Experienced Cruiser tries Oceania for the first time

As my title suggests, I am an experienced cruiser having been on 40+ cruises. I have been on the "mainstream" ships, mostly with my kids, and the premium and luxury brands from Silver Seas and Crystal to Paul Gauguin to Celebrity and many in between. With that, I'd like to give you my perspective on Oceania first in an overview and then more specific information. I also took copies of their cruise planner called the currents and will upload them at a later time as I couldn't find any recent ones and I personally like to see them to understand what's available to do on sea days in particular.

Before I start I will say that after being on so many cruises, reading so many boards, and speaking with many fellow cruisers that so much of cruising is really a matter of personal perspective/opinion. There is no "right" answer for everyone, instead you really have to decide what is important to you, what you want in a cruise ship, and of course, price points. I have counseled many on cruises as I spend way too much time on cruise critic, and having been on almost every cruise line at this point and 40+ cruises, I do have a perspective and find it interesting how many people just want me to tell them what ship to go on and instead I ask a whole bunch of questions to try to figure out which one would be best for them. One of the things I like the best about cruising is there is something out there for everyone. There is no such thing as "just go on this ship", you really need to decide what you are looking for in choosing a line and a ship.

A perfect case in point is Paul Gauguin which I went on for the first time two years ago. It's the smallest ship I have ever been on, max 300 people and our ship had under 200. The big pros....the staff started calling every passenger on a first name basis within days, very good food, more of a luxury yacht than a cruise ship. The fellow passengers were incredibly nice, and many were die hard Paul Gauguin fans. The cons....night life consisted of dinner and going to bed for the most part, and if you are prone to sea sickness this ship is not for you. I had a friend that wanted to go on this ship badly because of all they read, but they are VERY prone to seasickness and I strongly cautioned them against it. They didn't listen to me...and you got it....they spent their entire cruise sick and nauseous. Another friend loves nightlife and things to do and decided against Paul Gauguin as clearly that wasn't a fit for them. I met people on the ship who have ONLY gone on Paul Gauguin for years and I completely understand why...they loved the personal attention, the south pacific is incredibly beautiful, alot of the same crew which they know by name and see time and again, etc,, all of which I completely get. So it really is a matter of personal taste/likes.

So first my summary of the cruise. I was on the Marina sailing of 1/22 which interestingly enough was written about by someone else. I very much enjoyed the Oceania cruise line and I would definitely go on it again.

There were pros and cons, just like there are for all cruise ships and lines, and so much of it is a matter of personal opinion and experiences. I will try to give you my views on this.

First of all, I was very intrigued to understand what "upper premium" meant. I have been on many ships defined as luxury, and some premium brands. I didn't quite get what made Oceania upper premium but not quite luxury. After being on the ship, I THINK I get the difference..but again this is personal perspective.

The biggest difference was the space per person on the ship. If you look on line, you will see these numbers and the luxury cruise lines have much more space per passenger. Did I notice this difference? Yes I did, especially on sea days when you couldn't as easily get multiple lounges by the pool, or if you went to the buffet for lunch on sea days you had difficulty finding a table if you went during prime times. Others no issues at all. It was way better than the mainstream lines and Celebrity---which all have lower space per passenger---but I don't recall having any of those issues on Silver Seas, Paul Gauguin or Crystal. A little on Regent. A part of it may be that the average age on Oceania seemed a little younger...more in the 60's on my cruise...so many more were still looking to go by the pool then a cruise where the average age was older. Again, I really only felt this on sea days...so if you go on a port intensive cruise this becomes less of an issue.

The second difference was in some service levels in the main spaces. Now don't misunderstand me here...overall I found the service on Marina to be very very good. But as the other reviewer mentioned, there were some issues in the grand dining room in particular. Conversely, the specialty restaurants probably had even better service than the luxury lines so go figure. I was in a penthouse and didn't have a good butler either, but other passengers commented that that theirs was very good, so I just think I received a subpar one, and it wasn't a reflection on the whole line.

The third difference is the luxury lines try to have all inclusive...including drinks and excursions. Oceania does not include alcohol or excursions. personally, I prefer this as I do not drink alcohol and I prefer to book my own excursions, not through a cruise line. I will say that I did not feel nickel and dimed AT ALL on Oceania. Walking off of the ship they had bottles of water(all free) readily available. If I ordered any non alcoholic drink in a bar or wherever all free. Free coffee at Baristas(good too I might add). My bill at the end consisted of gratuities(not included on Oceania vs lux too), spa appts, some laundry and some drinks my spouse had. That was it.

Other then that, I have to say the ship itself was beautiful. It was refurbed in 2016 and it looked fantastic. I would compare the furnishings and the ship itself to most of luxury lines in a heartbeat. I was surprised that I didn't see any part of the ship showing any kind of wear. Having four choices of restaurants and the ability to get at least one reservation in each and more while on ship was very nice. The food in the specialty restaurants was as good as any of the luxury lines. Oceania likes to think of itself as a "foodie" line. This one is especially subjective. Like every cruise line, there were hits and misses, way more hits happy to say. I would say they are in the same league as the luxury lines for quality of food, not better or worse. But where they are clearly better is in choices of entrees and food. With four specialty restaurants, plus a grand dining room and 2 casual venues, there were lots of options and the menus in each were nice sized. The ship is a bit larger than most of the luxury line fleets so that helps them there

Other big positives about Oceania Marina to me:

1) Tea Time at 4 pm in Horizons. I go to tea time on every ship. I love scones, tea, and everything involved. Oceania's tea time was especially good. The scones were very good, the service came RIGHT over to you and brought you tea, hot water, and there were servers with food. There was also a table you could go to and have them serve you food while a string quartet played. VERY nice,...nicer still that it followed Oceania's policy of country club casual so you could go in shorts. The changed the sandwiches and sweets every day, and the food there was EXCEPTIONALLY good. I would actually say they had my favorite tea time on any ship, and I would give them all high marks on that one, Oceania just edged out.

2) Country Club Casual. This should be #1 lol. I loved dressing how ever I wanted to every night. You just couldn't wear shorts at dinner except in the buffet. This was especially nice. There were some people dressed in cocktail attire, some more casual, no one cared and you could dress how you want when you wanted to.

3) Four specialty restaurants each with good food and fantastic service. I see people ranking these four all the time, and that's really a personal opinion of course. I had dinner with 4 to 8 people each night. Each specialty restaurant had food people thought was outstanding and others that were just ok. Nothing bad.

4) My room...the penthouse was VERY nice. Really pretty perfect. The bedding was great. You can buy it afterwards for many thousands lol! 1000 count sheets, great duvet and mattress, etc,,. Bulgari bath products. Two things I'd change...for a room with great bedding, I was surprised that the towels were not nicer. They were that ribbed towel. THey were ok, but not more Second one is VERY personal opinion and it's interesting because there's a thread now in Oceania about the tubs in the penthouse bathrooms being removed in their smaller ships. While the showers were not small, they were just adequate. My room had a big tub in it that was never used and personally I'd prefer a larger shower. Maybe they should offer the choice of some rooms with tubs and some with larger showers to appeal to more lol? Didn't love two chairs and a table at the foot of the bed, but that's nit picky. CLoset was very nice and large, umbrella, shoe horn and numerous little items. Laptop for your use in the room. Good and recent movies and tv shows believe it or not readily available for no fee. The list goes on and on, lots of little things. Fridge with your favorite drinks refilled free of charge.

5) Cooking classes. So for full disclosure I am not a cook. I took a class with other people. The resident chef was fantastic. Over 2 hours and I was very interested the whole time. He was just very good. There is also an artists loft but I didn't go there

6) Gym Very nice. A unit with all kinds of cold drinks readily available. The treadmill had tv, radio and even games on it to keep you distracted. Full floor to ceiling windows with great views of the ocean. I think the nicest of any lux ship I'd been on.

7) No nickel and diming, I know I said this before, but have to say this again. I really liked that. I was concerned that since not a 'luxury" line it would be more like Celebrity with the nickel and diming and it definitely was not.

So why would I go on Oceania again? For me, I prefer to do my own excursions and paying for alcohol I am not going to consumer is not on the top of my to do list lol. The extra money can go to penthouse suite for some perks, and as long as it was a port intensive cruise I'd go.

Are there other drawbacks? Of course there are. Entertainment isn't great, but I'd compare them to other luxury lines there. Too many old shows and older entertainers. There wasn't a comedian. Their singers and dancers were actually very talented, but doing a show dedicated to Peggy Lee is too old fashioned. Not as much to do on sea days as on a larger ship, and the place with live music after 10 30 was always empty. But again, typical things on the smaller more adult oriented cruises

I will post more later...and try to include the currents as I have a business appt to get to right now, I am in my 50's, not retired as an aside. As always on these boards, feel free to post any questions.

Thanks for your very well written balanced review.

I agree with most -- especially the space/guest ratio. That is our one negative of the O class ships and why we prefer the R class (smaller) ships.

As far as comedians -- I have never seen a good comedian onboard any cruise ship ( I am sure I will be flamed) -- :D. O usually has them too (also bad). Yes the GDR service has always been spotty. On our long cruises we tend to eat there the first 4 days and try to find a good pair (waiter and assist) and then ask to be seated again in the their area on remaining nights.

Thanks for sharing

Our very favorite line. Going on our 21s cruise next month with three more booked. The ship is our destination. Neither of us do sun any more so we find one of the several 'quiet' places to read (me) watch DVD (DH) and just relax. We had friends one trip with us and their comment after we disembarked was "thanks for taking us to so many 5 Star restaurants". What is so special that after several cruises staff recognizes you and always give you a big welcome.

Love that Oceania!

Thank you for taking the time to write such a comprehensive and balanced review.

We rarely have dinner in the MDR on O class ships for a number of reasons - service being one of them.

So many other choices for us for dinner. We don't mind an occasional dinner there with friends or a breakfast/lunch.

Thank you for your review. I agree that it is better for us to not buy the drink pkg and plan our own excursions. I had a terrible experience on a RCCL ship's excursion and had to fight to get a refund. The first night of our Riviera cruise we ate in the GDR. Service was very slow and we never went back for dinner. Keep posting. We love reading your thoughts!

Too funny --I too am not a fan of ribbed towels and wash cloths

It must be just me and you LOL

Thank you for posting an interesting and comprehensive review. 'O' is a good fit for us for one of the reasons you identified.....I do not drink alcohol and my DW only a small amount. My drink before dinner is a virgin mary and not surprisingly is easily remembered in the restaurants and bars....lol

'O' is a good fit for us for one of the reasons you identified.....I do not drink alcohol and my DW only a small amount.

+1

Also, don't forget the country club casual dress code and the great choices and quality of food (also included by OP) :D

+1

Also, don't forget the country club casual dress code and the great choices and quality of food (also included by OP) :D

Definitely. Without doubt.

Thank you all for your positive feedback, and thanks also for giving me some nice chuckles(especially Gina and Globe)

I was actually describing my cruise to someone at work today and I forgot one point that I thought was huge on the cruise so my apologies.

At the buffet, it is not serve yourself they serve you. That, in and of itself, is not that unusual(though many luxury cruise lines don't do this consistently) but what I thought was the HUGE difference is that for breakfast you don't have the chafing dishes with soggy french toast, waffles or pancakes. Instead you order what you like and they cook it for you FRESH to your specifications. Not just eggs/omelettes, but all the syrupy food among other things. This takes all of a few minutes but man was it worth it.

I thought this was a very nice touch. Had breakfast twice in the Grand Dining room, similar to dinner wouldn't recommend for some service issues. But the Terrace cafe was consistently good. I also like it windy, so we sat outside on the terrace no matter what and that was VERY nice to be able to be outside with an overhang.

I have posted the first days current with this post. I have to post them one day at a time, hopefully it comes through. If not I will try again...will try to post more tomorrow. They went through happy to say, but apparently I'm not an experienced scanner as upside down my apologies lol!

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Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed review AND scan recent Currents from your trip. O is luxe enough for us though we do enjoy reading comparisons to other lines. Maybe someday PG....?

What a great report, nice going.

Thank you all for your feedback. Attached is the currents from day 2, which was a sea day. Queen, the PG and French Polynesia are a fantastic combo. It's what they do best. Bora Bora, Moorea, and the other islands are some of the most beautiful secluded places in the world. I would highly recommend it. My only advice about Paul Gauguin....it's a very special small cruise ship/yacht type of experience with great staff, food and fellow guests. But if you are someone who is prone to sea sickness this is NOT the ship for you. Over 40 cruises and the only ship my spouse was ever nauseous on was this one. Also, be prepared to watch movies in your room at night if you don't go to sleep by 9:30. Most go to bed early, and the "entertainment" on the ship is practically non existent. As long as those two things aren't non starters for you, I say go for it! They have specials all the time btw....

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Day 3 cruise currents. Sorry I have to upload one page at a time or cruise critic doesn't take them, file too big. Reminder that this day was supposed to be a day at Grand Cayman but due to inclemental weather became a sea day instead. Tonight's broadway show was easily the best of the group...containing music from shows less than 30 years old lol. I went to Karoake at 10 30 for some laughs. Maybe 30 people and ended early as not enough singers. The show ended at 10 30 though, and as is par for the course, most people went to sleep right after that(or after their dinner)

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Day 4---Cozumel. We were supposed to get into port late, but ended up getting in the night before as day 3 became a sea day, It was only a one page currents, so I included the last page so you could get an idea of what dining venues were open for lunch and breakfast on a port day.

Somewhat reluctantly, I will share what I did in Cozumel. I go to a private day resort called Nachi Cocum. I have been there at least 6 times. As I said about cruises, this one is a matter of personal taste. Is the beach that nice? No not really. I don't think Cozumel beaches are that nice overall but this one is more "stony". So why do I love it? because for me, an ideal day is being somewhere that is very private, with great facilities and food and QUIET. This place has all of that. Nachi Cocom is it. They only allow 100 people in per day, and believe me the place is much larger to serve more than that. The cost is $59.99 per day and that includes food and unlimited drinks(and their drinks are not watered down). You get assigned a waiter who will place you on the beach under a thatched umbrella with lounge chairs and bring you drinks, even food if you like. The place has a huge pool with a swim up bar, a hot tub, a bar on the beach, and probably best of all massages on the beach for $70 for an hour by two ladies who give a FANTASTIC deep tissue/sports massage. You can have lunch brought to you on the beach, or go to their huge completely shaded dining area right by the beach with beautiful views. Their food is VERY good btw....the fajitas especially. We had a night in port, and a friend had recommended Pepe's. All I can say is wow Fantastic meal. I was very surprised and if you have a night in Cozumel to grab dinner, seriously consider this one.

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Thanks for reminding me of NachiCocom! My sister and I found it on line several years ago and have been there twice when we were in Cozumel, and will go again whenever we are again in Cozumel. What a great place to relax on the beach without hawkers pestering you ten times each - just say 'no thank you' once, and they don't stop by again.

Yes the food is great as is the pool and bar service! It's a keeper, that's for sure!

Donna

Thank you all for your feedback. Attached is the currents from day 2, which was a sea day. Queen, the PG and French Polynesia are a fantastic combo. It's what they do best. Bora Bora, Moorea, and the other islands are some of the most beautiful secluded places in the world. I would highly recommend it. My only advice about Paul Gauguin....it's a very special small cruise ship/yacht type of experience with great staff, food and fellow guests. But if you are someone who is prone to sea sickness this is NOT the ship for you. Over 40 cruises and the only ship my spouse was ever nauseous on was this one. Also, be prepared to watch movies in your room at night if you don't go to sleep by 9:30. Most go to bed early, and the "entertainment" on the ship is practically non existent. As long as those two things aren't non starters for you, I say go for it! They have specials all the time btw....

Having spent a lot of time in the tropics and Tahiti, I can tell you the 2 largest advantages of the Paul Gaugin are its water sports platform and activites and being on it at night

Being off an island at night in the tropics is a blessing. If you were ever foolish enough to walk the sandy beaches in Tahiti you will know what I mean...its feeding time for the no-eeeums... and mosquito's too. On the ship you are safe and happy free from nursing a thousand bites . During the day your a visitor...at night your a menu item.

And finally the food on any ship in Tahiti is 5 times better than any land eatery and the service 10-20x better....

Very good point Dan. Since this wasn't a Paul Gauguin or South pacific thread I didn't want to go off about those things in particular but I want to add to what you said. We stayed for four nights in an over the water hut after our cruise. Again this one is purely personal, but I would much prefer a cruise. It was a great experience and checked something off of our bucket list staying in that hut though. Dan's mention of the bugs was certainly a part of why we preferred a cruise, but a hotel is also much more money, the food and service was better on the ship I agree and each of the resorts are more or less on an island by themselves where you are kind of "stuck". Sure you can get off and on, but each one is by boat and takes quite some time. Then at night they are very quiet and you are a meal. That said, I read a lot on the boards about that and found a bug spray that really worked on our trips....Bugg Spray original clean scent. it has a pleasant vanilla scent and kept the bugs off of us as we watched others get bit, including during the day. It does have a higher percentage of deet so for those who that is a no no for, be advised. I would suggest reading through the PG board to really get a feel for those ships rather than my going into details here for anyone interested in that ship. I will add while I loved Bora Bora and Moorea, taking Ato's private Blue Lagoon Tour in Fakarava, a small remote island, was literally one of the best day's of my life. Again, not for someone who is prone to sea sickness in any way.

My only advice about Paul Gauguin....it's a very special small cruise ship/yacht type of experience with great staff, food and fellow guests. But if you are someone who is prone to sea sickness this is NOT the ship for you.

With all due respect, that would not be unexpected in those waters on a ship with a draft of less than 17 feet.

Completely agreed. But for some reason many think that in that part of the world waters are calmer or don't get it. As you saw in my initial post I had a friend who wanted the experience so bad they thought they could handle it and they were quickly corrected.

Here is Day 5---Costa Maya, We took a private tour to the Dzibanche and Kohunlich ruins with Native Tours. I would highly recommend this company though it's a few blocks walk from the pier. These two are a longer day with an hour and a half travel time on buses, but a bit more to see.

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With all due respect, that would not be unexpected in those waters on a ship with a draft of less than 17 feet.

Draft has absolutely nothing to do with stability

The Queen Mary of 1939 drew 40 feet fully loaded and they say that she could "rock the milk out of a cup of tea"...even AFTER her stabilizers were installed.

Day 6---Roatan. I've been here before. The cruise lines all do excursions to Big French Key which has one open beach. I have gone to Little French Key twice now. There is a reason that one is ranked #1 on Trip Advisor and Big French Key is rated #51 lol. Check out the reviews for yourself. They two islands face each other and there are always some people who try to go from Big French Key to Little French Key simply because the latter has more nooks and crannies to go to, and I am told is much better. It's enjoyable day, but if a lot of cruise ships in port can get more crowded. Otherwise it's very nice if you're a beach person. ALmost did Daniels which I was told by others on my cruise was also nice, but that's just seeing animals for the most part as I understand it.

Day 7---Guatemala. Apparently there are two ports in Guatemala and we went to the one that only has cruise ships a few times per week. As a result of which you have smaller tour operators. I am the type that books everything well in advance. This is the one excursion I didn't do that on, as all of the reviews pointed to Go With Gus as "THE" tour operator to go with. I emailed him from addresses I found on Cruise critic, through his website, etc, literally over 10 times in 3 months and no response. I was debating between doing a ship excursion or Happy Fish and decided on the latter. It was the only port day we did not enjoy.

The excursion was to be of the Guatemala countryside where you travel by boat mostly to see various sites and get a real taste of the country. This concept appealed to me, and I will say I appreciated. What really ruined the tour, for me, was we ended up with "The Jerk" on the tour. You know the guy(it's almost always a guy, I'm a guy so not being sexist) who has absolutely no regard for his fellow passengers, delays every stop, and many times makes you miss a part of the tour. Unfortunately, our tour guide was a VERY nice and affable young man, who just wanted to please all and would never push someone along, something I don't blame him for per se though others have pointed out to me ultimately that is his job. I will spare you the gory details, but suffice to say every stop was made longer due to this guy, we got back over an hour late, missed some things, etc,,. The kicker was when we went to visit a small village and the guide told us not to walk up to see the school as it's a 20 minute walk back and forth and we had to leave in 20 minutes. The Jerk promptly goes to the school, and when we remind him we don't have the time his response is "I'll be quick". Of course, everyone was sitting on the shore waiting for his return for about 40 minutes just standing around. Or was the kicker his ordering a special dessert and drink at our lunch place when everyone was done and just waiting for him? Hmmm...the list goes on lol. Unfortunately I know a lot of you know just what I mean. One of the many reasons I prefer to take smaller and private tours which often times are no more expensive. I will say Oceania's tours are very overpriced, but that's been mentioned 100 times before on these boards which is why I went with Happy Fish instead. I would highly recommend Go With Gus if you can get him, he was not open during our stay though a return email would have been nice. If you read his reviews you'll see why people say they love him so much.

The currents didn't seem to attach to the last two, so here they are hopefully

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