What's the price/pecking order on upscale/luxury lines?

I've never sailed a true "luxury" cruise line.

IMO the basic order of mass market lines is

Carnival

NCL

Royal Caribbean/Princess/MSC

Celebrity/Holland America

but when you go up to the big spenders, where do lines like Azamara, Seabourn, Regent, Viking, Oceania fall in terms of price/luxury? What's the "order" ?

luxury lines (no particular order)

Seabourn, Silversea, Regent Crystal

Premium line

Oceania & Azamara

Viking ??

luxury lines (no particular order)

Seabourn, Silversea, Regent Crystal

 

Premium line

Oceania & Azamara

 

Viking ??

Maybe Viking is "Premium".

How would you rank the luxury lines you listed? I guess Oceania and Azamara are the step up from their affiliated mass market lines?

Luxury lines include:

Crystal

Seabourn

Silversea

Regent

Sea Dream

Europa (Europa and Europa 2)

Sea Cloud

Typically they offer fine dining experiences, a higher ratio of crew to guests, more space per person, and include items that often one has to pay extra on other lines.

Premium is often less straight forward as to me there is a wider different in the experience provided by various lines that are placed in this category. I would say that on some of the lines that are categorized as premium that some of their attributed fall into the luxury category but there are other lines that some of their offerings fall in the resort category of cruising.

Some (there are a few more in addition to this list) of the premium lines that come to mind are.

Oceania

Azamara

Cunard

Viking

Winstar

Celebrity

HAL

Keith

luxury lines (no particular order)

Seabourn, Silversea, Regent Crystal

 

Premium line

Oceania & Azamara

 

Viking ??

Add Sea Dream to your luxury list, and put it above both Regent and Sliversea.

Iwhere do lines like Azamara, Seabourn, Regent, Viking, Oceania fall in terms of price/luxury? What's the "order" ?

Among the "premium" lines (Azamara, Oceania, Viking) and "luxury" lines (Seabourn, Regent, and several others you didn't mention), I don't think there is much of a generally-agreed upon ranking order of quality - I think within each group the quality is pretty consistent. As for ranking "luxury", it depends on one's definition of "luxury", because we all have different preferences and many things (like food and drink) are judged subjectively. I think a really, really good mac and cheese is more luxurious than lobster (which I don't like, and is often prepared badly), for instance.

As for ranking by general price (day for day, cabin for cabin), I don't know......as I cruise solo and Crystal offers the best solo value, I haven't really looked closely at the others.

I've never sailed a true "luxury" cruise line.

 

IMO the basic order of mass market lines is

 

Carnival

NCL

Royal Caribbean/Princess/MSC

Celebrity/Holland America

 

but when you go up to the big spenders, where do lines like Azamara, Seabourn, Regent, Viking, Oceania fall in terms of price/luxury? What's the "order" ?

Check their ratings on this site. Regent for one has some of the lowest ratings I've seen. Don't hold your breath if looking for a king bed either.

I wouldn't classify HAL or Celebrity as "premium"....they are still "mass-market" lines!

I wouldn't classify HAL or Celebrity as "premium"....they are still "mass-market" lines!

OP didn't put them in the premium category. Most times it pays to a actually read a question before firing off a response.:rolleyes:

OP didn't put them in the premium category. Most times it pays to a actually read a question before firing off a response.:rolleyes:

another poster did put them in the premium category. Posters do not necessarily respond only to the OP :rolleyes:

I did put HAL and Celebrity on my premium list.

They are sort of in between and some of it does vary by ship and even category.

Anyway, no big deal. The key is to do the research and figure out what works for each person.

Keith

OP didn't put them in the premium category. Most times it pays to a actually read a question before firing off a response.:rolleyes:

How does that saying go? Better to remain quite...

I've been on most of those luxury lines and I don't see a pecking order for any of them. There are differences, such as the fact that Regent has the largest regular cabins of any of the luxury lines, but I don't see any kind of notion that one line ranks better than another. A lot is in terms of individual preference as to how each luxury line approaches their target passenger.

I did put HAL and Celebrity on my premium list.

 

They are sort of in between and some of it does vary by ship and even category.

 

Anyway, no big deal. The key is to do the research and figure out what works for each person.

 

Keith

I've sailed both Celebrity and Oceania. Oceania is a definite step up in quality and pricing reflects that.

another poster did put them in the premium category. Posters do not necessarily respond only to the OP :rolleyes:

Sometimes, all responses are not visible.;):rolleyes:

Add Sea Dream to your luxury list, and put it above both Regent and Sliversea.

sorry forgot Sea Dream but as i said

(no particular order)

Maybe Viking is "Premium".

 

How would you rank the luxury lines you listed? I guess Oceania and Azamara are the step up from their affiliated mass market lines?

possibly I have not looked at Viking

I cannot comment on the Luxury line having never sailed on any their ships

As someone posted Luxury means different things to different people

HAL is mass market maybe premium at one time but no longer

JMO

Sometimes, all responses are not visible.;):rolleyes:

Ah, so we know who you have blocked ;)

Ah, so we know who you have blocked ;)

Not necessarily, just speaking in general.

Viking was mentioned. Have not sailed but friend asked if I was interested in a cruise. Took a look and can't tell with any certainty but they sure have a premium price.:Dp

No one mentioned Disney which is a premium line, highly reflected in their pricing. Celebrity is an RCCL line that is a step above Princess and RCCL and two steps above NCL and three steps above Carnival. Luxury is subjective by the person sailing. Some lines, Crystal is one, include all wine and liquor, soda, coffee, etc., shore excursions, etc.

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Whether you're talking about a cruise or, for example, a car. the only tangible (I.e., concrete) thing that can be said about the term "luxury" is the inclusion of more items (e.g., airfare, excursions, alcohol, gratuities et al.) that are paid options (if at all available) on "lesser" products.

With that quantitative understanding, "premium" falls between "mass market" and "luxury" because there's a hybrid situation of included and optional amenities.

Next, add to the quantitative element a qualitative element (truly fine food, better crew ratio, excellent service). IMO, this is where the difference is much less clear between premium and luxury (though mass market lack of quality assures their not "making the cut" because this is one area where "you get what you pay for."

For an example of the "quality as luxury conundrum" (and though some on CC may disagree) there are a significant number of folks who support "premium" Oceania's claim of the "best food at sea" For O fans, tasting the difference is more important than reading about it.

Where things get confusing is when anyone starts erroneously associating "mass market/premium/luxury" with "good/better/best." Because of personal preferences and priorities, it's just not that easy to categorize or rank cruise lines without agreed upon weighted criteria for consideration and comparison.

For us, we prefer Oceania for its food, service, itineraries, ship size and cabin amenities, highly restrictive smoking policy, included airfare/credit and the flexibility of other O Life amenities- all provided at a price point we consider a much better value than either the "luxury" or "mass market" lines. We also feel much more "at home" with the basically cosmopolitan (yet quite diverse in many other ways) passenger base on O..

As for the OP's original request: S/he needs to try some different products and draw their own conclusions.

Celebrity is an RCCL line that is a step above Princess and RCCL and two steps above NCL and three steps above Carnival. Luxury is subjective by the person sailing. Some lines, Crystal is one, include all wine and liquor, soda, coffee, etc., shore excursions, etc.

I disagree that Celebrity is a step above Princess. I think they are much of a muchness - some things Celebrity does better, some things Princess does better. I'm happ to cruise on either.

Princess is is a step above RCI too, IMHO.

No one mentioned Disney which is a premium line, highly reflected in their pricing. Celebrity is an RCCL line that is a step above Princess and RCCL and two steps above NCL and three steps above Carnival. Luxury is subjective by the person sailing. Some lines, Crystal is one, include all wine and liquor, soda, coffee, etc., shore excursions, etc.

 

 

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Crystal does not include excursions, that's Regent.

No one mentioned Disney which is a premium line, highly reflected in their pricing. Celebrity is an RCCL line that is a step above Princess and RCCL and two steps above NCL and three steps above Carnival. Luxury is subjective by the person sailing. Some lines, Crystal is one, include all wine and liquor, soda, coffee, etc., shore excursions, etc.

 

 

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Please see my post below (#21). When it comes to any consumer goods or services, "Luxury" and "premium," by definition, are designations associated with WHAT you get for your money (quantitatively and qualitatively). How much it costs is a consequence of, and not a measurement for consideration in, the analytical exercise.

As for Disney Cruise Lines: the Disney price is for the Disney experience, which (in a comparison of destination theme parks) might be considered the "gold standard" of family entertainment (i.e., at least, the real one in Anaheim). Remove the Disney characters and imagineering from their ships and, whatever the price, it's just another example of "mass market" mediocrity.

Would we go on a Disney cruise? Once the three year old grandkid is a bit older, absolutely. But, that decision will have far less to do with whether the Disney ship is a "premium" cruise than it does with just being an opportunity to visit her Princess friends (and Tinkerbell).

I enjoyed reading this thread.

We are just lonely mass market cruisers.

I was wondering where Cunard falls in this order?