ak1004

Wow, this is one of the best posts I read in years! I always shake my head when someone describes their cruise experience as "cruise from hell", awful, or something similar, especially when it comes to one of the luxury/premium lines. We returned from our first Silversea cruise a few weeks ago, and while we did have some service issues with new staff members, we had a great time. Then I read two 1 star reviews about the same cruise, describing it as a disaster. Looking forward to our first SB cruise next year on the Quest. I'm sure we will have a wonderful cruise!

This is really case by case basis. Take a look at the following cruise for example: d2d is $6,800, or you can take $500 air credit. Flight cost is around $800. So p2p was already almost $1,000 CAD cheaper even before the 15% discount. We found that d2d are rarely attractive. We won't book any more SS cruises unless p2p is available. The price difference is huge, much more than the cost of the flight and transfers. For European cruises it's about $2,500-3,000 CAD while economy flights can be booked for $1,100-1,300 CAD.

We missed the 21 day deadline, do they ever make an exception and allow to submit the info 2 months after my referrals booked?

We sailed on both and liked both. Marina is newer, more spacious and has more dining options. We liked food slightly better on Oceania, but both are excellent. Azamara has white nights and Azamazing evenings (not sure about TA crossings). Entertainment mediocre on both. Service excellent on both.

All lines get plenty of 1 and 2 star reviews lately, including Silversea, Seabourn and Regent. I was shocked to read two 1 star reviews about the same SS cruise we were in December. To us it was slightly below expectations, but definitely not 1 star. Going back to Marina - I see the its schedule is full for the whole 2023-2024. Is the refit still possible in 2024? If they schedule the refit that collides with some sailings, do they just cancel those sailings and give booked passengers some kind of compensation? I remember that Riviera had a gap for the end of 2022 where the refit was scheduled.

We were on Riviera and Regatta, both post Covid. Both were outstanding. Riviera was pre refurbishment and she was in a good shape overall. Marina is only one year older, so I cannot imagine here being in so much worse shape. Yes, food is subjective - to us, this is still the best Cuisine at sea. In fact, we liked O food better than food on our last Silversea cruise. Again, our opinion only. Everyone has their opinions, but I learned to take the reviews with a grant of salt. Don't believe everything you read..

If this is the case, it would be very sad. On Oceania we always stayed in the entry level veranda and never felt being discriminated in any way. And I agree regarding La Dame. Why would an all inclusive line charge for 2 out of 8 restaurants and for premium internet? Maybe they should stop the advertising?

It was very interesting to read your comprehensive and balanced review after we returned from the Spirit just 2 weeks before your cruise. I agree with most your observations.. except for La Dame which we considered exceptional and worth the $60 surcharge. Otherwise, the food was between very good and excellent, but no single meal was really exceptional and memorable, and service was very good overall but inconsistent. That said, I want to believe that it was mostly due to many new and not experienced crew members, and I'm giving SS another chance. We are booked on the Dawn in December, hopefully will have a better experience, otherwise just don't see how SS justifies the extra cost compared to Oceania.

Great topic, thank you all! I would like to hear from people who have been on both Dawn and Spirit, how those ships compare? I know there are some dining venues changes (SALT) and some layout changes, but I'm interested mostly in food and service. We just returned from the Spirit and while it was great overall, the food and service were inconsistent. I'm curious how does it compare to the Dawn which we will board in December.

Hank, I completely agree with you, it's about the whole package. However, the original post was about the crowds and lines. We were on Regatta in Sep.2022, the ship was almost full, and yet it never felt crowed, and no lines. No comparison to mainstream lines, although the space to passenger ratio looks similar (not sure how accurate those ratios are). No even close to what we experienced on the RCI Allure of the Seas, and even Celebrity ships felt much more crowded. Of course the cabins are a different topic. We previously sailed on Azamara and still remember those bathrooms, so this time we took a PH. It's not huge (less than standard cabins on SS/SB), but very comfortable overall. To me, 260 sqft was more than enough. We still prefer the Riviera (it's newer, the cabins are larger, more dining options etc) but R class ships can still provide a very pleasant cruising experience. It's not fair to compare them to the newer SS/SB ships, although O class ships in my opinion provide an experience pretty close to SS.

Maybe O fans should not try and convince the sceptics how good O is? Otherwise it might indeed to become too crowded..

What does the shower size have to do with the crowdness of the ship?

Can you clarify what do you need? Is Spirit better or worse than other SS ships?

Totally agree. Leslie was fantastic. He also actually performed few acts.

Haha.. the Nh Sbc confused me as well.. still not sure what does it mean exactly.. SBC is probably Spend Onboard Credit? What is NH? Yes, it could be useful, but this is Caribbean cruise, not sure if there is anything worth paying for.

Haha.. good point.

Yes, exactly! On our last SS cruise we spent our OBC on La Dame (outstanding, completely worth the extra fee), spa (complete waste of money, as on most ships) and some shopping (which we probably wouldn't do if we didn't have the credit). So most likely we won't be spending more than $120 USD (La Dame) on this cruise, and we prefer to have the fare reduced. I'm surprised it was not done in the first place, but I just wanted to make sure that I understand it correctly. @labrasettto answer your question, I have no problem with the admin fee (I was aware of it before cancelling), just the way it was applied (OBC and not fare reduction).

I believe they have something called "open booking" where you get a certificate and have to decide within 6 months which cruise to book, and still get the same 5% discount?

Hello everyone, We are cancelling our November cruise and transferring it to another booking. The original reservation mentioned the $300 CAD per person admin fee and indicated "This admin fee will be converted to a future cruise credit (FCC) redeemable on a new booking". However, the new booking shows that $300 was applied as "Nh Sbc". Was this your experience as well? Or should I insist that the $300 is deducted from the fare and not as SBC? Thank you.

I would be interested to hear it too.. especially how the Cruise Director was trying to get into your pocket.

I believe we were on the same Regatta cruise in September, and I agree, I didn't noticed any changes for worse. @flyers Oceania is not all inclusive line - this should not come as a surprise to anyone who checked their website. Alcohol is not included, which for many guests (including us) is a good thing. Many other things are included compared to the mass market lines. That said, we never felt being Nickel and Dimed on any Oceania cruise (unlike Celebrity/Princess etc). Spa on any ship (including Silversea) will try to sell you additional items/services - just decline politely. Yes, gratuity is extra, as clearly indicated on their price list. No surprises. All inclusive is not better or worse - it really depends on your personal preferences. Oceania was never marketed as an all inclusive line. btw, Oceania has all specialty restaurants free while Silversea has a surcharge for 2 out of 8 restaurants. Silversea and Seabourn charge to upgrade the internet. So to be completely accurate, none of the cruise lines is really all inclusive. As for food - we have been on Riviera and Regatta so far, but I consider O food the best of all cruise lines (including Silversea and former Crystal). I cannot imagine that food on the Sirena is that much worse..

Thank you for your suggestions. I'm glad that I don't need permission from you to sail on Oceania.. After 20 cruises on 11 different lines, Oceania remains our favorite line, with 3 more cruises booked in 2023-2024. But it doesn't mean that I have to like everything they do. Asking to have at least one dining venue to be open for extended hours is not too much to ask, and the fact is that many others think the same. Good sailing to everyone.

Once again, I'm comparing this to our experience on other lines. There are always solutions, but for me it was a major inconvenience. Not to mention people who come late from the shore. On our last SS cruise we came back to the cruise around 9pm at least twice. No problem to have a full dinner in at least two venues.

The fact remains that out of 11 lines we sailed with, O is the only line that doesn't have a single dining venue open after 9pm. Maybe some people do feel the urge to have a snack before going to bed?

I don't think it's a matter of price. I agree that O offers very good value for money. But Azamara has a similar price range. And our last cruise on SS was actually cheaper than most O cruises.. Everyone is different. I have diabetes and I need to have a snack before I go to bed. Yes, I know, there are always solutions. But it was extremely inconvenient not to have anything open after 9pm.