A Quick Review of Our First Oceania Cruise

We were on the Riveria from 1/23 to 2/1 in a PH midship. We loved some things, others not so much.

We were lucky enough to get 8 of 10 nights in the Specialty Restaurants, two in each with a table for 2 each time. The food was wonderful with Red Ginger and its sea bass dish being outstanding. Absolutely no complaints about these dining spots. We ate twice in the MDR and thought the experience was no better than Celebrity. In no venue did we find the experience to be the 2 hour+ extra special dining experience I've often read about here on CC.

We thought the Terrace was pretty bad. The buffet was crowded, confusing and with limited selections. The tables outside were on top of one another and it was noisy. We opted instead for Waves during breakfast and lunch.

Our PH was very nice and was midship. Unfortunately, we found our butler to be beyond annoying to the point we simply stopped ordering late afternoon canapés and putting the do not disturb sign out when we were in our cabin. But alas, that didn't stop him from knocking anyway. Ugh

The entertainment was just okay but we did love the string quartet both at tea and occasionally pre-dinner concert. The piano player in the Martini Bar was dreadful often not hitting notes during his vocals. A few main theater shows were decent but others not so much. Our cruise director was very talented and we caught him singing at a few late nights at Horizons and really enjoyed him. Oceania if they want to attract a younger audience really needs to move out of the 40s and early 50s music theme.

We bought the Prestige Package and it was nice as it was convenient but expensive, probably wouldn't do it again.

The internet included was less than stellar.

I can't comment about the pool as we never spend time on a cruise at this location.

Would we cruise Oceania again, maybe, but not at the price point of this cruise. The difference we paid on Riviera vs a suite with many more perks on Celebrity was staggering, and the fabulous food in the Specialty Restaurants on Oceania can't make up for the extra thousands of dollars.

I've very often posted here that if you can live with what the Mass Market lines are offering, then you're crazy to pay Oceania prices.

Enjoy Celebrity for as long as you are able.

We didn't leave HAL until standards started falling faster than we could lower our expectations.

Oville,

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.

You did what everyone should do - try a new line for yourself, rather than simply rely on others opinion, and afterwards you and only you can best make a decision whether the new line is a good fit for you or not. We will be doing that with Crystal next year.

I am sorry to hear that it was not a good fit for you.

Enjoy your future cruises, wherever they may be.

I've very often posted here that if you can live with what the Mass Market lines are offering, then you're crazy to pay Oceania prices.

Enjoy Celebrity for as long as you are able.

We didn't leave HAL until standards started falling faster than we could lower our expectations.

First off I don't think HAL has quite the Suites' experience as Celebrity does. We've taken 2 Hal cruises in suites within the last year and a half.

On our Oceania cruise I read 5 books, four a I can't recommend enough:

The Little Red Chairs, Edna O'Brien

the association of small bombs, Karen Mahajan

The Vegetarian, Han Kangaroo

The Retun, Hisham Matar

Perhaps had we not sailed in a suite (and from what I've read here, the price for cabins below suites are more in line with Celebrity prices) we wouldn't have made the same comparisons. Our preference however is to travel in a suite.

Oville,

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.

You did what everyone should do - try a new line for yourself, rather than simply rely on others opinion, and afterwards you and only you can best make a decision whether the new line is a good fit for you or not. We will be doing that with Crystal next year.

I am sorry to hear that it was not a good fit for you.

Enjoy your future cruises, wherever they may be.

Thanks, we still have an O cruise booked in December, same cabin. Time will tell if we keep it.

We didn't hate our cruise but we were a bit disappointed.

Cruise experiences are definitely a personal choice. On our first cruise on Celebrity, we fell in love with the line. Had a standard verandah cabin, did traditional dining, loved our dining companions, had a superb waiter and enjoyed Alaska.

Our second Celebrity cruise we had a sky suite. Loved the spaciousness of it, but the location was bad. It was under the Lido and had a lot of night time noise which made it hard for my DH to sleep. Long story short, we proved the noise issue to the staff by a video camera and we were offered a partial credit on the next cruise.

The next cruise had a disastrous start because they fouled up the time for embarkation (not due to inspections or any other emergency) and ship boarding didn't begin until 7 pm. Lots of annoyed guests, but because of CC we knew not to arrive until 8 pm. It went downhill from there. The only bright spot in that cruise was our itinerary and the fact that our first waiter, was now the head waiter. He remembered us (and our glowing recommendation) and secured us a wonderful table for two in what we considered was the best table in the MDR. However, that wasn't enough for us to try Celebrity again.

One of the best cruises we've ever been on was an inaugural cruise on an NCL ship. Crab, lobster, and caviar were free flowing. We had a fantastic suite and a stellar room steward. However, we've never been back on NCL again after hearing others complain about how they were 'nickled and dimed' to death.

Over many years we have experienced about 10 cruiselines. However, over the last five years we have done HAL 15 times, Oceania 2 with another coming up in April, Seabourn once and Celebrity once. Celebrity was the only one we disliked and will not be repeating. Seabourn was an experience but would not pay that amount for a cruise again particularly as we did not rate the food highly. Seabourn I think is only good if you are drinkers which in our case is only a couple of glasses of wine per day.

Oceania - twice on Riviera was good except I did not feel it had a friendly ambience, staff or crew, indeed often felt you were on the Marie Celeste. We are doing a section of the world cruise on Insignia in April so this may change our mind.

As you gather from above we love HAL. There is a very good ambience and I feel that the crew, though having to work harder give really excellent service. On Seabourn and Oceania the service is usually good, but on HAL the crew don't just do a good job but really give the impression they enjoy their jobs.

A good thing we are all different really.

On the subject of preferred (or "best") cruise lines there are probably as many different answers as there are posters on that subject (limited only by the number of cruise lines currently in business :D)

Obviously, there is not one single correct answer to this subjective question. The best answer, IMO, is that the cruise line that suits one's needs best should be the cruise line of choice for that person. That can be a different cruise line for each of us.

It's wonderful to have all those great choices for all of us.

Happy cruising to all.

Very good points and thank god we are all different and want different things. But I would add that experiences on the same cruise ships can vary tremendously. There are so many things that can impact someone's impression of a cruise line or their individual cruise that vary. For instance, the actual people and demographics on a cruise can change sailing to sailing. The seas and how rough or calm things are. There are a lot of crew on a ship, and each passenger only interact with a finite number of them so it depends alot on who you are lucky(or unlucky) enough to get. Food quality/taste for what you order as there are always better items on a menu, and items not as good. You get the drift. We've all heard people describe an experience that is so radically different than what we saw...and so many things could have caused those differences. After 40+ cruises, I have seen this time and again.

On the subject of preferred (or "best") cruise lines there are probably as many different answers as there are posters on that subject (limited only by the number of cruise lines currently in business :D)

Obviously, there is not one single correct answer to this subjective question. The best answer, IMO, is that the cruise line that suits one's needs best should be the cruise line of choice for that person. That can be a different cruise line for each of us.

It's wonderful to have all those great choices for all of us.

Happy cruising to all.

I agree

well said Paul

Thanks for the balanced review.

That's great that you got to enjoy the specialties on so many evenings.

I also prefer to do breakfast and lunch at Waves.

We've only done two Oceania and love the casual feel and the PH cabins are really comfortable. But I have never enjoyed the butler experience and both times found them to be minimally competent and more of an intrusion than a benefit.

I wish there was a way to enjoy a PH cabin but without the butler.

Very good points and thank god we are all different and want different things. But I would add that experiences on the same cruise ships can vary tremendously. There are so many things that can impact someone's impression of a cruise line or their individual cruise that vary. For instance, the actual people and demographics on a cruise can change sailing to sailing. The seas and how rough or calm things are. There are a lot of crew on a ship, and each passenger only interact with a finite number of them so it depends alot on who you are lucky(or unlucky) enough to get. Food quality/taste for what you order as there are always better items on a menu, and items not as good. You get the drift. We've all heard people describe an experience that is so radically different than what we saw...and so many things could have caused those differences. After 40+ cruises, I have seen this time and again.

Very good points.

We just spent two weeks on a top suite on celebrity. We are elite so the perks are amazing. Everything included We mostly sail Oceania and are adding seabourn and crystal but for the Caribbean we often choose celebrity. In the past the suite experience had been fabulous. Not this time. Our butler was merely ok. The food and service in luminae is as good as anything on o but I think we are done with celebrity in the Caribbean. This was a b2b and the demographic was not to our liking.

We have had much more positive experiences on celebrity in exotic locales. We have one more booked with 3 other "o" couples Tokyo to Shanghai. Itinerary is fabulous. After that not sure we will sail celebrity again

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Nothing in the review about several other amenities we greatly enjoyed on Riviera. La Reserve's top gourmet menu, the cooking classes, the art classes, the world-class spa facilities, the espresso bar, our favorite 18-hole putting course. We also loved the PH suite, which we prefer over the PHs on the new Regent Explorer.

I don't think you can compare Oceania with any Celebrity cruise no matter how nice the suite. But I do agree with the OP that the MDR is a place to avoid unless you like catering halls which it reminds me of. And imo once you pay the price for a PH on O plus all the extra it's more expensive than luxury lines. Still a great cruise line.

I don't think you can compare Oceania with any Celebrity cruise no matter how nice the suite. But I do agree with the OP that the MDR is a place to avoid unless you like catering halls which it reminds me of. And imo once you pay the price for a PH on O plus all the extra it's more expensive than luxury lines. Still a great cruise line.

I agree! How can you compare a Celebrity mass market ship with 3000 people compared to 1200 on Riviera/Marina?!!? It's a completely different experience! Also, this is the first time I have ever heard someone say that the Terrace was "pretty bad." Celebrity buffets are beyond crowded!

I can compare easily to the larger o ships which we do not prefer. Too many people compared to r ships Seabourn with only 450 even better

The suite experience on celebrity creates a cruise within a cruise. The private dining in luminae is as good as O. Michaels club is a private bar for suite guests. There are lots of perks. Priority tendering, free dry cleaning, free luggage valet (luggage shipped directly from ship to ur home airport) You can easily avoid the crowds.

We never eat in gdr on o. Agree. A place to avoid under most circumstances

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We just spent two weeks on a top suite on celebrity. We are elite so the perks are amazing. Everything included We mostly sail Oceania and are adding seabourn and crystal but for the Caribbean we often choose celebrity. In the past the suite experience had been fabulous. Not this time. Our butler was merely ok. The food and service in luminae is as good as anything on o but I think we are done with celebrity in the Caribbean. This was a b2b and the demographic was not to our liking.

 

We have had much more positive experiences on celebrity in exotic locales. We have one more booked with 3 other "o" couples Tokyo to Shanghai. Itinerary is fabulous. After that not sure we will sail celebrity again

 

 

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

It's true you like cruise ship for what they offer-some likes and some dislikes. We've had 8 cruises on "O", 2 on SilverSeas and 4 on Seadreams.

They all are good but offer something special-just depends how special it is for you. We're going to try Regent now, booked the Grand

Suite on 2 cruises. Well we back on "O", most likely, on SilverSeas, no, on DeaDreams, yes and on Regent we'll have to wait and see. But you should pick a cruise for the things you enjoy, not what someone else enjoys, only you............

I agree! How can you compare a Celebrity mass market ship with 3000 people compared to 1200 on Riviera/Marina?!!? It's a completely different experience! Also, this is the first time I have ever heard someone say that the Terrace was "pretty bad." Celebrity buffets are beyond crowded!

Sorry, never on any other cruiseline have we experienced the crowding, loudness and rudeness that happened the few times we ate in the Terrace.

I thought I gave a pretty balance review of our cruise, what a shame your response to it had to be so petty.

Don't be put off by one snarky response. One of the reasons we prefer the r ships is that we find terrace on larger ships too crowded. And every cruise is different.

Your review was very balanced and fair

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Sorry, never on any other cruiseline have we experienced the crowding, loudness and rudeness that happened the few times we ate in the Terrace.

 

I thought I gave a pretty balance review of our cruise, what a shame your response to it had to be so petty.

We have never been on Celebrity but have sailed O 9 times, Viking Oceans and Azamara and have to agree with poster on the Terrace Cafe. We make it a point not to eat there because of the crowds and elbowing. It is our last choice option besides dining in your cabin.

Don't be put off by one snarky response. One of the reasons we prefer the r ships is that we find terrace on larger ships too crowded. And every cruise is different.

 

Your review was very balanced and fair

 

 

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Completely agree. Been on a couple of Celebrity's that had very rude and pushy people, and been on a couple of O's in the Caribbean (on Riviera), that were the same - (not only in the buffets). Likewise, we prefer the smaller R ships (Regatta is our favorite), for the same reason. I think it's the balance of the people onboard, no matter which cruise line you are on. Agree that Luminae is as good or better than some on O. But YMMV. We chose on itinerary, not loyal to one line or another. Thanks to the OP for their review.

Im so impressed by the OP..great and balanced review..I also love the fact that everyone but one poster understands that everyone has different opinions on all ships..I have traveled over 30 times on Oceania and find each trip different..I also find ships have their own personality..

I have been on NCL several times since the purchase and really enjoyed it..also have been on Celebrity and Regent Explorer which was the absolute top!!

I have bookings on another O, a Seabourn and an another NCL..

Looking forward to all..truthfully I have only had one bad cruise and that was NCL 25 years ago..

Jancruz1

Sorry, never on any other cruiseline have we experienced the crowding, loudness and rudeness that happened the few times we ate in the Terrace.

 

I thought I gave a pretty balance review of our cruise, what a shame your response to it had to be so petty.

Didn't mean to be petty, apologies. I'm like a kid at Terrace....can't get enough! :)

Hope you'll try Oceania again!