Just off Insignia Cathedrals and Crowns sept 6-20

[karska]

This was our first O cruise. I want to give our opinion/review.

The ports were wonderful. It was port intensive with just one day at sea. we booked our own tours, plus one from a fellow cc cruiser. They were great.

Some days we got off walked around, had lunch and got back onboard.

 

Everyone speaks so highly of the food so maybe my 'expectations' were a tad high. I'd say the food was very good, more detail could've been put into the presentation. We ate 3times in each of the specialty restaurants. Loved Toscana, At Polo Grille the rack of lamb was fabulous the first time, not so much the last time. Service in all venues was fabulous....except first night in gdr, waiter was discombobulated at best. And last am, waitstaff very busy cleaning instead of serving, never had my caffeine. We had to be off the ship in the first two groups.

 

Our room steward Adhi, was wonderful. We did have an issue several times with the air conditioning, too warm-too cold. Kind of like Goldilocks. :oBut Adhi made sure the engineer was brought in quickly.

 

Even with reading cc forums on the entertainment, the 'shows' were fair. Only one evening Vincenzo, a classical guitarist was fabulous. So I spent my evenings at Martinis meeting new and interesting people. That was a very busy place Michael made fabulous Martinis. And knew you by the third evening. ;)

 

We would definitely cruise O again, but we'd like to try the O ships to feel the difference.

[Travelcat2]

Thank you for taking the time to post the review.

 

Could you let me know where this cruise went to? The way Oceania names their cruises is nice but don't give a clue to where the ship is going. Thanks much.:)

[karska]

Thank you for taking the time to post the review.

 

Could you let me know where this cruise went to? The way Oceania names their cruises is nice but don't give a clue to where the ship is going. Thanks much.:)

 

Started in MonteCarlo with an overnight, then..

Barcelona

Malaga

Cadiz

Lisbon, we did a Bikemyside tour with Daniel,,,fabulous

Porto we did a Segway, gulp

Bilbao. Wine tour

Bordeaux overnight , wine tour Medoc

Lorient, submarine museum

St-malo, rented car and drove to Mont St Michele

Southampton

You helped us with how many ships were in port.. Seven in Lisbon so we were glad we had booked in advance.

[Jancruz]

Started in MonteCarlo with an overnight, then..

Barcelona

Malaga

Cadiz

Lisbon, we did a Bikemyside tour with Daniel,,,fabulous

Porto we did a Segway, gulp

Bilbao. Wine tour

Bordeaux overnight , wine tour Medoc

Lorient, submarine museum

St-malo, rented car and drove to Mont St Michele

Southampton

You helped us with how many ships were in port.. Seven in Lisbon so we were glad we had booked in advance.

 

What a great itinerary..we love Mont St Michele have been there several times and always find something new!!

Jancruz1

[JVNYC]

Started in MonteCarlo with an overnight, then..

Barcelona

Malaga

Cadiz

Lisbon, we did a Bikemyside tour with Daniel,,,fabulous

Porto we did a Segway, gulp

Bilbao. Wine tour

Bordeaux overnight , wine tour Medoc

Lorient, submarine museum

St-malo, rented car and drove to Mont St Michele

Southampton

You helped us with how many ships were in port.. Seven in Lisbon so we were glad we had booked in advance.

 

How was the weather & seas? I'm looking at a similar itinerary on Marina in September next year. Sunny days?

[karska]

How was the weather & seas? I'm looking at a similar itinerary on Marina in September next year. Sunny days?

 

 

Weather was perfect. Was warmer than usual. We always travel Europe sept/Oct

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[canuck.qc]

How was the weather & seas? I'm looking at a similar itinerary on Marina in September next year. Sunny days?

Karska thanks for the review.

JVNYC-We did a similar itinerary in reverse London-Barcelona on Marina in mid Sept 2012 and the weather was beautiful. Needed only a light windbreaker, occasional rain not enough to spoil an excursion. Perfect temperature to walk up all those step at MontStMichele-

[PINEY10]

Were you happy with the ship? There have been many comments on these boards about the refurbishing of Insignia. Some saying it was great, others that it looked tired or some things were not updated.

 

Also did you ever go up to the Terrace Cafe for dinner? I know they are trying to replicate the experience on the bigger ships. On Marina and Riviera, we loved the cafe at night as it had tasty lamb chops, lobster and other good things.

 

Thank you.

[turnip eater]

We were on this cruise, just down the corridor from Karska:D

 

All the soft furnishings in the public rooms and 'staterooms' have been replaced. The cushions and upholstery have been replaced.

The ship looked and felt wonderful.

I believe that only the bathrooms in the top suites have been replaced.

 

We did visit a PH and saw the the bathroom and that looked as tho' it has been modernised...... It had a vanity unit with mirrored drawers and cupboard.

 

Our room had a shower room, no bath, that did not bother us but.....it did need a re-fit! It was soooooo small and shabby. There were dints and dents on the floor and shower tray. If you stood in the doorway, you could almost reach the opposite wall, a taller person may have had a longer reach and been able to touch the wall. The horrible plastic shower curtain would cling to you. There was the usual notice about hangin g up towels if you wanted to re-use them, but the towel rails were either alongside the toilet on behind it next to the toilet brush.

A pet hate of mine. The towel rails should be higher up the wall, but there isn't much space as the folded towels are slotted into a storage rack....rant over!

I know that you don't spend so long in the shower room, so it shouldn't be a deal breaker:rolleyes: I don't know how you would change the layout, without tearing the ship apart, so next time we'd go for a PH.

Having said all this, the shower room was spotlessly clean, as usual.

 

Loved Baristas.......Elvis was wonderful!

 

We dined in the Terrace in the evening, outside. The food was wonderful.:)

Edited September 29, 2014 by turnip eater
Spelling.

[karska]

Were you happy with the ship? There have been many comments on these boards about the refurbishing of Insignia. Some saying it was great, others that it looked tired or some things were not updated.

 

Also did you ever go up to the Terrace Cafe for dinner? I know they are trying to replicate the experience on the bigger ships. On Marina and Riviera, we loved the cafe at night as it had tasty lamb chops, lobster and other good things.

 

Thank you.

 

Being our first time on insignia, I can't compare. But turnip eater's post did.

I thought the ship looked great, but bathrooms are tiny. Rooms are smaller than some mainstream lines.

 

We ate dinner once at Terrace Cafe, it's a buffet. Food was good but I prefer being served my dinner. We ate breakfast there all but twice, we had those breakfasts in our room. Food was good and they'd make any type of eggs you wanted. Polo Grille had great filet and rack of lamb.

 

 

 

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[Host Jazzbeau]

Started in MonteCarlo with an overnight, then..

Barcelona

Malaga

Cadiz

Lisbon, we did a Bikemyside tour with Daniel,,,fabulous

Porto we did a Segway, gulp

Bilbao. Wine tour

Bordeaux overnight , wine tour Medoc

Lorient, submarine museum

St-malo, rented car and drove to Mont St Michele

Southampton

You helped us with how many ships were in port.. Seven in Lisbon so we were glad we had booked in advance.

 

Great itinerary. We almost booked this cruise, but decided to walk the Camino instead.