My thoughts; Crystal versus Oceania

[LHT28]

4 minutes ago, AtA said:

Yes I did forget to mention that is a big positive in that the staff serves you from the buffets. However then if you want mustard or may with your food you're touching the same container others who may not have washed their hands are touching. 

as opposed to touching all the serving handles  🤣

[AtA]

6 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

as opposed to touching all the serving handles  🤣

Same difference. You made my point

[1985rz1]

4 hours ago, AtA said:

 

 

 

 

What stateroom number did you stay in.  It doesn't look like our PH2 on the Sirena.  Our Loveseat was a Loveseat.

 

 

[Classiccruiser777]

We had a loveseat in our INSIDE cabin.

 

[ORV]

I guess the takeaway after cruising Oceania twice is that it is not to your liking or a good fit. I personally wouldn't book it again. I felt the same way about Princess the one time I booked it. Never went on it again. 

[ORV]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

as opposed to touching all the serving handles  🤣

Lyn, do you need to call your sponsor? 

[1985rz1]

29 minutes ago, Classiccruiser777 said:

We had a loveseat in our INSIDE cabin.

 

I am truly puzzled about Ata's "review."  I've never been on an Oceania cruise where the loveseat was replaced by a club chair.  I certainly agree that Oceania is not a good choice if your looking for evening entertainment or in depth lectures, but the food is mostly excellent for my tastes, but I don't have a restrictive diet that's outside the norm.  But to each his/her own.

[FlyerTalker]

18 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

I am truly puzzled about Ata's "review."  I've never been on an Oceania cruise where the loveseat was replaced by a club chair.

 

So the photo that was provided was photoshopped to take out the loveseat and replace with a chair?

 

 

[1985rz1]

1 minute ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

So the photo that was provided was photoshopped to take out the loveseat and replace with a chair?

 

 

Don't know the reason for the difference, but the loveseat/chair space (width) looks smaller...could be an illusion...and the "art"  above the space is missing.  I haven't been able to identify a PH stateroom that has a different configuration than ours, so I would really like to know what PH stateroom is in Ata's photo so I can avoid it 🤔.

[Cruseforme]

23 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

I am truly puzzled about Ata's "review."  I've never been on an Oceania cruise where the loveseat was replaced by a club chair.  I certainly agree that Oceania is not a good choice if your looking for evening entertainment or in depth lectures, but the food is mostly excellent for my tastes, but I don't have a restrictive diet that's outside the norm.  But to each his/her own.

Connecting cabins may come with restrictive seating.  IF AVAILABLE, you can ask for the chair to be replaced by a loveseat.   OR, a handicapped person previously sailed in this cabin, and reversely asked for the loveseat to be removed, and chair placed instead...again, have seen one scenario, and heard about the other on the Regatta, but we were able to exchange for loveseat on first night.   We asked  Butler, and he had housekeeping replace while we were at dinner.  

[clo]

1 hour ago, 1985rz1 said:

 

 

What stateroom number did you stay in.  It doesn't look like our PH2 on the Sirena.  Our Loveseat was a Loveseat.

 

 

And our sofa in a Verandah looked like that. Bigger than a loveseat IMO.

[clo]

29 minutes ago, Cruseforme said:

Connecting cabins may come with restrictive seating.  IF AVAILABLE, you can ask for the chair to be replaced by a loveseat.   OR, a handicapped person previously sailed in this cabin, and reversely asked for the loveseat to be removed, and chair placed instead...again, have seen one scenario, and heard about the other on the Regatta, but we were able to exchange for loveseat on first night.   We asked  Butler, and he had housekeeping replace while we were at dinner.  

I bet that's exactly it. Here's a pic from their website which shows the sofa.

[AtA]

This was NOT a connecting cabin. I was in cabin 8046 and for those who think I photoshopped the picture, here is one with my son sitting in the club chair.

[AtA]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

I guess the takeaway after cruising Oceania twice is that it is not to your liking or a good fit. I personally wouldn't book it again. I felt the same way about Princess the one time I booked it. Never went on it again. 

I have no intention of booking Oceania again. I tried it twice. I'm glad I did and as I said, there were lots of good things but my idea of a good cruise is not just sitting around by the pool reading a book all day. 

[AtA]

1 hour ago, 1985rz1 said:

I am truly puzzled about Ata's "review."  I've never been on an Oceania cruise where the loveseat was replaced by a club chair.  I certainly agree that Oceania is not a good choice if your looking for evening entertainment or in depth lectures, but the food is mostly excellent for my tastes, but I don't have a restrictive diet that's outside the norm.  But to each his/her own.

See the picture I posted with my son sitting in the club chair. You may be puzzled but it was what it was. 

If the ship had any interesting daytime activities and/or evening entertainment, I would have happily overlooked the food. I've been on HAL and Celebrity and found there was more to do on both those ships.

[AtA]

51 minutes ago, Cruseforme said:

  We asked  Butler, and he had housekeeping replace while we were at dinner.  

If you look at the picture, I doubt there would be room for a loveseat.

[ORV]

There is definitely something odd about that room. You're right, there's not enough room for a loveseat there. 

 

Maybe one of our resident experts could solve this mystery. 

[ak1004]

OMG!! Cloth napkins instead of actual hand towels? That's a real disaster!! No loveseat in the cabin?? Sandwiches overly fancy?? 😊

 

The simple truth is that once you get used to one line, you notice every small thing that another line does differently. I remember a big Oceania fan tried Crystal few weeks ago and posted a 3 star review.

 

Once you want to find negatives, you will find them. We noticed some things that Crystal does better, other things that Oceania does better, but we enjoyed both lines very much. I cannot imagine sailing on one line only. It's boring. Change is good.

[clo]

26 minutes ago, ORV said:

There is definitely something odd about that room. You're right, there's not enough room for a loveseat there. 

 

Maybe one of our resident experts could solve this mystery. 

I looked at the floor/deck plan and all the cabins in that area look the same size.

[clo]

9 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Change is good.

I ADORE CHANGE but I find that more people don't.

[AtA]

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

OMG!! Cloth napkins instead of actual hand towels? That's a real disaster!! No loveseat in the cabin?? Sandwiches overly fancy?? 😊

 

The simple truth is that once you get used to one line, you notice every small thing that another line does differently. I remember a big Oceania fan tried Crystal few weeks ago and posted a 3 star review.

 

Once you want to find negatives, you will find them. We noticed some things that Crystal does better, other things that Oceania does better, but we enjoyed both lines very much. I cannot imagine sailing on one line only. It's boring. Change is good.

I'm giving my observations. And you are correct, you do notice things that another line does differently. The good and the bad. No cruise line is perfect. Not even Crystal. 

[AtA]

2 minutes ago, clo said:

I looked at the floor/deck plan and all the cabins in that area look the same size.

I agree. Weird isn't it?

 

 

[clo]

12 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Cloth napkins instead of actual hand towels?

I forgot that a cruise employee said that they can stack more of them than they can towels. This is an anti-noro precaution.

[clo]

2 minutes ago, AtA said:

I agree. Weird isn't it?

 

 

Do you think they had put two twins in there, pushed together, to make a king?

[Paulchili]

33 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Change is good.

Change is good if you are either ambivalent about your choice or like both lines equally.

It’s not as good if you have a strong preference for one or the other.

Then add the perks of loyalty, etc, etc and all of a sudden change may not be as good as one thought.

I have a strong preference for Oceania but I cruise other lines as well but not for the sake of change, rather for itinerary (or occasionally to try a brand new ship that is supposed to be great).

Edited January 15, 2020 by Paulchili