Oceania Nautica Recent Experiences

[Free and Easy]

I was about to resume sailing with Oceania Nautica. Yet to my alarm, I read on both Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor pax reviews that Oceania (and Nautica) now is not what it used to be pre-COVID (in fact that seemed to be true for many Cruise lines which are in a catch-up mode). Particularly so for the food which has always been the main reason I sail with Oceania!!  Would appreciate any sharing on recent sailing experiences with Nautica. Just wonder if I have been only able to see the negative feedback,,,,,,,:(

[MEFIowa]

Sailed 10 nights each on Riviera (12/2021) and Sirena (11/2022) and had a wonderful time on both. But then spoiled on Riviera with just 719 passengers for 780 crew! Wife and I loved the food. We especially enjoy the Terrace Cafe for evening dinners under the stars. We've got a 20-night B2B on Riviera later in 2023 plus 20 more nights on Sirena later in 2024.

 

IMO, those with negative views and experiences seem more motivated to discuss them, as opposed to those who have positive views and experiences.

[mauibabes]

We have not sailed Nautica but will in 2024. The experience I can share is we spent 46 days on Riviera as she returned to service. Laurence was the Food and Beverage Director for our B2B2B2B Transatlantic and she was OUTSTANDING. She was then promoted to General Manager on Nautica and I can not imagine she would allow the substandard performance on her ship. If you are on Nautica, stop bye and introduce yourselves as she is very cordial and professional. If there are issues, and we had some on Riviera, tell her and it will be resolved to the best possible outcome. Never stay quiet and “stew” on an Oceania cruise. Tell the appropriate staff and push it up if needed. They want you to be a returning guest. 
JMHO and the experiences to go with it.

Mauibabes

[gaeltrav]

Just got off Nautica Capetown to Mumbai last week and found no problems wth the food quality and quantity. It was very similar to pre Covid food. We had the occasional miss but nearly all meals were excellent. the choices were the same and the menus changed about every 2 weeks .Again the fruit in the Terrace for breakfast was great. We have been sailing with Oceania since 2004 and have no concerns about a decline in food quality. As well there were two Market dinners with fresh ingredients bought on shore that day

[PaulMCO]

Then again you can look at the negative reviews on the recent Marina sailings too.

Not all positive.  Not a cheerleader.  14 O cruises - last one was the freebee.

 

On a positive note -- Nautica is the finest and best run ship in their fleet.

Edited February 14, 2023 by PaulMCO

[Jancruz]

1 hour ago, PaulMCO said:

Then again you can look at the negative reviews on the recent Marina sailings too.

Not all positive.  Not a cheerleader.  14 O cruises - last one was the freebee.

 

On a positive note -- Nautica is the finest and best run ship in their fleet.

I think the best is the Regatta which Stu and I spend most of out time on..due to it being on the west coast..

Jancruz1

[Flatbush Flyer]

6 minutes ago, Jancruz said:

I think the best is the Regatta which Stu and I spend most of out time on..due to it being on the west coast..

Jancruz1

Jan:

We’re on Regatta now- Best captain in the fleet Giulio Ressa! And surprise, at least to us: Gabriel Ovesea (the Transylvanian) has been promoted to GM. We are happy campers!

Regatta was our first O ship more than a decade ago. Nice to be “home.”

[ORV]

2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Jan:

We’re on Regatta now- Best captain in the fleet Giulio Ressa! And surprise, at least to us: Gabriel Ovesea (the Transylvanian) has been promoted to GM. We are happy campers!

Regatta was our first O ship more than a decade ago. Nice to be “home.”

Gabriel was the GM as far back as September when we were on there. Don't know how long he'd been in that position. 

[mauibabes]

Laurence was the GM who brought Nautica out of Dry Dock and Reimagining in April 2022.  GM cruise terms are different from other staff so not sure how many times she has filled that role since her “Maiden voyage “ assignment in April last year. Bottom line, she is a fantastic Director and leader so I am sure she continues to do well for Oceania.  She and one other woman were the first two GM’s Oceania had hired/promoted.
Mauibabes

[Flatbush Flyer]

6 hours ago, ORV said:

Gabriel was the GM as far back as September when we were on there. Don't know how long he'd been in that position. 

He told me it’s been a while but didn’t get specific. I assume it was once cruising restarted in mid-2022.

[veggieonboard]

Mixed reviews  from our group of 5 adults, we booked as we had sailed with Oceania before, a few years ago the choice and food for vegetarians was outstanding with plenty of choice not on our recent cruise, have just returned on Nautica, only had 3 veggie soups in MDR in evening one over two weeks in Terrace during the day, we found a lot of repeats, not so much choice, however, the fish and meat eaters did well, only one tough chop and one dry dover sole, the rest was very good quality, terrace has a good choice but our market buffett was repeated over two days, with only one choice for vegetarians, really not good ! Depends I guess on what you like to eat. 

[dandee2]

Just hoping they have Coeliac dishes because my DW will not be happy at all.

[LHT28]

9 minutes ago, dandee2 said:

Just hoping they have Coeliac dishes because my DW will not be happy at all.

make sure  there is a note on file  that she  has an issue  & they will  work with her  needs

Do not just show up for  a meal & expect them to  know  she has an issue

 

[mauibabes]

Call O and get this into into their system because this is a serious issue, My M in Law had this problem long before gluten free became such a big deal for so many. Coeliac is well beyond just gluten free issues. You need to be meeting with the O staff dining staff when immediately on board and ensuring they are aware of her needs.  Maybe a stop at the dining reservations should be stop #1. Our experience has been that the guest in question received meal menus the day prior and made their selections and their meals were specially prepared for them and delivered to them. They did not do their own buffet line shuffle and were told if any selection in a restaurant was incompatible with their food allergies.  We will be taking a cruise in October and our son in law is seriously allergic to eggs, Eppie Pen Time and anaphylaxis.   🙏 so we will be working those issues well before boarding. 
Good luck and be proactive and enjoy your cruise.

Mauibabes

[cohner]

Just got off the Riverara.  Half the ship for alumni college groups.  They are loud and I will try to never travel on any ship that has a large affinity group.  The take up a lot of the specialty restaurants and they are not a friendly group to mingle with.  They want to be with their group.  

[cohner]

i booked Lisbon to Paris on June 14 on the Nautica.  If anyone is on that send please post so we can talk about doing some private excursions.  For example in Bilbo i want to go in the museum and they don't seem to have one off the ship that does that.

[sunlover12]

2 hours ago, cohner said:

i booked Lisbon to Paris on June 14 on the Nautica.  If anyone is on that send please post so we can talk about doing some private excursions.  For example in Bilbo i want to go in the museum and they don't seem to have one off the ship that does that.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/323-nautica-roll-calls/

You'll get a better response if you post this to your Roll Call. It looks like one has started for your cruise.

[sunlover12]

3 hours ago, cohner said:

Just got off the Riverara.  Half the ship for alumni college groups.  They are loud and I will try to never travel on any ship that has a large affinity group.  The take up a lot of the specialty restaurants and they are not a friendly group to mingle with.  They want to be with their group.  

Sorry to hear that but that has not been my experience at all.  I've been on several Oceania cruises with alumni groups and they have been courteous, friendly and not loud.  They are well-traveled and highly educated as are many of Oceania passengers. They will have a private reception in Horizons one evening but other than that they're not taking up the specialty restaurants because they are not allowed more reservations than anyone else. 

 

There is no way to know in advance if your next cruise will have alumni groups onboard but if it does happen, your experience is likely to be different.  

[LHT28]

We have had both types of Alumni groups  on several cruises

One  groups  was the loud  drunken type   others were  friendly & joined   some private excursions  etc

 

You never know  what  type you will get

[ORV]

While they didn't get in my way it certainly changed the timbre of a normal Oceania cruise. There were many first time Oceania guests among the alumni groups and a few I spoke with seemed to be unhappy over the littlest things. Said they'll never go on Oceania again. I thought it was a great cruise. 

[cohner]

Why risk it.   I’ll avoid Alumni groups every chance I get

[AMHuntFerry]

23 hours ago, ORV said:

While they didn't get in my way it certainly changed the timbre of a normal Oceania cruise. There were many first time Oceania guests among the alumni groups and a few I spoke with seemed to be unhappy over the littlest things. Said they'll never go on Oceania again. I thought it was a great cruise. 

You must have had the sibling of the woman on our cruise who was practically apoplectic because her PH was ready 15 minutes later than she expected. I wanted to tell her to grab a cookie and relax, but I just kept sipping my Barista latte.

[mauibabes]

@ORV

Sounds like a Win/ Win to me. The Alumni Clubber who will not cruise O again and our cruise without them on board. Some will never be happy or have unrealistic expectations of Perfection. Anyone who cruises knows, STUFF HAPPENS so we all benefit if we can be flexible and go with the flow. We all have non perfection stories or failures to tell but I prefer to judge a cruise in its totality, not a single incident or even a few.  We have had some less than desireable experiences but NEVER a BAD cruise on Oceania. JMHO

I prefer to Enjoy 🤪🙏👍🛳️🍹❤️

Mauibabes
 

[redraider1966]

17 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

@ORV

Sounds like a Win/ Win to me. The Alumni Clubber who will not cruise O again and our cruise without them on board. Some will never be happy or have unrealistic expectations of Perfection. Anyone who cruises knows, STUFF HAPPENS so we all benefit if we can be flexible and go with the flow. We all have non perfection stories or failures to tell but I prefer to judge a cruise in its totality, not a single incident or even a few.  We have had some less than desireable experiences but NEVER a BAD cruise on Oceania. JMHO

I prefer to Enjoy 🤪🙏👍🛳️🍹❤️

Mauibabes
 

Plus 1.

[mauibabes]

@redraider1966

👍👍👍 and I am sure Plus 1000 is in order and  DITTOS to the max.

Dropping the mic 😇🙏

Mauibabes