Decided on Galaxy over Oceania for Caribbean itinerary

[TampaJack]

We're booking way in advance (Jan 09) for a Caribbean cruise.

 

We found that the Oceania Regatta has a great deal (for them) of only $1499pp for a mid-level inside room on a ten-night cruise with 6 ports. Taxes were high... $190pp. Total was $3378 for two (great for Oceania) and we booked it because it was an fairly affordable way to experience something special.

 

Then I noticed that the Galaxy has an eleven-night itinerary with 8 stops (including Curacao, Dominica and St. Lucia). A mid-level inside room is $889 plus $58 tax for a total of $1895 for two. Amazing.

 

So we canceled the Oceania booking in favor of the Galaxy.

 

Now, we aren't pretending that the Galaxy will be equivalent to the Oceania. The Regatta looks like a beautiful ship, and the food/service would clearly be better. But we actually like the Galaxy itinerary more and it's one night longer with two more ports... at about half of the Regatta's price.

 

We've never sailed on Celebrity before, so we're looking forward to this. We don't expect the Galaxy to be perfect. We'll be content knowing it's one of the best cruise values in the Caribbean... and it's Celebrity.

[TampaJack]

P.S. I forgot to mention in my post that Oceania is including a $250 shipboard credit, bringing the actual total down to $3128, which means that the Galaxy is 60% of the Regatta's cost.

[ECCruise]

Love Celebrity (10 cruises), love the Galaxy (sailing on her for the 2nd time in 5 weeks) but honestly there is no comparison with Oceania. Oceania wins hands down on food, service, amenities, flexibility with dining options and more. Yes, priced higher but when priced reasonably worth every penny and more.

[Hflors]

Last year when I looked at my first celebrity I also looked at Oceanis. It was tempting, but when I looked at the price I knew it would be a struggle to pay for it and I would have to forgo some extras, so I decided on Galaxy. Well DH and I loved Galaxy. We loved her so much we are doing the same cruise again in FEb. I'm sure you will love her too.

[TampaJack]

Hflors... That was exactly our thinking, too. Glad to hear about your experience!

 

And this might sound kind of goofy, but we had the concern that we might get spoiled by Oceania and have a harder time enjoying future cruises since we probably can't afford to be Oceaniacs more than once! LOL.

[chessbriar]

We did this sailing in February, it was fantastic. We just loved the itinerary and the service was great. It was not Oceania, but it's the best of the mainstream. You could always take some savings and upgrade your cabin as well, a window or balcony perhaps.

[Donnaluv2cruise]

We are doing a similar itinerary on Galaxy this March. Take a look at the Sky Suites. A great value for the $. Huge balconies on deck 12. :D

[TampaJack]

We are doing a similar itinerary on Galaxy this March. Take a look at the Sky Suites. A great value for the $. Huge balconies on deck 12. :D

They look beautiful, but it would cost over $6k for the two of us! If we had that kind of money to spend, we would be on Oceania.

 

The size of our room isn't really a factor to us. The rest of the ship (and the ports) are far more important. That being said, I can easily see why suites and balconies are attractive to so many people, though.

[Little London]

We sailed on Regetta in January, and we were disappointed. The food wasn't as good as Celebrity, and we missed a few other things on a smaller ship that we had on the M Class so this January we are back to Celebrity and looking forward to it.

[vacation fool]

We're booking way in advance (Jan 09) for a Caribbean cruise.

 

We found that the Oceania Regatta has a great deal (for them) of only $1499pp for a mid-level inside room on a ten-night cruise with 6 ports. Taxes were high... $190pp. Total was $3378 for two (great for Oceania) and we booked it because it was an fairly affordable way to experience something special.

 

Then I noticed that the Galaxy has an eleven-night itinerary with 8 stops (including Curacao, Dominica and St. Lucia). A mid-level inside room is $889 plus $58 tax for a total of $1895 for two. Amazing.

 

So we canceled the Oceania booking in favor of the Galaxy.

 

Now, we aren't pretending that the Galaxy will be equivalent to the Oceania. The Regatta looks like a beautiful ship, and the food/service would clearly be better. But we actually like the Galaxy itinerary more and it's one night longer with two more ports... at about half of the Regatta's price.

 

We've never sailed on Celebrity before, so we're looking forward to this. We don't expect the Galaxy to be perfect. We'll be content knowing it's one of the best cruise values in the Caribbean... and it's Celebrity.

 

We are booked on the same itinerary for march 2009 for the same reasons you mentioned. The itinerary looks amazing and other posters have been most positive about it. Was also considering an inside to save more money for tours, but in the end decided i could not go for 11 days not knowing if it was morning or not:)

[Donnaluv2cruise]

They look beautiful, but it would cost over $6k for the two of us! If we had that kind of money to spend, we would be on Oceania.

 

The size of our room isn't really a factor to us. The rest of the ship (and the ports) are far more important. That being said, I can easily see why suites and balconies are attractive to so many people, though.

 

For us it's not really the size of the stateroom, but the size of the veranda. We really do enjoy spending a lot of time out there.

[TampaJack]

Was also considering an inside to save more money for tours, but in the end decided i could not go for 11 days not knowing if it was morning or not:)

 

I know what you mean, Fool. (Hey, it's your moniker! LOL.) And you are no fool for having that concern. We do, too. I guess we'll find out how we like it. We've never cruised in an Inside cabin before. We figure that since there's a chance we MIGHT like it fine, we can save a lot of money in the future. If we don't like it... well, at least there are the eight port days! And we'll know for the future what we don't like!