Oceania Cruisers

[Andyand Company]

We are cruising on the Marina this December, first time on this line. Wondering if anyone has info on the overall impressions, type of clientele, how is the onboard entertainment, tours, and/or any suggestions. All info appreciated.

 

Thanks

[LHT28]

Just read some of the threads here you will get an idea & answers to your questions

 

;)

 

Passengers are more mature & well travelled for the most part

[Paulchili]

Especially if you do a search for threads like Oceania vs Azamara or Celebrity or HAL - it will give you a lot of info about Oceania.

In very general terms - Oceania is known for excellent food, well maintained ships, excellent service with friendly staff, informal elegant atmosphere and well traveled and friendly travelers.

Not known for great entertainment or cheap excursions :D

Edited April 6, 2016 by Paulchili

[Travelcat2]

It would really help to know what cruise lines you have sailed and what your expectations are. We are luxury cruisers that have sailed Oceania twice (on the Riviera) and loved it. While we still prefer the all-inclusive experience of a true luxury line, Oceania works well for people that are looking for beautiful ships, wonderful service and great food. Note: We are fans only of the larger ships and cannot see ourselves sailing on the smaller ships.

[Caroldoll]

we have done them all. Food is first and foremost on Oceania, but that in the eyes of the beholder is "beauty". We absolutely love the specialties and they can not be upended at sea, but the Terrace which is kind of a high class serve yourself needs some work.

 

Waves, outside on the deck has great lunch food and sometimes we went there for breakfast.

 

Recently we were on the Marina and there are different chefs in each section. Best skip The Terrace in my opinion.

[Floridiana]

I loved the Terrace on my cruises. :D

[ellbon]

Especially if you do a search for threads like Oceania vs Azamara or Celebrity or HAL - it will give you a lot of info about Oceania.

In very general terms - Oceania is known for excellent food, well maintained ships, excellent service with friendly staff, informal elegant atmosphere and well traveled and friendly travelers.

Not known for great entertainment or cheap excursions :D

 

i thought O had better shoes than AZ. .but nothing compares to the large ships that can do big shows. name a ship that has reasonable tours.

[CB BOARDER]

i thought O had better shoes than AZ. .but nothing compares to the large ships that can do big shows. name a ship that has reasonable tours.

 

O has shoe shows? How did I miss those!:eek::D

[Andyand Company]

Thanks to all cruisers for posting re: Oceania Cruises, I only hope we will not be bored. We have cruised on larger ships, so far like Royal Caribbean for family friendly, reasonable. Last Royal cruise in a suite, loved the Concierge and lounge for Suite Clients - great service and nice to relax, have drinks be it alcohol or otherwise, and snacks. The concierge was accommodating to making things happen and reservations for tours, etc. Even Princess did not have this element.

 

We are used to the large scale entertainment shows, the shops on or off board, tours, etc. While Oceania is supposedly more upscale and elegant, which is nice and no doubt enjoyable, being used to entertainment value and/or things to do, only hope it is not boring all things considered ?

[Andyand Company]

SO, THOSE WHO HAVE CRUISED ON CRYSTAL, SEABOURN, ETC. what is the experience like on those ships vs. Oceania as an example ? Always been curious about the others - love luxury but not pretentious or snooty persons. Do enjoy hearing of trips by the well traveled for an insight into destinations.

[ellbon]

O has shoe shows? How did I miss those!:eek::D

 

thought better than AZ.. not the big ships..

[Paulchili]

Thanks to all cruisers for posting re: Oceania Cruises, I only hope we will not be bored. We have cruised on larger ships, so far like Royal Caribbean for family friendly, reasonable. Last Royal cruise in a suite, loved the Concierge and lounge for Suite Clients - great service and nice to relax, have drinks be it alcohol or otherwise, and snacks. The concierge was accommodating to making things happen and reservations for tours, etc. Even Princess did not have this element.

 

We are used to the large scale entertainment shows, the shops on or off board, tours, etc. While Oceania is supposedly more upscale and elegant, which is nice and no doubt enjoyable, being used to entertainment value and/or things to do, only hope it is not boring all things considered ?

 

From the sound of it I am afraid Oceania will not be a good fit for you.

If you can entertain yourselves (reading, conversation, etc), you'll be fine. If you need to be entertained, you won't be.

[Cruseforme]

Thanks to all cruisers for posting re: Oceania Cruises, I only hope we will not be bored. We have cruised on larger ships, so far like Royal Caribbean for family friendly, reasonable. Last Royal cruise in a suite, loved the Concierge and lounge for Suite Clients - great service and nice to relax, have drinks be it alcohol or otherwise, and snacks. The concierge was accommodating to making things happen and reservations for tours, etc. Even Princess did not have this element.

 

We are used to the large scale entertainment shows, the shops on or off board, tours, etc. While Oceania is supposedly more upscale and elegant, which is nice and no doubt enjoyable, being used to entertainment value and/or things to do, only hope it is not boring all things considered ?

 

 

As said above, it is a quiet ship. No bands at the pool, no after hours parties, low key. O is not known for their night life, as most retire early. Different clientele than the mass market ships. Well traveled, interesting, older crowd. Very sedate and peaceful cruising experience, but if you like the onboard shops, nightlife, rowdiness of the mass market lines, you Will be disappointed. You need to be, for the most part, self entertaining, and enjoy a nicely prepared meal and a wonderful conversation with other cruisers, vs mass market food and Broadway show hype. Please do as others have said and search in this forum for differences between Celebrity and Holland America for comparisons. We personally did not Like Crystal, but it was 12-13 years ago, and our experience is no longer relevant due to changes in the line. We found it to be high handed in the snobbish market at that time.

[maggie.1008]

Luxury lines vs O. I have sailed on all the luxury lines except. Seabourn. I found O food and service to be just as good. Our PH suite at 420 sq. ft. was beautiful. Also had a Butler. The only real difference is liquor is not included. They will let you bring on your own liquor and wine. That was fine for us. Bought wine at dinner or paid $25. to bring our own. I would only want to cruise on the Riviera or Marina. The size of the ships and dining options fit us well.

[orchestrapal]

From the sound of it I am afraid Oceania will not be a good fit for you.

If you can entertain yourselves (reading, conversation, etc), you'll be fine. If you need to be entertained, you won't be.

 

+1. O is not what you are looking for. It's not family friendly and will not keep you busy with stuff to do all day.

[Paulchili]

We personally did not Like Crystal, but it was 12-13 years ago, and our experience is no longer relevant due to changes in the line. We found it to be high handed in the snobbish market at that time.

 

Funny that you should say this as Crystal is the only cruise line we have not sailed on precisely for this "reputation".

However, we have decided to try them for ourselves in the near future to see how they are today. I hope that the "snob" appeal is gone and that they are less formal now than they used to be.

[skiladyldp]

Paulchili- We are trying Crystal's new River Cruising in 2017. With less than 100 passengers, I hope for less formality too!

 

Virginia

[CateW]

We are returning to Oceania in 5 days (our 4th with Oceania) we are platinum with Cunard and Elite Plus with Celebrity. We've also done 2 on Carnival, 2 on NCL, 1 Princess and 1 Royal and 3 with HAL. We really love the ambiance on Oceania and the passenger mix. Granted, if you are into the theatrical shows and that type of nightlife, Oceania may not be for you, but I do think that it is worth giving it a try!

[Travelcat2]

SO, THOSE WHO HAVE CRUISED ON CRYSTAL, SEABOURN, ETC. what is the experience like on those ships vs. Oceania as an example ? Always been curious about the others - love luxury but not pretentious or snooty persons. Do enjoy hearing of trips by the well traveled for an insight into destinations.

 

We have cruised two luxury lines (Regent and Silversea) numerous times. We found Regent less pretentious than Silversea but enjoyed our Silversea cruises. Silversea is much more formal than Oceania (not a plus in our opinion) while Regent is "Elegant Casual" (similar to Oceania but jeans and/or shorts are not permitted in any public areas of Regent ships after 6:00 p.m.)

 

In terms of entertainment, smaller ships simply cannot compete with large ships (in my opinion). Oceania is in the process of changing their entertainment and will be using NCL's entertainment company. While this may not sound good, I have read some wonderful things about NCL's entertainment and are hoping that they bring the professionalism to Oceania's stage that they have on NCL - even if has to be a smaller version due to the size of the stage.

 

It is difficult to compare a "premium plus" cruise line with a luxury cruise line - mainly because of the inclusions that you have on luxury cruise lines. Regent has the majority of excursions included while Silversea has been adding more included excursions recently. Obviously, all beverages and tips are included on luxury cruise lines which brings the cruise fare up a bit. Regent and Silversea ships are almost all-suite, all-balcony ships -- no inside suites. The lowest category suites on luxury lines are quite a bit larger than on Oceania.

 

On the other hand, Oceania's two large ships (Marina and Riviera) are more beautiful than any ship we have sailed. The service is as good on Oceania as on luxury lines but we are amongst the few that find the food better on luxury cruise lines (exception is the specialty restaurants on Oceania).

 

Oceania and luxury cruise lines both have an older demographic and you see few if any children on board (except during the summer and school breaks). The ships are quiet and serene on both Oceania and luxury cruise lines. There are few announcements on the loudspeaker and no one is trying to sell you things.

 

We find the people on Oceania and luxury cruise lines to be friendly and well traveled. Discussions tend to be more about cruising, traveling, ports, etc. than anything else.

 

Hope this helps.

[Hawaiidan]

As said above, it is a quiet ship. No bands at the pool, no after hours parties, low key. O is not known for their night life, as most retire early. Different clientele than the mass market ships. Well traveled, interesting, older crowd. Very sedate and peaceful cruising experience, but if you like the onboard shops, nightlife, rowdiness of the mass market lines, you Will be disappointed. You need to be, for the most part, self entertaining, and enjoy a nicely prepared meal and a wonderful conversation with other cruisers, vs mass market food and Broadway show hype. Please do as others have said and search in this forum for differences between Celebrity and Holland America for comparisons. We personally did not Like Crystal, but it was 12-13 years ago, and our experience is no longer relevant due to changes in the line. We found it to be high handed in the snobbish market at that time.

 

Oceania the entertainment is you...and conversation with fellow passengers Kid free, adults, quiet evenings, listen to some chamber music or piano..... No shops, no hype, no faux dress up.... Enjoy the romance of ocean travel not las vegas at sea. Crystal way too snooty and pretentious .

[Silver Sweethearts]

Crystal way too snooty and pretentious .

 

Curious what makes you think that?

[LHT28]

We are used to the large scale entertainment shows, the shops on or off board, tours, etc. While Oceania is supposedly more upscale and elegant, which is nice and no doubt enjoyable, being used to entertainment value and/or things to do, only hope it is not boring all things considered ?

If you want large scale entertainment Oceania is NOT for you

[maggie.1008]

We have done 2 Crystal cruises. Both were 14 days .We found the passengers friendly and outgoing. First cruise we met a couple we enjoyed so much that we signed up for Panama Canal cruise the following year. I did not find it snobbish.

[Missi Queen]

We love Crystal . We have done almost 50 cruises with them and love the crew and our fellow passengers. We felt at home from our first cruise with them in 2002. Not sure what snooty means and I guess that it is in the eyes of the beholder but it is our home away from home. We have tried HAL and Celebrity which were ok but we have not repeated with either line. We will soon be embarking on the Rivera for our first time with Oceania and look forward to it.

[Andyand Company]

We are returning to Oceania in 5 days (our 4th with Oceania) we are platinum with Cunard and Elite Plus with Celebrity. We've also done 2 on Carnival, 2 on NCL, 1 Princess and 1 Royal and 3 with HAL. We really love the ambiance on Oceania and the passenger mix. Granted, if you are into the theatrical shows and that type of nightlife, Oceania may not be for you, but I do think that it is worth giving it a try!

 

INTERESTING, Just out of curiosity how was NCL ? Trying to find a cruise to New York to take the adult kids and one grandchild, that is family friendly and price friendly. So far Carnival is the lesser price wise, short of a land trip. We and the 'kids' also like cruising, so best of both - fly in early, cruise and do a post stay as well perhaps ?

 

We started with Carnival, then Royal, Princess and now Oceania and think we will be fine, always good to experience different venues and cruise styles.

 

ALSO, how is Celebrity and/or Holland America - haven't been on those as yet but depends on the itinerary. We were thinking New York next year, eventually the Nordic Countries, Australia and possibly Asia one of these days.

 

Any info helpful and appreciate the comments. Connected with a couple for Oceania, so far so good.