Has much changed, better or worse?

[Balloon Man]

It's more than 18 months since we last enjoyed Oceania (and I have to admit we have been led astray in the meantime).

 

So when we sail from Hong Kong in October on Insignia should we expect improvement, as usual, or as with most cruise lines a slight but noticeable reduction in quality?

 

I know the answer is subjective but that's what CC is for - opinions.

[Paulchili]

For one thing, Insignia has been recently refurbished and should be sparkling - although currently she is in Puerto Rico for repairs after the fire.

The changes include Baristas and an expanded grill menu in the Terrace Cafe (more akin to Marina/Riviera).

Search these boards for the thread on refurbishment of the R ships.

[Caroldoll]

There were no changes there for better or for worse. I agree with Paulchilli...the Insignia should be in tip-top shape when she does get out of drydock.

[roothy123]

We've done 9 cruises with O, and cruised on Insignia in September. Of course people have already mentioned the refurbishment, new grill, and Baristas. The entertainment seemed more low keyed in September than in the past (and I refer to the nightly shows) but other than that everything seemed to be just as good or better than we've experienced in the past. In fact, we think Oceania gets better in one or two areas every cruise we take. What we notice are not necessarily big improvements, but little things that we've commented on in the mid-cruise comment card or the end of cruise evaluation. As an example, when we took our first cruise, they provided very, very little info on the port cities. Now they provide maps and DIY type info, bring on board a tourist rep every day, once brought on board a pair of bankers to change money into local money, and things like that. To me, it shows they really read the comments, and it's surprising what shows up every year in terms of improvements.

[Mura]

For us, Oceania has always been of the same high quality. Our most recent cruises have been 3 on Marina (Oct '11, Nov '13 and May '14, with another scheduled for April '15). We did the Black Sea on Regatta in Aug '12.

 

Sure there are differences between Marina/Riviera and the "R" ships, but as far as service is concerned, we haven't noticed a difference. Since we were on Regatta the Terrace has been upgraded to be more comparable with Terrace on Marina and Riviera, but that happened after we were on her last. Posters seem happy with the upgrades.

 

Roothy said it was "new" to have local people come on board with maps, etc., but our experience has been that they always did so. And we've been sailing on Oceania since January 2004. It was always typical to have local info available -- not necessarily through Destinations.

 

Then again, we've never seen bankers come on board!

 

(We were booked for the inaugural cruise but had to cancel so we were late to the party for Renaissance passengers.)

 

If the OP returns to O, I don't think you'll find much has changed ... perhaps for the better! But not for the worse.

 

Then again, we're prejudiced, I admit it.

 

Okay, I'll add a proviso: if you are unhappy with crew servicing your cabin, that can happen. I've seen comments where people were delighted with their butler and/or cabin steward(ess), others who were not. We have never had any complaints in this regard. When we were on Regatta in the Black Sea we were leaving the ship via Deck 4 and ran into the cabin stewardess we'd had some years before on Insignia, and she remembered us as we remembered her. That's pretty special.

 

Mura

[roothy123]

For us, Oceania has always been of the same high quality. Our most recent cruises have been 3 on Marina (Oct '11, Nov '13 and May '14, with another scheduled for April '15). We did the Black Sea on Regatta in Aug '12.

 

Sure there are differences between Marina/Riviera and the "R" ships, but as far as service is concerned, we haven't noticed a difference. Since we were on Regatta the Terrace has been upgraded to be more comparable with Terrace on Marina and Riviera, but that happened after we were on her last. Posters seem happy with the upgrades.

 

Roothy said it was "new" to have local people come on board with maps, etc., but our experience has been that they always did so. And we've been sailing on Oceania since January 2004. It was always typical to have local info available -- not necessarily through Destinations.

 

Then again, we've never seen bankers come on board!

 

 

Okay, I'll add a proviso: if you are unhappy with crew servicing your cabin, that can happen. I've seen comments where people were delighted with their butler and/or cabin steward(ess), others who were not. We have never had any complaints in this regard. When we were on Regatta in the Black Sea we were leaving the ship via Deck 4 and ran into the cabin stewardess we'd had some years before on Insignia, and she remembered us as we remembered her. That's pretty special.

 

Mura

 

The same thing happened to us with a cabin attendant who recognized us from a cruise a year or two before that. Early on in the cruise, we were walking down a hall and heard, "Hello there!" It was fabulous Natalya from Poland, who was one of the best attendants we've ever had. There was also a young man who was our cabin attendant's assistant who looked at us and almost said something. We looked at him, and I said, "I think you took care of us once before" and he said he had. We were thrilled to have him again, and a bit surprised that he (and Natalya) recognized us, given how many people those folks run into over the course of a year or two. I have never, ever had bad cabin attendants, and we are generally in inside cabins, so assume the service is good in all rooms/suites.

 

As to the port info, I think we were on Oceania the second year it sailed, but I'm not positive, and I forget what year that was. Perhaps they gave SOME info that year, and perhaps someone came on board, but I remember that the info/help/knowledge of ports and how to DIY in ports was more scant than it is now.

 

The bankers came on board in Riga (I think), and I suppose they were only there by their own (or their government's) request, not Oceania request. It was pretty surprising. Not only did they exchange money in the morning, but they came back on board at a specified time to change it back to rubles (St. Petersburg was next port) or euros or dollars! (I have no idea of the exchange rate they used for this, but it was a nice surprise, as the Riga docking location for smallish ships had no cruise terminal with ATM.)

[bitob]

We are just ending 30 days on Nautica

 

By far best food and service of our ten cruises. Over the top

 

Perfection on all counts this time in every dining venue

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Mura]

Roothy,

 

As I think about our first Oceania cruise it was a B2B: LA to Costa Rica, Costa Rica to Miami (a Panama Canal trip) and I don't think we were concerned about maps, tourist information, etc., in the Caribbean Such things probably would have been more important to us on a European trip. It's certainly possible that I just didn't notice whether they had a local representative available or not.

 

Mura

[findacruise]

Roothy,

 

As I think about our first Oceania cruise it was a B2B: LA to Costa Rica, Costa Rica to Miami (a Panama Canal trip) and I don't think we were concerned about maps, tourist information, etc., in the Caribbean Such things probably would have been more important to us on a European trip. It's certainly possible that I just didn't notice whether they had a local representative available or not.

 

Mura

 

I think we didn't notice sometimes because we got off the ship before the local rep may have gotten on. Although I do think it is more prevalent now than it used to be. JMO

[smj]

We just got back from Marina. We found everything the be the same high quality as on previous cruises. There definitely have been no cut backs like on other cruise lines. It seems like where food is concerned Oceania only buys the best. I do wish the portion sizes would be cut back.