Oceania 8/14/2018-08/24/2018

[barbon2]

I usually don't review my cruises but decided to review the Oceania Insignia.

For a little background, we have been on 25 plus cruises, many on mainstream lines and also on Crystal and Silversea.

I don't believe in comparing one line to the next, everyone has their favorites and an opinion is subjective.

 

 

Embarkation:

 

Embarkation in NYC was easy. We were on the ship by 11:45 am. The suites and CC were allowed on at 11 am. (We had a balcony stateroom).

We had lunch in the cafe and easily found seats and found no long lines.

 

Ship:

 

The ship was exactly as I pictured it by doing research and also by having been on smaller lines before. The ship seemed in fine shape even though it is going into dry dock.

 

The areas around the ship were cozy and comfortable and we found our fellow pax very friendly and nice.

 

The pool area was nice and on very hot days we actually sat out on deck 5 where we got a nice breeze and did not feel as closed in as the pool area. It was quiet and quite lovely there.

Cabin:

 

Our cabin was ready at 3pm. I will say that I was surprised at how small the cabin was, probably the smallest we have had on any ship. The same with the balcony. However once we unpacked and were settled we became use to the stateroom.

Our stateroom attendants were extremely pleasant and efficient.

Food:

We ate breakfast at the buffet every morning except two. Once we tried the main dining room which was very good and once we had room service due to an early tour. We just ordered basic things such as muffins and yogurt from room service. They called a few minutes before they delivered the meal.

 

We ate all of our lunches at the buffet or the grill except one in the main dining room which was also very good.

My only suggestion would be to have more lighter fare items on the lunch buffet such as tuna and chicken salad, more sandwich choices, especially on hot days. We usually do not opt for a hot meal at lunch time.

The dinners were excellent. We had two dinners in each Toscano and Polo Grill. They were both excellent, the service in Toscano was not great, they seemed to be short staffed.

We ate the other meals in the Main DR and found that on certain evenings that the service was a bit slow. The food was very good. We did have one buffet dinner on USA or American night, I cannot remember what it was called. It was a nice break from the heavy dining meals and we enjoyed it.

We went to high tea several times. It was lovely and we kept saying we weren't going back because we were eating too much, but back again we went.

The desserts on this ship were excellent and I am paying for them with the four pounds that I gained.

Overall, the food is what it is cracked up to be.

Entertainment:

We went to the shows every night. They were entertaining, but certainly not the best at sea.

We loved Oceania and the small ship feel. I also would not have any problem with either of their two larger ships. (Our friends who were with us have sailed on one of the larger ships and stated that the cabins were much larger.)

As we get older, we prefer a mature crowd and have less need for whistles and bells. That being said, I don't think we would do Oceania for the Caribbean. We are not really "pool" people and do like the alternative venues that some of the larger ships have.

Any other itinerary we do will certainly be on Oceania.

My husband and I only have great things to say about the line.

[Paulchili]

Thanks for taking the time to post your impressions.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[buggins0402]

Barbon2, I am also happy to see you enjoyed your first O cruise.

 

We never experienced slow service in the MDR, but we did experience waits for tables. We found if we went to the MDR before the early tables could turn over there would be a 15-20 minute wait. After a few days we just waited until at least 7:45-8:00 to go to the MDR. After that time some of the 6:30 dining tables had opened for a second seating...frequently the prime aft two tops. Once, with a 8:15 seating, the service was almost too fast.

 

However, I did hear from other cruisers that did experience slow MDR service.