Woofa

In theory choices become easier, in reality.. Booze becomes easier, you get beer, wine and champagne with meals. Only choice is to upgrade to full liquor all the time. Seems like additional $30 per person per day and one can upgrade and the other does not have to and you can wait and upgrade during the cruise and save money. You can still bring wine and liquor aboard for consumption only in your cabin. If bring wine you can pay a $25 corking fee and enjoy in the restaurants. With no real evidence of how SM works yet theoretically excursions also easier. You choose what excursions you wish to take from the full list and you have a credit towards this purchase depending upon the length of your cruise (10 days is $800 per cabin.) You pay the difference and if money left over you lose that credit. We don't doubt additional details will come as the program implements and we also don't doubt there will be issues and problems. Time will tell.

Just to give other people some idea, this is the currents activities from day 2 of our Riviera Caribbean cruise in January. It was a sea day.

We have never been on one of the larger ships but I think this is a real issue for some people when they move over to smaller ships in the premium and luxury line segment. I have told the story before but we met a nice couple on our Riviera cruise, had some meals together and got along quite well. That was their first O cruise having been on other lines previously. On the last day we were having breakfast together in the terrace and we let them know we had signed up for another cruise. For them, they enjoyed the ship, the room, the service and the food but they also felt there was not enough excitement to bring them back. We are younger than the average O cruiser (low fifties and late forties) and they were maybe slightly older than us. He liked going to the casino and was hoping for more opportunities to play pickle ball and etc. I have read that O can be even more quiet that the other small ship lines and that the O customer tends to be one which is generally looking to relax and can fill up their time reading by the pool or similar. That fit us well but I would guess most of my friends in my age category would find it "sleepy and not enough to keep us happy.". I have also read that on lines where full liquor is included, all post dinner/show time is more active. Of course on a Port intensive cruise that factor can be diminished. I would guess alot more O cruisers are up before 7 than are up after 10, at least that seemed to be the case on our cruise. Having said all that, currents has plenty to do, even if most is low key. Also after a few days, making some friends on board can open up opportunities as well. Enjoy the rest of your cruise and thanks for taking us along.

Thanks for your review. Good to have options you like with multiple lines. Two quick things: 1. I assume if you had a small shower you must have snagged one of the rooms that kept the bathtub. Most switched to shower only and on our January Riviera cruise our shower was plenty big. 2. Do try Terrace buffet one night when the grill is open (most nights) and even better if you can sit outside. Fresh grilled to order salmon, steak, lamb chops, shrimp, lobster tails and veggies. Worth a try. (And try the pizza at the waves location one evening, we really enjoyed it.)

Ours met the first night at horizons as well but at 9 which allowed everyone to eat first.

When on Riviera earlier this year we found the steak average at best with the exception of Polo Grill which we found good to very good. The lamb was of course good enough to make up for it anytime we had it.

We had to open our suitcases to fit them under the bed but when we did no problem and it then also doubles as additional storage.

While I don't want to push this thread to go on forever and I do believe that everyone should cruise wherever makes the most sense for them personally, let me just say this. Having read all of the SM threads so far, it has not yet been made clear to us that on average, SM adds any more than $300 to $400 per person for a ten day cruise. It is true all kinds of numbers have been quoted but most if not all of these may have included other increases for reasons which have nothing to do with SM. Unfortunately, O is not a very transparent line so we do not have the direct confirmation. But, if that is correct then as far as have also seen O is still very competitive, if not still cheaper than all of the other premium and luxury lines on average. (Please do not respond with every instance where you found a comparable cheaper cruise. Between our own research and many threads here I have yet to see anything clearly showing O, across the board, to be more expensive. Yes you can find some instances or certain cabins, or even certain cruises but I have not seen across the board that any are truly cheaper) So this begs the question. If you had chosen O pre covid, and if even with the increase for SM, O is still the same, or cheaper than other lines, why switch? Even if it costs 2 or 3 percent more why would you switch? (Of course we have threads that some have other issues and other reasons make more sense. Although I must also say that I have no clear evidence that food on O is decidedly worse than pre covid. Plenty of posts on these forums that quality, on average, is still very high.) Just something to think about. Why not just pretend O raised prices across the board by 8 or 10 percent and not worry too much about what is being included that you won't use? That is the way we are going to look at it. After all, everything in our lives has gone up post covid. Not thrilled about that but there it is.

This is a serious issue and one which I think you let both your TA and Oceania know. It seemed obvious when Simply More was released that Oceania would need to closely examine its current tour scheduling. If nothing else, it is clear that alot more people would be taking ships excursions with the need to ensure additional space. I would assume that O understands this and is working through the process to help ensure that the majority of people paying the SM additional fee can access some excursions. Non availability of accessible tours has to be a real issue for a cruise line with an older clientele. While we do like that O allows people to choose which excursions their money goes towards, we also understand that almost no one will be able to hit the exact dollar amount meaning most will be forced to either spend additional money out of pocket or leave funds on the table. A choice which certainly will not make most happy. Having said that, the new program is in its infancy and time will tell. From the first SM was released we determined that, with no clear alternative (almost no premium or luxury line does not include at least something), we would have to decide if cruising with O at the increased price made sense for us even if we barely drink and even we don't get slot of value out of the excursion credit. Our next cruise is still more than a year out and we have grandfathered cruise only. After that, we shall see how all this shakes out, but for now, we feel we will be sticking with O. I wish you luck wherever you cruise next but please make sure corporate in Miami knows your lack of options.

Have a great cruise, looking forward to your posts.

I would agree that choice is a very good thing. I have no doubt that an App will come but not because I believe the current O cruiser will use it. Rather an App is what O will need to entice the next generation of cruisers who will make or break the line in the future. I think this thread so far shows a good indication of the current O cruiser. While I may be wrong, I would go so far as to say that many would much prefer not to be sailing with a majority of cruisers who would be carrying phones throughout the ship. And lets face it, these are for the most part small ships, many if not most cruisers are repeaters and while there are activities, they are low-key. I think that O has its work cut out for them figuring out a way to make the next generation happy while making sure not to alienate those that cruise and pay the bills now. We are a younger demographic on O. I am early fifties and my wife late forties. I can tell you honestly that I don't believe most of my peers would be happy sailing O. As an example we met a nice couple on Riviera. Maybe slightly older than us but still younger than the average. We had breakfast the final morning before departure and were discussing the fact that we had put down a deposit for a future cruise. They agreed they loved the ship, their room and the food but, would not be sailing O again, at least not for some time. There was just not enough activity for them. They were still looking for action. He was in the casino every night, bored after spending an hour or two at the pool. To us, it was the opposite. Two hours for dinner was a welcome experience. Playing bridge on sea days a pleasure. We fit in perfectly with what has been termed the relaxed elegance of O. They did not. Its OK, plenty of lines out there for everyone, go where you are happiest. But, I do believe that it will be harder for O to excite the younger generations which start with my group and get progressively more tech oriented and immediate satisfaction oriented as they get younger. I believe that O was created to cater to a specific audience and its success over its history shows how well they succeeded. The reality however is that as that audience ages and cruises less they will need to do certain things to ensure the next generation of O cruisers takes their place. Don't kid yourself, at least here in America it is quite a bit different. And lets remember that O is still a relatively small niche, they don't have fleets of mega ships to fill. I believe they are doing their best to find a happy medium between living for today and planning for tomorrow. They are certainly not perfect and of course there is no way around the Covid shutdown which I am sure removed all easy decisions and allows even less room for error.

I would guess that the destination and ports can make a big difference as well. We had an extended B3 earlier this year on Riviera for our first cruise. It was Caribbean and while we got off the ship at every port, we were usually back on for lunch. My wife sat out on our balcony at least an hour or two every day (I preferred going to the pool,) as she preferred the privacy. While we were not offered an upgrade we pretty much concluded that we would probably not give up our large balcony even if offered a penthouse cabin. Of course you have to determine which makes more sense for you on your specific cruise. As the base cabins are all the same, I would say that if we did not think we would spend any significant time on the balcony chaise lounges we would think about trying the A level amenities instead. For now we have again reserved a B3, this time on Marina in 24. Similar Caribbean itinerary so we feel we would Utilize the extended balcony.

Welcome kmcgann21. For the most part people who say they use a TA mean a private travel agent, not an Oceania representative. Posting would indicate that many, perhaps the majority of O cruisers do book direct but I think you will find most posters here will advise you to use a TA, but only if you can find a good one who specializes in premium/luxury cruises and preferably one who specializes in O. Many threads about the pros and cons to find but at the end of the day, a good TA can arrange for some bonuses like free gratuities, OBC, a percentage of cruise fare back. More importantly we believe is their knowledge and ability to go to bat for you if any issues arise.

I read the question differently. I think they are in a named suite and get 6 bottles of wine or liquor in their cabin. If they do it is my impression they can bring that bottle or a glass to a meal. Please let us know if it is one of the free bottles and if someone can then confirm they can bring it.

Try here https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?type=forums_topic&search_and_or=or&search_in=titles&nodes=2534&q=Sept September There is more than one although the listings include the next cruise as well. You are still over a year away so still not much there. It has been remarked that some CC Oceania roll calls are not nearly as busy as pre covid. With simply more requiring everyone's fares to include some money which can only be used towards ships excursions there is bound to be less discussion of privately booked excursions. Hope this helps and keep checking back as you get closer.

Here in the states, surveys have become the norm. Almost any service that is performed has a survey attached. Some are quick and easy but others become absurd quickly. In addition, many have let us know that anything less than all perfect scores will count negatively against the person. As a result, I now ignore most that come from anything such as buying a cup of coffee to "normal" everyday business unless the service is particularly great or horrendous. Luckily we have not experienced horrendous. We did fill out our mid cruise survey in January as we have read enough comments on this board that they are read. We also took the time to mention as many people by name as possible. Truth is we had extremely good service on board although honestly our needs were pretty simple. I look at these like the reviews I see on CC. Read ten, throw away the worst two and the best two and then come to the Oceania page and temper what I read. If the surveys were at all difficult for us to fill out, we would probably have just moved on but for us, easy peasy.

We chose the B3 extended after advice from this forum. It was a Caribbean cruise so plenty of sun and we were back on the ship early for most stops. I did not use it much as I enjoyed time by the pool but my wife laid out there almost everyday and loved it. This was our first cruise ever so nothing to compare it to but we know most cabins on most cruises until you start paying for suites have at best a small sitting area. This felt very luxurious (as did the whole refurbished ship.) We have the same booked for our Marina cruise next year.

Please see my picture for B3 extended balcony on Riviera in January. We had both chaise loungers and chairs with a small table.

We were on the Riviera in January post refurb and we did have USB in our cabin. I assume Marina will have them after refurb next year.

I think there is just going to be an adjustment period as many people purposely chose O for the cruise only option or to take olife non excursions. I am sure this happens on any line making that kind of change. It would be great if I could tell you there is another unfound "Gem" out there (like the pre SM O) but once you get to premium and above lines it is simply a question of figuring out which cruise on which line makes the most sense for you now that O has basically leveled the field. For us, details are important and we are looking for value but in the end it is the total vacation experience for the total vacation price that matters. In this respect, I still feel that for us, O will present a good value vs the competition as they still have lower level cabins, cruise availability from the US (which allows us to keep our flight cost and etc. Down) and what we found to be a luxury level product. YMMV.

I am assuming if you booked a world cruise you have a TA. That is the first place I would check. Its not clear from your post if you have already gotten a new updated total price if you switch to SM. I could imagine that there could be a significant price difference one way or the other. This should be the first number you get. If you don't need the second internet and if at least one of you will not be drinking Beer, Wine, Champagne with meals then the main difference would seem to be if you feel you can/will use the olife excursions which are capped at $199 per. Theoretically, SM will allow you to take fewer, more expensive excursions with your money. You have plenty of time and what we know for sure is that until SM starts and we start getting feedback, we just can't be sure how everything will work out. I would get the new SM price, then wait for a bit. Lucky you, enjoy your cruiss. Jealous...

Only my opinion but I also think that as O moves into the future looking to try and develop a younger demographic the larger ships seem to me, to fit better. Certainly the R ships have their fans, and having never been on one, I can't comment from experience but when we were looking for our first cruise we thought the larger ship, still small compared to the main lines would be the perfect fit. I know from various threads that the bathrooms in the base veranda cabins on the R ships are small and if you are going from a mainline suite I don't think it is a favorite. Viking ships are about the same size I believe and it seems clear they feel this also about the perfect size for a premium line. Having said that I don't know of any reason the R ships will be leaving anytime soon. I would personally not be surprised if at least one is still in the fleet at the end of the decade. These things don't happen overnight and as long as they are filing them and don't have major repair issues...

Okay so what I am seeing is there are only 2 packages but as you already have the basic package through olife you can pay the additional $605 (I assume per person) to move up to the prestige select. Not sure why it offers you the House Select option as you already have it but I would say the only price you need is the upgrade. I assume the $40.33 Canadian is equal to $30 US.

Thank you for the clarification.

There are many threads in this regard but the quick answer is that you can bring as many bottles as you like both upon embarking and coming back from ports, wine or spirits but these are to be enjoyed only in your cabin or at a dining venue when paying the corking fee (wine only, not spirits.)