Our First Oceania Experience

[gskimmel]

We just got off of the Riviera a couple of days ago and I thought I’d share my experiences while it is still fresh in my mind.

 

By way of background, we are in our low 40s and actively sailed on various cruise lines over the past five years. To date, we’ve sailed with Holland America, Celebrity, NCL, Disney, and now Oceania. We mainly stayed in suites on the mainstream cruise lines but wanted to see what a comparably priced non-suite experience would be like on Oceania. From a value perspective, Oceania seemed to be a bargain considering a 10-night concierge cabin is similarly priced to a 7-night suite on a mainstream cruise. We are not big drinkers so having all non-alcoholic beverages and the no-cost specialty restaurants were big plusses for Oceania. We thought the $60 night pp charge for the drink package was a bit high. I don’t think we’ve spent $1200 on alcohol throughout our lifespan, let alone spending this much for a 10-night cruise. We did opt for the 7-bottle of wine package, which was nice.

 

Embarkation:

 

The embarkation process was quick and painless. In our cruise documents, we were told to arrive at noon but we got to the port around 11:30am. They gave us forms, handed us our key cards, and let us board the ship before noon.

 

Cabin:

 

We were in a concierge veranda cabin. I don’t know if it is because our last few cruises were in suites but the 282 sq ft cabin was smaller than expected. I also thought there was little storage space considering most itineraries are at least 10-nights. When we were on the Celebrity Solstice class ships, we stayed in Aqua Class and those cabins are smaller than Oceania (194 sq ft, veranda 54 sq ft). However, the way Celebrity designed their cabins, the Aqua Class cabin seemed bigger than Oceania’s concierge cabin. Celebrity also offered a lot more storage space than Oceania. Although I thought things were a little tight, it was fine for 10-nights. If we ever do more than 10-days, I’ll definitely consider at least a penthouse.

 

Staff/Concierge Lounge:

 

Overall, we thought the staff was very friendly. Our stateroom attendant greeted us within hours of boarding the ship. She made the point in remembering our names and checked in on us throughout the cruise to make sure we were comfortable and had everything that we needed. In the dining areas and pool deck, everyone was attentive and helpful. The exceptions to friendly/helpful staff were the specialty dining reservation desk and the future cruise office. We thought the gentleman assigned to the specialty dining reservation desk had a little bit of an attitude. We quickly learned it was better for us to go directly to the specialty restaurant instead of trying to work with the reservation desk.

 

The future cruise office was staffed by two ladies. When I made my first visit to their office, I did not think the lady I spoke with was friendly. She seemed that answering my questions was a chore and tried to get me out of her office as soon as possible. While she was polite, it was a fake type of politeness and not sincere at all. I nearly gave up on the idea of booking a future cruise while on-board but on the next day I decided to see if the other lady was available. Fortunately, she was and she was the complete opposite of the first lady. She was very friendly and took time to answer all my questions.

 

The concierge lounge was a disappointment and I have yet to figure out what the concierge does. On other cruise lines, the concierge helped us with specialty dining reservations, on-board activities, excursions, etc. On Oceania, the concierge told me that I had to go to different parts of the ship to do what I asked him to help me with. I certainly do not consider the concierge lounge a perk for booking a concierge veranda. Having full access to the spa (which is very nice) and early on-line specialty dining reservations are the biggest reasons to book a concierge veranda.

 

Food:

 

Food is subjective but we found the food to be good to very good. When talking to fellow passengers, a few of them compared the food to Seabourn and said that Seabourn had better food. We’ve never sailed with Seabourn so I cannot make the comparison but I can say that the food on Oceania is far better than Holland America, Celebrity, NCL, and Disney. If I had to make one complaint it is the food quality can be inconsistent. For example, on our second night we dined at Red Ginger and we were not impressed. But on our last night, newly-made friends invited us to dine with them at Red Ginger and it was much better than our first visit. Except for the food I ordered once through room service (AVOID!!), I did not eat one bad meal.

 

Overall Impressions:

 

We are very pleased with our cruise and will sail on the Riviera again in February 2016. We liked the smaller ship and made many new friends. The pool area was never over crowded. A big plus for us was the salt water pool that my DH prefers over the heavily chlorinated pools found on our previous cruises. I was told by the ship staff that our particular sailing had a lot more “older” people than usual but I found that age was only a number on this ship. Age was not an issue in us socializing and creating friendships with people several years older than us. On one of our excursions, two ladies that were close to 70 did stand-up paddle boarding with us and they did a much better job at it than me. Throughout the cruise, I remarked how our previous cruises needed a “gimmick” or “wow factor” but Oceania stayed to the basics and did this very well. We are definitely sold on the Oceania product and look forward to many more years of sailing with them.

[orchestrapal]

Great job with your review!

Glad you enjoyed your cruise as we have for years.

[LHT28]

Thanks for your review

 

Lyn

[rgastin]

Great review, I thought this was very balanced and fair!

 

Do you happen to remember how much the 7 bottles of wine package was? Was it a mix of different types of wines or could you chose which ones you wanted?

[LHT28]

Great review, I thought this was very balanced and fair!

 

Do you happen to remember how much the 7 bottles of wine package was? Was it a mix of different types of wines or could you chose which ones you wanted?

 

Not the OP but there was a thread on here about the new wine package

They vary by cruise what is on the list & it works out to about $42.50 per bottle if my memory is correct

You have to buy 7 bottles to get the deal

 

maybe search the Oceania forum for the thread

 

Lyn

[Kevnzworld]

Good review, most of it I agree with ( except for the food ).

It was nice to meet you guys at La Reserve.

Kevin and Jen

[Paulchili]

Thank you for taking the time to post a review.

Glad that you enjoyed your first Oceania cruise.

I agree that, generally speaking, the Concierge is not worth the extra money (at least not for us). I also agree that the storage in veranda cabins is poor.

If you can swing it, try a PH next time. Not only for the larger room and better storage space (walk in closet & bigger BR/shower) but for the ability to dine in your suite from the specialty restaurants as often as you wish.

[cruisingxpert]

Not the OP but there was a thread on here about the new wine package

They vary by cruise what is on the list & it works out to about $42.50 per bottle if my memory is correct

You have to buy 7 bottles to get the deal

 

maybe search the Oceania forum for the thread

 

Lyn

 

There was a thread that I posted with a link to the list of wines where you could choose seven bottles for 42.50 each. I recently spent a lot of time looking for it. I finally found it in the history of my posts only to see that it had been deleted by the mods.

 

I think it may be because Oceania doesn't have that list anymore. Hope it's not my fault. I bought the 7 bottle package onboard my Nov cruise - all 7 bottles were Perrier Jouet. Now I can't find Perrier Jouet on any of their wine lists:eek:

[LHT28]

There was a thread that I posted with a link to the list of wines where you could choose seven bottles for 42.50 each. I recently spent a lot of time looking for it. I finally found it in the history of my posts only to see that it had been deleted by the mods.

 

I think it may be because Oceania doesn't have that list anymore. Hope it's not my fault. I bought the 7 bottle package onboard my Nov cruise - all 7 bottles were Perrier Jouet. Now I can't find Perrier Jouet on any of their wine lists:eek:

 

I do not think it was your fault :D

 

Some others have posted the PJ is no longer in the package ...darn I would have taken the package for the PJ at those prices ;)

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[hondorner]

Agree about the so-called "concierge" in the Concierge Lounge. There is an official ship-wide Concierge who is helpful with many things, but not restaurant reservations, etc. That is the purview of the suite butlers, although like you, I find doing it myself more successful than even the butlers. I have had fabulous success with the reservation desk on Deck 5, but I have had several different clerks; I agree there is likely to be a clunker every once in a while, or simply someone having a bad day.

 

The primary thing the lounge concierge is good for is reporting a problem with your cabin. I've reported a couple, like a minor leak and a sliding door that was difficult to maneuver, and on both occasions the concierge was able to get quick results and follow-up. Other than that, I don't know what they do, but they seem busy at their desk when they're scheduled to be there.

 

I've heard reports that the Executive Lounge concierge, for the suites, is more helpful, but I can't comment, because the times we have been in a penthouse, I never had need of him/her. Either the butler or doing it myself has been effective enough.

[LHT28]

I guess I got lucky when we had a concierge cabin

I asked the Concierge about changing the bottle of bubbly & by the time we returned that afternoon it was done

 

We had problems trying to get our reservation changed to be with our friend the reservations desk was semi helpful

I was in the lounge the next day & asked the concierge to check on our res & she said the problem was not fixed ...she fixed then & there

She also cancelled another reservation for us

 

I guess it is like everything else just depends ;)