Oceania vs Holland or Celebrity

[LHT28]

8 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

I found Audi to be fun to drive, handled well, felt like a bit of luxury - Oceania ??? I bought Honda CRV ~ $24 K - Audi Q3 ~ $34K Princess - Oceania ???? Q3 did not justify $10 K premium. 

OK we've beat the car analogy to death 🙂

 

Here I could have gotten  an OS for the price  my 2004 Audi cost  😲

The best car  we had was  a 69 Mini Cooper S  loved drag racing the little old men LOL

  I will behave now no more car tales

[ORV]

18 hours ago, kazu said:

 

For us, O was not great.  The “food” was not great at all.  We did one cruise on O and for once, were glad to get off a ship.  We were not alone.  A lot of O regulars had cancelled all their upcoming cruises.

 

I was kicking myself for not going on the Prinsendam which was only a couple of days off of our itinerary.  I thought I was moving up.  Big, big mistake.

 

 

I will say that the rooms on O are very nice.  Especially in a PS.  Extremely well laid out and very comfortable.

All the other public spaces IME were crowded a lot of the time.

I would have loved to have put our cabin and it’s layout on a blue hulled beauty.

 

In all fairness and full disclosure I think it should be pointed out that the one Oceania cruise you went on was a poorly handled noro outbreak. If I do remember right you weren't liking Oceania that well before the outbreak, and it went downhill from there. FWIW, out of 25 Oceania cruises I've been on that one had to be the worst. I never so wanted to be off a ship in my life. I'm sure the people stuck on Covid ships recently felt the same. 

 

I was doing a back to back, and the first leg was great. I think part of the problem, at least for me, was the CD on the cruise, which I had never seen or heard of before, or since. But I don't remember the food being bad one way or the other. For those that were around then I think we both posted a considerable amount from that cruise.  I haven't been on HAL so have no opinion on them.

 

The important thing is that everyone finds what works for them. 

[kazu]

32 minutes ago, ORV said:

In all fairness and full disclosure I think it should be pointed out that the one Oceania cruise you went on was a poorly handled noro outbreak.

 

 

Completely correct.  I have been on two other cruises where there was Noro.  I am not unfamiliar with it.  It was handled much better on those other cruises and we still enjoyed our cruise.

 

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If I do remember right you weren't liking Oceania that well before the outbreak, and it went downhill from there.

 

 

Sorry, not correct.  I was looking forward to the cruise and in fact I did a LIVE thread with a lot of positive things at the beginning.  

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FWIW, out of 25 Oceania cruises I've been on that one had to be the worst. I never so wanted to be off a ship in my life.

 

 

Glad we were not alone in the feeling 😉 

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I think part of the problem, at least for me, was the CD on the cruise, which I had never seen or heard of before, or since. But I don't remember the food being bad one way or the other.

 

 

The HD was more of an issue for me.  Specialty restaurant food seemed to be inconsistent to say the least.  Our friends who had a good waiter had a good meal in Red Ginger.  Ours had sat under a heat lamp for far too long and was not enjoyable.  Polo - 4 of us did dinner - our friend’s chicken was raw.  I mean raw.  He sat there waiting for a waiter and 1/2 hour later I was finally able to flag down the manager.  By then, no one wanted to wait any longer.  He told us to come back but didn’t offer a reservation so there was no chance to fix it.  Toscana - DH’s pasta tasted microwaved to him.  He was unimpressed with the bad service and food and we left.

Jacques was truly outstanding.  If we could have had all 4 meals there, we would have been happy.  Waves was very enjoyable and La Reserve (which as you know is extra) was quite decent.

 

Once Noro hit and I saw the lack of prevention being done, I was nervous to eat at Waves with all the condiments, silverware, etc. Out for anyone to handle.

 

DH (who is probably the most easiest going guy and rarely says a word) wrote a 4 page letter to the HD.

When we got home we wrote a factual letter to O.

Neither did us any good.

 

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The important thing is that everyone finds what works for them. 

 

Very true.  

[Hawaiidan]

19 hours ago, KirkNC said:

I knew you were not a fan which is too bad l. We have found the food to be much better then the current HAL food, of course food as you know is super subjective.  We have throughly enjoyed our O cruise and have made them our primary line due to what we view as the demise of HAL.  We tell our HAL friends, we did not leave HAL, they left us.  The other big positive for us is ship size.  Their itineraries can go to places HAL can no longer go.  The one advantage I still see in HAL is the crew.  O’s is efficient but distant not like the warmth of HAL.  But with any line there are compromises. 

My recent experience with HAL  is that the crew was with few exceptions far worse than the  meals ( whch even in the pay extra and main dining room were  of Denny's or Cracker Barrel quality)...... from top to bottom with the exception of the cabin attendants .....(.they were  good ) the rest were  un caring,  negative and even hostile to guests..........I learned my lessons

Every one has different perceptions... bases on their reality.

[Ken the cruiser]

30 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

My recent experience with HAL  is that the crew was with few exceptions far worse than the  meals ( whch even in the pay extra and main dining room were  of Denny's or Cracker Barrel quality)...... from top to bottom with the exception of the cabin attendants .....(.they were  good ) the rest were  un caring,  negative and even hostile to guests..........I learned my lessons

Every one has different perceptions... bases on their reality.

If I might ask, when and what HAL ship was this most recent negative experience encountered on? We just did 40 days on the Maasdam this past October going around Australia and have nothing but nice things to say about the quality of food and service. HAL, fleet-wide, has just gotten to "relaxing" for us, but the food and service as always been excellent.

Edited June 9, 2020 by Ken the cruiser

[Hawaiidan]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, when and what HAL ship was this most recent negative experience encountered on? We just did 40 days on the Maasdam this past October going around Australia and have nothing but nice things to say about the quality of food and service. HAL, fleet-wide, has just gotten to "relaxing" for us, but the food and service as always been excellent.

It was the Mass-Damed...     September  Japan to Australia...      They fired the enrichment people, forbade passengers from gatherings,  Has horrible substitute  lectures that had nothing to do with anything but the speakers  ego.

Had a cruise director who told everyone just how he could not wait to get off... had a political correct  jerk staff and captain,   Survived  for 28 days ......   the most basic and  basic quality food. see attached photos,   2 times in the Main dining room was enough....rushed service, poor food , poor presentation in a cafeteria like setting....   There were several days I just could not stomach  anything they served...  and ate nothing  !!!    Thats a first and includes  MRE and C rations in the highlands of viet nam...   Had several  hundred $ in beverage card credit  I  ended up throwing away because the  lounges and bars were awful..  watered drinks and even poor  service....     

I  am  not hard to please  and forgiving of many things but there is only so much a guy can take  I will say the cabin was fine...  the best part of the cruise was the airport to the ship and getting off it......   It was  sad and depressing  after  experiencing HAl 20 years ago... 

If you love it  great  that is your reality  and I can not argue with  your taste or opinion

Me.... I would pay money to not ever set foot on a HAL ship or cruise...anywhere even if Jesus was the enrichment speaker............   

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

It was the Mass-Damed...     September  Japan to Australia...      They fired the enrichment people, forbade passengers from gatherings,  Has horrible substitute  lectures that had nothing to do with anything but the speakers  ego.

Had a cruise director who told everyone just how he could not wait to get off... had a political correct  jerk staff and captain,   Survived  for 28 days ......   the most basic and  basic quality food. see attached photos,   2 times in the Main dining room was enough....rushed service, poor food , poor presentation in a cafeteria like setting....   There were several days I just could not stomach  anything they served...  and ate nothing  !!!    Thats a first and includes  MRE and C rations in the highlands of viet nam...   Had several  hundred $ in beverage card credit  I  ended up throwing away because the  lounges and bars were awful..  watered drinks and even poor  service....     

I  am  not hard to please  and forgiving of many things but there is only so much a guy can take  I will say the cabin was fine...  the best part of the cruise was the airport to the ship and getting off it......   It was  sad and depressing  after  experiencing HAl 20 years ago... 

If you love it  great  that is your reality  and I can not argue with  your taste or opinion

Me.... I would pay money to not ever set foot on a HAL ship or cruise...anywhere even if Jesus was the enrichment speaker............   

Thanks for elaborating on your experience. I had heard there were some complaints about the lack of quality entertainment on your cruise which triggered some great acts to be added to our Australia circumnavigation. There was a lady CD (name unknown) who got sick between Sydney and NZ (who must have replaced the guy CD you had) and they had to replace her at the last minute with another lady CD from NZ, Kaye, who was great!! The pictures of the items you posted don't look too tasty, but we had no complaints and we ate pretty much in the MDR whenever possible.

 

Well, let me just say you're complaints must have been heard on high and some major changes must have been made because of them, because we had a great cruise! 

 

 

[Hawaiidan]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks for elaborating on your experience. I had heard there were some complaints about the lack of quality entertainment on your cruise which triggered some great acts to be added to our Australia circumnavigation. There was a lady CD (name unknown) who got sick between Sydney and NZ (who must have replaced the guy CD you had) and they had to replace her at the last minute with another lady CD from NZ, Kaye, who was great!! The pictures of the items you posted don't look too tasty, but we had no complaints and we ate pretty much in the MDR whenever possible.

 

Well, let me just say you're complaints must have been heard on high and some major changes must have been made because of them, because we had a great cruise! 

 

 

Well I never complained to anyone... verbally or in writing... owing to the systemic Seattle culture that  seemed to be the norm.... I felt it would be  useless......it was obvious there was a political inspired agenda.. which was very anti-military and american.

.It was set as a veterans commemoration cruise.. and WW2 history,  Vets were forbade to gather, hold commemoration at sites or  talk openly about the war history....    Some even volunteered to speak  but Seattle told the captain NO way could they let them.....The said it was racist to talk about the war with Japan...    . 

 

My pictures were the 2 best meals  they served in 28 days.....  thats Bearnaise  next to the slice of tri-tip  they said was  New York Strip.....  Mayonnaise with a few capers and yellow dye

 

Glad you had a good time....

[Ken the cruiser]

20 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Well I never complained to anyone... verbally or in writing... owing to the systemic Seattle culture that  seemed to be the norm.... I felt it would be  useless......it was obvious there was a political inspired agenda.. which was very anti-military and american.

.It was set as a veterans commemoration cruise.. and WW2 history,  Vets were forbade to gather, hold commemoration at sites or  talk openly about the war history....    Some even volunteered to speak  but Seattle told the captain NO way could they let them.....The said it was racist to talk about the war with Japan...    . 

 

My pictures were the 2 best meals  they served in 28 days.....  thats Bearnaise  next to the slice of tri-tip  they said was  New York Strip.....  Mayonnaise with a few capers and yellow dye

 

Glad you had a good time....

Wow! I can see why HAL is in your rearview mirror. Yes, we had a great time, but the thrill of cruising with HAL anymore is pretty much gone for us as well.

[KirkNC]

5 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, when and what HAL ship was this most recent negative experience encountered on? We just did 40 days on the Maasdam this past October going around Australia and have nothing but nice things to say about the quality of food and service. HAL, fleet-wide, has just gotten to "relaxing" for us, but the food and service as always been excellent.

Just to stir the pot a bit more, we were on the Maasdam last fall from late August until mid November.  The first part was good but the longer we were on the worse it got.  We ended up getting off 17 days early.  I wrote a review outlining all the issues we encountered :

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2710839-maasdam-9780-day-misadventure/?tab=comments#comment-58788938

 

it was by far our worst cruise ever .

 

 

 

[Paulchili]

10 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

We ended up getting off 17 days early

That sounds pretty bad.

I was looking at a great itinerary in late 2021 but I will not book it.

I have some friends that cruise on HAL and enjoy it but it would be hard after 25+ O cruises on a long HAL cruise after reading your review.

[Ken the cruiser]

19 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

Just to stir the pot a bit more, we were on the Maasdam last fall from late August until mid November.  The first part was good but the longer we were on the worse it got.  We ended up getting off 17 days early.  I wrote a review outlining all the issues we encountered :

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2710839-maasdam-9780-day-misadventure/?tab=comments#comment-58788938

 

it was by far our worst cruise ever .

 

 

 

I have to agree being on the Maasdam for even 80 days would definitely start to wear on our nerves as well. At least we were lucky enough to be in a Vista Suite with an aft facing balcony to escape to.

[tgg]

11 hours ago, Paulchili said:

That sounds pretty bad.

I was looking at a great itinerary in late 2021 but I will not book it.

I have some friends that cruise on HAL and enjoy it but it would be hard after 25+ O cruises on a long HAL cruise after reading your review.

 

After many cruises on Oceania and Azamara, I found a great itinerary on HAL.  Our cabin, a neptune suite, was wonderfully appointed and spacious, our cabin attendants were attentive, the entertainment was better than I ever expected.  OUR BIG DISAPPOINTMENT - the food quality was the worst we have ever been served anywhere. In addition, the dining room service was totally inept. We dreaded going to meals, wondering what new mistakes, failures, and miscues they could come up with. We couldn't wait to get off the ship. 

 

 

 

 

[LHT28]

25 minutes ago, tgg said:

 OUR BIG DISAPPOINTMENT - the food quality was the worst we have ever been served anywhere. In addition, the dining room service was totally inept. We dreaded going to meals, wondering what new mistakes, failures, and miscues they could come up with. We couldn't wait to get off the ship. 

 

 

The only good  we found about the food  was it did come to the table HOT   

 

We did 2 music Charters  & went for the entertainment  but the food was so bad  we gave up on that idea  as long as it was with HAL

 

 

[larry_s_taco]

Question: If you don't take the "O" option, and take the cruise only option do you still get the free wine at dinner?

[Ken the cruiser]

8 minutes ago, larry_s_taco said:

Question: If you don't take the "O" option, and take the cruise only option do you still get the free wine at dinner?

No, you only get the free wine option if you take the OLife beverage package option.

[clo]

On 6/9/2020 at 9:10 AM, ORV said:

We shared a tour one time in PEI with a couple from our Roll Call where the husband spent pretty much the whole time talking about what a great car his Subaru is. I was about ready to tell him we get the point. That wasn't some of you guys was it? I don't know how he got started on that but beat it to death. 

It wasn't I but we sure do love our '97 "Baru" as I call it 🙂

[larry_s_taco]

14 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

No, you only get the free wine option if you take the OLife beverage package option.

So with the cruise only option, you basically get the same inclusions as the other major lines?

[LHT28]

12 minutes ago, larry_s_taco said:

So with the cruise only option, you basically get the same inclusions as the other major lines?

Not sure what other  lines give you

With "cruise only "  you get all  meals

 All non alcoholic beverages

free internet  1 account per cabin  unless you are in  an OS OC or VS  suites

use of the gym/steam room/sauna

Specialty restaurants included but require a reservation  (La Reserve & Privee are extra fee  only available on the O class ships )

 

 

 

What  are you wanting that you do not get with other lines  maybe we can tell you if  that is part of Oceania ?

 

[larry_s_taco]

Free gratuiities, internet, shore excursion credits, ect..

[LHT28]

29 minutes ago, larry_s_taco said:

Free gratuiities, internet, shore excursion credits, ect..

If you shop around you might find  a TA that will give you PPG 

Take the O Life perk for excursions

 

Do you want included alcoholic drinks ??

 

maybe look  at Regent

Crystal  does not give free excursions but might fit your other needs

Azamara 

Viking ??

[larry_s_taco]

On 6/11/2020 at 4:00 PM, LHT28 said:

If you shop around you might find  a TA that will give you PPG 

Take the O Life perk for excursions

 

Do you want included alcoholic drinks ??

 

maybe look  at Regent

Crystal  does not give free excursions but might fit your other needs

Azamara 

Viking ??

Thanks for the suggestions. I do like what I've been reading about Oceania. The people who have been on it seem very loyal which speaks very highly of the line. 

[Hawaiidan]

16 hours ago, larry_s_taco said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I do like what I've been reading about Oceania. The people who have been on it seem very loyal which speaks very highly of the line. 

It is important to remember that the lines mentioned will cost you a lot more ...as much as 100% more for what Oceania offers.      The important difference, to me, is that you can choose extras or not as you see fit.    If your not a heavy drinker, like to do your own planning  you may get shortchanged.

All inclusive is only good if you actually utilize and require all the extras.

As the Inn keeper in "Le Mis "   said  ......"  Nothing get's you nothing....everything has got a little price"

[Cruizer Bill]

We are long time HAL cruisers as well.  We are also disappointed with all the cutbacks they have been doing and a change in the culture of the cruises.  We have been watching Youtube videos about Oceania and really like what we see.  We have another HAL cruise booked and will go on it, then give Oceania a try.  Looks like fun.

 

Seaking of cars, I just bought a new Subaru Outback in February.  I got the top of the line Touring model with the Turbocharged engine and it is terrific!   My wife has a 2017 Audi A4 Quattro and that car is really fast and fun to drive.  Totally different cars, the Subaru has all the latest safety equipment, Audi charge a fortune for the upgrades.  

[sofietucker]

Well, we just jumped! Having to cancel our most recently booked cruises (Maasdam this past April;  X Eclipse coming up Feb) along with losing a month-long land trip to Spain this Sept, has made us itchy to book SOMEthing for the future... A year and a half from now, things should be settled down somewhat.

We're HAL 4* & Celeb Elite; we prefer smaller ships, but with the loss of the Prinsendam, that's done.  A bad HAL cruise this past Dec and X's move toward ever-bigger ships have pushed us to see what else is out there. No expedition ships; we like to be spoiled. So O and Azamara were the likely choices.

After being seduced by the "Ultimate Sale" discussed here, we narrowed down and booked 2 cruises: Riviera Dec 2021, Western Caribbean, and Sirena Western Mediterranean, April 2022. Both PHS, though it looks like the Sirena suites may be pretty small?  The perks sale, it turns out, is not really all that... Free wifi comes with the stateroom. We tend to book our own excursions. Bev pkg is fraught; especially with being able to bring on more wine, it's simpler to again, DIY.  So we went with the OBC. (Our TA gives us free gratuities, which wasn't even an option, lol.)

OLife is not for us: we always fly at least a day early and picky about flight itineraries; would have to pay an extra $195 for flight deviation out of Norfolk (!!); could take the $500 in compensation but why? Can find cheaper flights--incl. transfers--on our own and simply pay $300 for whatever on board, instead of paying $800 for the "free" $300 OBC and $500 air compensation.