HAL vs Oceania

[Hflors]

Well last night at dinner dh brought up our last cruise on Ryndam and how bad the food was. We have a cruise booked on HAL for next year and he was sort of complaining about doing it again and how he wasn't looking forward to bad food and bad service three cruises in a row. (Zuiderdam our cruise last year was just as bad as Ryndam this year) Service in the main dining room was pretty lacking. So I said well I think if you are interested is a bit better cruise we could look at Oceania. So now I am on a quest to look at comparing the two cruise lines. I know the price will be a bit higher, but if the food is better I think dh is going to be happy.

 

Can anyone who has cruised HAL and Oceania compare the food and service between the two lines?

Edited February 21, 2015 by Hflors

[kazu]

Well last night at dinner dh brought up our last cruise on Ryndam and how bad the food was. We have a cruise booked on HAL for next year and he was sort of complaining about doing it again and how he wasn't looking forward to bad food and bad service three cruises in a row. (Zuiderdam our cruise last year was just as bad as Ryndam this year) Service in the main dining room was pretty lacking. So I said well I think if you are interested is a bit better cruise we could look at Oceania. So now I am on a quest to look at comparing the two cruise lines. I know the price will be a bit higher, but if the food is better I think dh is going to be happy.

 

Can anyone who has cruised HAL and Oceania compare the food and service between the two lines?

 

Not until November;). I know RuthC has been on Oceania. Hopefully she sees your post.

[G&G]

We are a Five (5) Star Mariners and sailed on our first Oceania cruise two (2) years ago and start our fifth cruise with Oceania in two days.

 

We have found the service to be very good; similar to HAL 30 years ago. The food is excellent; we dine at their Lido Restaurant for dinner most of the time. Lobster tails, filets, lamb chops, grilled jumbo shrimp and crab legs are served every night. On the larger ships their are four speciality restaurants, Steakhouse, French, Asian and Italian; all excellent.

 

Daily activities are less than HAL and there is only one show in their showroom at 9:30 PM. Though there are 1200 passengers and seating for 600, the showroom is never full.

 

The cabins are excellent. Standard balcony room is 282 sq ft plus balcony; with 42" flat screen tv on wall, bathroom with marble floor/wall separate wall in shower and tub.

 

Oceania is pricey but we find it worth it.

[jpver]

I have 3 cruises on HAL : Buenos Aires-Santiago de Chili, Panama and Carribbean and was always satisfied certainly for the price/quality.

 

Now on Oceania one on the 680 type Nautica (same as Insigna and Regatta). Visited already also the Marina and Riviera (1250 pax type)

 

While HAL is certainly excellent in more difficult seas for exploring special areas, Oceania has in short 2 highlights:

 

1. the Kitchen under the management of the former Chief Jacques Pépin is one of the best kitchens at sea. Several speciality restaurants (reservation required but not extra fee) Use of more high quality and more expensive products.

 

2. The proposed programs (port calls) are mostly very good and in some ports they stay 2 and even 3full days for St Petersburg (Russia)

 

The non alcoholic beverages are now included. On several voyage they include also the services.

 

They are indeed a bit more expensive as HAL but Oceania is worthwhile!

[Tarpeian Rock]

After 4 HAL cruises, we tried Oceania, and are hooked (except for a specialized itinerary like Alaska). We have 2 more Oceania cruises booked in the next 12 months. The high quality of the food and service, no upcharge on the specialty restaurants, included non-alcoholic beverages, the smaller size of the ships, no photographers, no formal nights, upscale atmosphere -- we loved our first experience. Lack of nickel and dimeing - complimentary water bottles when leaving for an excursion, soft beverages of your choice stocked in your refrigerator at no charge -- we really loved our first Oceania experience. By the time one figures-in air fare and incidental expenses, we didn't find O's net cost out of line. People complain about their excursion costs, which do seem high, but as a percent of the total cruise cost, whatever. Their pre-cruise hotel pricing, however, is wildly out of line, and after our initial experience we'll be making our own arrangements for that.

 

And did I mention the food................

[Darrell6t]

Oceania definitely has better food and dining room service than HAL, most of the time. The specialty restaurants do not cost extra, but if in a regular cabin, you are restricted on how many times you can go to one. Our biggest complaint on the smaller ships is that it is difficult to find a quiet place other than your cabin because the lounges are always being used for something. Not as much of an issue on the Marina. But Oceania can have misses too. We had a terrible Thanksgiving meal on the Insignia one year. And the scallops I had at Pepin's restaurant on the Marina were tiny and dried out completely. The food in their buffet is amazing compared to any other ship we have been on. And they serve you all the beverages. No lining up for coffee in the morning.

 

As to HAL, which is our favorite, things vary a lot. We have been on the Eurodam twice. The first time the food was bland and ordinary. The second time, much better.

[RuthC]

I am one who is not enthralled with Oceania, as compared to HAL.

For one thing, I found them a great deal more than "a bit" more expensive, and for the additional cost, the value just was not there.

 

Service was adequate, but no better. My cabin steward was fabulous, though, so I give praise to him. Is it a coincidence that he was Indonesian? The warm hospitality from him was what I am used to on HAL. No one else gave the same feeling; at the end of the two weeks no one had once called me by name. :(

Dining room service varied from decent to awful. There was no telling what it would be on any given night. Stewards rotated among all the restaurants, so you couldn't ask for the same area to get a favorite one.

 

Food in their version of the Terrace Grill/Dive-in was fabulous! HAL could learn something from them. Excellent meats, cooked to order, and delivered to your table. Breakfast and lunch in their version of the Lido was good. Why can't they cook bacon right, though? Even the dining room couldn't get bacon right after several requests explaining what I wanted.

 

I was not impressed with the specialty restaurants. The steak house couldn't give me prime rib done to my desired degree as early as 6:30! The French restaurant was very good.

 

The ship (Riviera) was drop-dead gorgeous. I missed the fact there was no outside deck where I could sit and watch the sea without obstruction. There is a deck to sit outside, but it looks inward, and has glass sides.

 

It will have to be a very special cruise before I sail Oceania again.

[sammiedawg]

We've gone from zero to five Oceania cruises in a short period of time. They are more expensive but I can see where my per diem is going. The food choices are astounding, so many Venus to choose from at no extra charge. The overall food quality, preparation, presentation is outstanding. We are in NYC several times a year and our big splurge there and anywhere we travel is good restaurants. We've had a couple meals on O that were better than the NYC Batali restaurants, we really love Toscano on O. Their Lido is called the Terrace grill, tremendous variety along the various buffet lines but what really sets it apart is the grill. They grill to order steak, chops, seafood, lobster, crab at lunch and dinner with five choices for lunch and ten choices for dinner. Their poolside eatery is restaurant like with table service and an array of food you won't believe. We think the dining service is terrific in all venues.

The ships are in pristine condition, you won't find broken shabby furnishings, if something is broken it is fixed or pulled out of service. I've not heard of nonworking AC or plumbing on any of my trips. Decor is very classy, especially on the two newest ships that are jawdroppingly beautiful. We totally love their poolside experience, the most comfortable padded loungers. Great libraries on the honor system. Great trivia. Some fun activities on board.

We've really enjoyed their guest lecturers and travel expects on board, especially the experience we had in Brazil. Their Brazilian expert presented fifteen hour long programs, it was like a college course. this was in addition to other guest lecturers.

No nickel and dining, no photographers, no one hawking soda cards or wine packages. Dining room wines are pricey. People flock to Happy Hour just before the dining room opens, 2 for 1 wine and drinks.

We rarely book ship excursions but if you do the O shore excursions are outrageously priced, private touring is very popular.

To get the full O experience book something with a few sea days, their port intensive itineraries won't include as much.

Edited February 21, 2015 by sammiedawg

[jwitt2]

We were on the Riviera Holiday cruise to the Caribbean in 2013. It was a wonderful experience, food was the best we have ever had. Goose on Christmas Day was a new and delicious experience for me. Celebrated my birthday in the French restaurant which was a real treat. We got to know some of the servers who became friendly with us. Also met several passengers to meet up with for breakfast, lunch, dinner and happy hour. We have over 150 days on HAL, cannot say we have ever had as good a cruise on it. That said, we did take the Ryndam last month and an NCL cruise, both to the W. Caribbean instead of a 12 day Oceania cruise to almost the same places because they were a better value and covered more places. You should try Oceania at least once to see for yourself. We also liked Azamara, but it too got expensive after they were around for awhile.

[sammiedawg]

I thought of something else, the first time you book O make sure you have a TA that makes a significant market in that product. It is not that they are going to discount the price but you need someone who understands the O Air program. The included air and other packages may or may not be the best option for your individual circumstance verses taking an air credit.

[LHT28]

Just another point to the airfare knowledge

shop around for a TA that also included the Gratuities & maybe an OBC

 

A good TA is worth their weight when it come to Oceania or any other line for that matter

 

Lyn

[jagger16]

We have sailed on Nieuw Amsterdam several times and Eurodam, Zuiderdam, Rotterdam once. As far as food, our most recent cruise on Eurodam was average, and the other cruises ranged from very good to above average.

 

We have been on two Seabourn cruises which were amazing. But Seabourn is a splurge and we can't choose that option every time. We do like HAL very much particularly for our annual holiday cruise.

 

Two years ago we chose an Oceania cruise on the Riviera for the itinerary and thought that perhaps we might find something that was between HAL and Seabourn.

 

The food on Oceania was overall and probably more consistently better than HAL. We really liked the Lido with its seafood grill and terrace dining. The specialty restaurant options added variety and we did enjoy a change especially since the cruise was fifteen days long.

 

However, you are limited to one reservation in each specialty restaurant unless you are in a suite category. But we were advised to check with each restaurant daily as tables do become available. We found that there was no rhyme or reason to who was able to be seated in a specialty restaurant. For example, we are late diners and we would arrive at 8 p.m. or after and ask the Maitre d' if any tables were available. The restaurants were sparsely filled but we were told no tables were available. But on the same night friends of ours were turned away from the MDR and sent to a specialty restaurant instead.

 

Service on Oceania was a disappointment. I agree with Ruth that our cabin stewardess and her assistant were terrific. The grill cooks were great. The coffee bar was friendly. And everything else was flat. HAL beat Oceania in service hands down.

 

To us the ambiance on Riviera was a little lifeless. The ship just didn't feel festive. But that's a personal preference. I can certainly understand that some people might like things low key. I'm not sure if it was just our combination of passengers and crew. We have only been on one Oceania cruise but that was our experience. Perhaps others are not like that.

 

The reason I mention Seabourn is because at the end of our Oceania cruise we concluded that for the money, Seabourn is a better value. The food is excellent and the service is outstanding. The itineraries are unique and the small ship experience was enjoyable. If we want luxury we will choose Seabourn and if we want mainstream our first choice will be HAL.

 

If you want to cruise solely for the food, Oceania will satisfy your interest. Give it a try and see. It can't hurt! We definitely had a memorable cruise on the Riviera even though it was a different cruise experience. We do like to try new things. But I would look at Seabourn as well.

[Host Jazzbeau]

One thing that no one has mentioned that distinguishes Oceania from HAL (and Seabourn) is their strict smoking policy. No smoking anywhere inside the ships, or on balconies.

[G&G]

We have sailed on Nieuw Amsterdam several times and Eurodam, Zuiderdam, Rotterdam once. As far as food, our most recent cruise on Eurodam was average, and the other cruises ranged from very good to above average.

 

We have been on two Seabourn cruises which were amazing. But Seabourn is a splurge and we can't choose that option every time. We do like HAL very much particularly for our annual holiday cruise.

 

Two years ago we chose an Oceania cruise on the Riviera for the itinerary and thought that perhaps we might find something that was between HAL and Seabourn.

 

The food on Oceania was overall and probably more consistently better than HAL. We really liked the Lido with its seafood grill and terrace dining. The specialty restaurant options added variety and we did enjoy a change especially since the cruise was fifteen days long.

 

However, you are limited to one reservation in each specialty restaurant unless you are in a suite category. But we were advised to check with each restaurant daily as tables do become available. We found that there was no rhyme or reason to who was able to be seated in a specialty restaurant. For example, we are late diners and we would arrive at 8 p.m. or after and ask the Maitre d' if any tables were available. The restaurants were sparsely filled but we were told no tables were available. But on the same night friends of ours were turned away from the MDR and sent to a specialty restaurant instead.

 

Service on Oceania was a disappointment. I agree with Ruth that our cabin stewardess and her assistant were terrific. The grill cooks were great. The coffee bar was friendly. And everything else was flat. HAL beat Oceania in service hands down.

 

To us the ambiance on Riviera was a little lifeless. The ship just didn't feel festive. But that's a personal preference. I can certainly understand that some people might like things low key. I'm not sure if it was just our combination of passengers and crew. We have only been on one Oceania cruise but that was our experience. Perhaps others are not like that.

 

The reason I mention Seabourn is because at the end of our Oceania cruise we concluded that for the money, Seabourn is a better value. The food is excellent and the service is outstanding. The itineraries are unique and the small ship experience was enjoyable. If we want luxury we will choose Seabourn and if we want mainstream our first choice will be HAL.

 

If you want to cruise solely for the food, Oceania will satisfy your interest. Give it a try and see. It can't hurt! We definitely had a memorable cruise on the Riviera even though it was a different cruise experience. We do like to try new things. But I would look at Seabourn as well.

 

Thanks for your review of Oceania. Could you be more specific why you thought the service was disappointing and HAL was better "hands down". We have sailed HAL 38 times, Oceania 4 times. What we discovered concerning the service per area:

 

1. Terrace Grill (Lido): Oceania much better due to more attendants. Though buffett style, the food is served to you by the crew similar to HAL's 48 hour policy at beginning of their cruise and while seated you feel like you are in a regular restaurants with attendants constantly asking you if need anything.

 

2. MDR: I would rate Oceania service fair to good but consistent. HAL's service in MDR is very inconsistent from cruise to cruise.

 

3. Pool area: Oceania has at least 4-5 pool attendants who wait on you; I usually have to look for pool attendants on HAL

 

4. Specialty Restaurants are all excellent. I understand your problems getting into these restaurants. On a 10-15 day cruise you are allowed one reservation for each restaurant; total of 4 per cruise unless your in a suite or higher. The price of the restaurants are included in the cruise price. We have found a couple who on a 10 day cruise ate 8 times in these restaurants by being flexible with time and table sharing. Personally if I ate that many times at these restaurants I would have to be taken off the ship in an emergency vehicle :D

 

Those are my observations and do not represent my opinion only.

[RuthC]

One thing that no one has mentioned that distinguishes Oceania from HAL (and Seabourn) is their strict smoking policy. No smoking anywhere inside the ships, or on balconies.

I found two smoking areas on the Riviera, which is adequate for that size ship. One was indoors, in an enclosed room. You knew it was there when you walked by, as the scent was unmistakable.

The other smoking area was like an enclosed sunroom on what was otherwise an outside deck.

[GeriatricNurse]

Thanks for your review of Oceania. Could you be more specific why you thought the service was disappointing and HAL was better "hands down". We have sailed HAL 38 times, Oceania 4 times. What we discovered concerning the service per area:

 

1. Terrace Grill (Lido): Oceania much better due to more attendants. Though buffett style, the food is served to you by the crew similar to HAL's 48 hour policy at beginning of their cruise and while seated you feel like you are in a regular restaurants with attendants constantly asking you if need anything.

 

2. MDR: I would rate Oceania service fair to good but consistent. HAL's service in MDR is very inconsistent from cruise to cruise.

 

3. Pool area: Oceania has at least 4-5 pool attendants who wait on you; I usually have to look for pool attendants on HAL

 

4. Specialty Restaurants are all excellent. I understand your problems getting into these restaurants. On a 10-15 day cruise you are allowed one reservation for each restaurant; total of 4 per cruise unless your in a suite or higher. The price of the restaurants are included in the cruise price. We have found a couple who on a 10 day cruise ate 8 times in these restaurants by being flexible with time and table sharing. Personally if I ate that many times at these restaurants I would have to be taken off the ship in an emergency vehicle :D

 

Those are my observations and do not represent my opinion only.

 

Since when/were there ever 'pool attendants' on HAL? :confused: Perhaps you are thinking of Celebrity (X), where they are called 'Pool Butlers'! ;)

[G&G]

Since when/were there ever 'pool attendants' on HAL? :confused: Perhaps you are thinking of Celebrity (X), where they are called 'Pool Butlers'! ;)

 

I was trying to be nice :D !

[jagger16]

C&G, Thanks for your information. I'll try to clarify.

 

Generally regarding service on both lines . . . What we really appreciate about HAL is how friendly, personal and accommodating the staff is. They seem to go out of their way to please. Certain people that we interact with address us by name, get to know our preferences and we enjoy conversations with them. We always feel like we are treated professionally and we always feel special. We have experienced this when traveling with just the two of us. We have also traveled with family and even when our group gets bigger, we consistently see attention to details.

 

On Oceania, the service was inconsistent. We were on the Riviera for fifteen days and aside from our cabin stewardess and her assistant, we did not experience the same level of personal service. The staff we encountered were adequate, and did their jobs well-enough, but we rarely felt that they went out of their way to make the experience of cruising Oceania special or distinctive.

 

Specifically, regarding some of the items you mentioned, dinners in the MDR took a long time and we typically dined alone or with one other couple. As far as the pool, we sat on one deck above the main pool area. We were not alone, many others were on that deck as well. No one ever once came around for drinks. On the mid-cruise survey, I mentioned this and the next day bar staff came around to take drink orders and then it stopped again after that one day.

 

We had one instance that was handled very unprofessionally. We were having dinner in Toscana and the wine steward could not find the bottle of wine that we had opened but not finished the night before. The search for the wine became a big production and ended with the wine steward telling us that we probably drank the wine, finished the bottle and didn't remember. We were very uncomfortable with this suggestion as we hadn't even finished half of the bottle and clearly remembered that we had more than half a bottle left.

 

This was our experience and perhaps it was not the ordinary for Oceania or the Riviera. Our cruise was oversold. It almost felt like there wasn't enough staff to handle to passenger demand. But even so, for the price of the trip, one would not expect these kind of service blips.

 

One other thing that I forgot to mention before, was that we could not order a hot breakfast in our room. This was a drawback for us and one of the things that we really love about HAL. This may not be a deal breaker for others, but again, for the cost of the cruise, we would like to have had the option of hot breakfast in our room.

 

The only way Hflors will know if Oceania is the right fit for her and her husband is if they try it. We were also curious and tried it and felt that even at a higher price point, Oceania did not deliver some of the things that we really like about HAL. All in all, it was still a memorable cruise and we'll take with us lots of good memories and experiences. Any cruise is a good cruise! ;)

[Host Jazzbeau]

I found two smoking areas on the Riviera, which is adequate for that size ship. One was indoors, in an enclosed room. You knew it was there when you walked by, as the scent was unmistakable.

The other smoking area was like an enclosed sunroom on what was otherwise an outside deck.

 

My point was that Oceania has no smoking on Balconies or in the Casino. Yes, there are these two delimited areas -- but it is smokers who have to be careful on Oceania, not non-smokers. This is a plus or minus, depending on your smoking status -- but it is a BIG issue for many people, one way or the other.

[RuthC]

My point was that Oceania has no smoking on Balconies or in the Casino.

However, contrary to what you posted, there is an indoor smoking venue.

When people can't go outside, the smokers are still accommodated on Oceania. They aren't totally out of luck, as they would be on some cruise lines.

[baldercash]

If considering Oceania you may want to comparison shop against Azamara, having sailed both we find they are very similar in the smaller class ships.

 

We have enjoyed cruising both lines but a plus for Azamara is their cruises award loyalty points towards the Celebrity Loyalty Club at twice the value I believe.

Celebrity and RCI honour each others loyalty programs so a Diamond level on RCI is an Elite on Celebrity. The perks are better on Celebrity then RCI, we are Elite plus as well as Diamond plus so the reciprocity has little meaning to us now but we were Elite when we sailed our 1st Royal ship which placed us as Diamonds on their ships. The biggest perk awarded is free drinks between 5:30pm and 8:30pm each day.

 

I find this thread interesting as after 40 plus cruises we are looking at sailing HAL for the 1st time due to it's longer exotic port intensive cruises. HAL also seems to be slashing fares to a very reasonable rate.

 

Our biggest fear is the smoking on the ship we understood HAL to be comparable to X for food and service?

Edited February 23, 2015 by baldercash

[mancunian]

We have been on 12 cruises with HAL and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. We love the Indonesian crew and the general ambience. We have found the food to be acceptable to us for what we have paid. Only on one of our two cruises on Prinsendam were we disappointed with the food. There is an occasional blip in MDR but we think not many and service we think is above other lines we have been on. On our cruises I have travelled in good health and now a few times disabled - once on Ryndam being totally in a wheelchair. I think the crew are really superb in these instances.

 

However, I think as much as anything to prove that we were not missing something better we went on Riviera last year. Whilst we like midsized ships I do not like the renaissance class of Azamara and Oceania as we have been on Swan Hellenic on Minerva 2.

 

We had a terrible embarkation at Istanbul. We had Oceania air passage and were surprised on booking to learn that this does not include transportation from airport to ship and the cost of this is astronomic. On this transit we received the impression that the bus driver and guide really wanted to be rid of us and we were dropped at the wrong place, meaning we had a very long walk to the terminal (passing as we did so piles of luggage in the rain). The guide reluctantly sorted a wheelchair for me, having first suggested I walk through the security and book in area (much too far for me, bearing in mind I had had to struggle from the coach a long way up the road to the terminal entrance) and then pick up a wheelchair. We were then taken to the ship through the rain. By this time it was 3.50 pm and at which point the person with us said he did not know if the cabins were ready yet and we were too late for food. I asked was there afternoon tea and he said not today.

 

Sorry to start off with a moan but your embarkation starts first and a good embarkation gets you in the mood for a good trip. I will just say that disembarkation was better though not as organised as HAL.

 

We loved Riviera as a ship - what is there not to like. She is beautiful with masses of art. Our cabin (a balcony cabin) was beautifully appointed except for the positioning of the wardrobes and the bathroom was amazing for a ship. If one were to think of saving money by going for an inside or oceanview there are few of these and are booked almost immediately.

 

We liked the lido and Waves and largely ate there. Food was good and varied. We liked the MDR for breakfast but found it very impersonal at dinner and the service very variable. As it is all open sitting there were often queues to be seated and it was difficult to meet new people - though this was not the case in the speciality restaurants. These were quite good except the French one whose meal the cooking of which we considered below par.

 

The thing I really enjoyed was the art classes (for which you need to present yourself very early). Also the heated sunbeds were free and not well used so I was able to go twice a day which really helps me. The entertainment was really nothing special and the theatre not nearly as nice as HAL.

 

People say about HALs excursions being expensive but Oceania's are eye watering so we did not do any. Alcoholic drinks were very expensive too. Possibly most people get drinks packages but these bump your expenses up so much if you don"t really drink much.

 

So we have decided we like both lines with provisos. We would only go on Riviera/Marina if we were in Europe where we are happy to do our own thing excursion wise, and we would now always do our own air and transfers. We would also feel we would be bored on Riviera for a long trip so have put the cap at 10 days. We think HAL is better itinerary wise everywhere else anyway and we do some of their excursions. We also more often go on HAL for three to five weeks at a time and love the ambience so no cap there.

 

We have just been on a 22 day cruise on Volendam - Australia to Singapore. This year we are just doing Europe and staying nearer home - once on Nieuw Amsterdam in the Summer and 10 nights on Riviera in October. We have however done our own flights which saved £300 on our cruise fare for which we have booked flights from Manchester to Barcelona return, a night in a hotel on the Ramblas, and which will also run to the necessary taxi transits.

 

Hope this helps.

[Lori Dobson]

As many others have posted, the only way to be sure of which line you like better is to try both!

We did an Alaskan cruise several years ago on HAL and the highlight was the scenery. The ship was nice, Food was good but nothing special and service was good.

Just did our first O cruise in Europe this past October on the Marina - the ship and our cabin were gorgeous, food was overall fabulous (lobster tails every night in the Lido? Yes, please!) and service was overall very good (only exception was Guest Services - not very friendly and not very helpful).

What I really enjoyed about O were little things - some of which were no photographers, a spectacular afternoon tea and the no-charge cappucchino in the dining rooms and especially at the bar, which I would take into the truly lovely library on the Marina. The ship was not full and there were no lines for anything, which was wonderful.

We have another HAL cruise booked for this May, again to Alaska - looking forward to seeing how the line has changed since our last cruise with them. But again, we will enjoy it no matter what because we are on a cruise! :D

[bjarrett7]

Someone just posted this on another thread:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/cruiserschoice_index.cfm?Category=Overall&sort=large

 

I couldn't agree with this more. It certainly doesn't speak to Oceania, but it definitely speaks volumes about HAL. 😎

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[RuthC]

Mancunian, you have summed up many of my observations about Oceania very well. I should have skipped posting, and just waited for you to come along!

But those burgers, fries, and milk shakes at Waves were to die for!