ak1004

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.

we were on the Spirit last year and on the Dawn now. Don’t see too many differences. Slight changes to the restaurant locations, La Dame much larger, that’s it. Very similar layout. Overall I still find it a great experience, but not necessarily better than Oceania.

it used to be more important a few years ago, less important now. Still I like to stay in touch with the family, and also browse the news etc. so no, we won’t be upgrading, but SS prices are fairly high, so I would expect them to provide good internet, especially now when they have the infrastructure.

We boarded the Dawn on Dec.11, and I was pleased to find out that they upgraded to StarLink. However, when I measured the speed, I was getting a pathetic 1.5M, and it does feel slow. I expected much more from StarLink. Turns out that what you get is what they call basic internet, but you can upgrade and experience the full advantage of the StarLink for $29 a day. Feels a bit strange that an ultra luxury cruise line dimes and nickels like this.

We will be on a cruise after yours (Dec.11) and find those posts extremely helpful. This will be our second SS cruise, the first one was on the Spirit last December. While we did have a great cruise, some of the issues you describe definitely sound familiar. We were a group of 10 people, so this might explain some of the service flaws. This time it's only us, so no excuses. I hope they do better this time, otherwise I'm not convinced that I can justify the premium price compared to Oceania. As for people finding SS boring compared to HAL - I can definitely understand it, and I think this would be the case with most premium/luxury lines (maybe except for Crystal). Personally I don't come to SS or O for entertainment or activities, but mostly for service, food and the small ship experience. It's important to have realistic expectations.

We did some research, based on this thread and online reviews. Some of the hotels mentioned here are simply way above our budget. St. Regis, St. Regis, Monaco Grand Canal etc seem like fantastic places, I just cannot justify spending that kind of money for a place where we basically will only sleep and shower. Moresco looks like a good option at decent price, but they have only non refundable rates, and we don't book non refundable rates as a matter of principle. We ended up booking Novecento, a small boutique hotel in a quiet area of San Marco. You can book only directly with the hotel, not on booking sites like expedia. We will share our experience, but based on the reviews, it looks like a good value for money.

And I'm not questioning the OP experience. I'm just saying that ours was completely different. Could be a matter of expectations, or some challenges specific to this particular sailing. And whoever claims that food on small ships is no better than on large ships, consider this: There is no charge for specialty restaurants on O and most other small ships (there are some exceptions). Specialty restaurants on lines like Celebrity typically cost $100-150 per couple. Now, if they serve good food in the MDR, what incentive would people have to pay for specialty restaurants? For that reason only, the MDR or buffet food on large ships can never be really good, otherwise they would cannibalize their specialty restaurants business.

TC on its worst day is still better than Celebrity buffet on its best day. And the food on C buffet varies between mediocre and inedible. Every buffet can become crowded if the ship is full and most guests return from excursions at the same time and all other venues are closed. Including buffet on Silversea and Crystal. The difference is that you usually can still find a table without doing 5 circles.

I never said that "inconsistent dining service and highly chaotic buffet service" are acceptable simply because we never experienced anything like it. On Celebrity we really had a problem finding a table in the buffet - was never an issue on O. The couple we travelled with were in shock how quickly the drinks and the coffee arrived in the morning. They were in shock how quickly the dirty dishes were evacuated from the table. One of the big positive surprises for them was the way they serve food in the buffet (compared to self service on C where everyone touches the food and the dishes). Service in the MDR was between very good and excellent most of the time, with some very rare exceptions. But service on Celebrity MDR was also pretty good, what made the difference is the quality of the food. Huge difference. To me, it IS the best food at sea, better than SS or Crystal. So our experience was very different from yours - maybe your experience was impacted by some of groups that you mentioned, not sure. That said, not everything on O is better than C or Princess. The entertainment and activities are consistently mediocre, something you can expect on most small ships (except Crystal). The excursions on O are overpriced and overcrowded (this is why we are not very happy with SM). To us, O is not "profoundly special". It's just significantly better than the large ships, but so are all small ships that we sailed on (Crystal, Azamara and Silversea). They are better by definition being small ships, with no crowds, no lines, almost no children etc. I would gladly sail on any small ship in 300-1,200 passengers range and not likely to return to any of the big ships. But some people don't care, and that's fine. We are all different. But then again, if O was only a hair better than its mid-range competitors, people probably wouldn't pay significant premium compared to those mid-range competitors (although C prices are now not too far behind, especially when you consider all the inclusions).

I think this is what we'll do. Check out is at 11, so we can always storage the luggage, have lunch and go to the ship around 1:30. Speaking of hotel - anyone stayed at Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa? Do they have nice dining options or better to take Uber and have a nice dinner on Las Olas?

As long as there is enough black caviar, we are good.. don’t care much about wine.