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Back from our first Oceania cruise


mare s.
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I'm an Azamara enthusiast (as you can tell from my signature) and with two more Azamara cruises already booked, I thought I'd share my thoughts on our first Oceania cruise.

 

We booked the cruise because of the itinerary; Iceland and Greenland, then over to Nova Scotia and then finishing in Boston and New York. It also included a three day land excursion in Iceland pre-cruise. Unfortunately, Azamara wasn't offering anything like it. The itinerary turned out to be absolutely wonderful although 5 at sea days was a bit much and we missed cruising Prince Christian Sound because of ice and fog. But Iceland and Greenland were revelations and we enjoyed every second of our visit there.

 

There were aspects of Oceania that we liked. The ship, Insignia, is a sister ship to Quest and Journey, so we felt very much at home. We haven't yet seen the new décor on Azamara ships, but we loved the traditional feel of Insignia. Service was excellent (with just a couple of exceptions...a rather surly barista in their version of Mosaics and a snippy Destinations person and spotty service in the dining room) and our cabin attendants were as friendly and efficient as any we've had on Azamara. Wait staff in their buffet equivalent were also quite outstanding.

 

Oceania still has a string quartet playing in the evenings and during "tea." They were wonderful and made us miss even more the departure of the harpist on Azamara. Oceania does not have art auctions and no photographers...two of my pet peeves on Azamara. So there is more space for comfy chairs and for people to sit and mingle. Shore excursions were actually pretty good. We had five free excursions as part of our package and I must say they were well organized and informative. The food, as I will expand on below, was not great but they did offer freshly grilled (in front of you) lobster tails, shrimp, and lamb chops in the buffet every evening and they were excellent. Desserts were also quite good (my opinion is that on Azamara desserts don't always match the rest of the food offerings.)

 

Now the negatives. Despite its reputation of having "the finest cuisine at sea," we were disappointed. Some of the offerings were frankly inedible (for example, chicken that was so highly salted that I spat it out) and a rather "off" tasting salmon on two occasions. Dining room menu choices seemed overly fussy and not having as many choices as Azamara (my husband loves his shrimp cocktail appetizer on Azamara. It was not offered in the dining room on Insignia.) In fact, we ended up eating in the buffet for most dinners after having a very poor experience in the main dining room, both culinary and service -wise. Their specialty restaurants are free but we were very disappointed in the steak house, Polo. My husband's steak came out terribly over cooked and my fish tasted off. However, their Italian specialty, Toscana, was outstanding on both occasions we ate there. Another negative is that wine and cocktails are not included and there is an 18% gratuity tacked on to every drink, so a bar bill can get pretty big.

 

Entertainment was rather spotty. The "house" singers and dancers, while very good, only performed a few times on our 15 day voyage. We had a good magician, a terrible comedian, and a so-so violinist as the rest of the entertainment, and there were a few nights there were no shows at all (unless you count canned music in the lounge for "dancing") The piano man was good, but had no personality and basically played background piano.

 

We greatly missed White Night, and the deck barbecue, and the Azamazing Evening and though the cruise director was quite pleasant, he was not Russ or Eric. The atmosphere on Insignia was quite sedate and, although we appreciated this, we found we missed the more lively feeling on Azamara.

 

So, would we cruise with Oceania again? Perhaps, if the itinerary and price were right. We were also told by Oceania old timers that the larger ships were a different experience, so we might end up trying them in the future. But for now, Azamara is still our choice and we are very much looking forward to Costa Rica and Japan aboard Quest.

p.s. We met another Azamara old-timer on board who was on her first Oceania cruise and she, too, was missing our favorite cruise line.

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Did you meet lily? she is still in NYC having fun. She picked this cruise for the ports. saw some great pictures by her.

I was on an O ship the year it came out. very different ship. enjoyed the cooking classes and i do not cook. the spa lay out on the O ship is weird. did not like the ipad music upstairs.. the food in Red Ginger is good. the rest.. hated the buffet. i d not like being served- either got to much or not enough.

i was on the redone Serina in Jan. i loved the storage in bathrooms and cabin. the public bathrooms were a wow.

i agree about shows, hated the piano player. i saw at bar and got good drinks. 18% tip is normal .what AZ charges per drink.i upgrade booze on AZ. on O paid one at a time. no tour package all OBC. spent it all.

did not realize you had not seen the redo on AZ. to modern for me. storage is lacking in cabin and bathroom for me. i like more folded clothes space. dec k5 just not to my traditional taste at all.

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Thanks so much for this review. The itinerary sounds very attractive. We're there any stops in Newfoundland?

 

On our recent Azamara cruise the new art dealers on board were exceptionally low key, in fact so much so I don't know how they will survive.

 

Also, there was a new approach by the ship's photographer who was very discrete . By the way, she provided a workshop in smart phone photography which was well-attended and very helpful.

 

Thus I hope you enjoy these changes policies as well as the new decor.

 

I particularly appreciate your comparison of the "R" ships in both fleets. When talking to Oceania fans, they usually discuss their "O" models.

 

 

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Did you meet lily? she is still in NYC having fun. She picked this cruise for the ports. saw some great pictures by her.

I was on an O ship the year it came out. very different ship. enjoyed the cooking classes and i do not cook. the spa lay out on the O ship is weird. did not like the ipad music upstairs.. the food in Red Ginger is good. the rest.. hated the buffet. i d not like being served- either got to much or not enough.

i was on the redone Serina in Jan. i loved the storage in bathrooms and cabin. the public bathrooms were a wow.

 

i agree about shows, hated the piano player. i saw at bar and got good drinks. 18% tip is normal .what AZ charges per drink.i upgrade booze on AZ. on O paid one at a time. no tour package all OBC. spent it all.

did not realize you had not seen the redo on AZ. to modern for me. storage is lacking in cabin and bathroom for me. i like more folded clothes space. dec k5 just not to my traditional taste at all.

 

Yes, I think it was Lily....very nice! we shared a couple of excursions with her. I rather liked being served in the buffet and never had an issue getting extra helpings (especially the lobster tails and shrimp!) and the waiter in the stir fry section was adorable....kept insisting I try his nightly specialty and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. Yes, 18% is normal, but on Azamara we generally drink the complimentary offerings so it was a bit of a sticker shock to us when 18% was added to a run of the mill wine. I am looking forward to seeing the new décor on Azamara, but I am afraid I won't be a huge fan either. Storage in the staterooms was similar to what used to be on Azamara and was definitely ample. I posted a few photos on Facebook...check them out.

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Thanks so much for this review. The itinerary sounds very attractive. We're there any stops in Newfoundland?

 

On our recent Azamara cruise the new art dealers on board were exceptionally low key, in fact so much so I don't know how they will survive.

 

Also, there was a new approach by the ship's photographer who was very discrete . By the way, she provided a workshop in smart phone photography which was well-attended and very helpful.

 

Thus I hope you enjoy these changes policies as well as the new decor.

 

I particularly appreciate your comparison of the "R" ships in both fleets. When talking to Oceania fans, they usually discuss their "O" models.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Well, I'm pleased to hear the art auction folks are more low key...so no more art on easels everywhere in Mosaics? (By the way, I must say the food offerings in Barristas, Oceania's Mosaics, were not as varied although the coffees were very good.) Also happy to hear about the photographer, although the past ones on Azamara weren't pushy, it just felt obtrusive walking to the lounge or to dinner and seeing a wall of photos!

 

As for the itinerary on Oceania, there weren't any stops in Newfoundland (there could have been, though, as we spent two sea days traveling from Nuuk Greenland to Sydney, Nova Scotia) but there were two ports in Iceland (including an overnight in Reykjavik) and three in Greenland....Qaqortoq (my favorite), Paamiut, and Nuuk. Those were the highlights for us (including the three day land pre-cruise in Iceland) and Sydney was delightful, although we didn't spend time in Sydney proper...we had a private tour to Cape Breton. We'd been to Halifax, Boston, and New York before, but still found new things to see and do (especially the JFK Presidential Library and Museum....celebrating the 100th anniversary of Kennedy's birth...wow!)

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Yes, I think it was Lily....very nice! we shared a couple of excursions with her. I rather liked being served in the buffet and never had an issue getting extra helpings (especially the lobster tails and shrimp!) and the waiter in the stir fry section was adorable....kept insisting I try his nightly specialty and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. Yes, 18% is normal, but on Azamara we generally drink the complimentary offerings so it was a bit of a sticker shock to us when 18% was added to a run of the mill wine. I am looking forward to seeing the new décor on Azamara, but I am afraid I won't be a huge fan either. Storage in the staterooms was similar to what used to be on Azamara and was definitely ample. I posted a few photos on Facebook...check them out.

 

The issue was that they either did not give enough food or to much. if i know i will like it i take more but if not sure less. i do not drink house wine on any ship. i buy a couple bottles and very happy. mostly drink vodka. will look at facebook for pictures.

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One thing that Azamara did that was very smart in the renovation of the ships was to change half the suites from bathtubs to walk-in showers. We much prefer the shower; ellbon prefers a bathtub -- now that the deck plans correctly identify which is which, everybody can get what they want!

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One thing that Azamara did that was very smart in the renovation of the ships was to change half the suites from bathtubs to walk-in showers. We much prefer the shower; ellbon prefers a bathtub -- now that the deck plans correctly identify which is which, everybody can get what they want!

So true about the bathtub. For people who do cross between both lines..when I went on Oceania this winter I think they only changed the bathtubs out for showers on all of deck8. I learned it in CC. My agent was never informed. Rumor was then all the tubs on all the ships would be a shower. The first thing I did in my hotel after cruise was take a bath, nice to have options.

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Interesting comparisons and good information. We've traveled on AZ four times and will be on O for the first time for a crossing in December. I will do a review afterwards and let all know what I think. It will be fun to try something different.

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Thanks for your really helpful review.

Oceania is now right on our radar thanks to the current redeployment farce.

 

Sadly, if you check older recent threads on Cruise Critic you'll find that Oceania doesn't treat their passengers any better than this. There have been recurring complaints that they eliminate ports -- after final payment -- and refuse to make any adjustments or allow cancellations.

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Sadly, if you check older recent threads on Cruise Critic you'll find that Oceania doesn't treat their passengers any better than this. There have been recurring complaints that they eliminate ports -- after final payment -- and refuse to make any adjustments or allow cancellations.

 

Haven't most of these changes been fairly minor though? For example, swapping Catalina Island for Ensenada? Disappointing and annoying I'm sure, but not as bad as having your whole cruise cancelled.

 

Uktog, we also sailed on Oceania for the first time last year. I wrote a short review at the time but just briefly, we did enjoy the cruise very much, the itinerary was good, cabin attendants were excellent, the ship was well maintained and we found the crew to be very pleasant. Food is so subjective but we actually preferred Oceania, particularly the buffet where we were able to have lamb, fish, steak, shrimps or lobster fresh cooked each night. The biggest downside for us was the cost of the drinks which we thought were very expensive. The shore excursions we did were very good, well organised and some bit different choices than I've seen before for these ports.

 

There were things that we missed about Azamara, but we were sufficiently happy with our experience on Oceania that we now have two more cruises booked and are planning on booking at least one more when we are on board again later next month. One of the itineraries is an Iceland/Greenland one so I was happy to read that you liked the ports, mare s. Thanks very much for your review.

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Haven't most of these changes been fairly minor though? For example, swapping Catalina Island for Ensenada? Disappointing and annoying I'm sure, but not as bad as having your whole cruise cancelled.

 

Uktog, we also sailed on Oceania for the first time last year. I wrote a short review at the time but just briefly, we did enjoy the cruise very much, the itinerary was good, cabin attendants were excellent, the ship was well maintained and we found the crew to be very pleasant. Food is so subjective but we actually preferred Oceania, particularly the buffet where we were able to have lamb, fish, steak, shrimps or lobster fresh cooked each night. The biggest downside for us was the cost of the drinks which we thought were very expensive. The shore excursions we did were very good, well organised and some bit different choices than I've seen before for these ports.

 

There were things that we missed about Azamara, but we were sufficiently happy with our experience on Oceania that we now have two more cruises booked and are planning on booking at least one more when we are on board again later next month. One of the itineraries is an Iceland/Greenland one so I was happy to read that you liked the ports, mare s. Thanks very much for your review.

 

I agree with you that food is subjective but it was strange to us that the experience varied so much with the venue on board. And it wasn't just us....even loyal Oceania cruisers (with whom we shared tables) said some of their meals had been pretty bad. So maybe something was going on on this particular cruise. I do wholeheartedly agree with you on the buffet....it was terrific, especially at night. We only occasionally eat at the buffet on Azamara but we ate almost every night there on Oceania. And Toscana was fantastic. Ditto your remarks on the shore excursions...we were pleasantly surprised how good they were.

 

You will love Iceland and Greenland and if Oceania is offering the pre-cruise land tour, I can highly recommend it.

 

We can't fit any other cruises into our schedule (with the two Azamara we've already booked and some land trips) before 2020 but Oceania is definitely on our radar.

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I agree with you that food is subjective but it was strange to us that the experience varied so much with the venue on board. And it wasn't just us....even loyal Oceania cruisers (with whom we shared tables) said some of their meals had been pretty bad. So maybe something was going on on this particular cruise. I do wholeheartedly agree with you on the buffet....it was terrific, especially at night. We only occasionally eat at the buffet on Azamara but we ate almost every night there on Oceania. And Toscana was fantastic. Ditto your remarks on the shore excursions...we were pleasantly surprised how good they were.

 

You will love Iceland and Greenland and if Oceania is offering the pre-cruise land tour, I can highly recommend it.

 

We can't fit any other cruises into our schedule (with the two Azamara we've already booked and some land trips) before 2020 but Oceania is definitely on our radar.

 

I must admit we only ate in the MDR on Oceania a couple of times once we discovered the buffet! :)

 

We also have some Azamara cruises booked (including Japan) but are finding that Oceania has some itineraries that are new to us, the Iceland/Greenland one, another that goes to ports in Norway and Russia that Azamara doesn't do and Tahiti is also of interest. Azamara is still our first choice but we do feel that Oceania is giving us some other options for new places to visit, easier for them of course with 6 ships.

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Haven't most of these changes been fairly minor though? For example, swapping Catalina Island for Ensenada? Disappointing and annoying I'm sure, but not as bad as having your whole cruise cancelled.

 

There was a thread about the massive itinerary changes when Oceania got permission to sail to Cuba [sound familiar?]. And the pattern has been mentioned by veteran Oceania cruisers, e.g.:

Of all the cruise lines I have sailed Oceania is the worst offender when it comes to changing and/or eliminating ports or reducing the amount of hours in a port. It's a pattern, unfortunately, imo.
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There was a thread about the massive itinerary changes when Oceania got permission to sail to Cuba [sound familiar?]. And the pattern has been mentioned by veteran Oceania cruisers, e.g.:

 

Obviously I didn't go far enough through the threads. :) Do you know if cancellations due to charters are also an issue on Oceania?

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Obviously I didn't go far enough through the threads. :) Do you know if cancellations due to charters are also an issue on Oceania?

 

That I don't recall hearing about. Here's a link to a compilation of ship charters:

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/full-cruise-ship-charters.html

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I think I'm more interested in how they communicated with and treated guests after they made changes. I will be checking that out, but at least they have more ships to spread the load when it happens.

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I think I'm more interested in how they communicated with and treated guests after they made changes. I will be checking that out, but at least they have more ships to spread the load when it happens.

 

Oceania is a wonderful cruise line. The food, service, are all excellent and the ships are spotless.

 

I have 4 cruises on O on both the larger O ships and the R ships similar to AZ. You will have a lovely time.

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That I don't recall hearing about. Here's a link to a compilation of ship charters:

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/full-cruise-ship-charters.html

 

Thanks for the link, it was very interesting. I certainly have no problem with ships doing charters, obviously it is very good business for them, it is more about when these charters are announced and how people are treated afterwards that concerns me.

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I think I'm more interested in how they communicated with and treated guests after they made changes. I will be checking that out, but at least they have more ships to spread the load when it happens.

 

Oceania is no better in that regards,,

 

 

I have had two cruises cancelled from under us. One preventable and other the Insignia fire was not. The response was mixed -- one good (the fire) and the other big schedule change was not.

 

 

The Insignia fire -- nothing can replace the loss of life and there O did OK by the passengers who were effected by cancellation. Gave us a large Future cruise credit and of course a full refund. It was a Miami to Miami trip so for us no air fares/cancellation charges. Communication by Miami was slow but they did inform us of dates that they would provide us an offer of compensation.

 

 

Last year they redid their Pacific itinerary 6 months after accepting bookings. Switched Sirena from Pacific and moved Regatta in its place. Our Tahiti to Auckland cruise (over Christmas/New Year) was moved ahead more than a month.

 

 

First hint was that their was a change was the itinerary was removed from the web site, then our cruise booking disappears; all of this with no word from Oceania or our TA. Where do we learn of it -- on cruise critic. Then the leaks from TA letters begin appearing (sound familiar to Az??).

 

 

We are eventually offered some compensation but only if we switch to the month earlier cruise - unfortunately we work and the new date was unacceptable. So we booked the Sydney Circumnavigation for this December.

 

So -- all cruise lines do this and they apparently do it the same way -- BADLY.

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