All inclusive Lines

[Womble99]

We are looking to try some of the smaller lines and are interested in those which are leaning towards the all inclusive. Interested to hear what others have found in their travels to give us some insights as to which lines may suit us best in the future.

 

While looking through the various cruiseline websites it can be interesting to see what seems to be all inclusive at first glance isn't quite when you delve a little deeper. Kind of what we expected but it would be nice to hear some first hand experiences.

[OzKiwiJJ]

We did a cruise on Crystal pre-Covid and that was all-inclusive except for excursions. Of course that cruise line now has new owners but reports of the first post-Covid voyage are promising.

 

We doing a 14 night cruise plus post cruise land package on Regent in two months. Fully inclusive including most excursions. I'll probable do a "Live From" thread for that trip, which also includes 9 night Princess cruise, so you'll hear what I think of Regent as we go.

[OzKiwiJJ]

@Stickman1990 is the one to ask but he's currently somewhere between Iceland and Greenland cruising on a new cruise line.  

[arxcards]

10 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

@Stickman1990 is the one to ask but he's currently somewhere between Iceland and Greenland cruising on a new cruise line.  

I hope he isn't stuck in Greenland.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 minutes ago, arxcards said:

I hope he isn't stuck in Greenland.

No, although the name of the ship is similar. He's on a ship called Explora 1 operated by Explora Journeys. It sounds excellent.

[Womble99]

Regent looks interesting, we look forward to hearing about your upcoming cruise 🙂

 

Silversea also looks interesting but when I look over at their forum it seems a bit of a mixed bag?

[Aussieflyer]

49 minutes ago, Womble99 said:

Regent looks interesting, we look forward to hearing about your upcoming cruise 🙂

 

Silversea also looks interesting but when I look over at their forum it seems a bit of a mixed bag?

We like Silver Muse - the size suits us well (530+ pax) and there are lots of places for dinner (only 2 are extra cost). The included restaurants - Atlantide and Indochine (instead of one large barn of a MDR)  that are quite different in menus and ambience, the outdoor Grill, buffet which becomes Italian in the evening, pizza, jazz club. Food is particularly important to me so I love the choices - some need pre-booking but others are walk in. 

We also like being able to try different drinks and if one is not to our liking can get something else. 

We don't always do the included excursions - depends where we are and if we want to mooch around ourselves but it is good to have the option.

A lot of the posters on the Silversea board are long time US cruisers who are unhappy with any changes (and let's be honest, there have been cuts on all lines). The dress thread on SS rivals the Cunard one for vehemence and passion! 😃

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Let's face it! No matter which cruise line you choose there will always be complainers. 

[Womble99]

16 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

A lot of the posters on the Silversea board are long time US cruisers who are unhappy with any changes (and let's be honest, there have been cuts on all lines). The dress thread on SS rivals the Cunard one for vehemence and passion! 😃

I kind of got that impression 🙂

 

We have been Princess cruisers so far but the last few years we have had enough poor experiences with their service that we are cancelling cruises and looking for new options.

[Hogbay]

You pay for what you get , they all have eggs and cereal for breakfast but compair oranges with oranges . If you see a benefit in paying $20 k extra for white gloves enjoy.

[arxcards]

23 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

The dress thread on SS rivals the Cunard one for vehemence and passion! 😃

 

So ... Safari suits are OK for formal wear on Silverseas?

 

[arxcards]

6 hours ago, Womble99 said:

I kind of got that impression 🙂

 

We have been Princess cruisers so far but the last few years we have had enough poor experiences with their service that we are cancelling cruises and looking for new options.

Plenty consider Azamara as a halfway house towards the boutique and 6-star lines.

 

At the other end of the scale, all-inclusive is possible on larger ships. Tours aside, a star class suite on Ovation includes drinks, specialty restaurant, and much more. The suite dining venue, Coastal Kitchen, has excellent service for all 3 meals, and your genie will bend over backwards. I guess it depends what inclusions you are looking for, or if you are just after more reliable and attentive service.

[Womble99]

18 minutes ago, arxcards said:

So ... Safari suits are OK for formal wear on Silverseas?

Oooh Safari suits, now we're talking 😁

[Aussieflyer]

36 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Plenty consider Azamara as a halfway house towards the boutique and 6-star lines.

 

At the other end of the scale, all-inclusive is possible on larger ships. Tours aside, a star class suite on Ovation includes drinks, specialty restaurant, and much more. The suite dining venue, Coastal Kitchen, has excellent service for all 3 meals, and your genie will bend over backwards. I guess it depends what inclusions you are looking for, or if you are just after more reliable and attentive service.

We sailed Azamara a long time ago, before they became semi-inclusive. We enjoyed the line and have considered it but haven't found an itinerary that we want just yet. My brother and wife sail Azamara and love it. I know there can be more inclusive options on some of the larger ships (and not averse to sailing them) but for us, the beauty of Silversea is the size of the ship and the ratio of staff to pax. 

 

We have looked at Seabourn and Oceania but haven't managed to sail with either of them. I have friends who love Viking but have heard they are not great at communicating when things go wrong. We sailed Ponant to Antarctica; lovely ship but cabins are tiny and actually the food was not all that great.

Edited September 15, 2023 by Aussieflyer

[OzKiwiJJ]

19 hours ago, Hogbay said:

You pay for what you get , they all have eggs and cereal for breakfast but compair oranges with oranges . If you see a benefit in paying $20 k extra for white gloves enjoy.

You can pick up some very good deals on the luxury lines at times though. Both the Crystal cruise we did in 2018 and the Regent cruise we're doing in November worked out not much more than some of the mainstream cruises we've done once I added in all the things that were included on the luxury lines.

[Aussieflyer]

20 hours ago, Hogbay said:

You pay for what you get , they all have eggs and cereal for breakfast but compair oranges with oranges . If you see a benefit in paying $20 k extra for white gloves enjoy.

People have different priorities. Comparing mass cruise lines with the smaller ones isn't oranges and oranges as you say.  I do find there is a difference in both the quality of food and the level of detail on the inclusive lines and am happy to pay more for a better product. YMMV

[Russell21]

1 hour ago, Aussieflyer said:

People have different priorities. Comparing mass cruise lines with the smaller ones isn't oranges and oranges as you say.  I do find there is a difference in both the quality of food and the level of detail on the inclusive lines and am happy to pay more for a better product. YMMV

It's a bit like Holden and Mercedes, good vs excellent.

[Hammer61]

We sailed Azamara earlier this year around southern Australia and loved it from the food to the ship itself and the entertainment not to mention the crew who you really get to know over the course of a cruise, maybe our favorite cruise so far, includes everything except excursions but they do put on shuttle buses for free to and from the centers of most stops.

 

Not full luxury but defiantly a step up from the mainstream cruise lines like RCI, Princess, HAL etc, does cost a bit more but well worth it i thought, All 4 ships are identical and hold about 800 guests but even though our sailing was full, no queues, not trouble getting seats and you never feel crowded as you do on the bigger ships.

[Womble99]

On 9/15/2023 at 2:52 PM, Hogbay said:

You pay for what you get , they all have eggs and cereal for breakfast but compair oranges with oranges .

In this case I am not looking to compare oranges with oranges as I am not looking to compare to my previous experiences.

 

We have sailed mostly with Princess but that is not what I would want to compare it with as we are looking for something different rather than something the same. That is why I frames the question on how others had found their experience on those cruise lines to be not how those experiences compared to Princess for example.

[Cruisers47]

40 minutes ago, Womble99 said:

In this case I am not looking to compare oranges with oranges as I am not looking to compare to my previous experiences.

 

We have sailed mostly with Princess but that is not what I would want to compare it with as we are looking for something different rather than something the same. That is why I frames the question on how others had found their experience on those cruise lines to be not how those experiences compared to Princess for example.

I think Azamara is a nice option if you want a change.  But small ships do not always have the entertainment like the large ships!   But the food is definitely better.  No need for speciality restaurants!   Drinks included but I was surprised that several drinks we not included in the drinks.   You had to buy the further upmarket package!  I think this is an alteration from when RC owned the ship.   
 

we did Perth to Sydney for last Christmas.   Everybody very friendly.

 

but back on Celebrity this Christmas!

 

Eileen

[Hammer61]

12 hours ago, Cruisers47 said:

But small ships do not always have the entertainment like the large ships!   But the food is definitely better.  No need for speciality restaurants!   Drinks included but I was surprised that several drinks we not included in the drinks.  

We did the Sydney to Perth trip and were surprised at how good the entertainment was to be honest, had some great guest artists and the singers and dancers, all 6 of them! Are very talented and friendly and were always around the ship doing trivia and other activities, sea days and evenings always had plenty going on or to join in with, you don't get the lavish production shows you get on the big ships but what you do get is a far more interment experience being so close to it all, throw in the Azamazing evening and white night party, if anything i enjoyed it more than the big ships!

 

Agree on the drinks, the included selection is limited, personally i found enough to keep me happy and my wife very rarely drinks, also by all accounts the wine offerings in the dining room had been improved and better quality after complaints on earlier cruises, its maybe on per with what you get with the Princess plus or the included Celebrity offerings but with slightly better wines.

 

If you can get Azamara for a reasonable price then i would highly recommend them, keep an eye on prices they do fluctuate a lot and they often throw in good special deals with OBC etc.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Hammer61 said:

Agree on the drinks, the included selection is limited, personally i found enough to keep me happy and my wife very rarely drinks, also by all accounts the wine offerings in the dining room had been improved and better quality after complaints on earlier cruises, its maybe on per with what you get with the Princess plus or the included Celebrity offerings but with slightly better wines.

 

I would hope the wines were a lot better than the pathetic selection offered under Princess Plus. I haven't seen the current Celebrity wine lists but we always found it necessary in the past to upgrade the drnks package onboard to get a good selection of wines. 

[cruisermsoon]

Bearing in mind that some of the luxury all-inclusive lines have very expensive fare structures, I'll add my recommendation for Azamara's smaller ships, virtually all-inclusive, and with that extra personal touch that you won't find on the major lines with their ever larger ships. Also, have a look at their itineraries, which often include access to smaller ports that the larger ships can't easily access.

[cruisermsoon]

Mention also a certain e-site which offers Azamara packages including air at competitive prices.

[arxcards]

20 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I would hope the wines were a lot better than the pathetic selection offered under Princess Plus. I haven't seen the current Celebrity wine lists but we always found it necessary in the past to upgrade the drnks package onboard to get a good selection of wines. 

That is one of the sticking points with "all-inclusive" cruising. The quality of the inclusions is not challenged as much as they are seen as a freebie by lots of the passengers, and you can't get it refunded if it doesn't meet your spec. Azamara's included beverages are pretty basic. It has been a while since I have seen a wine list, but they used to only have 1/2 dozen "by the glass" choices on any given day. An add-on drinks package is comparatively cheap though. It isn't the inclusions that interest us, but the smaller crowd and the level of service. For a semi-premium line, their inclusions are far from that.