Choosing a Cruise Line
I will begin with a caveat: I
have not sailed on the popular, big cruise ships like Norwegian or Royal Caribbean. These may be great options for those with a
limited budget or children, but I have no interest in trying them. I have not sailed on ships that cater to
families with children, like Disney, although I have heard good things about
them. I have also heard positive things
from friends and fellow cruisers about Celebrity and Princess, but I have no
first-hand experiences to share. (While I have taken a couple of river cruises, this post only concerns ocean cruises.)
The largest ships I have sailed on are the Cunard Queens—Queen Mary,
Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Victoria.
Each of these carries around two thousand passengers, so they are big
ships, but they are considered “ocean liners” rather than “cruise ships.” Even though large, we have loved our times on
the queens. They are beautiful ships
with plenty of places to sit and read or watch the sea without feeling
crowded. Their two biggest selling
points for us are (1) they are low cost, around $200 a day per person, and (2)
they get us better prices and routings on air than any of the other lines we
have tried. Other positives include
excellent enrichment lectures, a wide variety of music venues, and outstanding
entertainment. The food is good and the
pricing on drinks is low. As a storied
English line, you can expect a beautiful presentation of afternoon tea and an on-board English pub complete with fish and chips and a dart board.
In the small to mid-sized ship market, we have sailed multiple times with
both Viking and Oceania. Friends also
recommend Holland America in this category, but I haven’t tried them yet. Viking has eighteen identical ocean vessels,
each of which carries between 930 and 998 passengers. I have sailed on three of these ships. Oceania’s fleet has just eight ships, four of
which carry about 600 passengers and four that accommodate around 1,200
passengers. I have sailed on two of Oceania’s
smaller ships (Regetta and Insignia) and three of its larger ones (Marina,
Riviera, and Vista).
The overall cost of Viking and Oceania cruises is about the same. At the end of each of my trips, I calculate
an average cost per day per person that includes the cruise fare and all of my
incidental expenses (gratuities, drinks, shore excursions, taxis, etc.). My costs for the Oceania cruises (about $425
a day per person) is consistently less than that for the Viking cruises (about
$525 per person per day).
So how do these two lines compare in other ways.
1.
What is
included in the fare? One of the things
that irritates me about Viking is their claim that they are “all inclusive.” They are not.
While they offer house beer and wine with lunch and dinner and an “included
shore excursion in every port,” guests do have to pay gratuities ($20 per guest
per day). The included shore excursion
is often a bus or walking tour around the port town; if you want to do
something more interesting or active, you have to pay for that experience. Most optional shore excursions on Viking are
between $100 and $300 per person.
In terms of included
amenities, Oceania’s vary with the year and the current promotion. I have had either beer and wine included with
lunch and dinner or prepaid gratuities.
Most of my Oceania cruises have come with a shore excursion credit. This means that no excursions are included,
but I can select from among the options and apply my credit to those I
choose. Sometimes this means I can book
five or six low-cost excursions ($69 to $99) or two or three higher cost ones
($125-$200). I like the flexibility of
this, as it allows me to choose things that interest me rather than go with
what the ship is offering as an “included” shore excursion.
2.
Staterooms.
Viking advertises that all of their ocean ship staterooms have
verandas. In contrast, Oceania ships
offer a range of stateroom types and costs.
Depending on the ship, there are inside rooms, porthole ones, and
veranda staterooms available. (Both
lines offer upgraded suites, but I’m only focusing here on the standard
stateroom categories.) Viking veranda
staterooms range from 270 to 288 square feet (including the veranda), depending
on the ship. On Oceania’s older ships, a
veranda stateroom is only 216 square feet, but on the newer ships they are 291
square feet. Stateroom amenities are
virtually the same on these ships—plush robes, hairdryer, minibar, etc.
3.
Dining Options. Oceania and Viking both offer the choice of
eating at a buffet or in a traditional restaurant. They also both offer specialty restaurants
that can be booked a limited number of times at no charge. In my opinion, the cuisine and the dining
venues are better on Oceania than on Viking.
4.
Onboard
Activities, Enrichment, and Entertainment.
Viking definitely has better enrichment offerings, that is, more and
better lectures. Viking also does a
better job of providing cruisers with information about the destinations to be
visited and the shore excursions available.
The onboard entertainment is roughly equivalent, but I have found the
Oceania production company offerings to be generally better. Oceania offers more activities, such as games,
solo traveler gatherings, and needlepoint or craft classes.
According to
the Cruise Critic website, “Oceania's options aren't diverse, but what
it does, it does well. Hands-on cooking
classes, demos and lectures on culinary topics all take place in the high-end
Culinary Center on Marina and Riviera, while onshore, Culinary Discovery Tours
take foodies on visits to artisan cheese-makers, chocolatiers, vineyards or
fish markets. Budding artists can find their happy place in the Artist Loft,
where artists-in-residence give instruction in watercolors, needlepoint, and
arts and crafts.”
5.
Solo Travel.
Sometimes I travel with my husband or a friend, but I have also booked
several cruises as a solo traveler. I
have met others who are also solo travelers.
In this category, Oceania is the clear winner. Viking does not offer a break to solo
travelers. If you are sailing alone on a
Viking ship, you will pay a double fare.
Depending upon the itinerary and the stateroom option, Oceania charges a
single supplement somewhere between 25% and 75%. In addition, the line offers activities for
solo travelers that encourage the development of shipboard friendships.
6.
Other Passengers. Viking has an “adults only” policy. Oceania has no such policy, but the clientele
is mostly adults. There have been a few
children on board my Oceania cruises, but they tend to stay with their parents
and have not caused problems.
Because Viking
advertises heavily in the US and caters primarily to American passengers, there
are few people from other countries on the cruises I have taken with Viking. The clientele on Oceania ships is more diverse. As an example, on a recent cruise, there were
people from twenty different countries, and only about half of the passengers
were Americans. We have had wonderful
conversations and made friends with Canadians, Brits, Australians, New
Zealanders, Germans, and others on ships.
7.
Popularity and Perks. Sailing repeatedly on Oceania ships comes
with perks similar to those provided by airline frequent flyer programs. The more cruises you take, the more benefits
you get as you move up in “loyalty tiers.”
Viking provides a $250 reduction in the price of each cruise for repeat passengers
but no other benefits.
I find Viking’s oversaturation of the
cruising market to be very annoying. Viking
advertises heavily in the US market and often is named number one in consumer
polls. I would argue that they get the
votes because they have the most ships and therefore the most passengers to
vote in such popularity polls. At
present, Viking has eighteen ocean ships, two expedition ships, more than sixty
European river ships, ten that sail only on the Nile in Egypt, and more river ships
in Asia and North America. It seems that
no matter where I sail, there will also be a Viking ship in that port.
If I have a preference between these two, it is clearly for
Oceania. I have spent 119 days to date
on Oceania ships and just 36 days on Viking ships, for all the reasons noted above
and because I’ve found that Oceania offers the most varied and interesting
itineraries.
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In addition to ocean ships (and river ships), there are two other
categories to consider: expedition ships and luxury lines. In the expedition category, we have sailed
only on Silversea’s Endeavor. It is a
beautiful ship for about 200 passengers with sailings mostly to the Artic and
Antarctica. Viking’s two expedition ships
are about double the size, carrying nearly 400 passengers. Scott will be taking an expedition cruise
soon on a Seabourn ship. Like the
Endeavor, Seabourn’s two ships are considered luxury ships and carry around 250
passengers. We have a Galapagos trip scheduled
for December on the Silversea Origin, a ship that accommodates 100 passengers
and was built just for the Galapagos. Sailing on any one of these ships will be an
adventure because of the places they sail and the activities that are provided--kayaking,
Zodiac explorations, hiking, etc.—and the knowledgeable expedition leaders on
these ships. They are also expensive,
averaging nearly $1,000 per person per day.
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Among the lines I have sailed in the luxury category are Crystal, Regent
Seven Seas, and Silversea. We would like
to try Seabourn, but haven’t yet found an itinerary that captures our interest
for a price we are willing to pay. The
luxury lines are all inclusive with gratuities and all alcoholic drinks
included. Regent and Silversea provide a
variety of included shore excursions, but Crystal and Seabourn charge for
those. Regent also includes business class air in its
pricing, while Silversea includes economy air and limousine service between
home and the airport.
Suites tend to be larger on these ships than on the non-luxury lines, 300
or more square feet, not including the veranda.
These ships tend to have good food, a variety of restaurants, and offer
attractive solo traveler fares on some cruises.
While the fares may be higher on these ships than on others, we have
typically booked cruises in the $500-$650 per person per day range, so not that
much more than what we have paid for a Viking cruise.
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Cruise Critic recently posted an article recommending cruise lines based
in a variety of categories. Here is a
summary of their recommendations:
Best for Seniors: Holland America and Cunard
Taking Your Kids/Grandkids: Disney, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival
Best for Families with Older Kids:
Royal Caribbean, Norwegian,
and Carnival
On a Budget? Carnival, Norwegian, and MSC
Want to Splurge? Regent
Seven Seas and Seabourn. Also
recommended is Norwegian's The Haven for an exclusive experience on a large,
mainstream ship.
Best Food: Celebrity, Oceania, and Crystal
Activities and Lectures: Cunard, Crystal, and Oceania
Best On-Board Entertainment: Disney, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian
Shore Excursions: Azamara, Celebrity, and Viking Ocean Cruises
Best for Solo Travelers: Norwegian, Holland America, and Crystal
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I hope that this information is helpful.
I’m sure that not everyone will agree with my perspectives, and I
welcome comments about other lines and opinions. My best advice is to look at several options
for wherever you want to go and make your decision on cost, what is included or
will cost extra, and staterooms that are available. But whatever cruise line you choose, have fun!
And if you need help deciding whether or not you even want to cruise, I encourage you to read this post about how I got hooked on cruising: https://cabletravels.blogspot.com/2020/01/on-cruising-to-sail-or-not-to-sail.html,
