Once you try Oceania, do you ever go back to Celebrity?

[ilikewhatisgood]

Once you try Azamara, Crystal, Oceania, do you ever go back to Celebrity? Or should I expect the luxury cruise to make me never want to cruise Celebrity again?

[Rob the Cruiser]

I won't.

[LHT28]

personal choice

Everyone  has different expectations

[lais]

I just did.  I found the service to be very good And thr food was good.  We were on the Reflection and it was very crowded.  That was the only downside to this cruise.  

The pool area, packed like sardines, long lines for select dinner and the buffet, packed.  We have been on other Solstice class ships and they didn’t feel crowded at all.  They were always pushing the shopping. I wouldn’t go on the Reflection again but I have to give kudos to all of the hard working staff on that ship. 

Oceania has spoiled me.  No comparison 

Edited January 10, 2019 by lais

[Flatbush Flyer]

13 minutes ago, lais said:

I just did.  I found the service to be very good And thr food was good.  We were on the Reflection and it was very crowded.  That was the only downside to this cruise.  

The pool area, packed like sardines, long lines for select dinner and the buffet, packed.  We have been on other Solstice class ships and they didn’t feel crowded at all.  They were always pushing the shopping. I wouldn’t go on the Reflection again but I have to give kudos to all of the hard working staff on that ship. 

Oceania has spoiled me.  No comparison 

And now, two brand new O ships on the horizon (Allura Class due in 2022).

[ilikewhatisgood]

Yes, I saw the videos! Looked very exciting.

[Go-Bucks!]

1 hour ago, ilikewhatisgood said:

Once you try Azamara, Crystal, Oceania, do you ever go back to Celebrity?

 

I haven't, but I would.  I've enjoyed every cruise I've been on.

[ilikewhatisgood]

O-H!

 

My son is a Buckeye 

[ORV]

I cruise both lines. Personally I've never gone on a Celebrity cruise I didn't enjoy. But I know what to expect on both lines and realize the price difference I pay between the two.

[LuAnn]

We choose Oceania, Azamara and Celebrity for different type of cruises. We love O and AZ...but they are pretty expensive (for us) and we have done T/As on them because of the lower prices for that type of cruise. We use Celebrity for cruises to SA, Asia etc. but we have also done T/As on them. We always book AQ  on X because we like Blu. As mentioned...any cruise is such a joy...but if I could afford it I would cruise O and AZ all the time!! 

[Paulchili]

22 minutes ago, ORV said:

I cruise both lines. Personally I've never gone on a Celebrity cruise I didn't enjoy. But I know what to expect on both lines and realize the price difference I pay between the two.

I feel the same way about Princess. We go for a unique itinerary, get Elite benefits, pay significantly less but most importantly know what to expect and are realistic about it.

That said, O is our favorite by far.

[Go-Bucks!]

1 hour ago, ilikewhatisgood said:

O-H!

 

My son is a Buckeye 

 

I-O!  🏈

[Flatbush Flyer]

15 minutes ago, Go-Bucks! said:

 

I-O!  🏈

Well fellow Buckeyes: have you ever noticed which cruise line is most often used by the OSU Alumni Association?

Oceania.

[TrulyBlonde]

14 hours ago, Paulchili said:

I feel the same way about Princess. We go for a unique itinerary, get Elite benefits, pay significantly less but most importantly know what to expect and are realistic about it.

That said, O is our favorite by far.

O is my favorite, but I enjoy Celebrity too. Have an Asia trip with X scheduled Oct. 2019 in a large suite, OBC, free internet, premium bev package, gratuities etc. I also am taking my to be 9 yr old Grandson on Princess to Alaska, June 2020.  He has only done Disney cruises, but Princess offers the Glacier Bay itinerary and we have done O with Hubbard Glacier on Regatta. We loved that trip, but he can go to Kids Club, become a Junior Ranger and we can enjoy the Glaciers and providing him memories.

 

Both of these trips are significantly less than Regent or O and we have Owners Suite on Princess and Celebrity Suite on X.  

[Seapoint]

Amongst others, we have done one cruise on Azamara, one on Crystal, five on Oceania and about 20 on Celebrity. Have enjoyed them all.  However, we felt Crystal was too formal, and would not sail with them again. The experience on Azamara and Oceania is very similar.  They are homey, comfortable, relaxing ships. Celebrity is a different proposition...less costly,  more crowded, can be very loud, and a younger demographic. In my opinion, Celebrity ships are more stunning. However, with the new Edge, prices of Celebrity are close to Oceania!

[ilikewhatisgood]

We were on the Edge last December and Luminae's food was very underwhelming. Cosmopolitan (not specialty) had a better fish, but the atmosphere was "too casual" and we are very casual but felt like Carnival in the Cosmopolitan.

[pinotlover]

Have friends that have done both. Celebrity was just rated as having the best food at sea in a recent article here by Cruise Credit. In my friend’s opinion, that restaurant is better than anything on O and well worth the extra $20. Oceania needs to freshen up and liven up their menus in the Specialties to catch up. 

 

They enjoy the younger demographics of Celebrity and the energy it brings. They prefer, being in their mid 60s, being in the older 10% of cruisers on the ship, not the younger 10%.

 

They enjoy both and sail both depending upon the itinerary. I think as said before, they take each for what it is, especially with the price differentials.

[Aloha 1]

20 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Well fellow Buckeyes: have you ever noticed which cruise line is most often used by the OSU Alumni Association?

Oceania.

As does the Michigan State Alumni Association! Apparently we both have good taste unlike the other unnamed institution 😄

Edited January 11, 2019 by Aloha 1

[ilikewhatisgood]

1 hour ago, Seapoint said:

Amongst others, we have done one cruise on Azamara, one on Crystal, five on Oceania and about 20 on Celebrity. Have enjoyed them all.  However, we felt Crystal was too formal, and would not sail with them again. The experience on Azamara and Oceania is very similar.  They are homey, comfortable, relaxing ships. Celebrity is a different proposition...less costly,  more crowded, can be very loud, and a younger demographic. In my opinion, Celebrity ships are more stunning. However, with the new Edge, prices of Celebrity are close to Oceania!

Seapoint, what is your favorite Oceania ship?

[JoePDX]

We have gone back and forth.   That said....If I can make it happen, Oceania is always our first choice.   I love the R-Class ships, in fact our first cruise in 2001 was on the R5 (now Nautica).  We have never sailed on the O-Class ships.  I was blown away by the beauty of the Solstice class ships on Celebrity.   

 

We are heading out on Edge in April for the TA, we will see how I feel after we get back.   It's been nearly five years since we last sailed with Celebrity.   Did a 20 night cruise on Oceania for our last one (also on Nautica) and it was pretty close to perfect!

 

We are doing Edge, because the ship looks beautiful and interesting to us.   As another noted, Edge prices are close to Oceania!   Even though we snagged a good group rate on this TA nearly 2 years ago....

 

Joe

[edgee]

5 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Have friends that have done both. Celebrity was just rated as having the best food at sea in a recent article here by Cruise Credit. In my friend’s opinion, that restaurant is better than anything on O and well worth the extra $20. Oceania needs to freshen up and liven up their menus in the Specialties to catch up. 

 

They enjoy the younger demographics of Celebrity and the energy it brings. They prefer, being in their mid 60s, being in the older 10% of cruisers on the ship, not the younger 10%.

 

They enjoy both and sail both depending upon the itinerary. I think as said before, they take each for what it is, especially with the price differentials.

Don't forget the comparative lack of annoying announcements on Celebrity as contrasted with the yak yak of Oceania cruise directors reading the activity schedule which passengers can just as easily read for themselves. Silence from the PA system represents a form of luxury which Oceania apparently is not interested in offering.

[Paulchili]

15 minutes ago, edgee said:

Don't forget the comparative lack of annoying announcements on Celebrity as contrasted with the yak yak of Oceania cruise directors reading the activity schedule which passengers can just as easily read for themselves. Silence from the PA system represents a form of luxury which Oceania apparently is not interested in offering.

It’s interesting how different things bother different people. While I am not particularly fond of some (but not all) Oceania CDs using the PA system to excess, it would not stop me from cruising on Oceania. There are more important things I care about on a cruise.

OTOH, I remember sailing on the Solstice and could to my annoynment hear every single word of a song sung loudly in the atrium around 11:30 PM and beyond in my cabin several decks above. There are so many closed venues on Solstice where music could go on as loudly as desired till early hours of the morning, if desired, why do it in a public space like the atrium where you cannot escape it even in your cabin. It wasn’t the only time this happened either.

Now, that (along with some other things I didn’t care for) did stop me from sailing on X again.

Different strokes....🙂

[Ken the cruiser]

Since we now go on 3-5 cruises a year, variety is key for us and we have always had fun on each cruise we've sailed, but in varying degrees. We love Oceania for their food and longer unique itineraries. We like Celebrity and Princess for their variety of great entertainment and fun things to do on sea days and Princess does have some pretty cool longer itineraries as well. Plus we can usually book a sky suite on X or a club mini-suite on Princess for about the same price as an A3 on O. We used to enjoy sailing on HAL ships, but we have cut back to just the Maasdam with their new In-depth EXC format as they have just become too boring for us on sea days.

 

We've thought about cruising with Azamara, but since their fares include drinks and have the same style of R class ships as Oceania, we've decided to stick with O because they have such great food at a cheaper price.

Edited January 12, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[edgee]

1 hour ago, Paulchili said:

It’s interesting how different things bother different people. While I am not particularly fond of some (but not all) Oceania CDs using the PA system to excess, it would not stop me from cruising on Oceania. There are more important things I care about on a cruise.

OTOH, I remember sailing on the Solstice and could to my annoynment hear every single word of a song sung loudly in the atrium around 11:30 PM and beyond in my cabin several decks above. There are so many closed venues on Solstice where music could go on as loudly as desired till early hours of the morning, if desired, why do it in a public space like the atrium where you cannot escape it even in your cabin. It wasn’t the only time this happened either.

Now, that (along with some other things I didn’t care for) did stop me from sailing on X again.

Different strokes....🙂

Your point about the Atrium noise is certainly a valid one. We usually stay in far forward cabins, so noise from atrium does not bother us. And more recently we have cruised on pre-Solstice class ships which do not have the atrium noise into room issue. No noise issue in Oceania cabins...I'll grant you that!

[StanandJim]

27 minutes ago, edgee said:

Your point about the Atrium noise is certainly a valid one

Funny, in the thread about the Allura Class, somebody was extolling the "life" and "light" which all of that activity brings to those Atriums.