Review of our cruise on the Oceanic Insignia - Miami to San Francisco

[artbcpa]

The following review is intended to provide helpful information to those considering cruising on the Oceania Insignia. Please remember that this is only one person’s opinion and may not reflect your view or the opinions of others. I will be providing a grade for each of the ship’s various services along with an explanation of how and why I gave them this grade. I will begin with what I felt they did best.

 

A+ Panama Canal: I felt I needed to single out this one special activity of our cruise because I have been through the canal two previous times, but neither even approached the quality and information provided on this cruise. A lot of the credit must go to the gentleman they brought onboard – Jaime – who provided the narration and then a Q and A session with the passengers. His talks were comprehensive and completely understandable. They were also humorous, and Jaime never refrained from answering our questions completely.

 

Solid A Entertainment: I have traveled on numerous ships and cruise lines and the Oceania entertainment on this cruise rivaled any I have experienced. The production staff who performed various shows did an outstanding job of singing and dancing. Their song selection was varied and with an older passenger group, I wondered how all these young performers knew the words, music and dances of our generation. The outside performers the ship brought in included singers, pianists, magicians and comedians who were also outstanding. While I had my favorites, each appealed to a wide selection of the audience. My favorite evening’s entertainment was Liar’s Club. If you have not experienced Liar’s Club, I urge you to go if your ship provides it. I have seen it on several cruises, but this was the best I have ever seen.

 

A  Social Director: A cruise social director is a critical member of the cruise staff. He/she can make or break the success of a cruise. Our cruise director, Ray Carr, did an outstanding job, announcing the day’s activities, making himself available and entertaining us with his humor. His participation as part of the Liar’s Club panel was hilarious.

 

B+ Itinerary: The cruise began in Miami and ended in San Francisco. Considering it’s location, I enjoyed the itinerary of Cayman Islands, Cartagena, El Salvador, five Mexican ports, San Diego and San Francisco. Certainly, some were better than others and we did have to tender into two of them, but I enjoyed the choices they made. A Disney ship followed us to each port.

 

Solid B Activities: For a small ship, the Oceania Insignia, did an excellent job of providing a wide range of activities. As on many ships, trivia was well attended. This ship did it twice a day. They also had sports activities including table tennis (my favorite), shuffleboard, two kinds of golf, plus bingo, a destination speaker, a casino, and several special events. My only criticism would be that for the sports activities they never had us play more than one game each, so there was no real competition. It was nice that a staff member was present for EVERY event, something I have not found to be true on other cruises.

 

B- Crew: The service of the crew was unfortunately very inconsistent. Some were excellent, like our room steward. Others were lacking. It wasn’t that their attitude was poor. I would call it a lack of training and supervision. This contrasts greatly from other cruises I have been on.

 

C+ Excursions Unfortunately, I experienced the same inconsistency and lack of quality on the ship run excursions as I have on other cruises, which is why I more often than not, book outside excursions. I did experience one excellent ship excursion in Cabo San Lucas - Salsa and Salsa – a cooking class for making salsa and dancing instruction for the salsa. Every one of our outside excursions was excellent. I know some passengers are afraid to book outside excursions. However, I have never failed to return to the ship in time. Just make sure you provide a cushion when booking your outside excursions. On the other hand, I have witnessed more than a few times when a ship had to wait for their own ship excursions that were late. Considering the quality and cost, I highly recommend considering using outside excursions.

 

C  Speaker: This cruise only had one speaker, a destination speaker, who gave presentations throughout the 18-day cruise. While his content was sometimes worthwhile, his presentation skills were not. As a professional speaker, I may be more critical than the average passenger, but his slides (so small no one could read them) and manner of speaking (repetitive ums) were less than adequate.

 

C- Cabin: The Insignia is way past its prime. Built in 1998, even with a refurbishment in 2018, there were so many things wrong, I believe the ship needs to be retired. The air conditioning system is horrendous. Everywhere you went on the ship was COLD. I would have a difficult time saying whether the showroom, Insignia Lounge, or our cabin was colder. The thermostats in our room(s) did not work. Yes, I said rooms. After the engineer was unable to get our air conditioner in our initial room to work properly, we asked to change rooms. Unfortunately, it was no better. The bathrooms are extremely small, but the showers are so small, you can hardly turn around. It reminded me of cruising in the 60’s when many of the cabins had bunk beds and bathrooms the size of airplane bathrooms.

 

C- Food: Perhaps the most disappointing part of the cruise was the food. Oceania advertises itself as having the best food on the seas. Having sailed on multiple cruise lines, this simply is not true. While there were some selected meals that were quite good, the majority of the food was of mediocre quality. I spoke with many other passengers who felt the same. Some who have sailed on Oceania many times before simply said that this cruise was not up to their standards. In general, the meats were of poor quality, but my biggest objection was that their descriptions of the dishes was often misleading.

 

My overall evaluation of the cruise would be a C, a rating not indicative of a cruise line rated 5.5 stars. As you can see from the above, there were certain parts of the cruise that I found to be quite good, but overall, it was a big disappointment.

[ToxM]

Staff training and food seem to be the bugbear of O’s offering at the moment. Whilst not trying to defend what has obviously been a disappointing cruise for you, I do think there are ongoing issues for all cruise lines which include loss of long serving staff, training new intakes and procurement issues for food. This doesn’t excuse poor food entirely, but I think all of the above are still ongoing for the industry as a whole. 

 

The above doesn’t help you of course and I am sorry you didn’t have the optimum very good experience that O usually offer. I do think these issues are industry wide at the moment. 

 

R ships have small cabins and bathrooms until you get to penthouse level. I am under no illusion that my view of R class ships being my favourite would be very different if my experience of them had been in a grade lower than a penthouse. I am addicted to researching so knew that anything below a penthouse would not be any use to me (due to my size). This is not to say that you made a mistake by not researching or assuming - purely my own experience.

 

I am sorry your cruise wasn’t as good as it should have been. I am not sure any cruiseline is offering it’s normal level at the moment - despite what they advertise. 

[ronrick1943]

Thanks for taking the time to do this post.  I find it to be honest and full of information.  We’re just getting off Silversea a Luxury line they say, we also had food not us good, service not outstanding.  We’re thinking about a cruise on “O”again—this helps-Thanks

[artbcpa]

Thank you for your comments. I am concerned that many of the issues we faced are industry wide. This was our first cruise in 3 years. We will be on the Regent Splendor in March/April. That will be the real test as that is one of their newest ships on a 6 star line.

[jonthomas]

thank you for your review....

 

we will be on the Insignia for a holiday cruise in 2024. Hopefully it will be refitted by then although no info has been given in that regard...

 

it is a very pricey cruise, if things do not improve for food, service and state of ship, we will be cancelling....

[dock]

Appreciate you taking the time to do a review: 

[ABoatNerd]

OP, thank you for taking the time to post your review. All reviews are very important indeed.

This is NOT a good situation given the cost of O sailings. 

Since food is the Major element in their advertising, this is not acceptable. 

I can give some leeway on staffing given the covid disruption, but not the food.

My local best quality food store has suffered minimal due to supply chairs, so O stop being cheap.

[Noxequifans]

The comment on the coldness of the ship may be due to efforts to reduce the possibilities of illness, etc.

[MEFIowa]

Not our experience on Sirena (11/18-28/22) in the E. Caribbean, at least not for crew or cabin or food. And we've also sailed on Riviera (12/2021).

[halfapair]

On 1/18/2023 at 8:42 AM, jonthomas said:

thank you for your review....

 

we will be on the Insignia for a holiday cruise in 2024. Hopefully it will be refitted by then although no info has been given in that regard...

 

it is a very pricey cruise, if things do not improve for food, service and state of ship, we will be cancelling....

We were on the very same cruise and had different thoughts. I have posted my review, too.

We were in a Concierge stateroom, and while it was small, it was comfortable. We had plenty of space to store our items, a sofa, and two chairs on the verandah. Yes, the bathroom is a bit tight, but my husband is 6'4" and managed to shower & shave, etc in the space. He even said he could manage the ATW cruise if we wanted to do that in the future.

 

There are many comfortable spaces on the ship: Horizons, the library, the pool deck, the atrium, Martinis, etc. The ship itself is in excellent condition. The crew keeps it very clean and well maintained. It was just updated with the new color scheme (carpeting, upholstery, curtains, etc), so it looks quite fresh and inviting.

 

We did not have any problems with the food. We ate plenty of lobster (which was always cooked perfectly), veal, lamb, beef, etc. The Main Dining Room as a different souffle every night for dinner. I've never eaten so many souffles in my life. The service was very good and we certainly felt quite spoiled.

[MEFIowa]

6 minutes ago, halfapair said:

...my husband is 6'4" and managed to shower & shave, etc. in the space....

I'm 6'2" and concur. All I had to do was learn to use the two swinging glass doors properly. (But the shower on the larger O-class is bigger.)

[Cape Hernlopen]

Dear Fellow Cruisers:

We sailed on the Regatta from Papeete to Darwin (October- November 2022).  The ship was very well maintained and in excellent condition.  Service from the staff was excellent and by day two everyone addressed us by name.  We had ten sea days and therefore many meals on board.  The quality and variety of the food was excellent as was the HS ice cream The Head Chef was always visiting different restaurant venues and was very approachable.  We enjoyed our cruise and hope to sail on Regatta again after our June cruise on Insignia.

Joel Barry

[halfapair]

1 hour ago, Noxequifans said:

The comment on the coldness of the ship may be due to efforts to reduce the possibilities of illness, etc.

It was also a tropical cruise, and the first few ports were very hot. Grand Cayman & Cartagena were in the mid-to-upper 80's, and humid. The Pacific side of the cruise was still warm, but less humid. It's always easier to put on a light sweater, than to cool off inside.

[FlyerTalker]

8 hours ago, Noxequifans said:

The comment on the coldness of the ship may be due to efforts to reduce the possibilities of illness, etc.

 

Or that the ship is passing through very tropical conditions, so they just keep the A/C running.  Trying to regulate it (on-off-up-down) in hot humid conditions is a huge undertaking.

[Jancruz]

The difference in the reviews are amazing..thats why I always have to wait to try it myself..as they say different strokes for different folks

I will be on RVA in March and cant wait!! I was on Regatta in December and it was perfect..stayed in my favorite PH and loved every minute of the trip..including the dinner from Polo we had in our stateroom!!

Jancruz1

[artbcpa]

On 1/20/2023 at 8:30 AM, Noxequifans said:

The comment on the coldness of the ship may be due to efforts to reduce the possibilities of illness, etc.

Actually the opposite is true. 

"Viruses and bacteria thrive in cooler temperatures and drier conditions. Cold and flu particles that are released into the air through sneezing or coughing can survive on surfaces for up to 48 hours. The warmer and more humid your home is, the more likely these particles will go inactive sooner."

 

I just wanted to clarify your statement for health reasons. It also doesn't explain why the thermostats did not work in two different cabins. Let's face it. Insignia is just old.

[nursenow]

Per NIH USA  

Bacteria are readily nourished in airtight environments with high humidity, such as storage cabinets, clothing closets, and corners, where ventilation is normally low and humidity is high

 

viruses also do very well in Humidity not Drier air!

Edited May 20, 2023 by nursenow

[nursenow]

On 1/25/2023 at 1:07 PM, artbcpa said:

Actually the opposite is true. 

"Viruses and bacteria thrive in cooler temperatures and drier conditions. Cold and flu particles that are released into the air through sneezing or coughing can survive on surfaces for up to 48 hours. The warmer and more humid your home is, the more likely these particles will go inactive sooner."

 

I just wanted to clarify your statement for health reasons. It also doesn't explain why the thermostats did not work in two different cabins. Let's face it. Insignia is just old.

Lol “drier conditions” I’m not sure who you are quoting but both viruses and bacteria thrive in humidity!

Edited May 20, 2023 by nursenow

[Elbig]

On 1/18/2023 at 11:14 AM, artbcpa said:

Thank you for your comments. I am concerned that many of the issues we faced are industry wide. This was our first cruise in 3 years. We will be on the Regent Splendor in March/April. That will be the real test as that is one of their newest ships on a 6 star line.

We were on Regent Splendor last year. It was a great experience. The penthouse suite was very nice. The food was for the most part outstanding. The staff was very attentive. We truly enjoyed it. It was quite pricey even accounting for all the inclusions. I like the way O packages their offerings. Looking forward to the Vista. 

[deck chair]

Hi!  I went on my first Oceania cruise on the Sirena, a 20 day round trip from Miami.  After countless cruises on other lines (Mostly Cunard) I did not know what to expect.  I was very happy with the food and service.  I was impressed enough that I booked a 40 day cruise on Insignia departing LA on January 14 to Sydney.  Hope this helps. 

Deck Chair.

[CalTravelers]

Thanks for posting.  We will try our first Oceania in June. Expecting a lot as far as food.  Booking shore excursions was way more difficult than it should be. No other cruise line makes it so complicated. We’ll be posting a review!