Oceania vs Holland America

[ecormier]

Hi everyone.

 

My DH and I haver always cruised with HAL. Our TA has suggested the October 05 sailing from Athens to Rome on the Insignia to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. They have group rates booked which will include free air from Montreal (2hr drive from Ottawa where we live), gratuities and a $100US credit/cabin. It sounds like a good deal, but I would love to hear from folks who have voyaged with Oceania and HAL and see the comparisons. For those who have not voyaged with HAL, what do you like about Oceania? I look forward to your responses.

 

Regards, Betty

[Jane110]

I've been on one cruise on each of those lines and prefer Oceania by a long shot. But it's really a matter of personal choice. I prefer less people - though along with that comes no "big" shows in the evening and less shipboard activites. If those are important to you, you might not love Oceania. Also, Oceania has no formal nights, which suits us perfectly. If a formal and glamorous night for your anniversary is important to you, again, skip Oceania. As Frank Del Rio, the Pres. of Oceania said, if you show up for dinner in a tux, we'll assume you're a waiter and put you to work! :-)

 

I thought the food on HAL (Maasdam) was medicore at dinner and truly awful at lunch (at the buffet). There was nothing I didn't like about the food on Oceania, no matter where it was served, it was terrific.

[ecormier]

Thanks for the info Jane110. The lack of formal nights is what truly appeals to my DH. I believe the term used was "resort casual". We have enjoyed the dining on most of our past HAL cruises but found that on our last cruise, the food was not quite up to its previous standard. The idea of less people is not a big deal as we never found it a problem on our HAL cruises. We found that we could be as busy or as quiet as we chose. Mind you, we have not been on the new larger ships. The broadway style shows are not an issue either. That was the one thing we found lacking on HAL but in the evenings, after dinner, we prefer to sit in a lounge and listen to music, go for a walk or sit on deck and star gaze. I hope to get a few more opinions but it looks like the balance is shifting towards Oceania for the 35th!!!

 

Cheers, Betty

[lcand1923]

My Dad and I are just back from our first Oceania Cruise - Lisbon to Rome. We had taken three HAL cruises in the past.

 

In our opinion, Oceania has HAL beat as far as food and service is concerned.

 

We were pampered by our Cabin Stewardess and the Wait Staff in Toscana, the Grand Dining Room, the Terrace Cafe and Tapas on the Terrace. The service in Polo was acceptable one night and terrible the other, but -- nobody is perfect. The food was very good to excellent at all venues.

 

The cabins on Oceania are nice with a lot of storage space -- more than I remember on HAL. The bathroom is smaller on Oceania than I remember on HAL, but does have more shelf space (Oceania - category A, HAL - large exterior on Promenade Deck, don't remember category letter).

 

The public spaces on Oceania have piped in music that we found irritating. We never found a good interior spot to sit and watch the water like we always found on HAL.

 

Oceania also does not have a lot of good "at sea" day activities. What it offers is good -- the computer classes are especially nice, but it does not have a lot of games and sport things like you have on HAL.

 

Dad and I never made it to any of the shows, so I cannot comment on them.

 

Oceania also does not offer "Wine Packages" or "Soda Cards" like HAL.

 

We found the ship sponsored shore excursions to be comparable to those that we have taken with HAL.

 

Embarkation and Disembarkation was much smoother than we had experienced on HAL, probably because of the smaller ship size.

 

Right now, we are looking forward to our next Oceania Cruise. HAL is not currently in our cruise plans.

 

lcand

[cruzemaven]

Oceania is definitely in a different league than Holland America....We found it to be a far better experience than HAL. Though HAL definitly excels in the entertainment department and the casino area. Everything else is far superior on an Oceania cruise IMHO.

[mpslaw]

We've been on both within the past two years. Holland America is just fine. The staterooms are larger than the staterooms on Oceania and have bath tubs which Oceania (except suites) do not have. Service on Holland America is fine also. Entertainment on Holland America is superior to Oceania.

 

We like Oceania much better however. Both ships are about half the size of the smaller Holland America ships.

 

We found that the food, wherever we went on Insignia was so far superior to that of Holland America that this alone was compelling. The single seating, the choice of venues and the menus were just outstanding whereas Holland America was just fine.

 

So that's what we think.

[Jancruz]

Its hard to compare apples to oranges..Oceania is a step above HAL and the price reflects it..the clientel is different, Oceanias clientel is usually more well travelled..the venues are different..Oceania is a port intensive ship and HAL has many more activities on board..the shows are completely different..you should really talk to your TA who has been on both that can tell you which you might like better..

Jan

*****

[nancycoop1]

We have sailed on both lines and each has its strong points. HAL has much better entertainment, but Oceania beats them in every other category. We were thrilled not to have formal nights, but this may be a negative for some. The food on Oceania is measurably superior and we loved the smaller ship.

Either way - they are both great cruise lines.

[zebra]

Many have said that the entertainment is much better on HAL than Oceania. For those who have been on Oceania please explain what type of entertainment is available? I guess the thing that's in our favor is that Europe is so port intensive - we'll probably be wiped out at night!

[Jancruz]

Oceania does not have the "big shows" that the larger ships have..the cruise staff does great shows..they are all very talented..and there are wonderful "small shows" a singer, a comedian etc..My husband and I always find the entertainment wonderful. The person that hires the entertainment for Oceania does a marvelous job getting entertainers that are also on Seabourn and Silver Seas..there is always an interesting speaker on board that we enjoy..

Jan

*****

[cruzemaven]

Honestly, this was the worst entertainment we have ever experienced on any cruise ship. One night they had a guy playing the bagpipes another night they had a husband and wife team doing George Burns and Gracie Allen (poorly). We tried to go a few more times but it was painful so we gave up. The good news is we heard the entertainment was weak from friends who had gone on Oceania before us...so we were not counting on that as a highlight. The ship excels in many areas...service, food and ambience. We are booked on another Oceania cruise for next summer...maybe the entertainment will improve by then.

[Jancruz]

I guess it depends on what you are looking for in entrertainment, Stu and I have been on Oceania many times and only once did not enjoy the show and left..also our friends feel the same way..I know Oceania management hires the entertainment that the 6 star ships do as the VP in charge was with Silver Seas before Oceania and he uses the same entertainers..

Jan

*****

[Windrunner I]

I think a lot of it depends what your priorities for a good cruise are. We don't cruise to be "entertained". We cruise to enjoy the destinations, the food, culture and be pampered. And our fellow passengers are sure to provide any and all entertainment we could need.

 

Oceania excels in their itineraries, food and creature comforts. And a BIG bonus is the SMALL ships; only 650 or so other onboard with you. You can't begin to compare the service you recieve and the family type warmth you get on these ships to that of Holland America.

 

Holland America is great if you want much larger ships with tons of activities and entertainment. But they can't hold a candle to Oceania in most areas.

[meow!]

Oceania cruises are usually port intensive, the emphasis is on the ports, not the entertainment. Having said that, during our cruise this past April, the entertainment lounge was far from empty most nights, in fact close to full for several nights.

 

I cannot comment on the quality of the entertainment because I am not an expert in that field, and in any case, that is rather subjective. The entertainers might well be "interchangeable" with the boutique ships (which I don't know), however, the "hardware" on the Regatta (and presumably the Insignia) was not laudable: The lounge was single storeyed (not multi-storeyed like on those boutique ships) and the seats were not truly "tiered" (the lounge simply did not have enough height for that). Moreover, the sound system at the time (I don't know whether it has been improved/replaced since) was not good, it in fact coloured the sound of the instruments. Since the lounge was not that large, we would prefer that they shut off that system.

 

The Oceania ships were lovely for its mid-size, easier to handle with fewer passengers at lower than boutique prices (but increasing substantially lately). Also, the food was great and the service was friendly. Oceania certainly has its strengths in many aspects, but "nothing is perfect", and as consumers the idea is to find the most suitable compromise! Thank you.

[zebra]

Thank you for all your responses, most of which were very favorable. I agree wholeheartedly about the trade off between large and small ships....well for us it's a no-brainer, especially as the itineraries are fantastic, so much so that it was difficult for us to choose the exact cruise we wanted to go on, so many were appealing. We are looking forward to all the good food and service and most of all meeting fellow passengers like yourselves.