First Time "O"

[cruzcfi]

We just got off the Regatta form the Tropical Breezes out of Miami, one word WOW! We are first time "O" passengers but have been on many other cruises. We were were traveling with another cuople who we have cruised with many times as well. I will provide a brief review. BOARDING- Could not have been easier, we arrived at 1pm and were on board at 1:12, we were adviseed that cabins would not be ready until 3 so we headed up to the Terrace Cafe for a little lunch. A few minutes after 3 the cabin was ready so we dumped our stuff and explored the ship. CABIN- we had 7002 which was forward, very quiet and comfortable with plenty of storage space, for us anyway. The bed and pillows were especially nice. The location was convenient to activities. DINING- This is clearly Oceania's selling point, with a few exceptions all of the food in the different venues was excellent. Waves Grill, Waves was outstanding, we really got spoiled on the grilled Ahi, lobster and filet and the Kobe beef burger. The chefs had no problem preparing my burger with toppings differently than what was described on the menu board. The chocolate malts and sorbet were excellent. Terrace Cafe, we have never been to a ship buffet that was so efficient, even at peak hours there was always plenty of seating and usually not much backlog getting served, very clean as well. Toscana, great food and service but we never did get to try the olive oils. Polo, we ate here on the last night, this is where some things started to break down. We had a 630 reservation and were seated right away, however, our waiter told us we would have to wait for menus as they did not have enough to go around and the restaurant was crowded. I have never heard of this and it took quite a long time before we finally placed our order and recieved our appetizers. Two of our party ordered soup and it was not hot when it got to the table, the replacement was also not hot. My side dish was also not served hot to the point where the sauce had started to congeal. The meat was excellent and served exactly as ordered. The Polo staff appeared to be overwhelmed. This was not a good ending to an otherwise great cruise. ENTERTAINMENT- Production shows were good as well as comedian Tom Drake, while I didn't interact with the pianist Konstantin, my wife enjoyed him. Dottie Kulasa was the CD and did a fine job. DISEMBARK- Very smooth, we requested 815 departure and were off the ship in less than 10 minutes. BAD- The ports, other than Key West were rainy and the stores didn't really seem to want to stay open for one small ship. We did not participate in the shore excursions which were quite expensive. Belize and Roatan were unpleasent and we quickly returned to the ship. In Roatan, the Terrace Cafe became quite fly infested where we had to keep waving them off in order to eat. Staff did not seem to be addressing this. The tops of the light fixtures and the TV in our cabin were very dusty which was not corrected and it was day three before we met our cabin steward. We enjoy talking to the staff when they are not busy, however they seemed to be getting discouraged from doing this by supervisors. A couple of past "O" cruisers said that the service has declined recently since the NCL merger but having not been on "O" before I can't comment. All of our staff interaction was pleasant. Overall we woukld do this again!

[computerworks]

In Roatan, the Terrace Cafe became quite fly infested where we had to keep waving them off in order to eat. Staff did not seem to be addressing this.

 

Obviously, they did not deploy the aft-encircling plastic biosphere bubble that protects the outdoor area when in port.

 

Ahh, must be more cutbacks.

 

:p

 

Otherwise, glad you enjoyed your first time... ;)

[PaulMCO]

however they seemed to be getting discouraged from doing this by supervisors. A couple of past "O" cruisers said that the service has declined recently since the NCL merger but having not been on "O" before I can't comment. All of our staff interaction was pleasant. Overall we woukld do this again!

 

It has only been less than a month since NCL has assumed control so highly doubt that...

 

We noticed a decline in service on our last Nautica cruise in July. My take on that is over expansion was 3 ships now 5 and soon to be 6-- lots of 1st time crew members/supervisors/Head Chef and even the GM was new.

[LHT28]

Our last cruise was in Jan & I posted about some problems then

 

The decline is a not recent event

 

Some paragraphs would help reading your post ...I gave up after the first few lines

[orchestrapal]

Our last cruise was in Jan & I posted about some problems then

 

The decline is a not recent event

 

Some paragraphs would help reading your post ...I gave up after the first few lines

 

Agree, our experiences in April-May 2014 were also not nearly up to previous cruises. This was especially evident in the food and MDR service.

[newbie60]

Did 12 days on Insignia in November -- Miami to San Juan. Service was outstanding in every venue, including all restaurants and room staff. It was certainly comparable to our first cruise on Regatta in 2011. There's always differences from ship to ship and from cruise to cruise but overall, I could not see any decline in service level whatsoever.

 

Food was great in every location with only two tiny exceptions which could happen anywhere. My filet was medium instead of Med-Rare in Polo and some scallops showed up lukewarm in the GDR. Immediately corrected both times.

 

Our Captain addressed the NCL takeover at the Oceania Club reception. He commented that NCL would provide additional capital which would mean additional ships and right after we got home, the announcement about the purchase of the Princess ship was made. He also stated that he expected the Oceania Brand to remain intact with no changes in staffing, service, etc.

[edgee]

We just got off the Regatta form the Tropical Breezes out of Miami, one word WOW! We are first time "O" passengers but have been on many other cruises. We were were traveling with another cuople who we have cruised with many times as well. I will provide a brief review. BOARDING- Could not have been easier, we arrived at 1pm and were on board at 1:12, we were adviseed that cabins would not be ready until 3 so we headed up to the Terrace Cafe for a little lunch. A few minutes after 3 the cabin was ready so we dumped our stuff and explored the ship. CABIN- we had 7002 which was forward, very quiet and comfortable with plenty of storage space, for us anyway. The bed and pillows were especially nice. The location was convenient to activities. DINING- This is clearly Oceania's selling point, with a few exceptions all of the food in the different venues was excellent. Waves Grill, Waves was outstanding, we really got spoiled on the grilled Ahi, lobster and filet and the Kobe beef burger. The chefs had no problem preparing my burger with toppings differently than what was described on the menu board. The chocolate malts and sorbet were excellent. Terrace Cafe, we have never been to a ship buffet that was so efficient, even at peak hours there was always plenty of seating and usually not much backlog getting served, very clean as well. Toscana, great food and service but we never did get to try the olive oils. Polo, we ate here on the last night, this is where some things started to break down. We had a 630 reservation and were seated right away, however, our waiter told us we would have to wait for menus as they did not have enough to go around and the restaurant was crowded. I have never heard of this and it took quite a long time before we finally placed our order and recieved our appetizers. Two of our party ordered soup and it was not hot when it got to the table, the replacement was also not hot. My side dish was also not served hot to the point where the sauce had started to congeal. The meat was excellent and served exactly as ordered. The Polo staff appeared to be overwhelmed. This was not a good ending to an otherwise great cruise. ENTERTAINMENT- Production shows were good as well as comedian Tom Drake, while I didn't interact with the pianist Konstantin, my wife enjoyed him. Dottie Kulasa was the CD and did a fine job. DISEMBARK- Very smooth, we requested 815 departure and were off the ship in less than 10 minutes. BAD- The ports, other than Key West were rainy and the stores didn't really seem to want to stay open for one small ship. We did not participate in the shore excursions which were quite expensive. Belize and Roatan were unpleasent and we quickly returned to the ship. In Roatan, the Terrace Cafe became quite fly infested where we had to keep waving them off in order to eat. Staff did not seem to be addressing this. The tops of the light fixtures and the TV in our cabin were very dusty which was not corrected and it was day three before we met our cabin steward. We enjoy talking to the staff when they are not busy, however they seemed to be getting discouraged from doing this by supervisors. A couple of past "O" cruisers said that the service has declined recently since the NCL merger but having not been on "O" before I can't comment. All of our staff interaction was pleasant. Overall we woukld do this again!

 

We just returned from the same cruise and were in Cabin 7009. Carolina, our stateroom attendant did a wonderful job. We too enjoyed comedian Tom Drake but we found Cruise Director Dottie to be a bit of an acquired taste. She is a very nice person, but seemed to never be able to let go of a microphone. Her announcements were too frequent and sounded much too promotional …sort of a Carnival cruise tone which takes away from the classy, serene understated nature of the Oceania cruise experience. At a few points, I half expected her to announce a belly flop or men's hairy chest contest.

 

I am not sure what one could expect the crew to do regarding the flies entering the Terrace Cafe in Roatan. We found them to be a slight distraction, but certainly not terrible…after all, we were adjacent to a rainforest.

 

After two cruises on the Riviera, this was our first experience on an R class ship. While we enjoyed the intimacy and never crowded atmosphere of the smaller ship, we do like the O class ship advantages such as roomier cabins, Concierge Lounge and more specialty restaurants. We would only travel again on an R class ship if the itinerary were especially compelling.

[CintiPam]

Obviously, they did not deploy the aft-encircling plastic biosphere bubble that protects the outdoor area when in port.

 

Ahh, must be more cutbacks.

 

:p

 

Otherwise, glad you enjoyed your first time... ;)

 

My nomination for best post of the week on the Oceania forum!

 

Glad to read that cruzcfi enjoyed his/her first cruise on Oceania. As LHT28 mentioned in post #4 above, using paragraphs really would aid in reading the cruise review.

Edited December 7, 2014 by CintiPam

[StarFlyr]

We just got off the Regatta form the Tropical Breezes out of Miami, one word WOW! We are first time "O" passengers but have been on many other cruises. We were were traveling with another cuople who we have cruised with many times as well.

 

I will provide a brief review. BOARDING- Could not have been easier, we arrived at 1pm and were on board at 1:12, we were adviseed that cabins would not be ready until 3 so we headed up to the Terrace Cafe for a little lunch. A few minutes after 3 the cabin was ready so we dumped our stuff and explored the ship. CABIN- we had 7002 which was forward, very quiet and comfortable with plenty of storage space, for us anyway. The bed and pillows were especially nice. The location was convenient to activities.

 

DINING- This is clearly Oceania's selling point, with a few exceptions all of the food in the different venues was excellent. Waves Grill, Waves was outstanding, we really got spoiled on the grilled Ahi, lobster and filet and the Kobe beef burger. The chefs had no problem preparing my burger with toppings differently than what was described on the menu board. The chocolate malts and sorbet were excellent. Terrace Cafe, we have never been to a ship buffet that was so efficient, even at peak hours there was always plenty of seating and usually not much backlog getting served, very clean as well. Toscana, great food and service but we never did get to try the olive oils.

 

Polo, we ate here on the last night, this is where some things started to break down. We had a 630 reservation and were seated right away, however, our waiter told us we would have to wait for menus as they did not have enough to go around and the restaurant was crowded. I have never heard of this and it took quite a long time before we finally placed our order and recieved our appetizers. Two of our party ordered soup and it was not hot when it got to the table, the replacement was also not hot. My side dish was also not served hot to the point where the sauce had started to congeal. The meat was excellent and served exactly as ordered. The Polo staff appeared to be overwhelmed. This was not a good ending to an otherwise great cruise.

 

ENTERTAINMENT- Production shows were good as well as comedian Tom Drake, while I didn't interact with the pianist Konstantin, my wife enjoyed him. Dottie Kulasa was the CD and did a fine job.

 

DISEMBARK- Very smooth, we requested 815 departure and were off the ship in less than 10 minutes. BAD- The ports, other than Key West were rainy and the stores didn't really seem to want to stay open for one small ship. We did not participate in the shore excursions which were quite expensive. Belize and Roatan were unpleasent and we quickly returned to the ship. In Roatan, the Terrace Cafe became quite fly infested where we had to keep waving them off in order to eat. Staff did not seem to be addressing this. The tops of the light fixtures and the TV in our cabin were very dusty which was not corrected and it was day three before we met our cabin steward. We enjoy talking to the staff when they are not busy, however they seemed to be getting discouraged from doing this by supervisors. A couple of past "O" cruisers said that the service has declined recently since the NCL merger but having not been on "O" before I can't comment. All of our staff interaction was pleasant. Overall we woukld do this again!

 

Easier read with a few paragraphs breaks. I normally just skip a long run-on paragraph. My ancient mariner eyes lose sentences in the long run-on's.