ak1004

I don't think so. O prices don't change on a daily basis, unless there is a sale. In any case, I provided links for specific sailings. I also mentioned the difference in number of days/nights, and also pointed out to the mistake with the V PH per day cost. The conclusion is very clear, and many past V guests also mentioned that V is now significantly more expensive than O.

Thanks for the comparison. "On Viking: Penthouse Verandah for 15 nights Med (338 square feet) $ 11809 Per night $739 pp" My calculator gives me $787 per night, not $739. Furthermore, 15 days on V = 14 nights, so the cost per night is actually $843. For O, I see PH for 10 nights $7,550-$8,900 CAD or $5,555-$6,590 USD, not sure where did you see $7599. So the cost per night for PH is $27-50% more expensive on V. Furthermore, comparing V PH which is 338 sqft to O PH which is 420 sqft is also not apples to apples I also compared the cheapest veranda on O with the cheapest veranda on V in Sep 2024, and got the following numbers. Oceania: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/baltic-cruises/london-to-london-MNA240910/ 12 nights - $675 CAD or $500 USD per night https://www.oceaniacruises.com/greek-isles-cruises/athens-to-rome-VIS240903/ 10 nights $635 CAD or $470 USD per night https://www.oceaniacruises.com/mediterranean-cruises/rome-to-lisbon-VIS240913/ 10 nights $630 CAD or $466 USD per night https://www.oceaniacruises.com/mediterranean-cruises/barcelona-to-athens-RVA240911/ 10 nights $550 CAD or $407 USD per night Viking: https://www.vikingcruisescanada.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/eastern-mediterranean/empires-mediterranean/pricing.html#search/sfym=2024-9&sftcm=empires-mediterranean 9 nights $888 CAD or $658 USD https://www.vikingcruisescanada.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/western-mediterranean/ancient-adriatic-treasures/pricing.html#search/sfym=2024-8&sftcm=ancient-adriatic-treasures 14 nights $857 CAD or $635 USD https://www.vikingcruisescanada.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/western-mediterranean/italy-adriatic-greece/pricing.html#search/sfym=2024-8&sftcm=italy-adriatic-greece 14 nights $857 CAD or $635 USD So V is around 35-50% more expensive for veranda category (with the room 240 sqft on O vs 225 sqft on V). Few comments: Frist, I think comparing the newer O ships is a better comparison because basic verandas are comparable to V, while on the older ships you would need to go to PH to get a comparable size. Second, remember that when V says 10 days, it's actually 10 days or 9 nights, but O's 10 days is actually 10 nights. This could make a significant difference per night on shorter itineraries. For example, your Viking Penthouse Verandah should be 14 nights not 15, which increases the cost per night to $843. The bottom line is that when comparing comparable cabins, V is 30-40% more expensive.

I wouldn't really compare Israel to Russia. My estimate is that next summer cruises will return to Israel.

True. But why people would do it? Check how many cruises to Israel have been cancelled/modified in the last 10-15 years. I bet it less than 1%. While every operation/war is tragic and takes innocent lives, statistically those are events that not that common and don't last more than couple weeks. Of course the current one is probably different.

Add to the list countries that support and/or finance terror and/or have a history of terrorist attacks and/or high crime (India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Oman, Turkey, South Africa, Honduras, Brazil etc) and the list of places to visit becomes really small.

Are you suggesting that cruise lines stop selling cruises to Israel? Wouldn't this be a prize and surrender to terrorists? Not to mention that 99% of those cruises sail as planned.

What really matters is the overall package and how does it compare to other lines. This might be a price increase, but at least they give something in return (if you use it or not is a different matter). Just look at other lines to see their pricing. Crystal 2025 prices are 15-20% higher than 2024 prices (that were already crazy). We could get some good deals with SS for 2024, 2025 is completely out of reach. We did some extensive price analysis, and booked 2 cruises on O for 2025 because the found the prices still very reasonable. Example: 10 nights Med cruise on Vista was $500 CAD per night of FV in May 2024 (before SM). Now we booked 12 nights in June 2025 for $490 CAD per night, including SM. Even if we don't drink a single glass of wine and don't use the $550 CAD credit, it is still a very reasonable price to me. So

The situation in Israel is tragic. Hundreds of innocent men, women and children have been massacred. We have family (including our daughter) and friends in Israel, so we know the situation first hand. We should all remember how insignificant our problems are compared to what many families in Israel go though. I can completely understand the frustration and the disappointment. And I can completely understand why OP expects O not to hide behind the contract and provide some kind of compensation. However, those things are beyond their control, so I'm not sure why should they. OP claims that this is a completely different cruise - perhaps, but how we define "a completely different cruise"? 30% of the ports changed? 50%? 70%? Who decides? If the new ports are to your liking, then it's fine, if they are not, you deserve compensation? It is definitely a complex situation. Maybe other lines handle it better, maybe not. If they do, well done. O was never good in customer relations and/or communications, but once you step on board, you forget about the corporate missteps and focus on the ship experience. I would suggest that OP does the same. If they give you something, consider it a nice bonus. If they don't, try to enjoy the cruise. It is still a good itinerary and I'm sure you will enjoy the on board experience.

R ships OV/veranda are around 170 sqft, O ships 240 sqft and SS newer and larger ships are around 305 sqft. R ship cabins are slightly below our comfort zone, but 240 sqft on the O ships are perfectly fine. While SS cabins are definitely nicer, this is not a deciding factor for us. We almost always take air credit or book p2p with SS and take cruise only on O. I was able to book 3 cruises on SS that were priced almost the same as O, but as a general rule, I found SS significantly more expensive, even when you account for all inclusions. But I guess it also depends on the region, cabin category, cruise length etc. I would be glad to be proven wrong. You are absolutely correct. So on a 10 night cruise, you get $400 credit per person, you are probably looking at extra $500-600 per person for excursions if you take ships excursions. On the other hand, it also allows more flexibility, as you can always take a mix or ship excursions and private tours, while on SS you already paid for 1 tour in each port, so I assume most people would use the ship excursions.

@Vallesan excellent analysis! Personally I think you cannot go wrong with any of those lines, itinerary is the most important consideration (unless you consider the ship your destination, which some people do). But great itineraries on paper mean little if ports are cancelled on a regular basis. So far, there is no evidence that O does it more than others, and even less evidence that they do it on purpose.

Great review @bobolz we share most of your observations, although I think O larger ships would be a better comparison to SS or SB because of the cabins. The gap in the cabin size between R ships and SS/SB is too large to consider them close competitors. That said, when comparing the Riviera which we experienced 3 times with SS or Crystal (we haven't sailed on SB yet), my personal opinion is that they "luxury" lines are a step up, but a very small one, and as others mentioned, worth considering only if the price gap is small. I definitely would not pay 30-40% more for SS (which is usually the case).

SB or Crystal do not include excursions, but the prices are significantly higher. Would they be a better fit? Azamara doesn't include excursions, but have some other drawdowns. To me, SM was not a good move because we don't drink and rarely take ship excursions. But it's now a fact. Repeatedly mentioning it and complaining is a huge waste of time and energy. Yes, the prices are now higher, same as with all lines - we just assess the total cost and the overall package and decide case by case. We booked SS in the Caribbean for December despite the fact that we probably won't be doing most of the ship tours - but we liked the itinerary and the overall cost was only slightly higher than O.

Thank you! What is subjective is your experience, but number of cancelled ports and times in ports is not subjective. I took 2 random 14 nights Caribian itineraries from Miami to Bridgetown. This is what I found out: O: Sea days: 4 Ports till 5-7pm: 7 Ports till 10-11pm: 2 SB: Sea days: 5 Ports till 5-7pm: 4 Ports till 10-11pm: 4 So SB has one more sea day, but 2 more late night stays. Seems comparable overall. And as an exercise, checked comparable itinerary on SS: SS: Sea days: 2 Ports till 5-7pm: 6 Ports till 10-11pm: 5 So SS has a clear edge (this was our experience in Europe too).

Could you elaborate please?

Here is the most important question to me: how O compares to SB in terms of times in ports and cancelled ports? Can people who sailed on both share their experience? Does O gave history of more cancelled ports as some people claim?

We sailed on the Riviera in 2018 and Crystal Symphony in 2019, so could make a close comparison. Entertainment, enrichment and activities were much better on C. Everything else - we did not feel like a significant step up. Food and service comparable (in fact I would give a slight edge to O in food and slight edge to C in service), cabins better on O. Cannot comment on drinks because we don't drink, but agree about entertainment on O. Much less critical on European port intensive sailings. We wanted to give the new C a try, but their prices are a fantasy world. More expensive than SS and SB. The ships now sails 60-70% empty, so most people don't buy the hype at those prices. If they keep those prices, I doubt they will survive more than couples years. I mean, the ships are still 25+ years old and not getting any younger, the basic cabins are still small. Most people cruise for itineraries, and their itineraries are boring and not really inspiring.

Which is true for every line. And all premium/luxury lines have items that are included but you don't use. This is the reality. Get over it or find another line (if you can find one that includes only thing that you use).

Just one small issue with this argument: casinos are operated by a thirds party, not the cruise line, so cruise lines have zero benefit from passengers being longer on board. It's time to debunk those ridiculous conspiracy theories once and for all.

Thank you, this is important information. When the flights become available? We are 333 days before our SB cruise and I cannot see the flights under my SB account.

Yes, I understand how it works - my question was if everyone gets 2 accounts even if they booked prior to SM and did not switch to SM (as we know, previously only one account was included and you had to switch between devices).

Curious about the poor experience on Riviera - can you elaborate please?

What about wifi? Everyone gets two devices?

Celebrity has larger ships compared to lines like O, V, SS or SB, maybe this is the reason? Larger ships might be less sensitive to bad weather and waves? I'm just guessing here, really have no insights. I don't believe the "environmental, climate change etc" BS for a second. The shortened ports are definitely beneficial to O financially - but not cancelled ports. This is different.

I'm really not sure. 60 cruises and only 1 missed port? Statistically very unlikely, but maybe extreme luck? We had missed ports pre Covid and post Covid, with O, Crystal, Azamara etc. I still don't see evidence that O does it more than other lines.

And in addition to have "Realistic Expectations", I would also add "do your homework". If after returning from R ship you complain about small cabins and showers, it means you didn't do your homework. If you complain about lack of activities on Oceania, it means you didn't do your homework (O is not known for its great daily activities). And so on. Every line will be a compromise on something. Even lines like SS and SB. Learn the line strengths and weaknesses to avoid surprises.