ak1004

Have you sailed on SS? After 2 cruises on SS, I didn't see much difference in service compared to O. Overall I found both between very good and excellent, but we experienced some of the issues mentioned by @WNcruiser on SS as well.

Do you mind sharing the service issues you had?

This is part of doing business. Isn't it the same with realtors and many other professions?

I would never pay any fee for any service provided by a TA. In fact, I would run away. They get their commissions from the cruise line and/or the airline. There are many TAs in Ontario who provide perks, but it is less common in Canada. We switched to US based TA who provides us 10-12% rebate on every single cruise. They can book in USD or CAD, based on your preference.

Yes, and too many sea days for us. Having 2-3 sea days on 10-11 nights sailing is way too many. We don't cruise to spend time on the ship. You are right, I was looking at 2025. But this is also for November, and November is typically significantly cheaper for Europe sailings.

Those prices don’t exist anymore. At least not for Europe. But yes, anything under $450-500 on Explora I would book.

It probably depends on category. We booked 2 cruises on Vista for 2025 in FV for less than $400/night. Explora is around $550-600 on average, with some exceptions. So 30-40% more expensive. Of course if you book standard veranda on O, the gap is smaller. Drinks package on O is offset by excursions credit, so the only difference is gratuities (and $20/day is not really material when you pay $400-500 per day).

Well, this is exactly my point. If most of the things are comparable, why to pay 30-50% more for a "luxury" line? For people who drink and require larger cabins, it might be justified. Otherwise? I'm not sure. We still need to try SB (will be doing it in September) to see if their overall experience is significantly better than SS. If it's not, we will probably stick with O.

But if you don't drink, then it doesn't really matter. After 4 O cruises and 2 SS cruises, I'm still not very clear about the difference between "Premium Line" and a "Luxury Line." The only thing that was significantly better on SS was the cabins. The 305 sqft cabin with walk-in closet, curtain between the bed and the sitting area etc was a real treat. But we are perfectly happy with O class cabins, and Vista cabins are similar. All the rest? Food is better on O, rest of the things comparable.

I believe @FlyerTalker is correct. There are no guarantees that the ship will wait, regardless of ship tour or private tour. How likely it is to wait is a different matter. You are probably correct that they will consider all the expenses they will occur by leaving behind guests of a ship tour, and are more likely to wait for a ship tour than private tour. But more likely does not equal guaranteed as they want you to believe. I believe that even a very unlikely event of being left behind is worth the risk, compared to how much you are overpaying on ship tours. It's matter of personal preferences, but it's important to know all the facts. Booking a ship tour does NOT guarantee that the ships will wait in a unlikely even of delay.

Thanks a lot! I believe it is possible to request the same server every night on O if there is someone you liked. How crowded did you find O compared to SB and which ships?

You are so obsessed with sales, promotions, pre-SM, post-SM etc. that you are missing the big picture. To me it's pretty simple: if I see an itinerary that I like at reasonable price, I book it. It could be O or any other premium/luxury line. I don't care what the fare includes - it might include things we don't use like alcohol, it doesn't matter to me if the itinerary and price are right. I don't care what the price was in 2022 or 2002 and what it included then. Sorry but I'm done.

Once again, meaningless without mentioning cruise length and category, and also completely irrelevant. SS and Crystal prices increased by 25-30% in 2025 compared to 2022, so what?

When you say price rose by $800, it's meaningless. It depends on cruise length, category, etc. How can you make such a general statement?? Cruises that I tracked increased by $400 for category that I tracked. Those were 10 nights cruises in Europe in OV. I'm sure 30 nights cruises increased by much more and 7 nights cruises by less. PH definitely increased by more. We booked 2 cruises on Vista in Europe for 2025. One at $330 USD pp, one at $360. I could not find better value with any of premium/luxury lines. If one of them goes on sale, we will rebook. Otherwise, we are happy with the price, considering the prices I see in 2025 on SB, SS, Crystal, or even Windstar. I couldn't care less what the price was in 2022. It's completely irrelevant.

Probably keep bashing the SM?

Hank, thank you for your reports and glad that you are enjoying Vista. I'm sure you will cover it, but 2 quick questions: Does Vista feel more crowded than SB or EJ, and how does the food compare to those two lines, in MDR and specialty restaurants?

I don't know why people still continue comparing pre-SM with post-SM. OLife is history. The only thing that matters is how the current prices compare to other lines. If you still see value with SM, continue booking SM. If not, vote with your wallet and book another line. It's that simple. We booked 3 cruises with SS despite the fact that we don't drink and prefer to book our own tours. Why? Because the itinerary and the price were right for us and those 3 specific sailings provided better value than O.

Maybe they can give the credit only if they cancel, not the customer (or the port is missed)? Same as with cruise cancellation policy. They cancel = full refund. Customer cancels = cancellation policy applies.

I believe this is a common problem for all lines that have "free" (included) excursions or excursion credit. Consider Silversea as an example. Their pricing is significantly higher than their closest competitor Seabourn because they include 1 "free" excursion in each port. However, when I'm looking at our upcoming SS cruise in May, about 70% of the included excursions are waitlisted or full. They have "select" excursions which are extra cost. So you paid more for the cruise itself, and now you have to pay extra for some excursions because the included excursions are full. Also, if they miss a port or cancel an excursion, there is no refund or credit. This is even worse than O. This is why many people consider "free" (or included) excursions not a good deal for guests. You pay for them indirectly, but in many cases you cannot use them. I don't know what a reasonable solution would be.

Matter of expectations I guess.. While not any of my cruises has been absolutely perfect, I've had a wonderful time on all of them. We always embarked with the attitude that we would have a good time and we always did. I know I'll be well taken care of, see lots of interesting sights, and not have to worry about cooking or cleaning up after myself. If we miss a port for some reason, that's a risk one takes going on a ship as opposed to a land trip. Some of those reviews just make me laugh. People don't appreciate what they have.

Thanks for the report. Silversea which is supposed to be an ultra luxury line, starts the check in at 2pm, and cabins are ready at 4pm. And I don't remember anyone greeting us with a glass of champagne on our recent SS sailing. I remember Bermuda was cancelled last year too on a sailing around this time. I'm not sure why they keep schedule stops in Bermuda in March knowing that those stops will probably be cancelled.

I posted a comparison of SS and O a while ago: To me, O provides a better value for money, especially after recent dramatic price increase on SS. I don't really care what category each of them belongs, they are comparable to me in areas that are important to me, at least when comparing the newer O ships. SS has excursions included in price (one in each port), but some excursions are still extra, and even some included excursions are sold out months before the sailing, so this is not much different from O.

Not all lines increase prices at the same pace. SB and O are still very reasonably priced and are much better value for money.

Personally I agree with you 100%. We don’t drink alcohol and we prefer to book private tours. But based on the discussions with many guests, and number of Oceania buses in every port, most people are not like us. Most people do drink alcohol and do at least some ship tours. This is why I said “average”. And even while we prefer private tours, on most sailings there are at least 2-3 ports where we take ship tours, for various reasons (safety, security, lack of reliable local tours companies etc). So while we are not happy with SM, we will find use for the ship excursions credit. Which means that for us, O is almost as all inclusive as SB.

I agree, R ships to me are less appealing. To me, ships like Vista and Riviera are much closer to luxury lines than to mass market. That said, cabins are only one parameter. Crystal cabins are smaller than O newer ships, does it make Crystal less luxurious?