Refuge From Celebrity/Princess Seeking Asylum

[CaliforniaCruiseCocktails]

4 hours ago, oskidunker said:

25 cruises on Princess. 1 on Celebrity. One on Oceania. Princess is no longer a premium line.  Wont cruise with them again. Thanksgiving Princess cruises with over 3000on the ship, poor service and not good food.

 

oceania is worth the money. Not much more than a mini suite on Princess if you just book a balcony on O. Nowhere to sit on Princess unless you book a mini suite. 
 

celebrity millennium was ok.. excellent Buffett but would stay away from the Edge class, unless you like huge crowds 

 

 

 

Oh, no! After four cruises last year with Princess, we were disappointed with the quality of the food on our New Year’s cruise and moved over to Celebrity for our spring break. We’ve heard the food is better. The wines are downright terrible except in Sabatinis. I’ve never been tempted to bring my own bottles but after this last cruise, that’s the only way. We are from California and love great wine. Oddly, the desserts were not good – something we enjoyed on both our April and September cruise on discovery, and July cruise on Ruby. And what is up with that bright yellow fake butter?

[1985rz1]

42 minutes ago, CaliforniaCruiseCocktails said:

Oh, no! After four cruises last year with Princess, we were disappointed with the quality of the food on our New Year’s cruise and moved over to Celebrity for our spring break. We’ve heard the food is better. The wines are downright terrible except in Sabatinis. I’ve never been tempted to bring my own bottles but after this last cruise, that’s the only way. We are from California and love great wine. Oddly, the desserts were not good – something we enjoyed on both our April and September cruise on discovery, and July cruise on Ruby. And what is up with that bright yellow fake butter?

????  This is an Oceania board.

[oskidunker]

14 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

????  This is an Oceania board.

Yes. We are  explaining why we have switched to Oceania. 

[Orator]

Over 100 cruises on Celebrity and aboard Oceania as I write. Entertainment is better on Celebrity, but food is much better on Oceania. Speakers are better on Celebrity, but the total cruise experience for me is better on Oceania. Don’t appreciate the reductions on Celebrity. I’ve found many former Celebrity cruisers on my Oceania cruise.

[ORV]

11 minutes ago, Orator said:

Over 100 cruises on Celebrity and aboard Oceania as I write. Entertainment is better on Celebrity, but food is much better on Oceania. Speakers are better on Celebrity, but the total cruise experience for me is better on Oceania. Don’t appreciate the reductions on Celebrity. I’ve found many former Celebrity cruisers on my Oceania cruise.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. Which ship are you on?

[1985rz1]

44 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

Yes. We are  explaining why we have switched to Oceania. 

Yes, I understood that.  My question marks were in directed to CaliforniaCruiseCocktail's post as that it didn't seem to relate to Oceania.

Edited January 9, 2023 by 1985rz1

[Mura]

5 hours ago, LGW59 said:

LOL I was just about to respond to your post above on how you convinced me to book that cruise and very happy I did.  This also reminds me, a nice person on the rollcall is taking names to be added to the M&G list, I need to go and send her an email now to make sure we do that.

I believe that would be me!  I have a link below my message with my email address but just in case:

 

mkievman@nyc.rr.com

 

Of course, I am assuming that you are asking about the VISTA August 30, 2023 cruse from Southampton to NYC.  If I am wrong, just ignore this post!

 

Mura

[mnocket]

7 hours ago, mauibabes said:

@mnocket

I see LGW59 got a comment in.  We had commented about slipping in and getting lucky for a booking on the Founder’s Cruise. They too jumped on it and I know it will be fantastic. we are looking forward to meeting them at the M&G on May 13. After watching this video you will see how easy it will be to adopt Oceania.

https://youtu.be/kTE7UuQr9rY

Welcome to Oceania and the family

Mauibabes 

Thanks for the video.  What's that between the 2-top tables in the restaurants????  Oh, yeah - space!  Haven't seen that in ages 😃

[mnocket]

7 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

You might pay attention to O's Presidents' Day sale next month. That's how I did my first O cruise in 2021 from the '21 P Day sale.

Thanks for the tip.  I will.

[Orator]

9 hours ago, ORV said:

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. Which ship are you on?

Riviera 

[Charles4515]

23 hours ago, mnocket said:

The Celebrity & Princess boards are overwhelmed with posters complaining about cutbacks and price increases.  It seems the gap between Celebrity and RCL is narrowing as is the gap between Princess and Carnival. The concern is that these "premium" lines are no longer premium.

I have never bought into Celebrity and Princess being premium lines. That is industry marketing. Celebrity and Princess are mass market cruise lines with somewhat better quality finishes than the other mass market cruise lines. Oceania is not mass market but it is not luxury either. I would label Oceania and Azamara as in a boutique category. As far as Oceania making cutbacks, That would be unfortunate. I will keep my eyes open for that. 

[amusea]

Realizing that food opinions are very subjective, my recent experiences show that all lines are having a harder time maintaining a uniform standard.  The head chef of any ship can make a marked difference in the food that is presented.  My last (9th) cruise on Regatta in September was comparatively disappointing from a cuisine standpoint whereas the food on my October cruise on Celebrity Solstice in the main dining room was among the best that I have experienced on that line (27 Celebrity cruises).  Likewise, Regent has been mostly wonderful but there was one cruise on Voyager where the food was not at all up to par but other recent cruises on Explorer were excellent.  The less said about my November cruise on Discovery Princess the better.  The Vista will be my 114th cruise so I do speak with some historical perspective.

[LGW59]

19 hours ago, amusea said:

Realizing that food opinions are very subjective, my recent experiences show that all lines are having a harder time maintaining a uniform standard.  The head chef of any ship can make a marked difference in the food that is presented.  My last (9th) cruise on Regatta in September was comparatively disappointing from a cuisine standpoint whereas the food on my October cruise on Celebrity Solstice in the main dining room was among the best that I have experienced on that line (27 Celebrity cruises).  Likewise, Regent has been mostly wonderful but there was one cruise on Voyager where the food was not at all up to par but other recent cruises on Explorer were excellent.  The less said about my November cruise on Discovery Princess the better.  The Vista will be my 114th cruise so I do speak with some historical perspective.

I appreciate your perspective with Celebrity and Oceania.  I was on a recent Edge TA and really thought everything about it was lovely, though the ship was only sailing at 50% capacity.  There is a lot of consternation over on the Celebrity boards about this and that, cut, cut cut...though that was not my experience at all in Nov. many are saying it has changed since Jan 1.  Anyway, we have been wanting to try Oceania for quite some time (had 2 we cancelled during pandemic) and the Vista inaugural seemed to hit the sweet spot for us.  Not only was a PH many $$$$ less than a Celebrity Suite on Edge for the exact same dates in May, the itinerary really made the difference for us.  We don't need big production shows, or late night clubs/music, heck when we travel we are always in our room by 9:30pm whether on land or a ship.  

[floridatravelersforlife]

FWIW, we have jumped back and forth. We are Celebrity Elite Plus and we left C after an awful Infinity Cruise in 2014.  Service and food were declining as well as crew attitude.  We switched to  O until Covid and went back to C after Covid.  Found C with much improved food and service since then.  Next two cruises, one each for O and C,,will determine our next move.  No need to be dedicated to one line.

[jonthomas]

We were also Elite Plus, with over 50 Cruises on Celeb. Once the "suite life" appeared, everything changed for those not regular cabins. To pay for suites we might as well be on O. On O  there are no kids, excellent food, smaller ships, a clientele that prefers a quieter, more intimate atmosphere....just suits us perfectly....

 

Once the separation between Suites and Regular class began, Celeb really introduced an atmosphere of privilege. You could meet people and wish to dine with them and they would say oh no we are not in your class, we dine elsewhere. 

 

just wish we had not stayed with Celeb so long, all that loyalty amounts to nothing. O includes all the perks we got with Elite Plus and offers so much more in their loyalty program. If we had over 50 cruises with O we would have by now had a few free cruises, with all kinds of other perks. 

 

It is not more expensive  than suites on Celeb, but O gives you so much more. 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, jonthomas said:

On O  there are no kids,

 

I would  not say there are NO kids  maybe you have been lucky & not had any on your cruises

Will say when there are kids they are usually well behaved  unlike on some of the other lines

JMO

[jonthomas]

yes you are correct...but a few kids on O compared to a constant hoard of at least 200, no matter what time you sail on Celeb, to me feels like NO kids on O.

[mhoffrob]

On 1/18/2023 at 9:45 AM, jonthomas said:

yes you are correct...but a few kids on O compared to a constant hoard of at least 200, no matter what time you sail on Celeb, to me feels like NO kids on O.

200 ??  I saw no more than FOUR kids on Celebrity Summit in December - granted it was the week after Thanksgiving so kids would have had school, but there were no issues with kids.

[jonthomas]

4 kids!!! 

 

in over 50 kids with Celeb, there were NEVER only 4 kids...some of our worst cruises on C have been because of the number of kids and the fights that broke out over that fact. 

 

maybe it is because families might not sail on Summit, relatively small and older....

[ABoatNerd]

On 1/17/2023 at 4:07 PM, jonthomas said:

We were also Elite Plus, with over 50 Cruises on Celeb. Once the "suite life" appeared, everything changed for those not regular cabins. To pay for suites we might as well be on O. On O  there are no kids, excellent food, smaller ships, a clientele that prefers a quieter, more intimate atmosphere....just suits us perfectly....

 

Once the separation between Suites and Regular class began, Celeb really introduced an atmosphere of privilege. You could meet people and wish to dine with them and they would say oh no we are not in your class, we dine elsewhere. 

 

just wish we had not stayed with Celeb so long, all that loyalty amounts to nothing. O includes all the perks we got with Elite Plus and offers so much more in their loyalty program. If we had over 50 cruises with O we would have by now had a few free cruises, with all kinds of other perks. 

 

It is not more expensive  than suites on Celeb, but O gives you so much more. 

Excellent post. 

It was the Celebrity class apartheid that was the main, but the only, reason for us cancelling Celebrity, us and many friends who cruised.

We have move to O, Regent, Crystal at the time etc.

We are not loyal to any service provider and will not hesitate to cancel if they do not meet our requirements. 

[MEFIowa]

When it comes to non-adults, depends on each cruise line, cruise ship, itinerary, and date. So highly fact specific.

 

Take Sirena 11/18-28/22. We had about 630 passengers. We had ONE infant, a toddler about 18 months old watched by two younger parents. We had ONE family with a 17-year-old, 20-yr-old and a 22-year-old. The latter got pretty drunk one night early on the cruise. He (mostly) learned his lesson. So as far as I could tell (and being a former USAF intelligence officer) I was paying attention and asking questions, this would mean 2 non-adults (or .003). A third of 1% of the passengers.

[jonthomas]

we are also in Canada....toronto

 

johthomas100z at gmail dot com

 

yes it is

 

johthomas100z at gmail dot com

[LHT28]

It  will depend on the sailing  if you have 0 children or  more  but usually  most are well behaved

One cruise we had 30 children .. I saw maybe 10 at one time  & all were mini adults ..very well behaved

 

We have had some Alumni groups  that must have been making the most of the beverage package  😲

[MEFIowa]

2 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

... We have had some Alumni groups that must have been making the most of the beverage package  😲

Though wouldn't they be adults, not non-adults?

[The Doctor's Lady]

On 1/9/2023 at 12:22 PM, Charles4515 said:

I have never bought into Celebrity and Princess being premium lines. That is industry marketing. Celebrity and Princess are mass market cruise lines with somewhat better quality finishes than the other mass market cruise lines. Oceania is not mass market but it is not luxury either. I would label Oceania and Azamara as in a boutique category. As far as Oceania making cutbacks, That would be unfortunate. I will keep my eyes open for that. 

We sailed on Celebrity beginning on the Century in 1996. It was indeed a premium line in those days. The food was quite good and the service even more so. We've remained loyal to them for a quarter of a century and have the second-to-highest level in their frequent cruiser program. Unfortunately in the intervening years they are chasing mass market quality in a race to the bottom. On a recent cruise we were saddened to find their "perks" for frequent cruisers have been dumbed down to non existent, and their food (other than specialty restaurants which are still quite good) was inedible about half the time and barely acceptable the other half. Like several on this thread, we're looking for that sweet spot Celebrity used to occupy. So it's with a heavy heart We have to agree with others that Celebrity is no longer a line that fits our needs. Maybe Oceania is. Hope springs eternal.