ak1004

Still need a jacket in La Terrazza on formal nights, just no tie.

We just completed our second cruise on SS, and while it was great, I simply don’t see what puts SS in a different world from O. They ran out of some basic items like Perrier, Pelligrino, all diet cokes, cream cheese etc. And they charge extra for some things that are expected to be included on an ultra luxury all inclusive line. And many people on board told us that SS misses ports too and shorten times in ports too. I think SS is a great value for people who drink, like to book ship excursions, use their butlers extensively and like larger cabins. To us, not sure I can justify paying 40-50% premium.

Never stops to amaze me why some people are so obsessed about what other people are wearing..

We are on the Dawn. Officially the classic dress code still applies, but it’s not really enforced. I haven’t seen people with jeans, t shirts or shirts, but I did see people with no jackets in La Terrazza on formal night. But I also know that people were denied entry to Atlantide without a jacket. And it’s definitely not enforced in public areas like bars, Venetian lounge etc. I’m not sure if this was always the case.

Very nice, tasteful and elegant. And I’m sure you won’t feel out of place. We have seen people dressed like this even on Oceania which is a very casual line, and they didn’t feel out of place.

The issue is that it’s not symmetrical. With the current code, you can dress as you wish, while I cannot. If they do it similar to Nova, both of us can be happy. And nobody is coming to dinner like they did yard work. They can still enforce the no jeans and no t shirts policy.

We are currently on the Dawn. Spoke to literally dozens of guests. NONE of them wants the current dress code. Remember that relaxing the dress code doesn’t mean allowing jeans, short or t shirts. There still will be formal nights, but rest of the nights those of us who don’t like it, will have an option to wear a nice dressy shirt with nice slacks, but no jackets. Those who still insist wearing jackets or ties can still do it. The change is inevitable.

can you ask her if and when the rest of the fleet will follow?

thanks, very helpful. I definitely wouldn’t expect 90-100M. But I believe that at least 5M is a minimum for an ultra luxury line in 2023.

My comment of capacity control referred to La Dame, not the internet. La Dame on the Spirit is much smaller, so charging a fee to control demand did make some sense. But La Dame on the Dawn is about 3 times larger, so the capacity control excuse doesn’t hold anymore. While this is not related to the internet discussion, it’s just another example how SS will use every excuse to extract more money from guests while marketing itself as all inclusive line. As for tied internet service - it’s fine as long as the basic service is satisfactory. Then you can say that the basic is good and the premium is excellent. The problem is that this is not the case. If I was getting 5M in Princess (mass market line) in 2018, I consider 1.5M adequate at best for 2023 on an ultra luxury line. From a line like SS, I expect better than just adequate. Fortunately having good internet is now less critical to me than it was a few years ago when I was much more involved in my business.

We book our cruises based on combination of itinerary, price and ship experience. We just booked 2 cruises on O for 2025, each with two overnights and two extended stays till late evening. The price was in $340-370 usd range. Similar sailings wirh SS started around $600 usd for p2p with non refundable deposit. It was an easy choice. SS misses ports too, but $1200 sea day is more difficult to swallow than $700 sea day. So for us it's really case by case. I find that O and SS have more similarities than some people think and it really comes to itinerary and price. We love both.

We were advised by our butler today that the ship ran out of Perrier and Pelegrino. Still 4 days to go. Never happened on O.

Exactly. Even with 0.5M you can still do most things. It just would take forever. We can continue going in circles, but we can all agree about the facts. Less than 10% of the guests get the real speed of StarLink. 90%+ get the reduced speed of 1.5M unless they pay $29 a day Some people think it’s ok. I think it’s unacceptable and misleading. But at least the prospective guests know what to expect. It’s pretty much the same as with La Dame. We all agree that 90% of the guests have to pay for it. Some people think it’s ok. Some believe it’s unacceptable for an all inclusive line. On the Spirit they had an excuse of a very small venue that needs capacity control. What’s the excuse on the Dawn?

excursions on O are not good. We usually book private tours.

It’s not a matter of what I couldn’t do. It’s a matter of speed. Even with 0.5M speed you can do most things, it’s just much slower. I would call it adequate, but from an ultra luxury line like SS I expect better than adequate. I also expect from a line that is marketing itself as all inclusive not to charge extra for things like premium internet or 2 out of 8 restaurants. And $29 a day is pretty expensive. Oceania also has premium internet but it charges $10 a day to upgrade. And Oceania is not ultra luxury all inclusive line.

On the Dawn now. Today was informal night, I didn’t want to wear a jacket, so I called our butler around 5pm and asked him to make a reservation in La Terrazza for 7pm. No problem at all. Doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to get it every night, but it’s a fairly large venue, and it is usually not full. As a reference, our sailing is full.

We had our first SS cruise last year, so I cannot compare to how it was pre Covid. But both our cruises were very enjoyable. When I said that to me SS is comparable to O, it was meant more as a compliment to O than criticism of SS. But maybe they were not comparable pre Covid, and this is why people say that the line is in decline. btw, all dinners we had so far were excellent in terms of food and service. Dinner in La Terrazza today was probably the best meal we had so far on the Dawn. Unfortunately I cannot say the same about lunches in La Terrazza. Food and service just ok.

1.5M is not a speed that people would expect from StarLink. Sorry, but it’s pathetic. My Air Canada app is hardly loading, I’m not sure I will be able even to do check in. Included alcohol is usually very good and good enough for most people. The basic internet is not. Even at the reception they admitted that it’s very slow.

In terms of ship experience, we really like O. My biggest concern at this point is that they have a reputation for missing ports lately, which is pretty bad, and their excursions are not as good as SS. Also SS has better itineraries and longer port stays, at least for European sailings, and this is significant for us. Also the dress code on O works much better for us. I like to dress nicely and don’t think jeans or t shirts are appropriate for dinner, but having to wear a jacket on 6 nights out of 10 nights is ridiculous. We are also trying SB next year. Choice is good.

I’m getting speeds of 1.5M now. Which is better than we had on the Spirit last year, but still pathetic for an ultra luxury line in 2023. They should not advertise that they have StarLink if they artificially reduce the speeds for 90% of the guests. I was getting 5-6M on Princess 5 years ago.

No, free laundry is different. They don’t advertise that free laundry is included in the cruise price, but they do advertise that Dawn switched to StarLink and the internet is included. But if if you have to pay to get the StarLink quality internet, then it’s not included.

We want to try Regent, but each time I check them, their prices are significantly more expensive than SS, even when removing the air. Even SS prices are too high in my opinion. We got excellent deals on all 3 sailings we booked so far, but I would not pay their “regular” prices. I checked SS 2025 prices and they are out of reach. Just cannot justify paying 50% more compared to O.

Sorry but I don’t. And many people that we spoke on board with agreed with us. Cabins are better on SS, and you get a butler, which is useless to us. Food comparable, slightly better on Oceania in my opinion. Service comparable overall. Service in the buffet better on Oceania. Takes significantly less time to get a coffee in the morning on O. Water served almost room Temperature on SS. Excursions better on SS, smaller groups. Entertainment and activities mediocre on both lines. So I’m not sure what puts SS in a different world. The fact that it’s all inclusive, but charge extra for 2 out of 8 restaurants and $29 a day for premium internet? We did 4 O and 2 SS cruises so far, so the sample is pretty small, but this is my opinion based on this small sample. We are having a great cruise on the Dawn, but I’m not blown away as I’m supposed to on an ultra luxury line.

I agree, and this is how this should be with StarLink. But why it’s included only with certain level of suite? It should be standard.

That’s true. But I still don’t have a clear evidence that Oceania misses ports more than other lines. How they handle missed ports is a different issue.