Just back!

[ceba]

Hi, we just got back from our first Oceania cruise and it was wonderful! We sailed Valparaiso to Papeete with two days in Easter Island. When we planned the trip it was all about EI and French Polynesia was secondary to us. EI was amazing but so were the islands. We thoroughly enjoyed the entire itinerary. The Marina is a beautiful ship. We had a PH and thought it was quite spacious and lovely. The service was great and so was the food. We expected Toscana to be our favorite resturant with Jacques our least. In reality Red Ginger was our favorite and Jacques was a close second. Who knew. I just wanted to thank people who were kind enough to share so many of their experiences. It allowed us to plan according so things went very smoothly. Our only complain was the tendering process and that's been discussed enough. Fabulous trip!! Can't wait to plan another!

[no fuss travel]

Glad you enjoyed it. Please write a review.

[Queen of DaNile]

Hey Ceba

Glad to hear you had a wonderful trip. You know I'm dying to hear every little detail :)

[klscaz]

Hi, we just got back from our first Oceania cruise and it was wonderful! We expected Toscana to be our favorite resturant with Jacques our least. In reality Red Ginger was our favorite and Jacques was a close second. Who knew. Fabulous trip!! Can't wait to plan another!

 

Our first Oceania cruise was on the Riviera and our ranking of the specialty restaurants matches yours! Our next cruise is on the Nautica to the British Isles. I'm glad you had a great time!

[Tarpeian Rock]

We are on this same itinerary next January, on Marina. Eager to see your review - especially any advice based on your experience that would help someone new to these ports!

Edited January 14, 2015 by Tarpeian Rock

[Paulchili]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. It is a great itinerary - we did it a couple of years ago and loved it.

[MVPinBoynton]

Tahiti and Oceania sound like a great combination. We really enjoyed Tahiti with Princess; but your cruise sounds a lot better. Glad your first O experience was as good as most of us have had.

[kazu]

thanks for posting :D great brief review and hoping you will share more.

 

Thank you for stirring the excitement in another first time O cruiser and the restaurant tips.

 

Welcome home:)

[ceba]

Thank you everyone. This cruise has become my new favorite topic! I've never written a review before but I will take a stab at it.

[ronandannette]

Hi, we just got back from our first Oceania cruise and it was wonderful! We sailed Valparaiso to Papeete with two days in Easter Island. When we planned the trip it was all about EI and French Polynesia was secondary to us. EI was amazing but so were the islands. We thoroughly enjoyed the entire itinerary. The Marina is a beautiful ship. We had a PH and thought it was quite spacious and lovely. The service was great and so was the food. We expected Toscana to be our favorite resturant with Jacques our least. In reality Red Ginger was our favorite and Jacques was a close second. Who knew. I just wanted to thank people who were kind enough to share so many of their experiences. It allowed us to plan according so things went very smoothly. Our only complain was the tendering process and that's been discussed enough. Fabulous trip!! Can't wait to plan another!

 

If you have sailed other, more mainstream lines, could you please give a brief synopsis of the differences? We're considering O for our Med cruise this fall but are not sure if it's worth the large difference in price over NCL or RCCL (second, and a distant third, in contention right now). Thanks in advance.

[MVPinBoynton]

If you have sailed other, more mainstream lines, could you please give a brief synopsis of the differences? We're considering O for our Med cruise this fall but are not sure if it's worth the large difference in price over NCL or RCCL (second, and a distant third, in contention right now). Thanks in advance.

 

I believe that you will find many threads regarding the differences on this board. Whether or not O is worth the higher price per day is a really defendant on your priorities. We think it is worth it; but we will also still cruise on other lines whe the itinerary is right.

 

We have done reviews of both O classes of ships. We also have food/bar menus in those reviews that might help in your decision process. The reviews are on our website http://www.thepreismans.com. Enjoy!

[sammiedawg]

We are doing this trip in reverse next year on Marina. We know the ship is terrific and we are really looking forward to another great sailing on this gorgeous wonderful ship.

To my surprise we also loved Red Ginger but overall Toscano is the best for us. It compares favorably to the Mario Battali i restaurants we love in NYC. Overall the food on Oceania is to die for, even simple things like the sandwiches in Waves.

Ceba, did you use private guides? What did you do on EI?

[Floridiana]

If you have sailed other, more mainstream lines, could you please give a brief synopsis of the differences?

 

Brief synopsis, compared to HAL and Princess:

 

O: Better beds, better breads, better berries, better and more varied breakfast choices, better pastries, better ice cream, better food overall, properly spiced, much, much, much better casual restaurant, I don't really want to call it a buffet. Always country club casual, no need for jackets, ties, and ball gowns.

 

If you don't mind usually bland food and prefer a wrap around promenade deck, go with HAL. If you don't mind hard Princess beds, go with them. They have some large ships and delicious pizza.

 

In our experience, Princess had some hillbilly passengers and O had some snobs, but other than that, they were all really splendid people.:D

[ceba]

If you have sailed other, more mainstream lines, could you please give a brief synopsis of the differences? We're considering O for our Med cruise this fall but are not sure if it's worth the large difference in price over NCL or RCCL (second, and a distant third, in contention right now). Thanks in advance.

 

I agree with the other comparisons but would add that the smaller crowds are refreshing. We got tired of "running with the masses". It's fun meeting new people then actually see them again. ;). We also like to splurge on certain itineraries. For us, after we add up charges for speciality resturants, airfare, really good food and interesting lectures (that aren't shopping lectures) it's worth it.

[ceba]

We are doing this trip in reverse next year on Marina. We know the ship is terrific and we are really looking forward to another great sailing on this gorgeous wonderful ship.

To my surprise we also loved Red Ginger but overall Toscano is the best for us. It compares favorably to the Mario Battali i restaurants we love in NYC. Overall the food on Oceania is to die for, even simple things like the sandwiches in Waves.

Ceba, did you use private guides? What did you do on EI?

 

We always use private guides. We like the smaller groups and like to personalize the tours to fit our interests. We've gotten a lot of suggestions from the Ports section on the CC boards. For EI we used Easter Island Traveling with Marcus. We opted for a small group of 7 and it was perfect for us. Smaller groups leaves less people to wait for!! :D

[sammiedawg]

We always use private guides. We like the smaller groups and like to personalize the tours to fit our interests. We've gotten a lot of suggestions from the Ports section on the CC boards. For EI we used Easter Island Traveling with Marcus. We opted for a small group of 7 and it was perfect for us. Smaller groups leaves less people to wait for!! :D

 

Thanks for the info. We are precise guide people too. And I agree with your assessment of what O offers.

[traveler916]

It's fun meeting new people then actually see them again. ;).

 

Ceba - this is so true. On our last cruise, we had our usual "end of cruise party in our suite."

 

We invited people that we had met sharing tables at dinner (one of the butlers called it "speed dating"), people we let on Cruise Critic, and even people I had met while walking on the treadmill.

 

The cruise before that, we met people we saw at the doctor's office, but I would prefer not having to meet anyone there in the future!

 

gary

[potterhill]

better food overall, properly spiced

 

 

I would take exception to the above statement. I find their "ethnic" food to be incredibly bland.

 

Curries don't taste like curry, Mexican food is a poor imitation, etc. For some reason Oceania rarely adds the appropriate level of seasoning.

 

And although I like properly spiced food, I am definitely not in the more heat is better camp. I just like for it to taste the way it should.

 

Mo

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Kaftan Kween]

We are doing this trip in reverse next year on Marina. We know the ship is terrific and we are really looking forward to another great sailing on this gorgeous wonderful ship.

To my surprise we also loved Red Ginger but overall Toscano is the best for us. It compares favorably to the Mario Battali i restaurants we love in NYC. Overall the food on Oceania is to die for, even simple things like the sandwiches in Waves.

Ceba, did you use private guides? What did you do on EI?

Hi Sammiedawg! We are also taking that trip next January, just signed up yesterday. NOW i'm all excited and get a full year to anticipate. Do you think it's time to start our own thread or is there one already?

[Kaftan Kween]

I found the roll call.

 

Jennifer

[sammiedawg]

Hi Sammiedawg! We are also taking that trip next January, just signed up yesterday. NOW i'm all excited and get a full year to anticipate. Do you think it's time to start our own thread or is there one already?

 

We're actually traveling in April, 2016. We booked it a few months ago but I haven't done any planning. You get to go earlier!

[cruiseclues]

Thanks for your Review remarks... :):):):)

[Kaftan Kween]

One more question, Ceba. We would love to take a pre-dawn tour to see the sunrise on Easter Island. Did you tender to shore there? I don't suppose they run the tenders all night, do they? Anyone have data on this?

 

Jennifer

[Paulchili]

One more question, Ceba. We would love to take a pre-dawn tour to see the sunrise on Easter Island. Did you tender to shore there? I don't suppose they run the tenders all night, do they? Anyone have data on this?

 

Jennifer

 

I am 99% sure that they do not run all night tenders. In fact, they run fewer tenders than in most ports due to treacherous approach (rocks, etc).

If pre dawn sunrise experience is very important to you, consider staying overnight on the island (and see an evening folkloric show in one of the hotels as well)

[ceba]

I am 99% sure that they do not run all night tenders. In fact, they run fewer tenders than in most ports due to treacherous approach (rocks, etc).

If pre dawn sunrise experience is very important to you, consider staying overnight on the island (and see an evening folkloric show in one of the hotels as well)

Exactly! Our tenders stopped about 7pm and started back up around 8am. I know there were people that spent the night on the island. Frankly, had I thought of it sooner I would have loved to spend the night because it was Christmas Eve. To wake up on the island Christmas Day would have made for some great bragging rights;) It really is a fascinating place.

Edited January 26, 2015 by ceba