Baltic cruise: Oceania or Princess

[susiesan]

I am looking to book a Baltic cruise for the summer of 2020. I have sailed within the last year on both Oceania and Princess, and they each have their high points. I did a Baltic cruise in 2002 RT out of London and want to concentrate on only the Baltic ports this time. Because these cruises are so port intensive I will go with an inside cabin. I will do my own air with miles.

 

Here are the 2 cruises I am comparing:

May 6 Sky Princess 11 nights, 7 ports, 3 sea days, $2139 each $194/day

June 26 Marina 10 nights, 10 ports, no sea days $3399 each w. $250OBC each, $315/day

Note: my preferred Marina sailing date is June 16 but all of the insides are booked, balcony cabin is too expensive. O will not do an inside guarantee.

 

If anyone has done either or both of these cruise lines on the Baltic, what is your feedback? I know with Oceania the food will be much better

[Sea42]

This would definitely be an itinerary based decision for us. Don't forget to look at port times. For us, it was not just a matter of how many ports but how much time in each port. Which cruise is offering the most time at the places you really want to visit?

We did visit the Baltic with Princess but it's been so many years that our experience probably isn't relevant at this point. I will say though it was a fantastic cruise, have fun!

 

[chuckcarole]

10 minutes ago, susiesan said:

I am looking to book a Baltic cruise for the summer of 2020. I have sailed within the last year on both Oceania and Princess, and they each have their high points. I did a Baltic cruise in 2002 RT out of London and want to concentrate on only the Baltic ports this time. Because these cruises are so port intensive I will go with an inside cabin. I will do my own air with miles.

 

Here are the 2 cruises I am comparing:

May 6 Sky Princess 11 nights, 7 ports, 3 sea days, $2139 each $194/day

June 26 Marina 10 nights, 10 ports, no sea days $3399 each w. $250OBC each, $315/day

Note: my preferred Marina sailing date is June 16 but all of the insides are booked, balcony cabin is too expensive. O will not do an inside guarantee.

 

If anyone has done either or both of these cruise lines on the Baltic, what is your feedback? I know with Oceania the food will be much better

We have done the Oceania Marina Baltic.  It was our 5th cruise with them and it was one of our best.  It was wonderful, we can't recommend enough,  I don't think you'll be sorry. this was in 2016.

Edited February 25, 2019 by chuckcarole

[Paulchili]

My vote is for Oceania

1 It’s my favorite cruise line

2 More interesting ports

3 starts and ends in different cities, giving you a chance to spend a few days pre & post cruise in interesting places that can use more than a day

4 More ports/fewer sea days - a good combination for a Baltic cruise.

5 For my money Oceania is well worth the extra cost even though we cruise Princess often enough but usually to places where Oceania does not go.

PS Most Oceania cruises spend 3 days in St. Petersburg (though not this one). I think one NEEDS 3 days there.

Edited February 25, 2019 by Paulchili

[LHT28]

I think you probably would be happy with Princess 

You will get more bang for your buck  even with the sea days

[susiesan]

12 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I think you probably would be happy with Princess 

You will get more bang for your buck  even with the sea days

Another comparison to consider: Marina holds 1200 passengers, Sky Princess holds 3560 pax.

Both cruises have 2 days in St. Petersburg.

 

To go with Oceania I have to go later in the season, the end of June, when ports will be more crowded. The Princess cruise is in early May, before the busy summer season starts. Princess goes to Oslo, where I have been twice before. O goes to Warnemunde, Gdansk, Klaipedia, Bornholm island, and Riga which would all be new ports.

[Paulchili]

36 minutes ago, susiesan said:

O goes to Warnemunde, Gdansk, Klaipedia, Bornholm island, and Riga which would all be new ports.

That is what I said in point #2

IMO, both Riga and Gdańsk will pleasantly surprise you and are well worth a visit.

[sammiedawg]

Go with Oceania, a premium line with much better food, ship comfort, service.  More ports too, you will see more.  On the flip side you will be exhausted with all port days but you can pace yourself as needed.  You will have warmer weather later in the summer.  Marina is our favorite ship in the fleet and we always look at their itineraries first.  

 

I’m not familiar with the sky Princess, must be a new one.

I like certain Princess ships for Alaska, (the Coral is the best) and we did a Princess Baltic itinerary nine years ago with a large family group.  We had a great time and I still remember the great pizza and lovely crew on board.  They had a great  lecturer presenting on Russian History and we were well prepared for the ports.  Princess offers a very good product for the money but I’ve not been on their mega ships.  If tender ports are involved it will be harder to get ashore. 

 

We did all private tours and loved SPB tours in St Petersburg.  Some Baltic ports are great for DIY touring, which we did and enjoyed. 

[CintiPam]

We never have sailed on Princess but our first cruise on the larger (“O”) Oceania ships was June 2011 to the Baltics on Marina, Copenhagen to Stockholm.  (I believe that Marina’s maiden voyage was April

of that year.). We enjoyed both the cruise and the new larger ship so much that we never have returned to the “R” size ships.

 

I believe that three sea days is too much, especially in early May;  you will have nicer weather that far north if you sail later than early May; you do not need a veranda because those C Oceanview cabins are fine for Baltic weather (that is what we had for that cruise); I concur with Paul that having different embarkation and disembarkation ports is a big plus and that both Riga and Gdansk are great ports; and I concur with Sammie that SPB provides great tours in St. Petersburg and that many of the ports are easy to do on your own.  In fact, we did both Riga and Gdansk on our own, the former because we docked right near the main tourist area and the latter because we took the commuter train to just a few blocks from the historic area.  

 

BTW, we returned to Gdansk last year on a land trip with the National WWII Museum and the new World War II Museum in Gdansk is fantastic.

[LHT28]

Just now, CintiPam said:

We never have sailed on Princess but our first cruise on the larger (“O”) Oceania ships was June 2011 to the Baltics on Marina, Copenhagen to Stockholm.  (I believe that Marina’s maiden voyage was April

of that year.

 

 I think it  was Feb or Jan   we got in San Francisco in March

Jim & Stan will  know

[alcpa1]

Is there any reason you are limiting yourself to just those two lines? I don't need an answer but just want you to think about other options.

If you haven't been to St. Petersburg before definitely try to find a voyage with three nights there. If you can also find a R class ship (Oceania or Azamara) you will dock along the Nevsky saving transit times for touring from the Marine Facade Terminal.

I also recommend SPB. They are very flexible and particularly responsive.

[palakika]

.LHT28..  The Inagural Passage of Marina was Miami to San Fran  Feb 8 to Feb 26, 2011.  We were on the cruise and had a great time!  It was very cool to sail in under the Golden Gate Bridge.

[LHT28]

20 minutes ago, palakika said:

.LHT28..  The Inagural Passage of Marina was Miami to San Fran  Feb 8 to Feb 26, 2011.  We were on the cruise and had a great time!  It was very cool to sail in under the Golden Gate Bridge.

then we must have got on Feb 26  SFO to Miami

[Paulchili]

33 minutes ago, palakika said:

.LHT28..  The Inagural Passage of Marina was Miami to San Fran  Feb 8 to Feb 26, 2011.  We were on the cruise and had a great time!  It was very cool to sail in under the Golden Gate Bridge.

What about the segment before it - the one from Barcelona to Miami?

Was that not the inaugural?

[LHT28]

Just now, Paulchili said:

What about the segment before it - the one from Barcelona to Miami?

Was that not the inaugural?

that was her  Maiden voyage

confusing huh 

[Paulchili]

8 hours ago, LHT28 said:

that was her  Maiden voyage

confusing huh 

You say Maiden, I say Inaugural - let’s call the whole thing off 😄

[susiesan]

11 hours ago, alcpa1 said:

Is there any reason you are limiting yourself to just those two lines? I don't need an answer but just want you to think about other options.

 

I looked at all the other lines. Since we prefer smaller ships I looked at Windstar and Azamara. The cost is much higher than Oceania. I also looked at HA, celebrity, NCL. Some do Baltic cruises RT from London or Amsterdam which I am not interested in. MSC has a lot of sailings but no way would I ever go on one of those mega ships.

 

I have almost decided on Marina June 26, 2020 sailing due to the availability of an inside at a very competitive rate.