Oceania vs. Princess Small Ships

[dcdee]

I realize that this may be sacrilegeous to O lovers, but can anyone from personal experience compare Oceania to the small ships of Princess, which appear to be the same design as the O ships?

 

We love Oceania and have taken one or two cruises for each of the last five years. However, the Princess cruises cost roughly 50% less than O and I'm wondering whether being able to take twice as many cruises may make up for the presumed inferior shipboard experience on Princess.

[orchestrapal]

Princess does not offer open dining or very restricted smoking.

I have also heard that the ships are pretty much as they got them from Renaissance, not updated and kept as new as Oceania ships. Also, how can the food and service compare? We have looked at one of their cruises that starts in NY but felt we could not live with the dining and smoking policies of Princess.:(

[neepawa]

As you can see from our past cruises, we have sailed three times on the Oceania Regatta and once on the Royal Princess. The only reason that we chose Princess in 2008 was that they offered an itinerary that started in Montreal not Quebec City and it included the Saguenay Fiord.

 

The ships are identical in design but the Regatta is better maintained. The food in all venues on Regatta is far superior and there is no extra charge for the specialty restaurants. The country club casual dress code on all Oceania ships is a major selling point for us, we have had our fill of black tie and gowns. The crew throughout the Regatta were friendlier and appeared to be happy to be on board. The entertainment in the main lounge in the evening was better on the Royal Princess.

 

Our travel plans are basically driven by the itinerary. If both companies offered a similar itinerary, we would bite the bullet and pay the premium to sail with Oceania.

 

Don

[Druke I]

We've been on Pacific Princess once, Oceania's Nautica once, and Oceania's Regatta twice.

They are all former Renaissance ships.

 

The decor is almost identifcal on all three - little apparently changed from their Renaissance days.

 

The biggest difference is dining. Pacific Princess has traditional fixed 1st & 2nd seating for dinner, Oceania is open seating. On Pacific Princess, the alternative restaurants are extra charge, on Oceania included.

 

Although the ships are almost identical, the quality of food is a huge difference, with Oceania far better.

 

Princess still has Formal nights, Oceania has the more realistic (to me) Country Club Casual dress code.

[White Cat]

We just finished a 31-day voyage to West Africa on the Ocean Princess (6th on Princess) and have completed 4 Oceania cruises with 3 more to come. The ship layouts are the same R design with Princess' probably a bit less maintained than O's.

 

We were frankly disappointed with the food particularly at the buffet which was several rungs below Oceania's. Princess' service was outstanding with a heavily Eastern European staff. The entertainment was very disappointing even though we are aware that small ships tend to not specialize in this. Princess' tour desk was excellent. The fixed seating and formal nights were also unappealing.

 

Although itineraries drive our choices, we probably will opt for Oceania if given the choice of comparable destinations.

[hondorner]

Princess is losing the Royal Princess, formerly R8, as it is being transferred to P&O in the spring of 2011 and will be renamed Adonia.

[jpalbny]

Have been on O 5x and Tahitian Princess 2x. Agree with those giving a nod to O for the food, though we would not complain about P's food. Having the subspecialty restaurants available for free is a great perk on O though we thought Sabatini's on Princess was worth the upcharge... The anytime seating on O is great and we really wish P would follow suit.

 

Free espressos/cappuccinos on O and real brewed coffee; crummy syrup-based coffee on P and you have to pay extra for real coffee. Buy a coffee card with the 2 for 1 coupon on P, and you should be OK for most of the cruise.

 

On O, the Horizons Bar on deck 10 forward is set up with a postage-stamp sized dance floor and a wall that separates it from the front windows. Nice if you want a cozy spot to sit up front and enjoy the view; lousy if you actually want to dance there... Princess has a much larger dance floor in that lounge which is actually functional.

 

Princess has 2 dance bands (duos) and a fair amount of dancing; O has 30' before showtime with the orchestra who seems to only know how to play slow foxtrots... Entertainment is mediocre on both but we've never gone on these ships for the entertainment so it's not a big deal to us.

 

Otherwise, the ships are pretty similar, though agree with others that P has not updated the ships much at all. We like both and are busy perusing the upcoming itineraries for our next trip...:D

[Mura]

I'm being redundant, but isn't that what this list is for?

 

I haven't been on any of the Princess "R" ships simply because I heard that they use assigned seating for dining. What makes me nuts about that is that Princess DOES have "freestyle" seating on some of the ships, but not on the ships that were DESIGNED for open seating. Why in the world did they choose to do that?

 

So we haven't been on a Princess ship since our Alaska cruise in June 1990 ...

 

The assigned seating is enough to dissuade us from cruising with Princess. But the smoking, etc., policies are the icing on the cake.

[frqttrvlr09]

I have considered, for cost reasons, small ship alternatives to Oceania, but so far, I haven't found one that I think I would enjoy as much as Oceania. While my trip choices are itinerary driven, I also want comfort, class, good food, virtually no smoking, no children, and casual "country club" dress, though a couple of formal nights are fine and fun. I have been on the Pacific Princess (French Polynesia) once, and Oceania (Insignia) twice (2 BTB in the Mediterranean). I have 3 long back to back Oceania (Nautica)trips booked starting in the late fall. I am particularly looking forward to the refurbished Nautica (new bedding, refrigerators in the room), and of course the other 2 ships will also be refurbished in the upcoming 12 months or so.

My comments on Princess v. Oceania shall ship are the same as those already mentioned so this is really piling on: I thought the Pacific Princess was dark and needed refurbishing. I did not think the food was anything other than ordinary, and the shore excursions offered were crappy. I went on none of them except scuba diving, once. On one of the other islands I wanted to dive but Princess had presold the dive trip to a family and it was the only diving company on the island. I felt overall the service was far superior on Oceania. The speciality restaurants are better on Oceania and as was mentioned previously, do not have a surcharge. I like to be flexible about what time I eat, as it is often driven by shore excursions and sometimes by evening's entertainment, and thus I will not go on a ship with set dining times and table assignments, so that was a problem for me on the Pacific Princess. Oceania has also become a bit more "inclusive" with its new free water and soft drinks policy, and the cappuccino availability is definitely a plus.

I may try one of Holland America's smaller ships sometime, but they too have similar drawbacks. So for now, I am sucking it up and paying the bigger bucks for what I know will be a much more pleasurable experience for me overall, with Oceania.

[yellow vw]

We went round the world (102 days) on the Pacific Princess and I loved every day of it. We take our first O cruise this November and I do hope the food is excellent because I will miss my free laundry and computer time. However, I like seeing new places and this 30 day cruise has all new places. Then in June 2011 we are doing B2B Princess cruises to Norway (18 days) and Iceland and Greenland (18 days) and we repete only one stop and that is in Norway. Until recently we always liked eating late seating but now we prefer early seating. On ships that have it I like anytime dinning. I like dressing up and like to see all the others all dressed up. We also did South America (68 days) on a small ship. I loved the ship but the cruise didn't compare with Princess. Best ship---Oasis. That is how all ships should be.

Sandy

[JimandStan]

Princess is losing the Royal Princess, formerly R8, as it is being transferred to P&O in the spring of 2011 and will be renamed Adonia.

 

It seems that Royal Princess is just not a lucky name for them :cool:

[Roundtop]

We've sailed O twice, with another at the end of the summer. We also were on Pacific Princess in '08 for the Holy Land/Egypt cruise. That year a similar itinerary was offered by O but during July, I believe, while the Princess sailing was early summer. We enjoyed our cruise. The food was not nearly as good as O and we were not crazy about the formal nights, but the service was quite good along with more lively entertainment. The shore excursion director, Hutch, was excellent and the lectures were informative.

 

But honestly, we have a good time regardless of the cruise line. The joy is in traveling to new places and meeting new friends.

[MightyQuinn]

I realize that this may be sacrilegeous to O lovers, but can anyone from personal experience compare Oceania to the small ships of Princess, which appear to be the same design as the O ships?

I have read a ton of reviews on the small R ships. It appears to me that the pecking order for on-board experience (food, accommodation, service) is Oceania, Azamara, Princess. Our personal experience with O and A bears that out. Doubt we'll ever try Princess.

[cathi]

Have done O and P's small ships and I would agree with most that the food on O is a step above P's. But honestly for me, any meal I don't have to cook and clean up after is just fine with me. Although there is plenty of selections on both in the buffet still have to give the edge to O as their fresh berries at breakfast were the best!!!

Yes, I wish P would get with the open seating dining. Can't figure out why it hasn't done this as this it what these ships were made for.

Having done a month on each (0 & P) and not done shorter cruises, there has been very few "children" onboard so that is not a problem.

Being a non-smoker, the smoking policy on O is better than on P but it has rarely been a problem. Wish all cruise ships would ban smoking on balconies as that is more of a problem for me than giving smokers limited space. I can avoid the smoking sections but can't avoid that dreaded smoker in the next cabin!!

[jpalbny]

Two other pluses for O:

 

In-suite dining, including being able to order from the Polo and Toscana menus in the OS and PH categories.

 

No problem bringing wine/liquor onboard for use in your cabin with O. P, on the other hand, collects it at the gangway to store for "safekeeping!"

 

Princess does a fantastic champagne brunch on your balcony, however...:)

[vaitape]

[i can avoid the smoking sections but can't avoid that dreaded smoker in the next cabin!!

Well said.

[cathi]

 

No problem bringing wine/liquor onboard for use in your cabin with O. P, on the other hand, collects it at the gangway to store for "safekeeping!"

 

Princess does a fantastic champagne brunch on your balcony, however...:)

 

Princess says they have the "right" to collect booze brought onboard but, in my experience, they have not exerted this!! Bought wine in port and carried it on. Bought rum and carried it on.

[JimandStan]

Princess says they have the "right" to collect booze brought onboard but, in my experience, they have not exerted this!! Bought wine in port and carried it on. Bought rum and carried it on.

 

Good point, although the "not knowing if" Princess would opt to exercise their right would certainly be off-putting. :(

 

With the airline regulations being what they are, what would you DO with the safeguarded bottles after the cruise ended?? :eek:

 

It should also be mentioned that there are no butlers on Princess either, if you are living the suite life.

[cathi]

The ones we don't consume get very carefully bubble wrapped (YEAH we pack some with us!! DH insists), put them in a plastic shopping bag (I seem to acquire a whole lot of them!) taped closed, and then wrap clothes around them in the middle of the suitcase. I have yet to have one broken when I arrive home!!!! Now I've said that next time will be the one that breaks.

On the same subject, which is worse -the cruiseline off loading the luggage or an airline throwing it around??????

[Mura]

On our recent Norwegian T/A (similar rules regarding alcohol as on Princess) I acquired some rum runners which do the trick very nicely. Just to be safe I wrapped the container in something else, but it leaked not one iota. They would be handy to have along even if your booze gets confiscated because at least you can bring it home more easily after the trip if it's in a rum runner and not a bottle.

 

On that trip I had vodka, so I didn't really worry if they did leak (other than perfuming my clothes). But I flew out a few days ago from NY to LA and put some red wine in one and everything arrived stainproof and aroma free!

[Paulchili]

I am a Platinum on Princess (several R ship cruises) and multiple cruises

on Oceania. The consensus seems to be that Oceania "outclasses" Princess

in all regards (including the premium prices) and I agree with that.

However, I would not hesitate to take a Princess cruise, especially

if the itinerary and price were right. For example, I want to circumnavigate

Australia and O does not do that but Princess does. I would just adjust my

expectations and thus have fewer disappointments. You do get what

you paid for in this case, but Princess is not a bad alternative.

[dcdee]

Thanks for everyone's comments.

 

We have two O cruises booked but think we'll take Paulchili's approach going forward, i.e., focus on itinerary first. I will say that some objections to Princess (smoking, formal nights and fixed dining times) may not bother us as much as some, e.g., DW is a smoker and on our last O cruise I think we only had dinner in the Grand Dining Room twice-- the others were on the back deck on the Terrace or in the specialty dining rooms where I assume dressy casual is acceptable anytime.

[Druke I]

Well, in many respects I agree with Paulchili.

 

Princess continues to offer some of the best itineraries available (my opinion), and I like not only their R class ships, but also am a fan of the Sun class and the Island/Coral Princess.

[hondorner]

Princess says they have the "right" to collect booze brought on board but, in my experience, they have not exerted this!! Bought wine in port and carried it on. Bought rum and carried it on.

Oceania reserves the same right, to be used in the event of misuse of their liberal tradition. The norm on Oceania is not to question any beverage brought on board at any port. If the same is true of Princess, then they are equal in that regard. However, it is my experience on mass market cruise lines that liquor will be confiscated and held until the end of the cruise. We have not sailed on Princess.

[MightyQuinn]

However, I would not hesitate to take a Princess cruise, especially if the itinerary and price were right. For example, I want to circumnavigate Australia and O does not do that but Princess does. I would just adjust my expectations and thus have fewer disappointments. You do get what you paid for in this case, but Princess is not a bad alternative.

Excellent point Paulchili. We also make cruise selections based on itinerary & sometimes our preferred cruise line(s) just don't sail where we want to go. Back in the day, we sailed expedition ships to Antarctica & Amazon because it was the only choice. And we enjoyed every second, even if it wasn't to Oceania standard. So perhaps we should consider the small ships of Princess if the itinerary is compelling. Thanks for the reality check.