MiniSchnauzer Posted January 26, 2012 #1 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Seabourn, Windstar or Oceania for Summer 2012 Trying to determine what cruise ship to sail with this upcoming Summer 2012. Are choices are: Windstar, Oceania or Seabourn. Two years ago (2010), my wife and I had a wonderful experience for our Honeymoon on the Seabourn Legend. It was an amazing experience! Last year (2011) we returned back to the Seabourn Legend but found the experience somewhat disappointing (poor service). We believe that since Seabourn launched the Quest... less emphasis and attention was given to the Legend; since it's an older ship. So for this upcoming Summer we're trying to decide on a cruise line. Our choices are: Windstar Windsurf Oceania Marina Seabourn Quest Seabourn Legend (give it another shot). We are in our late 30's early 40's and like the smaller ships that tend to be quieter; but like to meet other interesting people as well. We have met some great people on the Seabourn. It's just our last trip was disappointing... but we haven't given up on the brand totally. Anyone been on the Seabourn Quest or Seabourn Legend recently? What are the thoughts of the overall Windstar or Oceania experience? Oceania is a bigger ship and has some great deals being advertised right now. At the same time... I don't want to spend my vacation with kids running around around the ship being loud and crazy. We want to relax, unwind, sight see, meet new people and celebrate the time off. Appreciate your insight. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted January 26, 2012 #2 Share Posted January 26, 2012 My personal experience is limited to Oceania. Normally not many children are on Oceania because there are no children's programs in place. But the summer time could be different because of vacation schedules. We personally avoid the summer time although we have done summer cruises the past two years, but they were not the kinds of itineraries that would attract teenagers (or younger). I would doubt that there would be lots of children running around the ship -- except for the fact that there was one cruise at holiday time (posted about here at CC) that did have a big problem with unattended children. As far as I know, that was a one-time experience, but you certainly don't want to be afflicted with a similar experience. No one can make guarantees in this respect. You WILL find quieter evenings on any of Oceania's ships because entertainment is not their strong suit! We enjoyed our Marina cruise last October very much but have a slight preference for the older "R" ships (684 passengers). I'm sure others with more experience with the other lines will chime in! Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted January 26, 2012 #3 Share Posted January 26, 2012 We only sailed on Seabourn once (Sojourn). While it was a perfectly enjoyable experience, we gladly returned to Oceania for the next three cruises. I found the food to be better on Oceania (especially the Marina), the people more approachable and the atmosphere less formal. Of course, these are only my impressions - not the absolute truth :). If you stay away from major school holidays (and the Caribbean), children should be no problem at all. You should try the Marina for yourself and then decide - after that only you can tell which one you'd prefer in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted January 26, 2012 #4 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I used to think Oceania was child free too until I strongly recommended the Marina to a friend for a holiday cruise where it was overrun with kids. If you're planning a summer cruise this should be taken into consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted January 26, 2012 #5 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I used to think Oceania was child free too until I strongly recommended the Marina to a friend for a holiday cruise where it was overrun with kids. If you're planning a summer cruise this should be taken into consideration. Ouch, Wripro :eek: Apply the Altovese Davis Rule, for goodness sake. How would we like it if somebody said that an Oceania cruise was "overrun with old people?" Distinguished old people........but old people :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redmanflorida Posted January 27, 2012 #6 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Jim you are really loved on this board But if you were on the Holiday Cruise you would have been Apalled at the behavior of the Parents and thier Children! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruiser John Posted January 27, 2012 #7 Share Posted January 27, 2012 After three recent Seabourn cruises (including One on Quest) I believe that you will find the food, both preparation and quality, to be superior on Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted January 27, 2012 #8 Share Posted January 27, 2012 JimansStan, Old people don't run, children do. And they don't jump in the pool and splash everyone in their radius. And they don't have parents who ignore their behavior, or worse, relish in it. So if you want to call me on disliking kids on a cruise I plead guilty. jmo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted January 27, 2012 #9 Share Posted January 27, 2012 if you were on the Holiday Cruise you would have been Apalled at the behavior of the Parents and thier Children! This is the first cruise on oceania I have heard of that had a problem with children ..it may be a 1 off (hopefully) Oceania ahould have instructions to ship management to intervene if this happens again Normally they do not have this sort of behavior from the children onboard nor that many children Maybe limiting the amount of children on 1 sailing would curb the wildness or maybe not :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westmount Posted January 27, 2012 #10 Share Posted January 27, 2012 My wife and I were lucky enough to have been on the Marina in September and with our young adult kids Christmas time on the :)uest. When all is said and done, they both are exactly what you make of it. Seabourn is more formal, albeit less so than they were before, and Oceania is more relaxed, but fancying its way up. As I've said in another thread, Seabourn is really the best, but trying very hard to teach all of its new employees the Seabourn way, and that's taking time and it shows it. The Marina is bigger, has fantastic food, so so entertainment, great suites, and a better price, but not by much once you start adding in all the extras. At the end of the day, pick an itinerary that suites you, and whichever line you try, you won't be disappointed, and you can try the other one on your next cruise. We're doing Crystal this summer because the schedule works, and I'm sure it will be just fine. If you're patient, polite, and a happy traveler, cruising on any of these lines is the only way to see the world, it's just really easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeepCalmBearOn Posted January 28, 2012 #11 Share Posted January 28, 2012 JimansStan, Old people don't run, children do. And they don't jump in the pool and splash everyone in their radius. And they don't have parents who ignore their behavior, or worse, relish in it. So if you want to call me on disliking kids on a cruise I plead guilty. jmo. Amen brother! Preach on :) You can't really go wrong on any of the three ships, I'd go with the most appealing ports of call. We've never encountered many kids on Oceania, but then we don't often sail in the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azam71209 Posted January 28, 2012 #12 Share Posted January 28, 2012 This is the first cruise on oceania I have heard of that had a problem with children ..it may be a 1 off (hopefully) Oceania ahould have instructions to ship management to intervene if this happens again Normally they do not have this sort of behavior from the children onboard nor that many children Maybe limiting the amount of children on 1 sailing would curb the wildness or maybe not :) We were on a river cruise several years ago where some thoughtless parents let their kids run wild. They were told very firmly that either then controlled their children or they would be put off at the next port. It can be done. That said, the children on the Oceania cruise that we were on were well-behaved and seemed to enjoy the trip without a lot of "kid entertainment." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azam71209 Posted January 28, 2012 #13 Share Posted January 28, 2012 This is the first cruise on oceania I have heard of that had a problem with children ..it may be a 1 off (hopefully) Oceania ahould have instructions to ship management to intervene if this happens again Normally they do not have this sort of behavior from the children onboard nor that many children Maybe limiting the amount of children on 1 sailing would curb the wildness or maybe not :) We were on a river cruise several years ago where some thoughtless parents let their kids run wild. They were told very firmly that either then controlled their children or they would be put off at the next port. It can be done. That said, the children on the Oceania cruise that we were on were well-behaved and seemed to enjoy the trip without a lot of "kid entertainment." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksps cruise fan Posted January 28, 2012 #14 Share Posted January 28, 2012 This is the first cruise on oceania I have heard of that had a problem with children ..it may be a 1 off (hopefully) Oceania ahould have instructions to ship management to intervene if this happens again Normally they do not have this sort of behavior from the children onboard nor that many children Maybe limiting the amount of children on 1 sailing would curb the wildness or maybe not :) The wild-child Marina holiday cruise was our fourth Oceania cruise and the first time we've encountered any significant presence of children or a problem with children, including cruises in the Caribbean. I think the Marina itself is attracting a demographic that represents a change from Insignia's, Regatta's, and Nautica's demographic. The small size of the R-ships make them close enough to the size of the Seabourne and Silver Seas ships that folks with children drew one conclusion: stay away. In contrast, the larger size of the Marina puts it much closer to the size of the mass-market, family-friendly ships (e.g. average Celebrity ship 2,000). The result is that people with families come to a different conclusion: looks good -- book now. I think Marina and Riviera will have to grapple with the issue of child-heavy cruises any time school is out of session. How they grapple with this challenge will be interesting to watch. Do they cope with child-heavy cruises by controlling dangerous and disruptive behavior? ... by scheduling children's activities for impacted cruises? ... by letting the market place dictate their identity and letting cruisers discover for themselves that Oceania on school break is not the Oceania of the marketing material? Time will tell. One thing is certain: the Marina higher ups and the Oceania higher ups did not cover themselves in glory by their total failure to respond during the cruise to the unexpected impact of a small-but-disruptive band of badly-behaved children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted January 28, 2012 #15 Share Posted January 28, 2012 The wild-child Marina holiday cruise was our fourth Oceania cruise and the first time we've encountered any significant presence of children or a problem with children, including cruises in the Caribbean. I think the Marina itself is attracting a demographic that represents a change from Insignia's, Regatta's, and Nautica's demographic. Exactly my point plus the deep discounting this year will attract a different passenger than in the past Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted January 28, 2012 #16 Share Posted January 28, 2012 First, let me qualify this by saying I've cruised on seven different cruise lines (though not Seabourne)...and those lines include Carnival, so I know what "being overrun with children" really means! My experience on Oceania is that there is definitely a more adult crowd... I think our Marina cruise in August (during school vacation) had the most young people we've ever seen on Oceania...We counted 20...all but two or three of them being between about 15-20...and all very well behaved...I don't think many older teens do a lot of running and splashing...We had dinner with a couple of families with teens on a couple of occasions and thought the kids were all delightful... Oceania did recognize that they had some younger people on board...and, though they have no official teen program, they did schedule some "events" for them in the Art Studio and in the Cooking School...On a prior cruise on Nautica, they held a "College Night" in the Disco--and, up until that point, we hadn't even noticed that they had ANY of the younger set onboard... To get to the main subject, I think you would enjoy Oceania--especially the Marina...It is simply an exquisite ship...and the food is the best we've experienced on the seas...The choice of Specialty restaurants also adds to the great dining experience... I think you will find that it is a bargain compared to prices we've seen advertised for Seabourne...I suspect that once you've tried it, Oceania may well become your favorite cruise line...just a hunch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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