O Newbie - Booked 2nd O cruise!

[QuestionEverything]

Greetings everyone from a day out from Halifax, Canada.

Pleased to advise my "spousal unit" and I have booked our 2nd O cruise.

It is Jan 2025, Far East on Riviera.

We discussed all the excellent analysis and advice provided by you all on my earlier mid cruise review post.

I appreciate that nothing is perfect, and there is some downgrading happening on O, and all cruise lines.

But I must say the O product meets our requirements well; particularily the class of the guests, product and services and the one class ship configuration.

We travel mostly for itinerary, so O will work. Mass cruise lines, not. We are Celebrity refugees.

We used to take a cruise a year, now it is every 2nd year. Land vacations are equally important.

Thanks to everyone for your time and analysis. You all did such a great job, I am out much $, LOL!

Blessings to all.

 

 

 

[jonthomas]

We are Celeb refugees as well, with over 50 cruises. Now only with O, 6th and 7th coming up in Sept.

And in TO as well.

[QuestionEverything]

jonthomas - thanks for the reply. I believe there are many Celebrity refugees on O and all the premium lines and I suspect there is a wave of more refugees given the Celebrity decisions of late. Hoping all your trips go well. 

[ORV]

Nice to see you were pleased with the product. 

[jonthomas]

And I have been criticized for saying it too often, someone even suggested I was an O plant...lol... 

[harryw]

I had no idea that there are many other Celebrity refugees out there. We started cruising 

25 years ago and we were loyal to Celebrity. But as the years past there were declines in service, cuisine and entertainment, The last straw was an ill fated cruise from Barcelona 

that abruptly was cancelled one port in, due to a broken rudder. The way passengers were helped with a Plan B was a fiasco, 

  Then we tried O, and we were pleased beyond words. Soon we will take our tenth with O.

 

Harry

[QuestionEverything]

10 hours ago, harryw said:

I had no idea that there are many other Celebrity refugees out there. We started cruising 

25 years ago and we were loyal to Celebrity. But as the years past there were declines in service, cuisine and entertainment, The last straw was an ill fated cruise from Barcelona 

that abruptly was cancelled one port in, due to a broken rudder. The way passengers were helped with a Plan B was a fiasco, 

  Then we tried O, and we were pleased beyond words. Soon we will take our tenth with O.

 

Harry

Hi Harry!

My husband and I just completed our 3rd O cruise, and booked another.

I met many, many former Celebrity customers on my voyage on Insignia. In discussion the reasons they had cancelled Celebrity included:

* expense versus product

* class segregation

* loss of forward viewing lounge in the E class 

* increasing food degradation

* nickel and diming

* lack of class

* noise and loud music

I suppose Celebrity is choosing to attract the younger generations - well good luck.

[harryw]

Hi -

 

The decline started when sailing on the Summit. We found the main dining

room cuisine subpar. Later on we noticed waiters were assigned more tables and the

personal attentiveness disappeared.  The production shows became generic with no stand out singers. So sad, as we have so many great Celebrity memories.

 

Harry

[Ray4Fun]

9 hours ago, QuestionEverything said:

Hi Harry!

My husband and I just completed our 3rd O cruise, and booked another.

I met many, many former Celebrity customers on my voyage on Insignia. In discussion the reasons they had cancelled Celebrity included:

* expense versus product

* class segregation

* loss of forward viewing lounge in the E class 

* increasing food degradation

* nickel and diming

* lack of class

* noise and loud music

I suppose Celebrity is choosing to attract the younger generations - well good luck.

"Class Segregation "   What I was wondering. C has now 4 different ? O has (besides booking earlier) nothing, Yes?  One reason why we looked. 

[Snaefell3]

2 minutes ago, Ray4Fun said:

"Class Segregation "   What I was wondering. C has now 4 different ? O has (besides booking earlier) nothing, Yes?  One reason why we looked. 

Well, O does restrict access to the [Spa] foredeck, but that -- at least on the Regatta -- wasn't enforced: the access locks were even long gone.

[1985rz1]

3 minutes ago, Snaefell3 said:

Well, O does restrict access to the [Spa] foredeck, but that -- at least on the Regatta -- wasn't enforced: the access locks were even long gone.

It is open to all guests for a fee. Concierge and above have the fee waived.

[Snaefell3]

15 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

It is open to all guests for a fee. Concierge and above have the fee waived.

1) I suspect "fee waiver" would qualify as @Ray4Fun's "Class Segregation".

2) There was no fee / no keycard / no signage / no nothing required for access to Regatta's foredeck last March. You just pushed open a door from the gym and walked out

[QuestionEverything]

On the Insignia voyage, the foredeck area with the 2 whirlpools were open to anyone - there was no signage or locks.

The one class arrangement is a key in my cruise purchasing decision.

 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, QuestionEverything said:

On the Insignia voyage, the foredeck area with the 2 whirlpools were open to anyone - there was no signage or locks.

The one class arrangement is a key in my cruise purchasing decision.

 

Not  sure  that the O Class ships or Vista  still have  the area for  A cabins & up  but I suspect so

It is supposed to be  a perk for booking those  cabins

 

 I know  on Regatta   several  years ago  anyone could  walk out there & sounds like it is still the case

 

 

[MEFIowa]

3 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Not sure that the O Class ships or Vista still have the area for A cabins & up but I suspect so

It is supposed to be a perk for booking those cabins. I know on Regatta several years ago  anyone could walk out there & sounds like it is still the case.

 

5 hours ago, QuestionEverything said:

On the Insignia voyage, the foredeck area with the 2 whirlpools were open to anyone - there was no signage or locks. The one class arrangement is a key in my cruise purchasing decision.

While the outside spa area and spa therapy pool is available for all, it is "free" for the A cabins and up. Others can pay a daily fee. ONLY Riviera has the larger therapy pool compared to Marina, while the smaller R-class ships only have the small "pool". We enjoyed the one on Riviera while in our A4 cabin in 12/2021. Sure hoping to use it while in our A3 on Riviera 10-11/2023.

 

On Sirena in 11/2022, I found the door "broken" early in the cruise so that anyone could use the outside Spa area. Don't remember if they fixed it. We had a B2 and I wasn't going to cheat. Nor did I want to pay to use it.

 

You use your key card to access the locked door to that outside Spa area. Also has some nice shaded loungers. 

 

 

[Ray4Fun]

A class?  As in Concierge class and above? Please help the uninformed. 🙂. 

[1985rz1]

14 minutes ago, Ray4Fun said:

A class?  As in Concierge class and above? Please help the uninformed. 🙂. 

A is the designation for the Concierge Veranda, as in A-1 through A-4.

[LHT28]

25 minutes ago, Ray4Fun said:

A class?  As in Concierge class and above? Please help the uninformed. 🙂. 

or A class ship as in Vista & Allura 🙂

[MEFIowa]

A Cabins. Concierge. See the various cabins offered. The staterooms include G-thru A1. Which includes B4-B1 and A4-A1. The higher numbers for these cabins closer to the bow and stern. Then there is Penthouse and above (the suites). Thinking Riviera (an O-class ship) has 17 different "cabin levels" to choose from.

[1985rz1]

12 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

or A class ship as in Vista & Allura 🙂

Good point. Double meanings, such as TA . 🤔