Insignia: Just returned, all that fussing for naught!

[Toranut97]

Stumbled through the door yesterday and am recovering from the South America Secrets itinerary. Way back wen there was a lot of sturm und drang about whether Insignia would be "less than expected" because of the crew shifts to Marina and also the murmuring about leasing the ship in the future.

 

Well, no problem. Really. At least where we were concerned. We enjoyed our cruise as much as our two previous O itineraries on Nautica. The Penthouse Suite was ideal for this cruise since we had a bunch of sea days, and the extra space and service were appreciated. I have some concerns about the butler business which I will address some time later (maybe) but overall it was so very lovely. Met some fun folks at Trivia, too! But overall the service was splendid, Willie Aames was a great cruise director, and the staff was marvelous. Gads, but it is difficult to come back to earth and real life after being an O passenger. I believe I understand how Cinderella felt when her carriage turned back into a pumpkin!!!

 

If anyone has questions, fire away. The penguins were adorable!!!

[marilynfaye]

I believe I understand how Cinderella felt when her carriage turned back into a pumpkin!!!

 

I don't think I have ever heard it phrased so well.

 

Thanks for the report. We leave for BA 2 weeks from today and board Insignia 5 days later for the 19 day T/A to Barcelona. Am I looking forward to it? You bet.

 

Glad your cruise was fabulous.

 

Marilyn

[no fuss travel]

Any suggestions for private tour guides. We are doing this cruise next year and are looking for suggestions. We haven't even made our first Oceania cruise, but have already booked number two because of the ports.

[dolphinmar]

Hi Toranut97 - thanks for the great post. We love Insignia as well. I am curious about the butler service that you mention. We are considering booking a PH - well, it's mostly me - DH keeps saying "why do I want a butler?" And I don't have a good answer for him. Other than the extra space, did you feel having a butler warranted the additional stateroom cost? What do they do over and above what the great cabin stewards do already?

 

Thanks!

[Mura]

I'm not Toranut but we always book a PH (the one exception was when there weren't any available by the time we booked) for the extra space, not the butler. In fact, we don't use the butler all that much.

 

The one exception was when I blew out my knee in Barcelona just before boarding the ship and ended up either in a wheelchair or on crutches for the cruise. That time we used the butler A LOT. (It didn't hurt that for once in our lives we were in an OS ... there wouldn't have been enough room in a smaller space for the wheelchair.)

 

For us, it's worth the extra money.

[Acrusa]

We are leaving on our 4 th O cruise this March.When we first booked O we booked an OS. That was 4 yrs ago.But when I found out there was no walk in shower I canceled that and have only done Conciege level.I am so used to walking into a stall shower and not having to step over a tub that it was not worth it to us.As long as we have a veranda to walk out on thats just fine. The smaller stateroom never bothered us.

[MightyQuinn]

This makes sense. Oceania built its reputation on the R class ships so I'd expect them to maintain their service standard across the entire fleet. Marina is getting special attention now, but I'm sure that Oceania hasn't lost focus on their other ships. It's wonderful to read a first-hand account that all is well on Insignia. Thanks Toranut.

[Toranut97]

Well, I would get the PH again just for the larger cabin size (half again as big as the standard cabin) and the bathtub (which I loved having.) A butler is first of all your primary interface with the rest of the ship's program. When he brought breakfast (when we ordered it, that is) he would mention things on the schedule that day which he thought would be of interest to us. (After a few days he kind of had a read of our interests, I think). He would do the same when he brought afternoon canapes and our drinks/tea (depending on what we requested). He took care of bringing our laundry/cleaning back to us, and fetched our passports for us at cruise end.

 

My problem with our butler was that we couldn't get hold of him. There was some problem in the system for paging the butler, and he told us that if we didn't get a call back from him within 5 minutes of a request, we should call reception and they would page him. We did this -- the first time it was 20 minutes and no contact from him. The second time, we gave up 25 minutes after calling reception. I was a bit shy about using a butler anyway (it seemed a little pretentious for me) and so I was less likely to call for the butler. I did note this on my mid-cruise evaluation card, but there was no follow up by management. So it goes.

 

Other people swear by having dinner in their cabin served by the butler, course-by-course. He will also make your Polo/Toscana reservations for you. And I think he will do pretty much anything within his power along the way. The guy was a delight!

[wripro]

This may have been an anomoly. When I was on the Insignia the butler never took more than two minutes to return a page.

[orchestrapal]

This may have been an anomoly. When I was on the Insignia the butler never took more than two minutes to return a page.

 

This was also our experience. Also, if your in an Owners or Vista suite, with a real dining table, the course by course dining is a real delight. We have found the butlers to be true professionals.:)

[dolphinmar]

Thank you all, for the insights. A butler sounds very nice and the extra space very, very nice. We are hoping to do a PH on our next O cruise - the one after our Marina cruise this summer. :)

[Palmetto Lady]

The only time that I can imagine dining in my cabin (other than breakfast) would be if my husband and I had very busy lives and we didn't have much "together" time. As we are retired, we look forward to cocktail hour in the lounge and dinner in the dining room so that we can have conversations with the usually intresting and well traveled other passengers.

[GrammieK]

I totally agree about enjoying the company of other cruisers at dinner, however, after an enhausting day of touring or toward the end of a long cruise, nothing beats being served dinner while in bathrobes! I highly recommend it.

[Acrusa]

The only time that I can imagine dining in my cabin (other than breakfast) would be if my husband and I had very busy lives and we didn't have much "together" time. As we are retired, we look forward to cocktail hour in the lounge and dinner in the dining room so that we can have conversations with the usually intresting and well traveled other passengers.

 

I couldn't agree with you more. We have breakfast almost every morning in our stateroom.Danish coursants coffee juice fruits.I hope never to have dinner in our cabin, if that happens then i know one of us is not feeling too well.

Just starting to get ourselfs together to pack. Leaving in 2 weeks to Beijing and the March 11 cruise on the Nautica. The hard part of packing for this cruise is the weather factor ,cold to warm.

[Toranut97]

I posted some photos on Facebook from our cruise. Feel free to view if you wish... (you need not be a Facebook member to view):

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=281794&id=581656770&l=a37f4dfc49

[marilynfaye]

The photos are fantastic. Especially the animal shots.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Marilyn

[lmarmors]

I posted some photos on Facebook from our cruise. Feel free to view if you wish... (you need not be a Facebook member to view):

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=281794&id=581656770&l=a37f4dfc49

 

Great pictures, (although I couldn't open them big)...must have been an amazing trip...thanks for sharing.

[minz56]

Great photos! Makes me want to be there right now!

[no fuss travel]

Thanks for the photos. My husband and I looked and had a rethink on what we will be packing next year. It looks cold when you are seeing the penguins.

[Mura]

The question is just where were they when they saw the penguins. There are LOTS of opportunities on the BA-Valpo cruise (and I'm assuming that is what we're talking about).

 

We went out to see the penguins from Punta Arenas on January 14, 2002 and my notes say that it was "cool but not cold" when we breakfasted on the deck. I don't recall it being COLD when we saw the penguins. A friend went to see the penguins when we were at the Falklands which was a nicely warm day.

 

It was VERY cold when we were on deck at Cape Horn.

 

The answer is: layer.

[Oceanurse]

Excellent photos, thanks so much for sharing!

[Toranut97]

Thanks all for the kind comments!

 

The first series of penguins was at Otway Sound, near Punta Arenas. Windy, not so cold.

 

The second series is near Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. VERY windy, a bit colder. Damp, too.

 

Yes indeedy. LAYER! ;-)

[no fuss travel]

The question is just where were they when they saw the penguins. There are LOTS of opportunities on the BA-Valpo cruise (and I'm assuming that is what we're talking about).

 

We went out to see the penguins from Punta Arenas on January 14, 2002 and my notes say that it was "cool but not cold" when we breakfasted on the deck. I don't recall it being COLD when we saw the penguins. A friend went to see the penguins when we were at the Falklands which was a nicely warm day.

 

It was VERY cold when we were on deck at Cape Horn.

 

The answer is: layer.

 

Thanks Mura. We think we will pack a toque and gloves for that part of the trip. We ski, so we have lightweight garments that will keep us warm and not take too much room in the suitcase.

 

Would it be a good idea to take hiking boots with us for this cruise? I have a light pair that I use for all my Girl Guide trips.

[Mura]

Thanks Mura. We think we will pack a toque and gloves for that part of the trip. We ski, so we have lightweight garments that will keep us warm and not take too much room in the suitcase.

 

Would it be a good idea to take hiking boots with us for this cruise? I have a light pair that I use for all my Girl Guide trips.

 

 

Dear No Fuss!

 

You definitely will want gloves for the southern part of the hemisphere when you are on deck, and depending on weather you could use them on land excursions as well. Even in the summertime, it gets cool down there. (It can also be surprisingly warm but you don't know in advance what you will encounter.)

 

We did our SA cruise on NCL after the death of Renaissance in January 2002, and back then we were just doing ship's tours -- especially on this itinerary. (We didn't want a taxi cab to get a flat tire two hours away from the port!)

 

But NCL had ship's tours available that did call for real hiking and I assume that O will as well. If you are interested in hiking possibilities, you will find them on this itinerary. In that case, I would recommend bringing along your hiking boots.

 

As an aside, we did a ship's tour in Ushuaia that took us to a local national park for a brief "hike". Brief was right, it was about 10 minutes in length but it was up a trail. We were told to wear appropriate footgear. I was astonished to see a woman in spike heel backless sandals ... there are always people who ignore appropriate footgear and she was one.

 

Then there was the lady on a 3 hour walking tour in Florence wearing 3" heels ... I didn't wear 3" heels when I was young and I sure do NOT wear them on walking tours!

 

Sigh.

 

Have fun. This is really a fabulous itinerary. I still remember our trip in detail after 9 years ...

[no fuss travel]

But NCL had ship's tours available that did call for real hiking and I assume that O will as well. If you are interested in hiking possibilities, you will find them on this itinerary. In that case, I would recommend bringing along your hiking boots.

 

As an aside, we did a ship's tour in Ushuaia that took us to a local national park for a brief "hike". Brief was right, it was about 10 minutes in length but it was up a trail. We were told to wear appropriate footgear. I was astonished to see a woman in spike heel backless sandals ... there are always people who ignore appropriate footgear and she was one.

 

Then there was the lady on a 3 hour walking tour in Florence wearing 3" heels ... I didn't wear 3" heels when I was young and I sure do NOT wear them on walking tours!

 

Sigh.

 

Have fun. This is really a fabulous itinerary. I still remember our trip in detail after 9 years ...

 

I had to laugh at the 3 inch heels. I have not worn heels since I married my husband as he is the same height and did not like me being taller than him. I have never worn that height of a heel and am sure if I did I would end up on my backside on cobbled streets. I got caught once here on my lunch break when my heel went down a hole in the man hole cover and I couldn't get it out. I provided either laughter or annoyance for quite a few drivers as I was stuck right in the middle of a busy downtown street. A very kind gentleman got out of his car and rescued my shoe. He was very gallant about it and did not laugh until he got back into his car to carry on driving.