Thinking of switching allegiances from CelX

On a previous Celebrity Cruise I met a really nice guy from South Africa in the Captains Club lounge.

He wasnt a bragger but I discovered he was in a suite and that he had been on quite a few cruises and lines. We have only been in 1 rcci & a few CelX. He said his opinion was that Oceania is the best value for money. Unfortunately we never quite got the time to discuss this fully.

I am beginning to question the direction CelX is heading so would be interested to hear from anyone who has been on recent Celebrity & Oceania and can give a few ideas on what the uses and minuses are for each

Many thanks in anticipation[emoji41]

This recent thread might give you some insight.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2201294

This recent thread might give you some insight.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2201294

thank you - apologies should have done a search first [emoji41]

We have sailed on X many, many times...never in a suite but we are Elite Plus...I HATE that term BTW...but it does tell you that we have been on board many times to have that level of "perks".

I have been following the X general boards with all the unhappiness with the "Suite" roll-out re Luminae lunch...or lack thereof...and understand the frustration many are feeling. We sail in the AQ class and aren't happy with some of that "fall-out" either!! :cool:

That being said...we have sailed on O a number of times and just love their product!! We have not sailed in the "major" suites...but we have friends who have and we have had the fun of being entertained by them for cocktails etc in their suites. Those suites are amazing!! From the Vista, Oceania to the Owner's Suite...just beautiful!!!

We have sailed in a PH...both on the R ship and the M ships...and they are very special...and the extra room above and beyond a veranda is very nice.

We love the food and the over-all look and feel of O. While we certainly can't sail O all the time...we do mostly T/As because they are less expensive...I would certainly suggest that you try O. I bet...if you can afford O on a regular basis...you won't go back to X!!! :D LuAnn

We had 11 O cruises under belt when we decided to take an X cruise. It was 1/3 the cost of O's cruises so we thought we'd try it.

First the X ships are too big to go to less visited ports so there was usually a big crowd of ships and people in the ports. If you weren't on an excursion, you were lost.

2. We were spoiled by being able to go to the Specialty Restaurants on board O w/o paying more. So we simply didn't go when you had to pay for them on X. We took the X cruise for the cost and to see what X was about. The MDR with X has about 27 different main dishes. O's MDR has over 100. The fish dishes were terrible on X. Great on O. Steaks were not the quality of O's on X. In general the food was not good on X if you didn't go to the SRs.

3. I felt lost on this X ship because it was 2,700 passengers; much larger than any O ship and more crowded. Lines for the MDR. Harder to hook up with CC members, so we didn't socialize much. On O, I usually am the person setting up the M&Gs and I know everyone. Such fun.

4. The X ship was really beautiful as are O's ships. But I noticed a vast difference in cleanliness. O's crew is constantly wiping down the handrails, and climbing under tables to clean. Xs tables were not clean in some cases, with food debris on the floor.

Having said all of this, I'm now having issues with O on our upcoming cruise so we'll see!

Hope this helps!

We are also X Elite Plus and still enjoy X; but O is our preferred line. We find that the service is the way X used to be many years ago when we first started cruising with them. It is also nice not to be nickle and dimed all the time or have your photos constantly being taken and pushed on you. The entertainment and activities on O don't compare to X; but with the port focused cruises, I don't need that many activities and the entertainment is OK.

The food quality and included specialty restaurants are a major differentiators. Whenever we take an X cruise now, they aren't as special and we look forward to our next O cruise. Try Oceania, you too will get spoiled by them.

He said his opinion was that Oceania is the best value for money. [emoji41]

I would not agree with this statement as is. Celebrity is a much better value than Oceania but Oceania is a much better cruise line (or much better overall cruise experience).

In addition to the thread quoted above, there are multiple others that will give you even more opinions on this subject (do a search).

You should try Oceania and see if it is worth the extra cost to you - it is definitely worth it to us. :)

Hey paul....for me Oceania is over all the best value... when considering the experience . Being on a ship that is warm and intimate rather than one that dwarfs the Navys new aircraft carriers... is worth$$$ to me in time and money spent.( With crew that's like 6000+ sweating bodies)

So, yes value... like a Mercedes cost more than a Ford fiesta, yet it is a better value to me, based on what I value.

Inversely some one who is into quantity might judge Pizza Hut to be a better value than the French Laundry or Per Se.

you set your priorities and values as you see them.......

Only you can decide what is best. As far as value for the money it all depends what you want, food, shows, shore trips, room size, ext. We find most luxury lines to be boring as we like shows and action. In this regard X fits the bill in the higher rooms.

Sent from my XT1032 using Forums mobile app

We are regular celebrity solstice class cruisers and did Oceania as a special expecting to never want to return to celebrity but I have to say that wasn't the case. Oceania is a very good product but I think a lot of the differences are the size of the ship, ie number of passengers, rather than the quality.

Tendering on Oceania is far superior. Much more organised and independent guests are treated with respect in that you do not have to wait for tours to get off, regardless of loyalty tier. Speciality restaurants are very good, but the main dining is inferior to Blu (but not main dining room on solstice) and very rushed in our experience - in and out in 45 minutes. We had tough beef and dry overlooked fish in main dining on Marina.

Nightlife on celebrity is totally different. Marina they had trivia in the cocktail bar at 8.30 every night which completely killed the atmosphere for me but yvmv. Quite often there were only 6 of us dancing in the disco, and band finished at about 11.30. After this time there was an iPad to choose your music from.

We had a penthouse suite (we are usually Aqua on celebrity) and most days it wasn't made up till midday. Executive lounge was very pleasant with comp coffees and pastries etc.

Buffet was superior on marina - no self serve which was much more hygienic but a bit slower as a result.

Getting on and off was a breeze and even on last day we wanted to check in to our hotel and get back on board and this was a accommodated with no problem - can't imagine doing that on celebrity.

Tours are expensive on Oceania.

If I could take a bit of both it would be ideal.

I suppose it depends what things matter most to you. I would choose either line again but I think I was expecting a lot more from Oceania due to marketing and cost and it didn't really exceed my expectations. O class ships are beautiful though.

Delondin,

We sail Oceania in a PH and Celebrity Aqua (Blu) and that combination is a good fit for us.

Generally our comments are similar to yours. We have had delightful cruises on both. Overall 'O' has the edge IMO.

No single cruise line is going to please everybody. We shouldn't expect that one will. And we shouldn't jump down anyone's throat because they have a different opinion ...

That being said, we've had good experiences in the GDR on Oceania and I cannot recall ever having had meat cooked more than I'd requested. I've seen a number of posts claiming that meat was overcooked even in the specialty restaurants. Again, that hasn't been our experience -- and I like my meat rare. (My Dad used to say that my Mother liked her meat still on the hoof, and I'm pretty much the same way.)

On this cruise we only had dinner in the GDR about 3 times. We did one each in Jacques, Polo and Toscana, one dinner in our room (from Jacques) and the rest were in Terrace.

And of course we were on the cruise with the intestinal outbreak so for much of the cruise meats were being cooked medium-well so I didn't order them. So maybe our most recent experience is irrelevant to this discussion, but our past experiences should be ... This was our 12th cruise on O.

Mura

We had 11 O cruises under belt when we decided to take an X cruise. It was 1/3 the cost of O's cruises so we thought we'd try it.

 

First the X ships are too big to go to less visited ports so there was usually a big crowd of ships and people in the ports. If you weren't on an excursion, you were lost.

 

2. We were spoiled by being able to go to the Specialty Restaurants on board O w/o paying more. So we simply didn't go when you had to pay for them on X. We took the X cruise for the cost and to see what X was about. The MDR with X has about 27 different main dishes. O's MDR has over 100. The fish dishes were terrible on X. Great on O. Steaks were not the quality of O's on X. In general the food was not good on X if you didn't go to the SRs.

 

3. I felt lost on this X ship because it was 2,700 passengers; much larger than any O ship and more crowded. Lines for the MDR. Harder to hook up with CC members, so we didn't socialize much. On O, I usually am the person setting up the M&Gs and I know everyone. Such fun.

 

4. The X ship was really beautiful as are O's ships. But I noticed a vast difference in cleanliness. O's crew is constantly wiping down the handrails, and climbing under tables to clean. Xs tables were not clean in some cases, with food debris on the floor.

 

Having said all of this, I'm now having issues with O on our upcoming cruise so we'll see!

 

Hope this helps!

What cruise line or Ship are you so reluctant to name that you call it "X" this or that ???? Is it that bad?

What cruise line or Ship are you so reluctant to name that you call it "X" this or that ???? Is it that bad?

Dan, I would think a person that's been on Celebrity "a few times" would know their nickname. After all it's only the most prominent thing on their smokestacks.

We are also X Elite Plus and still enjoy X; but O is our preferred line. We find that the service is the way X used to be many years ago when we first started cruising with them. It is also nice not to be nickle and dimed all the time or have your photos constantly being taken and pushed on you. The entertainment and activities on O don't compare to X; but with the port focused cruises, I don't need that many activities and the entertainment is OK.

 

The food quality and included specialty restaurants are a major differentiators. Whenever we take an X cruise now, they aren't as special and we look forward to our next O cruise. Try Oceania, you too will get spoiled by them.

Mike, you couldn't have said it better. I, too, started with Celebrity back in 2002 and will become Elite Plus with my next cruise in December. Although I have only cruised twice with Oceania (Marina and Regatta) I have to say that they were my best cruises in all 26 I've done so far. I just cancelled a Celebrity Reflection cruise and booked another with Oceania.

Celebrity used to have wonderful dining room food and service, but it definitely has gone down since I started with them.

Celebrity has a good product and is always finding ways to make it work better for their repeat customers, but Oceania is consistent with theirs, and that's what I now want for my cruise vacation.

It's nice that Oceania is proud that they can offer a great cruise experience, I don't think Celebrity really cares anymore.

What cruise line or Ship are you so reluctant to name that you call it "X" this or that ???? Is it that bad?

I really identified with your question -- no so much about Celebrity as I am familiar with the "X" on the ships but with Oceania. When PCH purchased Regent several years ago and I visited the Oceania board it was very confusing (probably still is for newbies). The "R" ships and the "O" ships...... really? I know what they mean now but "R" to me means Regent (even though it is not referred to in that way often). Also "O" typically refers to Oceania. So, saying that you are sailing on a "R" ship on "O" isn't as easy to understand as some posters think. I mentioned this a few years ago and feel the same way now.

In terms of the subject, I know someone that cruised on Celebrity for years but felt it was going downhill (this was about 3 years ago). They now sail mostly on Oceania (on the larger ships - Riviera and Marina). IMO, it is about personal preference. We sail 99% on Regent but have enjoyed two sailings on the Riviera. The food in some of the specialty restaurants on the Riviera is amazing ....... the ship is the most beautiful ship we have sailed ........ however, Regent is our comfort level.

I really identified with your question -- no so much about Celebrity as I am familiar with the "X" on the ships but with Oceania. When PCH purchased Regent several years ago and I visited the Oceania board it was very confusing (probably still is for newbies). The "R" ships and the "O" ships...... really? I know what they mean now but "R" to me means Regent (even though it is not referred to in that way often). Also "O" typically refers to Oceania. So, saying that you are sailing on a "R" ship on "O" isn't as easy to understand as some posters think. I mentioned this a few years ago and feel the same way now.

Many cruise lines have a number of ships of similar design; those sister ships are customarily referred to as a certain "class" ship, such as Celebrity's M-class and S-class. There are only a few lines, like Regent, that don't have any sister ships -- so there are very few frequent cruisers who aren't familiar with this practice. It may be confusing when first encountered, but once you figure it out it becomes a helpful shorthand since many discussion points are common to all the ships in that class.

In the case in point, the eight ex-Renaissance R-ships are now spread among four different cruise lines [Oceana, Azamara, Princess, and fathom] but still have basically the same layout -- so you will find even more references to their class as a shorthand to the common design. [Also, their original names (R One, R Two, etc.) reenforce the concept of "R-ships"] If you are interested in their history, wikipedia has a great article about the Renaissance line:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_Cruises

As someone who started with Renaissance and then migrated to Oceania, I haven't had a problem with referring to "R" ships (especially, as Jazzbeau has said, since the ships were originally named R1, R2, etc.) or even the "O" ships of more recent derivation.

But I can understand why TravelCat, coming from Regent has a problem ... as no doubt to other newcomers. "What's an "R" ship? What's an "O" ship?" Maybe we should put the blame on Oceania which categorized Marina and Riviera as "O" ships, when they could have picked another category ... but I won't get bent out of shape because they took the easy way out.

(Although it does bring to mind the question: when/if they upgrade from the Marina/Riviera category, what will they call it?)

But we older cruises aren't going to change our terminology because it confuses newbies! That's what we know ... (I'm not suggesting that anyone has really suggested that we do so.)

And I think if I migrated to Regent -- which we nearly did a couple of years but changed our minds -- I wouldn't have a problem with THEIR terminology.

Mura

The "R" ships, no matter who owns them, no matter where they sail, no matter when, will always be "R" ships, for the reasons stated. Oceania has "R" ships, Azamara has "R" ships, Princess has "R" ships (soon to be singular ship), and P&O has an "R" ship, which they will be operating for the new cruise line "fathom".

Oceania's "R" ships were never quite "O" ships. They were designed and constructed by Renaissance, chartered by Oceania (not purchased, at least at first) and only purchased several years later. In the meantime, Frank Del Rio, the founder of Oceania had a dream. He began designing what would become HIS ship almost from the day Oceania began in 2002. That ship became Marina, and was the first "truly" Oceania ship, followed up by Riviera, Marina's nearly exact twin sister -- and FDR proudly declared them the "O" class to designate them as the first really Oceania ships.

Soon, there will be a 4th "R" ship, purchased from Princess and due to undergo extensive renovation to bring it up to Oceania's standards -- but it will still be an "R" ship. There could even be a 5th, if Princess decides to sell their remaining "R" ship. Or, if the fathom experiment works out, Carnival could transfer the Princess ship to fathom, like the P&O ship (fathom, Princess and P&O are all owned by Carnival).

I harbor a distant fantasy that Richard Fain will eventually throw in the towel and sell Journey and Quest to Oceania, but that is as likely as a snowflake in heck. ;)

But, if there is ever a third "New Build" ship by Oceania, I strongly suspect it will be nearly identical to Marina and Riviera, and thus would be yet another "O" class ship. Why change a Good Thing?

+1 Don ...

I don't want a larger ship than Marina or Oceania ... but a third such ship wouldn't be awful ...

And I'm delighted to be able to travel on the fourth "R" ship next year ...

Mura

How are the lectures on o compared to x

How are the lectures on o compared to x

That one I cannot answer, not having sailed on X. However, I'm commenting because on each of our Oceania cruises we've discovered different categories of lectures. Some have been great, some okay, some not so wonderful.

But I wouldn't book a cruise line because of expectations about the lecturers ...

Some of the most entertaining lectures on O have been with people talking about subordinate topics ... And they weren't necessarily hired as lecturers. (I'm thinking of one in particular on a recent Marina cruise who did his "own thing" and I believe was a passenger, NOT a hired lecturer.)

In general we have enjoyed the lecturers on O, but not always. On our April/May Marina cruise (Lima-NYC) we very much enjoyed the "Latin America" lecturer but were bored by the oceanic guy ... It was more a matter of his delivery than the topic. But that was OUR perception and others on board may well have disagreed!

Mura

Thanks. We really enjoy the lectures...especially history and culture

How are the lectures on o compared to x

I have found both lines to have excellent lecturers; but both lines also have some that aren't wonderful. It just depends on the luck of the draw.

I don't think lecturers have to audition, they are likely hired just because of their credentials. Some turn out great, others fare worse, often much worse. I also wonder if cruise lines pay much attention to comments about lecturers -- I have seen one woman several times, and she is just as bad every time. At least we now know one of the ones to avoid...