Thinking of going to Oceania from Celebrity

[LHT28]

13 minutes ago, Guindalf said:

Yes, but they took the plate away with no more than an apology. 

Did you ask for something else?

 

That is odd   as I have sent stuff away & they have always asked if I would like something else

 

I agree  they are not always perfect  ..we have had some bad meals on O but  darn we keep going back 😎

Good you have a future cruise  on another line to look forward to

 

 

[Petoonya]

1 hour ago, KS&JW said:

The new discount airline to PPT is called French Bee.  It flies out of SFO.  Don't know of any out of OAK.

French Bee has a 2.5* rating on Tripadvisor. The reviews are frightful https://www.tripadvisor.com/Airline_Review-d11831116-Reviews-French-Bee

Stick with United out of SFO- but they only operate 3 days a week. You can also book Air Tahiti Nui LAX on the Qantas website at a considerable discount than what you get direct with ATN.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, hopkima said:

Just returned from 8-day Ireland cruise aboard the Nautica.  Definitely avoid this ship.  The crew is terrible and the entertainment consists of theme park flunkies. If you don't purchase the extremely overpriced shore excursions through Oceania, you are treated as a second-class passenger...regardless of your room status. 

can you explain how they treat 2nd class pax ?

We never do ship's tours  but never felt like 2nd class pax

[clo]

18 minutes ago, Guindalf said:

Yes, but they took the plate away with no more than an apology. 

Okay, when s/he asked early on if everything was okay, did you say no then?  That would have been the time for the server to ask if there was something else they could bring you instead?  Maybe a newbie.  

[KS&JW]

23 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

French Bee has a 2.5* rating on Tripadvisor. The reviews are frightful https://www.tripadvisor.com/Airline_Review-d11831116-Reviews-French-Bee

Stick with United out of SFO- but they only operate 3 days a week. You can also book Air Tahiti Nui LAX on the Qantas website at a considerable discount than what you get direct with ATN.

 

I was not recommending them, just stating that they fly out of SFO not OAK.  I prefer to avoid discount airlines myself.

[Petoonya]

8 minutes ago, KS&JW said:

 

I was not recommending them, just stating that they fly out of SFO not OAK.  I prefer to avoid discount airlines myself.

I do understand that you weren't recommending them. 🙂 I was the one who mentioned cruising Tahiti so took it upon myself to give anyone considering it a heads up. 🙂

[DavidTheWonderer]

Air France between LAX and Papeete works for us.

[ORV]

20 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

Yes...  But I was refering  to a discount French/Tahitian airline that flys from OAK  to Papetee  for something like $350  no frills.....  Thats what I heard  Tahiti NUI  had a strangel hold on the route.

Using South west  you would fly to HNL  then connect to Hawaiian for their saturday ony flight to PPT

Yes, I should have mentioned it is HI they go to. 

[Hawaiidan]

2 hours ago, DavidTheWonderer said:

Air France between LAX and Papeete works for us.

Air france  has the best  return flights to LAX from PPT....   

 

[Redtravel]

We are elite plus on Celebrity. We enjoyed the Celebrity cruises. As time went by, we have watched many changes and cutbacks. As prices went up and amenities went down, it made sense to move on. We love Oceania. We did do a few Celebrity cruises after trying Oceania. We were disappointed.  

[hopkima]

On ‎7‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 2:04 PM, hopkima said:

Just returned from 8-day Ireland cruise aboard the Nautica.  Definitely avoid this ship.  The crew is terrible and the entertainment consists of theme park flunkies. If you don't purchase the extremely overpriced shore excursions through Oceania, you are treated as a second-class passenger...regardless of your room status. 

Posting here because Cruise Critic is apparently against "HONEST" feedback and probably receiving a kick-back for product advertisements.  

[Paulchili]

11 minutes ago, hopkima said:

Posting here because Cruise Critic is apparently against "HONEST" feedback and probably receiving a kick-back for product advertisements.  

Is it too much to ask of you to answer some questions that were asked of you here on this forum?

Posting unsupported accusations doesn’t help your credibility.

[hopkima]

GOOD - Nice Room with Butler/Concierge service, large bathroom and balcony, 24-hour room service. Main dining room and Toscana had excellent service staff and food was fantastic.  Ship was nicely equipped and comfortable, albeit not very large comparatively. 
 
BAD - Captain and officers were completely self-righteous and arrogant, to the point of being rude.  The dining personnel in the "Polo Club" were incompetent and utterly unskilled in premier food service. We are not snobs and expect minor glitches in services, etc.  However, the Polo Club is a "reservations only" establishment and one cannot simply enter at their leisure.  The cruise was labeled "Gaelic Glory", but there was no glory about it.  The theme was advertised as "Irish", but there was not an inkling of Irish theme aboard ship...no Irish food, music, or adornments...???  The entertainment was reminiscent of a theme park, with less than stellar performances.  
 
Shore excursions were offered by the cruise line at exorbitant prices, usually 3-4 times the amount charged by local companies at each port-of-call.  If you did not book an excursion through the cruise line, you were not allowed to disembark the ship until all of those who purchased cruise line excursion packages had departed.  This usually meant waiting 1-2 hours after arriving in port.  The crew was extremely vigilant in enforcing this measure, to point of acting "Gestapo" like...very discourteous and unnecessary.  
 
I could list many more negative aspects about the cruise, but I think you get the picture.  Overall...VERY DISAPPOINTED...!!!
 

[hopkima]

On ‎7‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 2:16 PM, Paulchili said:

Thank you for your input.

What other cruise experience are you comparing your Insignia experience with?

Please explain why or how were you treated as second class passenger because you didn't purchase their excursions.

One does not need to be a seasoned "cruiser" in order to know "bad from good".  We do however, have several cruises under our belts and expected a significant amount of professionalism and courtesy.  We paid a significant amount of money for a penthouse suite on the top deck, and the butler was extremely courteous and helpful despite the actions of the remaining staff and crew.

[Guindalf]

Sounds like you made your mind up to be negative before you even got off the ship!

 

 We’re sitting waiting for our flight home having just got off the insignia and while I agree with some of your points and probably won’t sail Oceania again, I find it hard to be as negative as you. As a previous poster said, specifics are needed to be subjective. There is not a cruise line in existence as bad as you are making out!

 

I could easily slam the cruise line for some of the comical things that happened, but the truth is we still had a good vacation. 

[Paulchili]

10 minutes ago, hopkima said:

One does not need to be a seasoned "cruiser" in order to know "bad from good".  We do however, have several cruises under our belts and expected a significant amount of professionalism and courtesy.  We paid a significant amount of money for a penthouse suite on the top deck, and the butler was extremely courteous and helpful despite the actions of the remaining staff and crew.

I think others, myself included, would like to know what exactly was so bad on your cruise - how specifically were you treated as a second class passenger compared to those who booked shore excursions with Oceania (as you claimed).

Being specific about your complaints might help others to understand why you are so unhappy.

[hopkima]

On ‎7‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 3:07 PM, LHT28 said:

can you explain how they treat 2nd class pax ?

We never do ship's tours  but never felt like 2nd class pax

If you do not purchase the extremely overpriced cruise line shore excursion packages, you must wait 1-2 hours at port to disembark.  This is caused by the "front of the line" attitude imposed for those passengers who paid the exorbitant price for shore excursions.  I can understand that attitude if shore excursions were offered by only the cruise line.  However, you can get the same excursions from a local company at the port of call for at least 1/3 the cruise line price.  In addition to the waiting, most amenities are closed until the return of the cruise line shore excursion passengers. 

[hopkima]

10 minutes ago, Guindalf said:

Sounds like you made your mind up to be negative before you even got off the ship!

 

 We’re sitting waiting for our flight home having just got off the insignia and while I agree with some of your points and probably won’t sail Oceania again, I find it hard to be as negative as you. As a previous poster said, specifics are needed to be subjective. There is not a cruise line in existence as bad as you are making out!

 

I could easily slam the cruise line for some of the comical things that happened, but the truth is we still had a good vacation. 

We cruised on the Nautica, not the Insignia.  The ship was not the problem, it was the captain, crew, and most of the staff.  By the way, we were on our honeymoon so definitely not a negative attitude before boarding.  We are not "cruise rookies" and know what right looks and sounds like.  We are both seasoned worldwide travelers and expect minor SNAFUs.  However, this was not a cruise to Bermuda where one is expected to drink booze 24 hours per day.  This was an expensive cruise and advertised as luxury, hardly.  We had a great time off the ship and explored Ireland on our own, through local tourist companies...and for a fraction of the price offered through the cruise line. 

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, hopkima said:

If you do not purchase the extremely overpriced cruise line shore excursion packages, you must wait 1-2 hours at port to disembark.  This is caused by the "front of the line" attitude imposed for those passengers who paid the exorbitant price for shore excursions. 

I assume that you are referring to tendering ports as otherwise anyone can disembark anytime they wish. I agree that having to wait 1-2 hours to tender out is excessive but in our 25+ cruises on Oceania we have never experienced that long of a wait. The only excessive waiting we experienced was in Easter Island were due to local conditions only a single tender could operate and very slowly at that and even then it wasn't a 2 hour wait.

If one gets to the lounge early to get tender tickets, individuals are usually added to tours to fill the tender IME.

 

1 hour ago, hopkima said:

In addition to the waiting, most amenities are closed until the return of the cruise line shore excursion passengers. 

What amenities were closed to you until the return of shore excursion passengers?

[LHT28]

I suspect  you had  some tender ports  where  they do request the ship's tours get off first (after all they did pay exorbitant prices)

If you are independent you can get tender tickets for early disembarkation just go to the lounge

docked  you can just walk off

Not sure what amenities are closed 

they do have dining hours posted ..pool is open. spa is open  bars are open when people are ashore

 

we do not do ship's tours & rarely have a problem getting off early if we want

the tender ports are an exception but if you follow the procedure you can indeed get off in the first few tenders

JMO

 

[Hawaiidan]

1 hour ago, hopkima said:

We cruised on the Nautica, not the Insignia.  The ship was not the problem, it was the captain, crew, and most of the staff.  By the way, we were on our honeymoon so definitely not a negative attitude before boarding.  We are not "cruise rookies" and know what right looks and sounds like.  We are both seasoned worldwide travelers and expect minor SNAFUs.  However, this was not a cruise to Bermuda where one is expected to drink booze 24 hours per day.  This was an expensive cruise and advertised as luxury, hardly.  We had a great time off the ship and explored Ireland on our own, through local tourist companies...and for a fraction of the price offered through the cruise line. 

It sounds as though you had a personality clash that compounded its self and possibly colored your thinking.... You sounded very angry  ....are you sure you  did not develop an attitude because of those clashes ?

 As you  are not cruise rookies I  am surprised that you were not aware of the high cost of all cruise lines shore ex's  not just Oceania.  and it is common practice  by most lines to  tender tour  participants first .. Why was this a shock?     .      

 Perhaps, a little good old fashioned research might have helped you enjoy your  cruise experience better.

[hopkima]

46 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I suspect  you had  some tender ports  where  they do request the ship's tours get off first (after all they did pay exorbitant prices)

If you are independent you can get tender tickets for early disembarkation just go to the lounge

docked  you can just walk off

Not sure what amenities are closed 

they do have dining hours posted ..pool is open. spa is open  bars are open when people are ashore

 

we do not do ship's tours & rarely have a problem getting off early if we want

the tender ports are an exception but if you follow the procedure you can indeed get off in the first few tenders

JMO

 

Unfortunately, they did not fill the tenders with individual excursion passengers...that was the rub.  We always arrived early to the lounge and obtained our tickets...it didn't matter.

[hopkima]

38 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

It sounds as though you had a personality clash that compounded its self and possibly colored your thinking.... You sounded very angry  ....are you sure you  did not develop an attitude because of those clashes ?

 As you  are not cruise rookies I  am surprised that you were not aware of the high cost of all cruise lines shore ex's  not just Oceania.  and it is common practice  by most lines to  tender tour  participants first .. Why was this a shock?     .      

 Perhaps, a little good old fashioned research might have helped you enjoy your  cruise experience better.

Well brother, you definitely made me laugh...!!!  Finish your Mai Tai.

[ORV]

2 hours ago, hopkima said:

Unfortunately, they did not fill the tenders with individual excursion passengers...that was the rub.  We always arrived early to the lounge and obtained our tickets...it didn't matter.

This is where I call BS. If there is a tender going and there is room on it then those in the lounge are going to be called. Been there done that too many times. 

 

There's something missing here. Perhaps you got a ticket and tried to board before they called it. I have no idea. Sorry it wasn't to your liking. 

[Paulchili]

47 minutes ago, ORV said:

This is where I call BS. If there is a tender going and there is room on it then those in the lounge are going to be called. Been there done that too many times. 

Agree.

In fact, if anything, I am at times a little annoyed sitting in an almost full tender and having to wait until they little by little keep filling the tender until it is completely full.

They just about always add individuals to groups as they want a completely full tender and I can’t imagine that the number of people on O excursions is always exactly the same as the tender capacity.

Edited July 18, 2019 by Paulchili