Should we give Oceania a try?

[JRarey]

We love cruising and are considered Oceania.

 

Can you devoted Oceania cruisers tell me what difference we might experience on Oceania than the Princess, Celebrity, and Windstar cruises we have been on.

 

DH and I are in late 40's early 50's. Love great food and service. We have a good time no matter what, so perfection isn't a requirement with us!

 

Thanks in advance for the info, we appreciate it!

 

Jan and Joe

[LHT28]

It is a personal choice only you can make

 

I would read through some of the threads here and then decide if O is the right choice for you

 

There are several thread on Oceania VS ???

 

here is one to start you off

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=900975

 

 

Lyn

[Andee]

What we love about Oceania:

size of the ships

wonderful staff

excellent food

open seating dining

no formal nights

TO reps getting on board at each port

entertainment staff who interact with passengers

[tak2]

Love great food and service. We have a good time no matter what, so perfection isn't a requirement with us!

 

O is very strong on great food and service.

Corporate culture strives for perfection.( Frank Del Rio, top guy, sorry I can't remember his present title:), statement to cruise critic members)

Bear in mind it's one third the size of Summit, naturally the amenities are not comparable. On the other hand, it's very condusive to making friends, because of smaller size ship and open seating.

[Globe]

Jan and Joe,

 

If you haven't already, you should check out the cruise review section which will give you a very good idea of what to expect on an Oceania Cruise.

[Tomjadg]

I'll let you know in about five weeks.

 

This is our first on O, and our favorite up to now has been Celebrity. We leave in two weeks for a 2 week West Med trip, and we chose O for the food, relaxation, NOT port intensive for a change, and no kids.

 

I think it will be a nice change not to worry about rushing every morning to go somewhere. Been there, done that, many times.

[ansell55]

I just came back on Oceanna Insignia in the Med . First time on this line but we have cruised over 30 times mostly Princess and Celebrity.

This is the deal. The ship is wonderful and we experienced the best service we ever had. There are only 680 people and due to the economy it had approx 100 fewer passengers. Europe is great with a small ship as they can dock in smaller and more interesting ports and you will get to see and get to know the passengers better.

However the food was just OK. The food in the main dining room is alittle better than Princess and Celebrity as they serve better quality of fish i.e. swordfish,bass etc. However the upscale restaurants of Celebrity are better than the upscale rest of Oceanna. The entertainment is not very good. There are no big shows etc.

So if a small ship exp is what you want I would rec them but it that is not an issue the cost is not worth the diff .

 

Barbara

[wripro]

However Celebrity charges for their alternate restaurants whereas Oceania does not.

[Bruin Steve]

We love cruising and are considered Oceania.

 

Can you devoted Oceania cruisers tell me what difference we might experience on Oceania than the Princess, Celebrity, and Windstar cruises we have been on.

 

DH and I are in late 40's early 50's. Love great food and service. We have a good time no matter what, so perfection isn't a requirement with us!

 

Thanks in advance for the info, we appreciate it!

 

Jan and Joe

 

Okay...I can't compare it to Windstar, never cruised with them...but I can compare it to Princess and Celebrity, having cruised multiple times with each of them...

 

Frankly, I have never been impressed with Princess...There are just so many things that they don't do up to my standards and their ships are, for the most part much too crowded...

 

Of the large ship lines, I think Celebrity offers the best combination of service, food and comfortable uncrowded ships with excellent service...

 

Oceania, IMHO, is fairly close to Celebrity with a few additional advantages if such things are important to you...

 

First, the Oceania ships have about the same space-to-passenger ratios as the Celebrity M-Class, but about one-third the size...So, they always feel uncrowded, comfortable, relaxing...You don't get the rat race and competition you find on Princess (or some other lines with big overcrowded ships)...And the small size allows them to schedule some smaller, out-of-the ordinary ports--a great plus, IMHO...

 

The food on Oceania, IMHO, is even better than Celebrity (and I think Celebrity is pretty good)...

 

Service is comparable to Celebrity, a clear step above Princess...the only drawback to service is that you don't have the traditional seating dining so you don't necessarily have the same waiters every evening like on Celebrity...but, of course, the open seating has some other advantages...

 

With the open seating, it makes things easier when you have an itinerary with long port days where you may be getting back from port at different hours...and, it works well on Oceania with the smaller numbers--much easier to accommodate and manage--unlike Princess where their trying to be all things to all people with both open and traditional with over 3,000 passengers can be a total nightmare...On Oceania itr is managed and accommodated very well...

 

Another plus is the lack of formal nights...Guests tend to dress "nicely", but casual--but this really helps in packing...don't have to schlepp all that formal wear with tight airline baggage restrictions...You can wear the same style of dress every night...

 

The entertainment and nightlife isn't what you'll find on the larger ships...but, if you are really cruising for the itinerary, the relaxation, the food and the service, Oceania is an excellent choice for you...

 

The age demographics might skew a little older than on Princess or Celebrity--largely due to cost, length of cruise and lack of a chilfren's or teen's program...It is definitely a cruise with few young families and more, established folks with time and money to spend...But, we are in your approximate age group...or think we are :) Actually, on our last Oceania cruise, we were 47 and 52...and felt very comfortable...

 

Basically, it's a very refined, comfortable cruise on which you will feel pampered, well fed and relaxed...From your description of what you are looking for, I think you will enjoy it...

[happy cruzer]

I thought the buffet on O was the best I've experienced. Excellent food and excellent service. On other lines I don't do the buffet given any other choice. Sure some big ships have bigger buffets with more choices. But O's is relaxed, and food is fresh! Tables are set lovely and cleaned very quickly after use. Drinks are always delivered and refilled. Loved the sandwiches at waves and the ice cream/sorbet.

[ABoatNerd]

Interesting thread.

 

I was also considering Oceania. Did a mid May pricing on a Panama cruise and it was 2.2X more expensive than an equivilent Celebrity cruise on Constellation. This was in Cdn $.

 

I was astounded. Is this a normal price differential between Oceania and Celebrity?

 

I have not booked anything, so I was wondering

 

ABoatNerd

[cds49]

We completed a cruise from Beijing to Athens in mid-May, 49-days. This back-to-back was our 2nd & 3rd cruise on Oceania. We are spoiled and will never go back to the big cattle cars. The smaller size is an asset. No long lines, personalized service. I thought the food was great in all the venues, Dinning Room, Buffet, and the wo up-scale, Polo Grill and Tuscana. Polo is a realy good steak grill. All the meat is good, but the rib-eye is outstanding. The only thing that is not tops is the lobster, but I suspect that is due to it being frozen. Fuit and berries are also to rate.

 

Service is a mantra with Oceania and it shows. All of the crew work hard to meet and request. It alwaay amazes me that after the second day they remember my name.