My first Oceania experience - but not my last !

[canuck.qc]

Was taught at an early age that a tip was always provided to show appreciation for excellent service. Providing the tip ahead of time seems like a bribe in advance similar to "greasing ones palms" as some people do in restaurants and the like in advance to move ahead on the wait list.

 

Sorry guys but, that is gauche and IMHO something that should never be done. Perhaps it is the accepted way of "buying" excellent service in the NE however, most people don't pay in advance for service or anything else.

 

Sometimes people paying in advance are categorized as "suckers" as they pay for something that they never get. Butlers as well as other "service" people who get tipped need to earn their tips and not get paid in advance whereby they don't need to earn their tips.

I agree 100%.

Flashing cash in advance gives the impression of a bribe...some passengers use this method to 'distinguish' themselves. Service people can play the same game...a type of pay for performance. Paying in advance works both ways, IMO more negative!

[vistaman]

I wish my French or Belgian were as good as yours but what is "stacky"?

sorry - but english is only my 3rd language

i put together : sticky and tacky:eek:

well i am a single and i am really not calling often for cabin breakfast, meals ... well this cruise not even one meal.

he kept on suggesting to serve items every day again and again ...

[orchestrapal]

sorry - but english is only my 3rd language

i put together : sticky and tacky:eek:

well i am a single and i am really not calling often for cabin breakfast, meals ... well this cruise not even one meal.

he kept on suggesting to serve items every day again and again ...

 

Love that combination!:)

[cruisingxpert]

Thank you for your review. I absolutely loved the youtube videos. Thank you so much for posting these; it makes me want to get there faster.

 

Catherine

[pacheco18]

Was taught at an early age that a tip was always provided to show appreciation for excellent service. Providing the tip ahead of time seems like a bribe in advance similar to "greasing ones palms" as some people do in restaurants and the like in advance to move ahead on the wait list.

 

Sorry guys but, that is gauche and IMHO something that should never be done. Perhaps it is the accepted way of "buying" excellent service in the NE however, most people don't pay in advance for service or anything else.

 

Sometimes people paying in advance are categorized as "suckers" as they pay for something that they never get. Butlers as well as other "service" people who get tipped need to earn their tips and not get paid in advance whereby they don't need to earn their tips.

 

Agree completely. A tip is for service rendered, not for future service. Gauche is a good way to describe the practice of greasing the butlers palm in advance. A tip is earned

[orchestrapal]

Agree completely. A tip is for service rendered, not for future service. Gauche is a good way to describe the practice of greasing the butlers palm in advance. A tip is earned

 

+1 We have never tipped a butler in advance and have always had amazing service from all of our butlers on O.

[computerworks]

Turning Tony's Review thread into a tipping duel is also "gauche" :cool:

[CintiPam]

I highly recommend Tony's youtube travel videos to all of you. They provide both a lot of practical and historical information in a lovely package and often have helped in my travel planning over the past few years.

[Mura]

well i am a single and i am really not calling often for cabin breakfast, meals ... well this cruise not even one meal.

he kept on suggesting to serve items every day again and again ...

 

 

Vistaman, obviously his frequent suggestions irritated you. But from his side, maybe he just wanted to be doing SOMETHING. I also recall one time when my husband asked the cabin stewardess NOT to tuck in the sheets and she said her supervisor would give her demerits if she did so. There could be something like that going on with the butlers as well.

 

I have occasionally seen complaints about butlers who haven't been cooperative but it's quite rare. I know that when we first had butlers we were like you, and just didn't use them. My recollection is that we were never pressured by those butlers to do *something* for us but it was quite a while ago. We've learned to appreciate what they do for us. (Can we live without them? Sure!)

 

I'm not trying to change your mind about your opinion of Oceania. Clearly you weren't happy with your cruise. I do remain a cheerleader (pretty much, but I can see warts where they exist). But that doesn't mean I cannot accept that someone found Oceania wanting.

 

Mura

[BuckeyeCruiser]

I'd just be happy to be able to afford a cabin/suite with a butler let alone worry about the tip:)

[Mura]

Point well taken!

 

M

[traveler916]

Repeat Butlers already know our tipping habits.

 

Truer words were never spoken :)

 

We are hoping to get one of our "old" butlers on our next TA cruise...and the one after that

[traveler916]

After 6 very enjoyable cruises with HAL (my only previous cruise line) I was onboard the Marina from Barcelona - Rome in October. I had heard great things about O, especially the food.

 

Overall it was a wonderful experience and the food was every bit as good as I'd hoped. As a first-timer in the lowest level of cabin (on floor 7) I was allowed just one night at each of the 4 speciality restaurants, but out of 10 nights that was not bad at all. I thought Red Ginger was easily the best of them, but the other 3 are very good too.

 

We split our remaining 6 nights equally between the Grand Dining Room and The Terrace, which says how nice the Terrace was. Being self service it's obviously a much less leisurely affair than having a waiter bring your 4 courses in the GDR, but there's an enormous choice of cold buffet and hot food, as well as the grill, where lobster tails, fillet steak, lamb chops and a stir-fry are available on demand. Must mention the desserts too - very often they look great but taste disappointing. I won't say this wasn't the occasionally case but more often than not they were very good or even superb. The Terrace serves until 9 pm, which was ideal on those occasions when we didn't get back until 7.30 as it allows time to get ready, have a lovely meal and be available see the 9.45 pm show.

 

Oceania are reputed to spend more per head on food than anyone and I can believe it. The daily afternoon tea in the Horizons lounge is a sight to behold - and taste, and you will travel a long way (and probably be unsuccessful) in seeking better burgers than those served at the Waves Grill. Complimentary soft drinks/mixers are a nice touch too, as was the barista counter.

 

I'd heard indifferent reports about the entertainment but it was fine, in the single-level theatre. There's no state-of-the-art stage with moving parts, so no Vegas-style productions but I thoroughly enjoyed every show. If you are booked into a speciality restaurant you may not be able to attend, not that this was any real concern to me, as food must take precedence every time :)

 

We went to the usual 'Name that Tune' sessions (and won 12 O points, which I redeemed for a nice T-shirt) which were good spirited fun. There would have been several similar 'contests' but the port days were intensive - just one sea day at the end of the cruise - and staying up beyond 11 pm was not an option.

 

The ship itself, being around 2 years old, was gloriously and immaculately elegant and the bed linen something I shall long recall. The library was fabulous, and the beds around the pool extremely comfortable.

 

The service was as good as HAL's i.e. as close to faultless are you'll get. Everyone seemed to be doing their utmost to ensure we had a good time, and the tendering process went smoothly.

 

Suffice to say I'm a convert and look forward to the next time I cruise with Oceania, and there most certainly will be a next time !

 

I didn't take any of the ships excursions, as they were very expensive and our itinerary was made up of ports that are easy to do on your own or with a private company :

 

Marseille (10 October)

 

The cruise line provided a free shuttle for the 4 mile/15 minute ride from the enormous commercial port to the Old Port area. It dropped us at the Centre Bourse, from where you walk almost straight ahead into the Old Port - maybe 100 yards ?

 

From there, as you look ahead to the Notre Dame de la Garde high on the hill in the distance, the Quai du Port, on your right with the Hotel de Ville, is the Petit Train's departure point. It's about 2/3 of the way down that side of the marina. Get your ticket there (€8 pp) from the booth. Trains leave every half hour or so so if you just miss one you can spend time walking around the marina - check out the fish market on Quai des Belges, near the metro station and the famous mirrored shelter and/or the Fort St Jean.

 

The 'train' takes about 25 minutes to get to and from the ND de la G, and you'll want about 30-40 minutes up there. I though the whole thing was great - you get a decent commentary on the train and the basilica itself is amazing.

 

Saint Tropez

 

Cannes is not a bad place but the best thing about it is that it has a train station for going somewhere more interesting (like Nice). This shows the bit we see on telly each May

 

After less than an hour at Cannes we caught a train to Nice (about 35-40 minutes).

Instead of walking down Avenue Jean Médecin (a mile) we should have taken the tram to Place Messana.

 

That Ho-Ho leaves from the Lido on the Promenade des Anglais NOT where it shows on the leaflet we got from the Tourist Office.

 

Monaco

 

Cinque Terre

We took the 10 am ferry and would have done the whole run to Monterosso but the last one back only arrived at 4.40 - which would have been cutting it fine for the 5 pm all-aboard. The return fare was €15, the single €10.

 

The train from Vernazza - La Spezia station took about 15 mins, and the walk back to the ship about 20-25 as it's just over a mile and a half.

 

Pisa/Lucca

We shared a taxi from the dock with 3 other couples. Cost about €35 pp, stopping at Pisa for an hour and Lucca for 3. Great day, but with hindsight 2 and 2 would have been slightly better as we did not want lunch at Lucca and there's much more to Pisa than the leaning tower.

 

On October 16 we were supposed to anchor off Sorrento at noon and take a private tour to Positano, Amalfi and Ravello.

 

High swells meant the captain could not guarantee that the tenders would run so he switched to the dock at Naples. By the time we had disembarked it was 12.30 and our tour then began. Starting from Naples rather than Sorrento delayed arriving at Positano by at least an hour but we got it all done by the time the light was failing at Ravello.

 

I didn't note down the time throughout the day but reckon we spent about 90 minutes at Positano

and an hour each at Amalfi

and Ravello

before setting off back to Naples (not via the Amalfi Drive) at around 6.45 p.m. which got us back at the ship around 8 pm.

 

Capri - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uujBnlG7ahs The hydrofoil takes about 40 minutes (from Naples, less from Sorrento) and we visited Villa San Michele http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-TA79Z4-ZE

 

Our final day (October 18), was spent at sea sailing from Naples - Rome. All best, Tony

 

We cruised in November and I haven't posted a review yet...and then time goes by and I wonder if i should...thanks for posting your October cruise story in February.,...I will do my November one in March :)

[tinkky]

We are on Insignia in July and gratuities are included I wonder if that is the package from Australia.

[Bimmer09]

Tony- thanks for the review, especially the youtube videos. I couldn't resist clicking on a post by someone who calls himself Cornishpasty (ie?)man as I love those savory treats. I'm a Brit living in the USA for almost 30 years and still remember those High Street British bakeries. A sausage roll would slide down a treat right now too.

 

I'm not an Oceania cruiser as yet, but dwell on the Princess Boards. No complaints re PCL.

 

Thanks again!

 

Norris, now hungry.

[Cornishpastyman1]

[quote name='Bimmer09']Tony- thanks for the review, especially the youtube videos. I couldn't resist clicking on a post by someone who calls himself Cornishpasty (ie?)man as I love those savory treats. I'm a Brit living in the USA for almost 30 years and still remember those High Street British bakeries. A sausage roll would slide down a treat right now too.

I'm not an Oceania cruiser as yet, but dwell on the Princess Boards. No complaints re PCL.

Thanks again!

Norris, now hungry.[/QUOTE]
Hi Norris, by (not much of) a coincidence I had a pasty for lunch. I do eat a lot of them, and sausage rolls, as my waistline would attest. I try and make a video of everywhere I go as we pass through these amazing places so quickly, especially on cruises, and it's so easy to forget.

I've loved all my cruises, but was tempted by O because of the food reputation, and it was wonderful, and I will certainly be back (with them). But next up is Alaska with HAL in July. No-one ever seems disappointed with Alaska and HAL's food is very good, but I know I will be pining for O's :)