Just back! Insignia

[shipcruise]

Just back from the Insignia Athens to Barcelona, what a great cruise. Enjoyed every aspect of cruising with Oceania and can't wait to go with them again. From food to stateroom apointments, to cleanliness, to staff service, Oceania is a far step above the mainstream lines. The smallness of the ship offers many opportunities to be in contact with other cruisers and the staff in a way that you get to know who is onboard. Hats off to Oceania for offering a great product!

[macbest]

Tell us more! We are on that same itin next summer.

[zebra]

shipcruise.... I agree, tell us more.

 

Great to hear that you enjoyed Oceania. Have you been on Celebrity? We've just cruised Barcelona to Venice on the Millenium and are very curious to hear how the two cruiselines compare???? Looking forward to the Insignia trip next year.

[Andee]

We've cruised on Celebrity in the past and Oceania last month.

 

What I especially prefer about Oceania is the smaller size of the ship and the open seating for dinner in four restaurants. We just don't care for fixed time seating.

 

We found the entertainment on Celebrity mediocre--we made sure we sat in the back so we could leave if we didn't like the show, which often happened. We thought the singers on Oceania were very good, and particularly enjoyed Tod Macofsky's one man show of Rodgers and Hart music. Robes and slippers in the room were a nice touch, and it was great to have someone from each port's tourism information center on the ship right after we docked each morning.

 

People complain about the high corkage fees on Oceania, and I agree, but they don't care if you bring your own liquor on the ship, so we bought local wine, and had a drink in our cabin as we got ready for dinner.

[shipcruise]

Yes, we have been on Celebrity, Royal Carribean, Carnival, Norweigian, Costa, Princess, Crystal and Radisson. In my opinion, Oceania is a better product than Celebrity. You will find the food to be better, service top notch and the smallness (although not as small as some I have been on) a plus. The ship itself is very pretty as well. The casual dining is really nice. It is not like people are wearing jeans and some do dress up (some men in jackets, no tie, women in short dresses or nice slacks and a glittery top), but you will also see the more casual as well (capri pants, my husband did not even take a sport coat). On busy port days, it is nice to go to dinner whenever it is convenient instead of a set time. We particularly loved Tapas on sailaway nights. Eating dinner outside as you sail away is a treat. You will not find the singer/dancer groups you find on a larger ship, but the entertainment was nice. The last night the cruise director, Leslie Jon did a fantastic show. On our trip there were two comedians, a pianist, a show that included the entertainment staff-all nights something except the first and last. Embarkation night there was a movie and the night before we got off, bingo-not my cup of tea, but ok. There was trivia games every day and Name that tune on some nights after the show. Our itinerary was very busy so that seemed to be enough. If you have any questions about a particular port, feel free to ask.

[stefer]

Can you help me decide between Insignia and the RSSC Mariner for Amazon cruise in February??... Need to decide on one soon and would appreciate your comparisons (I see you have cruised RSSC as well).. Thanks

[zebra]

Thanks for all the great info shipcruise and Andee. Very informative!

 

Shipcruise.... can you (or anyone else) tell me something about Marseille and Malta - I'm not sure which ports you did on your cruise. I know very little about these 2 ports of call.

[durennel]

thanks for the input re: Insignia. we are going to take the Istanbul to Athens cruise next Oct and are anxious to get as much info about the trip and the ship.

Does anyone know how long it will take to get from the ship to the airport in Athens. We are thinking of taking a 12:30 flight. Can we make it?

Thanks for input. This sight has been fantastic

[shipcruise]

It took us about 45 min to get from the airport to the ship in Athens. We did arrive, however, on a Sunday, so that may make a difference. I would think 12:30 would give you more than enough time. We got into Barcelona at 8 and they put us on a 10:30 flight. I assume you will be docking about the same time in the morning. I would think that would be great. Everyone was off of our ship by 9am.

Marseille and Malta, specifically what would you want to know. Unfortunately, it rained buckets when we were in Marseille, so I did not see as much as I would have liked. We had taxied into town and walked the waterfront to see all the fish the fishing boats were selling, my husband loved that part. Then we walked up to an outdoor market, which because of the rain they were just closing up. We never got to the cathedral, it sits atop a hill overseeing Marseille. In hindsight, we should have taxied to the cathedral, then walked down into the town. The ship has someone at each port give you info, she gave us a walking map of old town and showed us what to see and do. Unfortunately, it rained too hard to make it very enjoyable.

Malta is easy, an easy walk into town from the ship. Maltese money is different, but they had a really easy way of dealing with that. They have atm machines, that you can slide your money into in small denomiations US or Euros, it recognizes and it spits it back out in Maltese money. The port consultant told us that 10.00 should be plenty. Again, get the map and the highlights of the sights, they were pretty inexpensive. Walk and enjoy, Malta is really a pretty sight sailing in. All the buildings are made of sandstone so look as if you are going to a town of sandcastles, pretty neat. Then if you still have time to go to Mdina, you can take the taxi. Mdina is an ancient town that is really beautiful. Get a book from the library on Malta, this will help. You want to be sure to see St. John's Co Cathedral and the Palace of the Grand Masters.

OK as far as Oceania vs. Radisson, they are really two different products, both with the small ship atmosphere, which is very nice, both with comparable entertainment, both with dine as you please with whom you want and when, both have very nice room apointments, etc. Differences, while both have really good food, Radisson's is better, Radisson does the extras like give you bottled water when you leave the ship, shuttles into every town, tip is included, etc. To me Oceania is a close second but with a much better value in price. If someone were to give me the choice for the exact same price, I would go with Radisson, but if the differences in price are much greater, go with Oceania, they have a really good product at a better value! You will not be disappointed. Let's just say that Oceania feels very much like the luxury lines without the luxury line prices. Hope this helps.

[zebra]

Shipcruise... gosh thanks for all the details - every little bit of information helps!

 

Can you tell me about the balcony cabins (not suites)? Are they a fair size and what furniture do they have on them? Also, what are their hairdryers like? I usually bring my own (the ship's dryers are usually very underpowered) and plug into the socket at the dresser in the cabin - would this be possible on this ship?

I'm sorry these are obscure questions. Oh another question - can one order dinner off the menu and have it delivered to the cabin/balcony?

[Andee]

Our balcony cabin had, in addition to the bed, two night tables, a cabinet with the TV and storage, a desk and stool, a loveseat and small table in front of it.

 

The hairdryer worked fine for me.

[zebra]

I'm sorry - I'm going crazy. I meant to ask what the balcony's were like - size and what furniture is on them? Thanks for the input - it seems that one is always very curious to know all the smallest details when it's the first cruise on a particular cruise line. We've cruised Celebrity, Princess, Disney, Holland America and Carnival before - and are really looking forward to the small ship experience on Oceania.

[meow!]

A detailed account of the cabin and balcony (measurements and description) can be found in our review on this column, "Barcelona to Venice April 10 to 24 - Part I" by us Meow! I hope it helps.

[shipcruise]

The hair dryer was not powerful enough for me, especially if you are going to style your hair. Only used it on disembarkation day so that I could pack my hair dryer in my regular suitcase. I would bring your own.

Can't speak for the balcony cabins as we did not have one. I believe, however, that all of the cabins are very close in size. (with exception of the suites). They are not huge, but very adequate. I do not know about the room service, you know we never ended up using it.

[StanandJim]

We've found this site to be very reliable and amazingly accurate when it comes to stateroom furnishings, configurations and perks:

www.cruisestateroom.com

I know that the Regatta and Insignia are definately listed there (as are most other ships).

Enjoy your comparisons-

 

Stan & Jim

[umcerjudy]

Been to Malta twice. Malta is very charming! Everyone speaks English and the place does look like a sand castle. We were there the 1st time on a Sunday and most stoes were closed. However, they had a huge fleamarket within walking distance from the ship. Altho, quite a walk up a steep hill. We took a horse and carriage ride back to the ship. Lots of fun and so quaint. The 2nd time we went on a tour to Mdina. Really very pretty. Both of us enjoyed Malta very much and we are looking forward to our 3rd trip there. Marseille, well we were not eal impressed with this French city. We took the ships tour to the catherdral. Is is way on top of a hill overlooking the city with beautiful views. We got off the tour just before taking us back to the ship so we could stop at a mall an buy a new camera. We dropped ours. We took a taxi back to the ship. Other than the catherdral and buying Marseille soap there was nothing real outstanding. Maybe this next trip we will discover more.

Has anyone had Monte Carlo for their port and just explored Nice? We docked in Villafrance and took a tour to Eze and Monte Carlo. I heard that Nice is really nice and wonder what the highlights there are.

[zebra]

In Marseille we have booked a private tour of Les Baux and Aix en Provence, as this seems to be the most recommended tour to do.

 

Two months ago we were in Nice (very pretty), Monte Carlo, Eze and St. Paul de Vence. In our opinion St. Paul de Vence is absolutely the highlight of the area - we would definitely want to repeat a trip there. Possibly Nice and St. Paul de Vence this time!

[shoshona2]

Hi,

 

If you go back to St. Paul de Vence, don't miss the Maeght Museum. I'm not a modern art lover, but the sculptures around the museum and the museum itself was wonderful to view. I just took out our photos and they still bring back wonderful memories. We were there over 15 years ago and when we revisited St. Paul de Vence four years ago, it was so crowded with tourists that we were disappointed. I would suggest going off season to really get the full effect of the beauty of the area. We had lunch at the Column Dor. I don't know if I spelled it right, but it was a real treat. We suggest just ordering appetizers. The restaurant overlooks the whole valley. You can go on line to Frommers.com and probably get all this info.