Oceania vs Holland or Celebrity

[Tedferg]

20 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Awesome!  Thank you so much.  I appreciate the clarification.

Add my thanks too - It is nice to have this clarified., three more slots on my spreadsheet 🙂 Oh ,what is Gratuities amount ?

 

I guess Oceania 'Cruise Only' benefits are: small ship, better food, free specialty restaurants. Also, possibly, itineraries with ports that big ships do not go to. Wi Fi does not matter to us, free minutes with Princess and can always get a chance in port to check email.

I wonder about small ship size isn't passenger / space / facilities constant ?

[LHT28]

27 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Add my thanks too - It is nice to have this clarified., three more slots on my spreadsheet 🙂 Oh ,what is Gratuities amount ?

 

 

https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005307374-How-much-are-Gratuities-and-can-they-be-prepaid-

[1985rz1]

31 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Add my thanks too - It is nice to have this clarified., three more slots on my spreadsheet 🙂 Oh ,what is Gratuities amount ?

In addition to the stateroom gratuities that LHT28 sent via the link, an 18% service gratuity is automatically added to all beverage purchases, spa services and dinner at La Reserve.

[Ken the cruiser]

45 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Add my thanks too - It is nice to have this clarified., three more slots on my spreadsheet 🙂 Oh ,what is Gratuities amount ?

 

I guess Oceania 'Cruise Only' benefits are: small ship, better food, free specialty restaurants. Also, possibly, itineraries with ports that big ships do not go to. Wi Fi does not matter to us, free minutes with Princess and can always get a chance in port to check email.

I wonder about small ship size isn't passenger / space / facilities constant ?

For us the biggest joy of cruising on O for the first time was the wow factor! We loved eating all of our meals outside up at the Terrace Cafe once we discovered they serve pretty much the same menus as in the GDR. Of course, trying all of their specialty restaurants was fun too!

 

In addition as we were on the Riviera, we enjoyed the free art classes and used some of our OBC to enroll in a couple of the culinary art classes. The professional lectures provided on sea days were also very informative.

Edited June 6, 2020 by Ken the cruiser

[GeorgiaPeach51]

2 hours ago, Moby Jones said:

 

I think when considering Celebrity you really need to bear in mind that these days it is very much a two tier line. Suite class and none suite class. We've done both and my personal opinion is that non suite class on Celebrity is very similar to any other mainstream line. They have some nice touches but there's not really anything to set it apart from similar lines. 

Celebrity suite class is a genuine step up in terms of dining and service. The suite restaurant Luminae and the specialty restaurants that top end suites have access too will provide a much better experience to HAL. All IMHO of course. 

Obviously, room choice, itinerary, price and the actual ship will all affect your enjoyment ultimately though. 

What he said.  Totally agree.  We have also done both on Celebrity.

[Sea42]

3 hours ago, Tedferg said:

I guess Oceania 'Cruise Only' benefits are: small ship, better food, free specialty restaurants. Also, possibly, itineraries with ports that big ships do not go to. Wi Fi does not matter to us, free minutes with Princess and can always get a chance in port to check email.

For us another factor was being able to bring our own wine for our cabin. We love to enjoy sail aways with a glass of wine on our balcony or while getting ready for the evening. I love picking up local wines or other adult beverages on port visits.

We were fortunate that when we cruised on HAL in the Mediterranean they still allowed unlimited carry on wine without a surcharge. Now, I believe it is only 1 bottle pp at embarkation. They also allow you to bring wine on at a port stop but only if  you were on a HAL excursion.

[Kisie]

You can’t compare them. Although the food on HAL is good, the quality on Oceania is much better. Also, you have more choices on the menu. The food on Celebrity is not good at all.


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[RachelG]

I didn’t go back to the start of this thread, but have sailed Celebrity and Oceania.  Would not consider HAL.  Oceania is miles better than Celebrity in terms of food and service.

[Rob the Cruiser]

30 minutes ago, Kisie said:

You can’t compare them. Although the food on HAL is good, the quality on Oceania is much better. Also, you have more choices on the menu. The food on Celebrity is not good at all.


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The food in Blu for Aqua class passengers used to be excellent. Since three years ago, not so much. We haven't cruised on Celebrity since then.

 

[Tedferg]

20 hours ago, RachelG said:

I didn’t go back to the start of this thread, but have sailed Celebrity and Oceania.  Would not consider HAL.  Oceania is miles better than Celebrity in terms of food and service.

I know this is not exact but doing trial bookings, two people including taxes, 10 day cruise, cost per day:

Princess $626, HAL $656, Celebrity $641, Oceania $1,042. Drinks perks were better on first three.

 

[LHT28]

15 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

I know this is not exact but doing trial bookings, two people including taxes, 10 day cruise, cost per day:

Princess $626, HAL $656, Celebrity $641, Oceania $1,042. Drinks perks were better on first three.

 

If you are basing your cruise on price  then go with the cheapest

 Depends what you  are comparing 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

14 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

I know this is not exact but doing trial bookings, two people including taxes, 10 day cruise, cost per day:

Princess $626, HAL $656, Celebrity $641, Oceania $1,042. Drinks perks were better on first three.

 

Just curious, for $1,042 per day, what category of cabin can you get on this X, HAL or Princess cruise? I assume you’re still looking at the B2 cabin on O. 

Edited June 8, 2020 by Ken the cruiser

[ORV]

That's more than we've historically paid for Oceania. Keep in mind that a Mercedes or BMW costs more than a Chevy or Ford. Depending on model and options of course. 

 

Tell us again which itineraries you are looking at and are they all the same or similar? 

[Moby Jones]

1 hour ago, Tedferg said:

I know this is not exact but doing trial bookings, two people including taxes, 10 day cruise, cost per day:

Princess $626, HAL $656, Celebrity $641, Oceania $1,042. Drinks perks were better on first three.

 

 

Without knowing itinerary, sail date, ship, cabin choice and included perks it's impossible to draw many conclusions from those figures. 

[Ken the cruiser]

On 6/3/2020 at 6:42 PM, Tedferg said:

I followed Ken The Cruiser's advice, this is not scientifically precise but as a first pass looking at Canada New England mid Sep 2021 cost per day was Princess $295 / HAL $300 / Celebrity $290 / Oceania $580. Tried my best to match perks. HAL and Celebrity cabins were closer to Princess Mini suite. Princess standard balcony.

Here’s the itinerary Tedferg is comparing. 

Edited June 8, 2020 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

On 6/3/2020 at 7:49 PM, Tedferg said:

It was just a first pass, looking at 'base' prices. Once ball park was established I appreciated that I might choose a different cabin etc. I went back for more detail:

Princess Caribbean BD cabin with Plus package (Grat/Drink) $307

Celebrity Summit Verandah Grats/ Drink $290

HAL  Lanai (Opens on to Promenade) Drinks/Grats/Specialty $300

Oceania Insignia B2 Balcony Cruise only $474 Revised to Cruise Only - don't understand Olife looks like 6 Excursion / Drinks / $600 OBC.

 

Here are the cabin categories being compared. 

[Tedferg]

I rechecked Oceania and total for 10 day R/T New York Canada New England, B2, Cruise Only, Drinks Perk was $10,098 - so $1,009 per day. I would need to add Gratuities to this, Gratuities were included on other lines. In all instances I took lowest level balcony to form a base line. I understand that price is not the only criterion.

 

As I said at the outset I wanted to do a simple comparison between the cruises for similar itineraries and roughly same dates.

[ToxM]

 
One other Princess perk we take advantage of is the Military Personnel OBC perk. Since we are both retired military we get up to $500 OBC when we book a cruise 14 days or longer. With Celebrity we usually get anywhere from $100-300 off our cruise fare. No other cruise line I'm aware of gives a similar military discount perk, but I could be wrong.

Military (current and veteran) and NHS workers in the UK get 5% discount with P and O (probably not something you will use), just for completeness.

[Sea42]

3 hours ago, Tedferg said:

I know this is not exact but doing trial bookings, two people including taxes, 10 day cruise, cost per day:

Princess $626, HAL $656, Celebrity $641, Oceania $1,042. Drinks perks were better on first three.

 

Wow, that seems like a pricey itinerary. For our 20 day Oceania Marina South America cruise in 1/2022, in a B3 cabin, our cost for the cruise without OLife or air is $275 pp/pd.

[Tedferg]

48 minutes ago, ToxM said:

 

Military (current and veteran) and NHS workers in the UK get 5% discount with P and O (probably not something you will use), just for completeness.

 

I was in British Army and get OBC from Princess, thanks for the info.

[Tedferg]

18 minutes ago, Sea42 said:

Wow, that seems like a pricey itinerary. For our 20 day Oceania Marina South America cruise in 1/2022, in a B3 cabin, our cost for the cruise without OLife or air is $275 pp/pd.

I really will have to look at other Oceania itineraries.

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

I really will have to look at other Oceania itineraries.

The 10 night Caribbean in March 2021 on Riviera is coming out to $239.90 pp/per day in an A4 concierge cabin with the drink package perk.  No air.  I can't find anything for that length in a comparable cabin on our go-to Celebrity or NCL.

[ToxM]

I was in British Army and get OBC from Princess, thanks for the info.

Welcome:)

[ORV]

Ted, from what I've seen you post I don't think you'd be happy on an R ship, which Insignia is. Perhaps for your first time on Oceania you should try Marina or Riviera. Just an observation. 

[Tedferg]

18 minutes ago, ORV said:

Ted, from what I've seen you post I don't think you'd be happy on an R ship, which Insignia is. Perhaps for your first time on Oceania you should try Marina or Riviera. Just an observation. 

Not sure if it was mentioned in this thread. Our 2020 cancelled cruise we were booked on Princess Caribbean. I heard some negative comments about Caribbean and so looked at other options for that Itinerary. So perhaps better to look at other Oceania opportunities as well.