Thinking of trying the new Oceania ship, Vista. Talk me out of it?

[terrydtx]

After reading this thread and going back to compare Oceania with Celebrity we have decided to book the Oceania Marina for cruising South America in March 2025. O has an 18 day cruise from Chile to Buenos Aires and we can book a A2 Vernada for $300pp less than the 14 day Celebrity cruise on the Equinox in a Sky Suite with a similar itinerary. Plus we get an $800 bonus OBC with Oceania with their current bonus booking offer. We are going to have our TA book this for us this next week. The 4 extra days for the same price is a no brainer for us.

Edited December 31, 2022 by terrydtx

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

After reading this thread and going back to compare Oceania with Celebrity we have decided to book the Oceania Marina for cruising South America in March 2025. O has an 18 day cruise from Chile to Buenos Aires and we can book a A2 Vernada for $300pp less than the 14 day Celebrity cruise on the Equinox in a Sky Suite with a similar itinerary. Plus we get an $800 bonus OBC with Oceania with their current bonus booking offer. We are going to have our TA book this for us this next week. The 4 extra days for the same price is a no brainer for us.

A couple of things. If you haven't cruised to the Antarctica Peninsula yet, too bad you couldn't book their Antarctica cruise in late December. You'll be so close and it's so awesome cruising around the Peninsula. 

 

Oceania Cruises 24-days from Lima/Machu Picchu (Callao), Peru to Buenos Aires, Argentina

 

Also, if you book your cruise with the OLife Excursion option, it's a much better deal to get 8 excursions (valued at up to $199 each) when you give them $800 in the cruise fare rather than getting the $800 nonrefundable OBC. Also remember gratuities, drinks and internet are not included in your cruise fare.

 

[MamaFej]

Tossing in my 2 cents worth and saying that a boots on the ground cruise to Antarctica is absolutely worth considering. I'm incredibly grateful that we just did it.

[Ken the cruiser]

15 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

Tossing in my 2 cents worth and saying that a boots on the ground cruise to Antarctica is absolutely worth considering. I'm incredibly grateful that we just did it.

If I might ask, what cruise line did you do your expedition cruise with, how long was the cruise and what was the cost pp/day? We had a 24-day one booked with Seabourn in Nov 2021 that included South Georgia Island, but it got cancelled and it was not cheap - around $900+ pp/day not counting air fare.

 

Update: We're now booked on a 30-day B2B in an aft-facing VS on the Princess Sapphire in Jan/Feb 2024 for around $400 pp/day with everything included (except air fare). For us at that price reduction, we're good waiting until we get to the Falkland Islands and the various southern Argentina and Chile ports to walk with the penguins and seals. 😀

Edited December 31, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[edgee]

4 hours ago, asnaleah said:

Thanks to all for the helpful replies. I will “do the math” for the O Life options. 

We are booked on Eclipse for the repo 12/7/23 and while the ship probably needs some updates, the itinerary looks good to us and we have never been to Peru. So we are looking at Vista for PC Jan, 2025. 
 

Happy New Year to all!

Eclipse is sorely in need of renovation. We were on her in July. We were in a Royal Suite and the couch reminded me of beat up 2nd hand furniture from an apartment I had in college. Also a fair amount if smelly mildewed carpet in public areas such as the gym and casino. With no hope of any renovations in next couple of years, she will continue to look more and more outdated and worn. On the plus side, we found the service and upbeat staff attitude best we have encountered in more than ten Celebrity cruises.

[terrydtx]

36 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

A couple of things. If you haven't cruised to the Antarctica Peninsula yet, too bad you couldn't book their Antarctica cruise in late December. You'll be so close and it's so awesome cruising around the Peninsula. 

 

Oceania Cruises 24-days from Lima/Machu Picchu (Callao), Peru to Buenos Aires, Argentina

 

Also, if you book your cruise with the OLife Excursion option, it's a much better deal to get 8 excursions (valued at up to $199 each) when you give them $800 in the cruise fare rather than getting the $800 nonrefundable OBC. Also remember gratuities, drinks and internet are not included in your cruise fare.

 

Ken, Thanks for your very appreciated input. We really have no interest in seeing Antarctica, which would be only on the Dec 24 to January 25 itinerary. That sailing would take us over the holidays and my wife said we can't do this. We probably will book with the OLife Excursion option but not with their air. We had a very bad experience with Oceania air in 2018 and would prefer to book on our own for BC air. BTW the current promo with Oceania, I believe, is the $800 OBC is in addition to any OLife OBC option. If we get the OBC it could be used for the Wi-Fi and drinks on the ship. Even after we book this cruise, we will continue to look at other cruise options like Viking Ocean, which has not released their 2025 schedule yet.

[terrydtx]

52 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Update: We're now booked on a 30-day B2B in an aft-facing VS on the Princess Sapphire in Jan/Feb 2024 for around $400 pp/day with everything included (except air fare). For us at that price reduction, we're good waiting until we get to the Falkland Islands and the various southern Argentina and Chile ports to walk with the penguins and seals. 😀

Ken, how did this compare to any other cruise companies?

 

Holland has not released their 2025 cruises, but I looked at what they have for 2024 and they have a 31-day cruise that starts in Buenos Aires goes up the west coast of SA and through Panama Canal then ends in Florida. A Signature Suite is around $350pp a day with internet, drinks, 3 shore excursions pp, $400 OBC, 2 specialty restaurants and taxes. No airfare is included.

Edited December 31, 2022 by terrydtx

[jonthomas]

sailing in a suite on Celebrity is a VERY different experience than sailing in regular balcony cabins....but paying for a suite is often more than being on O.....

 

but then even in a suite you are still subject to kids that are out of control...and a vibe that often is classless...yeah bring on the flames...

 

a very different clientele sails on O..and we love it....having done 50 or so cruises on C....the last straw was watching a wall going up in the dining room to separate  those that are in suites and those that are in steerage..a totally different menu......the offerings for the lower classes no longer edible.....disgusting....it became a very class oriented cruise line...we had enough....just too bad it took us so long to "jump" ship.  

Edited December 31, 2022 by jonthomas

[Ken the cruiser]

46 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Ken, how did this compare to any other cruise companies?

 

Believe it or not, we originally booked the Celebrity Jan 6 and Jan 20, 2024, Antarctica cruises as a B2B, as we really enjoyed cruising 4 days around the Peninsula on a 22-day cruise on the HAL Zaandam back in 2018. But when we got a heads-up via CC about the 16-day Jan 20th Antarctica cruise from Santiago to BA via Antarctica followed by a 14-day cruise from BA back to Santiago via the fjords, we booked an aft-facing VS on both of them first day they were released to the non-Elites.

 

As far as comparing with other cruise lines, both NCL and Celebrity on their 12-day "drive-by" cruises "near" the Peninsula are only there for 2 days. Oceania as you found does 3 days. But because of a variety of bad experiences in the past with O, we didn't even consider them. Azamara was the first one out with their 2024 itineraries early on, but their R-class ships are just too small for us.

 

When it comes to the "full service" expedition ships like Seabourn, Silversea and others, their starting price of $1000+ pp/day for an oceanview was also a non-starter. Like I said, we will have plenty of time to play with the seals and penguins.

 

But with Princess from past experiences, we know we're going to have a great time, be entertained, laugh a lot, have a bunch of enrichment lectures, and live the suite life to boot! We are also both retired military and are CCL shareholders which combined gets us an additional $750 OBC on each leg. So, there's that. 😉

 

Update: BTW in January the penguin chicks still have their fuzz and is the prime time to visit that whole part of the world. There are also still huge numbers of whales around the Peninsula then as well.

 

Edited December 31, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Host Jazzbeau]

The solution to the confusing Oceania O-Life is simple:  don't take it!  It isn't clear from their website, but the cruise fare, the O-Life add-on, and airfare are three separate things and you can pick and choose among them all.  It is easier if you have a TA who is experienced with Oceania and can help you figure this out [and don't ask; we can't recommend TAs on Cruise Critic]

 

IMO O-Life is hard to get a real benefit from:  (a) drinks package requires drinking a lot every day [and port days make this hard]; (b) shorex package can save you money, if you would be taking the more expensive ship offerings – but most people would be better off taking third-party excursions [check your roll call!]; (c) OBC option is a wash, they just take your fungible cash and turn it into use-it-or-lose-it credit of the exact same amount.

 

But as I said, you don't need to take O-Life at all – then your cruise cost will go down by the amount of the OBC option (and you will keep that amount as cash that you can use on anything in the world).

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

The solution to the confusing Oceania O-Life is simple:  don't take it!  It isn't clear from their website, but the cruise fare, the O-Life add-on, and airfare are three separate things and you can pick and choose among them all.  It is easier if you have a TA who is experienced with Oceania and can help you figure this out [and don't ask; we can't recommend TAs on Cruise Critic]

 

IMO O-Life is hard to get a real benefit from:  (a) drinks package requires drinking a lot every day [and port days make this hard]; (b) shorex package can save you money, if you would be taking the more expensive ship offerings – but most people would be better off taking third-party excursions [check your roll call!]; (c) OBC option is a wash, they just take your fungible cash and turn it into use-it-or-lose-it credit of the exact same amount.

 

But as I said, you don't need to take O-Life at all – then your cruise cost will go down by the amount of the OBC option (and you will keep that amount as cash that you can use on anything in the world).

Good points! For us we usually took the Excursion option as we pretty much always book ship excursions. Definitely less stressful when something goes wrong on an excursion, especially if the ship has to wait for you until you get back. But, that’s us. But like I said early, there is definitely a strategy if you want to get the most bang for your excursion $$$.

 

@terrydtxthis is Oceania’s classic sale that is never-ending that hasn’t change for as long as I can remember. The key with Oceania is the same when it comes to NCL promotions, you have to read the fine print especially when “free” is used in the promotion! 😂

 

 

[maggie.1008]

We have been fortunate to cruise on 12 different lines including luxury and premium lines. We have also enjoyed our 35 Celebrity cruises. 
X suite prices have us going back to other lines. 
we book cruise only on Oceania and bring liquor and wine with us to enjoy. 
We believe they so have the best food at sea. 
We will return to Oceania in May. Just wish they would bring a O class ship to the West Coast.

[no1talks]

21 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

"My parents are Princess cruisers or nothing."

Is it because of the 70's/80's TV show, The Love Boat? I admit, part of the reason I dress up on a cruise is because I watched TLB as a kid. All those tuxedos stuck with me. 🤵

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, maggie.1008 said:

We have been fortunate to cruise on 12 different lines including luxury and premium lines. We have also enjoyed our 35 Celebrity cruises. 
X suite prices have us going back to other lines. 
we book cruise only on Oceania and bring liquor and wine with us to enjoy. 
We believe they so have the best food at sea. 
We will return to Oceania in May. Just wish they would bring a O class ship to the West Coast.

They claim that as they add A-class ships they aren't going to get rid of the older ones, so stay hopeful!

[LGW59]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

The solution to the confusing Oceania O-Life is simple:  don't take it!  It isn't clear from their website, but the cruise fare, the O-Life add-on, and airfare are three separate things and you can pick and choose among them all.  It is easier if you have a TA who is experienced with Oceania and can help you figure this out [and don't ask; we can't recommend TAs on Cruise Critic]

 

IMO O-Life is hard to get a real benefit from:  (a) drinks package requires drinking a lot every day [and port days make this hard]; (b) shorex package can save you money, if you would be taking the more expensive ship offerings – but most people would be better off taking third-party excursions [check your roll call!]; (c) OBC option is a wash, they just take your fungible cash and turn it into use-it-or-lose-it credit of the exact same amount.

 

But as I said, you don't need to take O-Life at all – then your cruise cost will go down by the amount of the OBC option (and you will keep that amount as cash that you can use on anything in the world).

Thanks for this info, very helpful, because as you say I would never know from the website and the O rep I used never mentioned it to me when I finalized my booking.  I'm assuming if I call them I can get the OBC credit reduced from the fare.

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, maggie.1008 said:

We have been fortunate to cruise on 12 different lines including luxury and premium lines. We have also enjoyed our 35 Celebrity cruises. 
X suite prices have us going back to other lines. 
we book cruise only on Oceania and bring liquor and wine with us to enjoy. 
We believe they so have the best food at sea. 
We will return to Oceania in May. Just wish they would bring a O class ship to the West Coast.

We love Celebrity but only in a suite with Luminae and the Retreat lounge, but the new pricing we see down the road for even Sky Suites has us looking at Oceania and Viking Ocean. The B2B Edge cruise in a Sky Suite we booked for January 2024 is now almost $2000pp more than when we booked in January 2022. I would not be booking that cruise today at those prices.  I like your suggestion of booking cruise only with O and bringing our own wine and liquor with us. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Thanks for this info, very helpful, because as you say I would never know from the website and the O rep I used never mentioned it to me when I finalized my booking.  I'm assuming if I call them I can get the OBC credit reduced from the fare.

The real expert on explaining O-Life is @Flatbush Flyer – this post sends out a bat-signal, so maybe he will respond and reveal all...

[maggie.1008]

Oceania is very good about you bringing alcohol onboard and acting like a adult. 
we enjoy the liquor we bring onboard in our cabin. They also have two for the price of one most nights in the bars. We are happy to pay the $25. Corkage fee to bring a special wine to a special restaurant. Seeing how there is no charge for specialty restaurants. 
I think you will enjoy. Cheers, Heather 

[maggie.1008]

Check out thepreismans.com on cruise critic. Great pictures and menus on Oceania 👍🛳

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

The real expert on explaining O-Life is @Flatbush Flyer – this post sends out a bat-signal, so maybe he will respond and reveal all...

Unless you drink a LOT of high end spirits (and upgrade the basic O Life booze perk to “Prestige” at $20 pp/day - knowing that you are still stuck with the mediocre wine-by-the-glass list), the only O Life perk with value is the excursions (if you pick the more expensive allowable ones [<$200] which effectively double the initial $100/tour value). And, the O Life tour selections do count toward the YWYW minimum tour buy for your cruise that will get you 25% off on any purchased tour. 
 

Particularly on longer cruises, this can mean significant ship tour cost reduction. Of course, you still may be able to find some private tours at a less expensive price (in fact, we usually do a mix of ship and private tours ourselves). But, in the current environment of Covid et al. uncertainty and, seemingly, more current port changes than one usually saw in the past (not to mention the number of tour operators who went belly up in recent years), there is a strong argument for the value of the convenience of ship staff handling changes, refunds, etc.

 

Finally, I urge anyone new to O Life, to search CC for my several detailed posts on how best to assemble/complete O Life and/or YWYW tour purchases by using a vetted/trusted O phone rep (doing it online can be problematic due to various Cart glitches/idiosyncrasies) in order to maximize the value AND secure the “pre-purchased shore excursions” PDF showing all the math (that will come in very handy should you ever have an onboard tour change accounting problem with Destination Services). That said, if you prefer instead to use your TA for the tour buys (it’s an option), make sure that TA fully understands O Life (many do not!).

 

 

 

 

[ABoatNerd]

15 hours ago, jonthomas said:

sailing in a suite on Celebrity is a VERY different experience than sailing in regular balcony cabins....but paying for a suite is often more than being on O.....

 

but then even in a suite you are still subject to kids that are out of control...and a vibe that often is classless...yeah bring on the flames...

 

a very different clientele sails on O..and we love it....having done 50 or so cruises on C....the last straw was watching a wall going up in the dining room to separate  those that are in suites and those that are in steerage..a totally different menu......the offerings for the lower classes no longer edible.....disgusting....it became a very class oriented cruise line...we had enough....just too bad it took us so long to "jump" ship.  

 

And that is the reason we have not cruised on Celebrity for over 6 years. In addition to the ever escalating costs that have priced Celebrity suites above the premium lines.

Have cruised Oceania, Regent etc, and it is a much more refined and equitable experience versus the class snobbery robbery on Celebrity.

Will never sail Celebrity again given their corporate overt dislike of non suite passengers.

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 minutes ago, ABoatNerd said:

Have cruised Oceania, Regent etc, and it is a much more refined and equitable experience versus the class snobbery robbery on Celebrity.

This thread has prompted me to take a look at the Vista for 2023 and it looks like a beautiful ship!  We usually cruise suites but might be priced out of one on Oceania.  I think we'd be fine in a less expensive category because of the equitable experience you mentioned.  But I had it in my head the the O experience is more all inclusive.  After reading some more detail I see that the all inclusive amenities such as a drinks package and wifi are not included in the fare.  Is this correct?

[Ken the cruiser]

9 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

This thread has prompted me to take a look at the Vista for 2023 and it looks like a beautiful ship!  We usually cruise suites but might be priced out of one on Oceania.  I think we'd be fine in a less expensive category because of the equitable experience you mentioned.  But I had it in my head the the O experience is more all inclusive.  After reading some more detail I see that the all inclusive amenities such as a drinks package and wifi are not included in the fare.  Is this correct?

Here is what it says in their FAQ about their free internet package, which I believe is one free account per stateroom unless ...

 

CAN I USE MORE THAN ONE DEVICE FOR THE FREE INTERNET?

 

Updated July 9, 2018

Only one user can be logged on at a time unless you are booked in one of the top suite categories (Owners Suites, Vista Suites or Oceania Suites) where the free Wi-Fi promotion applies to both guests and you receive two log ins per suite or you purchased an extra account while on board.

 

Can I use more than one device for the free internet? – Oceania Cruises (zendesk.com)

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

35 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

This thread has prompted me to take a look at the Vista for 2023 and it looks like a beautiful ship!  We usually cruise suites but might be priced out of one on Oceania.  I think we'd be fine in a less expensive category because of the equitable experience you mentioned.  But I had it in my head the the O experience is more all inclusive.  After reading some more detail I see that the all inclusive amenities such as a drinks package and wifi are not included in the fare.  Is this correct?

 

26 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here is what it says in their FAQ about their free internet package, which I believe is one free account per stateroom unless ...

 

CAN I USE MORE THAN ONE DEVICE FOR THE FREE INTERNET?

 

Updated July 9, 2018

Only one user can be logged on at a time unless you are booked in one of the top suite categories (Owners Suites, Vista Suites or Oceania Suites) where the free Wi-Fi promotion applies to both guests and you receive two log ins per suite or you purchased an extra account while on board.

 

Can I use more than one device for the free internet? – Oceania Cruises (zendesk.com)

 

Interesting note, though. I can't seem to find anywhere on their website where they currently mention the Free Internet Account per stateroom promotion. This is the only reference (dated July 2018) I could find, which BTW was one big reason we stopped cruising with Oceania.

 

They implemented their one free internet account per stateroom promotion back in June 2018, but never upgraded their shipboard router capacities. Because of this when we were in our A1 cabin on a 45-day B3B on the Riviera, we would get knocked off the router near our cabin every 2-3 minutes because there wasn't enough port space to handle the increased demand. Hopefully, they've upgraded their router capacities in all of the stateroom areas by now.

 

Update: I found it.

 

Internet

FREE UNLIMITED WIFI

Wavenet FREE Unlimited WiFi is included in your cruise fare.

• 

  NEW WAVENET WIFI

  Enjoy Internet access throughout the entirety of the ship, including in all suites, staterooms, public rooms and outdoor decks. One login is provided per suite or stateroom, which can be used on one device at a time. Additional logins and upgrade packages are available for purchase on board. For your convenience, Internet-enabled computers are also available in the Oceania@Sea Internet Center aboard each of our ships.

  • READ MORE

Luxury Cruise Deals, Special Offers and Amenities - Oceania Cruises

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[slewis7]

Great thread!  We have canceled South America several times already and are looking to book it gain in the future, perhaps 2024 or 2025.  We have considered HAL because friends took their itinerary which includes sailing by Antartica and loved it.  After seeing this thread, I now know that Oceania has a similar itinerary which we will strongly consider.  
 

We have sailed a bunch on Celebrity but feel like it is no longer the great value it used to be and will likely quit using them after our two already booked and upcoming cruises.  I am curious about some of the comments posted in this thread about Celebrity hinting that some recent happenings with them can not be posted about. If anyone could enlighten me, my email is s l e w i s 7 @ gmail . com (remove extra spaces).