Is Oceania worth the $ ??

[Guest Jancruz]

Anthony,

 

I do agree with you..so a few cruise lines that charge a lot more money than Oceania include everything..there are many more ships sailing where you sign a check..dont we all do that on any vacation???

Jan:)

*****

[mike35]

Jim B

Everything is relative, I guess. You're 100% correct re the soft and hard drinks, but we know up front that $10.50/day will be devoted to tips. We always bring 6-packs of soft drinks aboard, so that isn't really a consideration. We would rather pay as we go on alcoholic beverages and wine. But we're not always hounded with announcements for art auctions, gold by the inch, photos with a pirate, etc, like on the mass market lines. Everything is rather low key - exactly to our liking.

 

Mike

[Jane110]

ATTN Mikebrill:

You commented that you were not nickeled and dimed to death.

Did you not have to pay for water, sodas, drinks and tip?

This is where I struggle with Oceania over Radisson, Seaborne, Silverseas.

Oceania's price seems to be a little higher than other better cruise lines that charge for water, sodas, drinks, and tips, (like Crystal , Celebrity), and compared to the above cruise lines which don't charge for these items or have a cabin bar set up, Oceania seems to almost costing more.

I'm not being negative towards Oceania. I'm just trying to understand.

We have real interest in this cruise line and would like to figure this out.

 

Jim,

 

I've been on two Oceania cruises and don't feel like I was nickel & dimed. The other cruiselines you mention are much higher in price and I agree with the others that I would prefer not to pay a much higher tarif in order to have our alcohol consumption (which is fairly minimal) included.

 

One of my complaints about Oceania is the high price of their drinks, but that's another issue. However, I have no problem in the concept of paying for them, or rather signing for them as I cruise along. No money has to be carried around and it's really no big thing to sign.

 

If your overall bill, with all your beverages, is as high on Oceania as it is on Radisson, Seabone and Silversea, then yes, for you these other cruiselines would be a better value for you. For us, when the charges from our cruise price and the onboard bill were added together, it was still considerable less than when I did some price comparisons with the other lines which were more inclusive. So for us, Oceania costs less and that's something we need to be concerned with.

 

Jane

[Jim B]

Thank you everyone for your positive comments.

I do not disagree with any of them.

Will have to see if a Oceania cruise is in our future.

I know they discourage it but Oceania does allow you to bring your own

liquor and sodas correct?

[mike35]

At no point were we "discouraged" to bring our own beverages on board.

 

Mike

[Jim B]

Thanks Mike.

Gosh. You would think that drinking is all we do on board by my comments.

Really don't. Like to have a couple before dinner, maybe one with dinner, and sometimes one after dinner. Most of the time that is it.

Well maybe we have stopped and had a beer or something after we get back from a tour but not all the time.

Oh heck! We are on vacation!!

[can786]

For those of you who have taken cruiseline's shore excursions, how does Oceania compare to mainstream lines such as Princess or HAL? I realize that all cruiseline sponsored shore excursions are somewhat expensive, but are the excursions on Oceania even more expensive than other mainstream lines? We are trying to decide between the Sea Princess or Insignia for an Iceland/Norway/British Isles cruise in 2006 and would like to take all factors into account. Thanks.

[john2003]

I suggest you look at their website for the cruise you are planning as they have the short excursions listed, generally with the price. Depending on the time ahead it might be last year's price but that is probably what you have to compare to anyway.

 

My general observation is that they are more expensive than local options, but not hugely out of line with my expectations for a shore excursion booked through a cruiseline.