Live from Nautica

[editor@cruisecritic]

Greenamber, am enjoying your report from Nautica (and especially love your line "we're in Italy after all") :)

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

Hello

 

I have followed many of your thoughts and comments for the past couple of years so thought it about time I gave some of my own. First of all this is only our 3rd cruise, the first being on Celebrity Eclipse and whilst we enjoyed the experience it left us feeling cruising really wasn't for us so we went back to land based holidays. A couple of years on I read an article about Oceania and thought maybe we should give it another try and last year we were on board Riviera, a totally different and enjoyable experience, we loved it. So this year here we are again this time on Nautica chosen for the itinerary rather than the ship itself as there are 3 countries on this list we have never visited before.

 

First thoughts on Nautica well like me she may be a lady of a certain age, but she absolutely doesn't show it. Of course just having had the refurb we have nothing to compare to, but I would say in style she is a mini me version of Riviera, although Nautica is more country house than glitz. I will try and post some photos later, but in the meantime if anyone has any specific questions just post here and I will try to answer.

 

Day 1 arrival

 

Left London in torrential rain and thunder storms, pilot did a good job of avoiding them and just over 2 hours later arrived in a very warm Venice. Straight to the ship, welcomed by staff, checked in on board and our suite was ready a PH3 aft. First impressions of the suite were lovely, the furnishings all have that new smell and the colours are the same as our suite on Riviera last year. It is not quite as spacious, but plenty of room for our needs, the bathroom a little on the tight side, but functional, personally I would prefer a large shower rather than a bath. There was a lovely floral arrangement in addition to the normal orchid plant, a gift from our TA.

 

We had lunch in the Terrace, Ceaser salad enjoyed with a Proseco, well we are in Italy!! What a view, sitting in the sun overlooking Venice water and the red tiled rooftops of this beautiful city. The ship is moored in San Basilio at the end of the quay with nothing to interrupt the view. After lunch time to relax and familiarise ourselves with the ship.

 

Cocktails in Martinis, followed by dinner in Toscana, we hadn't booked but they were able to accommodate us and dinner was superb. Risotto and Scaloppini for me and Gnocci and lobster pasta for Rob washed down with a glass or three of chianti , well we are in Italy. A quick pit stop at Martinis on the way back left us feeling a little weary, time for bed. By the way a menu for lunch and dinner in the Grand Dining Room was delivered along with Currents, a welcome addition.

 

Day 2 Venice

 

Awoke after a good sleep in the ever so comfortable bed, also happy to report that although our suite in under the Terrace, no noise problems. We managed to drag our not so enthusiastic bodies off to the gym for a quick work out before breakfast at the Terrace. The berries are still here and were delicious! As we have visited Venice before, we did not go into the centre, but walked along the waterfront and went to the Galleria Accedemia and then watched a regatta before strolling back to the ship. Lunch again sitting outside at the Terrace, more proseco, followed by a visit to Baristas for coffee. Must admit it doesn't have the same atmosphere as Baristas on Riviera, but the coffee was just as good. Dinner will be late tonight as we want to enjoy the last glimpse of Venice as we sail away.

Edited June 19, 2014 by editor@cruisecritic

[editor@cruisecritic]

Just off Regatta, I liked the location of Baristas -- in the "old" Grand cocktail lounge, better than the location of the coffee bar on Azamara, which is in the hallway. It was cozier on Regatta, and more of a destination (though would love to see more tables, and more of a coffee house feel, in the space). It's a great addition to all three R-class ships....

 

Carolyn

 

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

The photographs of the new Baristas look great. I quite liked the positioning of the barista on Azamara's ships at the top of the grand staircase and am interested in experience the Oceania R ship difference. My guess is it is more club and less cafe in feel.

[greenamber]

Hello greenamber,

 

We're heading to Nautica on Tuesday. Seeing that you are from the UK, you may be a football fan. If so, my London born husband would like to know anything you can share about how the crew members are viewing the World Cup since it's not available on board. I have visions of him sneaking to the crew bar to watch on someone's I Pad! Sadly we won't be in port to see games live.

 

Thanks! Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

 

Hello Mrs Jones, we are not great football fans, but we did enjoy some great banter with the Italian staff and I believe there was a party on the crew deck after they beat England!! I know they were very happy at breakfast the morning after the match. There is no coverage on board, but you will be able to get the results on the TV and I am sure the staff will keep you up to date . Have a wonderful cruise. X

[S2000ap1]

Suni , yes the AV is very last year. 50 million is not relatively a great deal , as I understand a fare bit was spent on the greasy bits , and I dare say to all new soft furnishings cost a fare bit and are very nice , leaving I suppose not much left for anything else , varnishing and paint etc .

 

It still is DVD , the TV is old and poor .

 

It should be a ship wide AV system with smart TV which would also get rid of the need for the laptop in the room.

 

Stayed in a few hotels with decent AV including Bose sound systems with full connectivity , one being 10 years ago which even them put this lot to shame

 

Hyper I have been on another ship from this line , and from another line . The other Oceania ship was enjoyed as was Nautica .

 

The other ships I found not to my taste but very well presented , the cruise spoilt in part from my own personal feelings which I will not go into on a public forum least to say very large ships

Edited June 19, 2014 by S2000ap1

[rallydave]

For the record, believe the $50M amount for dry-dock is for all three R Class Ships. About $17M average for each of the three.

 

Sure someone will correct me if this is not correct.

[Mura]

Well sorry if i have ruffled a few feathers, must get my self booked onto a course to learn how to turn on a pc ! maybe one involving rocket science.

 

Yes i was being a touch picky , but if you think about it that indeed says there was not actually much wrong with the experience full stop, which is indeed the case.

 

 

Personally, I see no harm in your being "picky". Your comments and your views are your own, and that is what this forum is for. We are free to pay attention or ignore as we wish. (Having said that, it can be difficult to reading comments to know just how to weigh them -- when we don't know the poster it can be difficult to judge. I just read the comments and file them away for reference. Very often I find that I agree, EVEN with negative comments about my favorite cruise line.)

 

I am glad to say that I did not notice any rudeness on our May-June cruise on Marina. And I did not particularly see any avoidance of the hand sterilizers. But I wasn't looking.

 

Mura

[mrs. jones]

thanks, greenamber. Missed the fact that you are no longer "live"! As I suspected, the crew will be eagerly following the matches. What my husband will miss in live action may be mitigated by lively discourse with the lovely crew.

[Paulchili]

And I did not particularly see any avoidance of the hand sterilizers. But I wasn't looking.

 

Mura

 

Mura,

with all due respect - how can you see something if you are not looking :D

[kiawahdon]

 

It still is DVD , the TV is old and poor .

 

It should be a ship wide AV system with smart TV which would also get rid of the need for the laptop in the room.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. The TV/interaction info system is circa 1980's. In my world at a minimum I could see tomorrow's menus for the GDR and the Terrace, and be able to monitor my ship board a/c at will. Other cruise lines have had this for years.

[MrOZ]

HAL's TV system is pretty awful. Oceania would have to be pretty terrible to compete.

 

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[pacheco18]

To some of us this has very little importance. The menus are delivered to each stateroom every night. I can call reception and get my balance in less than a minute. I'd rather be in an o r ship without the technology than on epic with all the tech updates

 

For those in vista and owner suites on r ships they have installed a bose system thT lets you play your music and watch your own content through the large flat screen tv in the living area

 

 

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Edited June 20, 2014 by pacheco18

[orchestrapal]

To some of us this has very little importance. Th

For those in vista and owner suites on r ships they have installed a bose system thT lets you play your music and watch your own content through the large flat screen tv in the living area

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

That was already in the OS on the R ships for quite a few cruises.

Edited June 20, 2014 by orchestrapal

[pacheco18]

Both the butler and stateroom attendant told me it was "new" and part of the renovation. Maybe it's a newer system. I have nothing to compare it to

 

 

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[LHT28]

We just got off the Regatta on Tuesday.

 

 

Bathrooms: The caulking was disgusting all around the bath tub. There was black crud around it. We asked for the caulking to be replaced and it was replaced in only one of the suites after four days.

 

That sounds pretty disgusting

 

The cabinetry: Some of the drawers were coming apart, one of the closet doors was warped and you could not close it. When it was rough....the door made a lot of noise. This wasn't addressed during our cruise in any of the suites.

That is poor service for Oceania standards

 

Veranda: The track from inside and outside was corroded and needed to be either cleaned or painted....there was a lot of black crud and it was not pleasant to look at. In one of the suites...it was very hard to open and close the veranda door.

 

Oceania should have addressed these issues in dry dock.

 

Specialty Restaurants: Food came cold. Food was not great in either of the restaurants this time. We never went back to Toscana.

 

The Terrace: The service was not up to par this time. You had to ask someone to clear your dishes if you wanted to go back for something else.

Dishes were not labeled as prior cruises. Went there once for dinner and did not go back.

The salad selections were poor.

 

BTW...we were not the family of the so-called screaming toddlers that is mentioned on the thread "Live from the Regatta".

 

There were about 14 children on this cruise. Very well behaved children. There was another multi-generation family on this cruise with 3-4 small children. They were in suites down the hall from us. Once in a while you heard one of the toddlers cry....did not impact the cruise at all.

 

The staff and crew were wonderful to the children on board. The Captain met with the children for ice cream on one of the sea days.

Cruise director was excellent.

 

Too bad about the food ..nothing worse than cold food when it should be hot

 

Were the toddlers really as bad as reported in the other thread??

[MrOZ]

Can anyone tell me what to expect from the PH entertainment system on the Marina? I couldn't find a good description.

 

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[pacheco18]

Juli2020 had one exceptionally well behaved child with her. My husband even commented on it to her husband

 

 

We had three great meals in Toscana --- one in our suite. It is not unusual for folks to be on the same cruise and have different experiences.

 

I agree that only some of the food in terrace was labelled. Do not know why all of it wasn't

 

Julie's cabin sounds awful. Surprised. My suite was impeccable but I would expect the top suites to be. - and it was completely redone

 

As for the three unbearable toddlers, it was so bad that the gm and cd had a meeting about them. It wasn't about crying. It was screaming , throwing food and wreaking havoc in Toscana. I hope I never experience that again

 

All the other kids on board were well behaved

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[editor@cruisecritic]

We loved experiencing Pacheco18's Vista suite but have to add that our ocean view was lovely. The bed: Fantastic (my muscles have been complaining ever since). You do get what you pay for...bear that in mind if you want the extra square footage.

 

Carolyn

 

Juli2020 had one exceptionally well behaved child with her. My husband even commented on it to her husband

 

 

We had three great meals in Toscana --- one in our suite. It is not unusual for folks to be on the same cruise and have different experiences.

 

I agree that only some of the food in terrace was labelled. Do not know why all of it wasn't

 

Julie's cabin sounds awful. Surprised. My suite was impeccable but I would expect the top suites to be. - and it was completely redone

 

As for the three unbearable toddlers, it was so bad that the gm and cd had a meeting about them. It wasn't about crying. It was screaming , throwing food and wreaking havoc in Toscana. I hope I never experience that again

 

All the other kids on board were well behaved

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited June 20, 2014 by editor@cruisecritic

[editor@cruisecritic]

Thanks, rallydave. You are correct.

 

Carolyn

 

For the record, believe the $50M amount for dry-dock is for all three R Class Ships. About $17M average for each of the three.

 

Sure someone will correct me if this is not correct.

[S2000ap1]

So 50mill US between 3 ships , in the great scheme of things not an awful lot. I bet the dry dock charges and a bottom clean and anti fowl would soak a fare bit of that up let alone the soft furnishings.

[kiawahdon]

To some of us this has very little importance. The menus are delivered to each stateroom every night. I can call reception and get my balance in less than a minute. I'd rather be in an o r ship without the technology than on epic with all the tech updates

 

For those in vista and owner suites on r ships they have installed a bose system thT lets you play your music and watch your own content through the large flat screen tv in the living area

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Maybe it is a Vista suite thing, but for a month on Marina in a PH this winter, we never had a menu delivered the night before. As a numbers person, the balance of my account is not as important that what created the balance. Calling reception for the balance doesn't work for me. And, asking for a print-out every5-7 days just kills trees and unnecessarily takes reception's time. I agree, no Epic for me, but a little tech upgrade would enhance the passenger experience and improve efficiency.

[Mura]

As to menus being delivered daily, they were in Oceania and Vista suites on Marina in November and May. I don't recall receiving menus when we were in PH suites (which is where we usually are). Maybe this wasn't so important to us because we've only dined "en suite" when we were in an OC or VS. I don't think I'd try it in a PH, but that's me.

 

However, I should think that a request to the butler would do the trick. Did you try that? (I did search through this thread but didn't see if you said that you had.)

 

Mura

[Mura]

Mura,

with all due respect - how can you see something if you are not looking :D

 

 

Paul,

 

That's a point well taken! But it did seem to me that there were always some people using the sanitizers as opposed to no one ever doing so.

 

Next time I'll pay more attention!

 

Mura

[pacheco18]

I have never felt that sanitizers are well utilized on Oceania.

Celebrity had someone at the door of each dining venue, squirting sanitizer into our hands before we entered. I think this is a good practice and should be done on every ship.

 

I noticed in the public restrooms they added a special dispenser to be used on the inside bathroom door handle when leaving. I think this is new ( I do not recall seeing it before). Helpful, but not as good as a "squirt person."

[pacheco18]

Maybe it is a Vista suite thing, but for a month on Marina in a PH this winter, we never had a menu delivered the night before. As a numbers person, the balance of my account is not as important that what created the balance. Calling reception for the balance doesn't work for me. And, asking for a print-out every5-7 days just kills trees and unnecessarily takes reception's time. I agree, no Epic for me, but a little tech upgrade would enhance the passenger experience and improve efficiency.

 

I have had menus delivered every night when I have cruised in other types of cabins on O. Every cruise is different.

[GeorgesGal]

yes, we have always requested that the menus be delivered to our room, and our stewards were happy to accommodate us.

 

Looking forward to the Insignia in Sept in my lowly veranda s/r. Must admit there are a bit small, but at least they don't have a huge bathroom to take up much of the cabin space as some of the lines do, including the Marina which we sailed on this past Sept. The PH is a better size, but the prices...... ! Too much on our retirement income for us. We still have many too many trips to take and would hate to run out of $$$ before we do time!

 

Donna