Cruise Differences

[patty1955]

We've now sailed Oceania on two very different cruises. We enjoyed both and are already booked on a TA for next year. 
The first cruise was on the Marina at the height of covid and the ship was half empty. It was a 10-day Mediterranean. Our latest was a 7-day cruise to Bermuda on the Nautica. The two cruises were very different and I'm wondering if the differences are because of the type of cruise, the full ship or covid related budget cuts.
The food on both cruises was good but a little bit better on the Marina. The food choices were certainly better on the Marina. The Nautica cruise did not include any scallops and there was only one dish that included caviar. I don't remember the coffee on the Marina so it must have been okay.The coffee on the Nautica was horrible.
We had an inside cabin on the Nautica and the rooms were not available until 3:00 on embarkation day. Our room attendant serviced our room very late sometimes well after dinner.
The service was excellent on both cruises but on the Nautica we had to give our name and stateroom number to the maître d each night. That really isn't a big deal but it's not what I hear is the norm.
Can one of you more experienced Oceania cruisers weigh in on these differences? 

[Redtravel]

Having sailed on R ships, I find them lacking in comparison to Oceania newer ships, Marina, Riviera, and Vista.  Nautica is old. While it looks beautiful, space is tight. Cabins are small, but adequate.  Bathrooms are extremely tight. Shower is a joke.  We sailed on R ships first with Azamara and later with Oceania. Once we sailed on Marina, we gave up the R ships.  R ships can get into smaller venues. Bermuda has its limits. On Nautica, you can sail into Hamilton and St. George. Larger ships cannot get into those ports. They dock at Dockyards or tender. Bermuda is beautiful. Fly in and stay. Skip the cruise.

[Mrs f.]

49 minutes ago, patty1955 said:

We've now sailed Oceania on two very different cruises. We enjoyed both and are already booked on a TA for next year. 
The first cruise was on the Marina at the height of covid and the ship was half empty. It was a 10-day Mediterranean. Our latest was a 7-day cruise to Bermuda on the Nautica. The two cruises were very different and I'm wondering if the differences are because of the type of cruise, the full ship or covid related budget cuts.
The food on both cruises was good but a little bit better on the Marina. The food choices were certainly better on the Marina. The Nautica cruise did not include any scallops and there was only one dish that included caviar. I don't remember the coffee on the Marina so it must have been okay.The coffee on the Nautica was horrible.
We had an inside cabin on the Nautica and the rooms were not available until 3:00 on embarkation day. Our room attendant serviced our room very late sometimes well after dinner.
The service was excellent on both cruises but on the Nautica we had to give our name and stateroom number to the maître d each night. That really isn't a big deal but it's not what I hear is the norm.
Can one of you more experienced Oceania cruisers weigh in on these differences? 

We've always been asked our cabin number in all specialty and main dining room 

[patty1955]

2 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Having sailed on R ships, I find them lacking in comparison to Oceania newer ships, Marina, Riviera, and Vista.  Nautica is old. While it looks beautiful, space is tight. Cabins are small, but adequate.  Bathrooms are extremely tight. Shower is a joke.  We sailed on R ships first with Azamara and later with Oceania. Once we sailed on Marina, we gave up the R ships.  R ships can get into smaller venues. Bermuda has its limits. On Nautica, you can sail into Hamilton and St. George. Larger ships cannot get into those ports. They dock at Dockyards or tender. Bermuda is beautiful. Fly in and stay. Skip the cruise.

Our next cruise is on the Sirena and it's for 22 days. We were fine with the stateroom size. The bathroom size was more of a problem then the shower size. The shower is tight but the shower itself is great (lots of pressure, great showerhead, etc). The layout of the bathroom is bad; lots of storage but it's all tucked behind something. 

[MEFIowa]

Not exactly sure what you want "compared".

 

We just came off 22 nights on Sirena in the Baltic as a B2B. Twelve (12) in an inside F (7005) and ten (10) in one of the four "big" Cs (7006). We sailed her 10 nights in the E Carib 11/2022 (a B2). But we did 10 nights on Riviera in 12/2021 (A4) and another 20 nights on Riviera as a B2B in the Med in 10-11/2023 (B3 & A4).

 

Yes, the bathrooms are smaller on the smaller R ships versus the larger O ships (but we found them more than acceptable) and the Os have 4 specialty restaurants (though my wife isn't a fan of Red Ginger) versus just 2 in the Rs. Sirena is unique as an R as she has Tuscan Steak and Red Ginger. (And Sirena has the 2 bathrooms starboard next to the Horizons Lounger.)

 

Sirena has one Launderette on deck 7 with 6 washers and 6 dryers. There is no Concierge Lounge on Sirena, nor an Executive Lounge, as are on the Os.

 

The pool on Sirena is small, more for walking than swimming.

 

 

Edited 23 hours ago by MEFIowa
Added an additional comment.

[osandomir]

I can’t see how the small ships can be compared to the Riviera or Vista. We sail R-ships often because they get into the places where we want to go. But we also like them for more intimate and personal experience on board. For example, we don’t need to provide our names and room number to the maitre d’ every time because often the staff remember us from the previous cruises or from the day one. We manage the small cabins just fine given that our cruises mostly are two to four weeks long. Always remember that back at home we can spread out as much as we want. That said, we sail the bigger ships too. Often for the itineraries that allow us to spend more time onboard the ship.

[ronrick1943]

We've cruise on the small and larger ships of Oceania, we prefer the larger ones as we enjoy the ship and like longer cruises.  Since the ship is more important than the cities we go too, the ship becomes an important part of are cruise.  Also we've always been asked the suite number at the all the restaurants on the ship.

[patty1955]

We love the smaller ships. There were some things we liked better on the latest cruise. The afternoon tea was friendlier and Baristas was great. 

 

[ORV]

I'll chime in on the being asked for room number when dining. Most of the time after a day or so they tend to know us and address us by name when we walk up. But occasionally, and the girl on the Nautica was like this, she didn't seem to have that talent and asked almost every time. 

[ak1004]

We sailed on both, but like the newer ships better. R class doesn't compare to Riviera in terms of ship experience. Bathrooms are tiny, limited dining options, crew and space ratios are well below the newer ships.

 

Also, the prices don't make sense to me. R ships should be much cheaper, but they are not. If I wanted a smaller ship that can go to places that larger ships cannot, I would book SB. Just for comparison, SB Quest and R ships are both around 31 ton, but SB has 450 quests and 340 crew while R ships have 700 guests and 390 crew. 

[iowananny]

When we were on Nautica in late June, early July, after two nights the hostess always knew our room number and names.  If she didn't I guess I can't complain because I can't even remember the dates we were on the cruise.

 

But we always had the same table for four with the same servers and she always knew we were willing to share a table which we did many nights.

'

[Harters]

55 minutes ago, iowananny said:

after two nights the hostess always knew our room number and names.

Maybe you are memorable. In a nice way, of course.😀

 

We were on Nautica last autumn. As I recall, had to give our cabin number each time in the restaurant. Not that's a thing for me at all - I don't expect restaurant staff on land or at sea to know who I am.

 

By the by, did you ask for the same table/servers, or was it just a co-incidence? Reason for asking is that, over three cruises, table allocation seems to have been entirely random. Which, again, is absolutely fine so long as we get a two-top, I don't care which part of the room it's in

[Huib]

2 hours ago, ORV said:

I'll chime in on the being asked for room number when dining. Most of the time after a day or so they tend to know us and address us by name when we walk up. But occasionally, and the girl on the Nautica was like this, she didn't seem to have that talent and asked almost every time. 

We never had to give our room number. We jest went and were seated. 

[wwcruisers]

Hi Patty! My DH and I had the great good luck to cruise with you and Eric, a couple of times (pre-Covid) on Celebrity. We are currently considering booking Oceania (among other choices) for a big wedding anniversary, coming up. How do you guys like Oceania -- compared to X?

[iowananny]

3 hours ago, Harters said:

Maybe you are memorable. In a nice way, of course.😀

 

We were on Nautica last autumn. As I recall, had to give our cabin number each time in the restaurant. Not that's a thing for me at all - I don't expect restaurant staff on land or at sea to know who I am.

 

By the by, did you ask for the same table/servers, or was it just a co-incidence? Reason for asking is that, over three cruises, table allocation seems to have been entirely random. Which, again, is absolutely fine so long as we get a two-top, I don't care which part of the room it's in

I met our head waiter at teatime on the second day of our cruise.  We were in Helsinki and my husband was out walking and I was in eating.  We talked and he said to ask for him in the Dining Room that night which I did.  We both just seemed to hit it off with him and asked for him the second night.  After that we were never asked our room number and sat at the same table which he served.  His assistant was also very nice, and we had the same wine steward every night.  He still served us at teatime if we attended.  All were wonderful men. 

 

We did share tables several times but that was at our request.  I'll have to say on this last cruise we met some really nice people sharing a table.  I know not everyone likes to do that but we really did have some nice meals with really nice people.

[patty1955]

2 minutes ago, wwcruisers said:

Hi Patty! My DH and I had the great good luck to cruise with you and Eric, a couple of times (pre-Covid) on Celebrity. We are currently considering booking Oceania (among other choices) for a big wedding anniversary, coming up. How do you guys like Oceania -- compared to X?

I remember you. We love Oceania! It's like Celebrity used to be. The food is great, the service is excellent and the ships are beautiful. The showers in the cheaper cabins on the Regatta class ships are the smallest you've ever seen but they work great. We're taking a 21 day TA in an inside cabin next year and I'm really looking forward to it. 

[Harters]

14 minutes ago, iowananny said:

I know not everyone likes to do that

That'd be us. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, we cruised with P & O at a time when you were allocated a table for the duration. On two of the three cruises, our dining companions were, lets say, not folk we would have chosen to spend time with. It was one of the factors that put us off cruising until we discovered O, and its two-tops, in 2017. 

[iowananny]

On our first cruise for our 15th anniversary, we were at a table with a honeymoon couple from Mexico who didn't speak English.  Let's just say this was some time ago as we've now been married 50 plus years but the ship was small, and the groom was seasick, but it was only a four day cruise and we still had fun.  Dinner time, not so much.

 

I think the best cruise I ever had was a Bermuda cruise and we were at a table for ten.  On Carnival you eat at the same table every night in the dining room.  We ate with eight of the best and funny people you could ever imagine.  I did celebrate my 64th birthday on the cruise and one of the women knew all of the words to the Beatles song "When I'm 64".  She had the whole dining room singing.  I think it was my best birthday ever except for my 16th birthday and my mom and dad gave me the White Album.

 

Can you guess I love the Beatles,

[wwcruisers]

1 hour ago, patty1955 said:

I remember you. We love Oceania! It's like Celebrity used to be. The food is great, the service is excellent and the ships are beautiful. The showers in the cheaper cabins on the Regatta class ships are the smallest you've ever seen but they work great. We're taking a 21 day TA in an inside cabin next year and I'm really looking forward to it. 

Thanks Patty! I do remember (and miss) the old Celebrity -- so that just about says it all. LOL on the tiny showers, though. When RC first came out with uber-small round showers, one of the CD's on Navigator of the Seas suggested that 'soaping-up and spinning around' was the quickest way to get clean, in one of those! But, how does the rest of Oceania's cabin space (storage, etc) compare to most X cabins? How are the verandas, generally speaking?

[patty1955]

15 minutes ago, wwcruisers said:

But, how does the rest of Oceania's cabin space (storage, etc) compare to most X cabins? How are the verandas, generally speaking?

The storage space tends be better than Celebrity except in the bathroom. I don't really remember how the storage was on our Marina cruise but the last cruise we were in an inside cabin and it had more storage than the veranda cabin on Celebrity. The balcony was about the same as Celebrity.

[Harters]

3 hours ago, iowananny said:

Can you guess I love the Beatles,

I can. And my White Album is in the box with all the other LPs.

 

And my claim to fame is that I saw them perform at the ABC Ardwick in Manchester in 1965