Comparison thoughts b/w Nautica & Pacific Princess

[Lane40]

I am looking for some thoughts and ideas on this dilemma. A group of nine of us have booked the Nautica June 23, 2008 BCN-IST cruise with stops in Egypt and Israel. Our four cabins are 6088, 6086, 6007, and 8001. During the weekend I came across the Pacific Princess Itinerary which compares to the Nautica’s as follows:

 

Nautica

 

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART

Mon Jun 23 Barcelona, Spain 6:00pm

Tue Jun 24 Alghero, Sardinia, Italy Noon 6:00pm

Wed Jun 25 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 8:00am 8:00pm

Thu Jun 26 Amalfi, Italy /Positano, Italy 8:00am 3:00pm

Fri Jun 27 At Sea

Sat Jun 28 Crete (Heraklion), Greece 8:00am 1:00pm

Sun Jun 29 Cairo / Giza (Alexandria), Egypt Noon 8:00pm

Mon Jun 30 Port Said, Egypt 8:00am 6:00pm

Tue Jul 1 Nazareth / Galilee (Haifa), Israel 7:00am

Wed Jul 2 Nazareth / Galilee (Haifa), Israel 8:00pm

Thu Jul 3 At Sea

Fri Jul 4 Rhodes, Greece 8:00am 6:00pm

Sat Jul 5 Ephesus / Kusadasi, Turkey 8:00am 2:00pm

Sun Jul 6 Istanbul, Turkey Noon

Mon Jul 7 Istanbul, Turkey Disembark

 

Pacific Princess

 

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART

Wed Jun 25 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 6:00pm

Thu Jun 26 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy 8:00am 6:00pm

Fri Jun 27 At Sea

Sat Jun 28 At Sea

Sun Jun 29 Cairo / Giza (Alexandria), Egypt 7:00am 8:00pm

Mon Jun 30 Port Said, Egypt 10:00am 8:00pm

Tue Jul 1 Jerusalem / Tel Aviv (Ashdod), Israel 7:00am 8:00pm

Wed Jul 2 Nazareth / Galilee (Haifa), Israel 7:00am 8:00pm

Thu Jul 3 At Sea

Fri Jul 4 Ephesus / Kusadasi, Turkey 8:00am 5:00pm

Sat Jul 5 Patmos, Greece 8:00am 5:00pm

Sun Jul 6 Santorini, Greece 7:00am 5:00pm

Mon Jul 7 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 6:00am

 

Three things that interest me about the Pacific Princess cruise are: The cruise starts in Rome. Seven in our group have never been to Europe and the chance to spend 3 days in Rome pre-cruise versus 1 day in port is a positive. On the Pacific Princess cruise we would spend seven more hours in Egypt as compared to the Nautica itinerary. We are planning on doing an overnight to Cairo. Lastly, we would finish in Athens rather than Istanbul which we believe is a plus.

 

We plan on doing tours booked ahead through guides rather than using the cruise line’s tours. We have opted for the air credit on the Oceania cruise. In researching business airfare, I have found airfare to be about $900 cheaper per person flying into Rome and out of Athens rather than into Barcelona and out of Istanbul.

 

Although the ships at one time could have been considered sister ships when under the Renaissance flag, we know that is no longer the case with the Oceania ship now being more extravagant. We all have cruised with Princess before, but none of us have cruised with Oceania. The closest we have come to the Oceania product would be with Celebrity or Holland America.

 

I am seeking thoughts and suggestions between the two cruises. Would someone consider it worth it to give up the better cruise experience offered by Oceania to have the three things I mentioned above? I apologize for the length of the post, but thought that I should attempt to place as much information as possible on the table for everyone to read and offer their thoughts.

 

Thanks

[suzieque]

Hi Lane,

I was on the Pacific Princess on a Beijing to Bangkok cruise and it was very nice. I have heard that Oceania has refurbished the same sister ships in a more elegant way, though. Pacific Princess had set seatings for dinner; early & late.To me the extra time in Istanbul will be a plus (we will stay over for an extra day at the end of the trip).Hard call to make; the extra hours in Egypt might be a plus because you could be on the road to Cairo hours earlier. You get an extra day at sea on the Pacific Princess, too. Put it to a vote with your group of nine and see what the consensus is!

Good luck. Nice kind of decision to be able to make, don't you think?!

Suzie

[Druke I]

We've been on both; Pacific Princess 11-03, Papeete to Sydney, and Nautica, 11-06, Istanbul to Singapore.

 

We've also been on Regatta, 8-05 into the Baltic, and are booked on Regatta's trans-Atlantic, 3-08.

 

I don't know how much redecorating Princess may had done in the past 3 & 1/2 years, but Pacific Princess' decor, when we were on it, was virtually identical to Nautica's and Regatta's.

 

Interestingly enough, Pacific Princess runs with 670 PAX double occupancy, and Nautica 684 double occupancy. Princess has converted a few cabins (including some obstructed view cabins on deck 6) to entertainer/crew cabins, and has production shows, albeit with fewer dancers.

 

Princess' dining room has traditional Early & Late seatings, Nautica's is open seating. The alternative restaurants on Princess are open alternate nights (reducing crew requirements).

 

It goes without saying that Nautica's food is much better than Princess', although Princess is fine (I think) for a mass market line.

 

Although I am a traditionalist (read old fogey) in many ways, I do think Oceania's dress code is fine, and certainly makes packing much easier!

 

Isn't it wonderful we have so many choices?

[Rickey 88]

While the itineraries are quite similar, I am sure you are aware that travel from Alexandria or Port Said to Cairo involves a 3 - 4 hour drive each way which does take away from your touring time.

 

Also, Druke I has pointed out many of the differences between Oceania and Princess as far as the conversion was concerned. It is well known that Princess did very little in the way of upgrading when they acquired these ships - on the other hand, Oceania spent millions in bringing all three of their ships to the beautiful state they are today....

[Aussie Gal]

We cruised on the Pacific Princess in January this year and on the Tahitian Princess in 2004 and will be on her again in less than 4 weeks time.

 

Both ships are in fantastic condition and as we have yet to cruise with Oceania, (we will be doing so in April next year), we have been very happy whilst on board. We always book a mini suite and they are very roomy. The food has been good on both ships and I am wondering how much better it will be on Oceania. We are looking forward to the Oceania experience especially as we will be on the Nautica for 35 days.

 

Both itineraries are good though if I had the choice I would prefer not to be going to Istanbul at the moment due to the political unrest there even though it is an exciting city and there is a lot to see and do.

 

I know that you will be saving a lot of money if you go with Princess as against Oceania. Can you justify the difference, only you can decide that.

 

Jennie