calliopecruiser Posted May 25, 2020 #101 Share Posted May 25, 2020 53 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said: O is not a good value proposition for solo cruisers. Very few cruise lines are, in my opinion, unless you're fortunate enough to find a sale going at a time and place that suits you. I think only Crystal gives solo cruisers good value, as they offer a great product for an extra 30% (window cabins) -- or, at least, that used to be true. Whether it will be true post-Covid is a different question. Remember not to confuse value with cost or quantity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquahound Posted May 25, 2020 #102 Share Posted May 25, 2020 It would be nice if the OP returned to provide some feedback and to say whether or not their question was answered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George C Posted May 25, 2020 #103 Share Posted May 25, 2020 This tread has some great info on the more upscale lines , I think we will continue our music charters on celebrity upscale suites and msc yacht club but really would like to try some of the others mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi13 Posted May 25, 2020 #104 Share Posted May 25, 2020 (edited) On 5/24/2020 at 2:48 PM, Aquahound said: I've been looking at Viking but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Those I know who cruised them speak very highly. I think most reasonably people would put Viking, Azamara, and Oceania in the same category. But seriously, you didn't expect a legit answer, did you? Having just completed our first 4-month Viking Cruise, they are most definitely one of the Premium Brands. While they are the new Line, most reviewers rate them as # 1. While we haven't sailed on Oceania or Azamara, we can't comment on comparisons from experience, but many publications rate Viking as # 1 in many categories. Edited May 25, 2020 by Heidi13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi13 Posted May 25, 2020 #105 Share Posted May 25, 2020 5 hours ago, SteveH2508 said: We keep a spreadsheet where we track every cost on each of the cruises we have taken. It quickly became clear that our onboard spend on a mainstream line was at least as much as the base fare. We then started to check out other premium lines and worked out the cost per day for us. The difference in cost was small but the better experience more than made up for it. If you can find some deals (they are out there though this is an unusual time), you might find that the premium lines actually work out cheaper than the mainstream nickle-and-dime lines when you reckon in everything. This was also our experience when comparing a Princess WC and a Viking WC. I also developed a spreadsheet to review costs and when all costs were included the per diem on Princess was virtually identical to our recent Viking Cruise. The Viking base fare was at least 60% higher than Princess, but when all costs were considered, the vastly superior Viking cruise cost the same per day. On Princess we disembarked with a significant bill, on Viking we disembarked with a considerable OBC refund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisemom42 Posted May 25, 2020 #106 Share Posted May 25, 2020 4 hours ago, LHT28 said: I have mentioned this to you before O does offer some cruises with lower SS but they may not be where you want to go at the time You are well travelled so you probably have been to most places No need to take the O Life perk or the included air We often just do cruise only rate Take your own wine & pay the corkage or just have a glass of wine from the menu ..buy a bottle on the ship you have options We went on a luxury line ..the wine included was not that good I would rather purchase some thing I like than put up with mediocre wine because it is included Enjoy whatever cruise you choose ..there are many options out there I remember that heads' up from you and I now regularly look at those specials. You're right that I am at the stage where I am interested in very specific places/itineraries -- and often times those are the ones that are relatively rare or one-offs, so they tend to sell well (no discounts). I do like the idea of Oceania and I do hope to find myself on one of their (preferably R-class) ships one of these days -- the stars will align, I'm sure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveH2508 Posted May 25, 2020 #107 Share Posted May 25, 2020 14 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said: <snip> I do like the idea of Oceania and I do hope to find myself on one of their (preferably R-class) ships one of these days -- the stars will align, I'm sure. You may already know this but all three of Azamara's ships are R-class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisemom42 Posted May 25, 2020 #108 Share Posted May 25, 2020 13 minutes ago, SteveH2508 said: You may already know this but all three of Azamara's ships are R-class. Yes, I've sailed with Azamara and do like their product. For me, I find they have the most interesting itineraries. I've also sailed on one of the R-class ships that used to b part of Princess's fleet but is now part of Oceania. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clo Posted May 26, 2020 #109 Share Posted May 26, 2020 1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said: Yes, I've sailed with Azamara and do like their product. For me, I find they have the most interesting itineraries. I read not so long ago that when in/at Turkey, they had an after dinner musical program at Ephesus. That blew my mind. I can't even imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All That Jazz Posted May 26, 2020 #110 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Other cruise lines offer the evening concert at Ephesus. The noisy crowds are gone, the evening breeze and bird song are delightful. The attendants serve hors d'oeuvres and wine dressed in ancient Greek costume. The string quartet performed in front of the facade of the library and the full moon was visible through the library "window". It is one of our top five shore excursions ever. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clo Posted May 26, 2020 #111 Share Posted May 26, 2020 18 minutes ago, All That Jazz said: Other cruise lines offer the evening concert at Ephesus. The noisy crowds are gone, the evening breeze and bird song are delightful. The attendants serve hors d'oeuvres and wine dressed in ancient Greek costume. The string quartet performed in front of the facade of the library and the full moon was visible through the library "window". It is one of our top five shore excursions ever. Thanks a million for this! We were there a few years ago; yes, during the day. Incredible. I can only imaging what it's like at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted May 26, 2020 #112 Share Posted May 26, 2020 41 minutes ago, All That Jazz said: Other cruise lines offer the evening concert at Ephesus. The noisy crowds are gone, the evening breeze and bird song are delightful. What other lines do this besides Azamara ? The would be magical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joebucks Posted May 26, 2020 #113 Share Posted May 26, 2020 7 hours ago, SteveH2508 said: We keep a spreadsheet where we track every cost on each of the cruises we have taken. It quickly became clear that our onboard spend on a mainstream line was at least as much as the base fare. We then started to check out other premium lines and worked out the cost per day for us. The difference in cost was small but the better experience more than made up for it. If you can find some deals (they are out there though this is an unusual time), you might find that the premium lines actually work out cheaper than the mainstream nickle-and-dime lines when you reckon in everything. I think far too many people get caught up in marketing headlines or preconceived notions, and don't look into stuff like this. I always say the most important things are the final price, and the experience you want. Far too many people on here are easily distracted with all of the other noise. To each their own, but it's good to compare options. Your method obviously helped prove why this is important. For us, currently, I don't think we have broken $2,000 total for a week of cruising. Not including hotels at ports. I don't think it is bare bones, because we still literally do everything we want to. If I want a fancy meal, excursion, or drink, I do it. I stay far away from the notion of "I'm on vacation, so I need to have everything, in unlimited form". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruzaholic41 Posted May 26, 2020 #114 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Whoever refers to the major cruise lines as “bare bones” cruising is extremely ignorant. There’s a lot to be said about premium and luxury cruising, but the level of talent I’ve seen on the largest mass market ships blows away the talent on smaller lines. Even some of the accommodations were leaps and bounds better. I’m fortunate that I can cruise any line I want, but I keep getting drawn back to larger lines because I leave the ship feeling like I got my money’s worth. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceMuzz Posted May 26, 2020 #115 Share Posted May 26, 2020 2 hours ago, LHT28 said: What other lines do this besides Azamara ? The would be magical Windstar Motor Yachts 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All That Jazz Posted May 26, 2020 #116 Share Posted May 26, 2020 12 hours ago, LHT28 said: What other lines do this besides Azamara ? The would be magical We were on Crystal, I believe Regent does as well. The concert was arranged just for our group. Glad to hear about Windstar, they are one of our favorites. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisemom42 Posted May 26, 2020 #117 Share Posted May 26, 2020 20 hours ago, All That Jazz said: Other cruise lines offer the evening concert at Ephesus. The noisy crowds are gone, the evening breeze and bird song are delightful. The attendants serve hors d'oeuvres and wine dressed in ancient Greek costume. The string quartet performed in front of the facade of the library and the full moon was visible through the library "window". It is one of our top five shore excursions ever. As long as they aren't having a rock concert in the theater there. Believe it or not, Turkey used to allow it, and hosted the likes of Sting and Elton John, then realized that it was causing a great deal of damage to the structure, between the crowds and the noise... Supposedly they have stopped doing this now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navybankerteacher Posted May 26, 2020 #118 Share Posted May 26, 2020 18 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said: Whoever refers to the major cruise lines as “bare bones” cruising is extremely ignorant. There’s a lot to be said about premium and luxury cruising, but the level of talent I’ve seen on the largest mass market ships blows away the talent on smaller lines. Even some of the accommodations were leaps and bounds better. I’m fortunate that I can cruise any line I want, but I keep getting drawn back to larger lines because I leave the ship feeling like I got my money’s worth. ...”extremely ignorant...? I suppose it depends upon a person’s definition of talent. If big, brassy production shows are all that matter, I will concede that NCL wins. However, I have left NCL ships feeling that I had been robbed. The live music and interesting enrichment provided on the likes of Oceania, Azamara and the like represent real “talent”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getting older slowly Posted May 26, 2020 #119 Share Posted May 26, 2020 (edited) I think the OP thoughts are the Mass market cruise line and small ship cruise lines..... the idea of Mid tier is basically one perception, also A lot of lines have a different feel to them.... which may not fit the person idea of what is good or great... Like Cunard, if you don't like getting dressed up for dinner... maybe not a good choice But the question is what is "'Mid Tier" . Is it like dinning at the Buffet compared tp the MDR to one of Restaurants. Other way of putting is if like buying the best model car of a local maker or buying a base car from a high end maker.. So what defines Mid Tier ???? Cheers Don Edited May 26, 2020 by getting older slowly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquahound Posted May 26, 2020 #120 Share Posted May 26, 2020 35 minutes ago, getting older slowly said: But the question is what is "'Mid Tier" . Is it like dinning at the Buffet compared tp the MDR to one of Restaurants. Other way of putting is if like buying the best model car of a local maker or buying a base car from a high end maker.. So what defines Mid Tier ???? I think that's a good point. Some people would rather spend their money on a high end Mustang over a base model Mercedes. The industry considers the Mercedes the higher end car but due to preference, some will pay the higher price tag for the Mustang Shelby Cobra. Same with cruising. Some would rather book a nice suite on a mass market line over any accommodations on what the industry considers a "premium" line. Like I said earlier, I'm looking close at Viking Ocean, but I've had some really awesome experiences on my past cruises. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getting older slowly Posted May 26, 2020 #121 Share Posted May 26, 2020 1 minute ago, Aquahound said: I think that's a good point. Some people would rather spend their money on a high end Mustang over a base model Mercedes. The industry considers the Mercedes the higher end car but due to preference, some will pay the higher price tag for the Mustang Shelby Cobra. Me would I take the Mustang..... but some of those bi-turbo AMG's are good,,, but the price Cheers Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clo Posted May 27, 2020 #122 Share Posted May 27, 2020 22 hours ago, Joebucks said: For us, currently, I don't think we have broken $2,000 total for a week of cruising. Do you go all over the world or kinda stick to, say, the Caribbean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi13 Posted May 27, 2020 #123 Share Posted May 27, 2020 21 hours ago, Aquahound said: I'm looking close at Viking Ocean, but I've had some really awesome experiences on my past cruises. If you have any questions regarding Viking, feel free to ask or check out our travel blog, as I completed daily posts during our recent 4 months on Viking Sun. Didn't get to many ports, so lots of content on the ship, crew, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquahound Posted May 27, 2020 #124 Share Posted May 27, 2020 12 minutes ago, Heidi13 said: If you have any questions regarding Viking, feel free to ask or check out our travel blog, as I completed daily posts during our recent 4 months on Viking Sun. Didn't get to many ports, so lots of content on the ship, crew, etc. I certainly will. Thank you very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi13 Posted May 28, 2020 #125 Share Posted May 28, 2020 5 hours ago, Aquahound said: I certainly will. Thank you very much. Email - cardinalpoints.marine at shaw dot ca Replies will come from our personal address, which I don't publish Website AndyandJudi.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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