clo Posted July 12, 2019 #26 Share Posted July 12, 2019 42 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said: There is an inherent , almost romantic, value to sailing on the sea.. You probably already saw this pic from our Norwegian coastal cruise. Every day. This beauty. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petoonya Posted July 12, 2019 #27 Share Posted July 12, 2019 How spectacular! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clo Posted July 12, 2019 #28 Share Posted July 12, 2019 1 hour ago, Petoonya said: How spectacular! And I didn't enhance the color. The water is that beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay23 Posted July 12, 2019 #29 Share Posted July 12, 2019 What a beautiful glass sea. We are privileged to be able to enjoy these wonderful phenomena. Another delight is seeing flying fish glittering in the sunlight. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petoonya Posted July 12, 2019 #30 Share Posted July 12, 2019 5 minutes ago, Jay23 said: What a beautiful glass sea. We are privileged to be able to enjoy these wonderful phenomena. Another delight is seeing flying fish glittering in the sunlight. J Whales and dolphins gliding through the waves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithm Posted July 12, 2019 #31 Share Posted July 12, 2019 On 7/11/2019 at 8:11 AM, rollie said: We have cruised over 20 times on Celebrity, the last few times in a suite. We really loved to suite perks and would continue cruising Celebrity but their suite prices have gone through the roof. We are thinking about trying out Oceania. The cruise we're looking at is the 7 day out of San Juan on the Sirena. We're looking at an inside cabin to keep the price down. We really enjoyed the suite life, but the cabin itself is not that important. What we really enjoyed was the food in their suite only restaurant, and the services provided. With all that being said, I think we may like to try out Oceania. What are your thoughts? Rollie Basically we book an inside on the Riviera for a 14 day trip. It goes for about $3800PP. Usually about a month before we get an upgrade offer. It's not free, but costs about $600PP which ends us in a B-1 accommodation. Still a decent deal instead of booking the B-1 at full price. For us the food on O is more akin to dining in the Queens grill on Cunard(without the formal attire) We jumped ship from Celebrity after 2017 due to the big decline in food quality aboard the Eclipse. We have not done Luminae on Celebrity, but for the price we pay, we get far better food than aboard the Riviera. All the restaurants are part of the deal, except La Reserve, which pairs Wine with your tasting adventure. We foodies & in the food/hospitality industry, so food quality can be paramount to us. We also like the fact that there are few announcements/no intrusive photographers & no constant bid for revenue enhancement I/E no crappy art shows, & good quality merchandise offered in the "side walk sales". The afternoon Tea service is outstanding, but NOT easy to resist the fabulous offerings! If there is a down side, it's the rather lack luster entertainment. One reason is that these are generally quite small ships, that & the fact that the big budget is to the food. The entertainment staff is usually young & "green" at the start of the cruise, but they get better as the trip goes. If you like to be "coddled" this is a cruise line to try out. A 7 day trip will give you a good feel. Then you may decide if it's for you. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classiccruiser777 Posted July 13, 2019 #32 Share Posted July 13, 2019 7 hours ago, Hawaiidan said: There is an inherent , almost romantic, value to sailing on the sea.. A primordial connection to life and disconnect from all the strife and turmoil found on the land...... Melville knew it well. Sounds like you too Weather deck, 5, no music, no announcements, just the rhythmic sound of the ship pushing through the waves. Almost nothing better for winding down. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clo Posted July 13, 2019 #33 Share Posted July 13, 2019 1 hour ago, keithm said: so food quality can be paramount to us. I don't like the term "foodie" 🙂 but yes. Any travel for us includes the search for good/great food. Our cruises 15-20 years ago had food that I described as LCD - lowest common denominator food. Feed the masses. So I'm REALLY looking forward to our (first) Oceania cruise in December. Thanks for your response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted July 13, 2019 #34 Share Posted July 13, 2019 (edited) 38 minutes ago, clo said: So I'm REALLY looking forward to our (first) Oceania cruise in December. It's best to keep your expectations realistic lest you be disappointed by very high unrealistic expectations. Better to be pleasantly surprised than disappointed 😊 That said, IMO, we have sailed on just about every cruise line you can think of and Oceania’s food is best OVERALL (an admittedly subjective assessment). Edited July 13, 2019 by Paulchili 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clo Posted July 13, 2019 #35 Share Posted July 13, 2019 2 minutes ago, Paulchili said: It's best to keep your expectations realistic Totally. But looking forward to "cooked to order" and that one doesn't get to touch 🙂 buffet. And yes to escargots, foie gras, etc. LOL. Thanks, kiddo 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollie Posted July 13, 2019 Author #36 Share Posted July 13, 2019 Thanks everyone for the feedback. We have two upcoming cruises on Celebrity. A transatlantic in November, and a b2b caribbean cruise, in Feb. We were able to get a very reasonable price on the b2b, in a suite cabin. After that it will be Oceania. Rollie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong1 Posted July 13, 2019 #37 Share Posted July 13, 2019 15 hours ago, keithm said: If you like to be "coddled" this is a cruise line to try out. A 7 day trip will give you a good feel. Then you may decide if it's for you. And if I might tag onto Keith's reply.....Once you're on that first 7-day cruise and reach the "Day 5 mark", you'll be kicking yourself in the butt and wondering why you ever settled for such a short cruise! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petoonya Posted July 13, 2019 #38 Share Posted July 13, 2019 5 hours ago, rollie said: Thanks everyone for the feedback. We have two upcoming cruises on Celebrity. A transatlantic in November, and a b2b caribbean cruise, in Feb. We were able to get a very reasonable price on the b2b, in a suite cabin. After that it will be Oceania. Rollie if you haven't before try booking a Tahiti cruise. O is very reasonable for what is offered, and most of the time booking your own air saves you $. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawaiidan Posted July 14, 2019 #39 Share Posted July 14, 2019 On 7/13/2019 at 9:59 AM, Petoonya said: if you haven't before try booking a Tahiti cruise. O is very reasonable for what is offered, and most of the time booking your own air saves you $. It is a great cruise from experience sailing in and flying out is far far more enjoyable Than flying in and cruising out. Why? Because sailing from LA.. you slowly cross to Hawaii.... then more discovery Marqusea islands... anticipation builds as you go deeper into Polynesia and pow there you are inn Bora Bora the crown jewel then Moorea, and ending in Papetee the least charming spot and a good end You discover the region as the earily explorers from Polynesans to the Bounty... Arriving at almost midnight in a metal tube is not the greatest.......Discovery by the sea is magical UAL. HAWAIIAN Air France, Tahiti NUI now serve Also a new airline from Oakland CA Dont know the name but ist a low cost. Southwest is now going to serve Hawaii to... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ORV Posted July 14, 2019 #40 Share Posted July 14, 2019 I believe Southwest is the one that is flying out of Oakland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redtravel Posted July 14, 2019 #41 Share Posted July 14, 2019 As elite plus on Celebrity, I found Oceania was so refreshing. Food is better. Cabins are beautiful. Beds are so comfortable. Toiletries are great. Service is excellent. I took a Celebrity cruise after trying Oceania. I had booked the Celebrity cruise 2 years ago. After a few days on Celebrity, I knew that I would not rebook on Celebrity again. There is lots of cruises that are better than Celebrity. Oceania reminds me of the original Celebrity before they were sold to RCCL. Now that Celebrity has increased fares, it makes sailing on Oceania a nobrainer. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawaiidan Posted July 15, 2019 #42 Share Posted July 15, 2019 20 hours ago, ORV said: I believe Southwest is the one that is flying out of Oakland. Yes... But I was refering to a discount French/Tahitian airline that flys from OAK to Papetee for something like $350 no frills..... Thats what I heard Tahiti NUI had a strangel hold on the route. Using South west you would fly to HNL then connect to Hawaiian for their saturday ony flight to PPT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KS&JW Posted July 15, 2019 #43 Share Posted July 15, 2019 The new discount airline to PPT is called French Bee. It flies out of SFO. Don't know of any out of OAK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopkima Posted July 15, 2019 #44 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Just returned from 8-day Ireland cruise aboard the Nautica. Definitely avoid this ship. The crew is terrible and the entertainment consists of theme park flunkies. If you don't purchase the extremely overpriced shore excursions through Oceania, you are treated as a second-class passenger...regardless of your room status. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted July 15, 2019 #45 Share Posted July 15, 2019 8 minutes ago, hopkima said: Just returned from 8-day Ireland cruise aboard the Nautica. Definitely avoid this ship. The crew is terrible and the entertainment consists of theme park flunkies. If you don't purchase the extremely overpriced shore excursions through Oceania, you are treated as a second-class passenger...regardless of your room status. Thank you for your input. What other cruise experience are you comparing your Insignia experience with? Please explain why or how were you treated as second class passenger because you didn't purchase their excursions. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guindalf Posted July 15, 2019 #46 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Let me start by saying I’m not normally a complainer, but... I’m sure I’ll get slammed for this, but we’re on the Insignia right now and have an Alaskan cruise booked with Celebrity next month. We booked this at short notice due to the cancellation of the Cuban ports and got it cheap. To be frank, we’re disappointed with Oceania. Not that there’s anything intrinsically wrong, but there are cracks that mean we’re looking forward to X all the more. I’m looking forward to being able to get a Bloody Mary at breakfast without being told I’ll have to pay for it (I have the prestige drinks package but the bars are not yet open). I look forward to having activities all through the day instead of about four things. I cannot fault the service, albeit slow at times (with no activities, there’s nowhere else to be!), however, to have everyone’s sides arrive at the same time would be good.. on the subject of food, it is ok at best and three of the four dinners so far have had flaws if not completely inedible. Not one time has a waiter asked if we would like something else when they collect a barely eaten plateful. I’m looking forward to being on the Eclipse next month and will most likely stick with X in the future. I’m glad I got the opportunity to sail Oceania, but I doubt it’ll happen again. I’ll post a full review after we return, but I wanted to give the OP an alternative opinion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clo Posted July 15, 2019 #47 Share Posted July 15, 2019 39 minutes ago, hopkima said: Just returned from 8-day Ireland cruise aboard the Nautica. Definitely avoid this ship. The crew is terrible and the entertainment consists of theme park flunkies. If you don't purchase the extremely overpriced shore excursions through Oceania, you are treated as a second-class passenger...regardless of your room status. Oh, and welcome to Cruise Critic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clo Posted July 15, 2019 #48 Share Posted July 15, 2019 1 minute ago, Guindalf said: Not one time has a waiter asked if we would like something else when they collect a barely eaten plateful. So did the server not check back to see if everything was okay not long after serving? I'm on a food site and have heard people mention that occasionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guindalf Posted July 15, 2019 #49 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Yes, but they took the plate away with no more than an apology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted July 15, 2019 #50 Share Posted July 15, 2019 11 minutes ago, Guindalf said: I’m looking forward to being on the Eclipse next month and will most likely stick with X in the future. I’m glad I got the opportunity to sail Oceania, but I doubt it’ll happen again. I am sorry to hear that your first O experience is falling short of your expectations but happy that you have a back-up option that suits you better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now