-cabin use - some report practice of picking up local wine in port stops)  O has some lobster dish available every day.

 

As far as O, we would stick with either Riviera or Marina, their bigger 1100 pax size vs. their 'R' class ships 750 pax. Newer, more space and amenities (but a major fleet refurbishment is in progress).  Reading the O board, many are former X cruise aficionados.

 

To experiment with O, look at their lowest-priced early Dec. Caribbean itineraries.

Happy cruising

 

 

[jagoffee]

16 hours ago, Doug & Cindy Scrap Hunter said:

I want to take Cindy out on a cruise next December, but on a newish ship. Which one would you experienced folks choose?

 

Oceania Rivera 7 Days Dec 15

$1,599 Balcony

 

Celebrity Edge 7 Days Dec 15

$1,659 Balcony

 

It looks early but not all folks are liking the Edge and not all the bells and whistles included on Oceania.  Nancyshaw warned me last summer that Oceania was becoming a better deal but I couldn't see it - plus I don't usually dressing up eat fancy critters in upscale restaurants. Reviews are now 1.5 vs 4 out of 5. Maybe she was right?

 

 

Just so it is clear.  The Oceania price is the basic without a choice of a perk.

The  Celebrity price includes one perk.  So depending on which perk you select and use it would be less expensive. If you pick the $150 OBC, it would be less expensive at $1509. Actually a very good price for the Edge based on the inflated prices.

 

I would without hesitations pick the Edge cruise, so I could experience the new ship.  Otherwise I might pick the Reflection cruise around the same time.  But I would make sure that I arrived earlier than December 15th, since the Celebrity cruises leave on 12/13.

 

P.S.  I am not really surprised that the initial post is misleading.

Edited December 8, 2018 by jagoffee

[keesar]

5 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Wow Doug and Cindy are back!

 

I think they should try one of the new Fun Ships based on their comments.  

[Ken the cruiser]

We are in our mid 60s and have cruised a total 68 days on the O Riviera, 48 days on two of O's smaller R class ships, 25 days on the X Eclipse, 7 days on the Solstice and 7 days on the Xpedition. If you look at my signature below, you can also see who we're booked with over the next 2+ years which may give you a hint of which way we lean.

 

We like both cruise lines for different reasons. We like Oceania for their longer, more unique itineraries and for their food! Their specialty restaurants are free and you can eat outside up at their Terrace Cafe buffet, which serves the same dinner menu as served in their GDR. However, as others have mentioned their entertainment is weak. As a side note, O includes taxes and fees in their base price where it's an extra charge on X cruises. We like Celebrity because of their great shows, entertainers and interactive game shows in multiple venues. In short X is a lot more fun to cruise on and brings out the "kid" in us.

 

Since you're only looking at a 7 day cruise, are you looking to have a romantic, relaxing cruise or are you looking to have fun! If you're looking to have fun and go to great shows, I would suggest a X cruise. If you're looking for a more relaxfull cruise with great food, then you may want to try O's Riviera.

 

BTW I just checked and it looks like the Edge price for your cruise is up to $2,200 per person now. Personally, we're not going to book an Edge cruise until the price comes down to what other similar X cruises go for.

Edited December 8, 2018 by Ken the cruiser

[waterbug123]

Are Doug and Cindy the ones who recently posted that they'd taken their first cruise on X and were so disappointed because it was basically a mass market line and that that was reflected in the service? 

[Texed]

17 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

 Their specialty restaurants are free

 

Are the specialty restaurants still limited to once each per cruise unless you are in a suite?

[Ken the cruiser]

16 minutes ago, Texed said:

 

Are the specialty restaurants still limited to once each per cruise unless you are in a suite?

Yes, one pre-cruise reservation per restaurant (per leg, if you are doing a multileg cruise). In the case of the Riviera, that would be 4 specialty restaurants. I believe you can also go to the maitre 'd once onboard and book more if there is space available on the nights you're interested in. For us the food is so great in the GDR and the Terrace Café, one in each is enough for us.