Oceania vs. other cruise lines

[CruisinShips]

Actually, this long, boring post is about our cruising evolution and how we came to book our first O cruise.  I post this because as I read the threads, it seems many here are very loyal to Oceania and might find it interesting to hear about other experiences and others' cruising evolution.

 

- As a younger family many moons ago, we took a couple of short cruises, one Carnival (never again), and a RCL (better).  Back then, we didn't even know from a balcony cabin.  Cruising, especially living in the Fort Lauderdale area, was a fairly inexpensive getaway;

 

- As our kids got older, we evolved to week-long RCL cruises.  I remember our first balcony stateroom and it changed everything.  It was still relatively inexpensive and easy.  We also tried a new NCL ship, and it wasn't bad;

 

-  The kids became adults, financial situation improved, and we graduated to the two story Grand Loft Suites in a couple of RCL megaships.  That's when cruising really changed for us.  An amazing stateroom.  The Oasis/Allure with their suites only lounge and restaurant was also an absolute game changer.  We took cruises where we never visited the main dining room (a very good thing to be able to do on RCL lol), and maybe visited the buffet once if at all.  At that point, being a Diamond on Royal, we probably stayed with them for too long...as we realized we were typically on ships where most amenities were geared towards kids (waterslides, flowriders, rock climbing walls, etc.), but we were two people in our 50s cruising without kids who avoided those very things;

 

- So then we threw in a Tauck land tour...enjoyed it very much...were by far the youngest in the group but really loved getting to know many of the people.  The negative to those Tauck type tours tends to be the long bus rides...nothing beats waking up in a new locale as opposed to driving there!

 

- With that newfound realization about the RCL megaships, we went in a completely different direction and booked a Holland America partial Panama Canal cruise (mainly because of the itinerary).  That certainly was a change!  In all honesty, wet found the overall shipboard experience to be somewhat lacking.  Food quality was meh, the ship felt dated, and the shipboard experience was just not very memorable (except for the actual Panama Canal part, which was great);

 

- Fast forward to now (the pandemic came and we hadn't cruised since October 2019). My wife was still a little iffy about cruising, but we decided to get our feet wet again by booking a 5 night cruise on the new adults-only  Virgin Voyages line. That cruise ended about 10 days ago.  I could write much more about that experience if anyone is interested, but suffice it to say it was a completely different kind of cruise than we had ever been on.  While there were people of all ages (over 18) on board, it was definitely geared to a younger, hipper, racier vibe.  Our experience, staying in what's called a "Mega Rockstar Suite", was for the most part very good...but it's probably as different from O from an age and tenor standpoint than you can get. 

 

Our next booked cruise will be on a Celebrity in the fall (our first for whatever reason), and then the one we just booked on the Vista after that.  So after many years of for whatever reason being "Loyal to Royal", we are anxious to experience different cruise lines.  I wonder if anyone else has had a similar evolution to their cruising experiences?

[MEFIowa]

Though wife & I only did our very first cruise in 12/2021 at 55 & 58 respectively. (Kids were 28 & 30. ) We'd seen the ads over the years but didn't want kids, drunk college types or twentysomethings, swingers, or the formal blue-hair crowd experience. My standard joke was along the lines of how much urine was in the pool or waterslide and vomit in the hallways on a cruise ship. Cruising just didn't seem like it for us. But when that O brochure fell out of my WSJ that 1/30/31 day something clicked on an interesting W. Caribbean cruise at what we hoped would also be at the "end" of COVID. We wanted a quiet classy ship that took us to interesting places and respected our age. Knowing the food would be good and being allowed to bring our own alcohol on board were huge pluses. We're in bed by 10 or 11 PM, watching only the comics, so that we can be up and get off the ship the next day for the entire day seeing and doing things. Did the one, book a 2nd while on board (Sirena, 11/2022), and have 20 nights in the Med on on Riviera booked for late 2023 and Sirena in the Baltic in late 2024. So from the beginning of2021 to the end of 2024 we'll have gone from 0 to 50 nights cruising on any line, let alone O.

[LHT28]

I think many people  go through several different cruise lines  be fore we find the one  that suits us best

Also as we get older our "Best" changes

 

Enjoy life  it has an expiry date ..we just do not know when that date  is

[pinotlover]

Itinerary, itinerary, itinerary! We travel on a cruise ship for the itinerary. Oceania often has very good itineraries that meet our wishes. They don’t always have the better itinerary for certain areas. When they don’t, we travel on different lines 

 

We have cruised on Viking. I agree the food overall wasn’t as good as we typically get on Oceania. It was OK and still edible. The itinerary on that cruise far surpassed anything Oceania chooses to do. We certainly didn’t starve on that cruise, plus as is similar to Oceania, we ate many fabulous lunches ashore of fresh local authentic cuisine. Dinner became a tapas ( small plate) after thought.

 

There are times and occasions when we enjoy vibe and energetic surroundings. As a fellow passenger commented on our recent Marina cruise “ There is a totally different definition of 80s music on Celebrity or Princess compared to Oceania!”  After certain of the geriatric cruises on Oceania, we’ve needed a more vibrant atmosphere to regenerate. 
 

Oceania is definitely a very good cruise line, however we never expect ourselves to be tied to it solely.

[CruisinShips]

27 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Itinerary, itinerary, itinerary! We travel on a cruise ship for the itinerary.

For us, it's only the case sometimes.  When you live within 45 miles of two major ports, and you like cruising, you tend to rationalize going on cruises with itineraries to Caribbean islands that all start to look alike.  That's when the actual ship experience becomes more important.  Contrarily, when you have a port intensive cruise that's based on a great itinerary, the ship experience is much less important IMO.

[jonthomas]

We have also evolved from over 50 cruises with celeb, 2 azamara, 4 royal, 3 Viking...to only Oceania.. big regret giving celeb all that loyalty with nothing to show for it. Oceania has the best loyalty program. Can't wait to reach 10 and have included gratuities and 20 with a free cruise.  Looking forward to our 6th, 7th and 8th in the fall.

[sunlover12]

3 hours ago, CruisinShips said:

 

-  The kids became adults, financial situation improved, and we graduated to the two story Grand Loft Suites in a couple of RCL megaships.  That's when cruising really changed for us.  An amazing stateroom.  The Oasis/Allure with their suites only lounge and restaurant was also an absolute game changer.  We took cruises where we never visited the main dining room (a very good thing to be able to do on RCL lol), and maybe visited the buffet once if at all.  At that point, being a Diamond on Royal, we probably stayed with them for too long...as we realized we were typically on ships where most amenities were geared towards kids (waterslides, flowriders, rock climbing walls, etc.), but we were two people in our 50s cruising without kids who avoided those very things;

 

Our first cruise was on RC and we still cruise with them.  The only cruise lines we have been on are RCL and Oceania.  They are two completely different experiences and very different demographics. 

 

When RC added Grand Loft Suites to their Oasis class ships it was a game-changer for us too.  We probably wouldn't cruise with them anymore if not for that. They are beautiful cabins.  With that the Coastal Kitchen and suites only lounge is included. The food and atmosphere in there is excellent.  We haven't had many meals in their main dining room because it's mediocre at best but have had some excellent meals in their specialty restaurants. The entertainment is outstanding. 

 

We like Oceania because of the itineraries that are offered and a more laid-back and quiet atmosphere.  The point is that we like to mix it up with our cruise travel.  We enjoy both cruise lines for different reasons. 

[loge23]

Our first cruise was also on RC, way back in the early 90's. It was a try-me for me, as my spouse had already been on several cruises as a young person into her adulthood. I survived just fine and the cruising odyssey began. Our first long cruise was a memorable European jaunt from Venice to Athens that included Odessa in the Ukraine shortly after the demise of the Soviet Union. Also, Crimea at Yalta, Istanbul, and several Greek islands. We sailed on the old Star Princess back when Princess was still a predominately Italian cruise line. Service in the DR was "family style" with the waiters wielding large bowls of fabulous food and serving everyone at the table. The ship was elegant and the experience enchanting.

We stayed with Princess for over 30 more, all very enjoyable cruises. But we like to try new things. We loved the Viking River cruises and that led us to a wonderful Viking Ocean cruise to South America. Viking is very good, but the onboard atmosphere can be a bit staid. There's only so much classical music I can take. Their river cruises are somewhat looser, but they too can get a little boring at times, and we've taken all the river cruises we wanted to try.

We loved the Celebrity cruises we were on - particularly on the new Edge-class ships, but only in their excellent "Retreat" class. Their standard classes pale in comparison. 

On our last long, big ship cruise, we realized that our tastes have changed in cruising. We really don't want to be onboard with several thousand others, and all the ala carte amenities are annoying. Operational difficulties, cost-saving measures, and supply chain issues on the mass-market lines have become quite visible and difficult to cope with.

So, off to Oceania. We like that the ship is smaller, with less passengers, more inclusive, and fairly easy to deal with. We booked two, but have yet to sail with them (we'll begin in July). 

As much as we loved our Princess cruises - and in all probability will sail with them again - we're not "loyal" to any corporation, service, or other commercial entities. We pay, they deliver - or not. That said, it seems like a period of adjustment and change for the big cruise lines, and we'd like to wait that process out for awhile.

We're looking forward to our Oceania experiences. As SoFL residents like CruisinShips, it's an easy drive to the piers in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. We'll probably try a shorty on Mr. Branson's ships to see how that works out, but like CruisinShips noted, it may be a bit out of our demo for the long run.

Happy Cruising all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CruisinShips]

7 minutes ago, loge23 said:

As SoFL residents like CruisinShips, it's an easy drive to the piers in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. We'll probably try a shorty on Mr. Branson's ships to see how that works out, but like CruisinShips noted, it may be a bit out of our demo for the long run.

I find myself still trying to process my opinion on the Virgin cruise, lol.  It's just a very interestingly re-invented version of what I have been used to.  No main dining room, but five upscale restaurants (no upcharge) that are, in my opinion as good as specialty restaurants on other mid-range cruise lines.  No buffet, but instead a "food hall" setup with various restaurants from which you order from your table (not self serve).  The food was all pretty darned good.  The entertainment was pretty good.  The ship was very modern, albeit a little less "intuitive" when it comes to getting around than some of the newer mega ships.  It did not feel crowded.  Hammocks on every cabin's balcony.  The dinner and show reservation process was app based, and was stressful for many who had trouble getting what they wanted in advance.  Not the case with "Mega Rockstar" suite category guests.  Our Rockstar Agent (butler) was always around and handled all of our arrangements.  Fully stocked and restocked bar in our suite.

 

All of that was amazing...the crew was the happiest and most upbeat group I have ever seen on a ship.  I will say if you're homophobic or otherwise uncomfortable with crew members sporting facial hair and/or tattoos, then this may not be the cruise for you.  We saw it as people thriving in a work environment that let them be themselves.

 

It was just a very diverse crowd with an energetic and 20-30 something vibe (in spite of the fact there were many people older than that) and I still don't know if I liked it although we had a great trip!  I know that makes little sense!

[Redtravel]

I understand.  For many years, we sailed on mass market lines.  We are elite plus on Celebrity with almost 30 cruises.  While Celebrity does a nice cruise, we got bored.  Looking at the same menus, hearing the same lectures and jokes, and the constant cutbacks drove us to find a different experience.  Azamara was a bit better than X, but not that different.  We moved on to try Windstar, Viking, and Oceania.  We still book a Celebrity cruise once in awhile if we are sailing with a group.  As a couple, Oceania is our favorite.  We appreciate loyalty perks. However, we are more driven by itinerary.  Since the restart of cruising, we have sailed on 3 cruises...Celebrity, Windstar, and an Oceania.  They were all different...and good.  We have 3 more future bookings...a Viking and 2 Oceania.  Looking forward to a cruise on Vista. 

[maggie.1008]

We have the same history. We have 35 cruises with Celebrity and have grown tired. The suite prices are as much as the luxury lines. We have cruised on 12 different lines and enjoy the smaller ships. Right now my favorite is Oceania Riviera. 

[MyBabysBaby]

I thought I would add since we have a similar (but different—LOL)  experience. We started cruising in the early 90’s with Carnival on our honeymoon—being forced to sit with 4 other honeymoon couples was enough to stop us from cruising for over 20 years (it was an absolute nightmare). Flash-forward to my son’s HS graduation cruise (many land-based vacations in the interim) back to Carnival (we don’t learn) but we had an absolute fantastic time bringing our crew of favorite people with us (our two children) in a separate room and us in a suite (such as it were). Next we found ourselves the following year on NCL to Europe in an Owner’s Suite (kid’s still in separate rooms).

 

And we realized our cruising style: Suites with a differentiated  experience (butler’s/Genies, no Main Dining, separate quiet spaces for adults and the freedom for our favorite people (which now includes my children and my parents) to have an experience to their liking. We have cruised with NCL in a Garden Villa and RCL in Aqua Suites and Loft Suites.

 

Now as we considered taking our first cruise on our own-and realizing like previous posters that without our favorite people we can cruise exclusively for what’s suits us—a revelation! (and an extension of being an empty nester) and so far it seems that Oceania might fit the bill—regardless it will be an adventure…next summer to the Middle East on the Riviera in an Oceania Suite. 

 

Of course we will be shipping our favorite people to Paris to meet us after we disembark from Istanbul—try as we might we never learn…Cheers! 

[Jim and Monika]

We are Elite on Princess, Platinum on Carnival, 2 cruises with NCL, and coming up on our 5th with Oceania. We grew tired of Princess and started sailing Carnival. We found that a cruise is what you make of it, and carnival was an inexpensive vacation. We tried Oceania, and loved what they had to offer. The food is over the top, and all included. There are very few announcements, and no nickel and diming like the other lines. Very relaxing, and not much entertainment, we never really go to any of the shows on other lines anyway, but the bars start closing after 11 pm.  We are looking forward to many more cruises on Oceania, but will still sail Carnival out of our home port when pricing is good.

[rbtan]

Basically, look at what you're interested in. Do you like big ships with photographers/lousy art sales/mediocre food/countless intrusive announcements on the latest belly flop contests/crappy low quality jewelry & other nik knacks? if so then Oceania is not for you. If you like interesting speakers/ good to outstanding food/quiet relaxation then a line like Oceania might be a nice change.It's all up to you.

[MMDown Under]

I cruise for the itinerary except when I cruise to places like Antarctica, where I look for he expertise of Captain and Ship Officers and English as primary language.  

Downside, you never reach elite status .  

Upside, you meet the most interesting well travelled fellow passengers. 

[Vineyard View]

We started with Princess to Alaska and Carnival in the Mediterranean. Decided both companies were not us. Too many people. Too much “noise” so to speak. We aren’t evening show people even though we tried it on both lines. We don’t like buffets. We like nice wines and don’t care for kids, slides, etc. when we sail. That was before all the separate suite ship areas, but in my mind (right or wrong) you still have to leave those areas when you get off and on and it sounds like not worth trying - for us.
We then migrated to HAL small ships. Their Neptune suites and perks worked for us. Smaller ships were then sold, so we moved first to Viking Rivers. We really enjoyed their Grand European itinerary. Back then you didn’t have the choice to not dine at ‘communal’ tables unless you wanted a burger or some such on their terrace (I understand that has changed and you can dine as a couple there). We then took Viking’s inaugural oceans cruise in 2015, and have enjoyed them since. When looking for an itinerary for this year, first since Oct 19/Covid, I looked to them first. Same itineraries in the Med they have been sailing for years and we have been to way more ports on their itineraries than not. So last summer we decided we would look for itineraries on smaller ships on several lines. Because of the itinerary and promotion, we are sailing Seabourn next month for the first time. 
I am looking to next April at itineraries on four different smaller ship lines. I think we have evolved to looking at a select few lines moving forward than just focused on one.  There are a couple catching our eye, but at the top of the list is Oceania sailing several islands in the Med we have not been to on Vista. We are looking at itineraries now as much as the narrowed down cruise lines that include ones we haven’t tried yet. CC is a great tool to get a feel on the different boards. 

[hmorrow]

Our cruising evolution is very similar, living in Fla. If I never see another Caribbean island again, that will be fine with me-lol

Once we started cruising to Europe, we boardened our horizons...

We have many cruises on all those lines mentioned- Celebrity, Holland, Carnival, etc.-

We're going on our first Oceania cruise in 11 days, and can hardly wait! 

Hopefully, we will become converts! (thats the plan!)

[MEFIowa]

9 minutes ago, hmorrow said:

... If I never see another Caribbean Island again, that will be fine with me-lol

Once we started cruising to Europe, we broadened our horizons...

That's why we did our very first two cruises in the Caribbean (first Western, 2021 and then Eastern, 2022) but now have a B2B in the Med later this year and a Baltic booked in 2024. No desire to go back to the Caribbean at all.

[mauibabes]

@hmorrow

Wow, over 100 cruises, amazing. All that experience and cruise education will make it easy to understand Oceania and its differences.  11 days for your first O cruise, is it on Vista?  If so we will see you at the Meet and Greet. If not Vista, enjoy your cruise on whatever ship and the many itineraries that are NOT in the Caribbean. We will be back to Miami in October but it will be a quick exit and on to the Panama Canal transit and the Pacific. 
Enjoy,

Mauibabes

[ljones]

Have an upcoming Oceania cruise on Riviera.  While I enjoyed my 1st Oceania cruise, I found the ship small & sometimes was a bit bored.  But I am looking forward to Oceania cruise # 2 to Iceland, Greenland & Norway.  I am not a 'foodie' but only did Carnival & NCL once due to the horrible (at the time) food...Used to also be loyal to Celebrity - starting with my 1st cruise in 1996...but they seemed stuck with 7 day cruises & I had to continually find B2B's or jump ship to another line.  I ultimately discovered that was no longer for me and have chosen HAL recently due to the length of cruises - for me, it's all about the itinerary and the fewer lifetime flights involved, the better.  Just before covid (and during the initial outbreak) I was on the HAL Grand Africa cruise, 71 days circumnavigating Africa w/ rt Ft Lauderdale.  LOVED all the sights & sounds & uniqueness.  In October, will circumnavigate S America over 73 days again w/ HAL, again rt Ft Lauderdale (Seattle resident) - with an excursion to the Galapagos Islands, cruising around Antarctica and down the Amazon river.  The ship is primarily the conveyance.

Edited April 30, 2023 by ljones
add

[mac_tlc]

This is a very interesting thread, so I’ll add our experience. 
 

Our first cruise was in 2000 on Carnival. We really enjoyed being on the sea and got hooked. Prior to that we did a lot of Disney World, and still do with the grandkids. We always took our two kids with us, who we 12 and 5 when we started. We loved our Disney cruises, but their prices soon got out of reach for what you were getting —- and my wife likes the casino. We gravitated to Royal for most of the next 20 or so cruises. 
 

Their mega ships offered such a wide variety of activities and cabins and there was always something for everyone, and the entertainment was great— especially in the Aquatheatre. Once the kids were in college or moved out, the wife and I discover the Suite Life—- oh boy has that been a costly endeavor. The Crown Lofts and Aquatheatre Suites are fabulous. As we got a bit older, maybe late 50s or so, we gravitated towards Celebrity and love it. If it’s just us it’s Celebrity, if it’s kids and grandkids it’s usually Royal. 
 

We really love the Retreat on E-class and have a few more booked— a while ago at reasonable prices. The ships are gorgeous, excellent shows, and plenty of games/trivia.
 

As we look forward, the Celebrity Retreat prices are too steep. So what does one do? Start to look at other suitors. Lately, I have investigated Oceania and MSC Yacht Club. Here is why I haven’t booked either yet:

 

MSC Yacht Club —- I read mostly great reviews —- as long as you stay in YC. Not sure I want to feel that constraint, even though YC is usually 30-40% below an E-class Sky Suite, at least for those I have looked at.May try one out of NY since it’s easy to get to.

 

Oceania — For all intents and purposes, for the comparisons I have made O and X are close to a push. I believe we would only do O on the larger ships. But the biggest concern we have is that O itineraries are port intensive. As life has happened, my wife has more and more difficulty walking any distance. That makes many ports almost inaccessible. Six straight days of ports is not attractive to us. We have looked at a canal transit on Vista that holds some promise and has fewer ports.

 

I find the “hunt” to be more fun that the “kill”, so we will continue investigating. If I could get an X Sky Suite for what we just paid on Beyond a few weeks ago, it would be an easy decision. 
 

 

mac_tlc

Edited April 30, 2023 by mac_tlc

[jonthomas]

You say O is very port intensive. Not so, depends on the itinerary you chose. Also in the Caribbean for example, we have been many times and will often chose to stay on the ship. The ship is the best part of the cruise for us on O. We are recent arrivals to O, having done over 50 with Celebrity. Just recently we were on a Viking Ocean and vowed we would now sail only O. 

[mac_tlc]

33 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

You say O is very port intensive. Not so, depends on the itinerary you chose. Also in the Caribbean for example, we have been many times and will often chose to stay on the ship. The ship is the best part of the cruise for us on O. We are recent arrivals to O, having done over 50 with Celebrity. Just recently we were on a Viking Ocean and vowed we would now sail only O. 

I guess we can debate Port intensive, but the Vista cruises I was looking at in Jan/Feb/Mar 2025 out of Miami were. 7 day cruise with 4 stops, 10 day cruise with 6 stops, 12 day cruise with 7 consecutive stops. That fits my definition. 
 

True you can stay onboard,  but casino is probably closed, don’t know about other venues on O, but on almost every other shop we have sailed the lunch offerings may also be reduced, and possibly fewer activities.

 

This is not to say we won’t give O a go, we probably will in early 2025. I’m just giving you my opinion of what I have found so far. Smaller ships typically tout their ability to go places the larger ships can’t. Usually means more Port days.
 

I also took a look at Seabourn for the h”&$ of it, and their itineraries are not attractive to us. Way too many ports which we have trouble navigating.

 

mac_tlc

Edited April 30, 2023 by mac_tlc

[jonthomas]

when in port, a day on the ship is pretty much the same as other days...most of the activities are still on, our meals in the Terrace Cafe are the same...we dont like to have lunch in main dining room...

 

plenty of opportunity to walk on deck, enjoy the pool...

 

if in the Carib and there are 4 ports, we may get off the ship for one of them, just to do some long distance walking...

the ship is our destination....

 

 we are just off the Viking Star, 13 days, 3 ports....yes 10 days at sea...horrible food, roof over pool closed almost entire time, no fresh air, even though the weather was glorious...boring lectures, nothing do to on the ship...

never again...

 

cant wait to be on an O ship again...

[Sujormik]

Our Marina cruise in June will be our first on O.

 

Our first cruise was on Disney (Magic maybe?) in 2008 with my husbands entire family…it was fine.  The younger kids enjoyed, the younger teens not so much.  A little too rigid with the dining (for me) and too much in-law interaction.

 

We decided to try for a moving hotel experience after a 3 week trip to Italy with a lot of land moves. Ended up on Windstar from Lisbon to Barcelona in 2016 all suite, very small ship, met some nice people.  It was fine.  Not great weather for all the ship recreational water sports they tout.  No kids!

 

Did Alaska on Azamara Quest in 19 with 4 day land portion first.  Had the most amazing trip. Upgraded our cocktails and really connected with the fellow passengers on our land piece.  Small shower.

 

We don’t want to be with other people’s kids. We don’t want to wait in lines. We don’t need 24/7 entertainment options. We wanted to end in Norway for this trip so while I’m not wild about the itinerary, it suits our needs.  I hope we love it as much as many of you do.  
 

I just don’t see us ever getting enough cruises to benefit from the various loyalty programs, so we shall see.  My husband isn’t a beach guy. He doesn’t want to go someplace twice if he can avoid it. So I keep throwing out ideas and hope something sticks!

 

Nice thread!