Review Dec 3rd 2017 Spain and Transatlantic on Oceania

[RJB]

Never heard of the Brill Building? I'm sure if you Google the term you realize you've heard much of the music that came out of it. Many early 60's pop hits were written there. Carole King anyone?

Great cruise, lousy show. Know all the songs and artists and were disapointed as to how terrible the show was. A public school could have done a better job.

[LAexNY]

Great cruise, lousy show. Know all the songs and artists and were disapointed as to how terrible the show was. A public school could have done a better job.

 

Experienced Oceania cruisers know that you do not book Oceania cruises for the entertainment.

[docmark]

Experienced Oceania cruisers know that you do not book Oceania cruises for the entertainment.

 

That statement SUPPORTS the poor quality of entertainment... so Oceania needs to listen and improve it..

 

And those who bring it up shouldn't be criticized

[Paulchili]

That statement SUPPORTS the poor quality of entertainment... so Oceania needs to listen and improve it..

 

And those who bring it up shouldn't be criticized

 

I disagree with your statement.

Most cruise lines decide what they want to do best, be known for and thus spend most money on that budget - in other words, define their niche.

For example, Crystal is known for their excellent enrichment program, Regent is the only FULLY inclusive cruise line (at a price) and Oceania wants to be known for best food at sea, etc, etc. To accomplish that they put most money in the food budget.

To significantly increase the level of their entertainment they can do one of two things:

1 Cut the food budget and increase the entertainment one, thereby keeping fares the same

2 Keep the food budget the same AND increase entertainment budget. Guess what would happen to the cruise fares?

Which of these options appeals to you?

Obviously, this is somewhat oversimplified but probably not that far from the truth.

Personally, I love the food am I am perfectly fine with the entertainment. 40 semi nude feathered dancers do not make the entertainment better IMO - there are other places to go to see that.

Edited January 9, 2018 by Paulchili

[StanandJim]

.. so Oceania needs to listen and improve it..

And those who bring it up shouldn't be criticized

The entertainment has been discussed to death, and the general consensus is that on the port-centric cruises which are Oceania's mainstay, many if not most, of the passengers return to the ship after a long day of sightseeing, have a fine dinner, often with cocktails and/or wine, then either skip the entertainment entirely, or sleep through it

I'm not criticizing those who don't cruise that way, but Cruise Lines which try to be all things to all people often bankrupt themselves in the process.

[RJB]

Experienced Oceania cruisers know that you do not book Oceania cruises for the entertainment.

If they claim that they have entertainment than they should have it. That is the only part of the product which is pretty poor. WE do not go for the entertainment but it would be nice to see a good show once in a while. :(:(

[bitob]

Never gonna happen. Mediocre to poor entertainment is to be expected. We stopped going to their shows long ago. We were on this ta and the next cruise and those we knew who went to shows walked out after a few minutes

 

If you want a cruise with better entertainment you really should look elsewhere.

 

It is really unfair to criticize oceania for poor entertainment. They deliver exactly what they promise in that regard. Nothing

 

 

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[RJB]

Never gonna happen. Mediocre to poor entertainment is to be expected. We stopped going to their shows long ago. We were on this ta and the next cruise and those we knew who went to shows walked out after a few minutes

 

If you want a cruise with better entertainment you really should look elsewhere.

 

It is really unfair to criticize oceania for poor entertainment. They deliver exactly what they promise in that regard. Nothing

 

 

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Yes we were on this TA also and the entertainment was pretty poor as I have said in prior posts. Nowhere in their booklets do they promise or say anything about poor shows or other entertainment. We should not be giving them a pass on this. This too can be changed if enough of us speak up. Should not cost very much more to upgrade this a little. Not looking for Broadway, but maybe the quality of their roadshows. It can be done. ;););)

[Paulchili]

I am usually the dissenting opinion here on this subject. I’ve been on enough O cruises to have a good overall view on O’s entertainment.

Sure - in all these years I have walked out on an occasional solo singer (maybe even a one time West-Ender over the hill) or a comedian but have never walked out on their production shows - and my DW goes to ALL of them. Some are better crews than others - occasionally even excellent. 90+% of the time the lounges on both R & O ships are full - occasionally even SRO.

The quality of entertainment is as subjective as food. We all know (or should know) that we are not on Broadway or West End and our expectations should be appropriate to that. The shows on mass market lines are huge with large stage, elaborate costumes but not any better in quality of performers. What exactly have you seen on what cruise line that definitely outshines O’s entertainment in QUALITY not QUANTITY (and I don’t mean one single performer or performance - I mean overall entertainment package). Certainly nothing I ever saw on any of the “luxury” lines was superior to O.

Yes - I saw a full version of Hairspray on an RCL ship - but it wasn’t a very memorable performance.

This is just MY opinion and certainly we all are entitled to our own opinions on any subject.

Off my soap box now :)

Edited January 9, 2018 by Paulchili

[bitob]

Paul

 

I think it comes down to

 

How much you want to see a show

What level of performance ur willing to tolerate

Whether ur happier having a leisurely dinner that extends past showtime

Whether you prefer to get up early and go to bed early

Whether ur are happier reading a book

 

We don’t care if we see a show, have no tolerance for mediocre entertainment, prefer to dine leisurely, go to bed early and are happier reading a good book

 

Everyone has different priorities

 

 

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[RJB]

Paul

 

I think it comes down to

 

How much you want to see a show

What level of performance ur willing to tolerate

Whether ur happier having a leisurely dinner that extends past showtime

Whether you prefer to get up early and go to bed early

 

 

Whets ur are happier reading a book

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Spot on. Each to his own. For us some days a little of both.

[Paulchili]

Paul

 

I think it comes down to

 

How much you want to see a show

What level of performance ur willing to tolerate

Whether ur happier having a leisurely dinner that extends past showtime

Whether you prefer to get up early and go to bed early

Whether ur are happier reading a book

 

We don’t care if we see a show, have no tolerance for mediocre entertainment, prefer to dine leisurely, go to bed early and are happier reading a good book

 

Everyone has different priorities

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Absolutely.

Nice to have choices and far better than being forced to do something - which fortunately is not the case :).

[zz19]

We have found the "entertainment " to be the delightful cruisers that you meet from all over the world.We have had the pleasure of sailing with many of the cruisers active on this post and have found their company to be one of the reasons we choose Oceania.

Of course there are exceptions, but overall the passengers on Oceania are a congenial bunch. 😜

 

 

If you want a more carnival atmosphere feel free to choose another line.

 

 

In any case enjoy whatever cruise you are taking. We do ! 👏

[bitob]

Plus 1. We have made many friends on oceania with whom we try to travel again and again

 

 

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[RJB]

We have found the "entertainment " to be the delightful cruisers that you meet from all over the world.We have had the pleasure of sailing with many of the cruisers active on this post and have found their company to be one of the reasons we choose Oceania.

Of course there are exceptions, but overall the passengers on Oceania are a congenial bunch. 😜

 

 

If you want a more carnival atmosphere feel free to choose another line.

 

 

In any case enjoy whatever cruise you are taking. We do ! 👏

We have made many good friends on Oceania despite how bad the entertainment has been. One thing has nothing to do with another.

[pinotlover]

Some of my best and longest cherish friends came from war zone in a SE Asian country long ago. So according to posters here those friendships equate to some wonderful experiences. Goofy proclamation at best. Great friendships can be developed in horrible and deadly situations!

 

I can handle subpar entertainment, but when O keeps on bringing in entertainment that cruiser ravage on reviews, that’s poor business. We had Dan Burton, a horrendous comic wannabe , on two different cruises last year. People ravaged him on the reviews. They skipped his shows, and O continued to bring him back! There is obviously a communication gap between Miami contracting and the CDs on the ship.

 

We had a repeat comic on Nautica from The Marina four years ago. My wife saw her name and remembered her poor routine from before . She came on the Nautica this summer and gave the exact sad routine all over again. I call that not even trying to do better.

[undertone]

I’ve not cruised on either the Marina or Riveria but have done 3 cruises on Oceania’s R class ships (2 x Regatta, 1 x Nautica) and would guess with some confidence that virtually everyone is cruising for a combination of destination, like minded fellow passengers and/or the culinary experience they will get.

 

The entertainment is a very secondary consideration and those who are very focussed on shipboard entertainment are likely to have chosen a mass market line rather than a premium small(ish) ship line with a priority on quality destination, food and service.

 

Like the original poster my musical and entertainment tastes very seldom match that of other passengers (not much alternative or punk music in evidence so I’ll save that that for my iPod) but we love Oceania for a whole bunch of other reasons and have met and made some great friends on the our Oceania trips that keep us coming back and we have our 4th Oceania cruise in a couple of months.

 

So choose your cruise line with care and understand that different cruise lines have different markets, Disney and Carnival are as disparate as say Royal Cunard and Oceania, despite both appealing to similar demographics.