Should I try Oceania? (compare to Viking)

[rizello]

Hello:

 

I am a fairly novice cruiser, but did an ocean cruise with Viking and really enjoyed it.  I am intrigued by the offerings on Oceania, but somewhat confused and intimidated by the Oceania pricing structure compared to Viking.

 

Viking is pretty much all inclusive and all rooms have balconies with a minimum 270 sq feet.  Free wifi (2 connections per stateroom) and unlimited beverage package is only $20pp/day.  One free included excursion in each port with several optional paid excursions.  Many promotions come with free airfare.  

 

I am interested in the Oceania destinations and the focus on cuisine.  I just can't figure out the pricing structure, or why it requires so much thought.  I know that once you get used to a system, it all makes sense, but for someone on the outside, it seems a high bar to get over.

 

Would love to hear  how best to better understand and make sense of the way the pricing is structured.  How do I compare apples to apples?  If you have cruised both Viking and Oceania, would like to hear your experience.

 

(I have done some extensive searching on this forum already, but still feel intimidated by the options, so thought I would put my request out there.)

 

Thanks so much!  Appreciate any and all insights!

 

 

 

 

[LHT28]

Yes Oceania  is confusing  too bad it turns people off with their  games  sorry marketing

 If you liked Viking  you may not like  Oceania   they do not include  excursions  unless you take the limited O life perk

some free excursion per cabin depending on the cruise

The beverage package are more than you pay on Viking  do not think you can beat $20 PP pd for unlimited drinks  😲

O does not have  all balconies

On O you only get 1 free internet account per cabin unless in the top suite

 

Food is subjective 

 

I can only say give O a try or just stick with Viking

 O works for us  as we do not do ships tours  we do not drink much  so having included alcohol  is not important to us

Only you can decide what works best for you

JMO

[PhD-iva]

I like that Oceania‘s pricing is à la cart. That way I can pay for what is important to me, and DIY other aspects. For example, I can bring on board bottles of wine and only pay a $25 corkage fee in a restaurant. There’s no fee if I consume it in my cabin. At happy hour I can get a cocktail (double) for the price of one. When I have an unlimited beverage package, I probably drink more than is good for my waist line. So, I like being able to consume alcohol without having an unlimited enticement.

I have heard that Viking does good shore excursions. Depending on the area visited, I might prefer to join in a private group excursion; more customized and more personalized instead of paying for it in the cruise price. It all depends on your preferences.
One thing Oceania does so much better than Viking, is the cuisine. Everything I read tells me this is true. O’s food is much better than Viking’s. For this statement, I rely wholly on the vast majority of opinions I have read on cruise critic; I have never cruised on Viking myself. Enjoy your cruise!

[azalice]

Because we book our own air flights ( due to the way we only book day flights), and do not drink alcohol, there is not much in the OLife offers that interest us. So for our first Oceania cruise in 2023, we just booked our basic cabin and did not concern ourselves any further with their pricing structure. We will check out their shore excursions as we get closer to the cruise date. It is the itinerary that made us decide to book Oceania for the first time; we could not find another cruise line doing the Middle East and Holy Lands in the same way O has it for 2023.

[TERRIER1]

Oceania has more interesting itineraries. Viking goes to the same places and ports which is surprising given the size of the fleet. If this is your first time cruising than this won't matter. I like both lines and find the ships very nice. We have always taken a lower balcony on Oceania. Oceania will often include the air. If you are not interested or can get a better deal, then the air portion is deductd from the cost. I don't know if this is true for "air included" specials on Viking. This makes a difference. 

 

As mentioned, food is subjective but in my opinion Oceania has better cuisine. Oceania drinks are more expensive than on Viking but we always purchased our own local bottles of wine and paid the $25 corkage fee. Viking has a much better pricing for drinks. Also, Viking incudes beer and wine at meals.

 

Viking does include a "free" excursion but in my experience that excursion was just a panoramic bus ride or local walking tour. The bus was always full. Anything of real interest was optional and had a fee. Oceania tours in my opinion are expensive but we always did our own thing. Several times we took the OLife option and then used it for tours.

 

Personally I think WiFi is lacking on both cruise lines.

 

Something that really bugs me about Viking is the fact that they don't post port times. You don't find out about how long you are in port until your are invoiced. We prefer itineraries with long port days since we do a lot of touring on our own. 

 

I would look for the itinerary that appeals to you than ask a travel agent to sort out the pricing so you can compare the two. You really can't go wrong with either.

Edited August 20, 2022 by TERRIER1

[rizello]

1 hour ago, PhD-iva said:

I like that Oceania‘s pricing is à la cart. That way I can pay for what is important to me, and DIY other aspects. For example, I can bring on board bottles of wine and only pay a $25 corkage fee in a restaurant. There’s no fee if I consume it in my cabin. At happy hour I can get a cocktail (double) for the price of one. When I have an unlimited beverage package, I probably drink more than is good for my waist line. So, I like being able to consume alcohol without having an unlimited enticement.

I have heard that Viking does good shore excursions. Depending on the area visited, I might prefer to join in a private group excursion; more customized and more personalized instead of paying for it in the cruise price. It all depends on your preferences.
One thing Oceania does so much better than Viking, is the cuisine. Everything I read tells me this is true. O’s food is much better than Viking’s. For this statement, I rely wholly on the vast majority of opinions I have read on cruise critic; I have never cruised on Viking myself. Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for info. On Viking you can bring your own alcohol on board and there is not a corkage fee, and beer and wine are also included.

 

It is the cuisine and the itineraries that attract me to Oceania, so hoping I can give them a try one of these days!

[mauibabes]

@rizello

Hi local guy.Viking does offer a great product however we have not tested it out. We were enticed to take a Viking River Cruise but ended up on Tauck because we could not accept the Viking payment terms. We found Oceania after years traveling with friends on Princess and Celebrity. There was no comparison between them and Oceania as we loved the O cuisine and her small ships. We made the move and never looked back. We encouraged our friends to try Oceania and after several years, they too took an O cruise with us and have never gone back.
After a first and second cruise and a B2B on Oceania in the Baltic and Mediterranean, we knew we had found a home and a family, be it the guests or crew or staff in Florida. 
If you would care to chat off line, drop me an email, gerryesker@gmail.com

Ciao, Mauibabes 

 

[Mareblu]

A valid question, rizello.  It's a huge leap to your first cruise on a different line.  We have cruised on both Viking and Oceania, and each has advantages and some major disadvantages.  Our only Viking cruise was a b2b, from Vancouver to Tokyo, and continuing on the next cruise to Hong Kong.  That gave us a total of five weeks aboard, certainly long enough to make a comparison.  We are about to embark on our fifth Oceania cruise, because it always feels like home.  Yes, Viking offers so many inclusions, but not all are worthwhile.  The free shore excursion in each port is quite often not the one you would choose from all offerings, the included alcohol is fairly basic (we opted to pay for the premium package;  not for the volume, but for the quality), and wifi is offered free on both O and V.  We did love Viking's interactive IT system, and the daily electronic diary was really helpful.  The difference is in cuisine and delivery of service.  The food in all but the specialty restaurants was woeful:   oversalted, poorly presented, and unenticing.  Oceania's cuisine has always been superb, and each restaurant has an air of elegance and comfort.  The Viking staff members were very pleasant and with one exception, very helpful, but Oceania staff feel like family.  Totally different vessels:  We have sailed on Oceania's Marina, Nautica and are to embarking  Sirena in just over three weeks.  The ships are older and smaller (with the exception of Marina), with an atmosphere of a comfortable country club, without the formality.  Our Viking Orion was the epitome of Nordic design, decor and efficient comfort:  sleek, elegant and with truly impressive public spaces.  Why have we chosen to return to Oceania?  We know it will feel like coming home. 

[PhD-iva]

6 hours ago, azalice said:

Because we book our own air flights ( due to the way we only book day flights), and do not drink alcohol, there is not much in the OLife offers that interest us. So for our first Oceania cruise in 2023, we just booked our basic cabin and did not concern ourselves any further with their pricing structure. We will check out their shore excursions as we get closer to the cruise date. It is the itinerary that made us decide to book Oceania for the first time; we could not find another cruise line doing the Middle East and Holy Lands in the same way O has it for 2023.

Are we on the same cruise? Riviera 29 November 2023!

[azalice]

No, our cruise starts Sept. 25, 2023 and is called Middle East and Holy Lands. It starts in Athens and ends in Haifa.

[zodiacsign]

I've done both. Obviously my views are subjective, but here's which one comes out on top in my opinion on different elements.

 

STATEROOMS: Oceania, in layout and bathroom space. (not considering balcony/no balcony issue).

APP/ONLINE INFO: Viking. (The lack of digiboards to look up the day's menus/events, and an app on board, are a downside on Oceania).

FOOD: Oceania

DRINKS: Viking. (Beer and wine included at meals, and cocktails to purchase very reasonable).

ENTERTAINMENT: Oceania (by a mile).

PUBLIC AREA DECOR: Viking

EXCURSIONS: Probably a wash. Viking does offer one "free" tour in each port. In some place these are good (like a walking tour), but in European cities there are usually "free" walking tours you can go to on your own anyway. Often Viking's included tour is just a bus tour with some photo stops. When it comes to paid excursions, I think they are similar (unsurprisingly: it's usually the same local tour companies selling excursions to all the cruise lines).

SPA AREAS: Viking. The indoor heated pool area, ice room, jacuzzis, plunge pool, sauna, etc.

 

 

[basenji56]

37 minutes ago, zodiacsign said:

I've done both. Obviously my views are subjective, but here's which one comes out on top in my opinion on different elements.

 

SPA AREAS: Viking. The indoor heated pool area, ice room, jacuzzis, plunge pool, sauna, etc.

 

 

Is Viking still requiring reservations to use the free spa?  I agree that the Viking spa is superior to Oceania.  But I prefer the food on Oceania (especially the specialty restaurants).

Edited August 21, 2022 by basenji56

[zodiacsign]

1 hour ago, basenji56 said:

Is Viking still requiring reservations to use the free spa?  I agree that the Viking spa is superior to Oceania.  But I prefer the food on Oceania (especially the specialty restaurants).

When I was last on, the reservation thing was pretty lax. On food, you'll see above I agree on the food. Our last Viking trip, Manfredis was pretty poor, and the MDR has always been just decent IMO.

[zodiacsign]

To add, the reservations for the spa was a covid measure, they didn't require them pre2020.

[bob brown]

One other difference between the two, is Viking does not allow children under 18 on board, although it is rare to see any on Oceania....

[rizello]

4 hours ago, zodiacsign said:

I've done both. Obviously my views are subjective, but here's which one comes out on top in my opinion on different elements.

 

STATEROOMS: Oceania, in layout and bathroom space. (not considering balcony/no balcony issue).

APP/ONLINE INFO: Viking. (The lack of digiboards to look up the day's menus/events, and an app on board, are a downside on Oceania).

FOOD: Oceania

DRINKS: Viking. (Beer and wine included at meals, and cocktails to purchase very reasonable).

ENTERTAINMENT: Oceania (by a mile).

PUBLIC AREA DECOR: Viking

EXCURSIONS: Probably a wash. Viking does offer one "free" tour in each port. In some place these are good (like a walking tour), but in European cities there are usually "free" walking tours you can go to on your own anyway. Often Viking's included tour is just a bus tour with some photo stops. When it comes to paid excursions, I think they are similar (unsurprisingly: it's usually the same local tour companies selling excursions to all the cruise lines).

SPA AREAS: Viking. The indoor heated pool area, ice room, jacuzzis, plunge pool, sauna, etc.

 

 

Zodiacsign:  Thanks for the info.  From watching videos about the Oceania ships, it looks like the bathroom is much smaller than on Viking, probably because it squeezes in a shower and a separate tub.  I thought the Viking bathroom was quite spacious.

 

Does it depend on the specific Oceania ship to get a larger bathroom size?

[LHT28]

4 minutes ago, rizello said:

Does it depend on the specific Oceania ship to get a larger bathroom size?

The O class ships  have  a good size bathroom except the insides

The R class ships  you need to get  a PH + to have a larger bathroom space

 

You could always  wait until after the refurb on the O class ships & book a cabin with the tub removed  for more space

[meg1021]

2 hours ago, rizello said:

Zodiacsign:  Thanks for the info.  From watching videos about the Oceania ships, it looks like the bathroom is much smaller than on Viking, probably because it squeezes in a shower and a separate tub.  I thought the Viking bathroom was quite spacious.

 

Does it depend on the specific Oceania ship to get a larger bathroom size?

Rizello, I deduced from other postings, that we were both on the July 31st sailing of the Viking Baldur/Magni river cruise.  We had a French Balcony cabin, and that was one of the smallest bathrooms I have ever seen!  Lol, but somehow we managed to make it work.

 

Also, we are booked on Oceania Insignia for January 2023 for 48 days, as first time Oceania cruisers, so I'm following postings on Oceania's Forum, to see what relevant information I can learn.  As always, I appreciate anyone who takes the time to answer questions for us.

[MarkWiltonM]

We always book Oceania at "cruise only" rates. We don't do a lot of shore excursions and when we do we like the option to purchase either the cruise line's excursions or a private vendor's. We don't drink alcohol but we do drink a lot of specialty coffee so Oceania is perfect for us in that regard. We like the included specialty restaurants too, and having a free washer/dryer at our disposal is appreciated. I have always wanted to try Viking (I am attracted to the ship's Scandinavian decor) but we can't go away for more than 10 days at a time because of family at home (namely, our dog), so we stick to Caribbean cruises near our home. If we go to Europe we don't have time to add a cruise to the time we spend on land. Unfortunately, Viking has very few cruises in the U.S., and when they do they tend to be longer than we can manage (15 days from Fort Lauderdale to Panama Canal and back, for example). 

[TKS]

We just finished our first Viking cruise two weeks ago, and we have our sixth O cruise coming in December. Our last O cruise was November, 2019, just before Covid.

 

There are differences between the two lines, as noted by many on this thread.

 

Some things that haven’t yet been mentioned:

 

1. Viking requires full payment 6-12 months prior to departure (depending on various factors), while my upcoming O cruise required final payment 5 months before departure. Viking offers a 3.3% discount if you pay cash, which saved us over $600 on our last cruise.

2. Viking’s pre/post-cruise deviation fee is $100/pp, while O’s is $175/pp. I was seriously impressed with Viking’s handling of the pre-cruise details once we left home, but ironing out those details did require several hours on the telephone. Their flight booking center is overseas where there was no flexibility on layovers, etc., but I was given a tip to ask for a US agent, and she did a great job securing what we wanted - she even called back after we had accepted the itinerary to recommend a better one that included a free overnight in a lovely hotel the night before boarding the ship. And there was no up-charge beyond the deviation fee.
I’m in throes of working out the details for our upcoming O cruise, and so far I’m frustrated. They are asking a $250/pp “layover” fee in addition to the deviation fee because we want to break up our departure (we live in the western US and want to stay one night on the East Coast, then fly to Europe, to avoid the 18-24 hour nightmare flying day if we don’t do that). They also want an additional $100/pp to fly home on Christmas Day vs two days earlier (the airline is actually charging $30 less for the flight on Christmas Day). Ultimately the difference between them booking our flights and doing it ourselves is over $800 in their favor. The only reason we are even considering it is the risk of the cruise being cancelled (Riviera, on it’s first post-refurbishment cruise, so there is a cancellation risk based on the supply line problems many cruise lines are having). Not sure what the final outcome will be, but I’m not impressed with O’s handling of the issue so far.

3. We found O’s passengers to be generally older and less active on our 2019 cruise than those on our recent Viking, but that could just be because of the itinerary differences (Montreal to Miami in 2019 on O vs Great Lakes on Viking). In both instances the average age was greater than most other “competing” cruise lines (I.e., Celebrity and Princess).

4. Viking has embraced technology which our last O trip lacked (phone app to keep track of our daily schedule, order room service, keep track of our bill, multiple USB and touch charging stations in the cabin, etc.) I’m curious to see if these upgrades will take place during Riviera’s refurbishment.

5. Viking also allows unlimited alcohol to be brought on board, but there is no corkage fee if you want to consume it in the public areas.

Overall, we love O and are looking forward to our upcoming cruise, but Viking does offer a comparable (as in “different but equal”) experience, and they will definitely be under consideration for spending our future cruise dollars.

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by TKS

[zodiacsign]

I agree that itinerary affects the average age of the crowd. On a 3 week Carib/Panama Canal cruise, the average age was much older than on an Asia cruise.

There were more people in their 30s on Viking in late summer 2021, when cruising had only just started up again, I suspect because a lot of older people were still being cautious/had been advised not to travel.

Across all cruise lines, you'll find younger folks (on average) on shorter itineraries, as people who are still working are more able to take a week or so from work than a longer break.

(Note: all my comments on this thread are re Viking ocean, I have not done a river cruise).

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by zodiacsign

[Vineyard View]

We have cruised on several Viking Oceans as well as River. We have always been impressed with Viking. 
The ‘included’ excursion, as has been mentioned, seem mostly to be scenic bus rides or walking tours depending on location. Since we generally DIY or use private tours, these are not generally useful to us. 
We always upgrade the drink package, because at $20/pp the additional wine selections in themselves are worth it to us, the bonus is included cocktails if we choose. That said, of wine isn’t your thing, included wines work for many and cocktails are extremely reasonably priced. We love the layout of the staterooms, and the ship design. Bathrooms are nice sized regardless of booking category. Service is very good, and we have been overall happy with food. Also love the various outdoor space options. What we don’t like are the payment terms. They are currently requiring 12-18 months PIF unless you have a cruise already booked with them. That to us is pretty extreme. The second issue are the itineraries - they need to get into some new ports!

As is the OP, we are also looking at Oceania. The reviews make me want to give this line a try. Over and over I hear about the cuisine. I agree that the pricing model is a head scratcher. I just went through a booking process to try to figure it out, for a 2024 itinerary on Marina. We arrange our own air so I declined that portion. I was still offered a shipboard credit, a drink package, or one other item. I chose the basic drink package. With that option, since I don’t care about included excursions, it seems like an apples to apples inclusion with Viking  for our needs. Maybe I am missing something. I do wonder if we can pay the difference to upgrade the drink package. 

[PSR]

1 hour ago, Vineyard View said:

I do wonder if we can pay the difference to upgrade the drink package. 

 

Yes, to upgrade to the Prestige package it is $20.00/day/person. Worth it if you have 2 or more cocktails a day. It does not change your "by the glass" wine selections, though. We enjoyed the wine selections as they were, although many prefer to order specialty wines. We finished our first Oceania cruise on Regatta last July and enjoyed it. We are upgrading our cabin on the next cruise, though: bathroom too tiny in the oceanview cabin, although the room itself was fine.

Edited August 22, 2022 by PSR

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

 I do wonder if we can pay the difference to upgrade the drink package. 

If you read some of the other threads  you will see  YES you can upgrade the beverage package once onboard  for $20 PP PD

 

[mjox32]

We have cruised both lines and Oceania staff and crew are much more friendly.  There are more hello's or good morning's and smiles when you meet them in passing.  Oceania crew takes more time to talk to you where Viking crew were more business like.  These observations would be from the past year. We have done 2 Oceania and 2 Viking cruises, each 2 weeks or longer since last October.