"O" Fans Please do your thing and comment!

[PirateShark]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

We used to do a lot of cruising on Celebrity, but that ended when Lisa Lutoff-Perlo became their CEO and decided that Celebrity was giving too much for too little and decided it was fine to cut-back (mostly little things) while increasing prices.  When we look at the newer Celebrity Edge Class ships, we have no interest in their Infinity Cabins (essentially a window that opens) and would be happy to cruise in one of their "retreat" eligible suites.  But those are often priced at around $1000 per passenger day which we think is ridiculous for a mass market line.  Perhaps the good news is that Lutoff-Perlo has been kicked upstairs (I think Vice Chairman of the Board) and there is another CEO.  That being said, as long as X can sell those suites at ridiculous prices (more than most luxury lines) there is no incentive for them to adjust prices.

 

DW and I have really been debating booking one of two O cruises (either the Marina or a longer Vista cruise) because we like trying different lines.  Explora Journeys will be our 17th cruise line and if we do O it would be the 18th :).  I am still trying to convince myself that "O" is worth the premium prices.  

 

Hank

 

Hank, while I understand your dilemma, give O a shot.  Much more flexible pricing for extras, included specialties and all non-alcholic drinks.  There is a "rumor" that alcoholic drinks will be included at lunch/dinner (beer and wine) in the fare with a chance to upgrade for all inclusive drinks sometime in the future.   Entertainment is not O's strong suit but my cruises have all been very port intensive so staying up until 1:00am will be rare unless there are a couple of sea days thrown in which case we've been known to close down Martinis way past HALs bedtime. We've never been bored but we're not show/entertainment people so only you can decide.  Lots of sea day activities including cooking classes, tastings and other. I would kindly suggest you try O or go with another line that makes you comfortable and are familiar with 😊

 

Lori

[Jancruz]

8 hours ago, RJB said:

We have sailed on all the ships,   except the vista which we have booked for Nov.   Our feelings are the complete other war from this poster.  Loved every trip.  Food great and ships were in tip top shape.  Can't wait for Nov.

I will eb barding 11/1 will we get a chance to meet?? I can arrange i if you want to..

Jancruz1

[Hlitner]

38 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I would say if you have to convince yourself  that hard   it is probably not for you

 

Didn't  you already cancel an Oceania cruise  because you were not happy about the pricing or something??

 

As I said  before

this thread is  a wind up 🤔

My goodness that is far from the truth.  Yes, we cancelled an 18 day Marina cruise that was supposed to be from Miami to Lima.  3 weeks before the cruise, O changed must of the itinerary including a change of the debarkation port to Santiago, Chile instead of Lima.  Those of us who had booked our own air (which were many) were on our own!  Two days later, O sent us an e-mail and said they were still not sure about the itinerary and we should wait a few more days.  They finally confirmed the changes (less than 3 weeks before embarkation) and we cancelled because it had changed to a completely different cruise.  "O" did not want to refund money (they wanted to give future cruise credits) but after a letter to the CEO, they did give us a full refund.  And now you know the rest of story (and this is the short version).  

 

In fairness to "O,"  they were also somewhat of a victim because Peru kept changing their rules vis-a-vis COVID...which is what caused all the changes.  We do not hold that incident against O.

 

Hank

[julia]

So, let's just talk pricing for a minute?  We are booked on the Regatta in September, Pacific coastal, r/t from San Pedro, A2 category, with the basic beverage package included. Two adults, $3398 total.  Out of curiosity, (and Elite on X), I just did a mock booking on the Eclipse... nearly identical itinerary, concierge class cabin, no perks, yet almost $300 MORE than Oceania! 

We shall see how the two compare....

[LHT28]

Hank

Based on your previous comments on things you like 

I would say Oceania may be a bit too  laid back  for you

 

But the only way to know  if try them maybe a 10 to 14 day cruise   or go with  a line  you love

 

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Hank

Based on your previous comments on things you like 

I would say Oceania may be a bit too  laid back  for you

 

But the only way to know  if try them maybe a 10 to 14 day cruise   or go with  a line  you love

 

It now seems likely that we will book a 35 day Vista cruise.  Not sure "love" is the appropriate word, but the only line we have recently cruised that rises close to that level is Seabourn.  But, we are looking at a TA cruise and Seabourn only has an itinerary similar to what we did less than 2 years ago.  TheeVista itinerary is a real winner.  For us it will be two new cruise lines in 6 months (Explora Journeys and O) which should be a lot of fun.

 

We truly appreciate the constructive advice posted here and even have a mild tolerance for the cheerleaders :).

 

Hank

[rbtan]

Well, we're foodies. The Riviera was outstanding with it's refurbishment.If I were to not recommend any food it would be the following: Oysters Rockefeller(awful!) Wiener Schnitzel(too tough) Suckling Pig. (really just over cooked Pork belly) other than that the only thing we noticed was the smaller portion size. That was noticeable. Unlike other lines O will always give you more. What we really disliked was the "Save the Oceans" crap.This was a way to shorten the cruise this past Jan. We weren't alone in seeing that.All it really did was slow the ship after the second day, so you arrived in port  about 11AM. The result did save a lot of fuel, at the expense of port time & a missed port as well.

[Snaefell3]

38 minutes ago, rbtan said:

⋮

What we really disliked was the "Save the Oceans" crap.This was a way to shorten the cruise this past Jan. We weren't alone in seeing that.All it really did was slow the ship after the second day, so you arrived in port  about 11AM. The result did save a lot of fuel, at the expense of port time & a missed port as well.

Google "slow steaming".   Saving on fuel *is* the point.  I'm of mixed emotions because the alternative in years past has been fuel surcharges. 

[pinotlover]

I cruise for the itinerary. If the ship is going to do a “ save the world “ segment, that’s up to the line. However, tell me the ports you’re eliminating or port times you’re reducing before final payment. This crap of notifications after you board, or a week before, is totally hogwash and dishonest. 
 

We canceled our OZ circumnavigation on Regatta because of the stuff O pulled on our SA cruise. We are signed up for an O pre Vista cruise land tour in Istanbul in two weeks. We just got notified they are cancelling several of scheduled stops. Not replacing them, just eliminating them from the schedule. Price didn’t change! We’re tired of the lying and fake schedules. If this continues into our cruise, with port cuts, we’re cancelling our future cruises. 
 

Is this where a certain Cheerleader tells me the T&Cs clearly state they can sit us in a hotel and take us nowhere if they please.

Edited May 26, 2023 by pinotlover

[basor]

5 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I cruise for the itinerary. If the ship is going to do a “ save the world “ segment, that’s up to the line. However, tell me the ports you’re eliminating or port times you’re reducing before final payment. This crap of notifications after you board, or a week before, is totally hogwash and dishonest. 
 

We canceled our OZ circumnavigation on Regatta because of the stuff O pulled on our SA cruise. We are signed up for an O pre Vista cruise land tour in Istanbul in two weeks. We just got notified they are cancelling several of scheduled stops. Not replacing them, just eliminating them from the schedule. Price didn’t change! We’re tired of the lying and fake schedules. If this continues into our cruise, with port cuts, we’re cancelling our future cruises. 
 

Is this where a certain Cheerleader tells me the T&Cs clearly state they can sit us in a hotel and take us nowhere if they please.

What stops have been eliminated ?

[basor]

19 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I cruise for the itinerary. If the ship is going to do a “ save the world “ segment, that’s up to the line. However, tell me the ports you’re eliminating or port times you’re reducing before final payment. This crap of notifications after you board, or a week before, is totally hogwash and dishonest. 
 

We canceled our OZ circumnavigation on Regatta because of the stuff O pulled on our SA cruise. We are signed up for an O pre Vista cruise land tour in Istanbul in two weeks. We just got notified they are cancelling several of scheduled stops. Not replacing them, just eliminating them from the schedule. Price didn’t change! We’re tired of the lying and fake schedules. If this continues into our cruise, with port cuts, we’re cancelling our future cruises. 
 

Is this where a certain Cheerleader tells me the T&Cs clearly state they can sit us in a hotel and take us nowhere if they please.

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by basor

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

I cruise for the itinerary. If the ship is going to do a “ save the world “ segment, that’s up to the line. However, tell me the ports you’re eliminating or port times you’re reducing before final payment. This crap of notifications after you board, or a week before, is totally hogwash and dishonest. 

 

I could not agree with you more. Cruise lines get far too much latitude with this kind of thing (e.g., not offering up schedule changes until past final payment or sometimes not even til boarding.)

 

We're all conditioned to think cruise lines have to make changes due to unforeseen conditions. Fine, says I. But more often than not lately, these changes are foreseen and result from fore-known decisions.

 

[mallie24]

Sailed in October 2022- wonderful as usual....not one complaint

[CintiPam]

On 5/25/2023 at 4:38 PM, Hlitner said:

It now seems likely that we will book a 35 day Vista cruise.  Not sure "love" is the appropriate word, but the only line we have recently cruised that rises close to that level is Seabourn.  But, we are looking at a TA cruise and Seabourn only has an itinerary similar to what we did less than 2 years ago.  TheeVista itinerary is a real winner.  For us it will be two new cruise lines in 6 months (Explora Journeys and O) which should be a lot of fun.

 

We truly appreciate the constructive advice posted here and even have a mild tolerance for the cheerleaders :).

 

Hank

Hi, Hank,

 

I no longer frequent these boards like I did when we first started cruising over a decade ago, so I seldom post anymore, but we just made our final payment for our Marina cruise around Iceland ending in Portsmouth in late August so I signed in tonight for a look at the Oceania board.

 

We sailed on Marina in early December 2022 for two weeks in the Caribbean and enjoyed it very much. I thought the food and restaurant service were as good as ever, and our fellow passengers as pleasant and interesting as ever. Our cruise director was blah IMO and the shows retreads so tired on the whole, but I am itinerary focused when I cruise and this Jersey Shore native took that cruise, our first since the pandemic, for the glorious beaches I was able to swim at either DIY or as part of some really lovely catamaran shore excursions offered by Oceania. 
 

Yes, the Marina needs a refresh, but the ship is very well maintained. We love the two “O” class ships, as you can see from my signature below: my foodie husband (Lancaster, PA native so not far from you I believe) in particular enjoys their four specialty restaurants. When we spotted this sail-around Iceland to Portsmouth itinerary, it filled my Iceland bucket list dream, and my husband’s yen to spend a week driving in England after many years of London-only theater and museum visits, the last of which was in January. 
 

I hope you give Oceania a try, our favorite cruise line since we started cruising, but if you truly have too many doubts, who needs the worry at our age? Best wishes.
 

Funny that you mention Seabourn because next May summer we will take our first Seabourn cruise, aboard Ovation on a special charter Hamburg to Dover itinerary for the 80th anniversary of D-Day by The National WWII Museum.

[Hlitner]

We want to extend a big thanks to all who contributed to this particular blog.  I read all the comments (and other related posts) and it helped us decide to book a future 35 day Vista cruise.  

 

Hank

[LuAnn]

On 5/23/2023 at 8:30 AM, jonthomas said:

Excellent to hear. Enjoy all of it.  We are booked on all other O ships. Regatta 27 days coming up in Sept,  sadly the reviews are poor but hope by then, the staff are more experienced and the food improves.

I'm just off Regatta yesterday and my 2 friends and I enjoyed the food in all venues except Tuscan Grill. Every staff person we personally interacted with were well trained, welcoming and helpful. Except the Oceania Club Ambassador. But that's a completely different story!! 😞 Go and enjoy!! 

[ORV]

3 hours ago, LuAnn said:

I'm just off Regatta yesterday and my 2 friends and I enjoyed the food in all venues except Tuscan Grill. Every staff person we personally interacted with were well trained, welcoming and helpful. Except the Oceania Club Ambassador. But that's a completely different story!! 😞 Go and enjoy!! 

Who was the Oceania Club Ambassador? 

[LuAnn]

23 hours ago, ORV said:

Who was the Oceania Club Ambassador? 

Not sure of his last name but his first is Michael. 

[Snaefell3]

 

23 hours ago, ORV said:

Who was the Oceania Club Ambassador? 

 

47 minutes ago, LuAnn said:

Not sure of his last name but his first is Michael. 

I, for one, had an urge to count my fingers after shaking hands.  😞

 

[ORV]

2 hours ago, Snaefell3 said:

 

 

I, for one, had an urge to count my fingers after shaking hands.  😞

 

Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, whatever the h that means. 

[AMHuntFerry]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, whatever the h that means. 

Glad to know it wasn't just me...something was "off" during our interaction with him, but we did our booking.

[LHT28]

10 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Glad to know it wasn't just me...something was "off" during our interaction with him, but we did our booking.

We had  no problem  booking with him

 

[MEFIowa]

10 hours ago, LHT28 said:

We had  no problem booking with him

 

10 hours ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Glad to know it wasn't just me...something was "off" during our interaction with him, but we did our booking.

He was on Sirena 11/2022. He was pretty business minded and not too chit-chatty. His "formal" sales presentation in the theater was a bit too long. But he did tell some jokes. Canadian jokes IIRC. He seemed really busy. There was always someone in his work area and someone waiting on the couch outside. 

[Snaefell3]

Been cogitating on Regatta's Ambassador Michael.

 

It was a 7-day California coastal cruise, and I noticed a lot of "we've given up on [fill in the blank], and are trying Oceania out" comments.  That was us, too.  Michael was at his desk well beyond the posted hours, often looking at three or four couples waiting to talk to him plus an ever-ringing phone.  The other couples we waited with were also Oceania newbies, so I imagine he was fielding a lot of time-consuming basic questions: Lots of "head 'em up and move 'em out!" pressure.

 

We ended up on the cruise we wanted but in a P1 instead of our desired P2 or P3 without a real confidence all the P2s and P3s that might have suited us just fine were actually already booked, and a feeling that we had been upsold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[basor]

1 hour ago, Snaefell3 said:

Been cogitating on Regatta's Ambassador Michael.

 

It was a 7-day California coastal cruise, and I noticed a lot of "we've given up on [fill in the blank], and are trying Oceania out" comments.  That was us, too.  Michael was at his desk well beyond the posted hours, often looking at three or four couples waiting to talk to him plus an ever-ringing phone.  The other couples we waited with were also Oceania newbies, so I imagine he was fielding a lot of time-consuming basic questions: Lots of "head 'em up and move 'em out!" pressure.

 

We ended up on the cruise we wanted but in a P1 instead of our desired P2 or P3 without a real confidence all the P2s and P3s that might have suited us just fine were actually already booked, and a feeling that we had been upsold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A quick way to check if your "feeling" is correct is to go the O website and make a mock booking for your specific cruise and see what PH's are available.   If you find that there is a PH 2 or PH3 available that does suit your needs, it is an easy process to get your booking changed to that cabin.