Help with questions about Oceania

[cruisinsince75]

We found a deal on the Insignia for a TA crossing that is of interest to us. It is 2 for 1 with free air and we have a few questions for those that have been on Oceania already.

 

Has anybody ever done a TA cruise on Oceania? How was it? Any trouble with seasickness?

 

I see that the ships are about 30,000 tons but have about 680 people onboard. Did you ever feel crowded? Any problems getting a chair by the pool, a table at the restaurants, or a seat in the theatre?

 

If we use Oceanias air but want to stay over a couple of extra days in Provence and don't want to use their hotel package, is it possible and what is the additional charge?

 

How do they compare to Silversea and RSSC?

 

We know that the tips and beverages are not included, but do they provide any complimentary beverages such as bottled water and sodas? Also, how reasonable are their wine and beverage prices?

 

We are looking at one of the balcony staterooms. Is there enough room in the cabins? What about balcony size? Is it worth the extra expense to upgrade to the concierge level?

 

What things do you like best about Oceania and what things do you like the least?

[Andee]

I can only answer some of your questions.

 

We have never felt crowded on Oceania, and have not had trouble getting seats anywhere we wanted.

 

There is a $50 pp air deviation charge, plus any additional airfare cost. One time, there was no additional cost, and one time it was another $50 pp. I could not get the airfare significantly cheaper on my own, and I tried many websites.

 

In addition to the usual coffee and tea, cappucino is included.

 

Wine is about $8/glass. We buy bottles of local wines for our cabin, as we like to have a drink there after a long day sightseeing, and as we're getting ready for dinner. Wine by the bottle starts at $28.

 

We found both inside cabins and balcony cabins large enough for us. There was plenty of storage space.

 

We like the size of the ships, the itineraries, the level of luxury, the tourist office person getting on at each port, the friendliness of the staff, and the interesting passengers.

 

On our first cruise, we enjoyed much of the entertianment; on this cruise we liked it fewer evenings. I think the shore excursions are expensive, but we don't usually go on them, so it's not really important to us.

[mike35]

Cabins are small, especially in relationship to RSSC's, but that is of little concern to us. Closets are ample, as is balcony size.

 

Cuisine is wonderful - on a par with Crystal. Entertainment is much better than we found on RSSC's Navigator. Enrichment programs on the calibre of Crystal's are few and far between, however.

 

Concierge level isn't particularly useful to us; with that being said, our first (and only) Oceania cruise was in a concierge-level cabin, and our next two are, as well. Go figure!

 

Overall, Oceania is our #1 choice of cruise lines, edging out Crystal.

 

Hope this helps...

 

Mike

[marilynfaye]

We took the T/A on Regatta last spring. Loved it. In fact, loved it so much that we will be taking the one on Insignia that you are looking at. We were never seasick. The only turbulance, as I recall, was one evening between Madeira and Portugal.

 

There are no optional hotel packages for this trip and, as someone already said, you will pay a deviation fee plus any additional flight cost to either specifically select your flights or change your travel dates. I thought I read somewhere that the fee has been raised from $50 per person to $75, but I may be wrong.

 

We did find the lounge a little crowded after dinner but always found a seat. I assume it's because people like us, who rarely get there on a port intenstive cruise, will check out the entertainment on a trans Atlantic.

 

Hope you decide to join us. We love Oceania. Great food. Great atmosphere. Great people.

 

Marilyn

[Jancruz]

A couple of additions..air deviations are now $75.00 per person and the Trans Atlantic doesnt usually sell out so there "should" be lots of space..no one can tell you about the weather..sometimes its great and sometimes its not..Marilyn, Stu and I are talking about taking the Regatta in November from Lisbon to Miami..how about it??

 

Jan

*****

[Druke I]

We were on Regatta this past August in the Baltic, and enjoyed the ship very much.

 

We were in a standard outside (no balcony), #4031, and found the cabin adequate, but not spacious; closet space adequate but not generous.

 

The food was outstanding; we thought it better than HAL, Celebrity, or even Crystal.

 

We were on one of her sisters, Pacific Princess (new), 11-03, Tahiti to Sydney, in a balcony, #6051. Cabin same size, with small but adequate balcony.

 

Princess food, while good, certainly not as good as Oceania. I did like the Lido restaurant being open 24hrs under the Princess operation.

 

We had smooth seas on both ships - but have read on another thread that Regatta's last trans-Atlantic was fairly rough. Hell, even on a big ship, a trans-Atlantic can be rough! We were bounced around quite a bit on Golden Princess' trans-Atlantic, 8-02.

[jimgib]

yes did the trans atlantic last march on insignia, no trouble at all i was somewhat suprised. worst part was leaving lisbon a bit rocky there but no big probs atlantic went thru it easy. we were at that back in a os

regards jimgib

[Boopsie]

We loved the open seating aspect and the fact that we didn't have to bring along formal clothes. Loved the size--not too big and not too small. The food was wonderful--loved Polo and Toscana restaurants. Never felt overly crowded. Had a balcony cabin--small but it worked for us. Debated over getting penthouse cabin and finally decided it wasn't worth an additional $2800. The air deviation is $75 now. We took Oceania's credit and did our own air using our mileage. All in all, loved Oceania. Have a great cruise.

[drwong]

We just disembarked the Insignia before her trans-Atlantic cruise to Rio. The ship had about 400 booked for the crossing, or 2/3 of her usual capacity. The seating seemed to be adequate for the 650 passengers on our cruise during the at-sea days, both poolside and in the lounges, so it should be even roomier on the trans-Atlantic crossing.

 

Part of the light load in the showroom might be due to Oceania's scheduling of the evening 's entertainment for 9:45 pm most nights. I thought it was a smart move, given the return time from shore excursions, the need to freshen up, and to have a five-course meal served in the GDR or premium restaurants. However, a handful of passengers thought the shows ended too late (around 10:30 pm) to give them enough rest before the next day's 8 am shore excursion so they went off to their cabins. But I noticed the cruise director did arrange a few pre-supper shows at 6:15 pm on some nights when passengers needed an early start, so there might be some flexibility on the trans-Atlantic.

 

Many of the entertainers and crew members from our cruise disembarked in Barcelona - this was the end of their contract, and they were all flying home to Poland, the Philippines, Croatia, and so on. One of our cruisers onboard was a veteran of three trans-Atlantic crossings and said that new crewmembers are brought aboard for the crossings and use the experience as a shakedown (or training) lesson, so you might experience a bit of newness from the new staff, but things should be fine once they work the kinks out.

 

Wine and beer prices are fairly reasonable, with wines in nearly every price range (although you might notice that the sommaliers tend to recommend something better than what you were considering). No complimentary soft drinks or bottled water, although they are available for $2 from the bar, and they'll give you the entire can, unlike other mass market cruiselines that'll charge you the same amount for a glass with 8 oz. of ice and 4 oz. of soda shot from a dispenser. There's also a litre-sized bottle of Evian in each cabin that's available for a $3.50 stateroom charge (plus the usual 15% bar gratuity). However, you can get complimentary lemonade, apple juice, and iced tea from the self-serve dispensers in the Terrace Cafe (I noted the punch dispenser hasn't been repaired since the inaugural cruise! :mad: ).

 

Rather than paying $75 for the deviation fee plus any price differential (and an automatic $200 in taxes and fees that come attached to each "free" air ticket), find out how much of an air credit they'll offer you (depending on where you live) and try pricing your airfare independently. You might be pleasantly surprised!

[Jancruz]

Richard, How did you feel the service and food compared to you last trips?

Thanks,

Jan

[drwong]

Everything was a marked improvement. This was the last cruise for many of the staffers who ending their six-month contracts, and their experience showed. In the dining rooms, food was delivered from the kitchen in the expected sequence, empty plates never sat on our table for more than a minute, and water and coffee cups were constantly filled. (Judy's uncle had a cup of coffee with his appetizer, and was waiting to have a second cup with dessert - but three different staffers, from the busboy to the maitre'd offered to fill his cup while he waited for dessert!

 

At the Waves Grill, the number of ice cream selections appeared to have increased, although I'm still waiting for them to add grilled sausages (kielbasa and knockwurst) to the Grill menu! The wait time for orders seems to have been shortened and old soggy french fries are now tossed, and customers are only served ones that are hot and crisp. Ketchup and mustard bottles are now on the tables, eliminating the need to request condiments from the waiter, which was a waste of both our and his time.

 

Television selections have also improved, with four different movie channels, one comedy/sitcom channel (including the I Love Lucy episodes from their European trip), one travel channel showing cruise-related programming, one that rebroadcasts cruise lectures and the Daily Schedule, two showing Destination Services presentations, one with Jacques Pepin cooking presentations (although they should have interspersed his on-board presentations with episodes from his regular cooking show), and CNN International.

 

Showroom performances are now at a regularly scheduled time every evening, which makes it easier for preparing our daily schedules. The number of Name That Tune games in the Martini Lounge tripled from the last cruise, which was another great way to earn those cruise points for Oceania merchandise worth "absolutely nothing!", according to our Cruise Director David Shermet. Actually, for 20 points, one could get an Oceania baseball cap or visor on the last day of the cruise, which were retailing in the gift shop for $20 apiece! There were a few late-nite cabaret performances added to the lineup for the night-owls onboard, along with a few pre-dinner performances for the early-birds on our cruise.

 

The staff seems to have been hit their stride and seemed to be much friendlier than on previous cruises - probably because they no longer needed to worry about learning how to do their jobs, freeing them up to relax and interact with their customers. We saw only a handful of familiar faces on this cruise (including Bruno Haag, who asked about Stu) - apparently many of the "old salts" transferred to the Nautica for her inaugural voyage. But we'll be seeing them again soon on her Black Sea cruise in July! :D