Will we like Oceania?

[shamrock47]

Greetings,

 

My wife and I are aged 52. We have about a dozen sailings on various cruise lines as far as experience. Most recently we have enjoyed Celebrity(Mercury down the California coast from San Francisco) or Princess (latest was British Isles and Western Europe). The small ship experience and the near-luxury approach to cruising attracts me to O. I like the idea of very few if any kids on board, the casual atmosphere and enhanced service.

Now we are looking to do Barcelona to Athens next October. What do you think?

 

Thanks in advance

Rick and Colleen

[Druke I]

We've sailed Oceania twice, out of some 40 completed cruises.

 

We do have another Oceania cruise booked, a trans-Atlantic in 2008, and are trying to find space on their Australia/New Zealand sailing Jan '08 (sold out cruises!)

 

Regatta into the Baltic, 8-05, an excellent but port-intensive cruise.

 

Nautica, Istanbul to Singapore, 11-06, an excellent cruise, with many sea days (which we love).

 

We think the food on Oceania much better than Celebrity, and really enjoy the small ship experience. Oceania's dress code greatly simplifies the packing experience.

 

Princess certainly has a much broader range of itineraries, but they do have many more ships.

 

Give Oceania a try, and see if it fits your needs/expectations.

[LHT28]

If you are looking for big Vegas shows, big casinos, big cabins larger flashy ships with non stop action or are smokers you probably will not like Oceania.

 

That said ...if you are looking for good food, friendly people, good staff, and port intensive cruises check them out

 

We were mid-50's when we did our 1st O cruise ...tried a couple of other lines now we are sticking with O . Number 2& 3 coming up soon!

We like the small ship feel, dress code, limited smoking areas, great food & staff.

[orchestrapal]

Well put LHT28!

We did Athens to Rome and Rome To Barcelona back to back last May and they were perfect. :)

[spain]

Greetings,

 

My wife and I are aged 52. We have about a dozen sailings on various cruise lines as far as experience. Most recently we have enjoyed Celebrity(Mercury down the California coast from San Francisco) or Princess (latest was British Isles and Western Europe). The small ship experience and the near-luxury approach to cruising attracts me to O. I like the idea of very few if any kids on board, the casual atmosphere and enhanced service.

Now we are looking to do Barcelona to Athens next October. What do you think?

 

Thanks in advance

Rick and Colleen

Hi Rick and Colleen! I see that you are our neighbors as we live down in Franklin! We are doing the Nautica cruise from Barcelona to Athens in August. This will be our first cruise on Oceania but from everything I have heard about it, this is a great cruise line. We are definitely very excited about it and cant wait to see what all the buzz is about with O.

[NAS-KARR]

I've been reading O's board religiously every day for the last 6 mos. in anticipation of an 08 cruise again in the Mediterranean. I don't know how I'm going to make it till then with all the positive input this O board has, I just can't get over it. I like what I hear from shamrock 47 and LTH28, they're strong "likes" along with the most interesting itineraries that O has has really excited our interest to the T.

 

CIAO everyone,

[conan]

You're kidding, right? Please read Melissa's review of the Nautica. It cannot be better expressed. If anything, it sets the standard of expectation very high. With such high expectations, there are bound to be disappointments. Go with the flow, relax, drink it all in and you'll have a wonderful time.

Bon voyage!

[Gore-Cruiser]

Greetings,

 

My wife and I are aged 52. We have about a dozen sailings on various cruise lines as far as experience. Most recently we have enjoyed Celebrity(Mercury down the California coast from San Francisco) or Princess (latest was British Isles and Western Europe). The small ship experience and the near-luxury approach to cruising attracts me to O. I like the idea of very few if any kids on board, the casual atmosphere and enhanced service.

Now we are looking to do Barcelona to Athens next October. What do you think?

 

Thanks in advance

Rick and Colleen

Per Carolyn's "Nautica" extensive review, our own experiences sailing on the R7 and "Pacific Princess" and knowing the CEO and President of the line had the same positions with Crystal and Renaissance, the experiences will be very good, closest you can get without going to Crystal, Silverseas, or Seabourn, top of the heap, only one possible quibble, no large Evening Production Shows, the stage is simply too small.

Cruiser-Gore

[Kane]

The service and meals are truly superior. Can't go to any shore restaurant now without comparing it with Toscana ... restaurants are losing, badly. Tossing on a blazer (with no tie) is a snap when the alternative would be the full "monkey suit" including dining at a fixed time.

 

Service is also first-class in all venues, and the staff appear genuinely happy to be working on board ... it makes the experience really enjoyable.

 

However, the reason I miss O is that "she who must be obeyed" put the zap on O unless there is a unique itinerary. It relates to the "small ship" experience, which has great plusses ... it's the minuses, of which there are few:

 

1. Unless you are willing to spring for one of the suites, the basic stateroom is 170 sq. ft. ... regardless of whether there is a balcony (there are a couple of "hidden gems", but they are the exception). I can live with the size but do admit that it can get a bit "crampy" by the end of a second week.

 

2. The main show lounge is two-tiered but, unless you get into the front row or are NBA sized, it can be difficult to see the speakers or entertainment.

 

Lastly, I'm a smoker, but it's not a big burden to head over to the "stalags". Other than that the plusses far outweigh the minuses ... you will experience something really exceptional should you sail O.

[lahore]

Hi, we travelled once with Oceania - a quite long cruise; Beijing to Hong Kong. It was fabulous and we have just booked another longish cruise with then (Rome to Singapore). The reasons I have reabooked in order of importance to us are:

 

1: ports; interesting ports and long times in port - sometimes overnights which are imperative to see a place well.

2: the food is quite good and we actually strongly believe (despite manhy people's protestations to the contrary) that the food in the upstairs casual restaurant is exactly the same as in the more formal silver service restaurant I don't mean the two speciality restaurants- the steak one is exceptional, and we didn't do Toscanos). We are really big time into seeing the ports, researching them and then relaxing on the ship. We are not there for drinking fine wines at length over conversational dinners. We eat, sleep and get up for a big day in port.

3: Staff are professional, not 'in your face' and you do or do not do what you please. We didn't go to shows much either. I liked the ones where local groups came on board; more into the cultural learning than Vegas-esque shows.

 

The cons, if there are any, are that it is quite a small ship and you get to see the same people a lot. This can be good, or not, depending on your mood. We go for inside cabins so we have to spend a lot of time on deck and sometimes privacy/anonymity can be a bit hard to find.

 

This, of course, is my own view and will be entirely different to those of many others.

[Liv4cruzin]

As lahore stated above, the evening "menu" in Tapas on the Terrace has a lot of the items that are on the main dining room menu (but not everything). In addition they have the "create your own pasta" station & a salad bar. Staying in more casual attire after a long day ashore & having this dining option offered is a BIG plus.

[Liv4cruzin]

Sorry again folks. This slow response time is killing me tonight. Double post.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I am also interested in this topic. I'm a fairly frequent Regent cruiser (6 cruises), and enjoy the small ship experience, excellent open dining, great itinerary, wonderful service, all-inclusive pricing, included tips, etc. So just some comments about that.

 

For us, Oceania is going downscale, not upscale, and the downsides are:

 

- small, skimpy cabins (you have to get a Penthouse to match a minimal Regent stateroom on most ships, and lesser suites don't even include a mini-bar fridge)

- non-inclusive beverages, non-alcoholic as well (this latter is so chinzy)

- tipping required

 

The upsides would be:

 

- country club casual all the time

- sometimes more interesting and varied itineraries

- somewhat lower prices

 

The things I worry would be compromised:

 

- organization and management of air programs

- quality and price of ship excursions

- quality and management of embarkation/debarkation

 

Questions I have about what is included:

 

- do you have to pay for alternative dining?

- what else do you have to pay for on board, other than the spa?

[hrprof]

Wendy

 

We,like you, are Regent regulars - we have been on all of their ships, past and present. We looked into the Regent '08 SA cruise but it departs too early for us to get away - we didn't want to go with segments because a large suite is important to us and might be difficult to get. So, we picked O for all the reasons you outlined. We booked an OS (about the size of a mariner suite with a larger balcony) for a considerably lower fare. The negatives? Nickle and diming, lower level of service? gratuities not included etc. Have been interested in O since they started.

 

We'll see....

[Kane]

To address concerns:

 

The alternative dining is included at no additional charge. They are truly superior, which leads to the problem of getting in on shorter cruises (<= 11 days). The "standard" cabins get a minimum of one visit to both Polo and Toscana, the suites get preference for additional visits.

 

The tipping thing should really not be a concern. O has a recommended amount that, if you don't do anything, will be added to your statement (which you can adjust at the front desk). They distribute it ... you don't have to hand-out envelopes at the end (which I really hate). Regent/others are inclusive, but you really know you are paying. The service is still first-class ... not affected by the tipping policy.

 

You do have to sign for alcoholic drinks ... everywhere. The non-alcoholic drinks you sign for are the carbonated ones, other ones seem included. Some people say cappucino and the like are not included, but I never had to sign for these in the dining rooms.

 

Someone else did a calc and said that the nickle and dimes added up to just that ... nickles and dimes when compared to the difference to an all inclusive liner.

[LHT28]

Wendy

We booked an OS (about the size of a mariner suite with a larger balcony) for a considerably lower fare. The negatives? Nickle and diming, lower level of service? gratuities not included etc. Have been interested in O since they started.

 

We'll see....

If you have not sailed O how do you know it is lower service?

 

I was comparing RSSC & Oceania on the Panama trip ...just the basic fares no special fares or past guests discounts

 

14 days

RSSC class H cabin $5995. pp

airfare approx $500. + taxes

tips $ 0

total $6495

16 days

O PH3 $4999.

airfare $ 0 + taxes

tips $240.

total pp $5249.

 

Now you do get free drinks with RSSC but I can buy a lot of drinks for $1246. pp

No formal nights on "O" very limited smoking ..which we prefer

 

You can not really compare the two as they both are good /bad in their own way.

Just go and enjoy the cruise.

[hrprof]

LHT

 

Please note the intentionally placed "?" after lower service - it remains to be seen. Also, in another post, I commented on the extraordinary value of O vs. RSSC, and indeed suggested that the difference in fare could buy a bunch of drinks!

 

Ted

 

PS I also like the limited smoking policy and I will enjoy the cruise!

[sacway]

Our recent Regatta cruise reminded us of Celebrity pre-RCCL merger. I was particularly watchful since some (most?) of the cruise ship guides give O's Regatta fewer points than X's Constellation in a number of categories. While O is "up" from some lines, and we don't have experience on Seabourne or Crystal or Silversea, we have a fair amount of high end food and service experience via work and other types of vacations.

 

Service on Regatta on our recent cruise was a little uneven but seemed more genuine than on our last Constellation cruise. Could be my imagination, but when sitting alone I was less likely to be offered a cup of coffee than when with my spouse. (maybe the staff was waiting for the other to show up? might suggest a service differential for singles.) It was harder on Regatta to casually run into our cabin attendant, I ended up writing little notes for things. On the other hand, restaurant maitre d's were very accommodating. We also enjoyed a serendipitious dinner with the Cruise Director one evening and this was very useful in confirming our impression that O is a line we'd like to cruise with again, if we can find a cruise that fits our schedule.

 

The foods we like to eat were consistently better than on any other line on any recent cruise. The cafe offered in large measure the same dishes as the main restaurant and you could manage portion size (several days, I compared menus both lunch and dinner to see if the same items were present.) However, just because there are eggs benedict available in both venues does not mean you will be eating the same thing -- the eggs upstairs are not freshly prepared (with the exception of the skillet omelet) nor immediately delivered but kept under heat lamps or over hot water. Also, the "eggs your way" and "pasta your way" on Regatta were not as good as either on Constellation, in my experience. Items for the omelets were mundane choices most days, and the eggs seemed overcooked. The pasta-your-way station often used pre-prepared sauces and a single type of partially cooked pasta so "your way" meant the quantities of a few additional items. This was a single station and there were generally two people waiting, so the inclination was for the server to make up a more generic dish and split it. It probably should be two stations to prevent this very natural reaction to people waiting. In the same location, in the morning were two 4-slice toasters -- this was another choke point at meals in the buffet area. Some breads were literally pre-toasted and merely reheated. Great quality and variety of fruits and vegetables in all venues. Afternoon tea was fabulous, with fresh plain and raisin scones, fresh and clotted cream, savories and sweets, wonderful views and a fine string quartet. We loved not having to dress up, which surprised us as we never thought it a bother in the first place.

 

Nickel and diming: The coffee machine makes espresso so that is available all the time. I also had cappuccino with meals at no cost. On New Year's Eve, waiters circulated several times with free champagne, but only after the drinks cart went around for those who might want to sign for a bottle of something special. (the trays offered did not include juice or sparkling water so teetotalers were out of luck toasting the new year) A number of flyers for art auction and the like were put on cabin doors and in my opinion the Currents newsletter is poorly designed for information, in order to maximize the advertising of things for sale. Other than the above, I never felt nickel and diming pressures.

 

The price of Internet access is a drawback, and the range of computer classes offered is narrow. If O wants to attract the next generation cruiser, big improvements in this category may eventually be seen, beyond MS Office basics and Photoshop, more like the range of things Apple offers in its shopping mall stores.

 

While we do our own air, we had dinner one night with a couple who were flying out of Denver the day of the blizzard. Their efforts, and those of Oceania, to get them to the ship at its first port were Herculean.

 

Though I've read many posts complaining about excursion quality, this was not our experience or that of those on our cruise with whom we've spoken. I only took one, but that one was excellent and when several pax wanted to extend activities, the vendor was responsive, delivering half of us back to the ship while enabling the rest to stay and do more for a reasonable extra cost. This required the vendor to drive an additional round trip from the rain forest to the ship (an hour each way.) We did not use the concierge to develop special excursions, but this was an option.

 

Overall, we give this cruise and line an A grade and hope to go again soon!

[sacway]

One more thing - this is the first cruise where we had a mid-cruise survey. A common cruiser complaint in general is a perceived lack of responsiveness to end-of-cruise surveys and comments. We wrote up our mid-cruise comments, mostly positive, and mentioned a couple of minor things (it took a couple of days to think of anything worth mentioning) that we thought could make our cruise even more satisying. Both were addressed per our suggestions within 24 hours.

[lahore]

I am an Aussie so its more a case of cents rather than nickles :). In some ways I guess we are a cruise line's worst nightmare. We don't drink alcohol, never buy from the ship's gift shops (most of the stuff is from Asia where we are at least once a year and is massively overpriced); would not dream of going on a ship's excursion and we book inside cabins. We are extremely independent travellers who have come to enjoy cruising because air travel is now so painful - and anything out of Australia is going to be long to make it even worse. What do I think of Oceania in light of the previous conversation? I don't mind paying for soft drinks. I would rather do that than have them included in the overall cruise cost. A question for those who have travelled on all inclusive ships: how would an all inclusive fare be fair to people who don't drink alcohol? I am also glad that we don't have to pay extra on Oceania for the two speciality restaurants, but that being said we were on a two week cruise and didn't bother with Toscana anyway, although we went to the other steak one twice. For us, a classy ship doesn't mean a pretentious ship. I did think that it was a bit weird that you were allowed to use the steam room in the spa but not the jacuzzi - or thalassotherapy...whatever (for no charge that is). I was embarassed by this as I got into the jacuzzi only to be told that this was not allowed - I have never encountered this on any other cruiseline and that does seem like 'nickel and diming'. The other thing I find a bit offensive is the curtained off cabana areas on deck twelve - charging for deck space essentially. What next, a charge to use the pool? On our last cruise it was way too cold to care, but this time we are going to be doing the Suez Canal and those viewing areas are in prime position. I know, I could rent one huh? Might have no choice but to consider that, but I expect they are already booked out, which excludes passengers from the best view - this seems contrary to the cruising ethos to me.

[cwc]

To LHT28...

 

I think the 14days RSSC Panama Canal is the Christmas Dec21'07 & New Year holidayDec26'06... so...1000$ for holiday surecharge:confused: ?

 

The 16day O cruise is Jan12'08... right? Low fare season.

 

I would like to cruise O very much, but as a working stiff. I can't afford to take 14+ days off from work. O will have to wait till retirement or lottery kicks in, so we can stop working.

 

To lahore,

 

we went on RSSC twice, both my husband and I don't drink alcohol. But we never feel we are paying for other people's booze. Because we drink other people share of bottle water:D. We just love the open seat and tip included feature.

[sacway]

This just confirms some impressions... I am quite sure Disney does production shows that are better than O and so would push O up in my selection list. Of course, a boiled down number is not at all a deciding factor, just another interesting point in the converstion.

 

posted at

http://www.concierge.com/bestof/goldlist/2007/category/cruiselines/

 

Conde Nast Traveler Gold List 2007

Best Cruise Lines (Overall Scores)

 

SeaDream Yacht Club 92.6

Crystal Cruises 92.3

Regent Seven Seas Cruises 92.1

Grand Circle Cruise Line 91.9

Seabourn Cruise Line 90.3

Silversea 89.8

Disney Cruise Line 85.5

*** Oceania Cruises 85.4 ***

Celebrity Cruises 84.1

Windstar Cruises 83.2

Peter Deilmann Cruises 82.5

Lindblad Expeditions 82.0

[LHT28]

To LHT28...

 

I think the 14days RSSC Panama Canal is the Christmas Dec21'07 & New Year holidayDec26'06... so...1000$ for holiday surecharge:confused: ?

 

The 16day O cruise is Jan12'08... right? Low fare season.

Yes they do sail during the holiday season but even for April it is $5498. base fare FLL -SFO

But there is the extra distance from LA to SFO so I guess it would be equal all things considered !! :D

 

My point is that you cannot compare as they both have things to offer different people.

[dwelsh]

You must read the results of the CN survey individually. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." so are cruise ships. If you want elegant dining, service and great destinations "O" is for you. If you are more interested in glitzy shows, 1,000's of people with their multiple problems choose one of the "lesser" lines.

 

Look at "O" ratings in the areas that excite you.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I agree that the cabana-thing upsets me; one of the things I like about Regent is the lack of a class system, for the most part. I'd still like to know about the quality and reliability of the air programs they offer--Regent does a very good job of this.

 

Anyways, I tried to do an honest comparisonm, but found it difficult to find two closely similar cruises. Here's what I came up with:

 

I took an RSSC med cruise, on Navigator, M-C to Athens, 7 days, in May. A class F is $5176 (356 sq. ft., with balcony), and includes free economy air ($4176 if you book your own air). Then I see a 10-day Athens to Venice on Regatta, same time-frame (in April, so maybe not completely fair). A PH3 (322 sq. ft.) is listed at $5399. It does not seem to include air. So this one's close, butI think RSSC is the winner, by a nose.

 

Then I look in the 2-for-1 specials for O, and see the "Eastern Meanderings", Rome to Istanbul, 12 days, which is Free Air and 2-for-1 on Insignia. A PH3 is $5599, obviously a great deal for this, and I doubt you could beat it on R on an itinerary like this. Hard to find a comparison, although the 10-day Nice to Dover (which I did last year, loved it), on Voyager, for a G cabin is listed at 40% discount, with free air: $5817. Close, a very good value, but I admit the itinerary doesn't compare (although I loved that cruise and would do it again.)

 

So on balance, I will definitely consder O in future, given the right itinerary (I like cruises longer than 7 days), *if* I can get over the things that smack of a class system.