O Newbie - Mid Cruise Report - Insignia

[QuestionEverything]

Greetings everyone:

Hope things are going well for each of you.

This is my 1st O voyage, so this is a mid cruise report from my perspective.

I am on Insignia off Greenland. We have missed 1 port Nuuk due to "high winds" which would impact tender operations. Checking the marine forecast, seemed plausible.

I have no historical record to compare to, so I am asking cruisers aboard their thoughts of todays product aboard Insignia versus the past O product.

First, the vast majority of the long time O cruisers have clearly stated the food has significantly declined in choice, quality and complexity. 

Second, there is much pushback against the Simply More with people stating they are leaving O.

My observations based on O's marketing materials statements/insinuations of what I should expect:

GOOD:

*The bread offerings are awesome. I am not supposed to have gluten, but I can not help myself, truly!!!!!

* The dining staff, simply 100% - kind, energetic, smiling, professional, will do anything. I wrote my mid cruise report only about the staff!

* Horizons is fabulous, the space, the view is essential for a sea voyage. I will never patronize a ship that does not have a forward view for all

* Full access to the ship for all, again, I will not patronize a ship that segregates guests

* High tea, amazing, just love it,  very well done

* The class and decorum of the ship and guests, it is an elegant, civilized experience where people are adults

* The shower head is beyond awesome, best shower head and shower ever!

* Grand Dining Room is magnificent, a splendor

*A1 cabin, well done indeed, less that tiny shower

SO SO:

* I am in an A1 with the tiny shower, oh my, that is small and I am a tiny lady, yikes for bigger folk

* Organization. Todays schedule was delivered last evening. This morning at 8:30 am we were informed of the schedule changes for the morning, events moved back or forward by an hr or more due to...the emergency drill for all staff this am. Q - how did they not know about the impact on guest activities....could we not have been informed last evening? Many talks were poorly attended as a result

* Excursions - well not that impressed. Two days ago, had a walking tour in a tiny Greenland town, the guide knew 5 words of English, the dear sir, to be expected given the locale.  Well we could not understand anything....so could O not have attended to assist with the historical presentation. It was a waste of our $85 x 2......

NOT ACCEPTABLE:

* Food. I must concur with the longtime O patrons, the food does not come close to "the best at sea". I am disappointed in the selection, quality, lack of complexity, taste. The Terrace, or as a group of guests just now commented at the next table, the "terrorist cafe", has never had shrimp anywhere. The soups are watery, chicken soup was actually chicken broth, stirfries are pieces of chicken in a broth, not a sauce with no snow peas etc, small thin steaks, beef mole on Mexican night was square cubes of something in a thick brown paste 0 appeal, there are no appetizer canapés, mushy vegetables obviously from frozen, desserts are obviously mostly pre made and bland, Yes, there are the discarded cookies everywhere around the ship some with 1 bite out of them.....on a good note, the salad power bowels are 100%, excellent food and greens, I have 1 every lunch, offered in the Grand Dining room as well, good sushi, ceasar salads always well done with plenty of cheese, the fresh roasts/chicken at the Terrace are 1st class, generous pours of single servings of wine. 

* Management Approach. I have to concur with other posters, O mgmt is basically non existant to guests, if they happen to be in public areas they ignore guests. The exception is Claudio, the Hotel Mgr, who is everywhere and is friendly and always a big smile.

_____________________

While I am mostly satisfied, I reserve judgement until the end of the cruise. 

My husband and I do not plan to purchase O again given the Simply More situation - we drink little alcohol and never at lunch nor dinner as it affects sleep. We have a glass of wine around 5, so the Simply More will force us to pay for wine we will not use, unless we get it at lunch, put it in the fridge till 5. We can not consume enough wine to justify the plan.

Also, we usually plan some of our own tours, so forcing us to pay for tours is  not acceptable. 

I hope you all find this helpful.

Kindest Regards till after the cruise. We have 1 port in Greenland yet to go, 2 in Newfoundland, Halifax, Bar Harbour Maine, canal transit.

Who knows what will happen!

Stay well! 

[babydrum]

22 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

Greetings everyone:

Hope things are going well for each of you.

This is my 1st O voyage, so this is a mid cruise report from my perspective.

I am on Insignia off Greenland. We have missed 1 port Nuuk due to "high winds" which would impact tender operations. Checking the marine forecast, seemed plausible.

I have no historical record to compare to, so I am asking cruisers aboard their thoughts of todays product aboard Insignia versus the past O product.

First, the vast majority of the long time O cruisers have clearly stated the food has significantly declined in choice, quality and complexity. 

Second, there is much pushback against the Simply More with people stating they are leaving O.

My observations based on O's marketing materials statements/insinuations of what I should expect:

GOOD:

*The bread offerings are awesome. I am not supposed to have gluten, but I can not help myself, truly!!!!!

* The dining staff, simply 100% - kind, energetic, smiling, professional, will do anything. I wrote my mid cruise report only about the staff!

* Horizons is fabulous, the space, the view is essential for a sea voyage. I will never patronize a ship that does not have a forward view for all

* Full access to the ship for all, again, I will not patronize a ship that segregates guests

* High tea, amazing, just love it,  very well done

* The class and decorum of the ship and guests, it is an elegant, civilized experience where people are adults

* The shower head is beyond awesome, best shower head and shower ever!

* Grand Dining Room is magnificent, a splendor

*A1 cabin, well done indeed, less that tiny shower

SO SO:

* I am in an A1 with the tiny shower, oh my, that is small and I am a tiny lady, yikes for bigger folk

* Organization. Todays schedule was delivered last evening. This morning at 8:30 am we were informed of the schedule changes for the morning, events moved back or forward by an hr or more due to...the emergency drill for all staff this am. Q - how did they not know about the impact on guest activities....could we not have been informed last evening? Many talks were poorly attended as a result

* Excursions - well not that impressed. Two days ago, had a walking tour in a tiny Greenland town, the guide knew 5 words of English, the dear sir, to be expected given the locale.  Well we could not understand anything....so could O not have attended to assist with the historical presentation. It was a waste of our $85 x 2......

NOT ACCEPTABLE:

* Food. I must concur with the longtime O patrons, the food does not come close to "the best at sea". I am disappointed in the selection, quality, lack of complexity, taste. The Terrace, or as a group of guests just now commented at the next table, the "terrorist cafe", has never had shrimp anywhere. The soups are watery, chicken soup was actually chicken broth, stirfries are pieces of chicken in a broth, not a sauce with no snow peas etc, small thin steaks, beef mole on Mexican night was square cubes of something in a thick brown paste 0 appeal, there are no appetizer canapés, mushy vegetables obviously from frozen, desserts are obviously mostly pre made and bland, Yes, there are the discarded cookies everywhere around the ship some with 1 bite out of them.....on a good note, the salad power bowels are 100%, excellent food and greens, I have 1 every lunch, offered in the Grand Dining room as well, good sushi, ceasar salads always well done with plenty of cheese, the fresh roasts/chicken at the Terrace are 1st class, generous pours of single servings of wine. 

* Management Approach. I have to concur with other posters, O mgmt is basically non existant to guests, if they happen to be in public areas they ignore guests. The exception is Claudio, the Hotel Mgr, who is everywhere and is friendly and always a big smile.

_____________________

While I am mostly satisfied, I reserve judgement until the end of the cruise. 

My husband and I do not plan to purchase O again given the Simply More situation - we drink little alcohol and never at lunch nor dinner as it affects sleep. We have a glass of wine around 5, so the Simply More will force us to pay for wine we will not use, unless we get it at lunch, put it in the fridge till 5. We can not consume enough wine to justify the plan.

Also, we usually plan some of our own tours, so forcing us to pay for tours is  not acceptable. 

I hope you all find this helpful.

Kindest Regards till after the cruise. We have 1 port in Greenland yet to go, 2 in Newfoundland, Halifax, Bar Harbour Maine, canal transit.

Who knows what will happen!

Stay well! 

Thanks for your mid ship review.  I have an O cruise planned in May and I'm taking in everything.  The canceling of ports is making me nervous and almost seemed guaranteed on every voyage at this point.  I'm also disappointed to hear about the food but I figure, I'll be comparing it to my last 3 week HAL cruise in May and it cannot possibly be that awful.  I skipped breakfast all together after the first week and figured which foods I was willing to consume for lunch and dinner.  It came down to burgers at lunch or the Asian food in the buffet.  I decided I can live with the food as long as I can find something edible and I'll just leave a few lbs. lighter but I get heartburn at the thought of missing ports because Egypt, Israel and Jordan are the main reason for the cruise.  The Mediterranean portion isn't new to me so I would care less about some of those ports and as long as there is a valid reason, I'm fine with any change.  It just feels like the tender ports are particularly susceptible to cancellation.   Please keep us updated.  I look forward to your next report!

[shepherd really]

32 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

the salad power bowels are 100%, excellent food and greens, I have 1 every lunch, offered in the Grand Dining room as well, good sushi, ceasar salads always well done with plenty of cheese, the fresh roasts/chicken at the Terrace are 1st class, generous pours of single servings of wine. 

 

_____________________

While I am mostly satisfied, I reserve judgement until the end of the cruise. 

\

 

Those power bowels sound delicious, and thanks for "reserving judgement" until the end of your cruise.

[halfapair]

1 hour ago, QuestionEverything said:

Greetings everyone:

Hope things are going well for each of you.

This is my 1st O voyage, so this is a mid cruise report from my perspective.

I am on Insignia off Greenland. We have missed 1 port Nuuk due to "high winds" which would impact tender operations. Checking the marine forecast, seemed plausible.

I have no historical record to compare to, so I am asking cruisers aboard their thoughts of todays product aboard Insignia versus the past O product.

First, the vast majority of the long time O cruisers have clearly stated the food has significantly declined in choice, quality and complexity. 

Second, there is much pushback against the Simply More with people stating they are leaving O.

My observations based on O's marketing materials statements/insinuations of what I should expect:

GOOD:

*The bread offerings are awesome. I am not supposed to have gluten, but I can not help myself, truly!!!!!

* The dining staff, simply 100% - kind, energetic, smiling, professional, will do anything. I wrote my mid cruise report only about the staff!

* Horizons is fabulous, the space, the view is essential for a sea voyage. I will never patronize a ship that does not have a forward view for all

* Full access to the ship for all, again, I will not patronize a ship that segregates guests

* High tea, amazing, just love it,  very well done

* The class and decorum of the ship and guests, it is an elegant, civilized experience where people are adults

* The shower head is beyond awesome, best shower head and shower ever!

* Grand Dining Room is magnificent, a splendor

*A1 cabin, well done indeed, less that tiny shower

SO SO:

* I am in an A1 with the tiny shower, oh my, that is small and I am a tiny lady, yikes for bigger folk

* Organization. Todays schedule was delivered last evening. This morning at 8:30 am we were informed of the schedule changes for the morning, events moved back or forward by an hr or more due to...the emergency drill for all staff this am. Q - how did they not know about the impact on guest activities....could we not have been informed last evening? Many talks were poorly attended as a result

* Excursions - well not that impressed. Two days ago, had a walking tour in a tiny Greenland town, the guide knew 5 words of English, the dear sir, to be expected given the locale.  Well we could not understand anything....so could O not have attended to assist with the historical presentation. It was a waste of our $85 x 2......

NOT ACCEPTABLE:

* Food. I must concur with the longtime O patrons, the food does not come close to "the best at sea". I am disappointed in the selection, quality, lack of complexity, taste. The Terrace, or as a group of guests just now commented at the next table, the "terrorist cafe", has never had shrimp anywhere. The soups are watery, chicken soup was actually chicken broth, stirfries are pieces of chicken in a broth, not a sauce with no snow peas etc, small thin steaks, beef mole on Mexican night was square cubes of something in a thick brown paste 0 appeal, there are no appetizer canapés, mushy vegetables obviously from frozen, desserts are obviously mostly pre made and bland, Yes, there are the discarded cookies everywhere around the ship some with 1 bite out of them.....on a good note, the salad power bowels are 100%, excellent food and greens, I have 1 every lunch, offered in the Grand Dining room as well, good sushi, ceasar salads always well done with plenty of cheese, the fresh roasts/chicken at the Terrace are 1st class, generous pours of single servings of wine. 

* Management Approach. I have to concur with other posters, O mgmt is basically non existant to guests, if they happen to be in public areas they ignore guests. The exception is Claudio, the Hotel Mgr, who is everywhere and is friendly and always a big smile.

_____________________

While I am mostly satisfied, I reserve judgement until the end of the cruise. 

My husband and I do not plan to purchase O again given the Simply More situation - we drink little alcohol and never at lunch nor dinner as it affects sleep. We have a glass of wine around 5, so the Simply More will force us to pay for wine we will not use, unless we get it at lunch, put it in the fridge till 5. We can not consume enough wine to justify the plan.

Also, we usually plan some of our own tours, so forcing us to pay for tours is  not acceptable. 

I hope you all find this helpful.

Kindest Regards till after the cruise. We have 1 port in Greenland yet to go, 2 in Newfoundland, Halifax, Bar Harbour Maine, canal transit.

Who knows what will happen!

Stay well! 

We were on the Insignia earlier this year. The seafood in the Terrace Cafe (buffet) was outside on the deck where the outdoor seating is. They had a live grill there every night. Check out there for fresh seafood made to order.

[ORV]

5 minutes ago, halfapair said:

We were on the Insignia earlier this year. The seafood in the Terrace Cafe (buffet) was outside on the deck where the outdoor seating is. They had a live grill there every night. Check out there for fresh seafood made to order.

Interesting, never seen a grill out there on any Oceania ship. 

[Snaefell3]

1 hour ago, QuestionEverything said:

...the emergency drill for all staff this am. Q - how did they not know about the impact on guest activities....could we not have been informed last evening...?

There are pre-announced emergency drills and there are (more rarely) come-as-you-are emergency drills, and the former don't always flush out all the problems.  Yeah, you weren't drilling, but how to tell you without telling your cabin steward and thence the whole crew?

[ORV]

13 minutes ago, ORV said:

Interesting, never seen a grill out there on any Oceania ship. 

Having said that I have seen a grill at Waves. Where do they put a grill out on the deck, do they remove some tables? Anyone have pictures of that?

 

I have to admit I haven't been on Insignia since right before the engine caught on fire, and that's been a long time, but I have been on Regatta recently, at least in the past year. 

Edited August 21, 2023 by ORV

[basor]

23 minutes ago, ORV said:

Interesting, never seen a grill out there on any Oceania ship. 

We have been on several O ships where they set up a grill outside on Terrace and are cooking fresh fish they picked up in port that day.  Generally the grill is on the port side just past the sliding doors from inside. It has been either right outside on the left or nearer the railing on the right side,

[QuestionEverything]

1 hour ago, shepherd really said:

Those power bowels sound delicious, and thanks for "reserving judgement" until the end of your cruise.

The power bowels are outstanding; amazing elements like seaweed noodles, quinoa, coloured beans, grilled zucchini,, tahini, tabulli, yogurt and cucumber, nuts. Very amazing.

[QuestionEverything]

5 minutes ago, basor said:

We have been on several O ships where they set up a grill outside on Terrace and are cooking fresh fish they picked up in port that day.  Generally the grill is on the port side just past the sliding doors from inside. It has been either right outside on the left or nearer the railing on the right side,

Thanks for pointing out the grill - regarding the outside grills - 0 on this voyage, no advertising of fresh fish.

I was on Regatta on a Panama and they had a grill.

Think of it - we have been in Iceland and now Greenland, 0 fresh fish.

The fish companies were loading fresh fish steps from Insignia in 2 ports.....what does this say?

[Vineyard View]

The food piece of your review is quite concerning. I am wondering so far how you would rate in against other lines you have cruised?  
Skipped ports is becoming a big worry for us with a first O on the horizon. 
the ‘last minute’ emergency drill training is quite honestly poor management. You should have been informed prior IMO 

I appreciate your balanced review

Thank  you for taking your vacation time. 

[osandomir]

2 hours ago, QuestionEverything said:

 

* Food. I must concur with the longtime O patrons, the food does not come close to "the best at sea". I am disappointed in the selection, quality, lack of complexity, taste. The Terrace, or as a group of guests just now commented at the next table, the "terrorist cafe", has never had shrimp anywhere. The soups are watery, chicken soup was actually chicken broth, stirfries are pieces of chicken in a broth, not a sauce with no snow peas etc, small thin steaks, beef mole on Mexican night was square cubes of something in a thick brown paste 0 appeal, there are no appetizer canapés, mushy vegetables obviously from frozen, desserts are obviously mostly pre made and bland, Yes, there are the discarded cookies everywhere around the ship some with 1 bite out of them.....on a good note, the salad power bowels are 100%, excellent food and greens, I have 1 every lunch, offered in the Grand Dining room as well, good sushi, ceasar salads always well done with plenty of cheese, the fresh roasts/chicken at the Terrace are 1st class, generous pours of single servings of wine. 

* Management Approach. I have to concur with other posters, O mgmt is basically non existant to guests, if they happen to be in public areas they ignore guests. The exception is Claudio, the Hotel Mgr, who is everywhere and is friendly and always a big smile.

 

Like they say, the food is subjective. After many Oceania cruises even with some changes in the food offerings recently we still find the food to be very acceptable. We enjoyed the food in general and were able to choose something to our liking on the menu in the GDR every day we were there.

On the other hand, I can’t agree with you that Oceania sushi were good. We never found them to be close to what we consider to be a good sushi quality anywhere.

Edited August 21, 2023 by osandomir

[ORV]

4 hours ago, QuestionEverything said:

This is my 1st O voyage, so this is a mid cruise report from my perspective.

 

 

2 hours ago, QuestionEverything said:

 

I was on Regatta on a Panama and they had a grill.

 

Say what now?

[QuestionEverything]

Greetings everyone:

Just finished dinner in the Grand.

Your questions:

Food - I presume the food offerings by O meet the premium level in Aug 2023. Polo and Toscana have a huge menu and sound much better than the Lumaine on Celebrity for example. 

Bowels - I apologize for the spelling error, OMG, I meant bowl!

Regatta - apologies, I was in Horizons taking with the next table who were talking Regatta, I was on the site at the same time and got "Regatta on the brain", LOL. I meant to say the beloved Connie.

Fresh fish - none, I and others are very surprised, nothing related to any fresh on board food.

Please have a great sleep.

Kindest Regards!

 

 

[Woodrowst]

7 hours ago, shepherd really said:

Those power bowels sound delicious…

I did not realize that they they were that cleansing ☺️

[DrHemlock]

Scots use them for stuffing haggis.

[sunlover12]

@QuestionEverything  I wanted to comment on what you said about Simply More.  I understand your position about not drinking much and that you DIY shore excursions.  I haven't been on other premium cruise lines that are Oceania's direct competitors but I did look at their websites. The lines I looked at include wine and beer with meals and some offer included excursions.  Oceania is doing this to stay competitive. They know they will lose some loyal customers but they will gain more. (just my opinion).  The mass market cruise lines still offer cruise only, no drinks or excursions.  

I will be on Nautica soon for the first time. Looking forward to the awesome bread that you mentioned. Thanks for your post.

[hubofhockey]

Always interesting in seeing first time cruisers points of view for lines I am considering and haven't been on.  We really loved our cruise on Azamara and have another booked with them.  We have not been on Azamara since it was sold to the PE firm and have to admit that makes me nervous, so would like to put Oceania in our rotation.  Heard from Azamara passengers that Oceania has much better dining, so this review is a bit surprising.  

[Snaefell3]

58 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

...Heard from Azamara passengers that Oceania has much better dining, so this review is a bit surprising

IMNSHO:.

(1) O's food *is* superb for cruise-ship institutional-kitchen chow.

(2) Too many folks read the ads and expect individually-prepared Michelin-star cuisine.

[mauibabes]

@hubofhockey

Do not be dissuaded by a few comments, GO O and make your own decisions about the line.  We have not sailed on A, Pre or Post its sale but we have docked next to A ships in various ports. There is just no comparison between the two lines when comparing ships and that is before you even consider the product and services.  I asked a good, WELL CONNECTED industry friend early in the Covid shut down when we heard A was on the market if O/NCLH would buy A since it was so cheap.  The answer I got was that far more than what was to be paid for the line would have to be spent to bring the ships up to Oceania standards.  I thought back to when O bought Sirena from Princess. She was a mess and O put $50 million + into her with $10’s of millions more early in her Oceania tenure. All the R ships (Ex Renaissance ships) owned by O or A are 25 years old+ with a ship lifespan of 30 years. That tells me O made a great decision to “Pass” on any acquisition because it would not provide any true long term benefits for the line or the loyal and future guests Oceania guests. 
 

Talking with “refugee” guests from all lines when on an O cruise, (just my term 😇) none of the Premium level lines compare to Oceania.  Don’t let the chatter here on CC keep you from trying Oceania for yourselves and make up your own minds.  We left Princess, RCCL, Celebrity YEARS ago and have never regretted the move to Oceania.  We were not even committed cruisers when we took our “trip of a lifetime” on Oceania and then we understood. That was 2007 and 25 O cruises later, we are considered Platinum level loyalists and proud of it. We encourage anyone to “Try it you’ll like it”. JMHO.

Mauibabes
 

[QuestionEverything]

Great posts everyone! 

On Simply More, your point is well taken regarding the premium lines being all inclusive. It appears in the past O was attracting customers who were able to customize their on board experience but who now can not. Just spoke with a man here in Horizons, they do not drink and he said, he will be moving on. 

On the food, it is the regular O customers I have asked..they indicate the food quality, variety has declined. I have no reference point being a newbie. What I know is the beef squares in a thick brown paste labeled beef mole was not appealing nor the qualityI would expect based on O advertising.

To the point of institutionized food versus O, I believe that guests know the food aboard can not be the same as a higher end local restaurant.

I am beyond impressed with the dining staff in particular, they are dear, gracious, welcoming, hard working folks. I want to hug them all! 

My 1st O experience is very good, I have 7 days to go, so will see.

 

 

[QuestionEverything]

Mauibabes, great advice, well said.

One has to try the product or experience to know if it works for a consumer. That is what I am doing.

We are heading into a good storm with 25 ft waves the Captain says, so the chardonnay will be rocking!

[rxlowry]

Thanks for the review.  I’ll be on my first Oceania cruise on Insignia next month.  

[hubofhockey]

1 hour ago, mauibabes said:

@hubofhockey

Do not be dissuaded by a few comments, GO O and make your own decisions about the line.  We have not sailed on A, Pre or Post its sale but we have docked next to A ships in various ports. There is just no comparison between the two lines when comparing ships and that is before you even consider the product and services.  I asked a good, WELL CONNECTED industry friend early in the Covid shut down when we heard A was on the market if O/NCLH would buy A since it was so cheap.  The answer I got was that far more than what was to be paid for the line would have to be spent to bring the ships up to Oceania standards.  I thought back to when O bought Sirena from Princess. She was a mess and O put $50 million + into her with $10’s of millions more early in her Oceania tenure. All the R ships (Ex Renaissance ships) owned by O or A are 25 years old+ with a ship lifespan of 30 years. That tells me O made a great decision to “Pass” on any acquisition because it would not provide any true long term benefits for the line or the loyal and future guests Oceania guests. 
 

 

 

Thank you for the reply to my post.  The older ships don't scare me. We are doing Japan on a Celebrity M class ship and have Panama Canal scheduled on Azamara Journey. Of course, that next cruise is short term.  O's decision NOT to buy A was a long term strategic decision.  It would be nice if they could steal pages out of A's playbook relating to multiple days in port and some of their itineraries.   Azamara, itself, makes me nervous and that relates more to Sycamore.  Looking at the Marina for Canary Island to Portugal in 5/25.  Always wanted to give O a shot and haven't done that itinerary.  Thinking of scrapping Panama Canal on the Journey (12/24) and doing 5/25 Marina itinerary instead.  There will be other opportunities for the Panama Canal.  

 

 

 

[Vineyard View]

6 hours ago, mauibabes said:

 

Talking with “refugee” guests from all lines when on an O cruise, (just my term 😇) none of the Premium level lines compare to Oceania.  Don’t let the chatter here on CC keep you from trying Oceania for yourselves and make up your own minds.  We left Princess, RCCL, Celebrity YEARS ago and have never regretted the move to Oceania.  We were not even committed cruisers when we took our “trip of a lifetime” on Oceania and then we understood. That was 2007 and 25 O cruises later, we are considered Platinum level loyalists and proud of it. We encourage anyone to “Try it you’ll like it”. JMHO.

Mauibabes
 

I love your passion for O. It never wavers. I think it must be incredible to have found a perfect fit for your travels. 
 

Started out with main stream years ago. Upgraded to Viking and took multiple cruises with them. Thoroughly enjoyed our experiences and we were big cheerleaders! We have not sailed on them post pandemic. Their pricing now is off the charts in our opinion for the product. So we started looking. 
We found a great sale on Seabourn and tried them for the first time this year. We were very impressed with the whole product - food  and MDR seating superior to Viking, as well as cabin. Small ship was wonderful. 
‘Now we are looking at both Oceania and SB based on time of year and itinerary. Itinerary is important and we spend full days off the ship on our own or private. We enjoy soaking up the local experiences in port as much as possible and always have lunch off ship. 

I believe there are a lot of people looking at cruise line options post pandemic.  There are a lot of posts on most boards comparing “pre and post” and a lot of them are disappointed in “post”. On most lines. We had no barometer with SB, but we thoroughly loved the product. I find myself struggling with whether Oceania will be able to provide the premium experience we had earlier this year. A lot of that trepidation is based on so many reviews on so many threads, and that I have no barometer to “pre”, so setting expectations is difficult.