Some Oceania Questions

[Howie from MD]

We are looking into taking a February Carribean Cruise with Oceania. We have cruised with Celebrity, RCCL, Princess. Since I have little knoweldge of Ocenia, I wonder if someone might be able to answer the following questions?

 

1) Is there internet access? If so, what is the cost? Also, can you get a hookup in your room or possibly wifi?

 

2) Does anyone know the approximate square footage of a cabin with a veranda?

 

3) Is there entertainment each night? i.e. shows, dancer, singers, etc.

 

4) Does Oceania have any type of pre-paid soda program. MAny of the lines you pay a flat fee for the whole cruise.

 

5) To me Celebrity, RCCL and Princess are pretty interchangable, each has its positives and negatives. Would love to hear some of the positives and negatives of this line.

 

Anyway, if anyone could help with some answers, it would be greatly apprecaited.

[BULLOCK]

Howie from MD,

 

If you scan through the various messages, all your questions will be answered. I am booked on an November Cruise or I would have answered them. There is alot of great info posted.

[Andee]

1) Is there internet access? If so, what is the cost? Also, can you get a hookup in your room or possibly wifi?

Per the Oceania website, "Oceania@sea" is open 24 hours a day.

 

2) Does anyone know the approximate square footage of a cabin with a veranda?

Per the Oceania website, its 216 sf.

 

3) Is there entertainment each night? i.e. shows, dancer, singers, etc

Yes, per the Oceania website.

[phlewt]

We are looking into taking a February Carribean Cruise with Oceania. We have cruised with Celebrity, RCCL, Princess. Since I have little knoweldge of Ocenia, I wonder if someone might be able to answer the following questions?

 

1) Is there internet access? If so, what is the cost? Also, can you get a hookup in your room or possibly wifi?

 

2) Does anyone know the approximate square footage of a cabin with a veranda?

 

3) Is there entertainment each night? i.e. shows, dancer, singers, etc.

 

4) Does Oceania have any type of pre-paid soda program. MAny of the lines you pay a flat fee for the whole cruise.

 

5) To me Celebrity, RCCL and Princess are pretty interchangable, each has its positives and negatives. Would love to hear some of the positives and negatives of this line.

 

Anyway, if anyone could help with some answers, it would be greatly apprecaited.

I haven't been on any of the Oceania cruises yet, but am booked on a December cruise on Insignia. Here is a start at an attempt to answer your questions:

 

1. There is internet access. The basic charge is 95 cents per minute. You may also purchase blocks of time at slightly lower rates per minute. You may use one of the on-board computers or dialup from your cabin with your own laptop. There is no wi-fi service. There are reports that the ships will be modified next spring to allow e-mail access from individual cabins using the TV sets in the cabins.

 

2. The cabin sizes and layouts are available on the Oceania web site at http://www.oceaniacruises.com/T_MainContentPage.aspx?PageUID=8b4f2f31-dc14-468e-a469-4dbbe78a37a8&SUID=c65f1a28-9d89-4b1a-a8fe-eb763111f635

 

3. There is some sort of entertainment each night, but not the lavish Las Vegas show sort of thing found on the behemoth ships.

 

4. People have often asked what the cost of a soda is, but I have not seen a reply that answers the question. I have not heard anyone describe any pre-paid program.

 

5. I'll have to wait until January to weigh in on this question (after our Oceania cruise).

[Rickey 88]

Re #4 - Cost of a soda.....

 

Diet and Regular Cokes cost $2.00 plus gratuity - there is no "Prepaid" charge card plan that I was aware of....

[eknightley]

1) Is there internet access? If so, what is the cost? Also, can you get a hookup in your room or possibly wifi?

 

You have two choices for using the internet. You can use a phone hook-up in your stateroom (didn't try this, but read this board and/or the yahoo board for lots more info.) or access the internet in either the library or the computer room. You will receive a temporary Oceania e-mail address to use while on board if you wish to receive mail that way. I used my regular e-mail sites instead and that was fine.. There is a set rate per message ($2.00 or $3.00, I think) to retrieve messages sent to the Oceania address. The charge per minute is high--$.95 per minute, but you can bring the price down to $.70 or $.80 (I think) with "packages."

 

2) Does anyone know the approximate square footage of a cabin with a veranda?

 

Don't remember--try the Oceania web site. The regular staterooms are compact, but comfortable.

 

3) Is there entertainment each night? i.e. shows, dancer, singers, etc.

 

Oceania is known for not having big production shows with lots of dancers, etc. but does a v. good job with simpler fare. On the Insignia we had an excellent British comedian/magician whose second show drew a standing-room-only crowd. Jerry Blaine, the Insignia pianist, was excellent especially his music with movie clips production. The assistant Insignia cruise director is a vocalist and along with other hosts also provides shows.

 

4) Does Oceania have any type of pre-paid soda program. MAny of the lines you pay a flat fee for the whole cruise.

 

No, it doesn't. You pay as you go, but lots of free beverages are available around the clock--see an earlier posting I made.

 

5) To me Celebrity, RCCL and Princess are pretty interchangable, each has its positives and negatives. Would love to hear some of the positives and negatives of this line.

 

Positives in brief:

*Truly outstanding and excellent service (far above the more mass market lines)

*Ship size of only about 650 passengers with a high staff to passenger ratio

*Beautiful decor and ambiance in all public areas

*A real library with an extensive collection

*Attracts a very nice group of passengers--relaxed, friendly, highly-educated, affluent but mostly unpretentious, and well-travelled.

*The beds really are nice and comfortable!

*Very good wine stewards--I forgot to mention Ivan from the Insignia on our comments card, much to my regret. He deserved mention because he is so very nice and helpful--hope someone from Oceania will read this!

*Excellent lecturers on our Insignia cruise--Norwegian and British academics. There was a bit of joking about the former because of his many serious comments "from the bridge." And the latter was just excellent at bringing a multidisciplinary yet highly entertaining perspective to Viking and other aspects of European history. Would love to have him on videotape.

*Very good cuisine with enough diversity (Toscana, Polo, Terrace) to keep a long cruise from becoming monotonous

*Reminder cards about Toscana/Polo reservations

*No extra charges for the specialty restaurants

*Wonderful free ice cream (gelato really!) every day in four/five truly interesting varieties

*Great deck chairs

*Good fitness facilities

*Very nice, non-slip fitness track--superb views!

*Passenger safety when tendering receives greatest possible attention

*Very good strolling musicians especially the woman violinist from a Eastern European country (Was it Poland or Hungary?)

*Fabulous high tea with waiters who enjoy it too!

*Ship's photographer who is nice, not pushy

*Excellent choice of free, recent movies in stateroom

 

Cautions

*Destination services receives some cautionary comments on boards. The tours are expensive, but apparently serve a need for many passengers who prefer them over more independent travel. I heard very few complaints from people who actually took the tours. The sole tour we took was handled fairly well and seemed reasonable. In addition to tours, charges for drop-off services from ports to city centers also seem expensive. Destination services do seem to be improving because they did things such as ensure we had taxis available on a Sunday in Dublin even though they were also providing drop-off Oceania buses for a fee. And at several ports they brought on excellent guides from local tourist offices. You could chat with them and get recommendations prior to disembarking.

*The staff in the multipurpose boutique are ok, just ok. They don't shine with the same friendliness as the rest of the crew.

*The staff at the main desk have, imho, been slightly scarred by negative passenger interactions. I bet the complaint level on Oceania as a whole is v. low, but every cruise has some. Passengers do have genuine problems on occasion and a few of them may be rather vocal in non-helpful ways. Consequently the desk staff also does not shine as brightly as the rest of the staff and crew. Maybe my intuition is off, but I got the impression that they expect every interaction to begin with a complaint, and it makes them more standoffish--not as many smiles there. I've seen this at large luxury hotels in the U.S. too; more training is needed on how to deal with "problem patrons," how to set all people at ease, how to convey that the customer is always right, etc. So the staff is helpful but could improve. More smiles, please!

*Computing and computing staff. Expensive internet--make sure you purchase the more extensive packages--don't let the computer staff start you out on a smaller package especially if you know better how much net time you are going to use (my fault for not being more assertive)! Staff not always there--not really necessary for them to be present at all open hours--but maybe they could put up a sign that says "Returning in xx minutes," and also "Computer lab reopens at x:xx" when a class is in progress. Another passenger saw on my screen that I could do a certain thing and within five minutes I was answering questions from three other passengers. Luckily I know a little IT and could fiigure out mail packages I had never used before, etc.! Also, I still cannot deduce why assistant lab manager had to be told twice that cruise cam was down. He flat out told me it was working and did not bother to look until I told him (nicely) a second time. Slight male bias there? I hope not! On the whole passengers rightly rave about high quality of classes and helpfulness of staff, however.

 

My cautions and positives as you can see are very impressionistic, and every passenger will have a different take. On the whole though, Oceania provides an excellent cruise experience, and I never use "excellent" too freely! I loved the cruise--one of the very best trips I've ever had out of my ten or so European visits. (In fact, it is only outranked by one that ended with a marriage proposal beside some splendid gardens in one of the most romantic cities in the world! ;-) ). I hope to take more Oceania cruises!

[Jancruz]

What a wonderful fair review..Having been on both Oceania and Regatta many times I completely agree with you..I do find, if you approach the front desk with a smile and a friendly hello the people there immediately relax and answer you in kind..

Jan

*****

[narob]

Can our laptop be hooked up in the computer room, if our room doesn't have an internet hookup? We have special office software, that needs to be used for remote access. Thanks, in advance, for all your help!