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Oceania v Celebrity Thoughts


LGW59
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24 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

 

I am not “defending” Celebrity or attempting to contradict that Oceania is currently less expensive.  I am just pointing out that the cost comparisons listed above may not be typically nor are they necessarily comparing “Apples to Apples”.

It's hard to get one-to-one comps. 

And when it's said and done, I think the realistic comparisons are truly to either The Haven (NCL) or The Retreat (X). It isn't just about rooms, amenities, and dining; it's about an overall experience where larger ships are trying to "bolt-on" great entertainment into the exclusive space, encroaching on the air of Oceania, and to a larger extent Crystal. 

Frankly I find it hilarious that someone would consider to spend $400 a night to board The Getaway (typically $4400 for an 11 night cruise, which by the way doesn't include airfare). But hey, it's all about what you value.

I'm looking forward to this trip, to see how the other half lives. But the very best cruise of my life, I spent $800 per person for a 14 day round trip, Boston/Montreal/Boston on a very small, outdated HAL ship in an inside cabin. 

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2 hours ago, AlexCherie said:

It's hard to get one-to-one comps. 

And when it's said and done, I think the realistic comparisons are truly to either The Haven (NCL) or The Retreat (X). It isn't just about rooms, amenities, and dining; it's about an overall experience where larger ships are trying to "bolt-on" great entertainment into the exclusive space, encroaching on the air of Oceania, and to a larger extent Crystal. 

Frankly I find it hilarious that someone would consider to spend $400 a night to board The Getaway (typically $4400 for an 11 night cruise, which by the way doesn't include airfare). But hey, it's all about what you value.

I'm looking forward to this trip, to see how the other half lives. But the very best cruise of my life, I spent $800 per person for a 14 day round trip, Boston/Montreal/Boston on a very small, outdated HAL ship in an inside cabin. 

I am the OP and want to thank you all for some great suggestions and feedback!  I did end up canceling the Apex May 2022, will do a land vacation instead, we can do one month in Italy for what 12 days would have cost us.  Also canceled the Oct 2022 Beyond, lost $900 deposit but with the $$$$ difference for VS on Riviera, we are good with our decision.  Thanks again and happy cruising!!!

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17 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

I am the OP and want to thank you all for some great suggestions and feedback!  I did end up canceling the Apex May 2022, will do a land vacation instead, we can do one month in Italy for what 12 days would have cost us.  Also canceled the Oct 2022 Beyond, lost $900 deposit but with the $$$$ difference for VS on Riviera, we are good with our decision.  Thanks again and happy cruising!!!

I am excited for you and cannot wait to hear how you and your husband like it. 

 

Our only cruise booked right now is with X and only because when we did Asia (Oct 2019) our PH had some deficiencies and they provided us with $5000 OBC that needs to be used. We are using it for a Caribbean cruise end of Apr 2022. ( We got a good deal vs pricing now).  I really do not want to be on a large ship in the Caribbean so may end up just cancelling. With the virus etc. none of it sounds very appealing to me right now.

 

Also, your comparison of the RS or CS on X to your Vista Suite is a no brainer. You will fall in love with the VS and having 2 bathrooms is heaven. Just an FYI, but I believe you can still trade out your 6 bottles to whatever wine is to your liking within their list of parameters.

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1 hour ago, TrulyBlonde said:

I am excited for you and cannot wait to hear how you and your husband like it. 

 

Our only cruise booked right now is with X and only because when we did Asia (Oct 2019) our PH had some deficiencies and they provided us with $5000 OBC that needs to be used. We are using it for a Caribbean cruise end of Apr 2022. ( We got a good deal vs pricing now).  I really do not want to be on a large ship in the Caribbean so may end up just cancelling. With the virus etc. none of it sounds very appealing to me right now.

 

Also, your comparison of the RS or CS on X to your Vista Suite is a no brainer. You will fall in love with the VS and having 2 bathrooms is heaven. Just an FYI, but I believe you can still trade out your 6 bottles to whatever wine is to your liking within their list of parameters.

My husband is delirious about one month in Italy, especially Rome and Venice.  He is from China and Italy is a super bucket list trip for him.  As to the cruise, not his preferred mode of travel but the VS sold him, especially that balcony which I imagine is where  he will spend most of his time.

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7 hours ago, Gimpy McFarlan said:

 

We travel all over the 🌎 but right now we are most interested in a Med vacation.  It appears the Apex is the only C ship cruising the Med until 2022 and her itineraries are more focused on Greece.  We are more interested in Adriatic Sea area.  We love C (currently Elite) and expect to cruise C many more times in the future.

They (Apex) do have a May 2022 Scandinavia and Russia, lovely itinerary.  I was booked but just recently canceled, prices are thru the roof , doing a one month land vacation in Italy in its place.  You should consider checking out Oceania, I’ve not sailed on them yet, but have a fantastic cruise booked for fall 2022, upper suite, amazing price, far far better $$ than what I would have paid on Celebrity.

Edited by LGW59
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15 hours ago, LGW59 said:

My husband is delirious about one month in Italy, especially Rome and Venice.  He is from China and Italy is a super bucket list trip for him.  As to the cruise, not his preferred mode of travel but the VS sold him, especially that balcony which I imagine is where  he will spend most of his time.

 

About 20 years ago I did a short 6 night trip to Rome - we did take the train down to Pompeii one day - and it was not enough time.  We could easily have spent several more days in the ancient city, and that did not include Capri, Venice, Florence, anything in the rest of Tuscany.  I feel like a month is probably a lot closer to the right amount of time for this stunning place full of history everywhere you turn. Are you renting a car and moving your accommodation from town to town every so often?  We were on a fairly tight budget, just a step above young backpacker class, to be honest, and it worked out fine as you see so much just walking around.  While we visited a lot of the obvious and very crowded stuff like the Vatican museums and the Colosseum,  I found things like taking a bus across the city to visit the catacombs and wandering around Palatine Hill among the ruins and foundations of old villas nearly in solitude were in some ways more sublime experiences.

 

The kind of thing you look back in your mid-50's and are very glad you did in your mid-30's when you could handle it. 

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1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

 

About 20 years ago I did a short 6 night trip to Rome - we did take the train down to Pompeii one day - and it was not enough time.  We could easily have spent several more days in the ancient city, and that did not include Capri, Venice, Florence, anything in the rest of Tuscany.  I feel like a month is probably a lot closer to the right amount of time for this stunning place full of history everywhere you turn. Are you renting a car and moving your accommodation from town to town every so often?  We were on a fairly tight budget, just a step above young backpacker class, to be honest, and it worked out fine as you see so much just walking around.  While we visited a lot of the obvious and very crowded stuff like the Vatican museums and the Colosseum,  I found things like taking a bus across the city to visit the catacombs and wandering around Palatine Hill among the ruins and foundations of old villas nearly in solitude were in some ways more sublime experiences.

 

The kind of thing you look back in your mid-50's and are very glad you did in your mid-30's when you could handle it. 

Italy is indeed a magical country!  We will spend one week in Rome, one week in Florence/Tuscany and will do Airbnb in both.  The remaining two weeks will be a combination of Venice, Trieste and Amalfi Coast in hotels.  Several years ago I spent two weeks in Italy on my own and even that was not enough time!

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On 9/7/2021 at 9:32 PM, LGW59 said:

Curious to know, if you care to share, celebrity prices have skyrocketed I mean through the roof.  I did a comparison of a celebrity suite v vista suite, posted it earlier here, difference was was ridiculous.  Do you find the same ?  Always Included I was thinking yea good deal, the more I delve into it, compare to O for similar suites, not so much at all.  

We noticed the price increases.  Since I don’t drink, the all in concept isn’t for us.  As elite plus the WiFi minutes were adequate. We seldom even reach our limit. We really hated the cutbacks and crowding. Celebrity added more cabins on many ships.  Our last Celebrity cruise on Reflection was so crowded that we often couldn’t find seats in venues.  That alone was enough to say that Celebrity isn’t for us. In the past 3 years we have sailed Oceania and Windstar more often than Celebrity.  They are a better fit for us. We enjoy smaller ships with better food. Celebrity food is ok, not as good as it used to be. We liked Celebrity until it got boring. The experience was often too repetitive.  When we sailed 4-5 times a year,  you need new experiences.  Now we only consider Celebrity when we are with a group. It isn’t our first choice. However, when traveling with kids, it is a good fit.  As a couple, we wouldn’t chose Celebrity.   Oceania has been a good value for the experience. 

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1 hour ago, LGW59 said:

Italy is indeed a magical country!  We will spend one week in Rome, one week in Florence/Tuscany and will do Airbnb in both.  The remaining two weeks will be a combination of Venice, Trieste and Amalfi Coast in hotels.  Several years ago I spent two weeks in Italy on my own and even that was not enough time!

Looks like it may be time for you to visit Sicily.

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23 hours ago, jagoffee said:

....I have never viewed Oceania as a less costly alternative....

If Oceania continues to be less expensive when compared with equal inclusions, the Oceania demand will increase taking business from Celebrity.....  

“Slice it or dice it” any way you want. The bottom line is that Oceania has always been a far better quality/value experience than Celebrity.
There’s no denying that many of the 70+% of repeat customers found on any O cruise were former Celebrity cruisers who gave O a try and never looked back.

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10 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

... The bottom line is that Oceania has always been a far better quality/value experience than Celebrity. ...


A bit much and overstated. I suppose if you are like the OP and looking to use a Vista Suite, that would be the case. 

But it's worthwhile to note that the Silhouette has something like 1000 cabins that are not of that class - just regular Balcony or even 144 inside cabins - nearly more than the entire set of rooms on the Riviera.

My guess would be that the former Celebrity cruisers rarely if ever stayed in an inside cabin. 

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34 minutes ago, AlexCherie said:


A bit much and overstated. I suppose if you are like the OP and looking to use a Vista Suite, that would be the case. 

But it's worthwhile to note that the Silhouette has something like 1000 cabins that are not of that class - just regular Balcony or even 144 inside cabins - nearly more than the entire set of rooms on the Riviera.

My guess would be that the former Celebrity cruisers rarely if ever stayed in an inside cabin. 

You might guess wrong. Many Oceania cruisers, which include current and previous Celebrity cruisers, are quite value conscious. I personally have been in insides on Celebrity and Oceania. We've been in suites on Oceania, but never on Celebrity as they are not a good value at all. 

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Just curious about something: Does Celebrity consider embarkation and disembarkation day as one day or two, if it mentions number of days in its marketing material?  Oceania counts embarkation and disembarkation days as one day, so that the number of nights is the same as the number of days.  But at least one other cruise line I know counts both embarkation and disembarkation as "days" when it describes a cruise. I know it's trivial, but I'm still curious.....

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10 minutes ago, ORV said:

You might guess wrong. Many Oceania cruisers, which include current and previous Celebrity cruisers, are quite value conscious. I personally have been in insides on Celebrity and Oceania. We've been in suites on Oceania, but never on Celebrity as they are not a good value at all. 

Perhaps true.

I myself have stayed in an inside cabin; in fact one of the best ever was an inside, on an old ship and it wasn't even X. I'm not saying that Oceania doesn't represent value.

I'm saying that there is an entry price to get onboard Oceania. And from my experience, most Celebrity cruisers will say something very much to the order of: "I'd rather take 10 sailings in the Caribbean in an inside cabin than 1 trip on a luxury liner". 

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5 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Just curious about something: Does Celebrity consider embarkation and disembarkation day as one day or two, if it mentions number of days in its marketing material?  Oceania counts embarkation and disembarkation days as one day, so that the number of nights is the same as the number of days.  But at least one other cruise line I know counts both embarkation and disembarkation as "days" when it describes a cruise. I know it's trivial, but I'm still curious.....

I am almost certain that X would say a trip that leaves on Sunday, arrives on Sunday at 8 AM as a 7 day, six night cruise. 

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7 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

🤣

We almost always choose inside staterooms.  For my next cruise, though, I chose a (gasp!) ocean-view!

It's a funny thing, I've wanted to try O for an inside cabin for several years. I've never found one available on the trips I wanted to try. 

Then this Labor Day opportunity came up, and I couldn't resist the 4 category upgrade (even though an inside was available for part of the cruise). Getting a Concierge room, with the possibility of room service from the Grand Dining Room? I blew my budget to hell in a handbasket. 

Edited by AlexCherie
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Interesting discussions. A Sunday to Sunday is still a 7 night cruise on Oceania. As far as value goes, that 4 Category upgrade is going to spoil you with the added amenities, you will see. 

Now for a little Inside Stateroom chatter, I could never get my wife in one although she did visit some friends in one once. After the fiasco and quarantines required when Covid hit the cruise lines, there is no way in the world I could deal with a claustrophobic inside stateroom. I must be able to breath fresh air and see the sea or the shore.  They would be taking me off the ship sedated and in a straight jacket if we were ever quarantined in an Inside room. 

As for Celebrity, I guess I can not handle traveling with 3,000 people and would only consider R or O Class sized ships. Based on what I am reading about Celebrity and prices and our one experience in Aqua,  we will always take the Quality over Quantity approach and ENJOY the luxury of Oceania.  
Spoiled, you better believe it.  
Mauibabes

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2 hours ago, AlexCherie said:

I am almost certain that X would say a trip that leaves on Sunday, arrives on Sunday at 8 AM as a 7 day, six night cruise. 

Did you mean seven night cruise, because a Sunday to Sunday cruise would be a seven night and seven day cruise on Celebrity.

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3 hours ago, mauibabes said:

Interesting discussions. A Sunday to Sunday is still a 7 night cruise on Oceania. As far as value goes, that 4 Category upgrade is going to spoil you with the added amenities, you will see. 

Now for a little Inside Stateroom chatter, I could never get my wife in one although she did visit some friends in one once. After the fiasco and quarantines required when Covid hit the cruise lines, there is no way in the world I could deal with a claustrophobic inside stateroom. I must be able to breath fresh air and see the sea or the shore.  They would be taking me off the ship sedated and in a straight jacket if we were ever quarantined in an Inside room. 

As for Celebrity, I guess I can not handle traveling with 3,000 people and would only consider R or O Class sized ships. Based on what I am reading about Celebrity and prices and our one experience in Aqua,  we will always take the Quality over Quantity approach and ENJOY the luxury of Oceania.  
Spoiled, you better believe it.  
Mauibabes

Yeah, the idea of being stuck inside a room without windows for potentially 10 to 20 days? I'd have literally jumped off the ship. I'll never again book an inside cabin, on any cruise ship. That's insane.

But the upgrade? We aren't typical joiners, we like our table for two and our privacy. So getting The Grand Dining Room on our balcony (I think of it as a porch) while we sail away from some small island in the Mediterranean? For real? Yeah. All about that.

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4 hours ago, AlexCherie said:

It's a funny thing, I've wanted to try O for an inside cabin for several years. I've never found one available on the trips I wanted to try. 

Then this Labor Day opportunity came up, and I couldn't resist the 4 category upgrade (even though an inside was available for part of the cruise). Getting a Concierge room, with the possibility of room service from the Grand Dining Room? I blew my budget to hell in a handbasket. 

It’s Oceania. Everyone gets no cost “room service.” There’s even a work around for breakfast for those cabins that get the cold breakfast limits.

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And after you make the Concierge Category leap for a future sailing, the next Up to Four Category Upgrade Sale might just get you into a Penthouse but do it on Riviera or Marina. OMG, your private dinners for two in a Stateroom with a balcony and 50% more square feet, guess what, your room service is delivered course by course by your Butler from the Premium Restaurants. Now that is not bad, to step up from an A-3 to a PH-3 🤪👍. Keep a watchful eye out. Of course, that same Butler can get you tables for two in that various Premium restaurants well beyond your Category allocation. 
Bottom line, just enjoy your cruises and Oceania.

Mauibabes

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