The Happy Wanderer wandered to Oceania---a report

[sppunk]

Thanks for the great review! If Oceania had better itineraries we'd be all over them more so, but for where we travel they really lack good itineraries. :(

[RuthC]

Thank you for your comprehensive report.

 

Can you comment on the flight arrangements? As they are part of the package, I'm wondering if they were convenient, reasonable routings.

You're welcome! :)

 

No, Sorry, I can't speak to the Oceania flight arrangements from personal experience. I cashed in the flights/transfers to book my own flights. First, I would have had to arrive the day of sailing, or paid a deviation, and second, I would not have been able to get home if I used Oceania flights. Oceania would have routed me either to/from Boston (with a change in Europe) or to/from NYC, which is too far from home on the return.

I hired a car to take me to JFK for the non-stop over a day early, then another car to take me to FLL for a flight to home.

 

Now, I don't think it's telling tales out of school to say my roomie did use Oceania air, and had a lot of trouble. She would have had decent flights, but was stranded at home due to the tornados that tore through the mid-west. Nobody's fault there.

She arrived in Barcelona about an hour after the ship sailed, and went over, under, around, and through an endless number of hurdles trying to catch up with the ship two days later. Other than the airfare to catch up, she was being charged for the hotels and transfers.

She was not happy. Hopefully Oceania headquarters, and/or her insurance, will reimburse her expenses.

[hal lover]

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts/experiences! I enjoyed every word of it.

[RuthC]

Did you get the opportunity to attend High Tea while the very talented string quartet performed? We attend almost all the High Teas.

I know there was at least one Grand Tea, but I didn't attend, so don't know if it was a high tea or not. I did attend low tea, which is held daily in the equivalent of the HAL Crow's Nest.

This is a beautiful room, with heavy, comfortable chairs. These chairs are not likely to turn over in high seas! All the tables are set, very early in the afternoon, and the tea starts at 4:00. White gloved servers came around offering little sandwiches (very tasty) and pastries. Hot water was set down in china pots, and Twinings tea bags were offered.

Scones, with jam (no marmalade :() were served from a central table. They had real clotted cream! :) The scones themselves were not as good as HAL's, imo, but that cream! :D

 

Yes, the string quartet played, and it was a lovely affair.

[RuthC]

I know you have sailed on the Prinsendam so, if you don't mind - how does she compare to Oceania. I am only asking as I have found the service better on the EE than the other ships and some things a 'step up' from the other ships in the fleet.

Frankly, I can't improve on rogerthornhill's (Hi, Casey! :)) reply. He has summed it up nicely.

[RuthC]

Did you use some type of laundry service....??

Just the laundry and my own delicate hands. :rolleyes:

Rogerthornhill answered about the laundry bag offers. That was offered twice in the fourteen days, as I remember, and each time covered three consecutive days.

[RuthC]

Oceania ships do have an outside deck, but not as large as the outside areas on HAL.

I would call the deck on the Riviera "open" as opposed to "outside". It's more like the Lido deck on the Prinsendam which is the Lido pool without the dome, and the deck above that. The decks face inward, and were not always set up. Sometimes the loungers were taken down, and other times the loungers not in the covered area didn't have the cloth covers on them.

 

I will say that the loungers were wonderful! There was a very thick pad on the seat and back; much more comfortable than the HAL lounger pads. Because they are so thick, they are higher, so easier to get in and out of.

Then, those pads are covered with a white, terrycloth cover, and a white, fluffy towel is rolled and placed there.

 

There is a walk-around area on this upper deck, which is comparable to the walking area up near the funnel on HAL.

[RuthC]

I do think that when it gets right down to it, as much as I hate saying this it really depends on price. Was the bit higher price worth paying for the things that were exceptional yet losing those thing one missed such as an outside deck and Piano Bar.

The thing though, Lisa, is that the price is more than "a bit". Since I am used to paying for an inside, then it might be a bit more to get an inside on Oceania. But since there are so few insides on that ship, and very hard to get one, then I must also spend much more than "a bit" more to get any cabin at all. Then, double that for the single supplement.

 

When I booked this cruise, there were no inside or outside cabins. None. I was on a waitlist for an outside, and able to book a veranda cabin; I took an upsell to the concierge cabin for "a bit" more than the veranda cabin. But had I not found a roomie, then I could not have taken the cruise in the veranda cabin.

[RuthC]

How did country club casual suit you?

LOL! I was totally lost when I tried to start packing! The first things to go in the suitcase is usually the formals. Only when I get those in the bag can I start on the rest of the evening wear, then the daytime clothes.

Since there was no formal wear to put in the suitcase, I didn't know how to start the job!

 

Once I started packing, the rest was easy. Fourteen nights = five outfits. Each outfit gets worn three times, with one left over. Same with daywear. Suitcase weighed the same as if there had been formal wear in there.

 

The range of clothing at night was broad, but within the guidelines for the most part. A few times I saw someone overdressed in formal wear, and there were a few who stood out on the other end of the spectrum. But those people were very few and far between, and did stick out because there were so few.

[OlsSalt]

90-Day ticker claims they still have a 14 day April TA balcony on Oceania for $2,849 right now, which is considerably less than most of their offerings. Sounds like a good deal, and hits Bermuda too.

Edited December 8, 2013 by OlsSalt

[RuthC]

So many of you have mentioned my comments about service that I feel a need to elaborate. I feel the better service was a function of staffing levels, and not a function of training or desire to do a good job. There is a difference in style, somewhat, and whether that's due to different nationalities, or corporate philosophy, I don't know. The Indonesian and Philippino staff did seem a bit more restrained than I find on HAL, so it could be some corporate influence there. But it's important to point out that none of the crew ever seemed to be running ragged. There was sufficient staff to do the job while creating a relaxed atmosphere. HAL used to be that way, before staffing cuts.

[mamaofami]

. Ruth,thank you so much for this wonderful review.I know we all were anxious to hear your thoughts.I'm very glad you had a good time.No night life must really have made for some boring evenings.

[kazu]

Jacqui,

 

They probably rated Oceania above P a smidge because of the staterooms. I've been in a beautiful stateroom on Regent---with bathrooms of marble and glass. They are impressive. I've only visited the better suites on P. They are older, so it's hard to truly rave about them. At any rate, it is nice hearing such good remarks about P. Those Regent folks are quite annoyed with me when I rave about her.

 

Actually those people had verandahs. I have had the S on the P'dam and believe it or not, DH was enchanted in seconds. It was so well laid out. Very comfortable and just a nice spot to be in.

 

We loved that room and for me they are the nicest suites on the fleet except for the verandah. For that the Maasdam has her beat hands down

 

The stained glass is in the Neptune Lounge :)

 

Alas, we won't be in that category next cruise:(

 

I was very intrigued by Oceania and RuthC and rogerthornhill have really given us some good synopses. Thank you to both of them and my apologies for digressing.

 

Now... back to our regularly scheduled programme :D

[goldies155]

Ruth, I appreciated your detailed report! We have been deluged with Oceana catalogs sometimes twice a week in my name or my husband's.:eek: I have called them twice, as did my TA and still the beautiful, pricey catalogs arrive. I do look at them , but feel HAL provides a better value.

 

DH likes the country club casual...no suit. Some itineraries look intriguing, we'll see!

 

Welcome home!:)

Karen

 

Karen - I will always remember you and your DH - we frequently laugh about being rookies on our first cruise with you guys on the Oosterdam, December, 1997. You guys were so helpful. We always speak of you when we see itineraries with Loreto options.

 

Ed and Carol

[Fouremco]

You're welcome! :)

 

No, Sorry, I can't speak to the Oceania flight arrangements from personal experience. I cashed in the flights/transfers to book my own flights. First, I would have had to arrive the day of sailing, or paid a deviation, and second, I would not have been able to get home if I used Oceania flights. Oceania would have routed me either to/from Boston (with a change in Europe) or to/from NYC, which is too far from home on the return.

I hired a car to take me to JFK for the non-stop over a day early, then another car to take me to FLL for a flight to home.

 

Now, I don't think it's telling tales out of school to say my roomie did use Oceania air, and had a lot of trouble. She would have had decent flights, but was stranded at home due to the tornados that tore through the mid-west. Nobody's fault there.

She arrived in Barcelona about an hour after the ship sailed, and went over, under, around, and through an endless number of hurdles trying to catch up with the ship two days later. Other than the airfare to catch up, she was being charged for the hotels and transfers.

She was not happy. Hopefully Oceania headquarters, and/or her insurance, will reimburse her expenses.

That's not quite the positive answer I was hoping for. :) It's hard to believe that they would schedule passengers to arrive the day of embarkation. Your friend's experience sounds terrible, and it doesn't appear that she received a lot of help if she had multiple hurdles trying to catch up.

[Scrapnana]

That's not quite the positive answer I was hoping for. :) It's hard to believe that they would schedule passengers to arrive the day of embarkation. Your friend's experience sounds terrible, and it doesn't appear that she received a lot of help if she had multiple hurdles trying to catch up.

 

I agree. We all know that scheduling a flight the day of embarkation is a huge risk - you would think the cruise line would as well. Even worse, they did not take care of her as they should when she missed the ship. Ruth was smart to book her own flights.

[erewhon]

Ruth,

 

Thank you for taking time to write and post your interesting review, which I enjoyed reading.

Very helpful.

[Vict0riann]

Interesting review, Ruth. Thank you.

[RuthC]

That's not quite the positive answer I was hoping for. :) It's hard to believe that they would schedule passengers to arrive the day of embarkation. Your friend's experience sounds terrible, and it doesn't appear that she received a lot of help if she had multiple hurdles trying to catch up.

Oceania flies you in to arrive the day of embarkation, unless you pay for a deviation. Since my roomie had already paid a deviation to fly from her home airport, she didn't want to pay an additional one to arrive a day early. Her choice on that.

 

If you ask her, the experience was beyond terrible. Her anger didn't really subside for the entire cruise. She was meeting lots of people telling her story, though! There were a few other people in the same boat (groan), and they didn't even get the air to Tangiers comped, since they didn't have Oceania air.

I do hope everyone had insurance, and that insurance will pick up what Oceania doesn't.

[ger_77]

Welcome back Ruth, I really enjoyed reading your review. I'm so glad to hear you had a "porch" - they're a lovely place to hang out on any cruise.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[TiogaCruiser]

Thanks for writing and posting your review, Ruth. It sounds like you had a great time but still appreciate a lot about HAL. I really thought from what others were saying about Oceania it would be a closer match in service and amenities (including ship features and entertainment). I just can't imagine not having plenty of outside shippy space such as the R and S Lower Promenade decks.

(Actually after meeting Veendam I prefer the S class because of all the outdoor spaces).

 

Did the ship have any forward outdoor spaces such as the R and S classes have above the bow? And do they open the bow area when in inside waters like HAL does?

[RuthC]

Did the ship have any forward outdoor spaces such as the R and S classes have above the bow? And do they open the bow area when in inside waters like HAL does?

I had access to one forward deck due to my concierge cabin status. The T-pool is high and forward, looking over the sea. There were no loungers set out when I was there, which was a sunny day.

 

I don't know about other forward decks for the public, or if there are any. I do know that there are some very high category suites that have forward-facing balconies; I visited in one on our cabin crawl. There was even a private hot tub out there! But I also understand that the outdoor furniture can't be set up when the ship is in open sea.

[Storylady]

Ruth,

 

Thanks for a wonderful review. I had thought I could migrate to Oceania or Azamara when HAL sells the S and R Class ships. But it looks like we are going to have to look elsewhere for ships with a wraparound deck. Evidently there has been discussion on CC about the promenade decks on Oceania ships as I did find an interesting link that shows a photo of their "Promenade Deck" or outside deck with chairs. I think I really like the wide Promenade deck on HAL ships better. See #2 for photos.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1430197&highlight=promenade+deck

 

And it appears Azamara doesn't have a wraparound deck either. Would be curious to know whether it is similar to Oceania.

 

Also, we do enjoy the Piano Bar, the Agagio Duo, the music in the Ocean Bar and and most shows in the Showroom at Sea. But unfortunately, the bigger the ship, the better the entertainment.

 

 

Thanks also for letting us know that the food presentations are a little over the top. I know that lots of people enjoy that, but I am not one of them. I also don't like knocking the presentation over in order to eat it. Very cleverly worded!! What is nice about your review is that people who do like the fussy presentation now know they can get it on Oceania. And those who love Verandas and aren't interested in the Promenade Deck, might be interested in the elegance offered on Oceania.

 

Did you notice the motion of the ocean on your cruise? The reviewer that recently cruised Regent mentioned that he noticed that the ship didn't handle the waves well.

[Chelly]

Thanks for taking the time to write this review, Ruth. It was a pleasure to read.

C.

[madera1]

Thanks Ruth for sharing your Oceana experience with us. Sounds like you had a great cruise.