RSSC vs Oceana -- can anyone help me with a comparison?

I've been scouting around for cruises to take in '06, and I'm considering branching out to other lines. I haven't seen anything on Silversea or Seabourne that looks good, but there are several Oceania itineraries that look great -- right time frame, right price, right length, etc. I'm trying to read everything I can about this line and their ships, but what I could really use is a true apples-to-apples comparison of this line vs. RSSC, from those who really know RSSC cruises and can offer a true comparison between the two.

I've been on several mass-market cruises, and finally upgraded to RSSC this past year, with my fantastic Med cruise on the Voyager. I was SOOO thrilled to get away from the classic mass-market irritants -- I can't imagine going backwards at this point, and I don't want to. But I'm looking for a longer cruise (at least 10 days, or more) in some area where I haven't been before, and Oceania has some great itins.

The areas I'm most concerned with are the following:

Staterooms -- the lowest category is significantly smaller than on Voyager, and we tend to go with the smallest so we can get the most cruise for our budget. Given my spoiled state on Voyager, am I asking for trouble going with such a small stateroom?

Dining -- how does the food compare, really?

Service -- will I feel pampered like I did on Voyager?

Entertainment -- I've read little about the entertainment on Oceania, how is it, and does it compare? From what I've seen on the Oceania web site, it appears the entertainment may be a little too sedate for me -- the only music they spoke of is classical, and while I love classical music, you can't exactly dance to it. Is there any dancing on these ships? Are there any "fun" evenings where we can let down our hair and share some laughs?

Overall feeling of luxury -- is it there?

Nickel & Diming -- I realize that this is not an all-inclusive line, and wine is not included with dinner, so I have to factor that into my budget. But will I feel nickel & dimed like I did on Celebrity or RCI? Is there any obvious "selling" going on? What IS included, what's not, and how are prices?

Activities -- I'm looking at some pretty long cruises, with multiple sea days. I've read quite a bit about RSSC's sea day activities, and they sound right up my alley -- fun and interesting but low-key and classy, rather than the kind of, um, *stuff* we saw on the mass-market lines. (We didn't have a single sea day on my Voyager cruise, so I haven't experienced RSSC's firsthand.) What does Oceania do on sea days?

Alcohol -- I've been a bit troubled by some stuff I read here about their drink prices and alcohol policies. First off, I DO like to drink on my cruises, but I don't want to have to blow my budget on it. I also like to bring things onboard -- I like to have before-dinner martinis in my room, or a late-night single-malt Scotch as I'm relaxing before bed. I also love to drink wine, and can't imagine a nice dinner without it -- I know wine, I collect it, and I like to buy interesting wines ashore and try them on the ship. Do they really enforce this $20 corkage fee? That seems really steep to me. And how are their wine prices?

If anyone knows the two lines well and is willing to take a crack at this, I'd be eternally grateful!

LeeAnne

We did RSSC last Oct in the Med and are going to Oceania this coming Oct, also in the Med. By Nov, should be able to give you a better comparison. :) Loved RSSC, but all I can say now is that 12 days on Oceania will cost about the same as 7 on RSSC, both with 'free air'. Drinks are ala carte on Oceania and tips are added to the bill later. Stateroom on O will be smaller, but both have verandas. RSSC is a winner, hope O is too. Best of luck.

Friend did the med on it and love the ship except the "Concierge" class got first crack at the top two restaurants and my friends had to go down daily to check if they could get in. Once in the "regulars" just looked at them like what are you doing here.

It does come across as a two class ship with near half in first and half in second. They are planning another cruise on them.

Blackbird, I read your earlier post about your friend's experience, and that does concern me. Trust me, we will be one of the "unwashed masses" and I honestly can't stand the concept of treating passengers differently based on some class system, whether it's which category room you have, or how many times you've cruised with them in the past, so that's definitely a mark against Oceania.

But there's this AWESOME itinerary in Nov -- a 25-dayer Istanbul to Singapore -- that goes to Egypt, Dubia, India and Thailand, for an amazing price. I'm praying that the feedback I get here leads me to believe that it would be up to par with my expectations. I mean, 25 days is a loooong time on a cruise ship, so any dissatisfactions would be amplified, y'know?

I am going to be painfully honest with you from our experience. We just got off a 25-day cruise to the Amazon, so it's still very fresh in my mind. This was our second Oceania cruise; we've been on RSSC about 8 or 9 times. Truthfully, no comparison.

The customer service folk on RSSC are incredible. Not so on Oceania. They are a new start up and have a long way to go to even think of competing with RSSC. Our embarkation was a disaster, and Oceania never seemed to give us a second thought as far as a complimentary glass of wine or shipboard credit. I can tell you for a fact that when there was even a small problem with RSSC, there were shipboard credits given immediately. I won't go into detail here, but at one point we were given a credit towards a future cruise. And we weren't even affected by the problem the ship had--in fact, we never knew there was a problem until we had a letter in our door telling us about the credit.

The food on Oceania is better than RSSC. In fact, the food was perfect. I really can't say more than that--best food on the seas. And the presentation was wonderful!

Will you feel pampered? Yes, you will. The only fault I found was that our room didn't seem to get done the minute we left for breakfast. Now, when we were on RSSC, they seemed to have a built-in radar and got into the room as soon as we left! Seriously, there were times the room wasn't done by noon. Did it bother me? Not really. I do wish, however, that in the Lido (or whatever the buffet is called on various ships) that the crew on O would rush to take your plates as they do on RSSC.

The entertainment was comparable in both lines. Not like Celebrity or HAL, but adequate.

As far as luxury, you will be hard pressed to find a more beautiful ship than Oceania. The furnishings are warm and homey and remind one of an English manor house. My husband made the comment he would like to evacuate to Ocania during a hurricane! And we loved the string quartet that played every evening before dinner.

As far as nickle and diming....boy, did you hit a nerve with me! I would much rather pay a bit more up front and not have to bother with presenting a card for a bottle of water or a Coke, etc. I can't comment on corkage fees because we always bought a bottle of wine at dinner. Often 2 because my husband is a red wine drinker and I'm white. Yes, I thought the wine was a bit pricey, but we paid it. As well as the drink prices...$9 or $10 for a martini is out of sight as well as $6 or $7 for a cocktail. But again, we paid it.

Oceania has the BEST smoking policy on the high seas--or at least on any ship we've been on. There are only 2 small areas where one can smoke, so if you're a non-smoker, you're never bothered by the odor.

I hope these comments have been of some help. We've never stepped off a Radisson ship with a feeling of less than perfection. I have tried to be fair and honest with pros and cons. Both lines have open seatings, which is a huge plus to us. And both lines don't charge for their specialty restaurants, which again is great. We would definitely go on Oceania again, as would we on Radisson. However, if pressed, I'd have to say RSSC is our favorite line!!!:)

Esther

Esther, thank you for your response! I read your postings on another board, so I recall some of the issues you encounter. Believe me, given that I'm considering 25 days with this line, I'm reading all I can anywhere I can find it!

I have to say I'm quite relieved to read your comments about the food. I'm rather a foodie, and when on vacation I really want my meals to be special occasions. I was absolutely miserable on the one RCI cruise I took. Ick. Celebrity was passable, but nothing special. I thoroughly enjoyed the food on the RSSC Voyager, although I personally liked Compass Rose better than Signatures (they just couldn't seem to get my rack of lamb cooked to my liking, even after two tries). If I was told that the food on Oceania wasn't as good as RSSC, I would probably not even consider them.

I'm also happy to hear that the entertainment is similar. I truly enjoyed the Voyager's entertainment -- they had quite a bit of variety, including the production shows (which I thought were fabulous) as well as a hilarious comedian. The orchestra was a little funky, but we had some great nights dancing. If the entertainment is anything similar, we should be fine.

Which brings up another question. RSSC ships provide a couple of "gentleman hosts" who dance and converse with the single women on board. I'll be cruising with my mother, who is a widow, and she had an absolutely marvelous time with the two wonderful gents on our cruise, who showered her with attention. Anything like that on Oceania?

I am a bit concerned about the complaints about service, but I also know that you have to read many more opinions before a pattern emerges. There are also those who've been less than satisfied with RSSC's service, but they certainly are rarer than those who love it. So I'm currently in search of a pattern here!

I also still am very concerned about sea-day activities. While I am not of the ilk that wants anything to do with belly-flop or hairy-chest contests :eek:, I would like to know that there are things to do on the many sea days this journey will have. Given that I'll be with my Mom, unfortunately romantic days and nights at sea are out of the question for us. I read elsewhere that the predominant sea day activities are art auctions, which hold no appeal for me. I hope this isn't true.

Also, I'd be interested in hearing comments about any differences in the passengers -- age ranges, types of people, etc, if there in fact are any differences between the two lines. I'm 46, and I actually expected to meet very few people around my age on my 12-day Med cruise, so I was quite pleasantly surprised to find quite a few people around my age (or only slightly over). This has no bearing on whether or not I choose this cruise, but I'm just curious what others have experienced.

LeeAnne

Leejnd4-if you love the itinerary and price, go with it! While there will be degrees of difference with RSSC, all in all it'll be a wonderful cruise on a very nice ship. I'm doing the same itinerary (in reverse) on Seabourn this Spring as a solo traveler. While Seabourn is a great cruiseline, I booked the trip on the basis of 1) the itinerary (a cruise is the only realistic way I am going to be able to see all of these exotic ports and countries) and 2) price (Seabourn has great pricing for singles; Oceania doesn't). Down the line, I doubt that your memories of this trip will dwell very long on matters such as embarkation.

Ester:

I think it would be helpful to let Leejnd4 know what level of cabin you were in. My wife and I have done both Radisson and Oceania. On Oceania we had a penthouse which is compariable to an entry level suite on Radisson. We also had a butler. Now many of the passengers that we talked to pointed out the "smallness" of the less expensive rooms. Now we were on Oceania two years ago, and things might have changed, but many of the cheaper rooms did not have mini fridges, CD players, DVD players, etc. These might not be issues on a short cruise, but when you're living there for 25 days, it would make a difference to me. I would wholeheartedly concur on the nickle and dime aspect. Pop, water, wine, liquor were all extra and I would categorize them as "profit centers". As to bottles of wine at the dinner table, I think you should think in the $30 to $40/bottle range. AS far as food, I found Oceania to be good, but I prefer Radisson. I also want to echo the "caste" observation... because we had a butler, we could eat where ever we wanted...a few nights we invited fellow passengers to eat with us who we had met and who had observed difficulty in getting "speciality" reservations....

But, Leejnd4...the question you asked was whether or not Oceania will meet your expections.... if those expectations are for a cruise with the level of amenities and service which you exprienced on Radisson...for us, Oceania was not quite there.

LeeAnne

There are no hosts. As far as activities, they are of the norm: bingo, which I understand was not attended by many because of the $25 fee to play, bridge, movies and lectures. And yes, the bloody art auction. In our opinion, Oceania blew it by "displaying the art" in the Upper Hall. It sure took away from the beauty of the ship.

And the passengers.....well, I have to be blunt and say the majority were fine, but there were several bag people who were definitely not of the caliber of Radisson. And believe me, I am not a snob. Never have I seen this on Radisson. Nor did we experience this on our Feb. Oceania cruise. Maybe it was the length of time of this cruise that drew them out of the woodwork. I don't know. But they were messy, sloppy people. Thank God not many, but they did stand out.

As far as our cabin, the first time we were in the Owner's Suite; this time in a penthouse. Our friend was in Conciege and his room was a bit smaller, but fine. As far as fridges in other cabins, I can't answer that. Our penthouse was fine, but not much different than a Radisson suite.

The bottom line is that whether you choose Radisson or Oceania or any other ship, you're going to be happy. Happy planning and please let me know what you decide. I'm interested.

Esther

Well, whatever I decide, this will probably be my longest cruise yet. Right now my choices are between a 7-day RSSC PG cruise with a two-week pre-cruise land tour in NZ, which I currently have booked, but will most likely change; an 18-day French Polynesia RSSC Mariner cruise; this 25-day Egypt Oceania itinerary; and another Oceania cruise, a 26-day Amazon itinerary. I am currently utterly torn between them!

But I promise to let you know what I decide. Thanks again for your valuable input!

LeeAnne

Sorry, esther e, but you blew it when you referred to several of your fellow passengers as "bag people" who were not of the RSSC "caliber" (whatever that is). However, you are not a "snob" but you are also not credible.

You should have seen what we saw. And I am definitely not the only one who thought that. As I said, it was a minority of people, but believe me they stood out. Trust me, I would never have said this if it weren't true. For an example, there was one couple who carried a doll around with them everywhere they went. They were dressed only in shorts all the time (I think I spotted her in a skirt once and him in slacks twice). While everyone else looked presentable in the show lounge, they were the talk of the ship!And they were very large people, which made them stand out even more. I am credible--I have only seen neat, well-groomed people on Radisson. Not so on this past cruise. As far as the 'caliber" of RSSC, I would put it in the same catagory as Seabourne, SilverSeas and Crystal. And I would expect the passengers on those 3 lines to be well kemp--not necessarily wealthy--money has nothing to do with it--but neat and well groomed.

Well, whatever I decide, this will probably be my longest cruise yet. Right now my choices are between a 7-day RSSC PG cruise with a two-week pre-cruise land tour in NZ, which I currently have booked, but will most likely change; an 18-day French Polynesia RSSC Mariner cruise; this 25-day Egypt Oceania itinerary; and another Oceania cruise, a 26-day Amazon itinerary. I am currently utterly torn between them!

 

But I promise to let you know what I decide. Thanks again for your valuable input!

 

LeeAnne

Your cruises sound wonderful. I would have a very hard time choosing one!!! We were on the PG a few years ago and loved it. If you decide on the Amazon, you will have made a good choice. The Amazon is sandwiched in between two Caribbean segments. We have never been on such a long cruise either, and found time to pass quickly. The downside is that the food on Oceania is sooooo good, that your clothes tend to get smaller towards the end of the cruise! Perhaps this is due to the salt in the water?????? Yeah, right!!!!

Esther

Blackbird, I read your earlier post about your friend's experience, and that does concern me. Trust me, we will be one of the "unwashed masses" and I honestly can't stand the concept of treating passengers differently based on some class system, whether it's which category room you have, or how many times you've cruised with them in the past, so that's definitely a mark against Oceania.

 

I do not mind if ppl are treated a little special for having XXX days with the line, but whole decks of these ppl, they over power the number of seats in the special restaurants. My friend told me, some ordered the same restaurant every night.

BUT, having said that, itinerary itinerary itinerary is what I am thinking these days and I would book them no problem.

Maybe somebody here can comment on if they have and how well the video library is on Oceania. I really like the one on Radisson. I never did shows but after dinner went to my room and spent the even going between my veranda and the movie. :)

We were given a sheet of paper with the videos listed on it. It was extensive, to say the least. However, we didn't use any so I don't know how many of each movie they had.

Esther

Esther: I appreciate your comments - I think you're written a very fair review - I have not been on Oceania just Radisson but do think both lines have much to offer! Joanna

Thank you, Joanna. That was nice of you to say.

Esther

I've not been on Oceania, but I was on Renaissance - in a 'cheap' balcony room. It was cramped compared to Radisson - sidling past the foot of the bed, one person at a time in the bathroom, toiletries left on the desk, 'cause the bathroom had inadequate storage. Yes, it is a beautiful ship, but the Radisson suites [even on the PG without a balcony] are a step above.

Can't speak to the service or food, which changed when the ship changed owners.

David

I was just looking over the new itineraries for SeaDream (http://www.seadreamyachtclub.com) and found a really incredible one that will leave from Rio and go into the Amazon. You can extend and go all the way to Barbados.

I have been on Radisson - and find the service and food on SeaDream to be better - excellent in a casual environment. Radisson is an excellent choice - but SeaDream is different and doesn't try and be like any of the other luxury lines.

Oceana is a great line - but doesn't play at all in the luxury arena like the two I mentioned above. If you have left the mass market lines and are glad you did, then you are probably better off with a luxury line.

Here's a very trivial item, but it might be more important on a 25 day cruise. On RSSC, all cabins/ suites have mini fridges --- even in the porthole cabins on the PG. On Oceania, fridges are reserved for the more upscale suites, and can't even be rented in the lower categories( as HAL used to do). You won't get an included room bottle on Oceania, but they have no "anti carry on" policy, so you can bring aboard any alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage from embarkation or any port without sneaking. Carrying on liquor is fairly easy, but carrying on soda and/or beer gets a bit heavy With us, being able to get a cold Diet Coke (or beer) out of the room fridge is an important feature that Oceania misses in its lower categories. For the Diet Coke, I suppose one could get a bucket of ice from room service (with a tip) for Diet Coke or mixed drinks --- but what about the cold beer? Pretty much limited to the bar (and bar prices) for that. For me personally, that would substantially increase my over-all expenses!

A great thing about Oceania is that all dinners are casual. Frankly, I can't even imagine the problems of packing for a 25 day cruise, if that cruise had the usual three dress codes. With the one casual code, it will be simpler ---- BUT you will find yourself using the ships laundry a lot, and I don't think they have self service laundries. So you might want to check into laundry prices on Oceania.

Thanks,

Richard

Richard, thanks for your input. I'm relieved to know that they don't have a problem with carrying on your own drinks, as the whole "booze police" situation on the mass-market lines is just so distasteful and rediculous to me.

So, I said I would report my final decision, and here it is:

The bottom-line criteria was, we want to have a luxury cruise, somewhere that we haven't been before. We want to travel for about 3 weeks. We have a certain amount of money to spend. My choices came down to these:

1. 7-day PG, with a 2-week pre-cruise in NZ (currently booked)

2. 18-day Mariner, Auckland to LA, through French Polynesia

3. 25-day Oceania Nautica, Istanbul to Singapore, with stops in Egypt, Oman, Dubia, India

4. 26-day Oceania Regatta, Miami-Miami, through the Caribbean, to Brazil, and up the Amazon

The Oceania cruises had much in their favor:

1. The price.

2. Okay, I admit it, the FOOD! I read almost universally raving reviews about the dining experiences.

3. The ships look absolutely exquisite, in terms of their decor, luxury, and overall beauty. The public areas look downright stunning.

4. They seem to be going for the luxury market, at least in how they present themselves, so presumably the overall service and experience would be on a par with what I got used to on Voyager.

5. Many reviewers had nothing but wonderful things to say about them.

6. The fantastic price!

7. The exotic itineraries.

8. Did I mention the price??

However, from what I can tell, I finally decided there are just too many points against them in terms of MY particular desires, and here's what they are:

1. The small cabins. In order to get a cabin comparable to the Voyager or Mariner, I'd have to upgrade to the point where it would be out of the price range. We'd be stuck with a 160-sq-ft inside cabin with a teensy bathroom.

2. The activities and entertainment. Both itineraries have quite a few sea days, and since I'm traveling with my mother, we can't exactly spend our time enjoying long romantic days at sea or sparkling nights holding hands over a lovely meal while gazing out over the ocean. As much as we enjoy each other's company, frankly we sometimes need things to do to get AWAY from each other. Given what I know about RSSC's entertainment and sea day activities, this should not prove to be a problem on the Mariner. But it sounds as if there just ain't much to do on Oceania except art auctions, bingo, or extra-cost classes or craft activities. And the entertainment sounds rather too sedate for me.

3. Nickel & diming -- the utter lack of inclusivity appears to be worse than I'd originally thought. Not only do they charge for virtually everything, but their prices sound rediculous. $2.50 for a small bottle of water? $20 corkage fee if I bring my own wine? $40 for a supermarket-level California wine? $8 to $10 for a decent martini? On such a long cruise, man this could add up, completely negating any value that I found in that great price. Sure, I could bring on my own drinks, but what a pain! And I certainly wouldn't be able to carry on enough to last for a 25-day cruise -- which means I'd have to be buying and carrying on in ports. Given the exotic itineraries, the last thing I want to be doing in some strange country, during a limited-time port visit, is trying to find a place to buy bottled water, sodas and decent wine.

4. Lousy excursions. I read over and over that their excursions were overpriced, poorly done, and generally unexciting. This is in stark contrast to what I've read and experienced firsthand with RSSC. And as many of these ports were of the exotic ilk where I'd be reluctant to try to arrange private tours, would I find myself disappointed in these places that I'm so eager to tour?

5. Port changes -- I've read several disturbing threads and reviews indicating that not only do they have a history of frequently changing ports, but they don't seem to do much in terms of customer compensation when they do. Given the reports of lousy excursions, I would probably be arranging as many private ones as possible, but if port changes are common this could be disastrous.

6. Service -- While there are many glowing reviews about their service, there are a few too many reports of bad service, lousy attitudes, rude or uncaring crew, and poorly handled situations. I realize I have to take this all with a grain of salt as no cruise line can please everyone, and there are always grouches or one-off experiences, but I do have to pay attention to patterns, and certain troubling patterns were emerging. It's just so hard to know how much credence to give these reports, but you have to face facts when there's just so MANY of them. And while there are bad RSSC reviews out there, they are far fewer than I found on Oceania. If I'm going to be on a ship for almost a month, how awful would that be if I found myself dissatisfied with the overall service?

So, I assume that if anyone has bothered to read this far, you've probably already guessed that we decided to stick with what we know and love, which is RSSC. We're going to do the Mariner. I won't have to worry about nickel & diming, or bottle-carrying, or a huge novel-sized bill shoved under our door at the end of the trip. The entertainment will be what we're used to, and know we enjoy. There will be things to do on sea days -- oh, and that's even enhanced by the fact that this is a "Spotlight on Film" cruise, and we love movies! The cabin will be large and comfy, with a nice balcony and large bathroom. And we know the service will be exemplary (not to mention the food.)

So there ya have it. Decision made. Yep, life is good!

Good choice!

Oceania has some god ideas, such as cheaper cruises than RSSC IF one doesn't mind a small room, while still offering some of the "lux" elements like open dining, great food, and great decor. But they are "shooting themselves in the foot" with their drink prices and shore excursion prices and quality (or lack of it). But then by "specializing" in longer cruises, they are making the "room size issue" greater than it would be with shorter cruises.

Want to see something good? look at Silverseas Silver Cloud Sept 13 cruise.

Thanks,

Richard

Richard, how could you DO that to me? What a deal, and a great itinerary! No, I'm not gonna reconsider...somebody stop me... I've already spent way too much time trying to select a cruise. ;)

Actually, the only problem with that cruise is the duration -- it's fits the budget, but we definitely want something longer than 10 days. As it is, for almost the same price we're getting 18 days on the Mariner. Tempting, though!

And I agree with you about Oceania shooting themselves in the foot. I would probably be more open to choosing them if they just relaxed the policy a bit, and made it less like the money-grubbing mass-market lines. Okay, so they don't want to include alcohol, which is understandable given what seems to be their intention of wooing the luxury-cruise passenger with lower fares. But a $20 corkage fee? I realize that's not considered outlandish at some of the finest restaurants, but it's WAY out of line compared to other cruise lines. If they want the luxury market, many of these people are going to want to bring their special wines aboard, and won't appreciate having to pay that much just for someone to open them.

And they should stop charging for soft drinks and water -- or at the very least, charge reasonable prices! When I see a pack of 28 1/2-liter water bottles at my grocery store for $3.99, and they want to charge $2.50 EACH BOTTLE -- that's $70 bucks for something I can get here for $3.99! That's just unconscionable, especially given that you are a captive market, you don't have much other choice, and fresh drinking water is a necessity. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

They have to realize that many passengers who cruise the luxury lines left the mass-market lines just to get away from stuff like that. They are not going to draw too many people away from those lines with policies like these.

Anyway, like I said, I may still consider them, but the huge bill at the end will always have to factor into my figuring, which pretty much washes out any value in their lower fares.

LeeAnne

LeeAnne

I'm glad you made a choice and a good one at that. We love RSSC, and it would be our first choice if itinerary wasn't important. Have a wonderful cruise (I know you will) and happy planning. At least it's a load off your shoulders now and you can spend the rest of teh "waiting" time getting excited!

Esther