To HAL and back.

[Cruise Junky]

3 hours ago, Mura said:

 

Yes, they were MUCH younger than O passengers!  And as we were walking through the port to the ship (we were docked further down than the HAL vessel) we saw many other HAL passengers arriving.  All were much younger than we were.

 

Mura

 

Wait, what? Is that even possible? HAL’s nickname is God’s Little Waiting Room, what does that make O? The morgue? I didn’t realize there was that much of an age difference. 

[Shawnino]

Only been on this one HAL cruise of course but I suspect their demo varies by itinerary to some degree, just like everybody else's varies. This was summer so there were about 15 under-12s and 15 teens aboard (and some of those were Officers' families) but it was a 20-day cruise with half of them sea days so that was probably a deterrent. Among the adults, 3/4 were over-60. 

 

Moved from Prinsendam (800-ish pax) to Rotterdam (1450), the last rooms were filled dirt cheap in the Dutch market (ship sailed RT Amsterdam) via an open casting call for "Holland's Rudest Cruise Passenger". 

[JeffElizabeth]

On 8/7/2019 at 3:05 PM, Redtravel said:

Mass market cruises are good. They attract bookings at a price point that doesn’t break the bank. We sailed mass market many times and enjoyed the cruises. Once we started sailing on more upscale cruises like Oceania, returning to mass market was a left down.  Oceania costs more and is different from mass market. Oceania pays more attention to services and food. Food is very good. Love the specialty restaurants.  Polo and a Red Ginger are my favorites. Watermelon salad and sea bass are outstanding. Polo has meat that melts in your mouth. It is the best steak at sea. Getting hungry just thinking about it.

Precisely.  I love Oceania, especially the food, but it is a lot more expensive line. For the great food, I usually pay an extra hundred or two hundred dollars a day.  So most of the time we go on HA, but every now and then we splurge on an Oceania trip. 

[JeffElizabeth]

On 8/8/2019 at 9:35 AM, ORV said:

Most of the loyalty perks come in the form of things others wouldn't know about. OBC, free grats, included deviation, discounts, etc.  There are no lounges just for people at a certain level. There are some on the O ships that have access determined by room level. No special restaurant for any level. There is no special seating area by the pool, no special seating at the shows, all things the Mass lines tend to do. 

 

The repeaters party is open to anyone that has at least one cruise with Oceania. 

 

So what Rob says is spot on for Oceania. There is no preeminence among cruisers on Oceania. Except perhaps occasionally in the mind of a few. 

Little naive? I traveled with my uncle on a Oceania cruise, he had a butler suite, and it was amazing to see what that butler did for him, got him into specialty restaurants that were "full", etc. Any cruise line is going to reward their high end customers. 

[Redtravel]

Nothing wrong with mass market like HAL.  Nice that you appreciate the difference in Oceania.  It costs more and it shows. Oceania has a better crew to guest ratio which results in better service. The food is outstanding. Getting hungry just thinking about the food. 

[ORV]

2 minutes ago, JeffElizabeth said:

Little naive? I traveled with my uncle on a Oceania cruise, he had a butler suite, and it was amazing to see what that butler did for him, got him into specialty restaurants that were "full", etc. Any cruise line is going to reward their high end customers. 

Not naïve at all. With over 20 Oceania cruises I know the drill. A person would be a fool to not understand that high end and long time customers  get extra attention. What it is not is in your face, like the special seating areas you find on Royal, the special restaurants that many lines have for their suite guest, priority this, priority that. On Oceania these special perks are low key. I've got plenty of them myself, we just don't go around bragging about them. 

[LHT28]

8 minutes ago, JeffElizabeth said:

Little naive? I traveled with my uncle on a Oceania cruise, he had a butler suite, and it was amazing to see what that butler did for him, got him into specialty restaurants that were "full", etc. Any cruise line is going to reward their high end customers. 

I bet it was not just your uncle  that got the extra  reservations

That is what Butlers do

[416Muskokans]

On 8/7/2019 at 1:53 PM, Hawaiidan said:

Thankfully, it will be on their smallest 1300 pax ship as I could not tolerate being on one of their seagoing ant farms.  2000--3000.

If you are talking about the Prinsendam, then you might be in for a treat.  Although I think she holds more like 750 cruisers.  We sailed on her in 2008 through the Med and the Black Sea.  It was very close to the O experience.  We were in a Superior Suite that was great.  Best cabin I have ever been in including top level suites on other ships.  At that time the food was good and the service was also.  We left HAL three years later after a cruise that almost everyone on board had GI problems.  I complained to HAL management and got nothing in return and yet they continued to spend bundles of money mailing brochures to me.  I don't miss HAL at all.

[cayman09]

Princendam is gone, HAL sold her and she's currently in dry dock with the new owners making substantial changes.

[Classiccruiser777]

43 minutes ago, 416Muskokans said:

If you are talking about the Prinsendam, then you might be in for a treat.  

 

Prinsendam is no longer with HAL, sold to Phoenix Reisen and renamed the Amera.

[Hawaiidan]

4 hours ago, JeffElizabeth said:

Precisely.  I love Oceania, especially the food, but it is a lot more expensive line. For the great food, I usually pay an extra hundred or two hundred dollars a day.  So most of the time we go on HA, but every now and then we splurge on an Oceania trip. 

Dont forget  the value of being on a ship with  no nickel dime  sales,  1/ 3 to 1/4  the passengers  the low key ambiance... that  you can not get on HAL.     Its far more than just meals   its the whole package 

[Hawaiidan]

2 hours ago, 416Muskokans said:

If you are talking about the Prinsendam, then you might be in for a treat.  Although I think she holds more like 750 cruisers.  We sailed on her in 2008 through the Med and the Black Sea.  It was very close to the O experience.  We were in a Superior Suite that was great.  Best cabin I have ever been in including top level suites on other ships.  At that time the food was good and the service was also.  We left HAL three years later after a cruise that almost everyone on board had GI problems.  I complained to HAL management and got nothing in return and yet they continued to spend bundles of money mailing brochures to me.  I don't miss HAL at all.

I was talking about the Massadam...    I knew the Princendam  when she was with Royal Viking as  had 60 less cabins and  one seat dining...  HAL added 100 pax to 800...

[Hawaiidan]

9 hours ago, Shawnino said:

Only been on this one HAL cruise of course but I suspect their demo varies by itinerary to some degree, just like everybody else's varies. This was summer so there were about 15 under-12s and 15 teens aboard (and some of those were Officers' families) but it was a 20-day cruise with half of them sea days so that was probably a deterrent. Among the adults, 3/4 were over-60. 

 

Moved from Prinsendam (800-ish pax) to Rotterdam (1450), the last rooms were filled dirt cheap in the Dutch market (ship sailed RT Amsterdam) via an open casting call for "Holland's Rudest Cruise Passenger". 

They also hold the same casting call for a lot of their cruise...Miami's , Spain, Italy , Britian's rudest/crudest passengers....    HAL  will do anything to fill ships....    Scary rude..

[Hawaiidan]

On 8/7/2019 at 6:59 AM, Classiccruiser777 said:

We still cruise on HAL but only when there is a last second “pier jumpers” special, and we lower expectations.

From  my experience... you need to lower your expectations a LOT  when they  search for the black Friday crowd... to fill the ship.... lots of  very  unpleasant  experiences  to be had

[Rob the Cruiser]

21 hours ago, JeffElizabeth said:

Little naive? I traveled with my uncle on a Oceania cruise, he had a butler suite, and it was amazing to see what that butler did for him, got him into specialty restaurants that were "full", etc. Any cruise line is going to reward their high end customers. 

 

It's amazing how easy it is for me to get additional reservations in the specialty restaurants when they were "full". No suite. No butler. Just a standard veranda or concierge cabin. 

 

Are there additional benefits for staying in a suite? Of course there are. My point is that no passenger is treated any differently whether they are in a suite or an inside cabin. The only way I would know that someone is staying in a suite is if they told me. 

[Mura]

It's not at all as if the only way to get extra reservations is if you have a butler.  Sure, he makes it easy!  The important consideration is just how many of the passengers are desperate to get extra reservations.  On some sailings lots of them do ... but on others, the average passenger can be like us:  NOT interested in extra reservations (at least most of the time).

 

Mura

[StanandJim]

6 minutes ago, Mura said:

It's not at all as if the only way to get extra reservations is if you have a butler.  Sure, he makes it easy!  The important consideration is just how many of the passengers are desperate to get extra reservations.  On some sailings lots of them do ... but on others, the average passenger can be like us:  NOT interested in extra reservations (at least most of the time).

 

Mura

+1  Longer Cruises and voyages with a higher number of "repeat Oceania passengers" typically see a sharp dip in Specialty Restaurant reservation demand, after the first few days.   

[JeffElizabeth]

Really loved the Ginger restaurant,  but honestly the food is so good in the MDR, I didn't have much desire to revisit the Polo, Toscano, or Jaques. I honestly thought Ginger was the best Asian restaurant I have ever tried. 

[Hawaiidan]

On 8/10/2019 at 11:56 AM, StanandJim said:

+1  Longer Cruises and voyages with a higher number of "repeat Oceania passengers" typically see a sharp dip in Specialty Restaurant reservation demand, after the first few days.   

Correct.... On a recent 30 day  I could get just about any day I wanted...   Too, if the ship begins to move about a bit, dozens of  cancel and no shows is  also an opportunity worthy of consideration.

[AtA]

8 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

Correct.... On a recent 30 day  I could get just about any day I wanted...   Too, if the ship begins to move about a bit, dozens of  cancel and no shows is  also an opportunity worthy of consideration.

LOL. So true. 

[ochealaaf]

Dear all, I think I was with the TS on the same ship 

🙂 . (@ TS: remember our nice talk on the way to Oye) - being also a big O fan - I would agree to most of his analysis. O is better. point.

 

But: the value for money on this Rottendam cruise was excellent. Being one of the last minute cruisers - for this price - taking into consideration that we have travelled more than 10k km - we paid for a decent outside per km less than the fare for standard (!) class with Deutsche Bahn 🙂 .

 

Yes the food was not so good as on O - but with two exceptions: the salad bar in Lido and the cold cuts and the cheese in the Lido and the MDR. Sorry to say - those were better than on O. Yes there were no fresh juices and yes surf and turf in the MDR was a disgrace compared with the pool grill on O. But for this rate we ecpected Costa+ or Azamrara - and that was fulfilled. Pay three stars, get four stars - and don´t believe their 5 Stars.

 

I was annoyed by their port changes - but AZ has cancelled whole cruises for a charter - friend of us lost their money for their flights...

 

But I have to argue against one thing. I´m german and the german  - dutch relations have not been easy - BUT: I have only met more than nice Dutch on the ship. They even split their group for letting us join dutch trivia. Would definetively travel with them again. And another thing "a caste system" is a thing we have noticed on evary cruise line - being it Seabourn (orange parkas good, blue parkas ok, no complimentary parka from a antarcica or alaska curise -plebs) or even O ("we are gold - what are you? - Oh - "blue") - cruising and  especially a  specific cruise line seems to be an addiction or better a religion to some. So on this cruise "I´m five star - what are you" "Oh we have no specific cruise line - in the last year it was Seabourn or Oceania" "Interesting" - end of discussion.

 

Happy crusing to all - and to the TS - hope we will meet again!

[LHT28]

4 hours ago, ochealaaf said:

And another thing "a caste system" is a thing we have noticed on evary cruise line - being it Seabourn (orange parkas good, blue parkas ok, no complimentary parka from a antarcica or alaska curise -plebs) or even O ("we are gold - what are you? - Oh - "blue") - cruising and  especially a  specific cruise line seems to be an addiction or better a religion to some. So on this cruise "I´m five star - what are you" "Oh we have no specific cruise line - in the last year it was Seabourn or Oceania" "Interesting" - end of discussion.

 

 

I am happy to say I have not met  any of those people on Oceania

The closest I have come  is people asking if we have sailed on O before ?

we say yes  & leave it at that

[bbqoug]

49 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I am happy to say I have not met  any of those people on Oceania

The closest I have come  is people asking if we have sailed on O before ?

we say yes  & leave it at that

I'm happy to read that.

I very much enjoyed our fellow passengers on Azamara who unlike our cruises on Celebrity never asked our status or what I do for a living. I'm hoping for the same on Oceania.

 

[Shawnino]

To Ochealaaf: Indeed we went to Oye together--thank you for the nicest interaction I had with another pax on the cruise. I hope we cruise together again one day.

I am glad you found some great Dutch folk to hang around with. The ones I met appalled me--likely because almost every Dutch person I met before this cruise (I lived six years in the Dutch Caribbean) was, in contrast, so gracious.

Also, your point is well taken about how Az sometimes cancels cruises late on.

[Paulchili]

On 8/9/2019 at 8:59 AM, JeffElizabeth said:

 For the great food, I usually pay an extra hundred or two hundred dollars a day.  

I think that you are paying that extra for a lot more than just great food - it’s for a very different cruising experience overall.