What's your top tip for 1st timer on Oceania

[ja940]

We are cruising on the Insignia 8/6 Barcelona to Istanbul. We have taken 25+ cruises on all the major big ship lines to the Caribbean, Europe and the Baltic. This is our first step up to the smaller ships. Please pass on that great tip that you have about cruising Oceania.

[LHT28]

Relax!;)

[wripro]

My top tip is do not waste time comparing Oceania to the other lines you have cruised. Enjoy it for what it is which is excellent!

[Texed]

We are cruising on the Insignia 8/6 Barcelona to Istanbul. We have taken 25+ cruises on all the major big ship lines to the Caribbean, Europe and the Baltic. This is our first step up to the smaller ships. Please pass on that great tip that you have about cruising Oceania.

 

Join the roll call, chat with other cruisers, team up on excursions, make reservations to the specialty restaurants as soon as you board, have a great cruise. :)

[pondnana]

We are cruising on the Insignia 8/6 Barcelona to Istanbul. We have taken 25+ cruises on all the major big ship lines to the Caribbean, Europe and the Baltic. This is our first step up to the smaller ships. Please pass on that great tip that you have about cruising Oceania.

 

We always ask for a table for 4 sharing in the Grand Dining Room or the speciality restaurants and we have met some very interesting people and had some very interesting conversations. We always travel alone and so do enjoy meeting others. We find the larger tables do not facilitate good conversations.

[Beach Nut]

Start saving now for that second O cruise you're going to want to take soon after you take your first one.

 

Have a great time.

 

Susan

[StanandJim]

JA940-

One of our hints is generic to any cruise.....tip your room steward (or butler) 50% of the tip you would give for perfect service on day one (instead of waiting to tip on the last day). You'll find yourself very well taken care of.

Our second tip is specific to Oceania.....the baby lamb chops at breakfast are fantastic (and are especially good when ordered in conjunction with the stewed figs!)

It's nobodies everyday fare.......but it's delicious.

[tak2]

I took my first O cruise in Nov'07 Istanbul to Barcelona. Like you, I've been on all the major lines for close to 20 cruises.

 

I found most of my fellow O passengers very interesting to talk to , and the smaller ship, open seating certainly enhanced the experience. That, to me, was the most enjoyable difference.

[TERRIER1]

Happy hour is 5 to 6 pm every day. A great way to relax after a day of touring.

 

Jean

[ja940]

Thanks everyone! We are really excited. I'm afraid that once we cross over to the O side we're never going to go back to bigshipsville. Could be the the winning side after all.

[lord of the seas]

Join the roll call, chat with other cruisers, team up on excursions, make reservations to the specialty restaurants as soon as you board, have a great cruise. :)

 

What about the Waffles. :eek:

[hondorner]

Ahhh, the sorbet. Freshly made aboard with intense flavors --traditional ones like orange and pineapple, and ones you have never experienced before like mango and lemon tea (yes, just like lemon-flavored iced tea, in a sorbet!). Available at any restaurant venue, or all afternoon at the Waves grill on the pool deck (along with a new addition since we last sailed, milkshakes!).

[sacway]

consider eating at Tapas on the Terrace. in addition to good sushi and most of the dishes you see on the restaurant menus, you can get several dishes made to order or otherwise individualized. plus you can ask for half as much and get it.

 

this is our 2nd O cruise. love it but still will use another line, if the price, ship, timing, itinerary line up. it's all good on a ship!

[ja940]

consider eating at Tapas on the Terrace. in addition to good sushi and most of the dishes you see on the restaurant menus, you can get several dishes made to order or otherwise individualized. plus you can ask for half as much and get it.

 

this is our 2nd O cruise. love it but still will use another line, if the price, ship, timing, itinerary line up. it's all good on a ship!

 

Sacway,

I see you are on the Insignia now in Sardinia. We sail 8/6 on the Insignia, Barcelona - Istanbul. What itinerary do you have?

[TERRIER1]

Hi Sacway. We will be on the Insignia next May with a stop in Olbia. I can't find much information on Olbia so perhaps you can give me some advice as to what is there and if you can go to the beach on your own. Thanks.

 

Jean

[DOJO466]

Have room service bring you coffee, croissants, toast or whatever to enjoy while you get ready for the day, then go to the Terrace for breakfast.;)

[Texed]

What about the Waffles. :eek:

 

I will have to say that Celebrity's waffles are much better. :)

[sacway]

there is a shuttle from the ship to the edge of "downtown" Olbia. from there you could get a taxi to take you elsewhere, or even from the terminal itself, perhaps. I did not hear of anyone going to a beach though there might have been one. we spent the day in town, which is a mix of high-end 'yacht-ie' shops and low end ticky-tacky mixed up with new, up-and-coming shops, bars, restaurants. there were several sort of wholesale bead shops where beaders must buy their goodies before selling them to the tourists, run by south asians. I saw in one of them (a bit off the main drag, we were walking back from the old church which is not the one evident as you drive into town, but is across the train tracks) an entire big box of very excellent and large silver and single stone tuquoise pendants, I'm guessing from Pakistan or China. each individually wrapped. the two fellows running the place had scales and calculators so you'd be buying by the gram. it sure put me off buying anything in the high end shops! though I do not need another such piece. the internet cafe we visited in Olbia appeared to be the only one in the central core, overall there were a lot fewer internet cafes in the mediterranean than we've found elsewhere, and the prices higher (as much as 5 euros an hour, so still far cheaper than the satellite inet service available on board)

some people used the Olbia day as a substitute for an 'at sea' day as this itinerary had none. but we enjoyed this stop.

 

we started this cruise in Barcelona and ended this AM in Civitavecchia. We were off the ship just before 8 am and unbelievably checked into our hotel in Rome just before 10 am. that was using mostly public transportation (took odd free shuttle maybe a half mile to edge of port, walked approx 350 meters to the train station, got off in Trastavere and cabbed to hotel). total cost ship to hotel, including generous tip for cabbie 19 euros for the two of us. ship transfer to rome, and not to the part of town where our hotel is, I believe was offered at $109 pp, and the taxi drivers at Civitavecchia were asking 100 euros for the trip. The novel element for us this time was getting off the stop before Termini. It felt like the difference between using BUR and LAX, that is, no long roll through terminal to cab line, no long wait in line for a cab... and for us the cab fare was roughly equivalent, maybe one euro more is all.

 

everyone raved about Barcelona as a cruise terminus, so I encourage you to stay a few days at the end of the cruise if possible. we spent three days/two nights there at the start and could have used another day there.

 

From Rome(now settled in a fine inet cafe on Via Arenula twix Largo Argentina and Campo de Fiore)

[sitraveler]

beware of the headboard light switch;)

[LHT28]

beware of the headboard light switch;)

 

LOL Your are so right on that tip!!!:D