Missing Oceania

[mike35]

We just returned from a 12-day Alaska CruiseTour on the Island Princess (IP) after our last 3 of 4 cruises were on Oceania. Although we had a wonderful cruise, we found ourselves constantly comparing our cruise experience with Oceania. We also wore our Oceania logo shirts and learned that VERY few of our fellow passengers had ever heard of "O" (are you listening, Frank??). Needless to say, we "bragged" about "O" at every opportunity.

 

FWIW, here are some of our observations:

 

Size - of course we prefer Oceania's 684 passenger size to the Island Princess' approximately 2000. Embarkation and debarkation were lengthy although well organized.

 

Food -- No comparison here. Oceania's cuisine continues to occupy the pinnacle of dining in our view. The IP does a reasonable job of providing variety, but the quality is more than a few notches below O's. Toscana's cuisine far surpasses Sabatini's in quality and presentation, although Sabatini's tries to make up for it in sheer quantity. And we certainly appreciate the fact that O's specialty restaurants don't tack on $20 per person, as is the case with Sabatini. We took the "anytime dining" option, which is somewhat of a misnomer, since if you haven't previously reserved a table, you can expect a sometimes lengthy wait to be seated.

 

I must share an anecdote regarding our IP dining experience. One evening our server bragged about an off-the-menu dessert special - Bananas Foster. We love this New Orleans-created dish, where the bananas are sauteed in a sauce is made from butter, brown sugar and brandy, and then served with vanilla ice cream. What we received was a sliced banana, a scoop of ice cream, some whipped cream, and Hershey's chocolate sauce!! Oh well - calories are calories, I guess.

 

Service -- We were completely satisified with our service - both in the cabin and in the dining areas.

 

Cabin size -- we had a mini-suite, which compares favorably with Oceania's penthouse suites.

 

Entertainment - lots of glitz, variety, and high energy, with two shows every evening on the IP. We prefer the lower-key entertainment we've experienced on Oceania. An excellent string quartet compared favorably. Guest lecturers were professional and informative on both cruise lines.

 

Sell, sell, sell -- way too many "gold-by-the-inch", art auctions, shopping tips, etc. on the IP.

 

So - we'll now anxiously await our 2/5/07 Southeast Asia Oceania cruise (following our first experience with Holland America's Statendam New Zealand cruise in December). We booked this cruise before we learned of O's foray into the South Pacific, and it's too late to cancel our airline reservations without a $500pp penalty.

 

Mike

[Andy]

Hi Mike !

 

Thanks for the interesting comments. I enjoyed reading your comparison !

[LHT28]

Thanks Mike for your comments! I have to agree.

We did an O cruise in 2004 and since have done 3 other cruiselines...cannot wait till we are back on O in January!!!:D

 

When you sail the best it is hard to go back!

[mike35]

Just thought of a couple of other observations:

 

Passengers -- Lots of kids on IP, many running around without signs of any adult supervision. Level of sophistication seemed lower; e.g., one of the comedians' "shtick" was centered around flatulence. Most of the passengers roared with laughter and gave him a standing ovation. I don't think Oceania would have hired someone with this brand of comedy.

 

Dress code -- Formal nights were a joke. Several male passengers wore short sleeve polo shirts with a sport coat; after being seated in the dining room, they removed their jackets. Also, many passengers who did dress for dinner to some degree of formality changed into "grubbies" after dinner.

 

Mike

[Druke I]

Comparing Princess and Oceania is real apples and oranges.

 

We like Princess' wide range of itineraries - and they continue to have some great ones they call "exotics".

 

Princess is a mass-market line, Oceania is not.

 

My wife and I agree that Oceania's food is great - we think even better than HAL and Crystal.

 

Looking forward to our 2nd Oceania trip this Nov., Nautica Istanbul to Singapore through the Suez.

[mike35]

Comparing Princess and Oceania is real apples and oranges.

 

 

I know it is, Michael, but don't try telling that to incredibly loyal Princess folks.

 

Mike

[JBVols]

Mike, I see where one of your future cruises is the Singapore to Sydney on Dec. 22, 2007. Are you planning to sign up for this when it becomes available? My wife and I along with another couple plan to be on this cruise as well. I would look foward to meeting you if everything works out. Although my first O cruise is on October 10, 2006, I have been on Princess and I totally agree with you.

 

Jim

[kstemple3]

Thanks for your informative comments. We'll sail with Oceania in January. Since I didn't know anything about the line except what I read in the line's info I immediately started checking this board. And so far, everything looks great. I have preferred Holland America, but have sailed on several different lines - depending on the destination and sometimes on the price. We've loved all the cruises...some more than others. And I'm sure this will be great, too. Really looking forward to experiencing the smaller ship.

[Druke I]

Well, perhaps I fit your description of one of the "incredibly loyal Princess fans".

 

We have completed 20 Princess cruises, have another booked, and two "open bookings". Again - itineraries!

 

Does that mean we can't also like Oceania - I think not! We have done one on Oceania, have a second booked, and seriously considering booking a third.

I think it possible to like two or more different lines, for different reasons.

 

Again, apples and oranges.

[loum140]

Having sailed with Princess twice and Orient's Marco Polo b.o. (before Oceania), I have to say that Oceania totally won us over for future ocean cruises. Service, food, size and itineraries can't be beat, plus we've found our fellow passengers to be travel-savvy and interesting companions to share walking tours and/or taxis when in port. We still keep in touch via e-mail and phone with people we met on Insignia in 2004.

 

Mike, re: your comment about people not knowing of Oceania, Conde Nast Traveler had a special cruise insert in the August issue. They matched up most of the major cruise lines with a "celebrity" and explained why. Oceania was linked to W. Mark Felt (Deep Throat), because "Oceania has the goods yet sails under the radar."

 

We rave about Oceania to everyone we meet, but realize that for those who love the glitzy big shows and the constant diversions of rock climbing, ice skating, etc., Oceania may not be for them. As Druke said, "apples and oranges". But we love it!

 

We can hardly wait for our upcoming Regatta trip, May 17, 2007, Rome to Stockholm. Marsha

[BeBeReader]

I have to say that Oceania had a vat of what looked to be real chocolate sauce for pouring over ice cream, and it turned out to be Hershey's as well.

 

Oh well, what can be chocoholics do! I don't much loke Hershey's syrup.

[conan]

 

Mike, re: your comment about people not knowing of Oceania, Conde Nast Traveler had a special cruise insert in the August issue. They matched up most of the major cruise lines with a "celebrity" and explained why. Oceania was linked to W. Mark Felt (Deep Throat), because "Oceania has the goods yet sails under the radar."

 

It's hard enough getting a cabin on Oceania. The ships always sail full complement. Maybe "sails under the radar is" a good thing.

[mike35]

Mike, I see where one of your future cruises is the Singapore to Sydney on Dec. 22, 2007. Are you planning to sign up for this when it becomes available? My wife and I along with another couple plan to be on this cruise as well. I would look foward to meeting you if everything works out. Although my first O cruise is on October 10, 2006, I have been on Princess and I totally agree with you.

 

Jim

 

Hi Jim

 

I've alerted my TA to "bookmark" this cruise when it becomes available. Should be a super one! Looking forward to meeting you as well.

 

Druke I (Michael) - fully agree about liking different cruise lines for different reasons. Maybe kumquats and pomegranates?

 

Mike

[Fleuve51]

As elite members on Princess, we are now huge fans of Oceania.

We did our 1st Oceania in April/May from Istanbul to venice.

Loved it.

We are booked again at the end of August--Rome to Athens, & again on Jan 2nd for a relaxing carribean destination.

Don't know if we will do Princess again.

We loved our first O experience.

It's hard to go back, once you have experienced better!

Can't

wait to be back on board.

[shoshona2]

Welcome back, Mike,

 

We missed you on the Oceania boards!

 

Sheila

[Liat]

Hey Mike - when is your HAL cruise to ANZAC land? I ask because we (Phil & Edith) will be in Palm Springs from December 7 through 14, and at one time we thought we might get together at Johanes' for dinner.

 

We have been on Princess for three cruises, Celebity for six, HAL for two and Oceania for two, with one each on Crystal, NCL, Carnival, RCCL and Commodore. We liked Sun Princess to Alaska amd Regal to the Baltic, partly because Princess does an excellent job with its land tours - four days in Alaska and six in Europe. We did not enjoy Diamond Princess for a Mexcian Riviera because it is so big, had lines for everything, and we hated "Personal Choice" open seating dining. We waited a lot and never were seated with anyone else despite our requests. Oceania's open seating works well because it is a small ship.

Crystal still beats everybody for food and on-board entertainment including its daytime offerings; but Oceania is very close on the food scene with Celebrity a millimeter behind. Princess is quite good with its food preparation, but understaffs the dining rooms which provides a rushed experience.

Celebrity and Crystal staff at a higher level and trherefore provide a much more relaxed dining experience with their traditional two seatings service. HAL also has a very nice main dining room setup, the only drawback being some rushing in the service and a language problem with their Indonesian staff on occasion.

The loyal Celebrity fans are all wondering about the new "Solstice" class mega-ships in the works. They may free up older, smaller ships for more adventuresome cruises ala HAL and Princess; which would be nice.

Oceania fans were hoping that it might acquire some new ships, but we were told when on board Nautica in May that there were no such plans. Two of the old Renaissance ships are qoned by Pulmantour - a Spanish cruise line, and we saw one of them at one of our stops in the the Med. There were 7, but I don't know where the other two are. Does anybody?

We are off to New England and Canada on Millennium in September, and the Galapagos on Xpedition in January. That will be different!

[mike35]

Hey Mike - when is your HAL cruise to ANZAC land? I ask because we (Phil & Edith) will be in Palm Springs from December 7 through 14, and at one time we thought we might get together at Johanes' for dinner.

 

We leave on December 19, Phil - looking forward to meeting you guys! Great synopsis of your likes and dislikes re the other cruise lines.

 

Mike

[Liat]

We leave on December 19, Phil - looking forward to meeting you guys! Great synopsis of your likes and dislikes re the other cruise lines.

 

Mike

 

Great. We have your E-mail and will get in touch a week or so before we arrive.

[Druke I]

Princess has two of the former Renaissance ships, their Tahitian Princess & Pacific Princess. Soon they will get a 3rd, Royal Princess, currently sailing as Swan Hellenic's Minerva II.

[Liat]

Princess has two of the former Renaissance ships, their Tahitian Princess & Pacific Princess. Soon they will get a 3rd, Royal Princess, currently sailing as Swan Hellenic's Minerva II.

 

Thanks for the info. I guess I had heard about Pacific Princess, but forgot it. These are really neat ships, and I will keep an eye on their itineraries.

[Liat]

Princess has two of the former Renaissance ships, their Tahitian Princess & Pacific Princess. Soon they will get a 3rd, Royal Princess, currently sailing as Swan Hellenic's Minerva II.

 

Thanks for the info. I guess I had heard about Pacific Princess, but forgot it. These are really neat ships, and I will keep an eye on their itineraries.