Oceania Compared to Crystal, Seabourn, Silversea

Hi All,

I have been over at the cruise critics review site and must admit I am confused. On one particular cruise of Regatta, two people posted and one gave a one ribbon while another on the same cruise gave a 5 ribbon. There are 13 member reviews and it is sort of like what I just reported. One cruise in 04 had 4 posted reviews and each was different. It is a little difficult for someone who is contemplating taking a cruise with Oceania to know what to make of this. Add to the mix the Cruise Critic professional review and ?????????

Cruise Critic specifically contradictaded things one member had criticized. I thought I might look up the members and get a sense of their postings. One member was so outrageous in his review. (Very snobby) If that was consistent with his posts, I thought I would simply discount. However, I would much rather hear from people who have cruised, Oceania, Chrystal, Seaborn, Silversea and Others comparable and hear your comparations.

Thanks to you all for any help you might provide.

Regards,

Shannon

User reviews have to be taken with a grain of salt. If they use hyperbolic language (words like "terrible," "horrible," etc.), and if they contradict what the professional Cruise Critic reviewers and other Cruise Critic members are saying, the odds are good that the unhappy passengers have an axe to grind.

In any case, that's a topic for the Oceania forum, not this one, but I will say that Oceania isn't directly comparable with Silversea. It offers great food and mostly great service at a very competitive price, but the cabins aren't remotely comparable to Silversea's (in terms of either space or quality), the ships carry about twice the number of passengers, and--as on most cruise ships--you pay separately for beverages and tips.

Overall, I'd rate Silversea A+ and Oceania a solid (and I've enjoyed my cruises on both lines).

We just got off the Regatta last week, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We definitely plan to cruise again with them in the future. While the ship does have double the number of passengers as Silversea, we never waited in a line, had problems getting a deck chair, or had a feeling of being in a crowd. The food and the service were excellent. The cabins are nice, not outstanding, however we were with a group, and consequently spent much less time in our cabin than we would have had we been cruising by outselves. We are sailing Silversea in January, and that nine day cruise will cost more than our fourteen day cruise on the Regatta. The two cruise lines are not comparable, but our feeling is that each suits our needs at a different time.

Zimmy & Goeurope,

Thanks for getting back to the question I posted. The one person I referred to about their review, I think, probably did have an axe to grind.

I do appreciate the time and information you provided.

Regards,

Shannon

You get what you pay for- nothing beats silversea and seaborn......nothing.

We have been on the Regatta, but not yet on the Shadow. We did, however, read up data on the latter. The Regatta is 30,000 tonnes, while the Shadow has been quoted at between 25,000 and 28,000 tonnes by Silversea. Roughly, they are similar sized ships. The Regatta has 400 crew members, while the Shadow has 295, but probably even including tips, the latter's crew members are better paid, so assume the overall cost of the crew (paid by the company or the passengers) are roughly the same. In other words, the total cost per day to run either ship will be in the same ball park.

Then the Regatta has a capacity of 684 passengers, while the Shadow has 382, so the former has 79% more cabins than the latter. The typical (majority) Regatta balconied cabin has an area of 216 sq.ft., while the Shadow's typical (majority) verandah suite is 345 sq.ft. So the latter is 60% larger than the former. The space ratio (gross tonnes volume) for the Regatta is 44, while it is 74 or 65 for the Shadow (depending on which tonnage number you use), so the latter is 48 to 68% larger than the former. All these numbers seem to "fit in" quite well and are quite "self-consistent"

That being the case, if the two are both to "make ends meet" or earn a reasonable profit, their overall per diem revenue (including both direct and indirect charges such as tips, drinks, etc.) will have to be roughly inversely proportional to the number of passengers. That means the actual per diem of the Shadow will be some 60% higher than the Regatta, while the nominal per diem (since the Shadow is "all inclusive" while the Regatta is not) will be closer to 2:1. Of course, the two lines have different pricing policies, such as different discounts for different itineraries at different times of the year, etc., and special sales as required. However, the underlying reality remains, that is the per diem cost of the Shadow is some 60% higher than the Regatta, but then it offers you 60% more space, higher crew to passenger ratio, etc.

Any comments? Thank you.

Since I last posted that question I have certainly learned alot, both from the boards and on my own. Your statistical information was very interesting and really put another face on things. Thank you for taking your time to put it all on the boards.

Regards,

Shannon

My husband and I sailed Oceania last Christmas (12 days). The president and CEO of Oceania and their families were on board. I believe the cruise was sold out. We had selected Oceania because we had sailed the South Pacific when the ship was owned be Renaissance. We had a fabulous time on Ren. There are a lot of good things about Oceania. We loved the country club casual and the itinerary. Cost was reasonable.

The one area that prevented us from exalting the praises of Oceania was the clientele. It seemed as if the preponderance of the passengers were complainers and wined about everything. I know that may sound a little strange, but it was very true. You would think the passengers were there to have a good time and just enjoy the trip … But Nooooooo. Not this bunch. My husband and I just tried to ignore the negativity and thank goodness we met at least a dozen other folks who were fabulous. Out of 600+, it was not a large percentage of folks. However, it made up for the complainers. It is hard to believe that so many of the same type of folks were on a ship so large. It must be some kind of Guinness Record! Unbelievable!

One of the things I love about traveling is meeting people from different cultures. The majority of the travelers were from south Florida, so there was little variety. One of the more interesting results of having a ship full of complainers is that if you were nice, you really stood out. In fact many of the waiters at the restaurants asked us if we could come back every night because we were so nice, which was quite amusing.

On the up side, I think because of our demeanor, we always got a table when there were none available and often given free drinks. Go figure. Win one for the nice guys!

Enough of that. There are a couple of things to keep in mind about Regatta. The chaise lounges around the pool are "reserved" very early with passengers leaving books, towels, etc. and then disappearing for hours. This is particularly an issue on days at sea. Oceania tries to address the “reservation issue”, but is unsuccessful. One solution could be to add more chaises in different locations/decks for those folks who really just want to read in the shade. Interestingly, Ren never had this problem with the same number of passengers.

The restaurants can be VERY noisy. The voices bounce off the windows surrounding the restaurants. We went to the Italian restaurant for a romantic anniversary dinner and were placed at a table for two at the back of the restaurant. Romantic, right? WRONG! The problem was there were two tables for 8-10 adjacent to us who were trying to out yell each other. We were relieved when their food came, because the decibel level of the restaurant reduced significantly and my husband and I could actually hear each other. Not exactly the romantic dinner we had in mind. We had a similar situation with the Polo Grill. Do not have them seat you at the tables in the back. They are too noisy. The best and quietest tables are along the sides.

The food on the terrace was unpredictable. It was suppose to have this great paella. It did not. In fact, I even tried some fresh from the kitchen thinking it woule be the best. It was still not very good. Desserts are always great. Other dishes were good. Pork chops in the Italian restaurant were fabulous. Steaks at the Polo Grill were fabulous.

As far as the cabin was concerned, I was disappointed our veranda room did not have a refrigerator, but we took matters into our own hands. We brought a soft sided “cooler” with us and made our own. We also brought wine. Since we drove to Miami, it was not a problem. Folks flying may have more of a challenge. Rooms are comfy, but very small. That is one of the reasons we selected Silversea. The cabins are larger. Also, the penthouse rooms on Oceania were not that great of a bargain and not that big. The owner's suite would be the way to go on Oceania.

A word to the wise. My husband and I love to travel, but we are NOT travel agents. There are many people on the message boards that are travel agents and sometimes I wonder what they are thinking. One travel agent in particular (who shall remain nameless) was so cheap that she demanded the guide on the excursion in Dominica comp her and her husband. Then she did not even tip the guy. Can you imagine? This guy is living at poverty level and gets stiffed. Nice people!

It seems that if Oceania is giving trips away or providing travel at greatly reduced prices, the travel agents will continue to say whatever will keep the trips flowing in. I have noticed on the Oceania boards (cruisecritic and Yahoo) that if negative items are brought up, the travel agents and their buddies will quickly jump in and get very defensive and lambaste the offender. So if you want an objective opinion, I suggest asking those who are not travel agents. Don't get me wrong. I love our current travel agent. I feel as if she gives us the straight scoop rather than what she thinks we want to hear. We fired the travel agent who booked Oceania because we knew more about the cruiselines and trips than she did. So she missed out on booking a very expensive Silversea trip.

One area that has not been discussed is the cruise director. The guy we had on the Regatta was a joke. He was one of the most unfriendly guys I have ever met. I think he went to the Insignia after Regatta, but there is no telling where he is now. For some reason, there is a travel agents-led cheering section for him on the Oceania board, but I have no idea why. Every time we saw him he looked hung over and barely offered a greeting or smile. I think if my husband and I were travel agents, the cruise director probably would have treated us differently! The blonde woman who served as some kind of hostess and also sang was fabulous, however. Sorry, but I cannot remember her name.

Incidentally, the way Oceania celebrated Christmas was a joke. There was barely an acknowledgement. New Year’s Eve was fabulous, though.

Will be sail Oceania again? Not sure. We got tired of the nickel and dime and 18% charge on top of every drink. By the way, that is another reason we selected Silversea. As far as the clientele, something tells me we will not have to deal with the excessive complaining on Silversea.

In a nutshell, when we select cruises we look at itineraries, cabins/ship, cost and amenities. We were attracted to the country club casual of Oceania, but we think a few nights of dressing up will be fun on Silversea. We like the smaller ships. We are not big crowd people. Being on a ship with 2000-3000 people does not appeal to us. Overall, I suspect Silversea will be worth every dime. Since we are celebrating my husband's 50th birthday, I sure hope is it a great trip!

I hope this information is useful. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Hi All,

I just wanted to get back to the threads I started and let all of those who posted know how much I appreciate your experience and your time. It has really been invaluable information and it enabled me in making a decision to book a cruise with Silversea in February. It is a chance to experience Silversea, which I have been interested in for a number of years. My husband would never be interested. (Strictly #'s here, Purdue engineer and Harvard MBA, you give him a cruise price and he spouts per diems. Calculates comparasions etc. It is a real interesting exercise. What he said about this, "Well, this is obviously something you have wanted to do for a long time, so you decide and we'll do it." He just wanted to be more involved.

I was really touched by this, we have always been very conservative and his ego is -0- so I know it was not easy for him to say this to me. The experience is for me, but I do think he will enjoy it also. He mixes so well with all people, especially bright ones. He just has no ego. It's weird.

Anyway, thanks to all who posted, it was a real help.

Regards,

Shannon

Shannon, I know you won't be disappointed! I just posted my thoughts on our Oceania cruise last March, on the RSSC Board. Poster wanted a comparison between RSSC and Oceania. I have only been on the Paul Gauguin, that one cruise on Oceania, and two cruises on SS. To me, SS is the BEST. The service, the food, the cabins - the all inclusive experience - just not to be beat. It is pricey, thats true. But sometimes you can get good deals. For example, I am going with a group of friends on the Whisper in December - we all have single occupancy cabins, and the price from SS was only $200 more for a single supplement - RSSC and Oceania can be much more for single occupancy. I know you and your hubby will have a wonderful time!

Glenda

Congratulations for having booked your cruise early enough (we did too on the Shadow). If you would take a look at the Silversea website, the single occupancy charge for your particular voyage has been raised from 110% to 150% for vista suites. (Perhaps some of your group filled up the quota Silversea was willing to give at that discount!)

You are right Meow! We actuallly changed our booking from RSSC Voyager to SS Whisper a few months ago, when we saw what a good deal it was! Both ships leave on 12-6 - one from Ft. Lauderdale, and the other from Aruba. Even with the difference in flight cost, we felt it made sense to change our booking to SS. And the fine print always says something to the effect of that the offer is subject to boarding totals, and they can change it at any time - which, from what you say, they have. Most of us are in the Vistas, with only a few paying more for the Verandas. We are a small group, though Meow! Only 8 of us going - and we plan to have loads of fun!