Help with Small Ship Apprehension.

[FlyerTalker]

My two kopeks:

 

Ask yourself what were the five things you liked most about the previous Royal/Celebrity cruises.  Now determine what the five things you disliked the most about those same trips.  Be brutally honest with yourself.  And be specific to hone in on the true priorities.   Are any of those deal-makers or deal-breakers?  Don't think in terms of other lines, just what you have experienced first hand.   Then come back in a couple days and confirm your choices.

 

NOW is the time for comparison.  See how Oceania (or any other line) compares with what YOU have identified as the personal priorities for you.  Don't try to force fit anything - and don't be dissuaded by extraneous stuff.

 

I have always contended that there is a cruise line (or lines) for everyone.  It's just a matter of folks being honest about what their priorities are, and then fitting those to the various options.

 

Good luck - the process isn't always easy, and sometimes is quite revealing if you are honest with yourself.

 

 

 

[CTCruiser76]

For those of you who chimed in, we just wanted to provide an update..... we booked it !

 

We are officially no longer loyal to Royal/Celebrity. 

 

We are now a part of the Oceania family ! 

 

We are in an A1 on the Insignia headed to Bermuda July 2025...it's a long way away, but we are excited to try something new and different. 

[emd138]

Yay, CT Cruiser76, I hope you enjoy it!  I am a bit late to offer my 2 cents, but we are in our 40's, and have our 3rd Bermuda trip booked for this summer on Insignia, and 5th on a smaller Oceania ship.  We have limitations on vacation, so New York is a local-ish port to us, and a 7 day is our limit as well.  We love meeting the people on the cruises, and spend most of our socializing.  Most are older than us, but have a lot of neat experiences that we enjoy hearing.  We love Bermuda, and love the extended port times where we don't have to rush.  We do spend some time reading and watching movies relaxing in the room since we both have high stress jobs, but we book an Oceanview.  I am not a small woman, and the shower is PAINFULLY tiny, but tolerable for 7 days.  Just don't drop the soap, haha!  The food and service is worth it to us, and we love not having to deal with the crowds.  We always do a bunch of the daily activities, like mini golf and shuffleboard for example, but on most cruises the night entertainment has been a major miss for us.  We had a great entertainment crew on our last sailing on the Regatta, but that was the only one that we enjoyed the shows.  I suggest sitting at the back for your first one or 2 if you choose to go to them for an easy exit, because some have been really bad.  We just go to the piano bar and enjoy the music and company there, so don't really care, but some do look forward to the nightly shows.