We love Princess- but...

[Flatbush Flyer]

I have only cruised once on Oceania when they were first create.

 

 

 

If this comment is true, then it it might be worth another look.

 

 

 

Yes, they actually have little signs the put on the loungers regarding the time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[land lover]

I hate gambling, shows, don’t really care about the ports. I hate extra charges even more. Viking gave us what has been missing from the main cruise lines for years. A fantastic experience, service and meals at a price that is the same or slightly more than what I priced from the main cruise lines.

 

Have 3 more Viking cruises booked. I highly recommend them.

 

...thanks for answering...so do you take advantage of their included excursions or just stay on board to get their special touches?

[land lover]

We just did 10 nights on the Oceania Riviera. Outstanding. Softdrinks/bottled water are complimentary. Food was outstanding. All Specialty rest(exception: Le Reserve)are complimentary. Easily the best food since the Queens Grill on the QM2. Absolutely outstanding Tea service each day. With REAL clotted cream!!

Dresscodes are what they call "Country Club Casual". This means NO jeans in the dining rooms(at night), but no suits either. Pax did dress up a little more in the specialty rest.(usually a sport coat) very few ties were evident. We didn't wear ours, but wore the sport/suit coats most nights.

Not a child was on board. Overall, generally mostly retired pax(many were VERY wealthy, but not snobby)Surprisingly, the breakfast menu was really quite lame. Only continental style. Likely, because we saw few pax use it, most went to the various dining placers on board. For a 10 night cruise on Riviera in a B-1 Veranda cabin it came to about $2800pp. Veranda cabin bathrooms have a full tub & shower & also a separate enclosed shower.

Less expensive than a minisuite on Princess & everything(staff service/ attention to detail) was top notch.

Only real downside is limited entertainment: Decent small ship band. Excellent String Quartet. Decent small group of singers/dancers. The budget goes to the gourmet food.

For the chairhogs out there, Oceania is NOT the line for you! They really crack down. NO cheesy clip-ons were on any lounger I saw. Staff DOES remove any & all belongings left unattended for more than 30 min. Worth booking the line for that reason alone!

 

Great overview.....love your writing style..LOL

[mellapl]

Hi all,

My wife and I are ready to try the more upscale ships. We started out with a boom-boom spring break to the Bahamas ( Carnival big mistake). We are late 50's and the cruise age was 20.

 

I post this on the Princess forum because a lot of Princess cruisers have done upper scale cruise lines and in my opinion have the best overall experience.

 

Our 2,3,4 cruises were on Princess out of San Francisco on the Golden and we enjoyed it very much. The ship was kinda old but the staff was wonderful.

 

We are now ready to upscale to Oceania, Chrystal, Regent and other high end cruisers. We are more than willing to pay for excellent service and food. Hence an upscale cruise line. We want it all. Sorry we don't want to seem snotty.

 

Our problem:

We booked the grand suite on the Princess $1000 p/day (Golden) but it was really lame service. Suite L302

The breakfast menu was the same as everyone else and no perks at all for booking the grand suite. You booked the grand suite- but don't expect anything more.

 

We really want a beautiful suite and all the perks with fine dining , which in your opinion cruise line does it the best?

We've heard that some cruise lines require suit jackets after 6pm??

 

We realize that food is subjective. We don't want to be nickel & dimed but are willing to pay top dollar for top service.

No kids- no boom boom party cruises, basically old timers like us that want to relax in style with perfect Gin & Tonics.

 

Does it exist? Sorry for being long winded.

Thanks to all for replying.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We have sailed with Royal, Princess, Celebrity and Regent. Our favorite is now Regent, the food and service is outstanding and with 24 hours in advance they will make you anything you want. It is all inclusive. the ships we sail on have only 750 people. But you may get hooked when you go the first time

[land lover]

We have sailed with Royal, Princess, Celebrity and Regent. Our favorite is now Regent, the food and service is outstanding and with 24 hours in advance they will make you anything you want. It is all inclusive. the ships we sail on have only 750 people. But you may get hooked when you go the first time

 

 

Never been on Regent...could you give some examples regarding your statement about making anything?

[Shoalwater]

 

But as we continue to age (been seniors for a while) we do find that, more and more, we enjoy the better things in life :). Trying to find the "perfect" cruise line/ship has proved elusive....so we will simply have to keep looking :). The more I think about this topic is occurs to me that the ideal (for us) would be a small luxury ship (less than 300 cabins) with big time entertainment (including decent production shows), great cuisine, and not having to battle for a deck chair. Must admit that DW and I are looking for an opportunity to try Viking Cruises. ......

Hank

 

We have taken 3 Viking Ocean cruises. Great ships, wonderful crew and staff, superb food, but if you like more traditional cruising evening entertainment like production shows you will probably be disappointed. They even used audience participation games like Liar's club or a screening of a classic movie like Guys and Dolls as the main theater evening show. This, along with sea day daytime activities is IMHO one of their areas needing improvement. It was instrumental (along with itinerary) in our cancelling the 2019 World Cruise with Viking and moving to the Pacific Princess.

[jennybenny]

We have sailed with Royal, Princess, Celebrity and Regent. Our favorite is now Regent, the food and service is outstanding and with 24 hours in advance they will make you anything you want. It is all inclusive. the ships we sail on have only 750 people. But you may get hooked when you go the first time

 

We've also been on Royal Caribbean, Princess, as well as Carnival and Disney. I really want to try Regent, but I think that's best for a cruise without the kids. Right now our vacations include the kids for the most part. I know I want to branch out but Celebrity doesn't really appeal to me and I've been eyeing Regent for a long time. We stick to Princess these days, but I want to be very careful about branching out. I need to make sure my husband will enjoy it. If I pick the right itinerary, the right cruise line, the right situation I may just get him to be willing to cruise another line.

[volk904]

Just an idea but you could get a full suite on one of the Royal Oasis class ships. It comes with meals in the Costal Kitchen which is pretty good and could still eats at the other upscale dinning areas as well. It might not be Oceania but the 50’s demographic should be good as long as you skip Summer.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Go-Bucks!]

For example,they offer now hamburgers instead of steak on the “always available”section of the menu in the MDR.

I saw this on my last Princess cruise in November....could hardly believe it! How shameful. The next month I went on my first cruise on Oceania and WOW....what a difference!! Especially the food - there was lobster and steak freshly grilled everyday in every restaurant!! Even the buffet. :hearteyes: And no extra charge for specialty restaurants.

 

 

I'm almost Elite on Princess, but am sad to see them sliding down in quality. My last 2 room stewards did the basic cleaning, but we never saw them otherwise - didn't even know their names. I think Princess is probably giving them more cabins so they don't have time to give excellent service. Sad.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Go-Bucks!
o

[Brad1185]

...thanks for answering...so do you take advantage of their included excursions or just stay on board to get their special touches?

 

We went on about half of Vikings offered excursions and stayed onboard for the others. The excursions we did were great but was enjoyable staying onboard and relaxing

[simong]

"Any line that has photographers dressed in stupid outfits everywhere and rampant noisy auctions of over-priced, mass-produced pseudo art."

 

 

 

 

Thank you!

the folks whom buy a print worth $20 for $1400 and the folks that play the unbeatable games at the casino help subsidize the trip for those of us whom avoid those activities

[WeBeGone]

I saw this on my last Princess cruise in November....could hardly believe it! How shameful. The next month I went on my first cruise on Oceania and WOW....what a difference!! Especially the food - there was lobster and steak freshly grilled everyday in every restaurant!! Even the buffet. :hearteyes: And no extra charge for specialty restaurants.

 

 

I'm almost Elite on Princess, but am sad to see them sliding down in quality. My last 2 room stewards did the basic cleaning, but we never saw them otherwise - didn't even know their names. I think Princess is probably giving them more cabins so they don't have time to give excellent service. Sad.

 

 

 

I couldn’t disagree more ! We are elite, having sailed on every Princess ship. We love have the option of a delicious burger in the dining room vs having to eat by the pool. And why didn’t you introduce yourselves to your steward? It’s not a one way street. Yes, they have a lot of rooms and if you had inferior service, why didn’t you report it? Passengers should board with common sense.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Scotto97]

I couldn’t disagree more ! We are elite, having sailed on every Princess ship. We love have the option of a delicious burger in the dining room vs having to eat by the pool. And why didn’t you introduce yourselves to your steward? It’s not a one way street. Yes, they have a lot of rooms and if you had inferior service, why didn’t you report it? Passengers should board with common sense.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I agree with the original post.

 

A truly upscale cruise line would keep the hamburger off the dining room menu in favor of a steak, but gladly agree to go out to the poolside grill and deliver one to you as an off-the-menu request .

[WeBeGone]

I agree with the original post.

 

 

 

A truly upscale cruise line would keep the hamburger off the dining room menu in favor of a steak, but gladly agree to go out to the poolside grill and deliver one to you as an off-the-menu request .

 

 

 

But you see, Princess is mid scale, not upscale. Never was or tried to be. You folks that are so upset over Princess offering a burger in the dining room need to pay higher prices and cruise another line.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Hlitner]

But you see, Princess is mid scale, not upscale. Never was or tried to be. You folks that are so upset over Princess offering a burger in the dining room need to pay higher prices and cruise another line.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Well said, We do not understand all these folks that book cruises on a "mass market" cruise line (such as Princess, HAL, RCI, Celebrity, etc) and expect an upscale experience. It is possible if you pay the big bucks for a large suite, eat all your meals in alternative restaurants, avoid mixing with the masses, etc. But otherwise, you are simply on a mass market line.

 

If you want "upscale" start looking at Seabourn, Regent, Sea Dream, Silverseas, etc. For around $1000 per person/day you will get a few things that are better :).

 

Hank

[caribill]

I agree with the original post.

 

A truly upscale cruise line would keep the hamburger off the dining room menu in favor of a steak, but gladly agree to go out to the poolside grill and deliver one to you as an off-the-menu request .

 

Nobody has a problem with a hamburger on the menu at lunch time. It is having a fancy hamburger at dinner instead of the steak they used to have. If the main thing you want on formal night in the dining room is a hamburger, then maybe the poolside grill would be a better choice.

 

 

But you see, Princess is mid scale, not upscale. Never was or tried to be. You folks that are so upset over Princess offering a burger in the dining room need to pay higher prices and cruise another line.

 

 

We are not upset over Princess offering a burger in the dining room. We are upset that they took a steak favored by many off the menu and replaced it with a fancy hamburger. Fancy or not, it is still a hamburger. There would be no complaints if they had kept that steak on the menu and just added the fancy hamburger.

 

Since offering steak seems to be part of an up-scale cruise line, I guess when they did the switch from steak to hamburger is when they went from up-scale to mid-scale.

[Cairn Mom]

Nobody has a problem with a hamburger on the menu at lunch time. It is having a fancy hamburger at dinner instead of the steak they used to have. If the main thing you want on formal night in the dining room is a hamburger, then maybe the poolside grill would be a better choice.

 

 

 

 

We are not upset over Princess offering a burger in the dining room. We are upset that they took a steak favored by many off the menu and replaced it with a fancy hamburger. Fancy or not, it is still a hamburger. There would be no complaints if they had kept that steak on the menu and just added the fancy hamburger.

 

Since offering steak seems to be part of an up-scale cruise line, I guess when they did the switch from steak to hamburger is when they went from up-scale to mid-scale.

 

 

Well said. I agree.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Keith1010]

Well after just rereading every post on this thread there are a lot of opinions.

 

Original Poster. I would figure out what itinerary you want to do on your next cruise on an upscale line.

 

From there start looking at the lines that offer these itineraries.

 

Study the websites of those lines and study the ships.

 

As I read the posts there were recommendations ranging from mainstream lines, premium lines, and luxury lines.

 

As I read the posts there were recommendation in ships size from 200 to 2500+ passengers.

 

If you want something very special try a luxury line.

 

You will find that when you add in the amenities that are included it is not always as expensive as it first appears to be.

 

If you can select a ship in the 400 to 1000 passenger range on a luxury line you will experience very personal service.

 

My wife and I have sailed many of the lines mentioned. Back in 2001 we decided we wanted to sail something more upscale.

 

We did a lot of research but in the end it was helpful for us to speak with friends who sailed some of those lines because we could talk through what the amenities and experiences were like and they knew us so they could give thoughts on whether or not they thought we would enjoy a specific line.

 

In the end you will never know until you sail the line though.

 

Again, I would begin with itinerary.

 

Good luck with this.

 

Keith