First Oceania Cruise - Totally Satisfied!

[mauibabes]

Nol2929,

I checked out your itinerary, an excellent one.  You will love Riviera and you will love your first O cruise.  When we were in Lisbon, we made a trip about 45 minutes to Fatima.  A very moving experience that Sunday with about 10,000 people in the plaza during an outdoor mass. 
Dale has become an Oceania convert and we are sure you will too.  When we made our first cruise in 2006, little did we know the monster Oceania created because we have never looked back. Made it to 20+ last October. Oceania is our family, whether it is the staff in Miami, the crew on board or the guests, it is just an absolutely amazing experience. 
Dale will gladly share his experiences and we have chatted with him many times over the months before they sailed. Ask any questions, this CC Board will prepare you for October because we want you to join our family.

Ciao,

Mauibabes

 

 

 

[DENIE]

On 7/4/2022 at 8:27 PM, mauibabes said:

Nol2929,

I checked out your itinerary, an excellent one.  You will love Riviera and you will love your first O cruise.  When we were in Lisbon, we made a trip about 45 minutes to Fatima.  A very moving experience that Sunday with about 10,000 people in the plaza during an outdoor mass. 
Dale has become an Oceania convert and we are sure you will too.  When we made our first cruise in 2006, little did we know the monster Oceania created because we have never looked back. Made it to 20+ last October. Oceania is our family, whether it is the staff in Miami, the crew on board or the guests, it is just an absolutely amazing experience. 
Dale will gladly share his experiences and we have chatted with him many times over the months before they sailed. Ask any questions, this CC Board will prepare you for October because we want you to join our family.

Ciao,

Mauibabes

 

 

 

...and thank you for all of your excellent advice!  😃

 

Dale

[Nol2929]

On 7/4/2022 at 10:27 PM, mauibabes said:

Nol2929,

I checked out your itinerary, an excellent one.  You will love Riviera and you will love your first O cruise.  When we were in Lisbon, we made a trip about 45 minutes to Fatima.  A very moving experience that Sunday with about 10,000 people in the plaza during an outdoor mass. 
Dale has become an Oceania convert and we are sure you will too.  When we made our first cruise in 2006, little did we know the monster Oceania created because we have never looked back. Made it to 20+ last October. Oceania is our family, whether it is the staff in Miami, the crew on board or the guests, it is just an absolutely amazing experience. 
Dale will gladly share his experiences and we have chatted with him many times over the months before they sailed. Ask any questions, this CC Board will prepare you for October because we want you to join our family.

Ciao,

Mauibabes

 

 

 

Thank you, also looking at Fatima options....getting excited!!

[DENIE]

Hi all,

 

As Host Jazzbeau suggested, I am posting the link to my review.  I hope this is the right way to do this.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=688752

 

[Mareblu]

On 7/5/2022 at 1:27 PM, mauibabes said:

Nol2929,

I checked out your itinerary, an excellent one.  You will love Riviera and you will love your first O cruise.  When we were in Lisbon, we made a trip about 45 minutes to Fatima.  A very moving experience that Sunday with about 10,000 people in the plaza during an outdoor mass. 
Dale has become an Oceania convert and we are sure you will too.  When we made our first cruise in 2006, little did we know the monster Oceania created because we have never looked back. Made it to 20+ last October. Oceania is our family, whether it is the staff in Miami, the crew on board or the guests, it is just an absolutely amazing experience. 
Dale will gladly share his experiences and we have chatted with him many times over the months before they sailed. Ask any questions, this CC Board will prepare you for October because we want you to join our family.

Ciao,

Mauibabes

 

 

 

We also joined the Fatima excursion during our 2018 Med cruise on Nautica.  It was truly an emotional, uplifting experience.  Many on our tour were not at all religious, but all found the atmosphere peaceful and enlightening.  They were simple children, and simplicity is the language of the soul.  We love Oceania, and in September will be joining Sirena for yet another cruise.  We have sailed numerous times on Nautica, and twice on Marina.  We have sailed on many cruise lines, including Seabourn, Silversea, Norwegian and Viking.  They all shine in their own way, and perhaps Seabourn is the most wonderful experience of all, but for less outlay, Oceania certainly comes close.  We're sailing on Cunard ten days after we disembark our Oceania cruise in October, first time on Cunard.  It will be interesting to compare.  Happy sailing everyone 🙂

[ChadnKate]

Glad you love Oceania. We were hating (well seriously irritated with) our cruise on Holland America in 2012. Looked across the Livorno harbor and saw a smaller, pretty white ship with an "O" on the smokestack. Asked whose that was and told it was Oceania. About to do our 15th cruise with them. Haven't looked back. In fact looking forward to 4 cruises we've booked on the Vista!

[Host Jazzbeau]

@DENIE thanks for the review, which has now been pruned of the off-topic drama.

[DENIE]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

thanks for the review, which has now been pruned of the off-topic drama.

You are welcome! I expect to post a similar review of our 2024 cruise in the Caribbean on the Vista

[RollWave]

On 7/1/2022 at 1:36 PM, patty1955 said:

We've been loyal Celebrity cruisers but now my favorite is Oceania! The food is so much better and they remind me of how Celebrity was when we first started sailing. My only complaint about our Oceania cruise was too many ports. 

We too have been loyal Celebrity cruisers. Just off Celebrity Solstice Alaska itinerary. At a wine tasting a fellow passenger said - If you like Celebrity you will love Oceania! Looking forward to researching to find out more about Oceania.

[jonthomas]

Yup also Celebrity escapees here....wish we had not done over 50 with C...instead wish we had switched to O years ago and now been able to take advantage of their very good loyalty program. By now we would be enjoying free deviation, included Gratuities, etc. 

 

With only 3 , O cruises we have none of the really meaningful perks, but still want to stay with O for many reasons. 

 

We have done 2 Viking O cruises as well, still prefer O. 

[mauibabes]

ROLLWAVE,

Guess you ought to talk to DENIE. They just became O converts after their first O cruise on Riviera.  It was over a year of planning and talking to other Posters but the embarkation day came and went and you can see his comments on the Board. It really is an easy choice to make and never look back. 
Mauibabes

[DENIE]

12 hours ago, RollWave said:

We too have been loyal Celebrity cruisers. Just off Celebrity Solstice Alaska itinerary. At a wine tasting a fellow passenger said - If you like Celebrity you will love Oceania! Looking forward to researching to find out more about Oceania.

RollWave,

 

Yes, you definitely need to try Oceania.  Mauibabes (and others) were so helpful in their answers and provided such good advice.  We had no complaints about Celebrity, but we really gravitated to the all-inclusive dining in specialty restaurants (plus additional reservations if space is available), smaller venues, no lines, no photographers or studio, more personalized service, smaller but better buffet with grilled to order meats.  So many fewer passengers, etc.

[Mareblu]

On 7/18/2022 at 11:29 AM, DENIE said:

RollWave,

 

Yes, you definitely need to try Oceania.  Mauibabes (and others) were so helpful in their answers and provided such good advice.  We had no complaints about Celebrity, but we really gravitated to the all-inclusive dining in specialty restaurants (plus additional reservations if space is available), smaller venues, no lines, no photographers or studio, more personalized service, smaller but better buffet with grilled to order meats.  So many fewer passengers, etc.

I always describe the Oceania experience as a relaxing, elegant country club, sans the formality.

[DENIE]

18 hours ago, Mareblu said:

I always describe the Oceania experience as a relaxing, elegant country club, sans the formality.

Absolutely!  We totally agree!  I did bring a sport coat which I wore about 3 nights out of 10.  For our next cruise on the new Vista (round-trip Miami to the Eastern Caribbean), I will only be bringing polos and nice button-down shirts and leave the coat at home! 😃

[Redtravel]

On 7/1/2022 at 4:04 AM, ToxM said:

I was a Celebrity refugee, the difference is such a revelation 🙂

 

Glad you had a fabulous time, welcome to the O family!

We used to like Celebrity too.  As elite plus, we often sailed on Celebrity.  When we got fed up with all the cutbacks, we looked for better options. We moved on to Oceania, Viking, and Windstar.  Like all of them. After staying home and not cruising during the pandemic, we decided it was time to travel with caution.  We took a Celebrity cruise a few weeks ago. We chose the cruise because we live near the embarkation port. No need for flying. We also read their Covid protocols. They sounded good on paper. In reality, those protocols weren’t followed. Ship was very crowded. Few people wore masks. No surprise that my spouse got Covid even though we were very careful.   Next cruise is on the Marina.  No more Celebrity.

[Nol2929]

12 hours ago, DENIE said:

Absolutely!  We totally agree!  I did bring a sport coat which I wore about 3 nights out of 10.  For our next cruise on the new Vista (round-trip Miami to the Eastern Caribbean), I will only be bringing polos and nice button-down shirts and leave the coat at home! 😃

As a 1st time cruiser (October) on Oceania I love to read details like this, thanks again to all of you for the info.

[pinotlover]

3 hours ago, Nol2929 said:

As a 1st time cruiser (October) on Oceania I love to read details like this, thanks again to all of you for the info.

Sports jackets are never required. You will find that the majority of us do wear them to La Reserve, Privee, and occasionally at Jacques and the other Specialties. 
 

As an example, at our last La Reserve Dom Perignon dinner aboard the Marina, I believe 10 of the twelve gentlemen in attendance wore jackets. Some follow minimum standards and never wear them at all. Others wear them to certain venues. Your call.

Edited July 24, 2022 by pinotlover

[hmorrow]

We are so looking forward to our first Oceania cruise, in May. Mostly have sailed with Royal, HAL and Celebrity.

Sounds like O, will be a step up, in the right direction!