Oceania vs. other cruise lines

[the more ports the better]

We started on Royal 30 years ago when the kids were little.  We have 50 or so cruises with them some on Celebrity too.  Once the kids were a little older and we started occasionally vacationing without them, we tried O, Azamara, Seabourn, Paul Gauguin, Sliver Seas…..  All are great.  
 

Now, we sail 4-5 times a year. The past several years, we sailed on O much more than the others.  Azamara has the longest port days and many overnights which is nice.  O has the best food but the worst customer communications.
 

We still sail on Royal when doing extended family, kids and grandkids cruises and enjoy them immensely.  Our last sailing, however, on Wonder of the Seas in March, a week in an OS on Royal was double the cost of 12 days in a PH on Riveria.  Kind of silly as Royal can not compare to O but we still had a great time with family.

[mac_tlc]

13 hours ago, the more ports the better said:

We started on Royal 30 years ago when the kids were little.  We have 50 or so cruises with them some on Celebrity too.  Once the kids were a little older and we started occasionally vacationing without them, we tried O, Azamara, Seabourn, Paul Gauguin, Sliver Seas…..  All are great.  
 

Now, we sail 4-5 times a year. The past several years, we sailed on O much more than the others.  Azamara has the longest port days and many overnights which is nice.  O has the best food but the worst customer communications.
 

We still sail on Royal when doing extended family, kids and grandkids cruises and enjoy them immensely.  Our last sailing, however, on Wonder of the Seas in March, a week in an OS on Royal was double the cost of 12 days in a PH on Riveria.  Kind of silly as Royal can not compare to O but we still had a great time with family.

I agree— Wonder and Icon suite prices are absolutely ridiculous.

 

BTW, given my posts on this thread, I got a kick out of your screen name 😂😂.

 

mac_tlc

[CruisinShips]

On 4/29/2023 at 5:15 PM, rbtan said:

 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?

This is just a wild guess, but I am thinking your chances of being hired as a spokesperson for Carnival or RCL are pretty much out the window!  

[piper28]

Looking at doing our first Oceania cruise in July to Alaska, so I'm definitely interested in seeing how it will be.  We started cruising in 2006, on the Crown Princess tilt cruise, and in spite of that incident, found that we really did like cruising.  We also felt the way Princess treated us after that was very well handled, and at the time, the product fit our interests and our budgets.  We did a lot of cruising on Princess, I think we're around 22 or so cruises with them?  But of that, 140+ of those days were spent on the small R class ships.  We haven't actually been back on a Princess ship since the Christmas 2019 Pacific princess sailing (although we do have one scheduled for december).  As Princess has dropped their smaller ships, our interest in them has definitely started moving away from them, so it'll be interesting what I think of the december cruise.  I think prior to the shutdown, we'd only done 1 cruise that wasn't Princess, and that was a Royal Caribbean cruise on the Anthem.  (My parent's really like Royal, and we went with them.)  It was interesting, but not really my idea of what I want from a cruising experience, but I won't rule out going on them again (and have since).  I do think whoever programmed the elevators in their ships needs to be fired.

 

Since the pandemic, as we've started taking a few cruises, we started with a Crystal cruise shortly before they went under (second to last sailing I think), and definitely enjoyed that, but realistically, we took that because of some very good pricing offers, and I don't know that it would normally be something that fits our budget.  We then took a cruise on Wonder of the Seas, which even half empty reenforced our view that those monsters ships aren't really our thing if we have a choice in the matter.  Originally last summer we had planned 28 days on Princess' Island Princess doing a baltic then iceland cruise, but canceled that even before Russia caused problems because I was still leary of whether everything would be open enough to make it worth it, and instead were going to try our first Oceania cruise.   Day before we're supposed to leave for that, wife tests positive for Covid (with no symptoms, but very fast positive, that lasted a long time before she finally tested clear).  I ended up sick with it by a few days later, so it probably wasn't a false.  Wasn't too bad for me, basically ended up just being like a regular cold, but obviously we missed that cruise.  We ended up doing a quick jaunt on a Celebrity cruise just to get away for a few days.  Celebrity was interesting, but after now having done a couple cruises on them, I'm not entirely sure they quite know what they want to be as a cruise line - they're trying to project an image as being a step up from Royal, but I'm not convinced they hitting that mark.  They also far and away have been the worst cruise line to deal with for food allergies of any that we've dealt with.  Thankfully my wife's allergies aren't real serious, but if you had a serious food allergy problem then I honestly would advise against Celebrity based on my experience.

 

After that, decided we really wanted to try something different, and since it fit our schedule, we did an 11 day Windstar cruise on one of their sailing ships.   And quite frankly, that feeling of home we had when we first started with Princess was back.  I'm really looking forward to our next cruise (although not the flights too and from it).   The biggest problems for us with windstar is cost and convenience - depending on the cruise, it's definitely on the more expensive side of things for us (we're not exactly suite people on the mass market lines), and since my wife's a teacher, fitting cruises into her schedule can be a bit tough, especially with some of the flight routings required for it.  I'll be honest, there have been times when I really wish I'd booked the windstar cruise to alaska instead of the Oceania one we have booked.

 

So that brings us to now, just a couple months from our first Oceania one.  I'm hoping we'll get that same feeling of home.  I've wanted to try Oceania for quite a while, but part of it's been finding an itinerary that fit our schedule wasn't always easy, and part of it has been cost issues.   I fully admit that I'm going to be one of those down in the porthole oceanview rooms.  I know the R class ships aren't necessarily universally loved by the Oceania fans, but at least for us, it'll be a very familiar experience, so I'm probably willing to overlook some of the shortcomings that O fans that like the bigger ships point out.  If we decide we like it, I've already got my eye on an itinerary for Christmas 2024 that I think looks interesting, although there's a couple others that have some competition for it.  Unfortunately, also I think R class, making the other ships fit in our holiday schedule just seems to be tough.

 

I will say, things leading up to that first Oceania cruise, I do have mixed opinions.  There's a number of things that I think Oceania just needs to figure out how to do better.  One is definitely their IT.  I think it's a given that everyone complains about the IT department of whatever cruise line they're dealing with.  I've done enough now, that outside of maybe Windstar that is on the simplistic side of their IT interactions, Oceania is by far and away the absolute worst.  The simple fact that their website can't show proper pricing for excursions when you try to book them is a disgrace - and it's not like this is a new issue for them.  Of course, part of that stems from the fact that Oceania probably has the absolute most complicated fare structure for their cabins and then pricing structure for their excursions.  It's silly, and something they really should simplify.  And it's already been a pain on this coming cruise where they charged me the reduced rate for the YWC way of buying excursions, but then actually billed the account the other 25% of the cost for it to be paid when final payment was made.  Dealt with, but if they didn't make life so complicated, probably wouldn't have been needed.

 

So, overly long, and nobody probably made it to here.  Looking forward to trying Oceania, and from the outside in at least it looks like the type of thing we're looking for.  I'm just hoping it meets expectations.

[Rainbow3fe]

On 4/26/2023 at 8:56 AM, CruisinShips said:

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?

Wow. That is certainly a different History from ours. We are Oceania lovers who avoided cruising until we discovered that we could combine fine dining, meeting people of similar interests and going on cruises with exceptional itineraries. 

      For years we avoided cruises. If you want to stay on a Caribbean Island Beach,  then go there and reksx. We only cruised on tbe cheap 3 or 4 night trips from Florida on NCL,  just to get away.

     Our main traveling experiences were flying to a country and exploring for a month. We spent time in Italy,  Israel, Spain and France. We would take trains or rent a car and visit 3 or 4 different regions. Then we realized that we didn't have to fly back home.  We began taking Oceania Trans Atlantic cruises. My husband loves sea days.  Now we combine port intensive trips and ones with sea days.

     We were in Argentina and had a fabulous cruise up the Eastern Coast of South America before heading to Europe. Another time we cruised Oceania from Papette to Sydney and remained in Australia for a month. 

    A few years ago we decided to try other cruiselines to compare them with Oceania. The prices were so tempting but it turned out that saving money isn't worth it for us. 

    Princess 2018 was disappointing and Celebrity Edge 2022 was worse. Yes, the staterooms are nice and the service is good. The dining  was never really enjoyable.  The buffet food was awful and we felt we were eating in cafeterias. The fine dining lacked the quality that we have become used to. We were grateful that we had Aquaclass on The Edge   because we were able to dine in Blu.  The room is OK and the service was attentive.The  menu sounded nice but the food was awful. Poor quality products make tasteless fish and yucky vegetables  

     Oceania's food and restaurants are head and shoulders above the others. The service is wonderful.  The staff takes time to get to know you. 

     I believe you're going to love Vista, although nobody has sailed on her yet. We are looking forward to our upcoming cruises, 3 Vista's, 1 Regatta and 1 Riviera.  

Felice 

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by Rainbow3fe

[Beagle5]

I'll throw in my 2 cents worth.

We have done 3 cruises on O (40 nights total) and we love it - it is our preferred line. But we are also finding it increasingly expensive.

We came to O early in our cruising life after one each on Royal, Princess & Cunard. We still sail all these lines as we are primarily itinerary driven.

 

I am writing this from the balcony of our Junior Suite on the Ovation of the Seas as we sail into Honolulu after an 18 day Transpacific from Sydney.

For about 60% of the cost per day of a balcony on O we have had a cabin and balcony about 50% bigger than a Marina/Riviera standard cabin. Food has obviously been of lower quality, but acceptable. Coastal Kitchen (the Suites restaurant) though has been on par with Oceania food. We ate there 7 out of 17 nights. Activities and entertainment have been much better than what is offered on O.  The big negative is the crowds getting off and on the ship, so we probably wouldn't choose a mega ship for a port intensive cruise, but for trans-oceanics they are great.

 

We love Oceania but have tired a bit of the menus in the Specialties. Our future cruise plans are to continue to 'mix it up' between the mass market lines (grabbing suites where the price is right) and O, largely based on itinerary.

 

We are fortunate that we are glass half full people and have never had a bad day at sea. The ocean looks the same whatever ship you are on.

[Rainbow3fe]

10 minutes ago, Beagle5 said:

I'll throw in my 2 cents worth.

We have done 3 cruises on O (40 nights total) and we love it - it is our preferred line. But we are also finding it increasingly expensive.

We came to O early in our cruising life after one each on Royal, Princess & Cunard. We still sail all these lines as we are primarily itinerary driven.

 

I am writing this from the balcony of our Junior Suite on the Ovation of the Seas as we sail into Honolulu after an 18 day Transpacific from Sydney.

For about 60% of the cost per day of a balcony on O we have had a cabin and balcony about 50% bigger than a Marina/Riviera standard cabin. Food has obviously been of lower quality, but acceptable. Coastal Kitchen (the Suites restaurant) though has been on par with Oceania food. We ate there 7 out of 17 nights. Activities and entertainment have been much better than what is offered on O.  The big negative is the crowds getting off and on the ship, so we probably wouldn't choose a mega ship for a port intensive cruise, but for trans-oceanics they are great.

 

We love Oceania but have tired a bit of the menus in the Specialties. Our future cruise plans are to continue to 'mix it up' between the mass market lines (grabbing suites where the price is right) and O, largely based on itinerary.

 

We are fortunate that we are glass half full people and have never had a bad day at sea. The ocean looks the same whatever ship you are on.

Hi,

    We love the ambience on Oceania. It's got a relaxed atmosphere. I know the shows aren't extravaganzas but it's fine with us. We've met others who enjoy the String Quartet and Piano Bar as much as we do. I agree about the menus getting tiresome. Maybe Vista will have a new menu. 

    Yes, you have a larger stateroom for less money but I will take the smaller room if I can enjoy quality, well prepared food.  It's all personal choice. 

     We couldn't stand the loud noise on the pool deck.on Princess with the huge screen blasting all day long. We paid for cabanas when we wanted to relax by a pool. I hate being nickel and dimed for "better" food by paying for a restaurant on a shio. Celebrity charged extra for certain ice cream *****????

      This is an interesting thread.

Felice 

Edited May 1, 2023 by Rainbow3fe

[avalong]

1 hour ago, piper28 said:

Looking at doing our first Oceania cruise in July to Alaska, so I'm definitely interested in seeing how it will be.  We started cruising in 2006, on the Crown Princess tilt cruise, and in spite of that incident, found that we really did like cruising.  We also felt the way Princess treated us after that was very well handled, and at the time, the product fit our interests and our budgets.  We did a lot of cruising on Princess, I think we're around 22 or so cruises with them?  But of that, 140+ of those days were spent on the small R class ships.  We haven't actually been back on a Princess ship since the Christmas 2019 Pacific princess sailing (although we do have one scheduled for december).  As Princess has dropped their smaller ships, our interest in them has definitely started moving away from them, so it'll be interesting what I think of the december cruise.  I think prior to the shutdown, we'd only done 1 cruise that wasn't Princess, and that was a Royal Caribbean cruise on the Anthem.  (My parent's really like Royal, and we went with them.)  It was interesting, but not really my idea of what I want from a cruising experience, but I won't rule out going on them again (and have since).  I do think whoever programmed the elevators in their ships needs to be fired.

 

Since the pandemic, as we've started taking a few cruises, we started with a Crystal cruise shortly before they went under (second to last sailing I think), and definitely enjoyed that, but realistically, we took that because of some very good pricing offers, and I don't know that it would normally be something that fits our budget.  We then took a cruise on Wonder of the Seas, which even half empty reenforced our view that those monsters ships aren't really our thing if we have a choice in the matter.  Originally last summer we had planned 28 days on Princess' Island Princess doing a baltic then iceland cruise, but canceled that even before Russia caused problems because I was still leary of whether everything would be open enough to make it worth it, and instead were going to try our first Oceania cruise.   Day before we're supposed to leave for that, wife tests positive for Covid (with no symptoms, but very fast positive, that lasted a long time before she finally tested clear).  I ended up sick with it by a few days later, so it probably wasn't a false.  Wasn't too bad for me, basically ended up just being like a regular cold, but obviously we missed that cruise.  We ended up doing a quick jaunt on a Celebrity cruise just to get away for a few days.  Celebrity was interesting, but after now having done a couple cruises on them, I'm not entirely sure they quite know what they want to be as a cruise line - they're trying to project an image as being a step up from Royal, but I'm not convinced they hitting that mark.  They also far and away have been the worst cruise line to deal with for food allergies of any that we've dealt with.  Thankfully my wife's allergies aren't real serious, but if you had a serious food allergy problem then I honestly would advise against Celebrity based on my experience.

 

After that, decided we really wanted to try something different, and since it fit our schedule, we did an 11 day Windstar cruise on one of their sailing ships.   And quite frankly, that feeling of home we had when we first started with Princess was back.  I'm really looking forward to our next cruise (although not the flights too and from it).   The biggest problems for us with windstar is cost and convenience - depending on the cruise, it's definitely on the more expensive side of things for us (we're not exactly suite people on the mass market lines), and since my wife's a teacher, fitting cruises into her schedule can be a bit tough, especially with some of the flight routings required for it.  I'll be honest, there have been times when I really wish I'd booked the windstar cruise to alaska instead of the Oceania one we have booked.

 

So that brings us to now, just a couple months from our first Oceania one.  I'm hoping we'll get that same feeling of home.  I've wanted to try Oceania for quite a while, but part of it's been finding an itinerary that fit our schedule wasn't always easy, and part of it has been cost issues.   I fully admit that I'm going to be one of those down in the porthole oceanview rooms.  I know the R class ships aren't necessarily universally loved by the Oceania fans, but at least for us, it'll be a very familiar experience, so I'm probably willing to overlook some of the shortcomings that O fans that like the bigger ships point out.  If we decide we like it, I've already got my eye on an itinerary for Christmas 2024 that I think looks interesting, although there's a couple others that have some competition for it.  Unfortunately, also I think R class, making the other ships fit in our holiday schedule just seems to be tough.

 

I will say, things leading up to that first Oceania cruise, I do have mixed opinions.  There's a number of things that I think Oceania just needs to figure out how to do better.  One is definitely their IT.  I think it's a given that everyone complains about the IT department of whatever cruise line they're dealing with.  I've done enough now, that outside of maybe Windstar that is on the simplistic side of their IT interactions, Oceania is by far and away the absolute worst.  The simple fact that their website can't show proper pricing for excursions when you try to book them is a disgrace - and it's not like this is a new issue for them.  Of course, part of that stems from the fact that Oceania probably has the absolute most complicated fare structure for their cabins and then pricing structure for their excursions.  It's silly, and something they really should simplify.  And it's already been a pain on this coming cruise where they charged me the reduced rate for the YWC way of buying excursions, but then actually billed the account the other 25% of the cost for it to be paid when final payment was made.  Dealt with, but if they didn't make life so complicated, probably wouldn't have been needed.

 

So, overly long, and nobody probably made it to here.  Looking forward to trying Oceania, and from the outside in at least it looks like the type of thing we're looking for.  I'm just hoping it meets expectations.

I am both a Windstar and Oceania fan. I think you made a good decision to go with Oceania to Alaska. Windstar's little yachts just don't have enough indoor space for cool weather cruises. I absolutely love Windstar, but chose Oceania for Norway for this reason.

[remydiva]

Agree with others this is an interesting thread!

here’s my two cents —/

just home from our 20 th Princess cruise of 4 th TA ( different ports each time) and feel we need a change.

 

As others said, not only has product changed over the years, but so have we as we age.

Too many people, too many lines, not enough enrichment opportunities, too many ‘health/ wellness ‘ promos (7-8 every day from acupuncture to teeth whitening) to push sales etc. The demographics in both age and ‘style’ has changed and eroded imho.

 

Princess Elite perks all but disappeared so staying for loyalty alone not the deciding factor.
Itinerary, shipboard experience, food and demographics of fellow passengers now more important.

We also have 2 RCCL, 3 Viking river cruises, 2 Uniworld river cruises and 4 land tours — two with private chauffeurs which were amazing.

So like others here, it’s time for a change and I will look into Oceania as a possible option.

I have Orkney Islands on my bucket list and see they have a cruise that includes that so it might be a good test run.

 

[Rainbow3fe]

1 hour ago, remydiva said:

Agree with others this is an interesting thread!

here’s my two cents —/

just home from our 20 th Princess cruise of 4 th TA ( different ports each time) and feel we need a change.

 

As others said, not only has product changed over the years, but so have we as we age.

Too many people, too many lines, not enough enrichment opportunities, too many ‘health/ wellness ‘ promos (7-8 every day from acupuncture to teeth whitening) to push sales etc. The demographics in both age and ‘style’ has changed and eroded imho.

 

Princess Elite perks all but disappeared so staying for loyalty alone not the deciding factor.
Itinerary, shipboard experience, food and demographics of fellow passengers now more important.

We also have 2 RCCL, 3 Viking river cruises, 2 Uniworld river cruises and 4 land tours — two with private chauffeurs which were amazing.

So like others here, it’s time for a change and I will look into Oceania as a possible option.

I have Orkney Islands on my bucket list and see they have a cruise that includes that so it might be a good test run.

 

     Wow. You definitely have lots of cruising experience. 

     We can only say that if you are looking for a laid back adventure, try Oceania. Great lecturers, talented String Quartet, intimate Piano Bar, no children's activities, no formal nights,  no photographers, no art auctions and no charge for great restaurants. 

Felice 

[remydiva]

45 minutes ago, Rainbow3fe said:

     Wow. You definitely have lots of cruising experience. 

     We can only say that if you are looking for a laid back adventure, try Oceania. Great lecturers, talented String Quartet, intimate Piano Bar, no children's activities, no formal nights,  no photographers, no art auctions and no charge for great restaurants. 

Felice 

Sounds perfect! The never ending art auctions .. ugh! Good riddance!

[cjwags]

This is such an interesting thread!  We certainly all evolve and grow as we age. 

 

My first cruise was in 2000, when kids were young. It was Celebrity in the Caribbean.  Whole family loved it so much we booked another Celebrity to Alaska soon after. Food was great back then, or at least I remember it that way. Then joined friends on Royal back to Caribbean. Royal was a bit too "theme park", even with preteen kids.  Next we tried HAL in Mexican Rivera.  A bit too sleepy for us.  We booked private excursions in every port on every cruise that were amazing and created memories that have lasted for years.  

 

Fast forward to 2019, kids grown, new marriage, 50 something, and a return to cruising.  Celebrity again in Alaska.  It was my husband's first cruise ever so it was fun seeing it through his eyes.  Fantastic aft veranda cabin. Never ate in main dining room, instead enjoyed specialty dining every night. (Didn't love the up charge every night!) Once again spectacular excursions in every port - helicopter to glacier, dog sledding, float plane to fjords, whale watching.  While there was nothing negative about the trip, we are ready for something a little different.

 

Usually we are independent travelers to Europe at least once a year.  Over the past ten years we have been wine tasting in every corner of Italy and France, hiking in Switzerland, theater in London...all great trips full of adventure.

 

But now we are in need of another cruise.  We have decided on O for this one, based mostly on the prospect of great food, a laid back atmosphere, and a good itinerary - all on the new Vista, this June.  We will spend most of everyday off the ship, on a combination of ship and private excursions and tours.  We are excited and a tad bit nervous about trying something new, but are very ready to "upgrade" from Celebrity.  Would have considered Regent, but too big of a cost leap.  We have also booked O for Japan in 2024.  

 

Will certainly check back in after the voyage to share our experience. I so appreciate hearing everyone's take on other lines and am impressed with the loyalty to O!

[Rainbow3fe]

8 hours ago, cjwags said:

This is such an interesting thread!  We certainly all evolve and grow as we age. 

 

My first cruise was in 2000, when kids were young. It was Celebrity in the Caribbean.  Whole family loved it so much we booked another Celebrity to Alaska soon after. Food was great back then, or at least I remember it that way. Then joined friends on Royal back to Caribbean. Royal was a bit too "theme park", even with preteen kids.  Next we tried HAL in Mexican Rivera.  A bit too sleepy for us.  We booked private excursions in every port on every cruise that were amazing and created memories that have lasted for years.  

 

Fast forward to 2019, kids grown, new marriage, 50 something, and a return to cruising.  Celebrity again in Alaska.  It was my husband's first cruise ever so it was fun seeing it through his eyes.  Fantastic aft veranda cabin. Never ate in main dining room, instead enjoyed specialty dining every night. (Didn't love the up charge every night!) Once again spectacular excursions in every port - helicopter to glacier, dog sledding, float plane to fjords, whale watching.  While there was nothing negative about the trip, we are ready for something a little different.

 

Usually we are independent travelers to Europe at least once a year.  Over the past ten years we have been wine tasting in every corner of Italy and France, hiking in Switzerland, theater in London...all great trips full of adventure.

 

But now we are in need of another cruise.  We have decided on O for this one, based mostly on the prospect of great food, a laid back atmosphere, and a good itinerary - all on the new Vista, this June.  We will spend most of everyday off the ship, on a combination of ship and private excursions and tours.  We are excited and a tad bit nervous about trying something new, but are very ready to "upgrade" from Celebrity.  Would have considered Regent, but too big of a cost leap.  We have also booked O for Japan in 2024.  

 

Will certainly check back in after the voyage to share our experience. I so appreciate hearing everyone's take on other lines and am impressed with the loyalty to O!

Hi,

     We also enjoy independent travel and love wine tasting experiences.  Oceania permits you to bring wine aboard. They may post a "limited of number of bottles" but never say anything.  When we board in Europe we usually bring at least 6 bottles.  At every port you can pick up  more. 

       They permit drinking it in your stateroom/veranda. If you bring one to a restaurant there's a corkage fee. They'll save the open bottle for another day.

    Enjoy 😎🎶🌊 Oceania.  We have Vista coming up as well. Cannot wait.

     Make sure you get to experience High Tea. It's quite special.🥂

Felice 

 

[CruisinShips]

This really has been a great thread.  When I posted it I feared it wouldn't be well received, but I am appreciative of everyone who chimed in and shared their own cruising evolutions and insights.  I've enjoyed reading your comments and hope there will be more to come!

[sunlover12]

I think the mainstream lines have evolved over time. I was on Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas in January.  It's their newest ship and the fares were high as some here have mentioned. This was Wonder's first winter in the Caribbean. The fares will be going down after it gets past its first year.

 

We didn't encounter any pushy photographers.  They used to come by your table each evening at dinner. They don't do that anymore.  I think there were art auctions listed on the calendar but it wasn't overt. You had to look for it if you were interested in attending. No more port shopping lectures on this cruise as has been done in the past. As for formal nights, they technically do exist but the vast majority of passengers dress smart casual. The number of tuxedos and ball gowns I saw I could count on one hand. There is a piano bar on the ship with quiet entertainment. No string quartet though. 

 

So I just wanted to put in my two cents worth in defense of the big ships. The biggest negative, IMO,  with the mega ships is that they're very limited in what ports they can go to. 

[MEFIowa]

7 minutes ago, sunlover12 said:

... So I just wanted to put in my two cents worth in defense of the big ships. The biggest negative, IMO, with the mega ships is that they're very limited in what ports they can go to. 

Never have done one. Can only imagine what they're like with children or drunk college students or graduates.

 

We had our one such "drunk" on Sirena last year. He was a nice kid, recent college graduate, and the life of the party one night on his birthday. But as his mother told us, the guests kept plying him with liquor and he got hammered. I ran into him that night while we was nicely intoxicated but not yet gonzo-blotter. When I saw him the next two days, he was nursing his vicious hangover by the pool. IIRC, "Nick". Thinking his mom later said they'd probably not do another O cruise, at least not with the 3 kids (17-22 in age). Just wasn't enough for them to do on board.

 

As for a Disney cruise on a mega-ship, I love to joke that you can smell and taste the urine in the swimming pools and water slides!

[SATaxman]

17 hours ago, Rainbow3fe said:

Wow. That is certainly a different History from ours. We are Oceania lovers who avoided cruising until we discovered that we could combine fine dining, meeting people of similar interests and going on cruises with exceptional itineraries. 

      For years we avoided cruises. If you want to stay on a Caribbean Island Beach,  then go there and reksx. We only cruised on tbe cheap 3 or 4 night trips from Florida on NCL,  just to get away.

     Our main traveling experiences were flying to a country and exploring for a month. We spent time in Italy,  Israel, Spain and France. We would take trains or rent a car and visit 3 or 4 different regions. Then we realized that we didn't have to fly back home.  We began taking Oceania Trans Atlantic cruises. My husband loves sea days.  Now we combine port intensive trips and ones with sea days.

     We were in Argentina and had a fabulous cruise up the Eastern Coast of South America before heading to Europe. Another time we cruised Oceania from Papette to Sydney and remained in Australia for a month. 

    A few years ago we decided to try other cruiselines to compare them with Oceania. The prices were so tempting but it turned out that saving money isn't worth it for us. 

    Princess 2018 was disappointing and Celebrity Edge 2022 was worse. Yes, the staterooms are nice and the service is good. The dining  was never really enjoyable.  The buffet food was awful and we felt we were eating in cafeterias. The fine dining lacked the quality that we have become used to. We were grateful that we had Aquaclass on The Edge   because we were able to dine in Blu.  The room is OK and the service was attentive.The  menu sounded nice but the food was awful. Poor quality products make tasteless fish and yucky vegetables  

     Oceania's food and restaurants are head and shoulders above the others. The service is wonderful.  The staff takes time to get to know you. 

     I believe you're going to love Vista, although nobody has sailed on her yet. We are looking forward to our upcoming cruises, 3 Vista's, 1 Regatta and 1 Riviera.  

Felice 

 

Thank you for your analysis. We have booked our first Oceania cruise in the Fall. Looking forward to it. I grew up in Rockaway. 141st street.

[Rainbow3fe]

6 hours ago, SATaxman said:

Thank you for your analysis. We have booked our first Oceania cruise in the Fall. Looking forward to it. I grew up in Rockaway. 141st street.

Wow.  It's great here. We moved from Brooklyn 5 years ago.  We are on the beach block on 125. I hope you enjoy Oceania.  🌊😎🎶lo

Felice 

[avalong]

23 hours ago, remydiva said:

Agree with others this is an interesting thread!

here’s my two cents —/

just home from our 20 th Princess cruise of 4 th TA ( different ports each time) and feel we need a change.

 

As others said, not only has product changed over the years, but so have we as we age.

Too many people, too many lines, not enough enrichment opportunities, too many ‘health/ wellness ‘ promos (7-8 every day from acupuncture to teeth whitening) to push sales etc. The demographics in both age and ‘style’ has changed and eroded imho.

 

Princess Elite perks all but disappeared so staying for loyalty alone not the deciding factor.
Itinerary, shipboard experience, food and demographics of fellow passengers now more important.

We also have 2 RCCL, 3 Viking river cruises, 2 Uniworld river cruises and 4 land tours — two with private chauffeurs which were amazing.

So like others here, it’s time for a change and I will look into Oceania as a possible option.

I have Orkney Islands on my bucket list and see they have a cruise that includes that so it might be a good test run.

 

May I ask what company you used for your land tours, especially the privately chauffered ones?

[Rainbow3fe]

7 hours ago, sunlover12 said:

I think the mainstream lines have evolved over time. I was on Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas in January.  It's their newest ship and the fares were high as some here have mentioned. This was Wonder's first winter in the Caribbean. The fares will be going down after it gets past its first year.

 

We didn't encounter any pushy photographers.  They used to come by your table each evening at dinner. They don't do that anymore.  I think there were art auctions listed on the calendar but it wasn't overt. You had to look for it if you were interested in attending. No more port shopping lectures on this cruise as has been done in the past. As for formal nights, they technically do exist but the vast majority of passengers dress smart casual. The number of tuxedos and ball gowns I saw I could count on one hand. There is a piano bar on the ship with quiet entertainment. No string quartet though. 

 

So I just wanted to put in my two cents worth in defense of the big ships. The biggest negative, IMO,  with the mega ships is that they're very limited in what ports they can go to. 

I hear you if you lare comfortable with so many people. But were the pool decks noisy? Did the buffet look like a Cafeteria? 

[remydiva]

15 minutes ago, avalong said:

May I ask what company you used for your land tours, especially the privately chauffered ones?

Sure! 
for Ireland we used “Ireland Chauffeur Travel “ ( not sure if we can post web links here) … together we planned itinerary and style , they booked all accommodation and we had same driver/guide for the full 10 days in a private Mercedes Sprinter van.

https://www.irelandchauffeurtravel.com/

 

 

for Italy we used Dragonfly Tours. They too helped us plan itinerary based on our interests, time and budget. They booked all accommodation but we used fast trains to get from city to city. They arranged for driver to pick us up at train station and provided us with guides each day,

https://www.dragonflytours.net/

 

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by remydiva

[avalong]

7 minutes ago, remydiva said:

Sure! 
for Ireland we used “Ireland Chauffeur Travel “ ( not sure if we can post web links here) … together we planned itinerary and style , they booked all accommodation and we had same driver/guide for the full 10 days in a private Mercedes Sprinter van.

 

for Italy we used Dragonfly Tours. They too helped us plan itinerary based on our interests, time and budget. They booked all accommodation but we used fast trains to get from city to city. They arranged for driver to pick us up at train station and provided us with guides each day,

https://www.dragonflytours.net/

 

 

Thank you so much!

[SATaxman]

17 minutes ago, Rainbow3fe said:

Wow.  It's great here. We moved from Brooklyn 5 years ago.  We are on the beach block on 125. I hope you enjoy Oceania.  🌊😎🎶lo

Felice 

Thanks

[CruisinShips]

Has anyone here tried Tauck for a land tour or a river cruise?  We have been on two of their land tours...pretty first class and a decent alternative to a cruise when seeing sites more inland.

[mauibabes]

Yes, we I did a river cruise, Amsterdam to Budapest. We found the Tauck portion of the trip to be outstanding. The Boat portion was certainly not up to Oceania standards nor was the food.  Met great people and had a wonderful time in spite of some personal issues and inconveniences.
Last Fall we did a Great Lakes tour and Tauck uses Ponant for the 7 days of sailing.  Ponant is NOT Oceania so we would only rate it a C+ or B-.  Service was great but the 5 Star French Chef’s cuisine was terribly lacking, as was the quality of the food. The Tauck team was outstanding  but most every aspect of the tour plan hit major glitches. We lost some exceptional venues, a major hotel foul up in Chicago. Oh yes, we caught Covid and were quarantined for 5 days on the ship. We reconfirmed, NEVER book an inside room if you are going to be locked in your room for 5 days 🤪🤬.  Through it all, Tauck stepped up like the exceptional tour company they are and owned the trip failures.  Refunded all guests $2000 cash, the Fairmont in Chicago gave all guests $500 for cancelling the nights reservation. Tauck also gave everyone a $1500 FCC but many of the people were willing to throw away that FCC.  
If We are going to do a land tour in the future, we will definitely do it on Tauck. We hold any cruise company to the Oceania standard and we believe Tauck is the BEST and it fell far short so no more river cruising for us, only Ocean cruises. 

Our 2 cents and experience.

Mauibabes