What makes 6 star cruise line

[wripro]

16 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Here are more of what you call "fraudulent facts".  This is from the Crystal website " (obviously there is no "End of Story"):

 

Six-Star Dining

Savor a Michelin star-level experience - revered classics and modern creations from award-winning chefs - in a casually elegant, open-seating environment with superb, a la minute menus inspired by flavors of the places explored."

Hey, I'n not saying Regent is the only one guilty of hyperbole but Regent takes it to a new level. Crystal advertises six star dining but Regent says it is a six star cruise line period. Anyway I think there' s been enough said on this topic at least on my end.

[Travelcat2]

Really dislike Berlitz!  In the U.S. there are three cruise lines that are recognized as "premium plus":  Oceania, Viking Ocean and Azamara.  Even the CEO of Oceania recognizes that it is not a true luxury cruise line.  

 

In terms of current Azamara ships, they are old (very old) Renaissance ships (long out of business).  They do not have the quality of food or alcohol that Crystal, Regent, Seabourn or Silversea have (according to reports from luxury cruisers that have tried these cruise lines).

 

Of the three premium plus cruise lines, Viking Ocean seems to have the highest ratings but it is not set up in a way that pleases us.  We have sailed on Oceania twice.  Their new ships are quite luxurious - amazing top suites, very good service and great food (only in their specialty restaurants).  However, it just does not meet up to luxury cruise lines (for many reasons).

 

I think that we should all recognize that it is possible that people in different countries prefer different types of cruising.  We have discussed the differences in length with officers and crew over the last 15 years of luxury cruising.  One example is service.  Apparently many European passengers prefer to have more formal service (including the way they are greeted by the crew), while people in the U.S. prefer informality (but still great service).  

 

In my opinion, it is fine to disagree on what we prefer but it is annoying when posters want to call a cruise line like Azamara a luxury cruise line when it clearly is not.  This is one reason why I dislike Berlitz.  It may represent views from folks in other countries but does not represent most people in the U.S.

 

 

[Toryhere]

10 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

Really dislike Berlitz!  In the U.S. there are three cruise lines that are recognized as "premium plus":  Oceania, Viking Ocean and Azamara.  Even the CEO of Oceania recognizes that it is not a true luxury cruise line.  

 

In terms of current Azamara ships, they are old (very old) Renaissance ships (long out of business).  They do not have the quality of food or alcohol that Crystal, Regent, Seabourn or Silversea have (according to reports from luxury cruisers that have tried these cruise lines).

 

Of the three premium plus cruise lines, Viking Ocean seems to have the highest ratings but it is not set up in a way that pleases us.  We have sailed on Oceania twice.  Their new ships are quite luxurious - amazing top suites, very good service and great food (only in their specialty restaurants).  However, it just does not meet up to luxury cruise lines (for many reasons).

 

I think that we should all recognize that it is possible that people in different countries prefer different types of cruising.  We have discussed the differences in length with officers and crew over the last 15 years of luxury cruising.  One example is service.  Apparently many European passengers prefer to have more formal service (including the way they are greeted by the crew), while people in the U.S. prefer informality (but still great service).  

 

In my opinion, it is fine to disagree on what we prefer but it is annoying when posters want to call a cruise line like Azamara a luxury cruise line when it clearly is not.  This is one reason why I dislike Berlitz.  It may represent views from folks in other countries but does not represent most people in the U.S.

 

 

We have American friends who have sailed on Oceania, but who say that it is quite good but not of the top class. It sounded very much like Ponant, i.e. a line on which you would travel if the itinerary was really good.

why do you think Oceania doesn’t make the grade as a luxury line?

[wripro]

4 hours ago, Toryhere said:

We have American friends who have sailed on Oceania, but who say that it is quite good but not of the top class. It sounded very much like Ponant, i.e. a line on which you would travel if the itinerary was really good.

why do you think Oceania doesn’t make the grade as a luxury line?

For the same reason a Buick doesn't make the grade as a luxury car. It just isn't.

[Travelcat2]

7 hours ago, Toryhere said:

We have American friends who have sailed on Oceania, but who say that it is quite good but not of the top class. It sounded very much like Ponant, i.e. a line on which you would travel if the itinerary was really good.

why do you think Oceania doesn’t make the grade as a luxury line?

 

There are a few reasons why Oceania does not make the grade for us - here are three of them:

 

1.  They have inside cabins (not something that luxury cruise lines have).

 

2.  Food in the MDR and especially in the buffet dining venue is simply not up to luxury standards.

 

3.  On Oceania's two newest ships there are lounges (small - with snacks and internet access) that are only available to passengers in certain suites (similar to a class system on mainstream cruise lines).

 

 

 

 

 

[Toryhere]

On 5/9/2019 at 5:05 AM, Travelcat2 said:

 

There are a few reasons why Oceania does not make the grade for us - here are three of them:

 

1.  They have inside cabins (not something that luxury cruise lines have).

 

2.  Food in the MDR and especially in the buffet dining venue is simply not up to luxury standards.

 

3.  On Oceania's two newest ships there are lounges (small - with snacks and internet access) that are only available to passengers in certain suites (similar to a class system on mainstream cruise lines).

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Travelcat 2.

What about the service, did you notice the difference there?

When we sailed on Ponant, we thought the things that made it “4 star” were the food, which was good but not great, and the service, which was adequate but not very personalised.

I would sail with Ponant again, but only if the itinerary was of great interest. The fact that Ponant is a French line was also something that was in its favour. I actually don’t mind English being the second language on board, as it makes me feel like I am overseas.

that’s probably why we will never travel on Scenic or any Australian owned line. What’s the point of going abroad if you can’t escape your own culture?

[Travelcat2]

5 hours ago, Toryhere said:

Thanks Travelcat 2.

What about the service, did you notice the difference there?

When we sailed on Ponant, we thought the things that made it “4 star” were the food, which was good but not great, and the service, which was adequate but not very personalised.

I would sail with Ponant again, but only if the itinerary was of great interest. The fact that Ponant is a French line was also something that was in its favour. I actually don’t mind English being the second language on board, as it makes me feel like I am overseas.

that’s probably why we will never travel on Scenic or any Australian owned line. What’s the point of going abroad if you can’t escape your own culture?

 

In my opinion, the service on Oceania is excellent but it does not have the personal feel of Regent (difficult to explain).  Regent has a family feel with officers and crew greeting you warmly with their signature "welcome home".  The officers and crew on Regent feel like a second family while there is only one officer on Oceania that we feel that way about.

 

While I understand your point of view regarding English being a second language, we only sail on ships where English is spoken.  After 20 years of international land travel (which we loved) we still enjoy spending time in countries with various languages but want to return to a ship that feels like home.  Perhaps this has just happened with age - wanting the comforts of home.

[Toryhere]

17 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

In my opinion, the service on Oceania is excellent but it does not have the personal feel of Regent (difficult to explain).  Regent has a family feel with officers and crew greeting you warmly with their signature "welcome home".  The officers and crew on Regent feel like a second family while there is only one officer on Oceania that we feel that way about.

 

While I understand your point of view regarding English being a second language, we only sail on ships where English is spoken.  After 20 years of international land travel (which we loved) we still enjoy spending time in countries with various languages but want to return to a ship that feels like home.  Perhaps this has just happened with age - wanting the comforts of home.

We actually solved the language issue by sailing With SeaDream, which is a Norwegian company using English as the ship’s language. They rightly assume that most of their clientele will speak English. There are very few announcements anyway.

For us Regent was good for the same reason, even though the line is American owned, they still use English as the ships language 🙂

[vistaman]

i was able to visit several times  ships from Ponant in Belgian ports - sometimes with a lunch - i could not qualify it as luxurious despite the newest ships are beautyful.

It is not because you have some extremely high level wines ( including a great   display of  Ch Latour first growth )  the company does provide full luxury. 

"All inclusive" but if you do leave the "basic" spirits rather fastly  supplements do occur.

I find Oceania quite Ok concerning the food but it is no luxury. The speciality restaurants are quite good.

on a Caribbean cruise i did not regret it but i never intend to cruise in Europe on Oceania. 

The hefty prices for better wines  on O are my most serious complaint.  ( at least 50 % higher as on some luxury lines )

and canapes served daily in penthouses are very basic.  in luxury levels details are counting !