Oceania - The good, the bad, and the ugly

[merryecho]

Thanks for the info about port agents in the daily bulletin. I am not a novice cruiser, and I didn't know that- I will never leave the ship without it, although that still leaves the problem of contacting the agent by phone, which is not always easy.

I can't imagine the panic of an elderly first time cruiser, first time abroad, who is left behind with no one there to guide them!

[LHT28]

Thanks for the info about port agents in the daily bulletin. I am not a novice cruiser, and I didn't know that-

 

All of the cruise lines I have been on the info is in the daily newsletter.

most people only read the parts about the daily activities or drink of the day.

 

There is usually a phone at the port building or near by. You will see the crew lined up there.

[pappy3393]

So are you saying that the cruise line doesn't have any responsibility in getting the passengers transported to the new location that the captain decided to move the ship to, even if we were on time? I can understand if I was late based on the scheduled departure time but that wasn't the case.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

The port agent is supposed to coordinate all of this. Most passengers aren't aware of that. They are just like the tour operators and are subcontractors to the cruiseline.

 

Even if you take a ship's tour, the tour might not be all day and you could venture off on your own. A lot are half day tours. Frequently, we will wander after a tour and not even return to the ship on the bus. The port agent is supposed to coordinate for the lines on your behalf.

 

It would be nice if there were some communication to the passengers. On Regent, they have little business card size pieces of paper at the gangway with how to contact the port agent. On Oceania, it's in the daily Passages. For the phones at the port, you need change or a phone card that works on those phones.

 

If you aren't doing ships tours, you really need to have a way to communicate with the ship. If you had a hotel reservation, and you were going to be late, you'd call to ensure your reservation. Of course with a cruise ship your hotel moves, but, if there were a change, you'd have to contact the ship. It's insurance to have a cell phone that works at the places you are visiting!

 

People like to cruise because it takes some of the risk out of travel. But the big risk is not being in communication or understanding how it works. One cruise we landed at JFK and there were 15 people waiting for someone from the cruise line. No one was there because there was an event that closed many roads to JFK. Not one person knew how to get ahold of the port agent. No one read their documents. I had them and knew that. I ended up coordinating for all those people who were in their later years. Even the cruise line could potentially need to reach you when you are travelling.

[hondorner]

In every issue of Currents there is a notice to carry the newsletter ashore with you in case you need the Port Agent information. On every lecture about shore activities and every PA system and TV announcement about going ashore, our Cruise Director reminded us to carry the Currents newsletter. This was on both Regatta and Insignia, but we did have the same Cruise Director on both our cruises -- perhaps the others are not as conscientious.

[Roland4]

Do you have an email address for a person in power at Oceania? I would love to write them an email about Sorrento and about the service in the dining rooms when things got crowded. Despite these issues, we still enjoyed the trip and still believe that Oceania is a fit for us because of the size of the ship and the value as compared to the up scale cruise lines.

 

I don't know the name of the current President but if someone can supply it, his e-mail address will be INITIALNAME@oceaniacruises.com

 

IE - jsmith@oceaniacruises.com

[joan24]

I assumed that port agents were to be contacted if you were late or had a problem. I've sailed on Oceania three times and I am amazed that someone from the cruiseline is not available at the tender station to guide passengers who are there on time. Not only is this awful for the passengers but is just plain poor business on Oceania's part. We're booked for next May on the Insignia with a stop in Sorrento, and hopefully, Oceania will be more passenger friendly if the same problem arises. Don't get me wrong. I love the cruiseline and I'm sorry for all those who had a problem in Sorrento.

Joan

[sacway]

Merryecho,

 

I realize that service will slow down when things get busier. Several times it got beyond reasonable ... waiting 20 minutes to clear plates and not until I after I asked the supervisor. I was apologized to several times and told it was unacceptable to wait as long as we did. If this was an isolated incident, I would brush it off. It wasn't. It was consistent in all restaurants, even the specialty restaurants, so I think Oceania needs to hear about it and address it.

 

I was wondering if you tried a light dinner at Tapas on the Terrace? (e.g., up in the buffet) We enjoy that venue a lot both for the food choices and portion sizes.

[pappy3393]

Sacway,

 

Yes we did go to Tapas on a couple of occassions for dinner. The food was good and the service was much better then the main dining room, albeit less for the wait staff to do since it is cafeteria style.

[lcand1923]

On our first Oceania cruise we received service similar to that mentioned by Pappy3393, especially in Polo. We waited to place our order, waited for our food, waited to have the table cleared, etc. We had ordered a bottle of wine. The first glass was poured, but we could never get a second glass. It was so bad, we left without desert.

 

It was a little better on our second visit, but not much.Toscana was good. The GDR was adequate, but not good. We ended up eating our meals at Tapas. There the service was excellent.

 

We tend to dine early, entering just as the restaurants open. (If we are eating in Polo or Toscana, we are at the first or second reservation.) We are not hard to please diners - bring us our food, pour our wine, ask if we need anything and clear the table.

 

The service on our second Oceania cruise was comparable to that on our first. We've just lowered our expectations regarding service on Oceania.

 

We had the vessel disappear on a River Cruise. We ended up forming a search party of about 20 passengers and tracked the vessel down about a mile and half downriver. We've cautioned everyone who sails to take the Port Agent information with them. (Of course, you have to be calm enough when you get back to the dock to think about what you SHOULD do!)

[pappy3393]

You described our experience exactly. Toscana had the best food and service. I was surprised at the level of service at the Polo Grill given that it is small and it is a specialty restaurant. The food was good at Polo but the service was the worst of them all. We had the same exact issue with the wine. We wound up pouring our own 2nd glasses (not a big deal but still surprising) in Polo. We were never offered to buy a 2nd bottle of wine (there were 5 of us).

[lcand1923]

Pappy3393,

 

We would have been HAPPY to pour our second glass of wine in Polo, but the Sommelier had walked off with the bottle! There was no Maitre D to be found. We mentioned it to our waiter who quickly disappeared never to return.

 

The next night we went to Tapas. We asked for our partly finished bottle of wine. The Sommelier in Tapas finally located it after searching about 30 minutes.

 

We figured Oceania didn't sell at least one bottle of wine because of the poor service in Polo.

 

Connie

[pappy3393]

I know a lot of people on this board get upset when anything negative is said about Oceania. I will still sail with them in the future because they have a lot going for them. My expectations for the quality of food and service was high going into my first cruise with them based upon comments in this forum and the Oceania literature. I'm sorry if I offend anyone but in my opinion, the food was good but not great. The service ranged from excellent to poor with the worst being in the Polo Lounge. Interestingly enough, the food was very good in Polo but the lack of service kept the entire experience from being great. Room service was good unless you asked for a "tweak" of what was on the menu. For example, we asked for a plate of cheese and crackers but requested that only 1 type of cheese be included (vs the standard 3 varieties). That seemed to be a big deal and it took 3 tries to get it right.

[danif]

We were on this 6/13/08 sailing on the Nautica as well. The Sorrento incident was lack of communication, poorly handled and was totally unacceptable. From what I understand, a passenger got hurt moving from the tender to ship, thus prompting the decision to relocate the ship to the dock in Naples. No apologies were extended and the ironic part of the situation was that that the Silver Seas Whisper (similiar size ship)was at the same port with tender service and didn't move the ship until the all were aboard.

As for the food, on a 1 to 10 scale we would rate it a 7.

Polo Grill was very good, Toscana was fair at best as well as the service was lacking big time.

Breakfast Buffett did get tiring after seeing the same breakfast for 10 days straight, although the choices were abundant.

Lunch Buffet gets shut down exactly at 2:00pm not giving you enough time to be onshore and be back in time for lunch. The only choice after 2:00pm is Waves Pool Grill for a burger, chicken or fish and some side salads.

Service in all of the restaurants did get compromised as soon as it got crowded and one needed to ask for simple items such as ordering, plate clearing and beverages. Not to mention waiting to be seated for dinner in the Grand Dining Room.

We found ourselves eating at the Tapas because it was the same food as in the Grand Dining Room without having to deal with the slow service.

Service was great when their were no crowds.

It seemed the later you ate, the servers seemed to be imploding on themselves. they seemed overworked and exhausted by the end of the day.

The wine stewards are quite pushy. From what I understand, the bar servers and wine stewards only get paid on the added gratuities to what gets charged.

Great itinerary.

Wonderful embarkation and disembarkation.

Ship cleanliness was outstanding.

Bathrooms were extremely tiny.

Overall, we would sail Oceania again, just lower your expectations on food and service.

[pappy3393]

I hope the management of Oceania is reading this thread. You have a good product to build on but there are some things that need to be addressed. If you do it, you wll have a great product.

[fjdelrio]

We, and especially I, indeed read these threads and I am apalled at what happened to you in Sorrento. Absolutely unacceptable and unexcuseable!!

 

Don't know what happened (I am currently on vacation, but will find out quickly) but I assure you, this has never happened before and will NEVER happen again.

 

As to the comments about Food and Service and I am doubly disappointed because as many of you know, we've built Oceania's brand on the back of our excellent cuisine.

 

Your experiences are atypical of Oceania and for that I extend my sincere apologies. We'll get to work on the deficiencies noted and we will not only correct the areas where we fell short, but will double our efforts to improve our delivery beyond our own high standards.

 

I was pleased to learn, that despite what you went through, you'd still cruise with us again. I think that is a strong testament to the overall experience that Oceania offers. I just wish you could of been onboard when we are clicking on all cylinders. I promise that we will be next time you cruise with us.

 

Again, my sincere apologies for a less than perfect cruise and thanks for your constructive comments.

 

All the best

 

FDR

Chairman and CEO

[Roxally]

FDR,

We are about to cruise with Oceania for the first time on Nautica on 12th August and had read this thread with some trepidation wondering if our cruise experience was going to be somewhat less special than we had been lead to believe from your brochure and website. It's great to see that you personally read the feedback on this site and have committed to address the issues presented on this thread.

Regards Roxally

[Jana]

Try to find that kind of comment on any other cruise line's board here at Cruise Critic.

 

Now if that doesn't prove what an incredible product Oceania Cruises is, nothing ever will.

 

 

Jana

[pappy3393]

FDR,

 

Thank you for taking an active role in reading the Oceania discussions. I am impressed and encouraged that you are going to look into these issues and try and correct them. As I stated, there are a lot of things we liked about Oceania and that is why we will cruise with you again. I usually do not start many threads on this board but I just had to say something about the issues we encountered. I want to make sure that everyone understands that the good far outweighed the "bad" on our Oceania cruise. The only Oceania person that I encountered on our cruise who really didn't seem to care is the concierge. When we talked to him about our Sorrento experience, he wouldn't even look us in the eye until we specifically asked him to do so. Things happen, but it's how people react that leaves a lasting impression.

[meow!]

We should appreciate FDR's diligence and comparatively frequent participation on this board. Even at Silversea, there has recently been one manager who occasionally reply on this cruise critic board, but not as often as FDR. We hope responsiveness on this board will become common for all cruise lines!

[NYLady]

Bravo to the CEO for monitoring this Board. Very smart!

 

On our 1st cruise with Oceania in February we met with several unacceptable incidents (one in the main Dining area with the attitude of wine stewards, one in the Polo Grill with the serving of ice cold cheese, and one in the cabin with the stewardess who didn't remove a room service tray because "it's not my job"). We did mention all three in the mid-cruise Comment card and we received exceptionally good response from Management level. The problems in the dining area disappeared immediately. The problem with the stewardess moved from a simple observation (which landed her in hot water and should have helped her clarify the relationship between her official duties and service to customers) to a very serious attitude problem. I'm quite certain she is no longer with Oceania.

Thank you FDR for keeping tight hold on the reins. It was clear from our experience that there are many young, inexperienced individuals serving on the ship. This will work fine as long as there are experienced individuals to set the example and good supervisors to maintain control. From our experiences, your Managers appear to be following your lead in attempting to keep the quality of service on track.

 

We are looking forward to our first TransAtlantic crossing with Oceania in March.

[Texed]

We, and especially I, indeed read these threads FDR

Chairman and CEO

 

We were on the Insignia June 5, 2008 cruise to the Med. We liked it very much. We think you have a very nice cruise line. In fact, we have a cabin held on the July 25, 2009 cruise to the Baltic.

Keep up the good work. :)

[lesley50]

We were on Nautica last year.We were unhappy about our dining table arrangements in the Grand dining area.We felt as though we had been shoved on a table somewhat ungraciously.(Ist night)

We made comments on the guest card.

The Food and beverage manager literally tracked us down the next day with apologies and telling us of Oceanias good intentions.

From that time on there was a table for 2 available when ever we wanted it in any restaurant( give or take a few minutes waiting time)

From that time we enjoyed every moment of the cruise.

I think if you complain in a civil manner and are seen to be reasonable you can usually turn things around.

We are sailing with oceania again in April

[surus]

We were on the 6/13 cruise on Nautica. Actually it was our first cruise ever and we loved it. That being said, the incident in Sorrento was badly handled. We were on the 2:30 tender back to the ship (the last one back I believe) and it was very dangerous. The person running the tender seemed incompetent and crew onboard the ship were yelling instructions to him because he could not get the boat along side. When we finally got tied up the boat was rocking so much that if you did not time your jump to the ship you could have lost a leg. Not kidding. The crew was telling the passengers not to panic as one lady on the tender started to push her way in front of people to get off. My husband was in the merchant marine and has sailed all over the world and in his opinion the situation was very dangerous and we were lucky to all get off unscathed. The decision to move the ship was a necessary one but the stories I heard from stranded passengers were terrible. The PA sysytem kept telling us that crew was left at the dock to assist passengers in getting to Naples. From what we heard, whatever crew was there was trying to gather the rest of the crew and would not help passengers at all. People were sent from ferry (full) to bus (full) and back again. Some did not get to the ship until 10 PM. I'm sure Oceania has heard from them by now.

In spite of such a bad start, we loved the cruise, met some great people, enjoyed the Captain who was gracious and charming and had a wonderful time. I must agree though, that the food was good but not great. Appetizers and desserts were better than entrees. Seafood was generally dry and tastless except for the orange roughy my husband had one night. We brought our own wine to dinner every night since we were in Italy, France and Spain and love buying local wines we can't get in the US. We found the staff friendly and attentive with just one or 2 with attitude problems. The concierge is definitely in the wrong line of work as he doesn't seem to like people. Mel, the bartender in Martinis was great and makes a nice cold martini. We can't wait to sail with Oceania again and are anxiously awaiting the 2010 itineraries.

[LHT28]

We were on the 6/13 cruise on Nautica. Actually it was our first cruise ever and we loved it. That being said, the incident in Sorrento was badly handled. We were on the 2:30 tender back to the ship (the last one back I believe) and it was very dangerous. The person running the tender seemed incompetent and crew onboard the ship were yelling instructions to him because he could not get the boat along side.

 

Maybe it was his first day on the job:D

 

I am not an expert but have you ever tried to dock a moving boat to a moving platform attached to a moving ship?????

I am sure your DH would have told you how hard that is to do.

 

I have ....we had to dock a boat to a stationary dock in mildly rolling waters & YES

I was yelling at my captain.

I did not have to line up the doorway with the same space on the moving platform though .

 

The captain of the tender cannot see the platform from his position at the helm so Yes they have to yell at him.

We have been on tenders with mildly rolling seas & it is not easy for them to tied up to the platform & if the seas were that bad your tender should not have not picked up passengers but just headed back to the ship.

 

Now you say there were crew left ashore to assist & the OP says there were none :confused::confused: