No longer an Oceania Cheerleader

[pacheco18]

Sorry to hear u had issues on the regatta

 

As for the GDR we never eat there because the service has always been way too slow and disorganized. That is nothing new IMO

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[tallship]

This is an HR issue...

[pully8]

concerning to read about undercooked food being served, especially chicken.

the other comments about the food also sounded awful and potentially unsafe.

 

disappointing to read and will be interested in any official responses by the cruise line. nothing is perfect but food safety is important to most.

[alainciao]

We were on the same cruise with Lyn and While I'm sure her comments are valid I thought I should throw in our two cents worth. We LOVED the specialty restaurants. Every one was special. The duck and watermelon salad with the miso sea bass was fantastic. The Dover sole in Jacques fantastic. We love the ambiance of Polo, also the food. We also ate in La Reserve and I would say if you schedule the gourmet meal you have high expectations, maybe too high. We were a little disappointed there. I would recommend the discovery choice (although I didn't have it!). Service was great in all specialty restaurants. We only ate once in the GDR and it was just Ok. Terrace and waves very good, service also. No cruise is perfect but the Riviera is great!

[Aruba]

Lyn, I haven't been keeping up with CC lately so just saw your post now.

Sorry to hear of your experiences -- that's very disappointing, especially that they led you to cancel 2 reservations. :(

[LHT28]

We were on the same cruise with Lyn and While I'm sure her comments are valid I thought I should throw in our two cents worth.

 

Like I said these were OUR experiences others will have different ones

 

Glad you had no issues ...that is how it should be

 

Lyn

[LHT28]

Lyn, I haven't been keeping up with CC lately so just saw your post now.

Sorry to hear of your experiences -- that's very disappointing, especially that they led you to cancel 2 reservations. :(

 

Hi Randy

Yes very disappointing indeed

 

Hope you are both well

 

Lyn

[tvmovielover]

I have seen you posting here many times over the last year while waiting for the cruise I just got back from. You did seem to be a thoughtful cheerleader so I am sorry this cruise went bad. I believe you that you could have a bad time when everything went well for others. We had a great time and good luck on our cruise but not everybody did. Some 1st time cruisers got terrible plane connections, several people lost bags (I saw one delivered in our hall on the 3rd day) and the restaurants are a bit of crap shoot. We did okay in the GDR (2 dinners and the breakfast/brunch buffet) but the specialties varied (this was on the Marina). We got to eat twice in both Red Ginger and Toscana thanks to tips I got here and had good food both times but we saw an ignored angry table on our first night at Toscana. I would have gotten angry too. Our food at both Jacques and Polo Grill was just okay-I was disappointed in Jacques to the point of not caring if I go there on our summer cruise. The worst to me was that I met some people who were not able to get reservations at all of the specialty restaurants. Even if they did not know enough to book online before the cruise, there should have been some way to remind them when they got on board not to wait (no idea if that was the problem). As said there are inconsistencies even though they work hard to keep everyone happy.

[warburg]

I always read Lyn's posts with special attention, not because she has been an O cheerleader. Rather, I appreciate the quality of her information. Thus, it is particularly unfortunate that Lyn's experience was not to her liking.

 

These things do happen, of course. In the early 90's, we got off the Ocean Pearl in Tsingtao for a morning tour. We came back to a totally fire ravaged vessel. Next stop, an unfinished hotel in downtown Tsingtao. With a baseline like that, we are pretty easy to please.

 

Since FDR reads these posts, Lyn's will probably get his attention. I hope her 2015 cruise works out well. After our Ocean Pearl adventure, a good cruise for us is one where we get off the ship at cruise end.

[roothy123]

I read with interest the comments about the person or persons at the front desk not being friendly enough. This reminded me of a comment that was made in an evaluation of myself a very long time ago after taking training to work as a ward clerk in a hospital. The evaluator found me "disinterested" in the subject matter, stating that I never asked a question and didn't seem to be very interested in the class. I was really surprised because that was completely untrue. The training was extremely interesting and I was eager to learn - although it IS true that I asked no questions. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Sometimes people who are quiet and/or shy come across as snooty, disinterested, etc. when all they are is shy. I would guess that if there is a language barrier involved, the situation would be magnified.

 

I'm not saying that some personnel on Oceania (and on the one Celebrity cruise I took) can't possibly be snooty, uncaring, or uninterested, because unless they simply say they cannot or don't want to help me, I really have no way of knowing. I have encountered staff members on both lines I mentioned who were not bubbly and excessively friendly. However, I DO believe that just because a person isn't bubbly and almost fawning over you doesn't mean they are disinterested or uncaring.

Edited January 27, 2014 by roothy123

[Mura]

Good points, Roothy.

 

It also occurred to me in this discussion that I have never encountered rudeness or abruptness in dealing with the reception staff. Maybe I've been lucky! I'm not saying it is impossible that this happened, not at all. But I think most of the staff at the desk do their best to be polite. I have observed a few times when they really needed to be patient. (Not in dealing with ME, of course! :D)

 

But sometimes we don't get the answer we want. T And then again we never know when someone is having a really bad day and is about to lose it ... (Of course, if you are in a service position you should have been trained not to let that interfere with your dealings with the customer.)

 

I know that I would NOT do well in such a position ...

 

Mura

[CintiPam]

I too was on the same cruise as Lyn, and was very happy finally to meet in person someone whose posts have provided me with much information and insight about Oceania over the past few years. Lyn, I regret that you had such poor experiences that you have cancelled your future Oceania plans.

 

We had very different service experiences in three of the four specialty restaurants (we always have a problem or two at Toscana!), and I was very happy at what I saw as vast service improvements overall on the "O" ships since we sailed in Marina in June 2011 so soon after its debut, when there was so much training going on, particularly in the GDR.

 

Our dinner experiences were excellent on nine of the 10 nights, and husband enjoyed this cruise so much that we booked the Mayan Mystique itinerary for next January and very much look forward to our May Istanbul to Barcelona cruise.

 

I hope to write a full cruise review in the next couple of weeks, but we had excellent weather, fascinating ports (all first-time islands for us), interesting fellow passengers, wonderfully diverse age groups onboard, and a big improvement in the entertainment in the 2-1/2 years (:eek:) since we sailed on Oceania. We very much enjoyed the itineraries and friendly staff on our two more recent Azamara cruises, but we found that the public areas, accommodations and food are far superior on Oceania.

 

Note for Paulchili: evening trivia was fun and our two late-night musical trivias were the best of all! (Daytime trivia was even more ridiculously intense than usual due to the dictatorship of the CD, so we opted out.)

Edited January 28, 2014 by CintiPam

[Paulchili]

Pam,

I am glad that you enjoyed the cruise and your dining experiences.

We too enjoy the evening & musical trivias (on those nights that we manage to stay awake :D). We always do the daytime trivia as we have a commitment to our team and we take that seriously (except on those days that we have an afternoon tour, of course).

I look forward to reading your full review.

Paul

Edited January 28, 2014 by Paulchili

[cruising diva]

My husband and I were on the Riviera in Dec.2013 and also found the guest relations young woman to be rude, disinterested and difficult.We have cruised 48 times and we cancelled our 2 booked Oceania cruises.We were in an Oceania suite that had problems and prefer to spend our money elsewhere.

[MVPinBoynton]

I am really surprised that someone would cancel future cruises based on a bad experience with a guest relations person, especially if I had previously been very happy with that cruise line. One would quickly run out of cruise lines to sail on if running into a staff member on their bad day was a criteria for writing the line off. I would choose to base my future cruises based on all the positive experiences I have had with a line.

[cruisingxpert]

Quoting what you said to What a Market "but Oceania's lack of support for even scheduling a M&G was the worst ever on this cruise. First, the Executive Concierge gave me non-stop negativity about Oceania not recognizing us as a group, did not know whether he could schedule anything, etc., a litany of endless can'ts and no's that would have discouraged someone less determined than me!:). I kept repeating that we were 53 customers! Then when scheduled, Oceania did not clear any space or even move one chair in Horizons for our group nor did Oceania provide a server so we could imbibe. Then precisely one hour later, the Assistant CD physically evicted us from the room so that there would be silence for Bingo. How warm and friendly!"

 

That was my exact experience last year (March 28) trying to organize the Meet and Greet. It was my first cruise with Oceania and I had heard so many posters talk about all the great assistance they had received.

However, the cruise was still wonderful and I'm going on my 3rd cruise with them this March - same itinerary.

 

Catherine

[CintiPam]

Quoting what you said to What a Market "but Oceania's lack of support for even scheduling a M&G was the worst ever on this cruise. First, the Executive Concierge gave me non-stop negativity about Oceania not recognizing us as a group, did not know whether he could schedule anything, etc., a litany of endless can'ts and no's that would have discouraged someone less determined than me!:). I kept repeating that we were 53 customers! Then when scheduled, Oceania did not clear any space or even move one chair in Horizons for our group nor did Oceania provide a server so we could imbibe. Then precisely one hour later, the Assistant CD physically evicted us from the room so that there would be silence for Bingo. How warm and friendly!"

 

That was my exact experience last year (March 28) trying to organize the Meet and Greet. It was my first cruise with Oceania and I had heard so many posters talk about all the great assistance they had received.

However, the cruise was still wonderful and I'm going on my 3rd cruise with them this March - same itinerary.

 

Catherine

 

Catherine, in spite of this first-day bad vibe, the rest of the cruise (except for our dinner at Toscana, where either the poorly trained or under-trained servers always seem to be the "Achilles heel" of our dining experience) was so lovely that I tried to leave this first bad taste behind me.

 

Also, your post provides me with an excuse to rectify my id of the non-cooperative concierge. It was the Head Concierge, not the Executive Concierge. And (in contrast to cruising diva's experience) it was the helpful women in Guest Services on 5 who tracked him down for me so we could speak in person.

Edited January 28, 2014 by CintiPam

[RJB]

I guess you just never know from trip to trip how things will work out. We were on Marina last May/June and all was wonderful. The sea bass in Red Ginger was as good as we ever had anywhere and we found no problems anyplace else. Sometimes it is just the luck of the draw. The right GM and the right crew. :):)

[cruisingxpert]

Catherine, in spite of this first-day bad vibe, the rest of the cruise (except for our dinner at Toscana, where either the poorly trained or under-trained servers always seem to be the "Achilles heel" of our dining experience) was so lovely that I tried to leave this first bad taste behind me.

 

Also, your post provides me with an excuse to rectify my id of the non-cooperative concierge. It was the Head Concierge, not the Executive Concierge. And (in contrast to cruising diva's experience) it was the helpful women in Guest Services on 5 who tracked him down for me so we could speak in person.

 

Thanks Pam. Because of my first experience, I followed the Rheasue method this last Dec cruise and met in the Grand Bar area and didn't even talk to the Concierge. I have to say though that I prefer Horizons for the Meet and Greet.

I'm not organizing the one I'm going on in March and I'm happy not to. That said, other than coming away with the opinion that the Executive Lounge and concierges there - who never seem to be there on the hours posted - are not worth the bother, I loved the cruises and also loved the interesting people we met. That's the strange part for me. I've cruised many times on other ships but this is the first cruise line that I can say that I really felt a connection to the passengers onboard.

 

Catherine

[CintiPam]

Thanks Pam. Because of my first experience, I followed the Rheasue method this last Dec cruise and met in the Grand Bar area and didn't even talk to the Concierge. I have to say though that I prefer Horizons for the Meet and Greet.

I'm not organizing the one I'm going on in March and I'm happy not to. That said, other than coming away with the opinion that the Executive Lounge and concierges there - who never seem to be there on the hours posted - are not worth the bother, I loved the cruises and also loved the interesting people we met. That's the strange part for me. I've cruised many times on other ships but this is the first cruise line that I can say that I really felt a connection to the passengers onboard.

 

Catherine

 

I think you've hit it right on the head. Our fellow passengers are a large part of our enjoyment of this cruise line. This certainly was brought to mind on our very enjoyable 2-1/2hour jitney tour on Tortola (which LHT28 recommended to us; thanks, Lyn!), where there were four of us from Riviera and 16 from the Carnival ship also docked that day. I do not like stereotypes but the remarks made by many of the mature in years men during our tour were very inappropriate and offensive. In fairness, I should add that the one young couple on that tour from the Carnival ship directed us to a great beach on Antigua, which we would not have visited but for their excellent recommendation.

 

If I did not have such a large group, necessitating a Horizons reservation, I certainly also would have "end-rounded" the Concierge!

Edited January 28, 2014 by CintiPam

[pacheco18]

I have organized many a m&g

Concierge can only say no. The party line

If u can get an officer to support it there is a world of difference

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[keelykat]

My husband and I were on the Riviera in Dec.2013 and also found the guest relations young woman to be rude, disinterested and difficult.We have cruised 48 times and we cancelled our 2 booked Oceania cruises.We were in an Oceania suite that had problems and prefer to spend our money elsewhere.

 

I was on the 1/3/14 Riviera cruise and had to use guest relations because my entry card was not working. I had a very pleasant, very pregnant young lady who not only issued me a new card but walked me back to my cabin to make sure it worked. She did not want me to have to come back if it still was not working.

 

I found most of the crew to be friendly and efficient but did have some in the Terrace at lunch time that were not as pleasant as they could have been.

 

This was only my third Oceania cruise but I am sure it will not be my last.

 

Fran In Florida

[cruisingxpert]

Cintipam

 

What beach did they recommend in Antigua? I'm doing the same itinerary on March 28. I was hoping to do the Lobster and Champagne Catamaran but it is sold out.

 

Also, was the jitney tour a private company? Only think I've booked so far is SilverMoon Barbados Catamaran cruise with some other roll call members.

 

Catherine

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[roothy123]

Cintipam

 

What beach did they recommend in Antigua? I'm doing the same itinerary on March 28. I was hoping to do the Lobster and Champagne Catamaran but it is sold out.

 

 

Catherine

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

If the Antigua catamaran trip is an Oceania excursion, I would see if you can get on a waiting list. Then, when you board the ship, go to Destinations and make sure they know you're interested in going. That worked for me a couple years ago on the Mayan Mystique cruise (not in Antigua, though).

[cruisingxpert]

Thanks Roothy. Good to know.

 

Catherine

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD