Marcie
I tried my best to even the playing field by drinking up our savings, but Wild Turkey is hard to come by in the Falkland Islands!

Marc,
My cost comparison was anything but sophisticated – have not attempted to compare O Penthouse to basic suites on R. What I did learn was that indulging the “premium” we place on space on R ships has been seriously depleting the exchequer. The damage is geometric since, obviously, the longer the cruise, the more space that is required – a sure recipe for self destruction!

PS – The thieving seagull breaks me up!

Pat,
My use of the word “bias” made it clear that my assessment was made through a filter based on preference and past experience with no attempt at being “objective”. My enjoyment in listening to the string quartet each evening following dinner would be a quick passage to sleepy time for others – no good or bad, just different.

Wendy,
As far as I know, the perks for all suites (including Penthouse) are the same with the exception of water being included for the OS which was never documented anywhere. The butler told us during our initial meeting. Also, the dinner described in my message was for OS and VS only. OS also had a laptop in the room. R suites we have used also have computers. How bouncy is the ship? It rolled a bit when we went into the open Pacific and were subject to those large swells – some folks radiated an iridescent green glow – but no excessive instability for a ship of its size. “Spacious”? – A good question! O ships are 100 ft. shorter than Mariner and 10 ft. narrower with the same passenger complement. Therefore, O should feel more crowded, right? Subjectively, it did not feel that way. Perhaps the answer is that the public spaces are not densely occupied, but the sleeping spaces are. The cabins on O are uniformly smaller than R therefore allowing more space in the public areas. I’ll leave it to someone smarter than I am to provide the analysis!

Wes,

You two enjoy that retirement cruise.

Andrea and Billp,

Please see above comments on the space question. When Beddy- Bye time comes, O packs ‘em in and R spreads ‘em out, relatively speaking.

Finally, on the “all inclusive” question – for me it is more psychological than financial. After a relaxing day at sea or rewarding explorations ashore and anticipating a well prepared and presented meal along with thoughtful (or hilarious) conversation, I find it jarring for everyone to dig out the plastic to fund the flow of wine.

This is one bias, among many, referred to above.

Ted