Just returned from Insignia 10.12.19

[ORV]

Are the Entrees a new thing? I don't remember them being an option in Waves before, or maybe I don't really look to close as I always order the same 3 or 4 choices there. I'm pretty sure one is the Romano Burger which I don't see on the list. Maybe I've got the name wrong. 

[Toranut97]

12 hours ago, Seapoint said:

Waves menu:

SALAD Bar ...very limited and basic.

 

MISSING

 

Chicken salad

Tuna Salad

Egg salad

Grilled Chicken sandwich.

the chicken/tuna/egg salad involve mayonnaise or aioli, and are generally not something you want sitting out without proper cooling which is my guess as to why it isn’t at Waves. And why the salad bar is limited,too.  Maybe Waves is just a bit too outdoorsy for these dishes.

[ORV]

4 minutes ago, Toranut97 said:

the chicken/tuna/egg salad involve mayonnaise or aioli, and are generally not something you want sitting out without proper cooling which is my guess as to why it isn’t at Waves. And why the salad bar is limited,too.  Maybe Waves is just a bit too outdoorsy for these dishes.

Yes, but don't you worry about the Mayo or Miracle Whip or whatever it is that sits out on the tables the whole time Waves is open? I love Mayo on a burger, but won't touch that stuff. 

[LHT28]

27 minutes ago, ORV said:

Yes, but don't you worry about the Mayo or Miracle Whip or whatever it is that sits out on the tables the whole time Waves is open? I love Mayo on a burger, but won't touch that stuff. 

I agree about the stuff on the tables  maybe the ketchup  is ok

here is  the menu  from Marina from  Mike's site  so I am guessing they are the same on the R ships

https://www.thepreismans.com/marina19_menus.htm#Waves

 

What is  the broiled  Chicken Paillard??  Anyone try it ?

[babysteps]

Tea time - we don't go to tea that often, so I could be wrong... But are we confusing everyday Tea Time with a Grand Tea? 

 

The Grand Tea (usually 1x per cruise and only on longer voyages) definitely has the impressive central table - or did last time I was at one (Jan or Mar 2019 iirc). 

 

Did everyday Tea Time ever have a central display table, or just the grab-and-go section (usually at the self serve coffee station) with items also found on trolleys?

[LHT28]

7 minutes ago, babysteps said:

Did everyday Tea Time ever have a central display table, or just the grab-and-go section (usually at the self serve coffee station) with items also found on trolleys?

On the  O class ships there is  a central table  but I do not recall seeing that on the R class ships

 

[no fuss travel]

On the ATW there was side tables of food.  Quite often one end of the bar was covered with delicacies or they brought in tables specially to display food.  I was on board for 2 segments and did not notice a shortage of food for tea.  Mind you I usually skipped the tea unless I had missed lunch and Waves open hours.

[Jay23]

There was no central table at tea time on Nautica in Aug/Sept, neither was there a buffet table on the back wall like there used to be.   I don't think I have seen a central table on the R ships.  J

[Issyalex]

Brad Thanks for your review and photos.

 

It’s great to see photos of the newly refurbished inside cabin. It looks so much brighter than our last inside cabin on Insignia last year. We are in an inside on Sirena next April so your photos have definitely reassured me how the changes have made the cabin more inviting. 

 

I also love all the other changes around the ship.

 

LHT thanks for your link to menus etc.

 

I’m not an afternoon tea person as I don’t drink tea nor a lot of cakes on offer. Hubby used to love afternoon tea but now that he’s diabetic he can inly have sandwiches, so it’s a waste of time for us.

[Paulchili]

2 hours ago, Issyalex said:

Hubby used to love afternoon tea but now that he’s diabetic he can inly have sandwiches, so it’s a waste of time for us.

Nothing wrong with a few little finger sandwiches 😊

A person from UK that is “not a tea person”? - times they are a changin’ 😀

BTW - do you know the origin of the word “tea”?

Most people believe that the answer is here:

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Etymology_of_tea

An interesting alternative can be found here:

Actually Tea derives from a portuguese acronym Transporte de Ervas Aromaticas (aromatic herbs transport) T.E.A and its comercialization in England began when Catarica de Branganca a portuguese Princess moved to England

Which version is correct? 😊

Edited October 30, 2019 by Paulchili

[NoWhiners]

Love that photo of the ships all lined up!

 

Did you try and use the laundry room? I am trying to get an idea of how busy it is since we will definitely need to use it on our cruise. Any thoughts/experiences you can share?

 

Thanks

[LHT28]

21 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

Love that photo of the ships all lined up!

 

Did you try and use the laundry room? I am trying to get an idea of how busy it is since we will definitely need to use it on our cruise. Any thoughts/experiences you can share?

 

Thanks

I use the laundry room on all my cruises

timing is everything

Do not go when they first  open  it is usually busy

lunch or dinner time is  good or if you are back onboard early on a port day  it can work out

easier on the big ships  as the have more  laundry rooms

[NoWhiners]

2 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I use the laundry room on all my cruises

timing is everything

Do not go when they first  open  it is usually busy

lunch or dinner time is  good or if you are back onboard early on a port day  it can work out

easier on the big ships  as the have more  laundry rooms

 

Yes, that is our plan, to do it during meal-time. DH loves to do laundry and doesn't mind leaving for a few minuted during dinner. Should be much easier on a small ship 🙂

 

Thanks for posting your tips!

[Mura]

We usually go in during cocktail hour and finish up while early diners are ... dining.

 

Seadays -- forget it!  If you're in port and opt to stay on board, that is a good time as well.

 

As Lyn said, on the "O" ships it's easier.  On the "R" ships there is only one laundry room so it takes more consideration, but we've never had a real problem.  it was best for us when (on Renaissance) we had a cabin just opposite the laundry room on two cruises.  Then it was easy to see when we could grab a machine!

 

Another consideration:  now that a number of cabins get the 3-day "free' option for laundry, not so many people do their own.

 

Mura

[NoWhiners]

3 minutes ago, Mura said:

We usually go in during cocktail hour and finish up while early diners are ... dining.

 

Seadays -- forget it!  If you're in port and opt to stay on board, that is a good time as well.

 

As Lyn said, on the "O" ships it's easier.  On the "R" ships there is only one laundry room so it takes more consideration, but we've never had a real problem.  it was best for us when (on Renaissance) we had a cabin just opposite the laundry room on two cruises.  Then it was easy to see when we could grab a machine!

 

Another consideration:  now that a number of cabins get the 3-day "free' option for laundry, not so many people do their own.

 

Mura

 

Thanks Mura, helpful as always. You provided this advice on another thread and we are keeping our fingers crossed it will work for us. And, we are hoping there are a LOT of repeat O cruisers who have no need of a laundry room 😉

 

[Mura]

Considering that concierge and above get the benefit of "free" laundry, your odds should be good.  The limitation there is that for the "free laundry" they tell you it takes 3 days to get your laundry back.  On a 7 day cruise that isn't very helpful!  In our case, we were on longer cruises since this came into effect AND in addition we were in an OC, so we got our laundry back in 2 days, not 3.  Not sure if that's because of the room category or not.

 

And we are not alone in not giving unmentionables to the laundry people ... those items I prefer to do on my own!

 

Mura

 

[NoWhiners]

Just now, Mura said:

Considering that concierge and above get the benefit of "free" laundry, your odds should be good.  The limitation there is that for the "free laundry" they tell you it takes 3 days to get your laundry back.  On a 7 day cruise that isn't very helpful!  In our case, we were on longer cruises since this came into effect AND in addition we were in an OC, so we got our laundry back in 2 days, not 3.  Not sure if that's because of the room category or not.

 

And we are not alone in not giving unmentionables to the laundry people ... those items I prefer to do on my own!

 

Mura

 

 

Well, our cruise is 25 days, so maybe that helps.

 

As to unmentionables, I just won't mention them 😁

[bradpole]

On 10/30/2019 at 10:41 PM, NoWhiners said:

Love that photo of the ships all lined up!

 

Did you try and use the laundry room? I am trying to get an idea of how busy it is since we will definitely need to use it on our cruise. Any thoughts/experiences you can share?

 

Thanks

Funny you asked about the laundry room!  That was going to be my next chapter.  We did a few loads during the week, generally we never had an issue finding an available machine.  We spent very little time off the ship and tended to do laundry while most people were ashore.  Sadly the laundry room is where we did experience a little "drama" and I'll get into that next.  

[bradpole]

Sadly, as in the real world, all was not perfection.  Laundry Room. So everyone get your popcorn, these next couple of paragraphs may start a discussion. 

 

I questioned if I should mention it, but since I can look back now and laugh at this I figured why not.  I’ll start off by saying, you meet all kinds of people on a cruise, some friendly, some rude, some selfish, and some rather self entitled.  Self Serve laundry is now complimentary on Oceania, a very nice touch! Although we massively over packed we still did a few loads of laundry.  Unfortunately not all of Insignia’s guests have common sense or have consideration for others. I had no issues doing the wash, I moved the wet clothes to the dryer, I then set my watch timer for 5 minutes less than the dryer timer and left.  I came back a few minutes before the dryer was set to finish and the items were still damp. I restarted the dryer and set my watch to half of the dryers cycle, hoping it wouldn’t take a full cycle to finish drying. I came back to the laundry room a few minutes before my watch timer was set to go off to check the clothes to find a pile of clothes on the floor.  My clothes! Stunned, I think I said loudly, “what the ****….” and before I finished the sentence the self appointed laundry room monitor snaps at me, “I did that! You have no right to leave the laundry room while your clothes are here! I needed a dryer, you weren’t here, they were sitting in that dryer for well over an hour [they weren’t] and these are perfectly dry!”  I picked up my clothes, noting they were most definitely not dry, called her a few choice words to her face and walked out before I said or did anything that I’d regret.  

 

First of all… I’d never even think of touching someone else’s laundry.  Second… the floor? Really? Thankfully future loads of laundry went without issue or confrontation, and no, I didn’t stay and monitor my laundry.  I can now look back at this and laugh, at the time I was rather ticked off.  

a little more to come...

[bradpole]

There were a few other minor things that came up, nothing that ruined our cruise, or nothing that would prevent us from booking Oceania in the future.  The first and the most annoying was our cabin, we never got the temperature cool enough. The first thing we noticed when entering our cabin was it was a bit warm, I immediately turned the A/C all the way down hoping it was cool down as the day progressed.  Sadly it never did, the next morning we dropped by the reception desk in the morning to ask for someone to check the A/C because we felt the cabin was too warm. Later in the day we received a voicemail that they repaired the A/C and let us know if it wasn’t resolved.  This cycle continued until the last morning, it was never fixed. When exiting the cabin you could feel that the hallway was noticeably cooler than our cabin. We were glad to have an interior cabin instead of an oceanview or balcony where the hot sun shining on the glass would have made things worse!    

 

Also impacting our cabin was our stateroom steward.  He was not the best we have had, certainly not the worst, but definitely below average.  Upon entering the cabin we noticed the beds were apart, we left a note asking for them to be put together.  The beds being wrong is a normal occurrence for us, and nothing that isn’t normally resolved by leaving a note for the steward when he or she comes back that evening (we don’t always meet them on the first day).  That evening he questioned us if we really wanted them together, his reasoning was he had just separated them that morning and it was a lot of work to put them back together. DH’s answer was a simple, “yes”. He wasn’t happy.  The mini fridge had a couple of half empty water bottles, a yogurt container, and something wrapped in a napkin. We knew then attention to detail was not going to be his strong point. We didn’t notice this last bit until the evening when we packed.  Upon entering the cabin we normally shove any loose papers we have into the top drawer and refer to them later if we need them. The last night when we were checking to see which ones we could toss we noticed there were papers in the drawer dated from the prior cruise and the cruise before.  Obviously, he did not get an “excellent” rating on the end of cruise survey!  

 

[bradpole]

Final installment...

There were a few other minor things that came up, nothing that ruined our cruise, or nothing that would prevent us from booking Oceania in the future.  The first and the most annoying was our cabin, we never got the temperature cool enough. The first thing we noticed when entering our cabin was it was a bit warm, I immediately turned the A/C all the way down hoping it was cool down as the day progressed.  Sadly it never did, the next morning we dropped by the reception desk in the morning to ask for someone to check the A/C because we felt the cabin was too warm. Later in the day we received a voicemail that they repaired the A/C and let us know if it wasn’t resolved.  This cycle continued until the last morning, it was never fixed. When exiting the cabin you could feel that the hallway was noticeably cooler than our cabin. We were glad to have an interior cabin instead of an oceanview or balcony where the hot sun shining on the glass would have made things worse!    

 

Also impacting our cabin was our stateroom steward.  He was not the best we have had, certainly not the worst, but definitely below average.  Upon entering the cabin we noticed the beds were apart, we left a note asking for them to be put together.  The beds being wrong is a normal occurrence for us, and nothing that isn’t normally resolved by leaving a note for the steward when he or she comes back that evening (we don’t always meet them on the first day).  That evening he questioned us if we really wanted them together, his reasoning was he had just separated them that morning and it was a lot of work to put them back together. DH’s answer was a simple, “yes”. He wasn’t happy.  The mini fridge had a couple of half empty water bottles, a yogurt container, and something wrapped in a napkin. We knew then attention to detail was not going to be his strong point. We didn’t notice this last bit until the evening when we packed.  Upon entering the cabin we normally shove any loose papers we have into the top drawer and refer to them later if we need them. The last night when we were checking to see which ones we could toss we noticed there were papers in the drawer dated from the prior cruise and the cruise before.  Obviously, he did not get an “excellent” rating on the end of cruise survey!  

 

Disembarkation.  All good things must come to an end.  We had the first luggage tag called, and just about on schedule at 8am our tag was called.  Upon entering the terminal to retrieve our luggage you are reminded at just how small Insignia is compared to some of the other behemoths sailing.  All the luggage was neatly arranged in one room. We quickly retrieved our luggage and asked a porter for assistance. This is where the fun begins for us, just an FYI over the years we’ve won the lottery when it comes to getting the worst porters possible, and the porter we got this time wins for the all time worst!  The gentleman who considers himself a porter couldn’t lift our suitcases! I kid you not, he couldn’t lift them!  We drove to Florida, so the airlines’ weight restrictions weren’t an issue when we packed, but our cases weren’t insanely heavy. I could still easily move them so I’m guessing they were most likely 60ish pounds.  Heavier than most, but not ridiculously so. He gets another porter to come over and load them onto his cart. He then struggles to push them to the customs counter across the flat floor. Before we reached the counter I say, “If you’d like to hand these off to another porter we’d be fine with that, we’re across the street in the garage”.  He snaps back, “I’m fine! I can do my job!” We exit customs and he immediately wants to unload the bags, while we’re still in the terminal! DH is now starting to get ticked off at him, after some words back and forth he pushes them to the curb insisting no porter can go further than the taxi line (liar!), further words and I eventually get ahold of the cart and push the bags the rest of the way to the car myself.  He finally catches up to us to retrieve his cart and has the nerve to say, “where’s my tip?” We already knew we weren’t tipping, that decision was made back in the terminal when he tried to dump our bags just after passing customs!  So I take out my wallet, show him what I was going to tip, put it away, and pull out a $1 bill. He starts yelling, “this is robbery!!! You have to tip me at least $20 for all this work!”  I then put the $1 back in my pocket and we finish packing the car while he stands there. He eventually leaves, while yelling all sorts of nice obscenities directed at us. I know tipping is controversial, and personal, but a porter who can’t push a cart with suitcases is not a porter we’re tipping!  

 

Yes, we know we should have gotten his name and reported him, but at this point we just wanted to get in the car and begin our long and very boring drive home to Delaware.  On the plus side, it was less than 20 minutes from our tag being called to us being in our car driving home, even with the porter drama. Truly one of the fastest disembarkations ever!  Terminal J might be a bit tricky to find compared to the terminals serving the behemoth ships, but you can’t beat it for convenience!    

 

In closing, we loved the cruise!  Would we have preferred Cuba? Yes!!!  However after a physically exhausting, and less than stellar experience overall earlier this year on Viking Oceans we knew we needed an Oceania cruise, and a true “vacation” from the world.  Although there were many cosmetic differences on Insignia from our last cruise the moment we stepped onboard we knew we were home. We’re already eagerly anticipating our next cruise on an R class ship in September 2020!

If you have any specific questions, or would like to see if I took a picture of something, just let me know!

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, bradpole said:

First of all… I’d never even think of touching someone else’s laundry.  Second… the floor? Really? Thankfully future loads of laundry went without issue or confrontation, and no, I didn’t stay and monitor my laundry.  I can now look back at this and laugh, at the time I was rather ticked off.  

a little more to come...

OMG

You do not have to stay there  while doing laundry  ..she was wrong

you should  be back ontime  which you were

Last cruise  I  unfortunately had to remove someone's clothes from the dryer (first time ever  I had to do that )

..they did not return to get them  for the whole time my wash was in

so I put them in a basket on the table

A lady decided to stay in the room  while her wash was in told me the lady finally turned up about 1/2 hour AFTER I had put my things in the dryer

This is just rude

I am always back at least 5 mins before the time on the machine 

[LHT28]

50 minutes ago, bradpole said:

Also impacting our cabin was our stateroom steward.  He was not the best we have had, certainly not the worst, but definitely below average.  Upon entering the cabin we noticed the beds were apart, we left a note asking for them to be put together. 
 

I would have had a word  with the head of housekeeping  long before  the end of the cruise

The Concierge  can also be helpful

[YoPhilly]

Brad, thanks for such a thorough review.  We were also on that cruise and spent a good amount of time in the library.  Probably sat near you in those fabulous leather chairs!  I agree with your assessments, except I can’t comment on the evening entertainment.  I read three books on that cruise so I had my own entertainment. 😁

 

The ship is bright, modern and lovely.  You are spot-on about storage in the cabins; I said the same thing to my husband.  We had an oceanview with plenty of space.  Crew were terrific- always smiling and accommodating.  We’ll be on Marina in a few months - our first time on O class - and we’re looking forward to it.  However, we wouldn’t hesitate booking Insignia again.

[bradpole]

2 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I would have had a word  with the head of housekeeping  long before  the end of the cruise

The Concierge  can also be helpful

We knew we could have, but honestly it didn't bug us that much. 

 

9 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

so I put them in a basket on the table

had she done that I would have been a little annoyed since they were still a bit damp, but the floor is ticked me off the most!