Oceania versus Princess

[tropicalkerry2002]

Hubby and I have booked our first ever cruise with Oceania to the Med in Oct 2007. I looked at a couple of other cruise lines very briefly, and it was easy to decide on Oceania.

Friends of ours thought they might come along, and we were thrilled, but they went to a travel agent not on Oceania's list of recommended agents, and were told other cruise lines were better, and they have found a Med cruise,2 days shorter for about the same price, with Princess. They want to make an informed decision before committing.

I have emailed a couple of threads to them where Princess has briefly been mentioned as not even being in the same league, but hope readers out there will point out differences other than the size difference, and the no kids programs.

Thanks for your help.

Marian

[LHT28]

Are you trying to convince them to try Oceania?

Are they price motivated?

 

If they want to do Oceania cruise they can tell their TA that is what they want or they are free to find another agent .

I can give you my agent in the GTA if they want a new agent she would be happy to book them on Oceania.;)

 

 

If they have their mind set to do a cheaper cruise you probably will not change their minds.

It all depends on what their priorities are.

IMHO there is no comparision between O & Princess they are both good in their own way.

 

O is more port intensive not sure on Princess.

[Three Amigas]

I sailed on Insignia this past spring, on a Med cruise, with two friends who did a Princess cruise last year. When comparing the two lines, they said the food on Oceania was much better. They also thought the Oceania crew was friendlier and able to interact with the passengers more than on the Princess cruise. However, they did note that may have been a function of size - more passengers on the Princess cruise.

 

Another difference, due to size, may be the ports. During our stops along the Amalfi coast, our guide told us that he drives to Naples to pick up customers sailing on Princess due to the size of the Princess ships (although he reported that a smaller Princess ship that can stop along the coast is scheduled for 2008). One of the nicest parts about our trip was being so close to such a picturesque coast line. We tendered to the dock, but it was hardly inconvenient, as the trip took less than ten minutes.

 

Overall, I was very impressed with Oceania. I am sailing on Princess next spring and will undoubtably draw my own comparisons! :)

[nparmelee]

To me, no comparison! We enjoyed our Princess cruise, we liked our Celebrity cruise a little more, better service and food for us, after Oceania, we might go with Celbrity again if they had an itinerary that was something speical, but it would take a bit more for us to sail with Princess again. Given two cruises of similar itinerary and O being more expensive, I'd go with O in a heartbeat. Food, service and size of ship (never waited in line on O) make a huge difference for us. If enterainment is something of high import, then you may want to look at a mass market line, that was the only area lacking for us, but it wasn't very improtant to us either. Cruise enjoyment is very subjective, one of the reasons that there are so many options out there!

[Windrunner I]

Hubby and I have booked our first ever cruise with Oceania to the Med in Oct 2007. I looked at a couple of other cruise lines very briefly, and it was easy to decide on Oceania.

Friends of ours thought they might come along, and we were thrilled, but they went to a travel agent not on Oceania's list of recommended agents, and were told other cruise lines were better, and they have found a Med cruise,2 days shorter for about the same price, with Princess. They want to make an informed decision before committing.

I have emailed a couple of threads to them where Princess has briefly been mentioned as not even being in the same league, but hope readers out there will point out differences other than the size difference, and the no kids programs.

Thanks for your help.

Marian

 

They should ask that agent what experience he or she has selling Oceania and why other cruise lines are better. What cruise lines do they reccomend and what are the various pros and cons.

 

I can tell you that in my experiences, Princess can't hold a candle to Oceania in most respects. Food, service, attention to detail with the onboard product is flawless. The crew is really warm and ingratiating, they're not pre-programmed service-bots that you find on many of the other larger lines.

 

If the Princess cruise was substantially less exepensive, I would say take a look as Princess has some good deals. But if it's about the same price, dollar for dollar, you can't find another experience like Oceania.

[Jane110]

I've been on two Oceania cruises (Europe & South America) and one Princess cruise (Baltic) and we enjoyed them all.

 

Obviously the size of the ship and number of passengers on the ship is the biggest difference and there are positive and negatives to depending on what people like.

 

The Oceania ships are probably the prettiest ships I've ever been on with lovely wood paneling and a gorgeous library that's open 24/7. A big plus is that there are very few kids on Oceania, you may get one or two per cruise. However, on our Princess cruise there were no babies or toddlers and the kids aboard were not annoying. (That probably is a function of it being a foreign cruise and not a carribbean one)

 

On Oceania, you'll get to see alot of the same people over and over which builds a nice comraderie. There are often remarks about what nice people you meet on Oceania and I think that's one of the reasons, you get to know others a little better. On Princess, you may never again see the people you chatted with over breakfast one morning.

 

Entertainment - On Oceania, you won't see the big, splashy shows, but instead will have low key entertainment - a singer, a magician. On sea days, there are less ship organized activities on Oceania (yes, there's an art auction and trivia games) because there are less people to create activities for.

 

NO formal nights! For me as well as many others, one of the big attractions of Oceania is Country Club Casual all the time. Yes, people take it up a notch for dinner, but no suits, long dresses, etc required. On Princess, you'll have two nights of gowns and tuxes/suits.

 

Computer prices on Oceania are absolutely ridiculous. I think $.95 a minute and the connection is really, really s-l-o-w. Princess is a whole lot less and the connections are much, much faster.

 

The dining on Oceania is superb, though I must admit to being pleasantly surprised by Princess' food. It was very good. Oceania has only open seating and Princess offers a choice of regular dining room with traditional seating as well as open seating in alternative dining rooms. On Oceania there's no addt'l charge for specialty dining while there is on Princess. Alcohol prices & corkage fee's are alot higher on Oceania than on Princess.

 

Comparing catagory w/ catagory, cabins are larger on Princess than on Oceania, but Oceania's are prettier with the lovely bedding. We always take a cabin with a balcony. On Oceania there's no refrigerator, on Princess there is. Bath-tub - not on Oceania - (unless you go to penthouse or suite) yes on Princess. Princess has two TV's in the room - one facing the bed, one facing the couch. Both lines offer 24 hour room service.

 

Overall, we prefer the small ship experience and the comraderie it encourages amongst the passengers. We don't care for the big shows but some people missed them.

 

Hope this helps.

[shoshona2]

Hi Jane,

 

You said it all very well. Since you have been aboard Oceania, the outside cabins on Deck 7 have refrigerators. We put our Champagne (which the line gives Concierge Class) in it to chill for dinner one night. We brought it up to the dining room and since it was Oceania's champagne, there was no corkage charge.

 

Sheila

[mike35]

Our three most recent cruises have been Oceania (January '07 and March '07) and Princess (August '07), so we have a pretty good recent basis for comparison. Jane's comments parallel ours. Princess has become rather "Carnivalized", with many attempts to "sell" extras such as wine tastings, shore excursions, etc. We were in a mini-suite on Princess, so we did enjoy the larger "digs", tub, two TV's, etc.

 

We especially agree with the cameraderie among both passengers and crew on Oceania. We met and have become friends with many of our fellow "O" passengers (are you listening, Sheila??), but the sheer numbers on Princess have pretty much precluded that "closeness". And O's crew are second to none.

 

And yes, one of the continuing major irritants to many O passengers is the ridiculous internet charges. Princess charges 35 cents/minute with reasonable connect speeds, compared with O's 95 cents/minute. Repeat Princess cruisers get free internet connection!

 

We'll try our first Holland America cruise in December, so we'll be anxious to compare it with our Oceania and Princess experiences.

 

Mike

[LHT28]

Our three most recent cruises have been Oceania (January '07 and March '07) and Princess (August '07), so we have a pretty good recent basis for comparison.

Mike

 

Mike

Do you have a time travel machine???

:D

[shoshona2]

Hi Mike,

 

I was sure listening. Went to get a cup of coffee and read your nice post. We love the comraderi we experienced on our three Oceania cruises. It's always nice to meet nice people aboard a ship. Most of the people we have met on Oceania are well traveled and intelligent. We feel the same way about Tauck Tours -- having taken over 11 now. We certainly don't feel the same on the big ships we have taken, unless we were lucky enough to meet a nice couple at our dinner table. We were lucky in June on RCL with our granddaughter. We have taken over 25 cruises and will certainly return to Oceania. Tropicalkerry, I don't think your friend's TA has ever been aboard Oceania. Print all our comments and show it to them. Don't cancel your cruise!

 

Sheila

[mike35]

Mike

Do you have a time travel machine???

:D

 

Just thinking ahead (not too deep thinking, apparently;)). I agree with your comment to "clip" Oceania comments to show to the negative TA. He/she probably is more used to booking mass market lines and not "boutique" lines like Oceania.

 

Mike

[Fleuve51]

We are " elite" on Princess( 15 plus) & much preferred our first Oceania cruise to the Med. at the end of April.

We are going from Rome to Athens at the end of Sept & have booked a Jan 2nd caribbean cruise all on Oceania.

I agree with all of the above posters.

Once you have tried O it is hard to go back to the other lines.

[dwelsh]

"O" is becoming just too popular. It is obvious by the record bookings for the Aus/NZ cruises in 2008.I hope that we will not have to make all our bookings so far out.

[jimgib]

we cruise lots! 4+ a year, over the years have been on many lines. Have to say Oceania is the tops for us, before we discoverd O we thought silversea could not be bettered, we now know it can. we did 53 ( i think) days on nautica early this year, we were never bored, however just done 7 on QE2 and was so glad to get off!

Regards princess we have done 3 and whilst its ok you really cant compare, If you like formal nights that is the only thing you will miss on O, but the possitive on that is that it saves on the packing.

Give Oceania a try, you will return and also join the ever growing number of loyal clients they have.

Have a great cruise.

Regards jim

[SUITESAILING]

Hubby and I have booked our first ever cruise with Oceania to the Med in Oct 2007. I looked at a couple of other cruise lines very briefly, and it was easy to decide on Oceania.

Friends of ours thought they might come along, and we were thrilled, but they went to a travel agent not on Oceania's list of recommended agents, and were told other cruise lines were better, and they have found a Med cruise,2 days shorter for about the same price, with Princess. They want to make an informed decision before committing.

I have emailed a couple of threads to them where Princess has briefly been mentioned as not even being in the same league, but hope readers out there will point out differences other than the size difference, and the no kids programs.

Thanks for your help.

Marian

 

If your friends cruise is two days shorter, I would think that you would want your friends to say why they would spend more money on a Princess cruise, then a Oceania.

[Jane110]

Hi Jane,

 

You said it all very well. Since you have been aboard Oceania, the outside cabins on Deck 7 have refrigerators. We put our Champagne (which the line gives Concierge Class) in it to chill for dinner one night. We brought it up to the dining room and since it was Oceania's champagne, there was no corkage charge.

 

Sheila

 

Hi Sheila,

 

Thanks.

 

The cabins on deck 7 are concierge class, so yes, you're right. You can pay more money to have the the exact same cabin as on deck 6, but the extra bucks buys a refrigerator and a couple of little amenities. On Princess, even the cheapest insides get a refrigerator.

No ship charges a corkage fee if the wine brought to the dining room is a gift from the cruiseline.

 

BTW, hope to get to cruise with you one of these days and share some champagne! :)

[shoshona2]

To Jane110,

 

Sounds good to me!!!! I'll drink to that!!

 

Best regards,

Sheila

[Jane110]

Hi Jane,

 

You said it all very well. Since you have been aboard Oceania, the outside cabins on Deck 7 have refrigerators. We put our Champagne (which the line gives Concierge Class) in it to chill for dinner one night. We brought it up to the dining room and since it was Oceania's champagne, there was no corkage charge.

 

Sheila

 

Hi Sheila,

 

Thanks.

 

The cabins on deck 7 are concierge class, so yes, you're right. You can pay more money to have the the exact same cabin as on deck 6, but the extra bucks buys a refrigerator and a couple of little amenities. On Princess, even the cheapest insides get a refrigerator.

No ship charges a corkage fee if the wine brought to the dining room is a gift from the cruiseline.

 

BTW, hope to get to cruise with you one of these days and share some champagne! :)

[Jane110]

sorry for the double post. have no clue how that happened.:confused:

[Jane110]

 

Jane's comments parallel ours. Princess has become rather "Carnivalized", with many attempts to "sell" extras such as wine tastings, shore excursions, etc.

 

Yes, but Oceania's wine tastings aren't free, are they? And their shore excursions are more expensive than on many other lines.

[mike35]

Hi Jane

 

No, Oceania's wine tastings aren't free (what "good" things in life are??). My point was that on Oceania, the tastings are advertised, and one can sign up if desired. Or not. On our recent Princess cruise, we must have been approached at LEAST 10 times by everyone from the Head Waiter to the waiters in the breakfast buffet, trying to high-pressure us to sign up. We passed, since when we did attend a wine tasting on Princess last year, they continually high-pressured us to buy their box of 4 "priceless" bottles for $150.

 

I just dislike annoying sales tactics when I'm on a cruise ship.

 

Other than that, as I stated in my post, we thoroughly enjoyed our Princess cruise.

 

Mike

[Andee]

We enjoyed wine tastings on both Princess and Oceania. My recollection is that, on Princess, the cost of the tasting could be applied to the purchase of a bottle of wine. I liked that.

[tropicalkerry2002]

to all of you! The four of us are off to the Med next year!!! How could they ignore the popular opinion!

Marian

[Jane110]

Hi Jane

 

No, Oceania's wine tastings aren't free (what "good" things in life are??). My point was that on Oceania, the tastings are advertised, and one can sign up if desired. Or not. On our recent Princess cruise, we must have been approached at LEAST 10 times by everyone from the Head Waiter to the waiters in the breakfast buffet, trying to high-pressure us to sign up. We passed, since when we did attend a wine tasting on Princess last year, they continually high-pressured us to buy their box of 4 "priceless" bottles for $150.

 

I just dislike annoying sales tactics when I'm on a cruise ship.

 

Other than that, as I stated in my post, we thoroughly enjoyed our Princess cruise.

 

Mike

 

Mike,

 

Wow, I would find that incredibly annoying too! I hate a hard sell on anything. I've paid my money and I'm on vacation. It's like going to the spa for a facial and getting a sales pitch to buy their cremes. No thanks!

 

On our Princess cruise, the wine tasting was listed in the paper and then our waiter told us about it. We opted for open dining, but basically sat at the same table every night, so our waiter knew us and knew we liked wine. So when he told us about it, we didn't feel it was pushy, just information.

 

The tasting event itself was enjoyable. Not as good as wine tastings I've been to in fine restaurants, but then it wasn't geared for the most sophisticated palate. At the end of the tasting they did offer a special deal on wines, but again, it wasn't a hard sell - or rather it was only mentioned once, so no problem ignoring it.

[Jane110]

We enjoyed wine tastings on both Princess and Oceania. My recollection is that, on Princess, the cost of the tasting could be applied to the purchase of a bottle of wine. I liked that.

 

Yes, you're right. Forgot about that.

I think the tasting was $15.00 PP and we used the credit for a wine we liked. Good deal. But again, not an obnoxious, pushy sell.

 

One pushy thing that Princess did was the sale of the Soda Cards, however, the sales pitch was only the first afternoon, thank goodness.