Advice Please: Bad experience has made us hesitatant to book another cruise!

A question because I am confused. If you would never be caught dead on any mass market cruise line, and from a quick look at your posting history, Oceania is the only cruise line you every sail on, how do you know that the food and service is FAR better if you don't have any experience on other lines? A person needs to try all cruise lines to make such a bold, sweeping claim. You may like it, but you simply can't have any idea how good or bad the food is on lines that you avoid because they aren't tony enough for you.

 

As for me, I have cruised several times on Hal, Celebrity and Princess. Since it's been several years since my last HAL cruise, I can't even pretend to know how good or bad the food is on that line today. It was quite good when we were last on HAL. What I do know is that for our recent cruises Celebrity edges out Princess most of the time. The same goes for service.

 

We are not a food snobs, so my husband and I are quite satisfied with the food on the cruise lines we patronize. And, we do it WITHOUT looking down our noses at those lines that we don't have experience with or those that you would think unworthy of your patronage.

Fair question.

I started cruising more than a quarter century ago on various lines -long before there was an Oceania. Within the last decade, I found Oceania as an alternative to the upper end mass market (oddly enough as a recommendation by a former HAL cruise director - now TA). It only took doing the math/value homework and three different cruises to know that Oceania had become my preferred cruise line because it checks off every requirement on MY list of expectations and does so in a value laden way.

Of course, I still follow industry changes/trends and also follow the reviews of cruisers and industry pros I trust (my professional background crisscrosses both the maritime and hospitality industries) as regards how all cruise lines are doing.

On our "to do" list is Disney for the "family" experience (once GD is old enough) and perhaps Viking Ocean (time will tell).

Luxury lines add little at a significant cost increase to the premium experience. And the mass market cruise segment no longer has anything that excites us, regardless of the price. So, there is Oceania (for us - YRMV). "Why try to fix what ain't broken?"

Trust me: I am not alone in this observation. That is why the premium cruise lines all do so well as regards loyalty.

Azamara.

DON

Hi.

We are hesitant to book cruise number 3 as a result of our last experience and would welcome some advice or feedback from others.

 

Just a bit of background we are 58 and 62 and had our first cruise a couple of years ago with Holland America and it was wonderful (and at the top of our budget.)

 

We than made the mistake of booking Thomson/TUI/Marella thinking that all inclusive would mean no worries over budgeting! How wrong we were.

We planned ahead and sadly watched the price drop from the £3000+ that we had paid to around £1500! :eek:

We hoped it might put us in line for an upgrade, no chance.

We then found the food at the buffet was barely edible and nowhere near the standard we had experienced on HAL.

The restaurant was a bit better but we had long waits 2 hours and over was not unusual for dinner and we tried the Italian upstairs and I ended up with extended toilet visits a few hours later after an undercooked chicken, which I discovered half way though eating!

The bars were always busy, the staff were often sullen, the reception staff we dealt with were indifferent especially when we needed help with a problem.

The enrichment was lacking, badly organised and the one and only 'tours talk' I attended spent half their time talking about how 'drunk' we would get on some of the tours.(classy)

We had small strange flies in our bathroom, the shower curtain would constantly stick to you when trying to shower.

 

 

I could go on but the upshot is I would like decent food with professional staff, does this exist?

 

 

I would book HAL again but would like to try another line and knowing the budget upfront would be helpful. :)

 

Just for clarification:- The 2 hours wait in the MDR was to be served 3 courses (sometimes 2)

 

Just thought I would clarify this after a reply received. Thanks for all replies so far .

On our first cruise every passenger and crew member including the ships medical staff became ill .Just imagine people throwing up all over the ship .

We did not go on another cruise for 21 years .It was great and now we are addicted to cruising.

Thank you all for some very good advice :D

Celebrity is looking a good option and I have had a look at their user friendly website.

Some 'Cruise specialist' websites are so hard to use! I will have a look at some of the other suggestions too

'dickinson' thanks you are right am in the UK and should have mentioned this :o and the pricing does seem different, but I'll get my head around the pricing and also Princess.

'John Bull' you are quite right, finding you have paid twice as much as a person who booked last minute definitely started me off on the wrong foot :mad: and maybe I was looking for a better experience, perhaps I felt I was getting a half price experience for a full price payment and my expectations should have been for a budget cruise :o

The 2 hours for MDR was just the 2 of us (on a couple of occasions) we were seated and it took this long to order and receive 2 courses, which to us was too long when other people around us were served and long gone, having come in after us, I guess we were unlucky and should have asked them (politely) to hurry up as we were trying to catch the shows.

'davecctr' Quote 'Consumer law in the UK is different than elsewhere. The deal is sealed when you pay the deposit on your cruise and the cruise line is under no obligation to refund you if they subsequently reduce the fare. You could of course cancel, lose your deposit and rebook at the lower fare'

Also frankly they don't give a damn (Gone with the wind - moment) I rang and asked but it was obvious they couldn't have cared less, No upgrades - nothing! I had by now paid the balance

I couldn't even cancel and rebook. :mad:

Last but not least thanks to all the posters (we are all entitled to our perspective and to choose based on what suits our budget, often based on life experiences)

I can't thank everyone individually but genuinely am grateful for people who took the time to address my fears and share their experience and I now feel better equipped to look at booking a another cruise.

You will find that apparently 'not giving a damn' is quite common on UK based cruise lines, it is all because of consumer law in the UK

Celebrity is looking a good option and I have had a look at their user friendly website.]

And the live belly dancing, while serving you Baklava.

The adults only Solarium with the Thallaso therapy pool.

The complimentary trial massages

The passengers vs officers (in full uniform) pool volleyball (a trademark of X)? The mini golf and basketball contests The adult game show. The love and marriage game show. The trivia.

The Chinese New year celebration. The Christmas celebration.

The complimentary liquer tasting. The champagne art auctions. The 5 for $40 sale of ladies bags, hats and watches.

The lobster and jumbo prawns, steak and prime rib on formal night.

The free galley tour with sparkling wine and complimentary sampling of the specialty dining menu.

The charismatic cruise director and assistant director. The effervescent entertainment girls. The dance parties. The silent disco.

The enrichment program. The guest speakers. The dance classes, fitness classes, ports of call seminars.

The excellent service by waiters and bartenders. If you have the the alcoholic beverage package, the bartenders at the MDR keep on checking every 10 minutes if you need another free cocktail.

At all the other bars, (except the overcrowded Martini bar) the service is almost immediate.

Need I go on???