With Allura Class, Oceania Cruises Officially Enters the Luxury Tier
As new players reshape the category, Oceania leans into a version of luxury built around choice rather than all-inclusive perks.
Oceania Allura in port in Split, Croatia. Photo: Courtesy of Oceania
As the borders of luxury cruising loosen, Oceania Cruises is stepping into a tier it once sat just outside of—this time without bumping into sister brand Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
“Back 20 years ago, especially in the cruise space, luxury was so narrowly defined,” Jason Montague, chief luxury officer for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, the parent company of both Oceania and Regent Seven Seas, told Luxury Travel Report on the inaugural sailing of Oceania Allura. “Now, luxury has a lot more elasticity in what it can mean.”
Specifically, Montague talked about how the idea of what is and is not included has changed. The requirements of having the very best hardware, culinary offerings, and service remain the same. Those have always been table stakes, and it was the absence of the luxury hardware that kept Oceania from entering the market as a luxury player some 20 years ago.
“When we started the brand 20 years ago, we inherited ships,” said Nathan Hickman, chief commercial officer for Oceania Cruises. “The R Class ships are beautiful and lovely and intimate, but not luxury.”
“If you’re going to call yourself luxury, you have to have the hardware to do that,” Monague said. “Nathan mentioned the original ships. They weren’t purposely built for the brand, but ever since 2011, we’ve built luxury ships. We’re delivering luxury cuisine. We’re delivering service levels. We’re delivering that true luxury experience across the board.”
To better position itself when it debuted, Oceania Cruises invented the term “upper premium,” as, at the time, cruise lines fit into definitive “swim lanes,” as Hickman called them. There were mainstream, premium, and luxury.
With its emphasis on culinary excellence and high-touch service, Oceania management felt it didn’t fit into any of those categorizations.
With the introduction of the O Class—Marina and Riviera, in 2011 and 2012, respectively, Oceania’s fleet began to take on more of a luxury feel. The introduction of the Allura Class—Vista (2023) and Allura (2025)—elevated the brand’s hardware even further.
Ever since, both executives said, in after-cruise surveys and onboard feedback, guests have referred to the Oceania experience as luxury cruising.
At the same time, new entrants into the cruise market, specifically in the luxury segment, opened up the definition of what luxury cruising can look like.
“It’s gotten a lot more fragmented,” Montague said, pointing out lines like Viking and Four Seasons Yachts, which don’t include everything in the cruise fare. (For Four Seasons Yachts, the only included item is breakfast.)
This has broadened the luxury cruise market overall, essentially dividing it into two: luxury all-inclusive and luxury with choice. Regent Seven Seas occupies the former, while Oceania falls into the latter category.
“I feel like we [Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings] anchor both sides of luxury, from almost entry level with the optionality and customize it how you want, to you don’t have to customize anything, we’ve got it all covered,” Hickman said. And in a market where “luxury” no longer means just one thing, that split is no longer a liability—it’s an advantage.
