Thinking of going to Oceania from Celebrity

[Cruseforme]

To Hopkina:  I am sorry you had a really bad experience on your cruise.  Realizing that it is a major expenditure.    I am very surprised that your TA did not give you prior information regarding the ships tour prices, and set expectations.   It sounds like possibly Oceania is not a good fit, but what is your favorite cruiseline experience (and cruiseline), prior to sailing with Oceania?  This may have pre influenced your expectations.   I also understand the frustration of finding CruiseCritic after you came back, and not before, so you could have asked questions in this forum, if your TA did not fully understand Oceania.  Happy sailing on your cruiseline of choice in the future.  

[keithm]

On ‎7‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 2:04 PM, 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. 

Looks like you just joined CC. We've done 2 cruises on "O". Both on the Riviera. Kind of Goldilocks(just right size)for us. Before we did 3 Celebrity cruises on Eclipse. While we liked the ship, the quality seemed to slip each cruise. We then gave O a try & loved it. We have another set for late Jan. 2020. You really need to give comparisons of other lines you've done. If you don't, you'll fall into the "slash & run category". This is where pax bash a line without really giving a realistic reason & then dash off to do the same on another blog. Seen it many times. I'd say if you're not happy, then please choose another line. I think if you read a number of different subjects on O, you'll find you're among the most negative by far that I've seen. Perhaps a good long look into the mirror is in order.

[osandomir]

On 7/15/2019 at 11:04 AM, 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. 

 

We’ve done 10+ cruises with Oceania and have three more booked. One thing we really appreciate that Oceania treats all their passengers the same regardless of the room status. There are some cruise lines that give their upper suites customers a preferential treatment. If this is what you want... you have a choice.

[Mura]

I do sympathize with OP's unhappiness but in 16 cruises we never experienced what he details.  Yes, once or twice we got onto a tender later than we would have liked.  But other than those times, we rarely had a problem.

 

We definitely never had a problem getting off the ship if we were DIYing or on a private tour.  I'm assuming that OP was talking about tender ports in this context but I'm not going to go back to discover if that's right or not!  Sorry about that ...

 

Certainly we've traveled in most levels of cabins on O -- most recently in suites but definitely not always -- and we never noticed a problem with "class status".  Not from crew in restaurants or bars or anywhere else.

 

Given that it was their honeymoon, it's doubly regrettable that they were so unhappy with their cruise.

 

Mura

 

[rollie]

9 hours ago, Mura said:

I do sympathize with OP's unhappiness but in 16 cruises we never experienced what he details.  Yes, once or twice we got onto a tender later than we would have liked.  But other than those times, we rarely had a problem.

 

We definitely never had a problem getting off the ship if we were DIYing or on a private tour.  I'm assuming that OP was talking about tender ports in this context but I'm not going to go back to discover if that's right or not!  Sorry about that ...

 

Certainly we've traveled in most levels of cabins on O -- most recently in suites but definitely not always -- and we never noticed a problem with "class status".  Not from crew in restaurants or bars or anywhere else.

 

Given that it was their honeymoon, it's doubly regrettable that they were so unhappy with their cruise.

 

Mura

 

That wasn't the OP, I'm the OP,  and this thread has kind of been hijacked. 

 

Rollie

[docmark]

4 hours ago, rollie said:

That wasn't the OP, I'm the OP,  and this thread has kind of been hijacked. 

 

Rollie

Welcome to this board, it happens ALL the time !!

[Mura]

Indeed!  Docmark beat me to it but then I haven't been at the computer today until now.  They get hijacked all the time.  It's the nature of the beast, I think.  However, I do apologize for mis-identifying you!

 

Mura

[ak1004]

We sailed 3 times on Celebrity and one time on the Riviera. Celebrity is a good line, but Oceania is in a different league. We don't care much about the cabin, and I would take an inside cabin on O over a suite on X every day.

 

Out of 13 cruises we took so far, Oceania was the best, by a long shot. It is not perfect (no line is probably), but you cannot really compare it to lines like Celebrity or Princess. I just cannot imagine anyone coming from Celebrity to Oceania and not appreciating it.

[Guindalf]

2 hours ago, ak1004 said:

We sailed 3 times on Celebrity and one time on the Riviera. Celebrity is a good line, but Oceania is in a different league. We don't care much about the cabin, and I would take an inside cabin on O over a suite on X every day.

 

Out of 13 cruises we took so far, Oceania was the best, by a long shot. It is not perfect (no line is probably), but you cannot really compare it to lines like Celebrity or Princess. I just cannot imagine anyone coming from Celebrity to Oceania and not appreciating it.

 

Well I'm one!

 

We had the opportunity to sail on the Insignia this past week and returned yesterday. Whilst we had a good time, we are more looking forward to our cruise to Alaska next month on the Celebrity Eclipse and doubt we'll sail with O again! It just didn't suit us and, to be frank, for a line that prides itself to be the 'best cuisine at sea', it wasn't until the last night in the GDR that all but one of our party of six had a decent meal! And that includes one meal in the Polo Grill and two in Tuscana! Even breakfast was nothing special.

 

Anyway, I did not plan to use this as a chance to moan, but wanted to let you know that the reason there are so many different lines is because no one cruise company is perfect for everyone. Heck, some people even like Carnival!!!

 

I'm not normally a complainer and there was a lot we liked, but overall, our first impression was just 'meh'. I'm sure if we'd splashed out $5k or more each on a suite, our opinion could be different, but that's probably true of most lines.

[ak1004]

7 hours ago, Guindalf said:

 

Well I'm one!

 

We had the opportunity to sail on the Insignia this past week and returned yesterday. Whilst we had a good time, we are more looking forward to our cruise to Alaska next month on the Celebrity Eclipse and doubt we'll sail with O again! It just didn't suit us and, to be frank, for a line that prides itself to be the 'best cuisine at sea', it wasn't until the last night in the GDR that all but one of our party of six had a decent meal! And that includes one meal in the Polo Grill and two in Tuscana! Even breakfast was nothing special.

 

Anyway, I did not plan to use this as a chance to moan, but wanted to let you know that the reason there are so many different lines is because no one cruise company is perfect for everyone. Heck, some people even like Carnival!!!

 

I'm not normally a complainer and there was a lot we liked, but overall, our first impression was just 'meh'. I'm sure if we'd splashed out $5k or more each on a suite, our opinion could be different, but that's probably true of most lines.

 

No product can satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time. But one should probably look at the majority of the reviews, and also some objective opinions from professional reviewers like Berlitz. They all place lines like Oceania, Viking and Azamara in a different category from lines like Celebrity and Princess.

 

But you are right, it's wonderful to have choices. Many people are perfectly happy with Toyota or Honda, others prefer Mercedes or Lexus.

[Kingofcool1947]

 

My Uncle Festus  loves Oceania for its excellent food.

 

Edited July 25, 2019 by Kingofcool1947

[clo]

24 minutes ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

 

My Uncle Festus  loves Oceania for its excellent food.

 

Oh, please don't let him sit by me, okay?!?!?  LOL.

[keithm]

33 minutes ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

 

My Uncle Festus  loves Oceania for its excellent food.

 

Hmmmm, he seems younger than you. You're not "I'm my own Grandpa" I used to hear about are you? LOL!

[Ken the cruiser]

On 7/20/2019 at 3:02 PM, ak1004 said:

 

No product can satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time. But one should probably look at the majority of the reviews, and also some objective opinions from professional reviewers like Berlitz. They all place lines like Oceania, Viking and Azamara in a different category from lines like Celebrity and Princess.

 

But you are right, it's wonderful to have choices. Many people are perfectly happy with Toyota or Honda, others prefer Mercedes or Lexus.

This is true, but we like them all.  As they say variety is the spice of life. 

 

We were on a 21 day Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse in January in a sky suite and got spoiled by all the great food served in the Luminae as well as the wonderful evening entertainment and 3 lectures per day on sea days.

 

Then in the spring we were on a 30 day Crystal cruise to SE Asia on the Symphony and then just finished a 12 day cruise this past week on the Crown Princess.

 

We also had a great time on both of those cruises. What impressed us most about Princess was the CD and his 5 assistant CDs! Talk about a variety of things to do on both sea days as well as port days. It was great and the food served in both the MDR and buffet was quite tasty.

 

But we also had a great time on Crystal as well, with their very impressive list of guest lecturers, which included the Astronaut Scott Kelly, 3 different ambassadors and a retired 3 star general who was a world class negotiator, as well as a ton of things to do on sea days. 

 

BTW I’m not saying anything bad about O as we spent over 90 days last year cruising on the Sirena, Nautica and Riviera and had a great time on those ships as well. 

 

But, we would eventually grow bored if we simply cruised with the same cruise line every time. 

[ak1004]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

This is true, but we like them all.  As they say variety is the spice of life. 

 

We were on a 21 day Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse in January in a sky suite and got spoiled by all the great food served in the Luminae as well as the wonderful evening entertainment and 3 lectures per day on sea days.

 

Then in the spring we were on a 30 day Crystal cruise to SE Asia on the Symphony and then just finished a 12 day cruise this past week on the Crown Princess.

 

We also had a great time on both of those cruises. What impressed us most about Princess was the CD and his 5 assistant CDs! Talk about a variety of things to do on both sea days as well as port days. It was great and the food served in both the MDR and buffet was quite tasty.

 

But we also had a great time on Crystal as well, with their very impressive list of guest lecturers, which included the Astronaut Scott Kelly, 3 different ambassadors and a retired 3 star general who was a world class negotiator, as well as a ton of things to do on sea days. 

 

BTW I’m not saying anything bad about O as we spent over 90 days last year cruising on the Sirena, Nautica and Riviera and had a great time on those ships as well. 

 

But, we would eventually grow bored if we simply cruised with the same cruise line every time. 

 

We like to try different lines as well. Tried 9 so far, the only one I would not go back is Carnival. Every line has its pros and cons, and it's also important to come with proper expectations to each ship. Don't expect the entertainment on Oceania to be as good as Royal or Princess, and don't expect to get your morning coffee within 30 seconds on Celebrity like we used to on Oceania or Azamara.

 

We are booked on Crystal for December and are very excited!

 

btw, how would you compare Sirena, Nautica and Riviera? I know that Sirena and Nautica are the same class as Azamara which we tried few months ago. While we liked it, we liked the Riviera better overall. 

[clo]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

we like them all

So tell me please.  How many days cruising in the last year?  Or, since it's obviously a smaller number :), how many days at home?  LOL

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, clo said:

So tell me please.  How many days cruising in the last year?  Or, since it's obviously a smaller number :), how many days at home?  LOL

LOL!! Last year besides 95 on Oceania, we also went on a 22 day HAL Antarctica cruise on the Zaandam. Basically, we want to cruise to as many places as we can before our health decides to interfere with that. 

[lourdest]

On 7/11/2019 at 8:11 AM, rollie said:

With all that being said, I think we may like to try out Oceania.  What are your thoughts?

@rollie

We were on the July 11^th cruise (one of the cancelled Cuba cruises) and overall love it.  This was our first time on Oceania after doing approx. 12 in Celebrity.   In Celebrity we have sailed in an inside, oceanview, Aqua (the majority of the times) and twice in a suite.

 

On this Oceania cruise we were fortunate enough (major price deal) to sail in a PH3.  Love it, Love it.  I can only compare it to the S2 on the Edge (loved the suite) and a S1 on the Revolutionized Millennium this March (#6145).  Even though the cabin size was larger in Celebrity, we thought that Oceania utilize the space more effectively (especially the bathroom).  Room felt larger and airier.   Would love to sail in PH again (I can dream.....)

 

We thought that Oceania was superior to Celebrity in the food, beverage and service department.  Oceania took food to the next level.  To quote my husband, “the food does not taste mass produced, it tastes fresh”.  We usually don’t eat dinner at the buffet, but Oceania’s Terrace Café was so good that we ate there 4 times and 3 times in the specialty restaurants.  We never made it to the GDR.  On Celebrity we usually book Aqua class for Blu so we can get a table for two easily.  I thought that the food in Oceania was even superior to Luminae.  I know that Luminae has recently revamp their menu, so I can only judge based on my two experiences.  Don’t get me wrong the food in Aqua and Luminae were always good, but we always felt that they focus more on presentation than the quality of the food.  The presentation and food quality in Polo Grill and Toscana where exceptional, far superior to Murano’s and Tuscan Grill.  Also loved that these restaurants were free instead of paying extra for them.  Personal pet-peeve, paying for a specialty restaurant when I already paid you lots of $$$ for being on the cruise.

 

My husband and I have talked at length about our future cruises after our recent Oceania experience.  We have several cruises booked on Celebrity and one in Oceania.  Since we are still working, our vacation time is limited and so is our budget. Our main decision in booking future cruises is itinerary, cost and then room type.  Since Oceania usually offers a better itinerary we have decided that we are willing to be in an Oceanview (DH does not want to be inside room) in Oceania than an Aqua/Suite class room in Celebrity. Our preference is at least to be in the lowest class balcony cabin on Oceania, but if the itinerary is excellent (2021 Barcelona to London) we might do an Oceanview room. 

 

Oceania is very different than Celebrity in the activities levels. The activities on Oceania are what I call very low key.  If you are looking for a cruising experience that will keep you occupied at all times, Oceania is not that type of ship.  This is both during the day and in the evenings.  This suits us fine but it might not be for everyone.

 

Overall I am really happy that I tried Oceania a couple of weeks ago and we will probably be cancelling our cruises on Celebrity and switching them to Oceania. The July 11^th cruise did not have exciting ports of calls (JMO) so I am looking forward to sailing Oceania next year with amazing ports of calls (Portofino, Corsica, Sardinia, Monte Carlo, Ibiza, etc.)

 As of today if itinerary and cost were equal (could include different class of cabin), we would book Oceania. Of course other people will have different opinions and experiences but this is ours.  

 

Lourdes 

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by lourdest
typo

[ORV]

15 hours ago, lourdest said:

@rollie

We were on the July 11^th cruise (one of the cancelled Cuba cruises) and overall love it.  This was our first time on Oceania after doing approx. 12 in Celebrity.   In Celebrity we have sailed in an inside, oceanview, Aqua (the majority of the times) and twice in a suite.

 

On this Oceania cruise we were fortunate enough (major price deal) to sail in a PH3.  Love it, Love it.  I can only compare it to the S2 on the Edge (loved the suite) and a S1 on the Revolutionized Millennium this March (#6145).  Even though the cabin size was larger in Celebrity, we thought that Oceania utilize the space more effectively (especially the bathroom).  Room felt larger and airier.   Would love to sail in PH again (I can dream.....)

 

We thought that Oceania was superior to Celebrity in the food, beverage and service department.  Oceania took food to the next level.  To quote my husband, “the food does not taste mass produced, it tastes fresh”.  We usually don’t eat dinner at the buffet, but Oceania’s Terrace Café was so good that we ate there 4 times and 3 times in the specialty restaurants.  We never made it to the GDR.  On Celebrity we usually book Aqua class for Blu so we can get a table for two easily.  I thought that the food in Oceania was even superior to Luminae.  I know that Luminae has recently revamp their menu, so I can only judge based on my two experiences.  Don’t get me wrong the food in Aqua and Luminae were always good, but we always felt that they focus more on presentation than the quality of the food.  The presentation and food quality in Polo Grill and Toscana where exceptional, far superior to Murano’s and Tuscan Grill.  Also loved that these restaurants were free instead of paying extra for them.  Personal pet-peeve, paying for a specialty restaurant when I already paid you lots of $$$ for being on the cruise.

 

My husband and I have talked at length about our future cruises after our recent Oceania experience.  We have several cruises booked on Celebrity and one in Oceania.  Since we are still working, our vacation time is limited and so is our budget. Our main decision in booking future cruises is itinerary, cost and then room type.  Since Oceania usually offers a better itinerary we have decided that we are willing to be in an Oceanview (DH does not want to be inside room) in Oceania than an Aqua/Suite class room in Celebrity. Our preference is at least to be in the lowest class balcony cabin on Oceania, but if the itinerary is excellent (2021 Barcelona to London) we might do an Oceanview room. 

 

Oceania is very different than Celebrity in the activities levels. The activities on Oceania are what I call very low key.  If you are looking for a cruising experience that will keep you occupied at all times, Oceania is not that type of ship.  This is both during the day and in the evenings.  This suits us fine but it might not be for everyone.

 

Overall I am really happy that I tried Oceania a couple of weeks ago and we will probably be cancelling our cruises on Celebrity and switching them to Oceania. The July 11^th cruise did not have exciting ports of calls (JMO) so I am looking forward to sailing Oceania next year with amazing ports of calls (Portofino, Corsica, Sardinia, Monte Carlo, Ibiza, etc.)

 As of today if itinerary and cost were equal (could include different class of cabin), we would book Oceania. Of course other people will have different opinions and experiences but this is ours.  

 

Lourdes 

 

I believe you were on a small ship. Since you are okay with the larger size ships I would recommend going on Marina or Riviera. 

 

Nice review, thanks for posting. 

[Redtravel]

Lourdest

 

I agree with you. Oceanview on Oceania is better than anything on Celebrity. After sailing on Oceania, we went on Celebrity twice. Precooked before trying Oceania. Once in aqua, other in regular veranda.  Aqua class Blu was nice. Better than the MDR.  However, we kept comparing our celebrity experience to Oceania. Oceania was so much better.  We also like Azamara.  After our last Celebrity cruise, we hesitate to book another Celebrity cruise. We just sailed on Azamara in July. Had a great time. Our future cruises are on Oceania and Windstar. No more Celebrity for us.