Thinking about Oceania - info please

[igraf]

Since it has been mentioned twice so far, I feel obligated to say that some of the other cruise lines, HAL in particular, no longer have art auctions.

 

igraf

 

 

 

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.

[harrodsfan]

We just got back from the black sea cruise.

Pros

Shore excursions from the ship were expensive but good.

Healthy food choices were excellent especially the fish.

Main dining room was lovely and not noisy.

Entertainment staff very talented and personable.

Penthouse suite was lovely but closet smallish.

We met some nice people on board.

Lovely linen from table to bed.

Cons

Cruise director was Not at all to our taste.

Crowd definitely older. Missed the range of ages.

Dining room very understaffed and streesed serving dinner.

 

We would only go on them again if the Itinerary was interesting.

Something about the atmosphere was not to our liking.

[Wildblue]

Just got back from Alaska.........boy was that freaking cold!!!!!!! And rainy......

 

Oh, dear! If you think it's cold here in Alaska in Sep/Oct, you must be warm-weathered. We haven't even hit our first snow yet! Personally, though, I do think late Jun to early Sep would be the best time for an AK cruise.

 

I've got my first O cruise coming up this Nov/Dec. Looking forward to it! DW and I are only 35 and 37, though, so we do realize we'll likely be the youngest on the ship.

[luasa]

CanadaDJ my husband and I are also considering Oceania, would you mind sharing your overall experience upon your return. thanks.

[CanadaDJ]

CanadaDJ my husband and I are also considering Oceania, would you mind sharing your overall experience upon your return. thanks.

 

 

We are still up in the air about it - we are cruising on Princess in January, but are considering an Oceania later in the year - looking at a 10 day (ish) in either the Mediterrean or European.

We love the idea of the upscale food, but are concerned about the lack of entertainment or things to do in the evenings.

 

thanks

[Baby Hughy]

We are still up in the air about it - we are cruising on Princess in January, but are considering an Oceania later in the year - looking at a 10 day (ish) in either the Mediterrean or European.

We love the idea of the upscale food, but are concerned about the lack of entertainment or things to do in the evenings.

 

thanks

I notice you are located in Kingston and so are we. Been on 3 O cruises . 1: Carribean, 2: TA Miami to Barcelona and 3: Alaska. All were on Regatta and we found lots to keep us occupied and entertained. It depends if you like to join in or just amuse yourself what you can fill the shipboard time with. As tee first and third cruises were port intensive for us that was no problem. The TA was slow at times but enjoyed the leiseur time. There is entertainment at 9:30 in the show lounge and though not up to the complexity of the shows on Holland America we found 90% of offerings to be enjoyable.

Were sailing on Marina in Nov. but if you want to get together and go over the daily program and other information let me know and we we set up a time. Might be better after we Get back from the Marina as I will the have first hand knowledge of both tha R & O class ships.

Bill

patbillkeith@sympatico.ca

[jaffeb]

We just returned from Nautica, Rome to Athens. I was truly disappointed about lectures, or the lack of them. Evidently, the entertainment people were rehearsing a new show, so the lecturer couldn't use that venue. So the lectures were videotaped and put on the TV. The one I watched was just a pleasant travelogue, neither in-depth nor expert .

 

I complained in the mid-cruise survey, and heard back absolutely nothing. I'm checking the website now, and it talks up the fabulous lectures. "Imagine how your perceptions might change after discussing the current political climate in Russia with a former diplomat or historian." There's a pull-down menu under "Discover our endless Enrichment options, from our famed guest lecturers to our English-style library." Choose Nautica, and the "endless" options are 1) the library and 2) the unaffordable internet. That's it.

 

So go for the food, you won't be disappointed.

[nvgal]

I have sailed with Harry Chittick several times and have thoroughly enjoyed his talks. Looking forward to sailing with him again on LA to Papette on Regatta on Dec. 16.:D