Rare LHT28 Posted October 8, 2012 #1 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Saw this on the OTHER cruise forum http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2012/10/08/royal-caribbean-carnival-norwegian-prestige-ceo-roundtable/1619699/?csp=Travel very interesting though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ORV Posted October 8, 2012 #2 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Just got done reading this, glad someone posted it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted October 8, 2012 #3 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Thanks for the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Caroldoll Posted October 9, 2012 #4 Share Posted October 9, 2012 We will not take a vacation or a cruise which is not on the par or better than where we live. We live on the water--large. We love your Marina and Riviera, Owners Suites. We will not travel on Regent--it is beige and boring. We do not care about included excursions as we only want to do private excursions. We do not mind signing a check for drinks--better than paying a lot for other's drinks. We hope you always keep Oceania BEAUTIFUL and well decorated with lots of restaurants--as we do not like the MDR at all. So here is an opinion. Keep doing what you are doing--it is a good thing! Carole Ciraulo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digtexas Posted October 9, 2012 #5 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I read the article this morning. FDR said (and I paraphrase) that as most O cruises are port intensive and most pax tour during the day, they are tired in the evening and tend to retire early following dinner, thus no great emphasis on entertainment. We have chosen a Caribbean cruise with easy ports and lots of sea days. In that case will there be more entertainment and/or more lecturers? Although we are not big partiers, when cruising my wife and I do tend to stay up later than at home, and we like to have some evening entertainment, as well as a piano bar and maybe some casino time if the ship has interesting slots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacheco18 Posted October 9, 2012 #6 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Interesting article. A little tension here and there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawaiidan Posted October 9, 2012 #7 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Oceania is the niche for low key experienced adult travelers. I would rather hear a good singer or a piano bar than see a Busby Berkley show. I like a ship that has fellowship and conversation and where I can entertain myself rather than be avalanched with dozens of cheesy option. I like the concept of personal growth and discovery in cuisine or art as an activity. and a few very high quality dining venues...not dozens. Ouanity is not thus quality. Like Carol I appreciate subtile and taste in decore and a ship that looks like a ship not a floating shopping mall and resort. Having sailed on Regent a lot I appreciate not having so much inclusive but the option , if you want, to have it. Toward these ends, Oceania delivers...at least for me; its quality time for a reasonable price.....Thanks Fank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 9, 2012 Author #8 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Although we are not big partiers, when cruising my wife and I do tend to stay up later than at home, and we like to have some evening entertainment, as well as a piano bar and maybe some casino time if the ship has interesting slots. There is a the band in Horizons after the show, casino is open, not sure till what time as I am tucked in by 11pm ;) You may meet other to have a drink & chat with in Martinis Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digtexas Posted October 9, 2012 #9 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Oceania is the niche for low key experienced adult travelers. I would rather hear a good singer or a piano bar than see a Busby Berkley show. I like a ship that has fellowship and conversation and where I can entertain myself rather than be avalanched with dozens of cheesy option. I like the concept of personal growth and discovery in cuisine or art as an activity. and a few very high quality dining venues...not dozens. Ouanity is not thus quality. Like Carol I appreciate subtile and taste in decore and a ship that looks like a ship not a floating shopping mall and resort. Having sailed on Regent a lot I appreciate not having so much inclusive but the option , if you want, to have it. Toward these ends, Oceania delivers...at least for me; its quality time for a reasonable price.....Thanks Fank After 10 Crystal cruises (only one on Royal Viking) I think that we qualify as low key adult travelers who appreciate fine dining, nice decor and good conversation, and if some ships have Busby Berkeley shows, I have never sailed on them. Last time I looked, Crystal ships had only two specialty restaurants, one by Chef Nobu Matsuhita, and nothing cheesy, however they do have excellent enrichment lectures and good entertainment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChatKat in Ca. Posted October 9, 2012 #10 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I think Mr. Del Rio doesn't know his market when it comes to Regent; We are educated and conservative with our dollars; We are well traveled and we don't all want to have a tour in every port; We want spontaneity to a degree and we don't want to pay for tours when we are in a port where grabbing a cab for a half day is all we want to do or take a stroll. About half the regulars I know that have been Regent repeaters like us have moved to Oceania, Seabourn, Azamara and back to Princess, Holland, Celebrity or are river cruising and land touring. For us, Regent's all inclusive is more than we want to spend and we don't want to be forced to stay in a hotel that's over priced as included. I am not buying the real estate, I am buying a way to explore the world on my terms. I loved the Regent of pre Prestige Cruise Holdings - and found things of lesser quality recent cruises taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PaulMCO Posted October 9, 2012 #11 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I think they all are very smart and know their demographics. FDR was right on about the port intensive nature of his cruises and his typical cruise passenger on Oceania. Adam was correct that in many cases where the older crowd would chose RCCI as the number two where they wanted a big ship experience. I did like the Boxing comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digtexas Posted October 9, 2012 #12 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I think Mr. Del Rio doesn't know his market when it comes to Regent; We are educated and conservative with our dollars; We are well traveled and we don't all want to have a tour in every port; We want spontaneity to a degree and we don't want to pay for tours when we are in a port where grabbing a cab for a half day is all we want to do or take a stroll. About half the regulars I know that have been Regent repeaters like us have moved to Oceania, Seabourn, Azamara and back to Princess, Holland, Celebrity or are river cruising and land touring. For us, Regent's all inclusive is more than we want to spend and we don't want to be forced to stay in a hotel that's over priced as included. I am not buying the real estate, I am buying a way to explore the world on my terms. I loved the Regent of pre Prestige Cruise Holdings - and found things of lesser quality recent cruises taken. Your post parallels what I was attempting to get at in my first post above, although the poster who responded, seemed to enjoy implying that my inquiry about a non port intensive cruise put me in the category with cruisers (rubes) who watch movies on jumbo trons or who sail in order to attend Cirque de Soleil performances on board. We, like you and many other experienced cruisers often prefer to take a taxi or a stroll or when the ship is in port, with exceptions in places like St. Petersburg or Reykjavik that call for intensive touring when visiting for the first time. People who have cruised a lot, in my experience, care less about a lot of touring and tend to prefer crossings or cruises with many relaxing sea days. In other words, the people who consider the ship a destination. So what I was wondering was, since O is geared towards port intensive cruises where most guests tour, (according to FDR) what is O like on itineraries with lots of sea days or crossings? Are there a lot of activities on sea days, including lectures? Do many pax stay on board or return early in Caribbean ports? How is the ship as a destination? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 9, 2012 Author #13 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I would say that some people go on the mainstream lines for their budget ...not because they enjoy family type cruises & bells & whistles If I could get an Oceania cruise for $499. I would cruise more often ;) We have done a few mainstream lines but when we found Oceania ..we hit paydirt :D Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxjam Posted October 9, 2012 #14 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Are there a lot of activities on sea days, including lectures? Do you like trivia, snowball bingo or bridge? If that won't occupy your day, beware. I have cruised 85 days on Oceania's R-ships. Over the years, the enrichment speakers have gone from excellent to horrible. On our 2012 Iceland/Greenland/Ireland cruise, Oceania didn't have a naturalist speaker. Instead, they offered a speaker with minimal knowledge of physical sciences or politics who did presentations straight out of wikipedia. The year before on the Black Sea cruise they had a speaker who showed us her travel photos and said these are nice places to visit - even though the cruise went to most of her destinations - nothing on their history, politics, nature, etc. A complete waste. I don't know about Marina and Riviera which are supposed to be better but I suspect are losing ground to corporate profits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacheco18 Posted October 9, 2012 #15 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I did a TA on Marina with 6 or 7 sea days The BIG difference on those ships is the teaching kitchen and the Artist's Loft. For me, the cooking classes were a great way to fill my time. The classes were longer on the TA than on the port intensive cruises and were superb. Sign up in advance. Classes fill up. The Artist's Loft was a big disappointment. I am not into T shirt painting or making a necklace out of ??. The photography classes, which generated the most interest, were poor. The teacher was not much of a teacher -- a blowhard IMO (all he wanted to do was sell his CD). There were not enough seats for people so many arrived an hour early. Beginners were in with experienced photographers, point and shoots with fancy Nikons. The CD on that cruise (I will not name him but I think he is awful) had no idea what was going on in that venue and it was chaos. I think there is a lot that could be done to improve how the AL is handled. Maybe by now things have changed. We formed our own knitting group on the TA (from the roll call and added more knitters as we found them on the ship). That was great. I probably will not do another TA with all those sea days -- too much food and not enough exercise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digtexas Posted October 9, 2012 #16 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I did a TA on Marina with 6 or 7 sea days The BIG difference on those ships is the teaching kitchen and the Artist's Loft. For me, the cooking classes were a great way to fill my time. The classes were longer on the TA than on the port intensive cruises and were superb. Sign up in advance. Classes fill up. The Artist's Loft was a big disappointment. I am not into T shirt painting or making a necklace out of ??. The photography classes, which generated the most interest, were poor. The teacher was not much of a teacher -- a blowhard IMO (all he wanted to do was sell his CD). There were not enough seats for people so many arrived an hour early. Beginners were in with experienced photographers, point and shoots with fancy Nikons. The CD on that cruise (I will not name him but I think he is awful) had no idea what was going on in that venue and it was chaos. I think there is a lot that could be done to improve how the AL is handled. Maybe by now things have changed. We formed our own knitting group on the TA (from the roll call and added more knitters as we found them on the ship). That was great. I probably will not do another TA with all those sea days -- too much food and not enough exercise. That is very interesting. We recently completed a TA from Dover to NYC via Dublin and Iceland on another luxury line, and due to rough weather we missed one Icelandic port as well as Halifax, so we had many sea days. On sea days there were interesting lectures at 10:00, 1:30 and 3:30, free dance classes at 2:30, plus occasional add on entertainment at 5PM, in addition to the normally scheduled evening entertainment. My wife took free classes on how to better use her ipad, including making movies, while I attended "Rap with the Rabbi". Plus I had to join my team for trivia at noon on every sea day. We are not bridge players. The CD was very creative in filling in more entertainment and lectures on the unexpected sea days. The point is that there was so much scheduled on sea days that one was unable to attend everything, especially if one likes to take the occasional nap, as I do. Of course when weather permitted, we also enjoyed relaxing around the pool or an enclosed area on the top deck. I am not trying to compare apples to oranges, but was just curious what sea days are like on O, so thanks for answering my question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ronrick1943 Posted October 9, 2012 #17 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Really, FDR is really right on the spot, he know the demographic of his customer. I'm turning 70 on are next "MARINA" cruise in January and looking very much forward. We cruise Oceania for most of the reason's he stated. We do like the luxury on the line, we're fortunate to be able to book the owners suite for each of the 6 cruise's on "O". We do that because we like the service and comfort, I don't agree with everything, but were not like every cruiser, we don't like touring everyday, and somedays we stay in the suite longer than we should. However we enjoy the ship even if it's at port. We enjoy great meals, a little entertainment (but here the entertainment could be improved, not big Broadway Shows just better of what they do now). We enjoy a drink at the bar before and after dinner---however one thing for sure they should move "Trivia" away (on the Marina at Martinis) from any bar during a cruise and have it someplace else. After all those who want to spend sometime, soft music is much better than very loud voices yelling Trivia things to each other when you want to enjoy your drink and talk to someone at your table. Other than that keep "O" the way it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love.II.Cruise Posted October 9, 2012 #18 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Saw this on the OTHER cruise forumhttp://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2012/10/08/royal-caribbean-carnival-norwegian-prestige-ceo-roundtable/1619699/?csp=Travel very interesting though Thanks for the link. That was interesting to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveler916 Posted October 10, 2012 #19 Share Posted October 10, 2012 My wife took free classes on how to better use her ipad, My wife gives free, unscripted lessons on how to use your iPad....just ask LuAnn :) (sorry - inside joke) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveler916 Posted October 10, 2012 #20 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I would say that some people go on the mainstream lines for their budget ...not because they enjoy family type cruises & bells & whistles If I could get an Oceania cruise for $499. I would cruise more often ;) We have done a few mainstream lines but when we found Oceania ..we hit paydirt :D Lyn Lyn - I think A LOT of people are attracted to cruising - that's why those mass market lines have mega ships that hold 3000 people. I remember when I was younger - much younger - i worked as a server at banquets. Serving 300 people all at once is not easy....can you imagine 3000? I believe Oceania understands their demographic...those of us who would rather not cruise with 2999 others that paid a few hundred dollars for a one week cruise...that's when you get all of the photograohers hawking pictures, art auctions, bingo, selling specialty restaurants (why can't ALL of the food be good?),, t shirts 3 for $10, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no fuss travel Posted October 10, 2012 #21 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Last larger cruise line ship we were on, our 22 and 24 year old complained about the unsupervised kids on board. They were grumbling that don't they know that most people are on the cruise to get some peace and quiet? Mom and Dad got pure enjoyment at listening to them complain about the kids and rowdy parents. We agreed with them, but just were not quite as vocal.:D When our kids were younger, we chose a ship that would accommodate them, and not annoy other passengers as there would be other youngsters on board for them to play with. Now that we can travel sans kids, we enjoy being with non-rowdy, well traveled adults who are more interested in seeing different ports than in partying. Oceania so far has met our expectations and we know not to do a holiday cruise, besides if we were not home for the holidays, our working adult children would have plenty to say. Besides it is hard to find boarding for our furry friends during the holiday season.:eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 10, 2012 Author #22 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Lyn - I think A LOT of people are attracted to cruising - that's why those mass market lines have mega ships that hold 3000 people. I remember when I was younger - much younger - i worked as a server at banquets. Serving 300 people all at once is not easy....can you imagine 3000? I believe Oceania understands their demographic...those of us who would rather not cruise with 2999 others that paid a few hundred dollars for a one week cruise...that's when you get all of the photograohers hawking pictures, art auctions, bingo, selling specialty restaurants (why can't ALL of the food be good?),, t shirts 3 for $10, etc. We tried the mainstream cheaper cruises & decided they were not for us We did not cruise for many years, we discovered Oceania & pretty much cruise every year with them We have many friends that do not have children (like us)& they like the idea of the demographics that Oceania caters to If you like the flash of the mega ships then you should go for it :) Everyone should do what works best for them lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digtexas Posted October 10, 2012 #23 Share Posted October 10, 2012 How did mega ships get into the conversation? I was comparing O to ships that hold fewer passengers than Marina and Rivera and that are considered 6 stars luxury to O being considered 5.5 star premium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floridiana Posted October 10, 2012 #24 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Very intersting article. Thanks for posting it. I am all about the ports and willing to take almost any line if their ship goes there. Three of our best trips were in French Polynesia on the Aranui 2 und 3 (both freighters) and the Haumana, a tiny catamaran. After our first cruise with Oceania's Regatta (Amazon), I loved the cuisine so much that we decided to book two more on the Riviera. The main reason, however, is that Oceania offers an excursion to Tikal on the first of the two cruises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacheco18 Posted October 10, 2012 #25 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Very intersting article. Thanks for posting it. I am all about the ports and willing to take almost any line if their ship goes there. . I am on the same page -- emphasis on the "almost" -- I do not understand folks who are slaves to a single cruise line -- that really limits what you can see and do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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