KetoCruiser

Here’s a stupid idea, why not replace it with extra public seating, we are on Sky And fights break out because it’s so difficult to get a seat anywhere. The ship is so badly designed that there is not enough public space for the 4000+ passengers it carrying these days.

I won’t pay the extra, when you add it all up, you might as well move up a brand and go for the more luxury end of the market. The quality of food has deteriorated so much that it’s like old school dinners . On Sky last year we had so much Semolina and tapioca, I thought I was back in school. The quality of food on Cunard and Oceania was so much better, I won’t be cruising with Princess again. Princess will expect you to pay extra for the entertainment and international cafe next. Where will it end.

I really enjoy Gala night on Cunard, although I miss the Captains cocktail party, I am really disappointed that they have not reinstated them since covid. What is the point of dressing up, if you have no where to go. Oceania is nothing like it, I must admit I did enjoy the cocktail parties, the drinks were not limited and the hors d’oeuvre were delicious. However the food overall was disappointing. I only have experience of the Regatta ( and have been told the larger ships are better) and must say my expectations regarding the food were not met. My biggest gripe was that entrees in the Terrace Cafe, they were on the whole cold and they never seem to have any vegetables other than steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. I had to order off the grill just to get something hot. There is nothing more unappealing than cold stir fry. The specialty restaurant, Toscana was much better, but in my opinion, not as good as the Veranda on Cunard. The Waves grill at lunch time was good and suited my low carb diet. My Husband however was not impressed with afternoon tea, it was very poor, the scones were so dry that they crumbled when you tried to cut them. I think they need to review the recipe on those. Overall it just did not have the finesse that Cunard afternoon tea has.

We did raise the issue on board and we were told, that within the terms and conditions they have the right to change itineraries. Like I previously said we had no explanation or apology by the Officers on board at the time, My understanding is that the Captain left the ship the day before or just after. Our TA has come back to us and is appalled at the treatment we have received. I think they are now on the case. so fingers crossed they will get a resolution. I am just so frustrated that this double standard happens . Are Oceania that naive that they don’t believe passengers keep in touch especially in cases where major issues arise on a cruise.

Thanks, will look into it, if we don’t get any resolution from Oceania.

We were on Queen Victoria in November 2022 , then our Oceania cruise in December 2022 and can say that the service was much better on Cunard than Oceania, the ship was well maintained. Cannot say the same for Oceania, Regatta loss power for about 3 hours in the Great Australian bight. No engines, No air conditioning or lifts. We were in the Toscana and ended up having a choice of bread, soup and salad for dinner. Main dining room was operating to limited menu. The quality of the food Oceania provided was excellent however it was poorly prepared and very repetitive. I found it difficult to find a good selection of vegetables anywhere, they offered 5 ways to have your potatoes and only one vegetable as a side order. Veg was generally steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrot. The best meal we had was the pop up Indian night in the Terrace cafe, which was much better than the pop up Red Ginger, which was usually cold and tasteless.

Perhaps you could help with mine, I am struggling to understand why it seams American, Canadian and Australian guests on our cruise received compensation whilst the British guests did not. I don’t want to let this issue rest because it is so unfair, and it will ruin future cruises we have booked with Oceania. My husband does not want to cruise with them again as a matter of principle.

It was transferred to our TA in the U.K. they did it automatically. Don’t think there was a choice.

We did not even get an apology whilst on board, Oceania think they are like royalty, they don’t apologise and don’t explain. like most of us on the Roll Call we sent in a letter to Oceania explaining our dissatisfaction and disappointment. Did not realise at the time that we should have gone through our TA to get a result. All we received as a reply was a cut a paste letter similar to everyone else, but no offer of compensation. Unfortunately prior to all this inconvenience, we had booked a couple of future cruises with Oceania whilst on board. If our disappointment means nothing to the company, in comparison to everyone else, then I would prefer to have our deposit returned and we will look for a company that wants our business. Unlike the US if we cancel we will loose the deposit we paid.

We have started copying in our TA and have asked them for help.

Just returned from our first Oceania cruise and must say I am disappointed regarding the Cruise as a whole. We had a number of ports cancelled without notice because of biofouling and New Zealand’s requirements to clean the hull of the ship. Our cruise was not operating in New Zealand waters but the following cruise was. Oceania made the decision to inconvenience our cruise so that it could meet New Zealands long standing requirements . We received no explanation or apology whilst on board, we even picked up tender tickets the morning we were due to visit Kangaroo Island. As you can imagine passengers were not happy as we were looking forward to visiting Kangaroo Island and the Great Ocean Road and our private arrangements had to be cancelled at very short notice. Like many we wrote and complained to Oceania on our return home, we have kept in touch with fellow passengers via cruise critic roll call and as of today we have been the only passengers not offered any compensation for the inconvenience. Passengers from Australia and the US have received a future cruise credit as an apology , however both my husband and myself plus another British couple have received nothing. Does this happen often and can anyone explain why we are being treated differently.

Just returned from our first Oceania cruise and must say I am disappointed regarding the Cruise as a whole. We had a number of ports cancelled without notice because of biofouling and New Zealand’s requirements to clean the hull of the ship. Our cruise was not operating in New Zealand waters but the following cruise was. Oceania made the decision to inconvenience our cruise so that it could meet New Zealands long standing requirements . We received no explanation or apology whilst on board, we even picked up tender tickets the morning we were due to visit Kangaroo Island. As you can imagine passengers were not happy as we were looking forward to visiting Kangaroo Island and the Great Ocean Road and our private arrangements had to be cancelled at very short notice. Like many we wrote and complained to Oceania on our return home, we have kept in touch with fellow passengers via cruise critic roll call and as of today we have been the only passengers not offered any compensation for the inconvenience. Passengers from Australia and the US have received a future cruise credit as an apology , however both my husband and myself plus another British couple have received nothing. Does this happen often and can anyone explain why we are being treated differently.

We have just completed our first cruise on Oceania and agree with many of your remarks where comparing against Princess. We liked the smaller ship and the quality of food on offer was great, however the service on Oceania Regatta was very poor. One night in the main dining room it took over an hour and half to get our entre. When it did arrive one of our dinner companions meat was still raw inside. Food in the buffet was also regularly cold. We have travelled extensively with Cunard and I would say that the quality and service is so much better than we experienced on Oceania. The ships are beautiful and you don’t have art auctions, instead , you have brilliant insight lecturers .

We will be sticking with Princess, just left Sky Princess on Saturday, the cruise was not without its problems but overall we had a lovely time. The disembarkation was chaotic and we had large number of passengers with covid but won’t let that spoil the memories. I just felt sorry for staff who had to deal with all the complaints, also those who were cruising for the fist time as many would have been put off by the experience.