GeorginaSpica

I thought the same thing but hubby was quite pleased and has been using it quite a bit. Though where we live, we mostly walk to the stores and it's fairly sturdy for carrying back heavier items for those times when it's a hassle to bring the buggy.

Your Polo Grill experience was similar to all our experiences at the dining rooms on the second (Oct 23) O cruise. I was starting to wonder if Nautica was a 'starter' ship where you learned the ropes before being promoted to one of the larger ships. Plus it was just a stark contrast to the amazing service and food on that first Riviera cruise. On the first cruise, the service was up there with the best I have ever experienced but on the Nautica, each venue was lacking - beverages not showing up, wine not topped up, wait staff not noticing issues (at afternoon tea I almost went to get my own pot of hot water) @SthrngaryI was so hopeful that you wouldn't have any bad service! And the cooking classes looked great but I didn't sign up in time. Will add that to another reason to go back on O. 🙂

@Sthrngaryam so glad to hear that you are having a similar first O cruise experience to mine on the riviera. 😊

From my recent experiences, the cutbacks were more noticeable on Oceania than Norwegian.

It could have been a one off experience so I am following this thread to read the review! I have only been on two Oceania cruises and was surprised at the difference. Not just between the two Oceania cruises but between the NCL cruise at xmas and this trip. When the food wasn't the best tasting on the NCL cruise, I didn't complain because it was a mass market cruise, others were lining up for items I deemed not worth it (so it was obviously me being picky) and it saved me calories. On the second O trip, I wasn't the only one disappointed. One is paying a lot more for an O cruise over NCL so it's expected to be better. So does one write off a cruise line based on one experience? Or read more reviews and reassess when it comes time to book one's next trip?

No, not just the eggs benny was mediocre but it stood out because it was the worst I have ever eaten. The english muffin was stale, the meat was tasteless, thin and unidentifiable, the sauce was okay. After meeting with the head chef, I tried again a couple of days later and it wasn't much better. The muffin was at least fresh the second time. Both cruises were in the same general area ('21 Venice to Provence, '23 Haifa to Rome), both in October. Main differences - Riviera vs Nautica and 2021 with half capacity/covid restrictions vs full ship/no restrictions. Well, I suppose another main difference was being evacuated from Israel! But that was, imo, handled well and not an excuse for poor food/service days later. Yes we all have different tastes and expectations but having sailed on two NCL cruises within a year, one mass market, the other premium, I truly didn't expect to pay more for worse food on a cruise line that bills itself as best cuisine at sea. We all started saying 'what happened Oceania?'. Same 4 travel companions on all those cruises.

I totally understand your comment but for me, I was comparing 4 post 2020 cruises (2 Oceania '21 & '23, 1 Royal Caribbean '22, 1 Norwegian '22 @ xmas). That first Oceania was totally worth the premium cost. The food and service was amazing. I returned telling others that it was worth the extra cost. The second more recent trip, was not any better than the other two mass market cruises. In some ways worse. I expect to have lackluster food on mass market cruises, and I am partially okay with that because then I don't eat all the food. lol And while food can certainly be subjective, I never expected to have the worst eggs benny ever on an Oceania cruise. That was part of my feedback to which the head chef basically said it wasn't his fault, that he can't be everywhere. If you can't serve a decent eggs benny, please take it off the menu. And so I started asking others to see if it was just me being picky. A few of those people were on their first Oceania cruise and very disappointed. Some had brought others on their first Oceania cruise and said they kept apologizing that this trip was not their past experience on Oceania. But I hope it was just that cruise! And that @Sthrngary has a much better experience and comes back with a review that reassures me that last month's trip was a one off.

Well I based my second not just on my first Oceania but my experiences on other cruise lines. Just this past xmas I was on Norwegian to Mexico. I have also, over the years, been on Carnival, Princess & Royal Caribbean. The food was bad enough that I started asking other cruisers about their experience. Not one said the food was good. Many said the food on the excursions was better. Some of those were first timers on Oceania. The food on the Norwegian cruise in December was better than last month's cruise. With the premium price for the Oceania cruise, this should not have been the case at all! I have my fingers crossed for you that your Riviera cruise will be as good as mine was on that ship two years ago.

That's the thing, people have a bad experience and are afraid to get burnt again. Oceania bills itself as the best cuisine at sea and that was certainly true on my first Oceania trip on Riviera. It was fantastic despite being under covid rules in 2021. I was really excited to be traveling on Nautica last month. What a disappointment - poor customer service, some of the worst meals I have ever eaten anywhere. I complained, the head chef did chat with me at the next dinner and he had only feeble excuses ("I can't be everywhere supervising every dish". No but you can ensure quality ingredients and train your staff!) I am in contact with Oceania Guest Relations and am in the midst of composing my email reply to them. But to what end? What can they do to reassure me that a next cruise will be closer to my first experience than my second?

Yes, chat with the manager to help figure it out. Our cruise is in a couple of weeks so starting soon after the start of SM. When I first contacted my O rep, he said 'cruise is totally booked at your cabin level so you can't switch'. After reading a bunch here, I called him. He went to his manager and switched plans with no additional cost (SM made more sense for our group).

Yes I understand, the flights I checked were non-stop. But I am okay with direct flights too. More than once I have had flights stop in Montreal to pick up additional passengers. I just would prefer not to deplane and hang out in an airport for hours in front of next gate or have to rush to get to the gate and hope one's luggage makes it to the new plane. And sometimes stuff happens to cause a direct non-stop to have to land. Earlier this year, our flight home had to land in Phoenix to fill up because the departure airport, San Diego, had issues with fuel delivery. Never had that happen before.

We are flying out of Toronto in Oct. Having had a good experience the last time with O, during covid in 2021, I thought it would be okay this time. Air Canada has it's issues for sure but while AC has direct flights to both start and end locations, O booked us with AC going but alternative airlines returning & not direct. And changing is going to cost more than booking AC directly. In hindsight, should have just booked on my own from the start.

It took a couple of emails and a call but the booking has been changed to SM at no extra cost. We are travelling with my US relatives and they got it changed with just one call. When I called, I mentioned cousin's switch done day before and he asked for a screenshot of my communications with cousin. TA said he had to chat with supervisor. About an hour later, new documents were emailed.

My TA wouldn't reprice it today. He said 'let's see in 48 hrs'. The final payment is due a day after that. I assume it's because prices have changed and the mass email went out earlier today? Though the website has same pricing showing so am not sure why it couldn't just be swapped over. Perhaps the price is an error when in Cdn? I will call him tomorrow as a chat might work better than an email exchange.

On my last few cruises, in last couple of years, one just shows up to a meeting spot to check in with staff. Could be the muster station or it could be another location. In 2021, our check in was just outside of Red Ginger.