alfredo1 Posted July 8 #1 Share Posted July 8 Eye opening travel blog from Oceania Sirena. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2VjgZCHmZ4 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandma Cruising Posted July 9 #2 Share Posted July 9 8 hours ago, alfredo1 said: Eye opening travel blog from Oceania Sirena. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2VjgZCHmZ4 Makes you realise how good the service is on Azamara and how well the crew work together as a team. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excitedofharpenden Posted July 9 #3 Share Posted July 9 That experience would drive me nuts. You have to put the guest at the centre of everything you do and this evidently wasn't the case. Phil 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare uktog Posted July 9 #4 Share Posted July 9 10 hours ago, alfredo1 said: Eye opening travel blog from Oceania Sirena. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2VjgZCHmZ4 Thanks for highlighting. Even though they pay for their cruises surely Oceania knew who they were which makes it even more appalling. It’s worse if you read how they treated the mother in law in her wheelchair. Sounds like a culture onboard I would never want to experience 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlossieC Posted July 9 #5 Share Posted July 9 I'm shocked with Oceania after watching this, what on earth has happened? Although we booked an Explora 1 Cruise after watching said Bloggers and did not like it at all. Yes the ship is fab but the found the food extremely disappointing neither of us had one meal that enjoyed. Would not do another. Azamara wins hands down for us. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toronto Guy Posted July 9 #6 Share Posted July 9 (edited) If only Azamara had renovated the staterooms as well as Oceania did. Edited July 9 by Toronto Guy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinsusin Posted July 10 #7 Share Posted July 10 We are Discoverer plus on Azamara so clearly love the product and the service. However, we were on the same Seville to Dublin cruise on Oceania as the bloggers and had the exact opposite experience- food is subjective but we thought the food was overall excellent and we had no service issues like were described. Only our 2nd Oceania cruise so not Oceania cheerleaders. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anchor Light Posted July 10 #8 Share Posted July 10 My several negative experiences on Oceania were very similar to what was stated above. Especially with regard to service and poor attitude - both onboard and H.O. mgmt. Some elitism was very much evident as well. This was quite some time ago so it seems not much has changed - or at the very least, is inconsistent. Needless to say, we have not returned. Azamara onboard ticks all the boxes for us! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilWM Posted July 11 #9 Share Posted July 11 Our 2 ‘go to’ cruise lines are Azamara and Oceania because of price point, ship size, friendliness of fellow guests, staff service, etc. We sailed on a 22 night cruise on Sirena in May. It was very enjoyable and the staff service was superb as normal on both cruise lines. My wife uses a walking aid and was looked after superbly by all crew on the ship, embarking/disembarking and on excursions. There are 2 main negatives re Oceania in my experience. - Oceania suffer from the ridiculous marketing slogan re ‘the best cuisine at sea’, of course it isn’t. We found the food acceptable and a similar standard to Azamara. - Oceania not including basic drinks in cruise price (except for recent Simply More option) and therefore having sommeliers who spend their time up selling 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
150edmiston Posted July 16 #10 Share Posted July 16 We sailed Oceania last year for the first time through the Panama canal. Food at times was inedible, and the service was shocking more than a few times, so much so we and our 4 friends baled out of Polo one night. We also had the included drinks package, but had to ask numerous times for a top up, so frequently I felt I had to complain to the head sommelier. After one or two days with some improvement, it was back to the same. We're back on Journey in September and looking forward to it. Never again on Oceania. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ghstudio Posted July 16 #11 Share Posted July 16 Interesting video.... I've experienced similar on other ships/cruise lines and this type of service seems to be only on certain ships.....take a different ship on the same cruise line and you get a very different experience. In our experience, the ships where the captain and senior staff are visible, interacting with the staff around the ship and the passengers seem to be the best. our worst cruises have been on ships where the captain is never seen in public...it's as if he and his senior staff hide. We've enjoyed the Onward, twice last year and look forward to the Journey later this year where we hope we get the same experience. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royallondon Posted July 17 #12 Share Posted July 17 It always seems strange to me that NCLH tags “The best cuisine at sea” on Oceania and not their flagship brand, Regent. Should I expect an inferior culinary offering when paying a higher price point? Having cruised both lines, our culinary experience was superior on Regent but of course, food is such a subjective thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takemewithyou Posted July 17 #13 Share Posted July 17 (edited) On 7/16/2024 at 1:04 PM, 150edmiston said: We sailed Oceania last year for the first time through the Panama canal. Food at times was inedible, and the service was shocking more than a few times, so much so we and our 4 friends baled out of Polo one night. We also had the included drinks package, but had to ask numerous times for a top up, so frequently I felt I had to complain to the head sommelier. After one or two days with some improvement, it was back to the same. We're back on Journey in September and looking forward to it. Never again on Oceania. I guess it just depends. We sailed on Oceania Marina on a TA Lisbon to Miami 11/23 and had the opposite experience and we are regular Azamara cruisers as well. Food was great. We had the Simply More package, not the drink package. Wines were included at lunch and dinner and superior to what is offered on Azamara Ultimate package. We are sailing in Azamara in Dec and looking forward to it but also have a future booking on Oceania’s new Allura . Edited July 17 by takemewithyou 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
150edmiston Posted July 18 #14 Share Posted July 18 6 hours ago, takemewithyou said: I guess it just depends. We sailed on Oceania Marina on a TA Lisbon to Miami 11/23 and had the opposite experience and we are regular Azamara cruisers as well. Food was great. We had the Simply More package, not the drink package. Wines were included at lunch and dinner and superior to what is offered on Azamara Ultimate package. We are sailing in Azamara in Dec and looking forward to it but also have a future booking on Oceania’s new Allura . Sorry if i mislead you on our ‘drinks package’. We had the same as you - wine with lunch and dinner. Its been mentioned in an earlier post, that part of the issue i believe was that Sommeliers were run off their feet serving the folks who didn't have the included drinks and had spent $$$ on a bottle of wine. Thats fair enough given the Sommelier had successfully upsold a wine, but they were the only people allowed to pour wine or beer in a full and very busy MDR. Makes no sense to me. The main issue was service tho. Very patchy at best. Im glad your experience was better than ours and hope your future cruise with O is another hit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynacruiser Posted July 18 #15 Share Posted July 18 @150edmiston et al, Wow! Makes me appreciate Azamara much more! I bought a drink package in Celebrity once, and every time I had dinner, even in the supposedly special restaurant Luminae, I could not get wine. It was the same every time, we had to wait for the sommelier because the waiters could not serve wine. Perhaps this has changed now, but this and other reasons I did not like Celebrity. If Oceania is just as bad, then they are not for me. I love how Azamara waiters top up your glass frequently without having to ask, and no need to wait for the sommelier. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earn Posted August 4 #16 Share Posted August 4 On 7/18/2024 at 8:37 PM, Dynacruiser said: @150edmiston et al, Wow! Makes me appreciate Azamara much more! I bought a drink package in Celebrity once, and every time I had dinner, even in the supposedly special restaurant Luminae, I could not get wine. It was the same every time, we had to wait for the sommelier because the waiters could not serve wine. Perhaps this has changed now, but this and other reasons I did not like Celebrity. If Oceania is just as bad, then they are not for me. I love how Azamara waiters top up your glass frequently without having to ask, and no need to wait for the sommelier. The waiters don’t serve wine on Celebrity but we’ve never had any issues getting wine. Your experience wasn’t the normal standard, I’d say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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