Oceania for HAL cruisers who love classical music?

[TRLD]

49 minutes ago, Torquer said:

We have had 3 HAL cruises post-covid, and just got back from our 1st post-covid cruise on Oceania.  It was very depressing to see how HAL has regressed in their entertainment compared to Oceania.  We enjoyed many nights with the string quartets on O.  We liked LCS on HAL, and hope the classical music returns consistently on all ships; our last two cruises had zero classical music since LCS ended.  In addition, O has a singing and dancing production company for its shows.  Step One is good, but how many times can you watch the same four shows; we really missed the ship's singers HAL used to have.  And finally, O has a live 7 piece band that plays for all shows, whether it is accompanying the ship's production company or guest entertainers.  HAL really needs to improve its entertainment, like it was years ago.

On Regatta the singers/dancers production show is 4 singers and 2 dancers and we have had 1 show in the first 10 days of a 21 day cruise. The show band and the string quartet is nice, but that is pretty much the complete list of entertainment. The other main show so far was 2 shows with a single male guest singer, 2 with a single guest female singer, 2 with a not so good comedian, and 1 ventriloquist for the one 9:30 show.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9 by TRLD

[Torquer]

12 hours ago, TRLD said:

On Regatta the singers/dancers production show is 4 singers and 2 dancers and we have had 1 show in the first 10 days of a 21 day cruise. The show band and the string quartet is nice, but that is pretty much the complete list of entertainment. The other main show so far was 2 shows with a single male guest singer, 2 with a single guest female singer, 2 with a not so good comedian, and 1 ventriloquist for the one 9:30 show.

 

 

 

 

We were on the larger Marina ship which had a total of 9 singers/dancers in its production company.  They did 4 shows on a 20 day cruise.

 

BTW, the point of my earlier post was not to compare HAL and Oceania.  It was to say that HAL's entertainment has significantly declined over the last 5-10 years, whereas Oceania's has maintained the same level of entertainment they always had.

[TRLD]

1 hour ago, Torquer said:

We were on the larger Marina ship which had a total of 9 singers/dancers in its production company.  They did 4 shows on a 20 day cruise.

 

BTW, the point of my earlier post was not to compare HAL and Oceania.  It was to say that HAL's entertainment has significantly declined over the last 5-10 years, whereas Oceania's has maintained the same level of entertainment they always had.

It may have maintained it while HAL has changed. It just depends upon how much one prefers what Oceania maintained verse HAL trying  different things.

 

 We liked Lincoln Center, we enjoy classical music, but with Oceania there is little other choice. Given a choice 11 days in we would prefer to be on any HAL ship compared to Regatta. It is a repeat of basically the same thing day after day. With little option. The same quartet background music at tea, the same show band tunes at happy hour at 5. A little variety with the piano player as about the only option. Then the dinner period starts at 6:30 and the one show offering for the day starts at 9:30. 

 

They may have maintained their entertainment but that entertainment is to.us far to sedate. On this cruise almost 1/3 of the ship are Oceania first timers. Mostly because of the unique itinerary ( Small enogh ship to stop at Bora Bore and ending in San Pedro). From discussion many are like us one and done with the line.

 

Oceania does many thing well. It fits what some are looking for. For others not so much.  

 

The funny thing is we really wanted to like Oceania. We really wanted to slot in another small ship option. It is my wife's brothers favorite line. But the schedule, lack of variety, and the ground hog day like repetition of the exact same from one sea day to the next is too much.

 

Maybe for a very port intensive schedule that is very unique we might try them again, but I doubt it.

Edited April 9 by TRLD

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

Oceania does many thing well. It fits what some are looking for. For others not so much.  

 

All ships and all lines have pluses and minuses. The key is finding what appeals.

 

I have never felt the need to limit myself to one line. But two things I like above all else are good itineraries and small ships. HAL no longer has what I consider to be small ships. But they still have some very good itineraries.

 

I will sail on Azamara happily for some of their good itineraries. They don't tend to have the long cruises that HAL offers (although you can often string together several shorter cruises). But HAL's longer itineraries can sometimes have a lot of sea days and HAL doesn't offer enough to make those sea days enticing.

 

I will also sail on Oceania's small ships for a good itinerary. Their entertainment isn't great, I know. But the classical music means a lot to me and at least I know there is one new show after dinner every night that's generally entertaining enough for someone that's not ready to go to sleep at 9:30 at night. For me, their food is also better than HAL's (or any other line I've been on -- and that does not include any of the luxury lines).

 

[TRLD]

33 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

All ships and all lines have pluses and minuses. The key is finding what appeals.

 

I have never felt the need to limit myself to one line. But two things I like above all else are good itineraries and small ships. HAL no longer has what I consider to be small ships. But they still have some very good itineraries.

 

I will sail on Azamara happily for some of their good itineraries. They don't tend to have the long cruises that HAL offers (although you can often string together several shorter cruises). But HAL's longer itineraries can sometimes have a lot of sea days and HAL doesn't offer enough to make those sea days enticing.

 

I will also sail on Oceania's small ships for a good itinerary. Their entertainment isn't great, I know. But the classical music means a lot to me and at least I know there is one new show after dinner every night that's generally entertaining enough for someone that's not ready to go to sleep at 9:30 at night. For me, their food is also better than HAL's (or any other line I've been on -- and that does not include any of the luxury lines).

 

We have done small ships on different lines. Oceania is by far the most sedate of any line we have been on. We sail on many different lines  7 in the past year from a 50 passenger ship to a 5000 passenger ship.

 

As you say there are pros and cons. We pick by itinerary and value. For us Oceania does not make the cut, while other small ships do.  If one like consistency and every day being the same as the next then they might like Oceania. Certainly some do. There are some very dedicated cruisers that would not even consider another line. Even the attractiveness of Oceania's food wears off. We find it better than HAL, but not by a large margin.

Edited April 9 by TRLD

[TiogaCruiser]

On 4/7/2024 at 12:19 AM, Hlitner said:

Last evening, while cruising on O's new Vista, we stopped at a lounge to enjoy the onboard classical music quartet (2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello) do a long set of popular opera arias.  They were wonderful, had a good crowd (on O it is OK to talk during music performances), and 4 ladies (2 from Ukraine and 2 from Poland) were outstanding.  It reminded me of the days when HAL used to have classical music quartets.   I was also thinking that many HAL fans would have been happy to be sitting on this new 1200 passenger ship with decent classical music.

 

Hank

So tell me about their promenade deck. 
Is there one? Does it have loungers?

 

I’m looking for something that has classical music in the evenings AND a proper promenade deck. No more than 2000 passengers. 

Edited April 9 by TiogaCruiser

[Hlitner]

9 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

So tell me about their promenade deck. 
Is there one? Does it have loungers?

 

I’m looking for something that has classical music in the evenings AND a proper promenade deck. No more than 2000 passengers. 

No Promanade deck.  The Vista carries up to 1250 passengers.  Yesterday, which was a sea day, the classical quartet performed a special afternoon show where they played all kinds of music from the Hungarian Dance #5 to the Beatles Yellow Submarine.  

[Zyc]

As the ship doesnt have a promenade deck, and Oceanias' dress rules do not allow running shoes in the dining room, it is not a line we will be sailing with.  String music is not something that would override those considerations.

[TiogaCruiser]

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

No Promanade deck.  The Vista carries up to 1250 passengers.  Yesterday, which was a sea day, the classical quartet performed a special afternoon show where they played all kinds of music from the Hungarian Dance #5 to the Beatles Yellow Submarine.  

Thanks! 😊 

 

(No need for me to look into them then. I won’t even consider the Kingkongdam for the same reason.)

[TRLD]

On 4/9/2024 at 10:00 AM, TiogaCruiser said:

So tell me about their promenade deck. 
Is there one? Does it have loungers?

 

I’m looking for something that has classical music in the evenings AND a proper promenade deck. No more than 2000 passengers. 

On their smaller, older ships there's a promenade. Thoughom this trip ithas been closed off on many sea days

[Kay S]

On 4/10/2024 at 5:05 AM, Zyc said:

 Oceanias' dress rules do not allow running shoes in the dining room, 

I have not heard that before.  I was under the impression the dress code was less formal than other lines.

[RuthC]

3 hours ago, Kay S said:

I have not heard that before.  I was under the impression the dress code was less formal than other lines.

In general, Oceania's dress code is not very dressy, however, people do tend to dress up to the code. They dress a lot better on a 'casual' scale than so many HAL passengers do. 

[albingirl]

I've seen plenty of people wear running shoes in the dining room on HAL.  I think it has something to do with balance when the ship is rolling.  Just my opinion.  I don't think anyone on this good earth thinks that running shoes are that attractive, so I doubt it's a rebellion against fashion rules.

[Hlitner]

I do get we all have our pet peeves.  But running shoes in the MDR?  Really?

 

Hank

[Mary229]

58 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I do get we all have our pet peeves.  But running shoes in the MDR?  Really?

 

Hank

Daytime for sure but I have not seen “running shoes” in the evening.  I can imagine there might be people with stability or foot issues who might as @albingirl mentioned