What would make Oceania (even) better?

[Techno123]

For those of us not from the USA who don't know what 'country club casual' is, some examples are useful but definitely not a school uniform please, I spend my working life in school :D

[Flatbush Flyer]

For those of us not from the USA who don't know what 'country club casual' is, some examples are useful but definitely not a school uniform please, I spend my working life in school :D

 

 

Basically: slacks (not jeans) and collared buttoned shirt, closed toe casual or dress shoes and socks (not sneakers), sweater or jacket optional.

 

That said, I have to chuckle. We live in a small bay front sailing town where the closest we come to a country club is a yacht club. Even at weekend dinners, the interpretation of "casual" varies significantly from traditional "preppie" (blue blazer and khakis) to escapee from Margaritaville.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[KatieBelle]

What I would love is what I miss. Oceania has pared down the itineraries to the degree that on many occasions there are no sea days or only 1. A couple of sea days or 1 sea day along with an overnight port would allow us to enjoy the amenities onboard. Still have not enjoyed the culinary kitchen. Never made afternoon tea on our last cruise. We did manage to shoe horn in an afternoon at the spa. There are so many things we miss due to the packed port schedule. Partly due to the itineraries we have chosen, we have never packed our bathing suits for an Oceania cruise. (OK, there may be another reason.) A little more wiggle room in the schedule. That's what would make it better for us. R and O ships are so beautiful that we would like some leisurely down time to enjoy the graceful accommodations and amenities. It seems that about the only way to luxuriate on Oceania is to choose a TA cruise. Can't we have a little of both land & sea?

[Travelcat2]

For us, doing away with "dress jeans" being okay in dining venues would be great. If men/women truly wore "dress jeans" and had the body to accommodate them, there would be no problem..... however, what I saw on the Rivera last year did not belong on a premium/luxury cruise ship. At 9:30 p.m. we saw overalls -- the type that is worn on farms. The person wearing them obviously wore them on a farm. And, denim, old, baggy shorts /overalls (like overalls but shorts) on a man that should not have been wearing shorts at all.

 

 

Also, and this should be a simple computer "fix", allow a person that has purchased the premium alcohol package to have their card swiped once per visit to a bar/lounge. Subsequent drinks should simply be added on. This should be done when the first drink is ordered. Having different rules in different dining venues and bars is unnecessarily confusing.

 

Oceania is a wonderful cruise line (at least the Marina and Riviera are) - I have yet to determine what the smaller ships offer. Suggestions to make them better on this thread is a wonderful thing and something that I am sure is welcomed by corporate.

 

Oh, one more thing.....and I have mentioned this before. Oceania is always trying to entice new customers. Using terms like "O" and ......... hmmmmm, cannot recall the other slang term for the smaller ships, it a put off. The ships have names and sizes associated with them. The consistent use of "letters" is not understandable by most newbies. While I finally "get it", I vowed to never use "letters" to describe a ship.

[CintiPam]

we can soon expect to see Twinkies et al on Supermarket shelves again!

Whew-Talk about six degree's of separation; Kevin Bacon has nothing on this one!

 

Just saw scrumptious-looking chocolate-covered Twinkies this afternoon on sale at the front cash register at the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, KY. (No, I purchased no food there, just some lovely hand-crafted jewelry. :))

Edited April 26, 2014 by CintiPam

[LHT28]

What I would love is what I miss. Oceania has pared down the itineraries to the degree that on many occasions there are no sea days or only

 

We usually book a cruise with more than 1 sea day so they are out there ;)

Sometimes we just treat a port day as a sea day to relax & enjoy the ship

 

In Jan we has 2 sea days at each end of the cruise

[Travelcat2]

Twinkies have been back on store shelves for months. Surprised that it is just being noticed.

[Hambagahle]

So - I still don't know what is good about white bread (I have never encounted "Twinkies" and most likely am happy not to have!!) unless the white bread is a baguette. And a proper one at that - which Oceania's are. Very good indeed. I have encounted the Wonder Bread. Once. It is sweet and if you put your finger in it the dent stays there. No body. We have great bread here in CH. But what we need is that "Jewish rye" which is delicious. And Oceania has that too.

 

TC - I am not sure about the different dining venues having different rules on swiping peoples' BIB cards. I think it is more the waiter. If s/he sees once that you have the BIB very often it is not swiped again... but then sometimes another waiter does keep swiping it. Doesn't bother me as long as I get my drink when ordered though.

 

What I think Oceania really has right is the "cruising à la carte" bit. Well done FDR for that. We hardly ever take excursions. On Regent they were there for the taking but we still didn't very much though we had paid for them. On Oceania you choose and then pay. Same with drinks. Now if FDR would include a forfait for laundry then all would indeed be right. How about it, Mr Del Rio?? $x pp/day and you can send whatever you like to the laundry?

[Travelcat2]

Hi Gerry! I agree that white bread is no big deal (although I loved it as a child -- squishing it up into little dough balls:-) We cannot get "Jewish Rye" where we live either. Regarding Twinkies -- haven't tried one but it was a big deal in the U.S. when the company went out of business. Now that they are back, they seem to be sitting on the store shelves - no one seems to be buying them.

 

One thing I do miss on Oceania is free laundry (as you know, this is a perk on Regent for Platinum and above). On Silversea you get laundry included if you stay in an upper suite so it isn't a problem for us. We would gladly pay a daily rate for laundry on Oceania. Part of being on vacation is not doing laundry. Why spend thousands on a cruise and sit in the laundry room with irate people (probably upset because they would rather be enjoying their vacation). The prices to get laundry done is very high (in my opinion). I must admit that I did two loads of laundry when we were on the Riviera -- on a port day when just about everyone was gone and we didn't want to go ashore. Our suite was near the laundry room so it wasn't a big deal.

 

We are looking forward to sailing on the Riviera again in November but Regent is just in my blood....... we may "taste" other cruise lines but always go home to Regent.

[orchestrapal]

Beyond the free pressing of 4 items / cruise free laundry would be a sweet suit perk.

[pinotlover]

This request is not for the transoceanic crossings cruises. When O has a sea day in or near some really beautiful areas, why don't they cruise the coast line and let one enjoy the scenery? Our experience has been that the boats get far out and slow down to about 4 knots and just dink. Why can't your sea day in the Baltic be enjoying the beautiful shorelines and fiords? Same goes for the northern lights trip, going up the coast of Norway. Why are the ships far out to sea, often with no land in sight, dinking along to the next port!??! I have heard several complain of this issue also in the Med and other areas. I can understand wanting to be in international waters to run the casinos in the evenings, but I'm talking broad daylight in the middle of the day!:mad:

[Paulchili]

This request is not for the transoceanic crossings cruises. When O has a sea day in or near some really beautiful areas, why don't they cruise the coast line and let one enjoy the scenery? Our experience has been that the boats get far out and slow down to about 4 knots and just dink. Why can't your sea day in the Baltic be enjoying the beautiful shorelines and fiords? Same goes for the northern lights trip, going up the coast of Norway. Why are the ships far out to sea, often with no land in sight, dinking along to the next port!??! I have heard several complain of this issue also in the Med and other areas. I can understand wanting to be in international waters to run the casinos in the evenings, but I'm talking broad daylight in the middle of the day!:mad:

 

Do you mean like the Concordia did? :eek:

[no fuss travel]

I think also the shops may not be open if the ship is too close to shore. Someone may know the answer to that for sure. You have to be so far out for the casino, I know for sure.

[JimandStan]

This request is not for the transoceanic crossings cruises. When O has a sea day in or near some really beautiful areas, why don't they cruise the coast line and let one enjoy the scenery? Our experience has been that the boats get far out and slow down to about 4 knots and just dink. Why can't your sea day in the Baltic be enjoying the beautiful shorelines and fiords? Same goes for the northern lights trip, going up the coast of Norway. Why are the ships far out to sea, often with no land in sight, dinking along to the next port!??! I have heard several complain of this issue also in the Med and other areas. I can understand wanting to be in international waters to run the casinos in the evenings, but I'm talking broad daylight in the middle of the day!:mad:

 

First of all, you have to be realistic about the depth of the water that the ships need to float which is considerable. Just look at the scale of the people in this photo of the Marina in dry dock:

 

The R ships have a 20 foot draft, the O ships require a minimum of 25 feet and their Captains certainly desire a few more feet under their keels in addition as a buffer.

 

People forget that harbors, and the channels that lead in and out of them, are artificially dredged to keep those channels deep enough for the big ships.

 

Miami, Oceania's home port, has never stopped widening, deepening and otherwise improving their Channels since the Port hit the Big Leagues in the mid 1970's.

 

It is almost unheard of to have that depth of water naturally occur close enough to land so as to allow the kind of site-seeing which you speak of.

 

The Baltic Sea is particularly shallow, look at a nautical chart, sometime.

 

http://www.io-warnemuende.de/topography-of-the-baltic-sea.html

[numbersix]

I'm baaack! (OP)

 

Lots of great discussion--thanks to all so far. A few random comments (remember, this was our first Oceania cruise)...

 

 

• We were led to believe that the entertainment was either laughable, or so-so, at best....not true! Well, the Andy Band had close to zero personality and played the exact same tunes each day by the pool (where they seemed to play for something like 15 minutes or so), most of which seemed more appropriate for a 'Yale-beat-Princeton' pep rally circa 1932, but they seemed competent enough musicians on their own, they just didn't (always) sound so great together. The string quartet (yes--quartet, where some (like HAL) have pared it to a duo) played quite nicely, the piano lounge player was a great pianist but lacking in voice. The real surprise was the Jean Ann Ryan singers and dancers...we felt that they were, perhaps, some of the best we have seen at sea, and performed terrifically well, especially given the limitations of the room and obvious shortcomings of the sound system. The dancers, especially the ladies, seemed Las Vegas-worthy (gorgeous, leggy, great smiles and enthusiasm, and very sharp on the cues and moves), and we thought Josephine Warren (principal female singer) was an absolute star! We also enjoyed an extra cabaret show she performed later one evening in Horizons, along with a fabulous cabaret show by assistant cruise director Edward...we think he's a Rat -Pack-er in disguise!
  
• Yes--laundry at this (the Oceania) level should be included...not free machines (who wants to do laundry on their cruise?), but laundry service. Having said that, we were (on our 14-nighter) offered the 20 items for $20 laundry service, of which we gladly availed ourselves.
  
• Baristas...agreed---it is a small, awkward space, and would be so much better if it had longer hours and was in a higher-trafficked area...thinking like on Celebrity, or Explorations Cafe on HAL...and offer sandwiches, cookies, munchies.
  
• The bread...white or otherwise, on Oceania, was great!
  
• Shore excursions are outrageously priced (although due to my predilection towards laissez-faire capitalism, I respect their right to offer, and charge absolutely anything they wish). For example, on our recent cruise (French Polynesia), we booked (privately) a tour at $70, while the exact same tour was offered by Oceania at $210!
  
• We didn't notice any flagrant violations of what we interpreted "country club casual" to be...certainly no jeans, or Crocs, or the like in the GDR or other dining venues (in the evening, anyway). A couple of people could have tried a bit harder, but most played along well.
  

As suggested in my original post, and also mentioned by another, it seems like most feel that Oceania does a lot of things very well....and that a few small things, or extras would make it even more fantastic!

 

 

Any more ideas?

[Mumofnine]

Baristas does offer a limited selection of cookies and small filled rolls; latter located around corner heading towards the library.

[I_r_a]

> remove other passengers wet laundry from the dryers, put theirs in, use up the tokens to those who left their laundry drying in the dryers, ...<

 

That is really beyond rude.

 

Down here in GA, where we are allowed to pack heat wherever and whenever, that would get you into trouble.

 

Ira

[Paulchili]

> That is really beyond rude.

 

Down here in GA, where we are allowed to pack heat wherever and whenever, that would get you into trouble.

 

Ira

 

Maybe that's why I never travel to GA? :D

[ronrick1943]

> remove other passengers wet laundry from the dryers, put theirs in, use up the tokens to those who left their laundry drying in the dryers, ...<

 

That is really beyond rude.

 

Down here in GA, where we are allowed to pack heat wherever and whenever, that would get you into trouble.

 

Ira

 

Really, I don't use the laundry, but I think it's RUDE that people leave the laundry and they should stay until their laundry is done so they can remove it from the washer or dryer. But that's why I use the service so I don't have to deal with that kind of stuff.

Rick

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Building itineraries with a few scattered built-in sea days, overnights in interesting ports, or late departures, would be great. We did a TA, but it's too much for us.

 

Make better use of the public spaces on the O ships. We've only done Riviera, and it was our first "big" ship. We really didn't find it that big except in the late afternoon and early evening when the bars and lounges were in full use. They were very often at capacity, with no room to be had. Not sure what's to be done about this, sounds like bad overall design. Guess I'll have to try an R ship at some point.

 

Train the sommeliers better.

 

Move trivia into the Riviera Lounge, and do what Regent does--have tea and trivia at the same time, or partially overlapping times. The large show lounge is no place for trivia. Oh, and dump the permanent team approach, and make the teams ad hoc each day.

[LHT28]

Move trivia into the Riviera Lounge, and do what Regent does--have tea and trivia at the same time, or partially overlapping times. The large show lounge is no place for trivia. Oh, and dump the permanent team approach, and make the teams ad hoc each day.

 

Good Heavens NO :eek:

Tea is a nice quiet time with the string quartet

 

Move trivia to one of the restaurants before dinner time where they can close the doors

[Paulchili]

Move trivia into the Riviera Lounge, and do what Regent does--have tea and trivia at the same time, or partially overlapping times. The large show lounge is no place for trivia. Oh, and dump the permanent team approach, and make the teams ad hoc each day.

 

Sorry Wendy but I have to disagree with you on this one for the reasons below:

1 The tea is almost always full and if one comes late, one may have trouble finding a table - thus sharing the space with trivia is not possible, IMO. Never mind the noise of trivia interfering with tea and v.v. Neither crowd would welcome the other - trivia people could not hear b/o the string quartet music and the tea crowd could not hear their quartet b/o trivia noise.

2 Having trivia before tea in the Riviera lounge would be a "hardship" on staff who start preparing the tables for tea a couple of hours before the tea (much work to be done). Having trivia in the Riviera lounge after tea is not easy either - takes time to clear the place and it's getting close to dinner, happy hour, etc.

3 ad hic trivia teams would work for only the most casual of trivia players. Most trivia players are much too serious about trivia to put up with that type of an arrangement :D

I do agree about moving the trivia out of the show lounge - but where & when exactly?

Edited April 28, 2014 by Paulchili

[LHT28]

Riveira lounge is the show lounge

 

Horizons is where tea & HH take place

 

They hold bridge games in Polo some days so why not use one of the others for trivia

[Paulchili]

Riveira lounge is the show lounge

 

Horizons is where tea & HH take place

 

They hold bridge games in Polo some days so why not use one of the others for trivia

 

Lyn,

Of course you are right - the tea is in Horizons (I was reading Wendy's post when writing mine, but I should know better).

Amost any place would be better than the show lounge for trivia on O ships.

[pinotlover]

They sometimes do trivia in Martinis on the Marina. It will sometimes get very crowded at loud. We don't typically play, seems for some it's almost a contact sport, taken far to seriously!:eek: But hey, people enjoy what they enjoy.

 

As to the somms. I have found them to be fairly knowledgeable aboard, they just have a very limited difficult wine selection to work with. Nearly all the wines are low value, medium (at best) quality, and purchased to pair easily with the various meals, without offending anyone's palate. Often difficult to make an attractive purse from a pig's ear. Not the somm's fault. The upscale river cruises typically do a far better job with regional wine selections than the ocean cruisers.