Is Oceania for me?

[1ton]

I am thinking about a few cruises and one is on Oceania to the Mediterranean. My concerns are:

 

1) Is the ship too small where I could easily get sea sick? I have been on Royal Caribbean and Princess and was sea sick only for a day or so on them.

 

2) Approx what percent of people will be around my age? I am 30, traveling with my husband.

[magpies]

In answer to your questions - I don't think you would get sea sick on the Oceania very stable ship - especially if you choose a midship cabin - as for your 2nd question - a very small percent of passengers would be in your age range - most would probably be in 45+ age range - did'nt know if it was just my cruise but there was absolutely no one at the disco after the floor show each evening - so not much happening later in the evening - obviously everyone retires to bed early on the Oceania cruises.

 

Cheers

Vicki

[TCF]

1Ton....here are some terrible generalizations so take them in that light.

Vicki is correct about choosing a midship cabin. I would add choosing a midship outside cabin...I am told that it reduces the movement you find on every ship to a minimum. Therefore, the cause of motion sickness is reduced accordingly.

As for age groupings on ships...if it is very important to your having a good time on your cruise to travel with people in your own age grouping then maybe you should look at a different line. We specifically chose Oceania because it is a smaller ship with fewer passengers. Our expereince on the meg-ships...while enjoyable....would have been better with far fewer people around.

Oceania...we hope...this is our first cruise with Oceania...is about a whole different experience. Smaller ship...fewer people...more intertesting ports...more ports period...and more upscale than the others. While we enjoy the social aspect of cruising it is not the center of the expereince for us.

Hope this helps.

Tom and Deb :)

[orchestrapal]

On our cruises in May the average age was 65-70..

This is not to say you would not be happy cruisers on O.

As for stabelization. we were on the front of the ship and my husband gets sea sick easily, had NO problems what so ever.

Try O and have fun.:)

[orchestrapal]

On our cruises in May the average age was 65-70..

This is not to say you would not be happy cruisers on O.

As for stabelization. we were on the front of the ship and my husband gets sea sick easily, had NO problems what so ever.

Try O and have fun.:)

[RetiredinPrescott]

My wife and I (50s, retired) are taking our first Oceania Cruise (Nov.11, Venice to Lisbon) after many Princess cruises. We both easily get seasick so we chose a midship inside cabin and won't spend much time there other than to sleep. We got tired of the same food on all of the Princess cruises and wanted some more interesting ports and fewer sea days.

I don't care about the age of the passengers as long as they are not stuffy and pretentious.

We took a Tauck tour earlier this year and were the youngest on the Tour but had a real good time since our fellow travelers were fun and friendly despite them being about 10-15 years older than us.

I've read lots of good comments about Oceania so we thought we'd give it a try.

[1ton]

My wife and I (50s, retired) are taking our first Oceania Cruise (Nov.11, Venice to Lisbon) after many Princess cruises. We both easily get seasick so we chose a midship inside cabin and won't spend much time there other than to sleep. We got tired of the same food on all of the Princess cruises and wanted some more interesting ports and fewer sea days.

I don't care about the age of the passengers as long as they are not stuffy and pretentious.

We took a Tauck tour earlier this year and were the youngest on the Tour but had a real good time since our fellow travelers were fun and friendly despite them being about 10-15 years older than us.

I've read lots of good comments about Oceania so we thought we'd give it a try.

 

I agree with you on the comment "I don't care about the age ... as long as they are not stufy and pretentious". I think that is what I was afraid of. We checked Crystal and the ship seems very formal - even on informal nights. My husband and I are not party people nor heavy drinkers so we do not care too much for some of the other ships. We are looking for something with upscale dining, ports, etc.

 

Thanks for your comments.

[susiesan]

Starting next April Princess cruise line will be sailing the Royal Princess in the Med. The ship is one of the "R" ships, identical to the Oceania ships. I'm assuming it may attract a younger crowd as all Princess cruises do, and from what I see now the pricing is a bit less. It remains to be seen how the food and service. I'm looking into crusing on this ship next year as I like the size of the ships and I like Princess. On my Oceania cruise last month about 75% of the pax were 60+, most retired. There were maybe 2 couples in their 20's, 4 in their 30's. But it was a unique itinerary that appealed to an older crowd as being less strenuous and not hot weather.

Even in a really bad north Atlantic storm 2 nights coming and going from Iceland we did not get seasick.

[1ton]

Starting next April Princess cruise line will be sailing the Royal Princess in the Med. The ship is one of the "R" ships, identical to the Oceania ships. I'm assuming it may attract a younger crowd as all Princess cruises do, and from what I see now the pricing is a bit less. It remains to be seen how the food and service. I'm looking into crusing on this ship next year as I like the size of the ships and I like Princess. On my Oceania cruise last month about 75% of the pax were 60+, most retired. There were maybe 2 couples in their 20's, 4 in their 30's. But it was a unique itinerary that appealed to an older crowd as being less strenuous and not hot weather.

Even in a really bad north Atlantic storm 2 nights coming and going from Iceland we did not get seasick.

 

Thanks, I will check it out. I am aslo considering the Celebrity Millenium classic mediterranean cruise.

[Druke I]

Although the new Royal Princess is a former Renaissance ship - it is not identical.

 

The new RP is one of three that was built with standard balcony cabins on Deck 8, rather than mini-suites. Princess has not announced whether or not they will strip Deck 8 and re-equip with mini-suites.

 

Her two close sisters, Tahitian and Pacific Princess, do have the minis on Deck 8.

 

It is interesting to note that Princess runs the TP and PP with 670 passengers, rather than the 684 on Oceania. Princess found they needed some extra cabins for entertainers/staff, hence the reduced passenger load.

 

We were on the new Pacific Princess 11-03, Papeete to Sydney, and enjoyed the ship very much -but trust me, the food and service are much better on Oceania.

 

We were on Regatta into the Baltic last August, and had the best food we have ever had at sea, easily surpassing HAL, Celebrity, and Crystal.

 

We'll be on Nautica this November, Istanbul to Singapore, via the Suez.

[nparmelee]

It's hard to say if Oceania is for you or not. For us it is, we like good food and good service, for reference, I'm 41 and DH is 54. If big shows and entertainment are a high priority for you, maybe not. The Med is very often fairly calm so unless you are really sensitive you may not have any issues or if you are unlucky and have rough seas, you may. I think it may be more a matter of luck than ship size, make sure you get a midship cabin and take whatever precautions you need no matter what line you choose to take.

 

We like the smaller ship size, very few lines, very good food, very good service, excellent ports, not having to lug the formal wear, for us Oceania works. If you are still in doubt, talk to a good travel agent who specializes in cruises.