Island Princess/Oceania comparison

[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". 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.

 

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. Many 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. I spotted male passengers who 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. To us, Oceania's enforced "country club casual" dress code makes infinitely more sense.

 

Smoking - a no-brainer - We reeked of secondhand smoke from the casino, bars, and balconies. Oceania's strictly enforced smoking policy, limiting smokers to two very small areas of the ship (and never in rooms or balconies) cements our preference for "O".

 

Mike