CanadaDJ Posted May 27, 2011 #1 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Greetings all My wife and I are considering cruising with Oceania for our next cruise. so far we have cruised 7 times so far on many of the mainstream lines (Carnival, Princess, Celebrity & NCL). We have heard some great things about Oceania (top notch service and fabulous dining), but I have heard that a,lot of things that are extra on our lines are included on Oceania. For those of you that have cruised on Oceania could you please fill me in on any information on what is included and not included as well as any of your positives / negatives about cruising with Oceania. I have noticed there is a significant price increase compared to some of the other lines we have traveled with - is it worth the extra money? Thank you in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted May 27, 2011 #2 Share Posted May 27, 2011 I would read this thread which asks some of the same questions http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1418044 Also read some of the reviews http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/oceania-cruises/cl/ Only you can say if the extra $$ are worth it to you Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch Explorers Posted May 27, 2011 #3 Share Posted May 27, 2011 We had the same questions last January. Eventually we decided to try Oceania and I can tell you it was one of the best choices we have ever made. For us the following things made the difference between Oceania and the other cruiselines we sailed in the past. 1. The excellent food. Really way better than our other experiences 2. Barely any children on board 3. Country Casual dress code 4. NO photographers and art auctions 5. Soft drinks and bottled water included 6. Very nice port intensive itineraries. 7. Overall great atmosphere onboard. The only downside is that you get spoiled and don't want go back to the other cruise lines :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comcox Posted May 27, 2011 #4 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Adding to some things that have already been said: Cabins are smaller esp. the bathrooms than say on Holland America but comfortable. They are not too much into Cruise Critic folk so just organize your own roll call get-together rather than trying to work through them. Almost smoke-free (just two small areas) which is a joy if you suffered through smoky HAL or other U.S. cruiselines owned by Carnival. Food quality is excellent and quite a variety available. I do wish they had better lectures, though. This is, for us, their poorest area. Just got off a Swan Hellenic cruise where lectures were fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted May 27, 2011 #5 Share Posted May 27, 2011 do wish they had better lectures, though. This is, for us, their poorest area. I so agree with you! With the advent of the Board-Room on the Oceania Class ships,let's hope that we will see more and better lecturers booked. I know that "they" see the Board Room as a business center, but I always thought of it as the perfect space for lectures that wont fill the Marina lounge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted May 27, 2011 #6 Share Posted May 27, 2011 We haven't been on Marina yet, but once upon a time Oceania booked far better lecturers on cruises. It is beyond me why they have dropped the ball on this one. However, we did talk to a guest lecturer (we "shared" a table with him in Toscana one night with another single passenger) on our Panama Canal cruise in 2004 and he said it was his last gig with Oceania ... as I recall, Oceania wasn't willing to pay enough to get him to continue. If they expect top notch lecturers to travel for free or only a little money, maybe that's the answer. But for me, if that is the case they are being penny wise and pound foolish. It's certainly true that for US that was the last cruise when the lectures were really interesting. It was also the last cruise when the lecturers talked about the places we were going to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted May 27, 2011 #7 Share Posted May 27, 2011 We haven't been on Marina yet, but once upon a time Oceania booked far better lecturers on cruises. It is beyond me why they have dropped the ball on this one. However, we did talk to a guest lecturer (we "shared" a table with him in Toscana one night with another single passenger) on our Panama Canal cruise in 2004 and he said it was his last gig with Oceania ... as I recall, Oceania wasn't willing to pay enough to get him to continue. If they expect top notch lecturers to travel for free or only a little money, maybe that's the answer. But for me, if that is the case they are being penny wise and pound foolish. It's certainly true that for US that was the last cruise when the lectures were really interesting. It was also the last cruise when the lecturers talked about the places we were going to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted May 27, 2011 #8 Share Posted May 27, 2011 I so agree with you! With the advent of the Board-Room on the Oceania Class ships,let's hope that we will see more and better lecturers booked. I know that "they" see the Board Room as a business center, but I always thought of it as the perfect space for lectures that wont fill the Marina lounge. We agreed with you until our just ended two Regatta cruises but still feel the need for much improvement. The lecturer Miami-San Francisco was "the usual" but, the woman brought aboard for the Canal itself was fantastic and had us listening from our cabin every time we came in off the balcony. She was professional, knowledgeable and a wonderful speaker. On the San Francisco-Alaska portion there was a speaker who we only lasted 5 minutes with, however, Terry Breene who is an Alaska expert and an Anthropologist was fabulous. Terry is actually on Oceana's payroll and we hope to hear her again on another, non-Alaska, cruise. Her lectures were always "standing-room-only" while the other speaker was very sparsely attended the only time we stuck our heads in. Anyone who has a chance to cruise with Terry will be thrilled as we were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougt1957 Posted May 28, 2011 #9 Share Posted May 28, 2011 After many cruises on Celebrity, RCCL, and one each on Carnival and NCL, we decided to try Oceania for our first trip to Europe last year. We were very happy with our choice. The food and service were better, and the lack of kids was a selling point for us. The specialty restaurants are included as well. They are very port intensive and this helps make up for their one short coming, which is entertainment. No large production shows for my wife to drag me to.:D They will allow you to bring liquor and wine on board to enjoy in cabin unlike some other lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacheco18 Posted May 28, 2011 #10 Share Posted May 28, 2011 We sail Celebrity and Oceania - these are the big differences IMO For O, I think you will love the intimacy of the ship, a more sophisticated crowd, few or no kids (if you are lucky) and lack of crowds at buffet lines etc. We love Trivia on O and the cruise directors are fabulous. I think food is a wash. What we miss when we sail O is the great music in all the venues on Celebrity and the many opportunities to dance (we love ballroom dancing). Although shows are not important to us, we like the "choice" of seeing a really top notch show. O's entertainment is lacking. O is more port intensive. That can be a plus or a minus as some like sea days too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sldispatcher Posted June 2, 2011 #11 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I was a first time Oceania cruiser this year. I love Holland's R and S class ships for size and demographic. (We are in our early 40's and prefer and more genteel cruise.) I have also enjoyed Celebrity and am booked on them next year as well to try the Solstice. If you want to know what a person new to Oceania MAY experience....I'm going to direct you to a thread that was started a few months ago by someone doing just that for the first time. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1339111 It can be a slow read at times, but the person writing it must have been having some fun! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaDJ Posted June 10, 2011 Author #12 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Thanks for the information so far folks - it is much appreciated. I love the comments on the upscale food since both of us are defianetly foodies, however, a little disappointed to find out that the entertainment is a little lacking. We always enjoy a good show. We have beenon 7 cruises in the last four years (ish) and have tried many of the mainstream lines. We have enjoyed all of the cruises thus far with a minor bump here or there. when we are on holidays we love meeting others and enjoying the vacation - sometimes a laid back atmosphere, sometimes a little more exciting is in the cards - we like to have the option though. Well we are off to Europe for a couple of weeks but I will check in on our arrival home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted June 10, 2011 #13 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Thanks for the information so far folks - it is much appreciated. I love the comments on the upscale food since both of us are defianetly foodies, however, a little disappointed to find out that the entertainment is a little lacking. We always enjoy a good show. We have beenon 7 cruises in the last four years (ish) and have tried many of the mainstream lines. We have enjoyed all of the cruises thus far with a minor bump here or there. when we are on holidays we love meeting others and enjoying the vacation - sometimes a laid back atmosphere, sometimes a little more exciting is in the cards - we like to have the option though. Well we are off to Europe for a couple of weeks but I will check in on our arrival home. If I had to guess, I would say that Oceania holds back on the Entertainment because, with their port intensive itineraries, AND the great food, most people are ready for bed by 10pm anyway. Do we really want to be paying for a show that we sleep through? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potterhill Posted June 10, 2011 #14 Share Posted June 10, 2011 On our last cruise I didn't go to a single show. Intended to, just never made it. For us, evening dining is one of the highlights and we very much enjoy lingering over dinner with our new friends. We always share a table if we can, and have made several lasting friendships this way. We tend to dine a little later, always have, so that's a choice we make. If the entertainment was outstanding we probably would make a bigger effort to go, but we have a couple of cruises booked, all on Oceania. Truth be told, we are a little afraid to book another cruiseline.... Enjoy your trip to Europe. I would love to live there. Mo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no fuss travel Posted June 10, 2011 #15 Share Posted June 10, 2011 We just did our first cruise with Oceania on the Marina. Will we go back to the other cruise lines, probably not, for the following reasons. 1. Too large 2. Staff to passenger ratio is too high 3. No one constantly asking us to purchase drinks 4. No photographer constantly lurking taking pictures 5. No climbing wall 6. No art auctions 7. Not enough staff in the dining room ( on Oceania, they have head waiters, fewer tables for the staff to wait on therefore you get spoiled.) 8. Not enough chairs for people to sit on on outer decks ( if Oceania staff see that a chair is not being occupied, they change the towels so that someone new can sit on the chair) 9. The ship has cabins filled up at the last minute with bargain passengers who have the tendency to take over the ship as if they own it. (This has happened to us on the last two cruises that we took with major cruise lines) We will still use river cruise lines as Oceania cannot dock at some of the cities we would like to see and they also do not have a huge passenger capacity. Even our children in their early twenties do not like the mega ships. We took them on cruises where the passengers on board was much smaller and they preferred those ships. They are not quite ready for Oceania yet though.:D Mind you they would enjoy the ports more with Oceania than the other lines. Have we booked with Oceania again? Yes, we are going on one of the R ships in February and are already counting the days down till we leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted June 10, 2011 #16 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I just returned from an Alaska cruise on the Regatta and the lecturer aboard, Terry Breen, was one of the best I have ever heard on any ship. Not only was she immensely knowledgeable aboard the area she presented the information in the most appealing and entertaining manner. True, she was on loan from Regent where she mainly lectures, but what an asset she was to the cruise. It's the first time I never missed one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted June 10, 2011 #17 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I just returned from an Alaska cruise on the Regatta and the lecturer aboard, Terry Breen, was one of the best I have ever heard on any ship. Not only was she immensely knowledgeable aboard the area she presented the information in the most appealing and entertaining manner. True, she was on loan from Regent where she mainly lectures, but what an asset she was to the cruise. It's the first time I never missed one. Same here on the first Alaska cruise. Would that the lecturers Oceania normally has would be of that caliber.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seafare Posted June 10, 2011 #18 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I just returned from an Alaska cruise on the Regatta and the lecturer aboard, Terry Breen, was one of the best I have ever heard on any ship. Not only was she immensely knowledgeable aboard the area she presented the information in the most appealing and entertaining manner. True, she was on loan from Regent where she mainly lectures, but what an asset she was to the cruise. It's the first time I never missed one. Wripro, We are leaving on the Regatta on 17 June from Vancouver, do you have any idea if Ms. Breen will be on that sailing? Fingers crossed. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floridiana Posted June 10, 2011 #19 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I so agree with you! With the advent of the Board-Room on the Oceania Class ships,let's hope that we will see more and better lecturers booked. I can recommend Chris Fisher, the lecturer we had on the Panama Canal Statendam cruise. He developed the lecture program for Holland America and we were lucky to have him on board. He is a very knowledgeable naturalist (wrote 16 bird books) and a dynamic speaker on all sorts of interesting natural and cultural topics. He would be perfect for our Amazon cruise in October/November. Does anybody from the Oceania line read this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beancounterlen Posted June 11, 2011 #20 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Wife Nd I are boked for cruise 9 and 10 on Oceania. No extra charge for specialty dining rooms Polo and Tuscana. Water & soft drinks No charge. Food is wonderful Len & Elaine Leavitt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted June 11, 2011 #21 Share Posted June 11, 2011 seafare, I believe Terry Breen is going back to the Navigator soon but I'm not sure when. For some reason I do not think she'll be on board the Regatta for the June 17th cruise but I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherylroslyn Posted July 11, 2011 #22 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Thanks for the information so far folks - it is much appreciated. I love the comments on the upscale food since both of us are defianetly foodies, however, a little disappointed to find out that the entertainment is a little lacking. We always enjoy a good show. We have beenon 7 cruises in the last four years (ish) and have tried many of the mainstream lines. We have enjoyed all of the cruises thus far with a minor bump here or there. when we are on holidays we love meeting others and enjoying the vacation - sometimes a laid back atmosphere, sometimes a little more exciting is in the cards - we like to have the option though. Well we are off to Europe for a couple of weeks but I will check in on our arrival home. Got a problem with the Summit???? Half of the "Repos" from 2011 are doing 2012... I think you and Maria are obligated to come.......and no one on Oceania wants to see those buttons popping........not very genteel...... PROS 1. Too large 2. Staff to passenger ratio is too high 3. No one constantly asking us to purchase drinks 4. No photographer constantly lurking taking pictures 5. No climbing wall 6. No art auctions 7. Not enough staff in the dining room ( on Oceania, they have head waiters, fewer tables for the staff to wait on therefore you get spoiled.) 8. Not enough chairs for people to sit on on outer decks ( if Oceania staff see that a chair is not being occupied, they change the towels so that someone new can sit on the chair) 9. The ship has cabins filled up at the last minute with bargain passengers who have the tendency to take over the ship as if they own it. (This has happened to us on the last two cruises that we took with major cruise lines) CONS 1. No Cherylroslyn :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaDJ Posted September 19, 2011 Author #23 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Hello Cheryl- the buttons was not my fault - it was some New Yorkers trap! What have you been up to? - trouble I suspect! Do you have my personal email? Cheers Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahimsa Posted September 19, 2011 #24 Share Posted September 19, 2011 We sailed Marina recently and LOVED it :D. We felt it was completely worth the extra money as we prefer a more indulgent vacation. One of my husband's favorite sayings is: "You get what you pay for." This couldn't be more true on Marina. I just typed a review of our experience which hasn't been posted yet, but please look for it to help make your decision. Happy sailing. Greetings all My wife and I are considering cruising with Oceania for our next cruise. so far we have cruised 7 times so far on many of the mainstream lines (Carnival, Princess, Celebrity & NCL). We have heard some great things about Oceania (top notch service and fabulous dining), but I have heard that a,lot of things that are extra on our lines are included on Oceania. For those of you that have cruised on Oceania could you please fill me in on any information on what is included and not included as well as any of your positives / negatives about cruising with Oceania. I have noticed there is a significant price increase compared to some of the other lines we have traveled with - is it worth the extra money? Thank you in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherylroslyn Posted October 3, 2011 #25 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Hello Cheryl- the buttons was not my fault - it was some New Yorkers trap! What have you been up to? - trouble I suspect! Do you have my personal email? Cheers Ron No I don't have your personal email...thats why I hunted you down and stalked you over here....:) Just got back from Alaska.........boy was that freaking cold!!!!!!! And rainy...... Weather was the most terrible I could have imagined....but still had fun!!!!! It was a great place to visit.....very beautiful....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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