CC Insignia Review - How Accurate?

[caroak]

Below is a portion of a CC review of the Insignia. We will be taking our first O cruise on the Insignia in May and these comments have me apprehensive especially that the only open viewing decks have dirty glass in front of them. We especially like to walk out on an open deck for the views and exercise sans any glass. Does this review have any bit of accuracy or should I consider it coming from someone who is unjustly critical?:confused:

 

"The ship itself was very clean, but compared to other ships we have been on, the ceilings were low, and the outside deck space was incredibly lacking. There was no where on the deck one could sit and have a panoramic view of the sea and beautiful ports. The open decks all had glass between us and the views (glass with smudges and flies), and the ship felt claustrophobic. On other ships you can have you meal on the deck and be able to see the sea and the port all around you with no obstructions--I really missed that on the Insignia."

[Paulchili]

Yes - you can have a meal outdoors without glass between you and the view. It can be done aft for breakfast, lunch and dinner (Tapas).

No - you cannot sit on open deck with panoramic views without glass; but you can go on the deck above the pool with panoramic views w/o glass ( no seating there though). Also plenty of panoramic views through clean glass are usually available in my experience.

Go with an open mind and chances are that you will enjoy Oceania :)

[LHT28]

Our recent cruise on Insignia they washed the windows just about every port.

You can dine in Tapas/Terrace outside which is at the aft of the ship so you may see some of the port & sea .

Horizons is at the front of the ship & you can see the sea though the windows

There are windows around the pool deck or you could go up to the walking track with no obstructions for photo taking

I had no trouble taking photos through the cabin window (deck 4)

 

Deck 11 has loungers with no glass obstructions so you can have a view but not from the front where the cabanas are situated

If you have a cabana there is blue glass in front so that may hinder photo taking.

 

The dining room does have a low ceiling or higher floor in the centre area but so do most ships I have been on

 

They are smaller ships so less space than a mega ship

I guess it depends on what you are use to

 

We love the R ships but they are not for everyone

 

Lyn

[caribbeansun]

Smaller ships would of course feel smaller - claustrophobic seems like an unusual characterization though.

 

Pictures speak louder than words so - here is one shot of the back of the ship - you can see the umbrellas from Tapas near the top. The second one is a pic I took from the 11th deck - there is glass but it's certainly not in the way around the entire area.

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

 

"The ship itself was very clean, but compared to other ships we have been on, the ceilings were low, and the outside deck space was incredibly lacking. There was no where on the deck one could sit and have a panoramic view of the sea and beautiful ports. The open decks all had glass between us and the views (glass with smudges and flies), and the ship felt claustrophobic. On other ships you can have you meal on the deck and be able to see the sea and the port all around you with no obstructions--I really missed that on the Insignia."

 

 

 

 

 

 

[happy cruzer]

I'll add that on my one cruise the aft area of the Terrace was very popular and tables were shared most meal times. And at times no seats available. YMMV.

[TERRIER1]

Great sunset picture.

 

There are times when you will actually welcome some of the glass since it will break a high wind. There is no forward view without glass but the glass has always been clean. You have unobstructed views on the lap deck and aft at the Tapas Cafe. I have never felt claustrophobic on the ship. I would rather have less people and a smaller ship than a larger ship with lots of people. I think you will enjoy Oceania but you need to compare and access what you are use to. Enjoy.

[A Knitter]

Smaller ships would of course feel smaller - claustrophobic seems like an unusual characterization though.

 

 

 

Awesome Photo!

[Rocket4Oh]

Caribbeansun,

Could you please expand on that phenomenal photograph of the sunset(rise?)

Where was it taken? What kind of camera? Any filtering? Et al.

Thanks

PS: It’s worthy of submission to a travel magazine!

[caroak]

Glad to hear we'll have viewing decks with no glass and where there's glass it will more than likely be clean at least in port. Our first and only cruise was on Crystal and the big windows at the front of the ship had water spots but how could they not while being at sea. Also, a good point about glass blocking the wind. I do remember some big winds on the open decks while we were cruising and I found it a little scary thinking I might get blown away.:D

 

I would also love to hear the details of that amazing sunset photo.

[Starlaker]

That is an incredible picture. I would be so proud if I could get a shot like that.

[vaitape]

Also Deck 5 has a promenade that is open....nice loungers there as well. Would be a windy at times but still a nice panorama.

 

AND YES WOW!!!! WHAT A PHOTO!

[De La Cruise]

Picture postcard photo. Awesome!

[caribbeansun]

Thank you for the compliments :o

 

This sunset was shot as we left St. Barts using an Olympus E-510 and a 70-300mm lens at 300mm, f/8, 1/80sec, ISO100 handheld from deck 11 just beside the cabanas. I didn't use a filter but I did bump up the saturation and vibrance.

 

Caribbeansun,

Could you please expand on that phenomenal photograph of the sunset(rise?)

Where was it taken? What kind of camera? Any filtering? Et al.

Thanks

PS: It’s worthy of submission to a travel magazine!

[Aruba]

This sunset was shot as we left St. Barts using an Olympus E-510 and a 70-300mm lens at 300mm, f/8, 1/80sec, ISO100 handheld from deck 11 just beside the cabanas. I didn't use a filter but I did bump up the saturation and vibrance.

Incredible photo! You should enter it in the Nat'l Geographic Travelers photo contest. I'm not kidding.

Regarding bumping up the saturation and vibrance, did you do that after you shot the photo (like on PhotoShop) or is that an adjustment you make to the camera before you took the shot?

[caribbeansun]

I do appreciate the compliment but I don't think I'm ready for publishing just yet. If someone likes what I've done that's a bonus so thank you!

 

I always shot using RAW file format and make some adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw if needed before opening the file in Photoshop. I didn't do any other adjustments in Photoshop other than cropping it to fit my screen and reduce the file size for uploading.

 

 

Incredible photo! You should enter it in the Nat'l Geographic Travelers photo contest. I'm not kidding.

Regarding bumping up the saturation and vibrance, did you do that after you shot the photo (like on PhotoShop) or is that an adjustment you make to the camera before you took the shot?

[SunDapple]

CaribbeanSun,

As my kids would say... Dude, Waaaay Cool!

:-)

and I would have to agree. Staring at it makes me feel like I am waiting for the "green flash".