Vallesan

Thank you. It’s really good to get to get recent reports.

Lorimay thanks for your up to date review. Regent have had some good offers lately but I just dismiss them because of our one experience in 2018. Maybe I’ll take a closer look at the new ships, especially when on offer!

Thank you and sorry you had to cancel. It was the itinerary that really appealed to me and of course when we booked it was a great price … bonus! Now just have to keep fingers, and toes, crossed that it happens!

Really interesting article! We’ve only sailed once with Regent back in 2018, so can’t comment on the newer ships, but we were not impressed with the food. We prefer the variety of dining venues provided by Oceania. Food is so subjective though. In fact we have no desire to sail Regent again. We didn’t like the general atmosphere it felt like all show and no substance. If you’re considering Regent I’d also take a look at Seabourn not quite as inclusive but in my opinion a far better overall experience. The reason I say this article is interesting is that it’s advertising some ‘speciality’ cruises. Strangely enough I had an email from Seabourn this morning announcing ‘The Collection’ a series of by ‘invitation only’ cruises on the Venture. These voyages include tickets to the final of the Barcelona Open Tennis or an evening with dinner in a French Chateaux etc. It makes me wonder, if the extra capacity coming on line , in both the luxury and premium markets, is going to be hard to fill unless something even more exclusive is on offer. Guess only time will tell.

Hank I couldn’t agree with you more! I have said a similar thing on several threads and even started a topic ‘Just wondering….’. I just don’t understand why people keep complaining yet do nothing about it. Oceania isn’t going to change its policies to accommodate the ‘complainers’ nor are prospective/or past Oceania cruisers going to go elsewhere if Oceania remains a good fit for them. Think it’s time for some people to move on rather than keep banging the same old drum!

I have wondered whether or not this cruise will actually go ahead. When I booked last summer it did cross my mind that it may not because the refit could overrun. However things have changed since we booked. Firstly, this cruise was massively reduced in the Summer Sale so it’s possible that it is actually all waitlisted. Secondly, with so many ships have to re-route via South Africa rather than Suez the cruise lines are losing fortunes apart from lots of good will. My thoughts are that Oceania will do it’s very best not to cancel anymore cruises than necessary. Fingers crossed that this cruise does go ahead, albeit with an upgrade possibly less than the one promised.

Yes that can be an issue. Different sales are targeted at different areas for example in the UK we don’t get a President’s Sale nor did we ever have cruise only, we only had the cruise without air option.

Yes. Oceania promise that if a price I’d reduced and your grade of cabin is still available they will match the reduced price. We did it with the Summer Sale and saved a lot on a cruise we had booked and booked a new one too!

Norwegian fjord cruises are so amazing just don’t ’nickel and dime’ just enjoy!

I guess the choice is yours. What is ‘value’ to one person may not be to another. Cruises are made up of so many different elements, food, drinks, shows, sun loungers, classes, enrichment etc. etc. No one line is going to impress in every element. You have to decide what’s important to you and work out which line is the best ‘fit’. As they say …. One man’s meat ….

Really interesting comment. I must admit I’ve not noticed ‘one-upmanship” but then I’ve not been reading multiple boards for years so not really qualified to assess. If you want to see REAL ‘one-upmanship’ take a look at the Silversea boards! I read Oceania, Seabourn and Silversea boards because they are our preferred lines, but I have never met any of the ‘types’ of people spoken about on these boards. All the people we have ever met cruising have been regular nice people!

Yes I see and understand. I think we all need to cut all cruise lines a bit of ‘slack’. Very unusual times. Lots of cruise ships looking for new ports, all missing Suez. Lots looking into the same ports to berth but only so many places for ships to berth. I don’t think that this is anything to do with ‘business’ decisions but rather a scramble to finds ports to dock in!

Sounds like a plan!

Lovely! Obviously a ‘winter’ scene. We went to the Norwegian fjords last June, strangely enough with Siversea!, and it was totally amazing. We had wonderful weather, the North Sea crossing was fine and the scenery was amazing. Perfect cruise for me!

LOL!!

He looked great! Nobody said anything, no funny looks but there might have been a bit of ‘tut tutting’ in the background!

May I suggest you take a look at some of the videos on you.tube. There are lots of videos for all the ships and that’s the best way to find the difference in the ‘feel’ of Oceania ships compared with Viking. Strangely, from the photos I’ve seen of Viking ships I don’t like the ‘minimalist’ look of Viking. Maybe I’m wrong!

I don’t think you would feel ‘out of place’ or ‘inferior’. On both Silversea and Seabourn formal nights my husband wore a cream linen suit with a bow tie so not really conventional. He/we never felt out of place. But yes Oceania is a ‘comfortable’ fit.

I think that at that extraordinary time, extraordinary things may have happened! If the choice is Silversea or Oceania for similar prices then Silversea would be my choice. However, they are very different experiences. I have only sailed on the Silver Dawn which is about two thirds the size of the Riviera but with only 600 passengers. The service was very good, but in my opinion only Seabourn ‘go above and beyond’. Having a butler was nice, but was not essential for us. The food was good, but for me Oceania has the edge, but that’s very subjective. I think the biggest difference is in the general ‘atmosphere’. Oceania is far more laid back. Silversea has formal nights, but whilst you can eat in some restaurants without ‘formal attire’ lots of passengers sail Silversea precisely for that formality so there’s a very different ‘vibe’. It’s not as ‘stuffy’ as I may have made it sound but it is definitely ‘different’.

Legitimate question. I have had walking issues for 17 years. We love cruising. We choose small ships because unlike large resorts everything is relatively close at hand. So for us the ship is equivalent to a hotel. We tend to choose cruises visiting ‘Islands’ because more often than not at least one side of the ship has lovely views. There are some beautiful ports in Europe particularly. We tend to choose an itinerary with few sea days so we get a change of scenery most days. Sea days, for us, are equivalent to having a hotel room looking out over a car park …. not very inspiring!

Not quite sure which ‘minority’ of passengers you belong to or what your needs are. Actually, I’m one of those passengers who ‘rarely if ever gets off the ship’ but I do ‘care’ about missing ports’ because we book cruises without sea days! Not everybody on a cruise is looking for the same thing! I’m guessing you will always find a number of people on any cruise who are cruising just for the service and the whole ambience rather than the ports per se. May I suggest an ‘expedition’ cruise because you’re unlikely to get any ‘rarely get offs ‘ on that!

We only ‘know’ that Oceania is ‘guilty’ of missing ports etc more than other lines because of what is reported here. We actually don’t know as a ‘fact’! Anybody have any ‘real’ data?

I think you are absolutely right. In my opinion the days of old, are just that. Prices have risen across the board and services have been reduced, as have the perks on some lines. I think you have assess what a cruise is ‘worth’ to you. I know what I’m prepared to pay and I know my ceiling. i still like Oceania’s policy of price matching. I like their sales. I like their cancellation policy of just £150 pp initially. I always thought it was odd that Oceania had such a liberal cancellation policy compared with other lines. I like Silversea but I don’t like their cancellation policy on their Port to Port fares which I would book when travelling to Europe. Flights to Europe are normally between 2 & 4 hours and Silversea prices are really crazy. BUT, book P2P and if prices go down tough! They won’t honour them. Deposits non refundable and if you have a prepay P2P fare if you cancel. All makes Oceania still look pretty good. So really at the end of the day it’s not only the bottom line but the terms and conditions, which some people don’t read, that need to be taken into consideration.

I have to agree with you. We’ve only been sailing with Oceania since 2015 but have never sailed NCL so can’t compare. We sailed on the Nautica in summer 2022, Riviera autumn 2022 and Sirena February 2023. I can’t remember on which cruise it was that I noticed this, but I found quite a marked difference in the GDR menus from times past. The menu seems to have shrunk to the point where some nights I found it difficult to find something I fancied. (I never went hungry!) As usual there were the three, what I call standbys when all else fails, steak, chicken and salmon. I have tried the chicken and the salmon several times and have not been at all impressed with either. I think that there was a vegetarian dish and a vegan main dish every night plus, correct me if I’m wrong, maybe four or possibly even only three other choices of mains. I’m not a meat lover but do enjoy fish and chicken so the choice seemed even smaller. I was aware that portions were smaller but I saw that as a positive. Yes, there are differences in the GDR post 2020 but, as you say, the other venues are good. I have more Oceania cruises booked this year so the changes are not enough to stop me sailing with Oceania again. As a P.S. Seabourn is also not quite as it was before 2020 so I don’t think this is an Oceania only issue, I think it’s right across the whole industry. I think we have to accept the ‘now’ , and can only compare line by line today not pre 2020.