dszrew

A year ago I retired, and I think we’ve cruised about 100 days on several cruise lines (a few new to us): Holland America, Oceania, Norwegian, Celebrity. We’ve probably done 20 cruises now, mostly on Celebrity. A year ago was our first cruise since the pandemic. Thought I’d compare the lines/ships as we experienced them this year (with some references to the past). Best Embarkation: I liked the way Celebrity does embarkation now, with much of the check-in process automated, and then head to your stateroom to get your keys. It helped that in both cases we boarded later, not trying to get there at the first boarding time. Norwegian gets the worst embarkation of our 20+ cruises. They were not allowed to use the main terminal for check-in, so instead had everyone line up and they bussed you to the ship. A total of 2 people trying to control the boarding crowd and giving conflicting instructions on where to line up. Total chaos. They said they did not expect the change, but it was as if they had never done boarding before. Both Norwegian and Holland America shut down several of the elevators to move luggage, so it was often impossible to find an empty elevator and sometimes not possible to get where we needed to go without stairs. No signs or notifications of closed elevators or alternative routes. Best Disembarkation: A positive with Norwegian is you don’t sign up for a time, you just go pick out the luggage tags you want based on when you want to leave. We tended to leave as soon as they’d let us off (if not a few minutes before), so we were able to get off quickly, grab our luggage, and get a taxi without too much of a wait on every cruise. Overall it seems less stressful than it used to be on any line. The Edge had the best elevators for getting off the ship as they were larger and more of them and we were also up front where they were less used than the main elevator banks. Best Cabin Attendants: No complaints on any line. All did their magic as we stepped out and kept the ice bucket full. We were somewhat frustrated on Norwegian with boarding, tendering, and docking locations. Our room attendant was the only one on the ship who didn’t try to argue with us and even ran up a few decks once when there was confusion over which deck to use to get off. Best Quality MDR Food: Oceania edges out the other lines. I really found the MDR food to be similar across all lines with good quality in the MDR (despite what you found anywhere else). Menus are very similar across all lines, except perhaps with a more French flare on Oceania. Little variation in bread offered each day, with fewer selections on the menu. After having one vegetarian, one gluten free, one (or more) fish/seafood, and a chicken dish, the final spot was split between beef, lamb, pork, etc. I have typically not liked lamb but found the lamb on Norwegian to be very good. Best Suite Dining Quality: On Oceania, there is no special suite dining. Their normal MDR beats out Celebrity Luminae for quality. Luminae was good, with varying quality, but with a selection of different items. On Oceania, it was often a variation of a thin slice of meat breaded and covered with a sauce. We thought Luminae had a more interesting menu (but not necessarily more or better choices and not really better quality). Best MDR Service: Celebrity wins hands down. On all other lines we found excessive wait times at dinner--even when we’d skip the appetizer. I think Celebrity wins overall in the service department, possibly because they seem to have more long-time employees. Everyone on Oceania tried hard to be happy and friendly, but there often seemed to be a lack of training or even urgency in clearing tables or doing other things. Heard Oceania was understaffed, but still think better management could have polished off the rough spots. Best Buffet Quality: Oceania by a mile (or nautical mile). They serve the same food in the buffet as on the dinner menu, with some additions. If none of that appeals, you can ask for grilled rib eye, new york strip, shrimp, and lobster tail. They cook it right there, not pull it off a pile pre-cooked. We found it easier to go to the buffet each night as it was faster and had better selection. Surprisingly, I thought Norwegian did a good job. They didn’t try to be luxury, but they did budget well and did the best keeping the food hot. Celebrity might have had a bit of a tastier selection, but food was often cold, even if you tried to dig down into the big pans for something closer to the heat. Could not stand the Holland America buffet. Best Buffet Selection: Celebrity had the most to choose from with the most variety. Unfortunately, that variety was somewhat disguised. Always a group of Indian, Asian, Gyro, Sandwich, Vegetarian and other common items. Specific items rotated, and after a while it seemed the same repeat each day with only a few exceptions. Best Desserts: Oceania wins again due to quality and a bit better selection. Sometimes unusual items, always a good chocolate something (or two). Celebrity is a distant second. Dessert in the buffet was often just a change in the color of the cake rectangles they served. We seemed to find sea days at lunch had better desserts. On Edge, they would create these beautiful cakes, but when you ask for some you’d get the piece of a sheet cake hidden behind. Solstice had better variety of desserts and you could often get a piece of the cake or pie yourself. Celebrity main dining room desserts were better, but I can’t believe how much the chocolate lava cake has shrunk over the years (smaller around than a quarter and just a bit taller). The other two lines were totally uninspiring at dessert. Best Ice Cream: Celebrity Edge wins. As good as the “old” Celebrity ice cream. Found the ice cream on Solstice to be less creamy, but they had a wider selection of flavors. I guess they didn’t want to compete with their Gelato stand on Deck 5. Oceania had good ice cream, with some unusual flavors that were hit or miss (more miss as they tried to be exotic). Norwegian had self-serve chocolate & vanilla soft ice cream, which beat out anything Holland America served up. Best Specialty Steak: Oceania wins, barely edging out Cagney’s on Norwegian. Cagney’s may have had the better steak, but you can’t beat the lobster mac & cheese on Oceania. Was not impressed with Fine Cut on Edge--didn’t measure up to the old Lawn Club Grill from a few years back (steak looked to have rested too long and had some odd texture and coloring). The Holland American steak place was not worth the tip I had to pay for the “free” specialty dining. Butler Service: Had a butler on Oceania and also the Edge. I frankly don’t know what to do with one--just keep the Coke Zero stocked and I’m happy. I’ve asked butlers to help with dinner reservations, and just don’t see the benefit as I can call direct and get the same answer. Took 2 days for the butler on the Edge to get back with me, by which time I had already done it. Only had a Sky Suite on Edge. When I asked about room service, like ordering from the MDR or something, was told the only option was the (very limited) menu. Oceania wins with our butler taking orders for the specialty restaurants for the last week of our 30 day cruise as we tired of the other food onboard. I’ve heard rumors of that on Celebrity, but I think only for higher up suite guests. Best Pizza: I think Holland America wins. I just want a greasy pepperoni. Celebrity second (if you got it hot). Oceania last (they tried to be too fancy). Best Burgers: Oceania is in a class by itself, with steak and lobster sandwich and larger burgers made when you order them. Only the Luminae burger compares favorably to Oceania--but with a wider selection. We used to like Celebrity burgers, but no more. I actually liked Holland American’s better. Best Food Item on Norwegian: Monte Cristo Sandwich for lunch. The Reuben would be a close second. Best Food Item on Holland: Probably the Reuben, extra meat. Best Food Item on Oceania: Nightly rib eye and lobster. Best Food Item on Celebrity: On the Edge, probably the ice cream (judged by how often we had it). The dulce de leche croissant was tasty. Best Entertainment: We don’t go on a ship for entertainment. We’re often going to bed by the time the first show starts. I don’t like production shows by the ship cast. So Celebrity wins on entertainment because they bring in “headliners” who can often be quite good. I like when they bring in local acts, like the Gaucho dancers in Argentina or the Islander Dancers on our recent cruises. Best Enrichment Speakers: The speakers on Celebrity are more visible and easier to find, and there are more of them. The best regular speaker was on the Solstice, the woman talking about nature. She was knowledgeable, energetic, and funny. Best ever. Best Ship: Our cruise on the Edge was our first on that class of a ship. I really like how they changed several things that just made sense. Larger elevators, larger hallways in some public areas, the magic carpet for tendering, luxury tender boats, and a large area to walk on for security. First time in several years that I’ve taken many pictures of the ship. We’ve had a few suites, and they are often about the same size. I liked the layout of the Sky Suite, like it was wider than many and with some unusual touches here and there. The only thing better than the Edge was a Silversea ship or two that were very small and never crowded. A few observations about Celebrity compared to pre-pandemic: I think Celebrity is better managed and overall has more competent people than the other lines. Service was good everywhere, just better and more professional on Celebrity. Apparently you can only get 100% butter now in specialty or suite dining. Pathetic “sticky” buns at breakfast are cold, crumbly danishes with a little hard brown sugar and nuts. Virtually the same comment for their cinnamon rolls (didn’t try Eden’s). Lunch and even breakfast was crowded in the buffet. Worse than I remember. One day had to circle several times to find a table. At one point I told my wife “this isn’t my idea of fun.” So many people you could hardly move in a straight line without someone stopping, stooping, or cutting in front of you. We did Luminae a few times, but the trade off is the limited selection and the time it takes to be served. We did a lot of cruising this year, and are looking now for slower-paced vacations where we have more control over when and where we eat (and a better selection). I still think cruises are best for getting in many stops without having to pack and unpack constantly.

is there car rental at the pier or farther away (walk, bus, Uber to the rental)?

We have only done HAL once this spring. We thought the MDR food was good. We also cruised with relatives so if it took a while to eat we didn't even notice. Buffet area was unimpressive--often we'd roam and shrug our shoulders. Most everything we got there was cold (if it was supposed to be hot). Terrace cafe is far above HAL buffet, and the options for fresh grilled lobster or steak can't be beat.

Weather. "Gale force swells" was common. In one port, we delayed leaving by 3 hrs or so because of weather. It didn't seem that bad, but I guess they didn't want a rogue wind to blow us back into the dock. There was a break in the rain and we took off. Once we got into the fjord it was calm. Someone said the captain seems cautious. I think the Nuuk cancellation was justified. I wonder too if they cancel a port not because the weather is bad right now but because the weather might get bad before they leave port?

Only one shared connection. Ph1-ph3 I think. If you go higher you might get 2?

30 day cruise, about 22 ports? 2 ports were canceled one morning with the replacement the following day. North Cape canceled as we got there in the morning. Nuuk canceled the afternoon before.

It's been a few weeks now since our 30 days on Riviera through Scandinavia and Greenland/Iceland. We had cruised mostly Celebrity in the past, and upgraded to O pre-pandemic to try a bit more upscale and potentially better food and service. We do three things on a ship: sleep, eat, and get off to see ports. We've had a version of this cruise booked for 4 years, and finally was able to get onboard. Positives: I was immediately impressed with the crew. Well trained to greet you in the hallway, as you got off and on the ship, and it seemed many genuinely wanted to be there and were happy with their work (not so much on our HAL cruise a few months back). I thought the ship in good repair and pleasant . PH2 was a nice size. Comfortable beds, liked the room for table and chairs. We didn't know what to do with a butler so much, but his main job was to keep our fridge stocked with sugar-free soda. He excelled in this. Very good cabin stewards, again very friendly. We started to really take advantage of having the butler bring us what we wanted from the specialty restaraunts (see more below). Ordered from the room service menu a few times. Limited selection but we liked the quality of the food that arrived. Kind of odd you have to talk to a butler for room service. I really liked the cheese plate, that became my preference as a warm up to dinner. (their pre-dinner canapes weren't really that good and often cold) We had OLife shore excursions (8 of them each). They were all as expected, even though a few were a pretty basic city tour. I'm starting to dislike the hassle (and worry) of planning my own things for every port, and also to the point where I can't be as adventuresome as I used to be (although I still try). Most of the bus tours had enough open seats my wife and I could take our own rows. We ended up taking 7 shore excursions through O (more on that below). All our O excursions were on the first half of the trip mostly in Norway. I probably had a Reuben sandwich about 8 times in the 30 days--lots of meat, especially when you ask for extra! Service in specialty restaraunts was great. Best items: lobster mac & cheese in Polo, my wife liked the tempura sole in Ginger. Jacques was a bit too French for us, but did like the mushroom lobster. Overall food quality was above average. Nice quality rib eye (not prime, but still good). Yes, lobster is frozen as I've seen them dump many still stuck together out of a bag. Still, had no problem with it. Ice cream was good. Henry Slocombe ice cream mostly wasn't our thing except fudge fernet and peanut butter. Although often they'd be out of both when they were on the menu! Terrace often did not serve the flavor they said they would. Mostly had chocolate ice cream, but dulce de leche and a few other flavors were good (not really a sorbet person). Below expectations: Missed 4 ports with 1 substitution. I won't comment on whether this was justified or not, just disappointing, especially missing our ATV trip at the North Cape--one of the main reasons for booking this cruise. Limited and unpredictable meal times. Often we'd get back onboard after 2pm in port. Only thing open then is Waves (until 4) or room service. Terrace cafe hours were 12-2, although sometimes they'd open at 11:30 and other times stay open past 2. We didn't know how to predict it. Great when they had the extended hours (unless you just got on when 3 other O tours ended at the same time). Service in the main dining room was mostly sloooooow. We often skip appetizer and might only do main + dessert = still an experience over 90 minutes (well over 90 minutes for a lunch!). Gave up after our third try. As we gave up on MDR, we spent more time in Terrace cafe for dinner. I like that most things on the MDR menu are also served there, albiet under heat lamps. However, Terrace became a very frustrating part of our cruise, and I vacation to avoid frustrations. People would line up at 11:45 for lunch. There would soon be no open tables. If you came in later, it would be impossible to tell if a table were empty. Often they would clear off the tables or leave a few dishes and not reset the service. Wait staff were just as confused as we were. A few times had to specifically push aside the dirty dishes (not mine!) or the dirty tablecloth that wasn't changed. I would eat rib eye every night as it looks better than many things they serve, but there was often a long line to order and a large group of people waiting for their orders. Wish they would give you a number and bring out your food like Waves did. Terrace seemed understaffed, and sometimes it took patience to get someone's attention, and then remind the server who really was next. Some nights Terrace would almost be empty, and others it would be packed. Seems the staff couldn't predict it any better than I could. Sometimes it seemed as if the managers were doing more clearing of plates than the staff, and other times they were absent (and maybe that's when service dropped?). If you get the OLife excursions (or whatever they call it now), if a port is skipped and your excursion is canceled, all you can do is book something else. Our first skipped port day I scrambled to cancel a private tour and replace it with an O tour just to use the excursion. Later in the day they did decide to give $100 credit for each missed excursion. However, later in the cruise they went back to the old policy, unless perhaps you were lucky enough to talk to one specific person at the destination desk. In the end we did get one credit for one missed excursion. That should just be O policy--if the excursion is canceled, you get $100 room credit. AND, why not let us apply that $100 to a more expensive excursion? On the second half of the cruise we were in small ports with few excursions available. I overheard many complain that they got the "included" excursions, but then there was nothing available, or mostly nothing that was interesting that the credit could be used for. There seemed to be many first-time O travelers, and they didn't understand how the excursions worked. In the end, O began running as many as 5 or more of some excursions in these ports. That also meant the experience for some was poor. Heard many comments that their guides told them nothing, or they left halfway through, etc. These were mostly in Greenland ports where there were not established tour companies. While the food quality was good, we ended up having a hard time finding something we wanted (except for ice cream and any chocolate dessert). I overheard one person describe it as "bland". Menus mostly repeated after 15 days (not unexpected). While we originally cruised O for better food, we've now determined that cruising for food is a poor choice for us. Part of it is trying to eat healthier (even on vacation), part is the food wasn't overly exciting. Asia, Mexican, ethnic, and even Pizza were pretty bland. Towards the end of the cruise we warned our butler we were going to order more from the specialty restaraunts in our cabin. I didn't necessarily ever feel comfortable doing that, but at least we could find something we liked and avoid the frustration of the possible crowds and the long waits. Internet was the worst. In port, you might as well just turn your phone on. 2am in the morning seemed to be the best time, although that was still painfully slow. Overheard one gentleman tell me he had paid for 2 connections, which just gave them 2 connections that neither of them could use (btw, suites should automatically come with 2 connections, not just 1). Much of the internet problem was the location at the top of the world--either in the open sea with no satellite overhead or in port with the fjords blocking the line of sight to the signal?). I did still manage to buy a car from the middle of the ocean--a first for me! Overall, we enjoyed the cruise, especially the destinations and having 30 full days to relax and enjoy being together. While frustrating, the "crowding" we experienced at times would not prevent us from sailing O again. However, we chose O and paid a premium for the food, which we are finding is less important to us. We have one more O cruise coming up, but in the future we will probably choose more on price than on reputation of food (destination is always the first choice of who we sail with). Our opinions, for what they're worth.

Had a 30 day grand cruise booked, past final payment. Both legs of the 30 day cruise worked out to half of what I paid. I suggested that an upgrade from B3 to PH2 would be acceptable to me, or if not, some obc. Through my TA, O originally said No. Possibly because the grand cruise is not considered the same as the two segments b2b. I called O directly and asked for an upgrade, and got "I'll ask the revenue department for you as a courtesy." My TA pushed some more and finally got us the upgrade to the PH2. I know some have been getting full credit for the far difference, but how do you spend $12k in obc? I also think just the room upgrade is a good compromise, even though I still paid about $6k more than if I could have booked today. I'm satisfied.

checking with my TA after a week of requesting, and despite what I booked being $12,500 less now, nothing is forthcoming from O. I even suggested just upgrading me to a PH or something, which would still leave me paying $6000 more than current pricing. TA isn't done yet, but no positive outcome for me (yet).

I have a 30 day cruise currently priced at half of what I paid, but post final payment. My TA suggested this, and after getting the quotes for new pricing, I sent that information back to him, but they have yet to check (I'm certain). This gave me a bit of something I can push back with to see if they'll put in the effort to make the call.

Have a 30 day grand cruise booked. both legs on the sale. IF I could rebook it would save $12,000, but we are past final payment date. TA told me they wouldn't match, but they'd see if we could get an upgrade or some other perk. not holding my breath at all, either on O or the TA putting much effort into it...

I would assume if you do B2B cruises you will get either the 4 category upgrade or a discount, but not both?

I think that could be right.

If you have NCL stock, is there a bigger benefit for a grand cruise, like 2 months, compared to just what you normally get for over 14 nights?

I believe that would work, although the terms also stated that if shares were held jointly there would only be one credit per sailing.