A last note about O tours. Oceania does not run, operate or conduct any excursions. Oceania hires a local company to do all the work. Some are good, some are bad and some are the only game in small ports.
Most Oceania tours have a crew member along as an escort...simply to step in if there is an emergency and to be the eyes and ears for Oceania. Having escorted many O excursions I can tell you that there is a four page form that we fill out after every tour...from cleanliness, to audio system, to guest reactions to what worked and especially what didn't. If there is a pattern of unhappiness or poor operations then O will change operators.
It is a very dynamic field and it is always changing....operators come and go, guides come and go, passengers approve or dont....so every cruise is different. There are many threads about the pricing and you can comment and follow the debate there.
With close to a hundred excursions both as an escort and a paying guest I can truthfully say that we have had some fabulous, wonderful excursions and some dreadful ones. I suspect the same can be said for private tours. As someone said a mix of the two usually means a great cruise!
Oceania Excursions on Nautica
in Oceania Cruises
Posted
A last note about O tours. Oceania does not run, operate or conduct any excursions. Oceania hires a local company to do all the work. Some are good, some are bad and some are the only game in small ports.
Most Oceania tours have a crew member along as an escort...simply to step in if there is an emergency and to be the eyes and ears for Oceania. Having escorted many O excursions I can tell you that there is a four page form that we fill out after every tour...from cleanliness, to audio system, to guest reactions to what worked and especially what didn't. If there is a pattern of unhappiness or poor operations then O will change operators.
It is a very dynamic field and it is always changing....operators come and go, guides come and go, passengers approve or dont....so every cruise is different. There are many threads about the pricing and you can comment and follow the debate there.
With close to a hundred excursions both as an escort and a paying guest I can truthfully say that we have had some fabulous, wonderful excursions and some dreadful ones. I suspect the same can be said for private tours. As someone said a mix of the two usually means a great cruise!
Happy Cruising,
Harry