Oceania vs WindStar

[xsnowman99]

I am looking for any comparison information anyone may have on these 2 lines.

 

I already know that there is a significant difference in number of passengers (148/308 vs 684. The dinner dress/open seating seems to be the same--biggest difference is the availability of several alternate dining rooms.

 

How does leaving ship for land adventures happen? Mostly tendered in or docked? If tendered, how is this handled? Do you stand in line to get a ticket to then be herded to a room to wait another period of time for them to call your ticket color? (We did this on a Holland America ship..can you tell it was not something we were thrilled with?)

 

I see there are more stateroom options--what is the lowest deck that is comfortable? (I am very claustrophobic so water sloshing against a porthole will just not work for me). We spend very little time in the cabin, so I am looking for comfortable and a nice view out--doesn't necessarily have to have a veranda.

 

What are any other differences between the 2 that are relevant? Is there really difficulty getting reservations at the alternate restaurants as some people seem to indicate?

 

What is usually the mix of passengers? European vs American?

 

How about embarkation and disembarkation? It has been my opinion that disembarkation usually is stressful and very early!!

 

Any other information you can offer would be appreciated. I guess I should give you some personal information. DH is 70 and I am 53. We have sailed on WindStar line 7 times over the past 5 years (we DO love it but are thinking about a change). We are not necessarily overly active and enjoy the ship and relaxing outside more than the actualy touring of islands.

 

Thank you for any information you can offer.

We are considering the Jan/08 cruise out of Miami--mostly because it would be easy for us to get to and provide a non-stress vacation.

[LHT28]

Check out this thread or do a search here for more on the comparisons

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=564049&highlight=windstar

 

Different experiences on both ships

[xsnowman99]

Thanks for the link...however, I guess I am looking for more indepth information on Oceania and comparisons based on people's experience, especially the questions I posed in the originia posting. I think I might like to give Oceania a try, but we did not at all like the 'large ship' experience. I do realize that talking about Oceania is not 'large ship' however, it has the capabilities to feel that way. I am already wary about trying to make reservations at the alternative dining rooms (standing in line for 2 hours to make a reservation would be a huge 'thing' for my husband).

 

I have read all the reviews for Regatta and am justy trying to get a realistic

view so I can make the best choice.

 

Thanks in advance for any further information anyone can share.

[LHT28]

I am looking for any comparison information anyone may have on these 2 lines.

 

I already know that there is a significant difference in number of passengers (148/308 vs 684. The dinner dress/open seating seems to be the same--biggest difference is the availability of several alternate dining rooms.

 

The most we stood in line for reservations was 1/2 hr but you can just wait and book later in the cruise if you are flexible.

 

How does leaving ship for land adventures happen? Mostly tendered in or docked? If tendered, how is this handled? Do you stand in line to get a ticket to then be herded to a room to wait another period of time for them to call your ticket color? (We did this on a Holland America ship..can you tell it was not something we were thrilled with?)

Only when tendering...Very similar accept most people just wait for the open tenders which doesn't take too long.

I see there are more stateroom options--what is the lowest deck that is comfortable? (I am very claustrophobic so water sloshing against a porthole will just not work for me).

 

I would choose C1 or C2 on deck 4 then...nice big windows

 

What are any other differences between the 2 that are relevant? Is there really difficulty getting reservations at the alternate restaurants as some people seem to indicate?

 

We never had a problem getting a time slot but we are flexible with day & time

 

What is usually the mix of passengers? European vs American?

 

we found it was more Americans but the Canadians are catching up...not many Europeans yet

How about embarkation and disembarkation? It has been my opinion that disembarkation usually is stressful and very early!!

 

Embarkation in our experience was quick & easy...Disembarkation ...well it is early for the immigration people to clear the ship but you can get off at your leisure before 10 am ( I think was the last call)

 

If you read through some of the other threads here you can probably get most other questions answered.

Everyone has different priorities ....things that they like or dislike.

It is all about personal preferences.

Most O passengers are repeat cruisers

 

 

 

[Kiwifruit]

Hi Snowman,

 

My partner and I have cruised on both Oceania and Windstar and thouroughly enjoyed both cruiselines.

 

While Oceania's ships are obviously a lot bigger than Windstar's, we did not find them so big as to be impersonal and the larger ships do have some advantages particularly when it comes to dining options. On the whole, we found food on Oceania to be of a higher standard and I wouldn't get too stressed out about reservations for the speciality restaurants. It is true that on the first day people do queue to get the reservations they want but the truth of the matter is that if you are flexible you will still be able to get reservations (particularly if there are just the two of you) after the initial rush subsides and we found that we could often get additional reservations in the speciality restaurants by simplying enquiring on the day.

 

So far as demographics are concerned this tends to be dictated by the cruise length and destination but on our cruises (both Mediterranean) we found the the mixture of nationalities to be very similar (ie predominantly North American, with a fair number of Aussies, Brits and other Europeans added to the mix) although the crowd on Oceania was slightly older.

 

Whether you need to tender or not depends on the port but most ports in the Caribbean (which is where I assume you will be cruising if departing Miami?) allow you to dock so this should not be an issue. In any event, we found the tendering on Oceania to be handled well and there certainly isn't the volume of passengers to transport that you would have encountered on Holland America.

 

With regard to Embarkation/Disembarkation, we didn't encounter any problems on either line though I understand from chatting to fellow passengers that Oceania is less flexible when it comes to early boarding. The only problem we had with disembarkation on Oceania was availibility of taxis but I suspect this was more an issue of the port (Lisbon) rather than the size of the ship and you should have no such problem in Miami.

 

Having cruised on wide range of cruise ships, I would suggest that Oceania occupies a niche between Windstar and the big cruise lines (with bigger ships) such as Holland America et al. Oceania and Windstar are certainly different experiences and for a Caribbean cruise I would probably opt for Windstar as I love their water platform out the back with kayaks etc but if this is not something you like to take advantage of, then I wouldn't discount Oceania.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Cheers,

 

Kiwifruit

[lovecruisingtoo]

Xsnowman99, my wife and I also love Windstar and are looking at booking on Oceania. The only thing holding us back is the "big ship" possibility. We were on one of the Celebrity ships and did not like the big ship atmosphere. We do not want to stand in lines for tenders, meals etc. Love the casual dress (don't wear a tie for work and will not wear a tie for vacation) etc.

 

If Oceania does have to tender, how long a wait typically is it?

 

The cruise we are looking at is the Stockholm to Dover (London) cruise in 2008 if this helps.

[Jancruz]

I also have been on both and could not even attempt to compare the two..I love peaches and I love pears but the taste is completely different..

I love to try new things..sometimes I love them and sometimes I dont!!

Jan

*****

[Kiwifruit]

The only ports in which we tendered were Sorrento and Taormina. If you are joining one of the ship's excursions then you will be tendered across as a group which is given priority. If you want to explore the ports independently then they fit you in as space is available but as they seemed to operate 2 or 3 tenders shuttling between ship and dock we never had to wait more than 10 minutes. The whole tendering process seems to be very well organised and certainly less traumatic than on the large cruise ships. I don't think any of the Baltic ports require tendering so it probably won't be an issue on Stockholm - Dover cruise.

 

So far as queueing for meals, this certainly wasn't a problem and we were able to come and go as we pleased and never encountered any problems getting a table.

[xsnowman99]

Thanks to all for the information. We are still contemplating...we do like the fact that Oceania is a 10 day cruise...unfortunately, we have done so many WindStar in Caribbean, there are really no new itineraries for us to do-otherwise, we would be going WindStar without question. We are only looking at cruises with under 700 passengers-which may turn out to be too many. But, you never know if you don't try! Even though Maasdam was not for us, we still had a good time. It was a learning experience which you have to do sometimes to know what you do/do not like.

 

Happy cruising to all!

 

Lynn

[Steph27]

We tendered to get to the Falkland Islands on Oceania Insignia. It was very easy. No wait and you don't need a number. I guess compared to Windstar, Oceania at 684 passengers could feel big but we didn't think so at all. The advantage of having a verandah are what is keeping me from booking Windstar. I plan to go someday on Windstar if I find the right itinerary. Not interested in the Caribbean so Windstar in Europe looks possible as they don't do Asia.

[LHT28]

Thanks to all for the information. We are still contemplating...we do like the fact that Oceania is a 10 day cruise...unfortunately, we have done so many WindStar in Caribbean, there are really no new itineraries for us to do-otherwise, we would be going WindStar without question. We are only looking at cruises with under 700 passengers-which may turn out to be too many.

Lynn

 

Even with 684 passenger it never feels crowded but if that is still too many then have a look at Seadream, Silverseas, Seabourn

 

Whatever you choose have a great cruise

 

Lyn