Retreat Cruiser Tries Oceania Vista PH

[Sharkette76]

After many Celebrity cruises in a SS on both S class and Edge class ships, based on the changes and pricing for X, we decided to try Oceania. For simplicity’s sake, I will compare Vista to the Edge class as they are both the newest designs. We were on a 10 day Southern Caribbean itinerary, January 9 to January 19, in a Penthouse Suite, on Oceania Vista. Below is a summary of our experience. YMMV.

 

Embarkation

We had an assigned time of 11:00 for embarkation. We arrived at 10:50 to find that the doors to the building were not open and there was a line of people extending around the building waiting to go in. I joined the back of the line while DH looked for a separate suites entrance. No such luck. The doors opened at 11 and it took about 15 minutes to get inside. From there the process was efficient and we were onboard about 11:45. You cannot drop your bags in your cabin and must carry them until cabins are ready  - around 1 for suites, 2 for concierge and 3 for all others. This is an area where Celebrity wins hands down.

 

Suite

We had a PH3 on deck 10 (10031). The room was very nicely done. It had much more storage than the Edge, but we really didn’t need it. If we had been on an extended voyage, it would have been useful. The bathrooms were comparable. Vista had a large shower vs. the shower over tub on X. I liked them equally. DH is 6’4” and has to duck under the water on X, so preferred the Vista shower.

The biggest difference in the suites is the layout of the bedroom itself. We absolutely love the bed facing the ocean on the Edge. In fact, after our first Edge voyage, we rearranged our bedroom to turn our bed to face the water! With that in mind, we found that the traditional bed arrangement on Vista left us wishing we were on the Edge. The room was dark with a double slider and a small window that did not let in much light.

The top picture is the Edge, taken from the bed. The second picture is Vista.

Bars/Alcohol/Water

Oceania does not have bottles of water anywhere on the ship. Instead, they leave you a refillable metal bottle and they have water stations around the ship. I’m a bit of a germaphobe, so was not fond of just rinsing the bottles in hot water every day, then reusing them, but that seemed to be the only option. DH is a camel and usually takes 4 – 5 large waters off the ship for beach excursions. We only had 2 refillable bottles so we had to improvise. DH drank PowerAdes after working out, so kept the bottles and filled them with water to take off the ship.

Wine is included for lunch and dinner and was readily available. There were not many choices, but I found a French Chardonnay and DH found a Shiraz, so we were happy.

O has a 2 for 1 Happy Hour every day from 5 to 6. Given that beer and wine is included with meals, most people do not get the drink package (we did - $30pp/day). At 5PM every day, the bars get overrun with people getting their daily drinks from the happy hour menu (not every drink is 2 for 1). At about 6:15, everything clears out and people go to dinner.

We love meeting new people and talking to the great bartenders at the Martini Bar on X and we anticipated doing the same on O. Unfortunately, the bars themselves are very small with only 5 or 6 seats at the actual bar. There are lots of tables and couches around the bars, and the bartenders are extremely busy and not able to interact with customers. There is one small bar that serves a very large area around the corner. We saw several people come around to the bar complaining that they had no service and had been waiting 20 – 25 minutes for someone to take their order. Normally, this is not a big deal, but if you only have 1 hour to get your drinks 2 for 1, then it becomes a point of contention for people.

 

Dining

O includes specialty dining for all guests. You are allotted 1 reservation at each of the 4 specialty restaurants and can make these reservations before boarding the ship, 75 days ahead for suites, 60 days for Concierge, and 45 days for others. People routinely log in right at midnight on their assigned day to get reservations at a preferred time and non-sharing. Dinner is served from 6:30 to 9 nightly.

DH and I prefer to go to the 7PM show on X, then eat at 8. On O, there is one show nightly and it is at 9:30. We never made it to a show. More on that later. We also do not want to share a table, just not our preference, so I did log in at midnight to make our reservations. Look through the O boards and you will see that this is a commonplace, accepted practice. It was very surprising to me.

The specialty restaurants were not as good as Luminae or Blu IOHO. Service was very good but the food was disappointing. For example, in the Italian restaurant, DH had Dover Sole. It was beautiful, deboned tableside and looked fantastic. When he tried to eat it, it was so tough that a knife wouldn’t cut it. I had chicken and I honestly could not recognize the cut of meat. I cook a lot of chicken and whatever was on my plate was mystery meat. I did not eat it.

I have food allergies and had to fill out a menu every day and turn it in downstairs by 10, for the following evening’s meal. So, on Monday morning, I needed to know what I was going to eat Tuesday night. Even doing that, I pre-ordered a soup at the Chinese restaurant, and when it arrived, I stirred it only to find mushrooms (my specific allergy) floating in it. So glad I looked first! Big fail here.

The bottom line for us is the lack of consistent servers who get to know your food preferences, allergies, etc. is a major negative. We ate in a different place for every meal, so we never had the same server or sommelier twice. We much prefer the service in Luminae or Blu. The servers there have always called us by name, had our drinks in hand as soon as they saw us, and made sure my food was prepared correctly wrt my allergies.

 

Wine Pairing Lunches

This is where O really shined. They offered 2 wine paring lunches – Cellar Master’s lunch ($180pp plus 20% grat) and the Sommelier’s Choice lunch ($99pp plus 20% grat). We had 2 of the best meals we’ve ever had on land or sea with these wine paring lunches. The menus are below. Everything was modified perfectly for my allergies. The service was fantastic and the discussion of the wines was very informative. If you are on an O cruise, I cannot recommend these highly enough. They sell out the first day so be sure to sign up as soon as you board.

 

The Butler Discussion

We had an assigned butler whom we saw every day. We normally just want coffee every morning at 6:30 and we have gotten that on both X and O. On both ships (X in October after butler changes) different people delivered the coffee each morning. Butlers can also sometimes get you an additional reservation at a specialty restaurant, which ours did toward the end of the cruise. He specifically asked us to go back to the Italian restaurant and it was better the second time, but still nothing special.

We decided to try having dinner “served course by course” by our butler. This essentially gives you another coveted specialty restaurant reservation. We chose the steakhouse. This was a nice experience, but everything was delivered at once (he was busy with other diners) and it is not something that held much value to us. It was nice to try, but we’d rather go out for dinner.

Pool and Spa

Spa area access is included with a Suite. There is a beautiful Hydro pool, but there is a lack of shade. Chair hogs are in abundance at the main pool. There are lots of complaints on social media. There are plenty of chairs available in the sun, but this is not the demographic to lay in the sun all day. It feels like a poor design to have so few shaded loungers that people have to fight over them (there was a fight when someone removed items from a saved lounger).

 

Activities

There are different activities on O that are not on X. I enjoyed art classes and a cooking class. There was also bingo and enrichment talks, but we did not attend any of these. The theater is a little small and the sight lines are not good. There are many complaints about not being able to see the shows.

 

Ports

We have been to the Caribbean many times. We chose this cruise in part because it stopped in St. Bart’s and we have never been there. This was a tender port which we unfortunately missed due to rough seas. The tenders were the ship’s small life boats. The tender process leaves a lot to be desired. 1 member of each group must wait in line (with hundreds of others) to get a tender ticket. Then the group must wait in the theater for ticket to be called. There is no special accommodation for suites.

 

Fellow Passengers

It is worth noting that the average age on our cruise had to be late 70s, early 80s. We’re in our late 50s, early 60s, so we were definitely on the younger side for this cruise. Enough said.

 

Summary

We are glad we tried Oceania. The ship is very nice but for the reasons noted above, for our next cruise, we will price compare with Regent, SS and X, but will not consider Oceania. Based on recent reviews on this board, we just booked the Ascent.

[Oceangoer2]

17 minutes ago, Sharkette76 said:

After many Celebrity cruises in a SS on both S class and Edge class ships, based on the changes and pricing for X, we decided to try Oceania. For simplicity’s sake, I will compare Vista to the Edge class as they are both the newest designs. We were on a 10 day Southern Caribbean itinerary, January 9 to January 19, in a Penthouse Suite, on Oceania Vista. Below is a summary of our experience. YMMV.

 

Embarkation

We had an assigned time of 11:00 for embarkation. We arrived at 10:50 to find that the doors to the building were not open and there was a line of people extending around the building waiting to go in. I joined the back of the line while DH looked for a separate suites entrance. No such luck. The doors opened at 11 and it took about 15 minutes to get inside. From there the process was efficient and we were onboard about 11:45. You cannot drop your bags in your cabin and must carry them until cabins are ready  - around 1 for suites, 2 for concierge and 3 for all others. This is an area where Celebrity wins hands down.

 

Suite

We had a PH3 on deck 10 (10031). The room was very nicely done. It had much more storage than the Edge, but we really didn’t need it. If we had been on an extended voyage, it would have been useful. The bathrooms were comparable. Vista had a large shower vs. the shower over tub on X. I liked them equally. DH is 6’4” and has to duck under the water on X, so preferred the Vista shower.

The biggest difference in the suites is the layout of the bedroom itself. We absolutely love the bed facing the ocean on the Edge. In fact, after our first Edge voyage, we rearranged our bedroom to turn our bed to face the water! With that in mind, we found that the traditional bed arrangement on Vista left us wishing we were on the Edge. The room was dark with a double slider and a small window that did not let in much light.

The top picture is the Edge, taken from the bed. The second picture is Vista.

Bars/Alcohol/Water

Oceania does not have bottles of water anywhere on the ship. Instead, they leave you a refillable metal bottle and they have water stations around the ship. I’m a bit of a germaphobe, so was not fond of just rinsing the bottles in hot water every day, then reusing them, but that seemed to be the only option. DH is a camel and usually takes 4 – 5 large waters off the ship for beach excursions. We only had 2 refillable bottles so we had to improvise. DH drank PowerAdes after working out, so kept the bottles and filled them with water to take off the ship.

Wine is included for lunch and dinner and was readily available. There were not many choices, but I found a French Chardonnay and DH found a Shiraz, so we were happy.

O has a 2 for 1 Happy Hour every day from 5 to 6. Given that beer and wine is included with meals, most people do not get the drink package (we did - $30pp/day). At 5PM every day, the bars get overrun with people getting their daily drinks from the happy hour menu (not every drink is 2 for 1). At about 6:15, everything clears out and people go to dinner.

We love meeting new people and talking to the great bartenders at the Martini Bar on X and we anticipated doing the same on O. Unfortunately, the bars themselves are very small with only 5 or 6 seats at the actual bar. There are lots of tables and couches around the bars, and the bartenders are extremely busy and not able to interact with customers. There is one small bar that serves a very large area around the corner. We saw several people come around to the bar complaining that they had no service and had been waiting 20 – 25 minutes for someone to take their order. Normally, this is not a big deal, but if you only have 1 hour to get your drinks 2 for 1, then it becomes a point of contention for people.

 

Dining

O includes specialty dining for all guests. You are allotted 1 reservation at each of the 4 specialty restaurants and can make these reservations before boarding the ship, 75 days ahead for suites, 60 days for Concierge, and 45 days for others. People routinely log in right at midnight on their assigned day to get reservations at a preferred time and non-sharing. Dinner is served from 6:30 to 9 nightly.

DH and I prefer to go to the 7PM show on X, then eat at 8. On O, there is one show nightly and it is at 9:30. We never made it to a show. More on that later. We also do not want to share a table, just not our preference, so I did log in at midnight to make our reservations. Look through the O boards and you will see that this is a commonplace, accepted practice. It was very surprising to me.

The specialty restaurants were not as good as Luminae or Blu IOHO. Service was very good but the food was disappointing. For example, in the Italian restaurant, DH had Dover Sole. It was beautiful, deboned tableside and looked fantastic. When he tried to eat it, it was so tough that a knife wouldn’t cut it. I had chicken and I honestly could not recognize the cut of meat. I cook a lot of chicken and whatever was on my plate was mystery meat. I did not eat it.

I have food allergies and had to fill out a menu every day and turn it in downstairs by 10, for the following evening’s meal. So, on Monday morning, I needed to know what I was going to eat Tuesday night. Even doing that, I pre-ordered a soup at the Chinese restaurant, and when it arrived, I stirred it only to find mushrooms (my specific allergy) floating in it. So glad I looked first! Big fail here.

The bottom line for us is the lack of consistent servers who get to know your food preferences, allergies, etc. is a major negative. We ate in a different place for every meal, so we never had the same server or sommelier twice. We much prefer the service in Luminae or Blu. The servers there have always called us by name, had our drinks in hand as soon as they saw us, and made sure my food was prepared correctly wrt my allergies.

 

Wine Pairing Lunches

This is where O really shined. They offered 2 wine paring lunches – Cellar Master’s lunch ($180pp plus 20% grat) and the Sommelier’s Choice lunch ($99pp plus 20% grat). We had 2 of the best meals we’ve ever had on land or sea with these wine paring lunches. The menus are below. Everything was modified perfectly for my allergies. The service was fantastic and the discussion of the wines was very informative. If you are on an O cruise, I cannot recommend these highly enough. They sell out the first day so be sure to sign up as soon as you board.

 

The Butler Discussion

We had an assigned butler whom we saw every day. We normally just want coffee every morning at 6:30 and we have gotten that on both X and O. On both ships (X in October after butler changes) different people delivered the coffee each morning. Butlers can also sometimes get you an additional reservation at a specialty restaurant, which ours did toward the end of the cruise. He specifically asked us to go back to the Italian restaurant and it was better the second time, but still nothing special.

We decided to try having dinner “served course by course” by our butler. This essentially gives you another coveted specialty restaurant reservation. We chose the steakhouse. This was a nice experience, but everything was delivered at once (he was busy with other diners) and it is not something that held much value to us. It was nice to try, but we’d rather go out for dinner.

Pool and Spa

Spa area access is included with a Suite. There is a beautiful Hydro pool, but there is a lack of shade. Chair hogs are in abundance at the main pool. There are lots of complaints on social media. There are plenty of chairs available in the sun, but this is not the demographic to lay in the sun all day. It feels like a poor design to have so few shaded loungers that people have to fight over them (there was a fight when someone removed items from a saved lounger).

 

Activities

There are different activities on O that are not on X. I enjoyed art classes and a cooking class. There was also bingo and enrichment talks, but we did not attend any of these. The theater is a little small and the sight lines are not good. There are many complaints about not being able to see the shows.

 

Ports

We have been to the Caribbean many times. We chose this cruise in part because it stopped in St. Bart’s and we have never been there. This was a tender port which we unfortunately missed due to rough seas. The tenders were the ship’s small life boats. The tender process leaves a lot to be desired. 1 member of each group must wait in line (with hundreds of others) to get a tender ticket. Then the group must wait in the theater for ticket to be called. There is no special accommodation for suites.

 

Fellow Passengers

It is worth noting that the average age on our cruise had to be late 70s, early 80s. We’re in our late 50s, early 60s, so we were definitely on the younger side for this cruise. Enough said.

 

Summary

We are glad we tried Oceania. The ship is very nice but for the reasons noted above, for our next cruise, we will price compare with Regent, SS and X, but will not consider Oceania. Based on recent reviews on this board, we just booked the Ascent.

 

[Oceangoer2]

Thank you for your objective and informative 'review' of your experience.  We're considering a change from X to O (😉) and this tips the scale a little.  Cruising is subjective however, so won't dissuade us from trying the product with eyes wide open.  We're Elite + on X but changes from past experience, while minor, has lowered the expectation.  The Vista seems to be a beautiful ship...we were docked beside her in Nov...and noted the outside decks, pool area, and aft.  Your pics of the interior PH are quite nice, but I agree, the E ships bed facing ocean are lovely. Balcony seemed larger on E than O as well, which is important to us as we do spend some time out in the ocean air.  Dining is always important to cruisers and most say the advantage of O is the menu etc offerings.  Perhaps it was a timing issue for you which spoils the experience.  Loved the wine pairings with the Cellar Masters Lunch..happy you were happy and had a positive dining experience to take home.

Edited January 26 by Oceangoer2

[mac_tlc]

Thank you for your review. It is very timely for us. We are currently in a SS on the Ascent and have a westbound TA on Vista in November. Cheaper than any TA on E-class. 
 

With X’s large price increases for suites, coupled with the exclusion of gratuities and OBC, we just had to look around. 
 

I do have a calendar entry for 75 days before our Vista cruise 😂😂. I’ll be up at midnight to get a table for 2. I guess not much different than the Southwest checkin process at 24 hrs prior to get an “A”. 
 

mac_tlc

[lv2cruisgrl]

Thanks for the review. We just received in the mail a large brochure from Oceania and we were thinking of trying them.   Maybe we will keep looking at other options. We love the Edge Class ships but the prices and what you get for it are a bit crazy.

[dock]

Thanks for the detailed review. 

Great timing for us as well as  we have Retreat Aq SS I’m a few weeks on Ascent and then we have a PH3 booked on Vista in the summer.Hoping our ports don’t  get changed after final payment as it ends in Istanbul and tickets all booked. 

Since you had SM, any opinion about the quality , number of people etc on the excursions. 
 

Did Butler deliver Cappucinos in the morning? 

 

Finally any issues with noise from the TV from the next cabin. It seems the insulation on Vista seems to be a concern. 
 

Thank you. 

 

 

[marieps]

Very thoughtful review.  Many thanks.  We are doing our third O cruise on Insignia's TA in August in a PH2.  We chose it mainly because it coincided with a river cruise we're doing in France the week before.  On both our previous O cruises I would say the food did not meet all expectations.  With prices as they are on =X=, we have dropped back to AQ from suites on them.  We are now exploring other lines, and have booked Asia on Regent.

[ak1004]

Thank you for the review.

 

Couple small comments:

 

"The bottom line for us is the lack of consistent servers who get to know your food preferences, allergies, etc. is a major negative." - there is absolutely no issue to request to have the same waiter in the MDR if there is someone you like.

 

"On O, there is one show nightly and it is at 9:30." - same on all small ships. On large ships they have to have two shows to accommodate all guests, but on small ships there is only one. No different from SB, SS or other lines. And they need to accommodate people who have dinner at different times, so cannot have the show earlier than 9:30. It's just a fact that you need to accept when you go on a small ship.

 

Also, one major thing missing on this review is pricing.

 

I priced few random 10 nights sailings on Vista and some of the X new ships in summer 2025. The prices for PH and Sky Suite are fairly similar. However, SS starting price is for non refundable deposit and no amenities. refundable deposit can add another 10-15% to the price. Also PH is 350 sqft and SS is 300 sqft (excluding veranda).

 

So please tell me who in their right mind would pay 10-15% more for the privilege to sail on a mainstream line with 3,000+ guests vs. premium line with 1,200 guests, and cabin which is 15% larger? Plus on X you still pay extra for all drinks (including soda, specialty coffees etc), specialty restaurants and Wi-Fi. Not to mention that O has butlers in PH, SS doesn't (a big factor for some people)

 

Choice is always good. This is why different lines exist.

 

We have friends who sailed exclusively with Celebrity for over 20 years. Last year we convinced them to try O with us. They were very impressed. A few weeks ago they went back to Celebrity for a cruise that was booked 2 years in advance. On the third day she texted me: 

 

"Beyond is a beautiful ship, but it is harder to to enjoy fully after Oceania experience. We are in the specialty restaurant now. On Oceania everyday is like that."

 

Do I need to say more?

 

But I always glad to read reviews like this one. It means more Oceania for us..

 

 

[mac_tlc]

11 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Thank you for the review.

 

Couple small comments:

 

"The bottom line for us is the lack of consistent servers who get to know your food preferences, allergies, etc. is a major negative." - there is absolutely no issue to request to have the same waiter in the MDR if there is someone you like.

 

"On O, there is one show nightly and it is at 9:30." - same on all small ships. On large ships they have to have two shows to accommodate all guests, but on small ships there is only one. No different from SB, SS or other lines. And they need to accommodate people who have dinner at different times, so cannot have the show earlier than 9:30. It's just a fact that you need to accept when you go on a small ship.

 

Also, one major thing missing on this review is pricing.

 

I priced few random 10 nights sailings on Vista and some of the X new ships in summer 2025. The prices for PH and Sky Suite are fairly similar. However, SS starting price is for non refundable deposit and no amenities. refundable deposit can add another 10-15% to the price. Also PH is 350 sqft and SS is 300 sqft (excluding veranda).

 

So please tell me who in their right mind would pay 10-15% more for the privilege to sail on a mainstream line with 3,000+ guests vs. premium line with 1,200 guests, and cabin which is 15% larger? Plus on X you still pay extra for all drinks (including soda, specialty coffees etc), specialty restaurants and Wi-Fi. Not to mention that O has butlers in PH, SS doesn't (a big factor for some people)

 

Choice is always good. This is why different lines exist.

 

We have friends who sailed exclusively with Celebrity for over 20 years. Last year we convinced them to try O with us. They were very impressed. A few weeks ago they went back to Celebrity for a cruise that was booked 2 years in advance. On the third day she texted me: 

 

"Beyond is a beautiful ship, but it is harder to to enjoy fully after Oceania experience. We are in the specialty restaurant now. On Oceania everyday is like that."

 

Do I need to say more?

 

But I always glad to read reviews like this one. It means more Oceania for us..

 

 

Couple small comments :

 

A Sky Suite on X includes the Premium Beveage Package. You never pay for soda, coffee or any drink up to $17. Sky Suite also include Premium WiFi. One login per guest. You cannot book a Sky Suite or higher without having the beverage and wifi packages included. 
 

If you happen to be Elite Plus, you get specialty coffees for free regardless of cabin. 
 

We are on the Ascent  right now and booked on Vista in November. We will see for ourselves and not completely rely on others, although it is good to read the information. 
 

 

mac_tlc

Edited January 27 by mac_tlc

[dock]

@ak1004, thank you for your perspective. 
You are correct that the SS can be more than PH on O.

 

SD being included is a definite plus, but having to book 75 days is not. On X, I booked months ago and I prefer it this way rather than a midnight scramble to try and get the two top and time I would prefer. 

 

Our O, 10 day on Vista is a third cheaper than our X , 7day in Retreat( despite us booking a year ago for this cruise).

I’m even looking at Riviera for an Asia cruise as again the price is very competitive. 

Due to the current cutbacks and unpredictability of X,( but really all lines) we are looking at other options. 
Have NCL booked for 2025. 
 

However, being that no line is perfect, we will try out O and decide if a small ship is for us. 

We like the quietness of Retreat but the ability to be in the thick of things if we feel like a change.(Late night music, comedians etc).

We are concerned about the lack of entertainment,comments that the O ships are very quiet after 1030pm( so we chose a port intensive cruise with no sea days)and  if the food will live up to their marketing, but will go with no expectations and hope to be pleasantly surprised.
I’m not too thrilled about being forced to choose excursions with O, but the price was right and money talks lol! 
 

Looking forward to trying O and whichever cruise line fits our budget and travel needs.

 

We are not brand loyal anymore. 


 

[ak1004]

1 hour ago, dock said:

@ak1004, thank you for your perspective. 
You are correct that the SS can be more than PH on O.

 

SD being included is a definite plus, but having to book 75 days is not. On X, I booked months ago and I prefer it this way rather than a midnight scramble to try and get the two top and time I would prefer. 

 

Our O, 10 day on Vista is a third cheaper than our X , 7day in Retreat( despite us booking a year ago for this cruise).

I’m even looking at Riviera for an Asia cruise as again the price is very competitive. 

Due to the current cutbacks and unpredictability of X,( but really all lines) we are looking at other options. 
Have NCL booked for 2025. 
 

However, being that no line is perfect, we will try out O and decide if a small ship is for us. 

We like the quietness of Retreat but the ability to be in the thick of things if we feel like a change.(Late night music, comedians etc).

We are concerned about the lack of entertainment,comments that the O ships are very quiet after 1030pm( so we chose a port intensive cruise with no sea days)and  if the food will live up to their marketing, but will go with no expectations and hope to be pleasantly surprised.
I’m not too thrilled about being forced to choose excursions with O, but the price was right and money talks lol! 
 

Looking forward to trying O and whichever cruise line fits our budget and travel needs.

 

We are not brand loyal anymore. 


 

 

We never had any issues booking SD. If we cannot book at home at day and time that suits us, they will always book you or change while on board.

 

But you are right, entertainment is not among the strengths of O. And the ships are pretty much dead after 10:30-11:00. But as you mentioned, this is really much less important on port intensive cruises. With excursions you only get a modest credit that is typically enough for 2-3 excursions on a 10 day cruise. The rest you are free to book private tours.

 

As I always say, it's important to come with right expectations. We come to O (or other small lines like SB or SS) for great service and food, no lines, no crowds, no (or almost no) children, no loud music and much more. It's like staying in a boutique hotel compared to a big chain like Marriot or Holiday In. Just compare space ratios and Crew to Passenger Ratios. 

 

And yes, we are not loyal to any brand either. We are sailing on O, SB, SS, Azamara or any small ship that provides good itinerary at reasonable price. Not going back to big ships.

Edited January 27 by ak1004

[asnaleah]

We are also no longer brand loyal. Trying our first Oceania cruise next January and looking forward to our Regent cruise in July!

[Lastdance]

I find your age comparison to be what we saw during our Caribbean Cruise on Beyond.  It was so different from our two Beyond cruises in Europe.  We are doing a TA with Oceania from Miami to Lisbon, mostly because of the itinerary and cost.  We will also be in a PH, so your review was helpful, but many of the things you mentioned were not very significant to us.  I already know the gym is small, so that will not be a surprise at all, not to mention that it will not be able to compete with the newer E-class ships.  We left RCCL decades ago, so we are stuck with the demographics.  We are not by any means young in chronological age, but our lifestyles are very different due to our dedication to health and wellness.  In many ways it is a blessing, but in others, not so much...we just cannot act our age, nor do we want to, especially due to now having to pay for excursions included in the fare, so it is what it is.  doing our own excursions and not the ones offered by the ship are what we like.   We have three cruises booked on Celebrity, but after Hawaii, the others are in Europe...

 

Thank you for sharing your review.  Sorry Vista was anything special at all, but at least it told you that you really do enjoy Celebrity and might just spring for the extra $$$ or, as you say, book AQ.  We have to have a real balcony, so for us it is a suite, or SV.  There is a good chance both of us will come to the conclusion that Oceania is not exactly our choice cruise line either, but only time will tell!

Edited January 27 by Lastdance
“Doing" should be capitalized!

[swigso]

We tried Azamara last year we loved the food service and the fact that everything was included. But and it was a big but for us there was not much 

to do in the evening. We have decided that We prefer the buzz on Celebrity when we leave the retreat area. However we are trying the new Sun Princess before our Apex TA next year. The new Sun has a designated suite area and restaurant it will be our first time on Princess. The recent decisions by X have resulted in us looking elsewhere.

[Sharkette76]

20 hours ago, dock said:

Since you had SM, any opinion about the quality , number of people etc on the excursions. 
 

Did Butler deliver Cappucinos in the morning? 

 

Finally any issues with noise from the TV from the next cabin. It seems the insulation on Vista seems to be a concern. 
 

Thank you. 

 

 

We actually booked before SM was in place, so we had a choice of amenities and chose the beverage package (beer and wine at meals). We have been to the Caribbean many times, so never do a ship's shore excursion there. We have our favorite places to go and we hop a cab in each port. SM is not a good deal for us in the Caribbean. It may be in a port intensive location or someplace we haven't been.

 

The butler delivered our lattes a couple of mornings, but they usually came from someone in Room Service. Either way was fine with us - always on time and hot.

 

I listened for noise having read the same comments, but we were never bothered by anything. There were times I could hear the TV if I strained, but it really was not an issue for us (maybe we had quiet neighbors!).

[Sharkette76]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. This is the first review I have done but I've been a long time stalker! I've learned so much here that I wanted to share our experience. With so many changes at X, we are open to other lines. In fact we did a transatlantic crossing on QM2 in Queen's Grille last summer. 

 

I forgot to mention the bread on O and it deserves a special mention. It is just outstanding! Everything from croissants to rolls to the pizza - really well done.

 

Happy cruising everyone!

[Gracie115]

On 1/26/2024 at 9:25 AM, Sharkette76 said:

After many Celebrity cruises in a SS on both S class and Edge class ships, based on the changes and pricing for X, we decided to try Oceania. For simplicity’s sake, I will compare Vista to the Edge class as they are both the newest designs. We were on a 10 day Southern Caribbean itinerary, January 9 to January 19, in a Penthouse Suite, on Oceania Vista. Below is a summary of our experience. YMMV.

 

Embarkation

We had an assigned time of 11:00 for embarkation. We arrived at 10:50 to find that the doors to the building were not open and there was a line of people extending around the building waiting to go in. I joined the back of the line while DH looked for a separate suites entrance. No such luck. The doors opened at 11 and it took about 15 minutes to get inside. From there the process was efficient and we were onboard about 11:45. You cannot drop your bags in your cabin and must carry them until cabins are ready  - around 1 for suites, 2 for concierge and 3 for all others. This is an area where Celebrity wins hands down.

 

Suite

We had a PH3 on deck 10 (10031). The room was very nicely done. It had much more storage than the Edge, but we really didn’t need it. If we had been on an extended voyage, it would have been useful. The bathrooms were comparable. Vista had a large shower vs. the shower over tub on X. I liked them equally. DH is 6’4” and has to duck under the water on X, so preferred the Vista shower.

The biggest difference in the suites is the layout of the bedroom itself. We absolutely love the bed facing the ocean on the Edge. In fact, after our first Edge voyage, we rearranged our bedroom to turn our bed to face the water! With that in mind, we found that the traditional bed arrangement on Vista left us wishing we were on the Edge. The room was dark with a double slider and a small window that did not let in much light.

The top picture is the Edge, taken from the bed. The second picture is Vista.

Bars/Alcohol/Water

Oceania does not have bottles of water anywhere on the ship. Instead, they leave you a refillable metal bottle and they have water stations around the ship. I’m a bit of a germaphobe, so was not fond of just rinsing the bottles in hot water every day, then reusing them, but that seemed to be the only option. DH is a camel and usually takes 4 – 5 large waters off the ship for beach excursions. We only had 2 refillable bottles so we had to improvise. DH drank PowerAdes after working out, so kept the bottles and filled them with water to take off the ship.

Wine is included for lunch and dinner and was readily available. There were not many choices, but I found a French Chardonnay and DH found a Shiraz, so we were happy.

O has a 2 for 1 Happy Hour every day from 5 to 6. Given that beer and wine is included with meals, most people do not get the drink package (we did - $30pp/day). At 5PM every day, the bars get overrun with people getting their daily drinks from the happy hour menu (not every drink is 2 for 1). At about 6:15, everything clears out and people go to dinner.

We love meeting new people and talking to the great bartenders at the Martini Bar on X and we anticipated doing the same on O. Unfortunately, the bars themselves are very small with only 5 or 6 seats at the actual bar. There are lots of tables and couches around the bars, and the bartenders are extremely busy and not able to interact with customers. There is one small bar that serves a very large area around the corner. We saw several people come around to the bar complaining that they had no service and had been waiting 20 – 25 minutes for someone to take their order. Normally, this is not a big deal, but if you only have 1 hour to get your drinks 2 for 1, then it becomes a point of contention for people.

 

Dining

O includes specialty dining for all guests. You are allotted 1 reservation at each of the 4 specialty restaurants and can make these reservations before boarding the ship, 75 days ahead for suites, 60 days for Concierge, and 45 days for others. People routinely log in right at midnight on their assigned day to get reservations at a preferred time and non-sharing. Dinner is served from 6:30 to 9 nightly.

DH and I prefer to go to the 7PM show on X, then eat at 8. On O, there is one show nightly and it is at 9:30. We never made it to a show. More on that later. We also do not want to share a table, just not our preference, so I did log in at midnight to make our reservations. Look through the O boards and you will see that this is a commonplace, accepted practice. It was very surprising to me.

The specialty restaurants were not as good as Luminae or Blu IOHO. Service was very good but the food was disappointing. For example, in the Italian restaurant, DH had Dover Sole. It was beautiful, deboned tableside and looked fantastic. When he tried to eat it, it was so tough that a knife wouldn’t cut it. I had chicken and I honestly could not recognize the cut of meat. I cook a lot of chicken and whatever was on my plate was mystery meat. I did not eat it.

I have food allergies and had to fill out a menu every day and turn it in downstairs by 10, for the following evening’s meal. So, on Monday morning, I needed to know what I was going to eat Tuesday night. Even doing that, I pre-ordered a soup at the Chinese restaurant, and when it arrived, I stirred it only to find mushrooms (my specific allergy) floating in it. So glad I looked first! Big fail here.

The bottom line for us is the lack of consistent servers who get to know your food preferences, allergies, etc. is a major negative. We ate in a different place for every meal, so we never had the same server or sommelier twice. We much prefer the service in Luminae or Blu. The servers there have always called us by name, had our drinks in hand as soon as they saw us, and made sure my food was prepared correctly wrt my allergies.

 

Wine Pairing Lunches

This is where O really shined. They offered 2 wine paring lunches – Cellar Master’s lunch ($180pp plus 20% grat) and the Sommelier’s Choice lunch ($99pp plus 20% grat). We had 2 of the best meals we’ve ever had on land or sea with these wine paring lunches. The menus are below. Everything was modified perfectly for my allergies. The service was fantastic and the discussion of the wines was very informative. If you are on an O cruise, I cannot recommend these highly enough. They sell out the first day so be sure to sign up as soon as you board.

 

The Butler Discussion

We had an assigned butler whom we saw every day. We normally just want coffee every morning at 6:30 and we have gotten that on both X and O. On both ships (X in October after butler changes) different people delivered the coffee each morning. Butlers can also sometimes get you an additional reservation at a specialty restaurant, which ours did toward the end of the cruise. He specifically asked us to go back to the Italian restaurant and it was better the second time, but still nothing special.

We decided to try having dinner “served course by course” by our butler. This essentially gives you another coveted specialty restaurant reservation. We chose the steakhouse. This was a nice experience, but everything was delivered at once (he was busy with other diners) and it is not something that held much value to us. It was nice to try, but we’d rather go out for dinner.

Pool and Spa

Spa area access is included with a Suite. There is a beautiful Hydro pool, but there is a lack of shade. Chair hogs are in abundance at the main pool. There are lots of complaints on social media. There are plenty of chairs available in the sun, but this is not the demographic to lay in the sun all day. It feels like a poor design to have so few shaded loungers that people have to fight over them (there was a fight when someone removed items from a saved lounger).

 

Activities

There are different activities on O that are not on X. I enjoyed art classes and a cooking class. There was also bingo and enrichment talks, but we did not attend any of these. The theater is a little small and the sight lines are not good. There are many complaints about not being able to see the shows.

 

Ports

We have been to the Caribbean many times. We chose this cruise in part because it stopped in St. Bart’s and we have never been there. This was a tender port which we unfortunately missed due to rough seas. The tenders were the ship’s small life boats. The tender process leaves a lot to be desired. 1 member of each group must wait in line (with hundreds of others) to get a tender ticket. Then the group must wait in the theater for ticket to be called. There is no special accommodation for suites.

 

Fellow Passengers

It is worth noting that the average age on our cruise had to be late 70s, early 80s. We’re in our late 50s, early 60s, so we were definitely on the younger side for this cruise. Enough said.

 

Summary

We are glad we tried Oceania. The ship is very nice but for the reasons noted above, for our next cruise, we will price compare with Regent, SS and X, but will not consider Oceania. Based on recent reviews on this board, we just booked the Ascent.

 

 

Interesting...... we sailed on Vista in December and had a MUCH different experience in many areas than you did.  First.... Water...   The Big Blue bottles are left in the room, we told our butler we drink a lot of water there was NEVER less than 5 of them in the room, usually more like 8 as we had 3 in the mini frig getting cold.  I do wish I thought about drinking a Power Ade, rinsing it out and then using it for shore excursions, as I really didn't like the large metal containter they provide.

 

We never had an issue with bar service.  Yes, they were busy but we never waited more then 5 minutes for a server to come to us, get our order and deliver back to us within 5 minutes.  We both commented on how much better this was than our experience on the Apex. 

 

Specialty Restaurants.  We LOVED Toscano, the italian one, food was better than anything we had in Luminae or any restaurant on our last couple X cruises.  We also loved Polo Grill.  Ember was a miss for us.   We did not have in room dining and you SHOULD have had course by course service, as it is advertised.  I would have been unhappy too if they had just dumped the whole dinner at once.  Something to speak to a Supervisor about for sure.   Waves, their sandwich/pizza place outside the buffet area was great, and nothing like it offered on X.

 

We LOVED our PH1 room, far better than any SS on Celebrity. Felt much roomier, elegantly furnished and our balcony on deck 11 was a partially extended one which had 2 chairs, table and one lounge.  It was lovely.  

 

Something you didn't mention was the TV.  The number of movies and shows available are at least 10 times what is offered on X.... with a LARGE variety of music choices, something X forgot completely about on the E class ships....no music available at all.  Big fail for us. 

 

O falls short in the night time entertainment in many ways, especially in the theatre.  The 4 person violinists though were superb and we enjoyed them every evening.

 

We went on Vista knowing it was going to be a much different experience, but we found food and service across the ship far superior to our recent X trips.  We loved the Vista, booked another O cruise before leaving.  That doesn't mean we'll never sail X again, in fact I have been heartened by some positive things apparently that have happened recently according to what I am reading on these boards.  

 

 

[Shiba_Lover]

Thanks for the review!

[mjfship]

17 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

 

 

Interesting...... we sailed on Vista in December and had a MUCH different experience in many areas than you did.  First.... Water...   The Big Blue bottles are left in the room, we told our butler we drink a lot of water there was NEVER less than 5 of them in the room, usually more like 8 as we had 3 in the mini frig getting cold.  I do wish I thought about drinking a Power Ade, rinsing it out and then using it for shore excursions, as I really didn't like the large metal containter they provide.

 

We never had an issue with bar service.  Yes, they were busy but we never waited more then 5 minutes for a server to come to us, get our order and deliver back to us within 5 minutes.  We both commented on how much better this was than our experience on the Apex. 

 

Specialty Restaurants.  We LOVED Toscano, the italian one, food was better than anything we had in Luminae or any restaurant on our last couple X cruises.  We also loved Polo Grill.  Ember was a miss for us.   We did not have in room dining and you SHOULD have had course by course service, as it is advertised.  I would have been unhappy too if they had just dumped the whole dinner at once.  Something to speak to a Supervisor about for sure.   Waves, their sandwich/pizza place outside the buffet area was great, and nothing like it offered on X.

 

We LOVED our PH1 room, far better than any SS on Celebrity. Felt much roomier, elegantly furnished and our balcony on deck 11 was a partially extended one which had 2 chairs, table and one lounge.  It was lovely.  

 

Something you didn't mention was the TV.  The number of movies and shows available are at least 10 times what is offered on X.... with a LARGE variety of music choices, something X forgot completely about on the E class ships....no music available at all.  Big fail for us. 

 

O falls short in the night time entertainment in many ways, especially in the theatre.  The 4 person violinists though were superb and we enjoyed them every evening.

 

We went on Vista knowing it was going to be a much different experience, but we found food and service across the ship far superior to our recent X trips.  We loved the Vista, booked another O cruise before leaving.  That doesn't mean we'll never sail X again, in fact I have been heartened by some positive things apparently that have happened recently according to what I am reading on these boards.  

 

 

Thank you for your review.  After enjoying 23 years of Celebrity Cruises, we have decided to try our first Oceania Cruise on Vista in March and a May cruise on Silversea Nova.  Our most recent experience with X was a 14-night stay in the PH on APEX, although enjoyable, we felt that the timing was right to explore the new smaller ships that recently entered the marketplace. 

 

Like anything new, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness is natural, and your review confirms that we made the right choice.  Looking forward to the Vista!

 

 

[Lastdance]

8 hours ago, swigso said:

We tried Azamara last year we loved the food service and the fact that everything was included. But and it was a big but for us there was not much 

to do in the evening. We have decided that We prefer the buzz on Celebrity when we leave the retreat area. However we are trying the new Sun Princess before our Apex TA next year. The new Sun has a designated suite area and restaurant it will be our first time on Princess. The recent decisions by X have resulted in us looking elsewhere.

Which Apex TA are you doing next year?  We are doing a b2b in the fall with our Oceania TA in the spring.  What is special about trying new ships/cruise lines is that you never know how things are going to go, but it is exciting to explore and learn while asking lots of questions too.  Trying to find all the “hidden rules” are like playing a game onboard, while always learning something new.

Edited January 27 by Lastdance

[Jim_Iain]

Like a number of others after many years we have decided that we are no longer a Celebrity Loyalist.  

 

I read with interest your review of Vista as we booked the Owner's Suite for her in late 2025.   I enjoyed your perspective but it has in no way lowered our expectations.   Of course we all enjoy a cruise in a different way.

 

Many of the things that you note as a negative on Oceania are to us an advantage over Celebrity.   After our last 4 cruises on E-Class ships in CS/RS combination on both B2B  and all the recent changes, we look forward to many of the aspects you least enjoyed.  

 

For us the Up-sizing of Celebrity Ships to the E-Class size have lowered our enjoyment of Celebrity instead of enhancing it.    Major area that have been negative to us has been  Food Preparation  in Luminae has been a real disappointment -  meals seem to be prepared diner style as opposed to cooked to order that once was the standard.     

 

Another disappointment is the Specialty Dining.   There isn't a single Specialty that is insulated from noise - especially Fine Cut.

 

I'm sure many Love the E-Class ships and wish them the best.

 

I've been enjoying the Oceania Thread -  It's incredible how many frequent Celebrity Cruisers are showing up over there and giving very positive reviews.    I'm sure we all need to find a fit and will be looking forward to sharing our experience -   Probably in September -   I think I will be booking another Oceania Cruise by Monday.

[dock]

@Jim_Iain, looking forward to reading about O from your perspective. Have followed you on X and Ponant. 

I hope your new  O cruise, is before our July Vista cruise😀.

We’re considering Riviera for Asia. 

 

 

[swigso]

@Jim_Iain

I've been enjoying the Oceania Thread -  It's incredible how many frequent Celebrity Cruisers are showing up over there and giving very positive reviews.    I'm sure we all need to find a fit and will be looking forward to sharing our experience -   Probably in September -   I think I will be booking another Oceania Cruise by Monday.

 

We have also looked at Oceana but think that the new Regent ships maybe a better fit. Also looked at seaborne have sailed with X since 2000 but are now looking at other lines we have never considered. Jim always love you reviews and your honest take on everything, god bless.

[Iamthesea]

23 hours ago, mjfship said:

Thank you for your review.  After enjoying 23 years of Celebrity Cruises, we have decided to try our first Oceania Cruise on Vista in March and a May cruise on Silversea Nova. 

mjfship - What is the date of your March cruise?  We will be on the March 9th Vista.

 

Having read the above comparison, I am thinking that Oceania ships would be more comparable to HAL ships.  We have taken our last few on HAL.  The latest in their Signature Suite.  Very nice and large.  No Butler, which we prefer.  The ships are smaller than most Celebrity ships.  We prefer the more laid back entertainment.  We are 66 and 71.

 

We dropped Celebrity, for the most part, because the ships got larger, and the pricing went up.  We loved the Millennium class ships.  Solstice class was nice, as well.  Took one Edge class and that was enough!

 

Looking forward to our 3rd Oceania cruise in a few weeks.  Our first Oceania cruise was a failure because of a terrible norovirus outbreak which caused us to miss ports and also cut the 10 day cruise short.  We gave it another try only because we were given credit for the "noro" cruise.  The second cruise was more enjoyable, but we did not go back because we did not feel that the pricing was worth the experience.  We are trying for this third time because our TA had a very good promo and we wanted to get away to warm weather.

 

 

[ak1004]

8 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

mjfship - What is the date of your March cruise?  We will be on the March 9th Vista.

 

Having read the above comparison, I am thinking that Oceania ships would be more comparable to HAL ships.  We have taken our last few on HAL.  The latest in their Signature Suite.  Very nice and large.  No Butler, which we prefer.  The ships are smaller than most Celebrity ships.  We prefer the more laid back entertainment.  We are 66 and 71.

 

We dropped Celebrity, for the most part, because the ships got larger, and the pricing went up.  We loved the Millennium class ships.  Solstice class was nice, as well.  Took one Edge class and that was enough!

 

Looking forward to our 3rd Oceania cruise in a few weeks.  Our first Oceania cruise was a failure because of a terrible norovirus outbreak which caused us to miss ports and also cut the 10 day cruise short.  We gave it another try only because we were given credit for the "noro" cruise.  The second cruise was more enjoyable, but we did not go back because we did not feel that the pricing was worth the experience.  We are trying for this third time because our TA had a very good promo and we wanted to get away to warm weather.

 

 

 

HAL older ships are just under 2,000 guests and the newer ships are 2,650 guests. Celebrity Edge and Apex are 2,900, so not a big difference. We sailed on the Koningsdam which is 2,650 guests and 100 ton. It was nice, but it's not Oceania. It is still a big ship, space/passenger ratio is 37 compared to 53 on Oceania newer ships, so still feels much more crowed. But entertainment was much better on the Koningsdam, probably one of the best we had.