A Quick Review of Our First Oceania Cruise

Everyone has different wants and needs.

For warm weather cruises, we prefer Riviera or Marina on O as we love the entire stern for sunning.

Also, we will time our cruises, if possible so we get the most fabulous butler, Pritam. Anyone who has a bad butler experience can politely speak with the GM and the butler will be switched. I would give my right arm to adopt Pritam..he is perfect.

We just did an Explorer cruise and had half of the stern. Didn't always work as the sun moves throughout the day.

We have never had a bad experience in The Terrace..maybe I just didn't notice.

Anyway--everyone marches to a different drummer's beat. That is what makes the world interesting.

Thanks to all of you for your input. Obviously some didn't agree with my review but it would be boring if all did,;)

Oceania is a bit off our radar but not completely. Time will tell.

Katie

Thanks to all of you for your input. Obviously some didn't agree with my review but it would be boring if all did,;)

 

Oceania is a bit off our radar but not completely. Time will tell.

 

Katie

Great unbiased review and observations. It certainly helps my expectations for our first Oceania cruise. Thank you very much.

We just returned yesterday from a 10 day cruise on the Riviera. It was the best cruise ever (out of 65) !

Though we come to expect the entertainment at 9:30 pm not to be exceptional, the service and food was excellent.

Never a subpar meal, speciality dining superb.

Terrace Cafe was excellent; great service. Never a line at the grill at dinner. It appeared most dined in MDR at night.

Disclaimer: everyone is entitled to their opinion and what they experienced plus each cruise is unique and quality can change.

G&G,

Thank you for posting your experience. It mirrors most of our experiences on Oceania.

Love your disclaimer - so vey true. :)

We just returned yesterday from a 10 day cruise on the Riviera. It was the best cruise ever (out of 65) !

 

Though we come to expect the entertainment at 9:30 pm not to be exceptional, the service and food was excellent.

 

Never a subpar meal, speciality dining superb.

 

Terrace Cafe was excellent; great service. Never a line at the grill at dinner. It appeared most dined in MDR at night.

 

Disclaimer: everyone is entitled to their opinion and what they experienced plus each cruise is unique and quality can change.

My ghost writer:)

Which one is considered a Top Suite? I think the perks are coming with the suite, not the Elite status.

Actually Elite and Elite Plus provide quite a few nice perks on Celebrity.The only reason we are returning to Celebrity this year for a short cruise is the perks for being Elite Plus. You can check these out in the Captain's Club section on Celebrity's website.We will be sailing in Aqua and not a Top Suite.

Our preference for several years has been Crystal. Will be trying Oceania for the first time this year on Riviera.

Actually Elite and Elite Plus provide quite a few nice perks on Celebrity.The only reason we are returning to Celebrity this year for a short cruise is the perks for being Elite Plus. You can check these out in the Captain's Club section on Celebrity's website.We will be sailing in Aqua and not a Top Suite.

 

 

Our preference for several years has been Crystal. Will be trying Oceania for the first time this year on Riviera.

Actually I am Elite on Celebrity, so I'm pretty familiar with the perks. A few minutes of internet, a bag of laundry and evening drinks. But here's the problem. I've been Elite for around 4 years with them and been on at least 6 or more cruises since then, but we've never used the happy hour perk as they've always had a promo that included the Classic drink package that we've chosen. The only real + to being Elite + is the extra internet time. The tea's and cappacinos are already available with the Classic perk, the extra laundry is superfluous. We already get 60 pieces between my wife and I, we don't really need double that. Actually we only generally use about 1/2 of what we have.

The only real benefit of the Elite or Elite + anymore is for people that cruise either in an inside room, where the drink promo is not offered, or on the transatlantics where it's not a promo.

Under Celebrity's current focus the perks for the suites definitely outweigh the perks for Elite or Elite +. The only thing that would come close is being Zenith.

In my opinion Oceania has a superior loyalty program. You actually get real monetary value with it.

My real question was about what bitob considers a top suite on Celebrity.

We are also Elite Plus on X. We will never reach Zenith. At the prices for AQ and Suites we find better value now in Oceania and Crystal. This will be our first time in over 16 years that we don`t have a Celebrity cruise booked. Love the Marina and the Riviera with bath tubs. If I was to go on a R Class ship I would go on Azamara where my Elite Plus benefits would kick in.

We just returned yesterday from a 10 day cruise on the Riviera. It was the best cruise ever (out of 65) !

 

Though we come to expect the entertainment at 9:30 pm not to be exceptional, the service and food was excellent.

 

Never a subpar meal, speciality dining superb.

 

Terrace Cafe was excellent; great service. Never a line at the grill at dinner. It appeared most dined in MDR at night.

 

Disclaimer: everyone is entitled to their opinion and what they experienced plus each cruise is unique and quality can change.

Glad you enjoyed Oceania. I have been on 26 cruises, mostly on Celebrity, but I had done two Oceania in the past and they were the best cruises I've taken so far. I'm booked on two more one this year and one next year. Celebrity was great years ago, but not the same in food or service. If you want a nice relaxing cruise with good food and great service....try Oceania.

This was an interesting thread; I read it because I recently booked my first Oceania cruise. I've previously sailed on Carnival, Princess and Celebrity.

After reading all the expectations that were not met on different cruiselines (maybe they weren't realistic expectations?), I can't really relate. I'm pretty low maintenance and easily pleased, so I've enjoyed every one of the 13 cruises I've been on. Have stayed in inside, port hole, window, balcony, minisuite and full suite cabins and had a fantastic time no matter which type of cabin or perks. Have had a butler who, frankly, was useless. I appreciate that we're all different but I can't imagine why so many people can be disappointed with a cruise because of trivial things like a crowded buffet.

I'm very excited to be sailing on Oceania later this year and am sure I'll love it. What's not to love about just not being at work and having someone else do my cooking and cleaning for me? :D

. I appreciate that we're all different but I can't imagine why so many people can be disappointed with a cruise because of trivial things like a crowded buffet. :D

Whatever:mad:. You've enjoyed Carnival, for sure Oceania is more than a giant step up for you. I gave an honest review and you jumped all over my comments about the extremely small, confusing and crowded buffet. Odd.

Whatever:mad:. You've enjoyed Carnival, for sure Oceania is more than a giant step up for you. I gave an honest review and you jumped all over my comments about the extremely small, confusing and crowded buffet. Odd.

Don't let it get you down, Oville.

The first Rule of Fight Club is to never talk about Fight Club; the first Rule of Cruise Critic is that no Good Deed ever goes unpunished..

We must try to rise above...

We were on the same cruise as OP. We never really found the buffet crowded always seemed like a good selection of foods. The only time I waited in line was at the grill one evening and it was only a few minutes. Difference could be the time, I am guessing the crowd varies depending on the time of evening.

We had good service without fail. The food was very good . No real complaints.

Pool area did get busy during sea days and many people trying to save chairs by leaving items on them. I did see people ask the attendants for a place to set and they would move items off of chairs that really were not being used.

The bed was outstanding, more comfortable than my Tempur-Pedic at home. Cabin was also very quiet. On the advice of our TA we booked a B3 cabin which has a very large balcony. We had room for the two chairs and table as well as two lounge chairs.

There is no doubt we will be back on Oceania but out next two are booked and Celebrity and Princess.

Good to hear about the sunbeds and the items removed by staff.😀

need to soak up info....booked (waitlisted) on nov 6th riveria....first time with oceania. mainly because airfare is included!

we loved HAL's smaller ships....but thought HAL was going downhill fast .....cruised in jan on princess and have reached the point of NO more caribbean cruises for awhile.....finally talked DH into a short med cruise. hope i have made a good choice in oceania.

don't let it get you down, oville.

the first rule of fight club is to never talk about fight club; the first rule of cruise critic is that no good deed ever goes unpunished..

we must try to rise above...

😉😆🚢

We were on the same cruise as OP. We never really found the buffet crowded always seemed like a good selection of foods. The only time I waited in line was at the grill one evening and it was only a few minutes. Difference could be the time, I am guessing the crowd varies depending on the time of evening.

Never went to the Terrace for dinner, only lunch and breakfast. We found waves be a better option for us.

Never went to the Terrace for dinner, only lunch and breakfast. We found waves be a better option for us.

Are you saying that you went to Waves for Dinner?

They close at 4pm. :confused:

Are you saying that you went to Waves for Dinner?

They close at 4pm. :confused:

Lunch & breakfast.

need to soak up info....booked (waitlisted) on nov 6th riveria....first time with oceania. mainly because airfare is included!

 

we loved HAL's smaller ships....but thought HAL was going downhill fast .....cruised in jan on princess and have reached the point of NO more caribbean cruises for awhile.....finally talked DH into a short med cruise. hope i have made a good choice in oceania.

Xeena, I see you have booked as 'waitlisted'. If you put down your deposit, you will be priority waitlisted - did your TA or O tell you that? It's kind of like two waitlists: whose who put money down are to the top of the list, while those who don't are below those who do.

Better chance of clearing if you pay the deposit!

Lunch & breakfast.

Our experience is a little different.

We find Waves busier than Terrace at lunch. Often we have to take the table number inside the Terrace and be served there as the tables at Waves are full.

Obviously, YMMV.

Very interesting to read.

We have just come back from a top rated ship, Hapag-Lloyd's Europa 2. However, I found myself putting together the perfect cruise ship: Europa 2 for food and service, Oceania for beds, HAL for promenade deck and library, Princess for porcelain painting :D, Ponant for unusual ports etc. We'll cruise another line in Norway this summer. If I put everything together, Oceania comes out in one of the top spots and it's not just for the beds.

As for friendly passenger mix, it's the luck of the draw, a bit also the itinerary.

did not know the distinction, but, yes, put deposit down. makes me feel a bit more optimistic:cool: about getting it! worked directly with an oceania rep/agent

Xeena' date=' I see you have booked as 'waitlisted'. If you put down your deposit, you will be priority waitlisted - did your TA or O tell you that? It's kind of like two waitlists: whose who put money down are to the top of the list, while those who don't are below those who do.

 

Better chance of clearing if you pay the deposit![/quote']

We just came back from the Riviera and were in a penthouse suite. Agree with original poster that waves was better than the Terrace. But the staff there are uninformed as very hard to get gluten free bread which is readily available in the Terrace. We were 3 couples and many times at lunch we could not find a table even though people were finished they just stayed and stayed.

As to Celebrity we stayed in a suite in the past and went to Luminae (right after it opened). We enjoyed it very much but we do not like ships with so many people on them. 1200 is the max for us. Our favorite is Seabourne!!! :)