Penthouse or Vista Suite on Riviera

[LJRVancouver]

Penthouse vs. Vista Suite like comparing apples to oranges. Although liked the luxury & space of Vista suite I found I lost contact with the sea as the huge deck overlooks the bow of ship. Loved the Oceania Suite with smaller deck overlooking water.

 

Just back off Marina and we were in Penthouse suite and very very happy.

 

Your choice. Personally I would save the bucks and stay in Penthouse as I really missed hearing and seeing the sea.

[Mura]

t is so interesting how different people react to different spaces.

 

While we have most often been in a PH on Oceania (I'm talking the "R" ships), we were "coerced" into moving over to Marina in Oct '11 in a VS. (We'd been booked in a PH on Regatta for an Alaska cruise and they wanted our cabin, so they made it worth our while to switch.)

 

We loved the VS. It did spoil us. Our next Marina cruise was a TA in one of the aft OC suites. Then we did another TA in a VS (also Marina).

 

But we just left a Marina cruise where we were in a PH. Yes, the PH is VERY comfortable. It's more spacious (for us) then the PH on the "R" ships. The veranda on the "R" ships seems larger since we had real loungers, but on Marina the PH veranda only had chairs (although very comfortable ones).

 

What we missed in the Marina PH was the separate bedroom. Have we been ruined forever??? We also missed the huge bathroom ...

 

(The PH bathroom on Marina/Riviera is definitely larger than the "R" ships but it didn't have the double sinks or the jacuzzi. We *can* do without those although we enjoyed them! But the PH on Marina was far more spacious to our eyes than the PH on the "R" ships -- other than the veranda.)

 

We love the view from the VS in both classes of ship nor did "miss the sea".

 

Will we travel in the "upper classes" in the future? Well, we are booked in a VS on Serenia in Oct '16 for a TA. Nothing else is planned because DH is having serious vision problems which may well affect our travel plans in the future.

 

If I can justify the cost, I'd go for an OC or VS in the future. I'd even love to be in an OS sometime although we probably will not, unless we get an upsell at a really discounted price. (We did love our OS on Regatta 10 years ago when it was an inexpensive upsell.)

 

But we probably will stick to the PH class as a practical matter. We don't have children who want an inheritance, so we are willing to spend our money as we wish. But DH comes from a long history of saving money, not spending it, and that is another factor.

 

But for preference? Yes, I love the big suites! Service is great throughout the ship whatever your cabin category.

 

Our willingness to spend more on *one* cruise may be related to the fact that we are doing one cruise a year MAYBE. If we were to cruise more often, it would most likely be in a PH or lower.

 

More than you wanted to know ...

 

Mura

[TrulyBlonde]

Yes, we are thoroughly loving our VS (1st time in one) on Regatta. The space and extra bath are wonderful and nice to spend time in on lazy sea days. We have booked another VS for our SAmerica cruise in 2016 (21days). The PH look suitable for shorter, more port intensive cruises on the R ships, also.

[Mura]

That's an excellent point! The size of cabin you want is definitely dependent upon the type of itinerary you have. We've been doing cruises of late that have at least several sea days ... for a port intensive cruise it does make more sense to book less luxuriously.

 

(I'm not ignoring those who prefer the inside cabins and the "D"s and "E"s because they just aren't in their cabins much! We just happen to like to lounge around our cabin ... )

 

Another P.S. ... we were in 10018 on Marina for our recent cruise which happened to be opposite the laundry room. We found that to be VERY convenient for checking on when machines are available, and on Marina or Riviera the machines are sufficiently distant that you don't hear noise inside your cabin.

 

Mura

[fairbourne]

Mura - how was your Panama Canal transit? :)

[Schmoe38]

t is so interesting how different people react to different spaces.

 

While we have most often been in a PH on Oceania (I'm talking the "R" ships), we were "coerced" into moving over to Marina in Oct '11 in a VS. (We'd been booked in a PH on Regatta for an Alaska cruise and they wanted our cabin, so they made it worth our while to switch.)

 

We loved the VS. It did spoil us. Our next Marina cruise was a TA in one of the aft OC suites. Then we did another TA in a VS (also Marina).

 

But we just left a Marina cruise where we were in a PH. Yes, the PH is VERY comfortable. It's more spacious (for us) then the PH on the "R" ships. The veranda on the "R" ships seems larger since we had real loungers, but on Marina the PH veranda only had chairs (although very comfortable ones).

 

What we missed in the Marina PH was the separate bedroom. Have we been ruined forever??? We also missed the huge bathroom ...

 

(The PH bathroom on Marina/Riviera is definitely larger than the "R" ships but it didn't have the double sinks or the jacuzzi. We *can* do without those although we enjoyed them! But the PH on Marina was far more spacious to our eyes than the PH on the "R" ships -- other than the veranda.)

 

We love the view from the VS in both classes of ship nor did "miss the sea".

 

Will we travel in the "upper classes" in the future? Well, we are booked in a VS on Serenia in Oct '16 for a TA. Nothing else is planned because DH is having serious vision problems which may well affect our travel plans in the future.

 

If I can justify the cost, I'd go for an OC or VS in the future. I'd even love to be in an OS sometime although we probably will not, unless we get an upsell at a really discounted price. (We did love our OS on Regatta 10 years ago when it was an inexpensive upsell.)

 

But we probably will stick to the PH class as a practical matter. We don't have children who want an inheritance, so we are willing to spend our money as we wish. But DH comes from a long history of saving money, not spending it, and that is another factor.

 

But for preference? Yes, I love the big suites! Service is great throughout the ship whatever your cabin category.

 

Our willingness to spend more on *one* cruise may be related to the fact that we are doing one cruise a year MAYBE. If we were to cruise more often, it would most likely be in a PH or lower.

 

More than you wanted to know ...

 

Mura

 

Hi Mura

 

I really appreciate your perspective on stateroom choice. We originally booked a PH1 for our first cruise on Oceania, but as we gained more feedback from these boards, we decided an Oceania Suite was what made the most amount of sense for us. We are long time Celebrity cruisers and we needed to see what else was out there. Oceania seems to fit the bill for what we like in a cruise line. We originally started this thread because a Vista Suite became available, and we really wanted to understand the Oceania difference between that suite and the PH1. Thank you to all who helped us in this mission. Our cruise in December will allow us to see the differences in the 2 cruise lines and will go a long way in helping us plan our vacation time accordingly.

 

Randy

[Mura]

Mura - how was your Panama Canal transit? :)

 

 

The transit was just fine. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling well that day so I didn't do too much other than taking some photos from our veranda, but we were fairly far forward so had a good view. And fortunately as well we'd done it before so I didn't feel that I missed out!

 

Another good announcer was on board -- I've seen complaints in the past (not necessarily about Oceania crossings) where the announcer didn't have the best English. That wasn't the case with our cruise.

 

Mura

 

P.S. Randy, glad I could help.

[CB BOARDER]

We just upgraded from a PH2 to Vista Suite 8003 for the Baltic Marvels cruise. The deal was to good to pass up. Hopefully, the winds won't be too stiff in the Baltic as the prevailing winds will be at our back:rolleyes:

 

Haven't told the lovely wife yet so she will be pleasantly surprised to say the least when we board on Friday. Actually flying out tomorrow for an extra day in CPH.

 

Of course my work email is blowing up now that everyone is realizing I'm leaving tomorrow. Something's never change.....

[DaisyUK]

Fantatic. You (and she!) will love it. Have a fantastic time:)