Oceania vs Holland or Celebrity

[KirkNC]

8 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

But if I can get a suite with all the trimmings on a 2,500 passenger ship for the same price as a balcony on a 650 passenger ship going on roughly the same itinerary, I'll take the suite every time.

And thats where we differ but thats ok.  We will all gravitate to those lines, ships and itineraries that check the most of our boxes.

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, Tedferg said:

 Why state 'FREE' in front of each perk ? Why not just list the perks and say 'Choose One'.

 

Marketing

Same as 2 for 1  ..it is not really 2 for the price of one

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, KirkNC said:

 If I can just get free laundry on O I would be in nirvana.  

no charge  for laundry  just go to the laundry room & do it  or book a Concierge cabin or above & you get 3 free bags  (20 items per bag)  no charge

 You do not need 50 cruises to get  free bag of laundry 😉

 

[KirkNC]

19 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

no charge  for laundry  just go to the laundry room & do it  or book a Concierge cabin or above & you get 3 free bags  (20 items per bag)  no charge

 You do not need 50 cruises to get  free bag of laundry 😉

 

Sounds like you and I have different ideas on what is free laundry 😎.   Me booking a Concierge cabin would be my most expensive laundry ever.

[Ladys Mom]

You may have heard this before, but in the age of Covid I would much rather be on a 600 passenger ship than on a 2500-3000 passenger ship.  Evening entertainment is nice, but quality of itinerary, shore excursions, cuisine, and crew attentiveness are more important to many of us.  We started cruising on Celebrity and RCL.  Then we tried Oceania and Azamara and never went back, even if it meant we could not take as many cruises.  Then we tried Regent.  When we did an apples to apples comparison with the luxury-lite cruise lines there was not much difference in final cost, even though the front end cost was very different.  We are giving Oceania another try because the base cost was so low.  But if it turns out to be the same as Regent, in the end, we will stay with Regent because the quality of every aspect of a Regent cruise is perfect for us.

[LHT28]

24 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

Sounds like you and I have different ideas on what is free laundry 😎.   Me booking a Concierge cabin would be my most expensive laundry ever.

 

I do not have a problem doing my laundry on the ship  but some other people it is not  for them 😉

In any case the machines are free to use  & I can be sure they are not boiled in the machines with other peoples  germy clothing  LOL

 

 How many cruises on Princess do you need to get free  bag of laundry??

 

[KirkNC]

3 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

 

 How many cruises on Princess do you need to get free  bag of laundry??

 

Not sure about Princess, we are 5 star on HAL and you get free laundry at 4 star, best perk on HAL.  It takes 200 cruise day credits for 4 star.  That’s a combination of days cruised (double if in a suite) plus 1 day credit for every $300 you spend on anything on the ship like dining, beverages, excursions...

[Tedferg]

3 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

I guess I don't see your point.  The ad states the sale consists of "historic price reductions are on top of the already phenomenal value represented by our popular Olife Choice package,"  To me that says the sale has to do with new price reductions independent of OLife package.  Of course, to be able to see the savings, you will have to have the original pricing at hand for comparison.

 

If also summarizes  the popular OLife package as a free amenity of your choice, then lists the options.  I don't see where it implies all three anywhere in the ad.

 

Sorry, but I don't think you have a valid beef...but that's JMHO

 

 

No beef at all, this is now out of context. When I did the daily cost comparison that Ken suggested, I though I needed to factor in all of those Freebies. Hence my confusion / question.

[Ken the cruiser]

29 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

 

I do not have a problem doing my laundry on the ship  but some other people it is not  for them 😉

In any case the machines are free to use  & I can be sure they are not boiled in the machines with other peoples  germy clothing  LOL

 

 How many cruises on Princess do you need to get free  bag of laundry??

 

You get free laundry plus some other perks once you make Elite, which is achieved by going on 15 cruises or 150 days, whichever comes first. Another way to get free laundry is to book a suite.

[Paulchili]

4 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Marketing

Same as 2 for 1  ..it is not really 2 for the price of one

Same as Free air - it's included, not free.

If you choose to do your own air you get credit for the air

[Georgia_Peaches]

If I may, I'd like to jump in.  Yesterday I was on an NCL board and someone suggested looking at a March 2021 cruise on Riviera bc it was deeply discounted for a 10 night Caribbean itinerary.  So I priced it out and was quite surprised...

 

A 10 night cruise in a Concierge (A4) stateroom is $4198.  I opted for the drink package as the perk and will upgrade on board...if we do this cruise.  Air not included.  I thought this was a great price considering we just moved a cruise we have booked on Celebrity to 2022 for the same number of nights (panama canal itinerary).  The O price is 2/3 less than the Celebrity.  Granted, on Celebrity we have a Royal Suite.

 

However, I have no experience with the O product, like the OP.  DH and I are in our early 50's.  The smaller ship size is appealing to me post-pandemic but I wonder if we will fit in with the age demographic and I also wonder about what we would do in the evening.  What is the casino like?

 

Thanks for all the great information.  I actually read all 4 pages of this thread!

 

 

[LHT28]

9 hours ago, KirkNC said:

Not sure about Princess, we are 5 star on HAL and you get free laundry at 4 star, best perk on HAL.  It takes 200 cruise day credits for 4 star.  That’s a combination of days cruised (double if in a suite) plus 1 day credit for every $300 you spend on anything on the ship like dining, beverages, excursions...

You do not think that is expensive  way to get free laundry  LOL

 

You can get free laundry on O with 1 cruise  by booking  an A Cat or above

 

We have 21 days on HAL  & the last 14  were enough  to never sail  with them again

YMMV

 

[LHT28]

9 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

You get free laundry plus some other perks once you make Elite, which is achieved by going on 15 cruises or 150 days, whichever comes first. Another way to get free laundry is to book a suite.

well I guess I just do not get it then

 worrying about free laundry  on  a cruise

 to me the experience is more than free laundry 

JMO

[ORV]

10 hours ago, Tedferg said:

No beef at all, this is now out of context. When I did the daily cost comparison that Ken suggested, I though I needed to factor in all of those Freebies. Hence my confusion / question.

You aren't the first to think all the perks come with the Ultimate sale. Most of the confusion though comes from the term "Ultimate" which historically in Oceania's marketing has denoted all three perks. 

 

That's why we ask questions. 

[KatieBelle]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

However, I have no experience with the O product, like the OP.  DH and I are in our early 50's.  The smaller ship size is appealing to me post-pandemic but I wonder if we will fit in with the age demographic and I also wonder about what we would do in the evening.  What is the casino like?

Because your cruise is in the Carribbean, I think clientle will trend a bit younger than European or 14+ day journeys.  Our 30 something sons and spouses joined us on their first Oceania cruise last year in the Mediterranean.  They REALLY enjoyed the casino and the late night happy hours/karaoke/dancing in Horizons.  They made their own fun and by day 3 were on a first name basis with a number of staff, esp. bartenders!

 

The point is you should try it for yourselves.  Those who roll with it and look for the positive usually have a great experience. 

 

Katie

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

However, I have no experience with the O product, like the OP.  DH and I are in our early 50's.  The smaller ship size is appealing to me post-pandemic but I wonder if we will fit in with the age demographic and I also wonder about what we would do in the evening.  What is the casino like?

 

Thanks for all the great information.  I actually read all 4 pages of this thread!

 

 

Are you taking the cruise only fare?

The casino is small  but then the ship is smaller than most mainstream  lines

The  age range  is 20's to 90's   with the medium in 50's to 70's  IME

We have met people in their 80's  that were great fun   ..we have met others in the same age range as us  & could not  avoid  them enough

People are people & you may not get on with everyone  just like real life  a cruise atmosphere is no different

 I would  check the size of the cabin compared to what you are used to if you can live in that space for 10 days  you should be fine

There is an evening show  at 9:30pm  nightly  or join new friends for  a nice chat over drinks

 

If you got  a good deal  then give Oceania a try & decide for yourself

 

No one know what the New Oceania  or any other line will be like post pandemic

JMO

[Ken the cruiser]

9 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

well I guess I just do not get it then

 worrying about free laundry  on  a cruise

 to me the experience is more than free laundry 

JMO

It's not so much worrying about free laundry as it is not having to worry about doing laundry on a cruise at all. And then getting it for free, makes it even better if your cruises are usually 3-5 weeks in length.

[LHT28]

1 minute ago, Ken the cruiser said:

It's not so much worrying about free laundry as it is not having to worry about doing laundry on a cruise at all. And then getting it for free, makes it even better if your cruises are usually 3-5 weeks in length.

 

I would not base my cruise on the laundry  that is all I am saying

[Georgia_Peaches]

24 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Are you taking the cruise only fare?

Yes, this is a cruise only fare.  As ATL is a Delta hub, we can get to MIA pretty inexpensively so the air option really wasn't necessary for us.

 

Thank you for the great feedback!

[Georgia_Peaches]

29 minutes ago, KatieBelle said:

Because your cruise is in the Carribbean, I think clientle will trend a bit younger than European or 14+ day journeys.  Our 30 something sons and spouses joined us on their first Oceania cruise last year in the Mediterranean.  They REALLY enjoyed the casino and the late night happy hours/karaoke/dancing in Horizons.  They made their own fun and by day 3 were on a first name basis with a number of staff, esp. bartenders!

 

The point is you should try it for yourselves.  Those who roll with it and look for the positive usually have a great experience. 

 

Katie

Great information!  I am leaning towards giving it a try.  The price is right.  Like everyone, I'm sure, my hesitation is rooted in what cruising will look like n March...on any line.  Final payment isn't until December so there's time to see how things will unfold.

Edited June 5, 2020 by Georgia_Peaches

[Ken the cruiser]

35 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

 

I would not base my cruise on the laundry  that is all I am saying

I understand. But if you like taking longer cruises like we do, some of those cruise line loyalty perks like free gratuities, free OBC, free laundry and/or free internet to name a few offered by various cruise lines, do factor into the "long range" decision making process when choosing which "group" of cruise lines we may research for a cool itinerary. For example in the case of O, they have some very good perks once you make it to Gold. For Celebrity and Princess, it's Elite, and for HAL it's 4*.

 

But if you only cruise once every year or two, those top level loyalty levels probably don't play much of a factor in one's decision making process.

Edited June 5, 2020 by Ken the cruiser

[Sea42]

We took our 12 year old grandson on a HAL cruise to Alaska two years ago, followed 6 months later on our first Oceania cruise. We had been on HAL 3 times prior and have enjoyed each cruise. Their food was fine and we loved the size of their signature suites. Our other 3 times on HAL were 14 days or longer and the extra cabin space was great.

But Oceania was wonderful! It was such a treat to try all of the different dining options that were included and with a longer cruise there wasn't any problem getting reservations to try a couple more than once. Being able to start our cruise with a case of wine from the vineyards we visited in Chile prior to the cruise was appreciated. Yes, I missed the size of the signature suite but the cost of that size room on Oceania was prohibitive for us, so we made do. I enjoyed the cooking classes and the twice daily lectures with topics specific to our itinerary.

I was very happy when looking at a South America cruise for 1/22 to find Oceania's price very competitive with HAL's base price and much lower when looking at the total package of inclusions. I'm very much looking forward to our next Oceania cruise.

[Sea42]

Duplicate post

Edited June 5, 2020 by Sea42

[KirkNC]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

You do not think that is expensive  way to get free laundry  LOL

 

You can get free laundry on O with 1 cruise  by booking  an A Cat or above

 

We have 21 days on HAL  & the last 14  were enough  to never sail  with them again

YMMV

 

Yes but once achieved you have it for ever where with the concierge you have to keep booking it until you hit PC.

 

Yes unfortunately HAL is a mere shadow of what it was once, hence our refugee status and O bookings.

Edited June 5, 2020 by KirkNC

[KirkNC]

45 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

It's not so much worrying about free laundry as it is not having to worry about doing laundry on a cruise at all. And then getting it for free, makes it even better if your cruises are usually 3-5 weeks in length.

Yes, it's just a perk, not a make or break item.  It is interesting how O uses it (A or higher cabin or PC) while other lines base it on cruise days.  On the other hand the rest of O's loyalty perks are faaaaar better than HAL.