Thinking of going to Oceania from Celebrity

[clo]

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.

[Petoonya]

How spectacular!

[clo]

1 hour ago, Petoonya said:

How spectacular!

And I didn't enhance the color.  The water is that beautiful.

[Jay23]

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 

  

[Petoonya]

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.

[keithm]

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.

[Classiccruiser777]

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.

[clo]

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.

[Paulchili]

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

[clo]

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 🙂

[rollie]

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

[pingpong1]

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!

[Petoonya]

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 $.

[Hawaiidan]

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...

[ORV]

I believe Southwest is the one that is flying out of Oakland. 

[Redtravel]

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.

[Hawaiidan]

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

[KS&JW]

The new discount airline to PPT is called French Bee.  It flies out of SFO.  Don't know of any out of OAK.

[hopkima]

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. 

[Paulchili]

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.

[Guindalf]

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. 

[clo]

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.

[clo]

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.

[Guindalf]

Yes, but they took the plate away with no more than an apology. 

[Paulchili]

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.