Nautica Impressions HKG to ATH

[china addict]

:) Jack, you are an incredibly talented writer and we readers feel as though we are along on the cruise with you and your folks. My Dad was a WWII vet and would have loved to read your messages. He was in the British Merchant Marine during the Relief of Singapore and said his supply ship evacuated literally thousands of women and children to safety. Back then it was a filthy crime-ridden hell hole, but everything has changed. I am actually a fan of most of their social design and have never visited any other society where all races and religions meld so harmoniously. The Government controls everything, there's very little private housing and it's almost impossible for a private citizen to afford a car, yet there's "free" healthcare, schooling and other social benefits for everyone and the citizens I met seemed genuinely happy. Unemployment and crime are virtually non-existent. It was explained to me that because the government controls public housing, it can enforce the ideal mix of ethnicities in all apartment towers and schools. Because kids of all backgrounds live and play next to each other and attend the same schools, they fall in love and marry without regard to race or religion and there is no societal backlash about what we would call "mixed marriages". Ghettoes don't exist. From kindergarten up, all the kids are taught about every religion and celebrate every single one in entertaining ways, so Indian families turn out for the Santa Claus parade, the Chinese families are there for the Indian Festival of Lights, and so one. To me, the end result is a respectful diversity, but there are probably plenty of horror stories about how they achieved this and I know I couldn't handle being told where to live. One aspect of Singapore I did love was personal safety. It was amazing to know that day or night, I was not going to be robbed, mugged or worse. One of my travel companions had too many Singapore Slings at Raffles (my version of the story, not hers!) then slipped on the marble staircase at our hotel. She was amazed at the high quality free emergency room treatment she received. We are blessed with a lot of things in America, but universal health care is not one of them, nor is public safety. One of the great benefits of travel is the exposure to different cultures and lifestyles, and Jack, I applaud you for digging under the surface in each of your destinations to get the local flavor. Your stories about the "extra services" with your massage and your Dad's experience with the tailor were a hoot! Please keep the updates flowing in your own inimitable way, and tell your Mom and Dad how lucky we readers think they are to have a son such as you. We are eagerly awaiting the next installment of your travels.

[lahore]

I am fascinated to read the posts on Singapore. I lived there for quite a while and still teach there for several months each year and have very close friends there. The multicultural harmony is a little superficial - people will only tell you what they really think after they have known you for quite a long time. The stuff about 'guilty until proven innocent' is also highly contestable - just ask one American academic who was sued by Lee Kuan Yew for alluding to something like that. But it has a kernal of truth. What visitors are told by taxi drivers, tour guides etc is one view, but it's not the entire reality, no more than it would be in America, Australia or anywhere else. In short, Singapore is a complex and fascinating place, and living there has its ups and downs like anywhere else. With all its difficulties, the people have a brilliant sense of humour. Visit www.mrbrown.com.sg for a taste of what they think about their society.

[meow!]

From what I have read somewhere before, as a former British colony, Lee kwan yue has learnt the "rule by law" of Elizabeth I, not "rule of law" of Elizabeth II. From Confucius, he has learnt to legitimize dynastic autocracy. The merits of such a system is a contentious subject. Anyway, we are a cruise travel forum, and as long as tourists are safe and happy, we may as well leave local politics alone!

[monina01]

I am one of the many who have been reading this board extensively but have never posted. We have yet to go on our first cruise ever, and after alot of reading, Oceania is my number one preference.

 

I just have to say I love this thread. The descriptions of the ship itself, the ports, the excursions, the little tidbits of your life here and there...I am overjoyed that you are on a 35 day cruise, hopefully that means alot more installments.

 

Also, I live in Holland (born an American in Boston, I have lived in Holland since 1978) and find the little anecdotes about your parents fun to read......

 

Please please keep on writing......if not for us, then for yourself. This will be a wonderful thing to have to remember your special cruise by.

[JackfromWA]

DISCLAIMER:

 

I am sorry if any of my comments on Singapore were inaccurate. To clarify I am a first-time traveler to every port on this itinerary except Bangkok and these postings are nothing more than my perceptions, thoughts and feelings. If due to my ignorance I report something inaccurate, please feel free to correct my mistake. However I won’t get into a debate—especially since I may not have my facts straight—I am simply passing along my reflections of this beautiful trip. As Meow! said the most important thing is that travelers are safe and happy, and for Singapore I would wholeheartedly say both are true, it is a delightful stop. That being said there will be times my vision is colored by my biases, beliefs and values. I’ll attempt to keep contentious subjects out of these reports (you won’t get an abortion, legalization of marijuana or George W. debate from me here) as I hope the tone of this thread can be one of pleasure in discovering new places, not one of political or current event debate.

 

Benfield & Monina01, Congratulations on your first post! I have been a member here since 2001, but mostly I have just read posts (called lurking). It has been so helpful to me I thought this time I would try to give something back to this wonderful online community. My study of other member’s posts about various cruise lines and ports has vastly enhanced my vacations. Benfield, please tell your daughter I let my mom read your comments. It is a privilege to enjoy my parents company at this length, in good health in this setting.

 

AussieGal, it tickles me that you are reading these in your bed at night. I hope it just isn’t to go to sleep! Actually that is my favorite place to read and I am humbled you deem these reports worthy of printing and late night reading.

 

China Addict, I told my parents how lucky they are ? and I am delighted to report things are much better in Singapore than when your father served in WWII.

 

Lahore and Meow, thanks for keeping me on task. The world is a big place and I still have so much (and so little time) to learn.

 

PHUKHET

 

Our plan for our brief stay in Phukhet was to enjoy a day at one of Asia’s finest resorts, The Banyan Tree. Nautica’s concierge, Robert who lives part time in Phukhet heartily endorsed our plan and advised we could procure a taxi from the Phukhet Deep Sea terminal to the Banyan for about $30. While I am sure his advice was accurate, the drivers working the pier today weren’t interested. After three consecutive rejections I increased our offer to $45 and got a ride.

 

The cab driver was everything you don’t want from a foreign cabbie. His cab wasn’t too clean and smelled of mildew and mold, he lied about distances, he claimed the Banyan Tree was closed, he attempted to wait (on his schedule) to take us back to the ship, he tried to stop at a jewelry store, he tried to stop at a massage parlor and spoke, at best, pidgin-English. All in all I liked him—he was a character, but I booked the Banyan Tree’s limousine for the return trip to the ship.

 

Since today is Songtran (Thai New Years Day) the prices for cabs may be higher. I know in the US most of us enjoy earning overtime on a holiday. The obvious sign of the holiday is water liberally splashed on tourists, passersby and gangs or roaming teenagers, young adults and kids. Our Thai waitress from Toscana said that for her the real significance of the holiday was going home to honor her parents and adding jasmine to a small vessel of water and dousing her parent’s hands. It certainly makes sense to me that teenagers and fun-lovers of all ages would grab the idea of applying water to observe a time-honored family tradition and convert it into an all out water splashing extravaganza.

 

I woke up today worried. Last night I learned my partner, Ty, has some white spots on his tongue that his doctors are concerned about. They are performing a biopsy to rule out cancer. A few years ago my best friend and business partner was diagnosed with Stage III tonsil cancer and I walked with him all through the treatment—from the diagnosis, to the surgery, through the post-surgical recovery, through eight weeks of radiation and the process of helping him return to work. I attended every surgeon, oncologist and radiologist appointment as he relied on me to help him make difficult treatment decisions. A few months later my dad developed prostate cancer and underwent a radical prostatectomy. About six months ago Ty’s dad was diagnosed with lung cancer, fortunately it was caught early—he is one of the rare victims of lung cancer who will probably survive it.

 

Once you have lived with cancer, whether as a caregiver or a patient, you never forget it—it stays with you and somewhere inside you know how much pain, devastation and helplessness it can cause. All cancers are an emotional roller coaster. I hate cancer and though I am stronger for having been a primary caregiver I wish I hadn’t encountered it yet. Since cancer entered my life I’ve learned that sadly, most people have a cancer story. The older you are the more likely it has you have a tragic one. Whether the story originates with a mother, father, grandparent, brother, sister, best friend, child, spouse or yourself, it is a story indelibly imprinted in memory. For me, living life to the fullest is the best antidote, but when cancer threatened to rear its ugly, threatening head, the old stories and all the intense feelings, came slamming back. I know Ty will be fine and almost certainly doesn’t have cancer—most cancer scares are just that, a scare—and the tests will likely come back benign. I know even if he has cancer it was discovered early and together we will survive it, but I am sad I am not home by his side, and I won’t rest easy until the tests come back benign. I know you are reading this Ty. I love you and it will be all right.

 

Our destination for the day, The Banyan Tree is situated in a lagoon along Bang Tao bay about 35 minutes north from the ship. It is an exquisite setting. The lobby is open-air, resplendent with beautiful woods, fine fragrances and attentive staff. The grounds feature lush landscaped gardens amidst traditional serene Thai architecture. All the villas are a sybaritic delight; the bed is divine (Nautica’s bedding is good but nothing like this), the bath towels are so plush they feel like pillows, and even the toilet was decorated with a small flower on the lid. I had booked the most basic villa since we could only stay six hours. It was more than satisfactory, but the villas with private pools must be sensational. All this doesn’t come cheap of course. Villas start at about US$500 and quickly go from there. I was able to negotiate a lower day rate by contacting Banyan Tree’s head office.

 

Conde’ Nast has called Banyan Tree’s spa treatments the best in the world. If they aren’t I haven’t had any better. The treatment massage room is an open-air tastefully enclosed area about 25’ x 20’ completely encircled by a small 2’ moat filled with small, colorful tropical fish. In the middle is a smooth black tiled island of tranquility with two relaxing chairs draped with fine, supple fabric facing the entrance and two massage tables facing the beautifully decorated opposite wall. The interior walls are decorated with tall lush ferns and a variety of intricate spiritual eastern wall relief carvings. Two small fans rotate at the uppermost point of the high Thai ceiling, and birds casually chirp as they fly in and out. It is the most sublime setting for a massage imaginable. Every sense is engaged: visually there are many intricate, rich surfaces and parts of the ceiling are suffused with dappled, dancing light reflected from the moat—when I opened my eyes during the massage and peered down a small green bowl containing a lotus flower symmetrically surrounded by red rose petal greeted me— the smell of jasmine, eucalyptus and beautiful native fragrances infuse everything from the welcoming cool towel to the soft oils and lotions, soothing music wafts quietly from hidden speakers, and when the treatment is complete a divine hot or cold lemon grass tea along with melon, pineapple and vegetable sticks are served. Touch is the focus of the massage and suffice it to say only Thailand’s best therapists are serving at the Banyan Tree.

 

Far too quickly the time slipped away and we left for the ship. Since it was Songtran we didn’t want to risk being late. We departed the Banyan Tree in a Mercedes sedan (for the same price as the cab) about an hour earlier then we intended. My mom, dad and I all smelled wonderful from the massage oils, soaps and lotions. Along the hour-long drive back to the ship our car was doused with water and we gleefully watched all the excitement from the water fights. Many people had barrels filled with water and quickly dipped bowls and tossed the contents on any passerby. There was a small compliment of air-powered water guns and garden hoses—one enterprising teenager commandeered a fire hose and sprayed everyone in shooting distance! It was with regret we finally said goodbye to the driver and embarked back on Nautica.

 

As we returned to the ship we saw there was a very nice market set up alongside Nautica. Prices were good, selection of imitation Polo, Boss, Lacoste, Burberry and Diesel was plentiful—there were even two booths filled with Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton bags. After spending every last Baht (Ty got two Burberry shirts the sizes here don’t fit me) I boarded Nautica, went to my stateroom and wrote all this down.

 

Now we begin four sea days and then arrive in Goa.

[lahore]

Hey Jack, I genuinely apologise if you thought my thread was censorious. It wasn't meant to be - it was just a reflection on things I have thought myself. It took me so long to get some idea of Singapore. It was just a musing, a thinking out loud not a judgement, but now that I read it again I see it could be taken that way. I do enjoy the humour on the MrBrown website so I thought it might be worth sharing - but not for you, you have much more fun stuff to do! I had absolutely no itention of hijacking this wonderful thread onto 'political' topics. Keep on enjoying, and sharing, we are all appreciating it so much .

[Rob & Beckys mom]

for the wonderful posts. Ty is in my prayers.

 

Jan

[meow!]

Jack: In fact I agree with your feelings about Singapore. I enjoy reading your posts and please keep posting. Good luck with the rest of your trip.

[JackfromWA]

Lahore,

 

Thanks for taking the time to clarify… I wasn’t totally certain where your post was going—written communication isn’t always easy to decipher—but I deeply appreciate the quick clarification, and the information you shared about Singapore. I look forward to looking at the website you suggest when I return home and broadband is free. Every once in a while some posts digress and I wanted this to just be a place for people interested in one passengers experience on Nautica. I just noticed your first cruise was a couple of rubber dinghy’s — that was mine to! I tried to sink a crab pot and after throwing it overboard realized the weight from pulling it out of the water would cause the dinghy to capsize. Eventually I had to release, and lose the crab pot. Anyway, thanks for giving me the excuse for a short post... now it is off to bed!

 

Jack

[Decebal]

Hi Jack. I've enjoyed your diary so much, it's become a daily habit to read it at lunch time. :)

 

So sorry to hear about Ty, hope all turns out well. Man that sucks hearing such news on a long holiday.

 

Wow The Banyan Tree is something else, thanks for writting about it. Was this property affected at all by the tsunami?

 

What will you ever do with four long days at sea???? Cabana time.... can't wait to hear how you like it.

[lahore]

Tee Hee Jack - glad we share the same sense of humour. That crab won the day huh?

 

By the time you get this you will be in India, so I can't wait to read about that as I am anticipating with glee the bazaars and the culture of Mumbai. But more especially I am keen to read your posts on Oman and Egypt, as I am still a little conflicted about what we will do in those ports. Whatever you do I hope you have a totally fabulous time. At the moment I expect you are on deck soaking some rays. Ahhhhhh :D

[merryecho]

Jack- we will all be waiting anxiously to hear how things go with Ty- I am sure extra prayers will be coming in from all over the place.

Just a thought- The airline magazines are always looking for good travel stories like yours. If you are interested you can find submittal info in writer's market. And they pay enough to buy an extra fake Burberry shirt or two!

[JackfromWA]

Nautica's resident celebrity is a former child star from the age of black & white well-meaning family sitcoms—Lumpy from ‘Leave it to Beaver.’ Although not as well known as the infamous two-faced Eddie Haskell, or the Beav’s saint-like dad Ward Cleaver, Lumpy was a frequent “fun-to-make-fun-of” denizen of Beaver’s world. Any fan of the show knows Lumpy—Wally’s (Beaver’s older brother) not too bright, not too nice to any little brothers, friend. Most kids with older siblings had someone like Lumpy occasionally or frequently over at their house, and the question was always, “Why does my brother or sister hang out with such a dumb, mean, pathetic loser who isn’t even nice to me?” Lumpy represents an archetype that most of us, and practically all of us who have older brothers or sisters can immediately recognize.

 

Frank Bank played Lumpy and he and his lovely wife Carol are passengers on the Nautica. I first learned Frank was Lumpy when I asked one of my trivia team companions why the loud, complaining guy on the other team was so upset by losing. “Oh that’s Frank. He was Lumpy on ‘Leave it to Beaver’ and he thinks he should win at everything,” my teammate replied.

 

Although my first impression of Frank wasn’t favorable, all the years I rushed home from school to watch syndicated episodes of the show with my younger brother Jeff at 4 p.m. every weekday afternoon, all through the early 1970’s, kept me open-minded. Maybe Frank wasn’t such a loud-mouthed, complaining, self-centered boor—maybe he was a nice guy and I had just seen him at his worst—after all even though Lumpy was kind of a jerk, Frank is just an actor, and I hoped to speak with him about early days on the set and hanging out with the Beaver. Despite our trivia enmity, I made it a point to smile and nod at Frank.

 

Trivia is very serious on our 35-day cruise. Every sea day about seventy-five passengers gather in a lounge and answer twenty questions. Ray the cruise director personally conducts trivia. He started his career on the maiden voyage of the QEII in 1969 and has been on many round the world cruises and extended sailings. Early on I recognized that trivia was both difficult and seriously played. It did not resemble my previous experiences on seven or ten day cruises where trivia contests are merely one of many onboard ship diversions.

 

“On a cruise like this,” Ray quipped in his inimitable British accent, “all the passengers will be very friendly the first week or so, shaking hands, saying hello, being good sports and so forth. After a week or so the little cliques will form and the civilities will start to disappear. Then about a week before the end of the cruise everyone will start hugging and greeting each other civilly again and everyone again and make plans to come again on next year’s cruise.”

 

If a trivia team answered, “What won best picture in 1959?” by replying ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’ and the correct answer was ‘Bridge on the River Kwai,’ Ray takes a democratic vote of all players present to decide if both answers are correct. On the first week of trivia the majority of voting players would have accepted both answers. Now, at mid-cruise, every time we have a questionable answer decided by a vote, it loses. The niceties are gone and precise facts are the only thing that matter. My team has won first place four times, and every day but one we have taken at least first, second or third. Several teams have only placed a few times. Trivia is the one game where there isn’t much conviviality between opposing team players. At this stage of the cruise, trivia is played to win.

 

It is fun to watch all the personalities emerge on the different teams. All teams have at least one or more of the following: A “queen or king bee,” a silent player who doubts his or her worth, a film and pop culture expert, a history expert and an intelligent looking but non-contributing player who has learned to nod agreement and lend support to whichever fellow team player he or she deem most likely to provide the correct answer.

 

Frank is a king bee and he complains mercilessly anytime his team doesn’t win. He sometimes challenges whether Ray’s answers are correct and for a while he was convinced other teams were sitting by his team to steal their answers. To combat the perceived cheating his team created an outpost far removed from all other teams. It didn’t help much since so many of their answers are wrong, and his team continues to come in third or fourth with an occasional better showing.

 

There are prizes for trivia as well as some other shipboard activities. “O” points are the prize currency and entertainment staff award them for winning. In daily team trivia each player receives three points for first, two points for second and one point for third. Points can be redeemed for Oceania logo merchandise. A basic baseball cap costs 15 points; an Oceania journal is 25 points and so forth. I noticed what I thought was an incredibly tacky kitchen towel for 50 points and thought it might be a joke, but overhead a fellow passenger say, “I really hope I get enough points to buy the Oceania kitchen towel. I just love it.” My mom has earned over a hundred points between her, my dad and I, so I guess we’ll have our pick of the caps, thin t-shirts, kitchen towel, coasters and playing cards.

 

I don’t know which prize Frank has his eye on, but he comes to the daily team trivia as well as the frequent nightly music trivia, and despite his teams performance he is earning some points. My mother, along with a few other players from our daily trivia team has been winning first or second place on the evening’s musical trivia is played. Early in the cruise, my mom met two well groomed, older men, traveling together while at a music trivia contest featuring Broadway show tunes. She told me I should meet them since they might be a couple. I was amused by this as the chances of them traveling together and meeting at, much less winning the show tune trivia, and not being a couple was extremely low. I met them, they are a couple that have been together over 30 years, and they recently married in their home city of Toronto.

 

The night after my mom went to trivia and met her new show tune teammates, she, my dad and I were eating breakfast upstairs at the Terrace restaurant. “We should have won first place,” my mother said referring to last night’s music trivia. “The pianist from the ship joined the other team and I think he knows every song. They shouldn’t let professional musicians play against us.”

 

“Well it sounds like you guys did pretty well, you came in second.” I said.

 

“I still think we should have come in first, but that piano player knew every song. At least it was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to do it again.” She replied.

 

A few moments later a loud indignant voice yelled from behind me, “He didn’t know any of the songs. That piano guy doesn’t know a thing. I knew all the answers.” Frank belligerently interrupted as he accusingly stared at my mom.

 

Uh-oh. I might not get my photo with Lumpy now I thought. Unbeknownst to us Frank had been sitting by himself a few tables over intently listening to every word describing last night’s music trivia game.

 

“Oh, uh I am sorry,” my mom stammered out. “I just assumed he knew lots of songs since he plays so many different ones on the ship.”

 

“He didn’t know a thing. If it wasn’t for me we couldn’t have won,” Frank replied. “Besides aren’t you the one that couldn’t identify ‘June Is Busting Out All Over’?” Frank asked. “How embarrassing! That was the biggest hit of the musical!”

 

With that Frank stomped away and my mom, dad and I were left speechless, gazing at the remains of our breakfast. I started to laugh and said, “Well he is a lot like his character on ‘Leave it to Beaver’.”

 

A few nights later the next music trivia featured classical music. While my parents are not music snobs they love classical music and have had season tickets to the Vancouver Symphony and both the Seattle and Vancouver Opera for many years. With a little help from their other trivia partners they won again. Frank’s team went down in flames—they only scored six out of twenty points. Of course Frank neither said a word nor cast a glance in my mom’s direction.

 

I continued to say hi to Frank at daily team trivia and a few days ago brought my camera and asked if I could have a “picture with Lumpy” to send to my younger brother Jeff. He happily obliged. I asked my mom to snap the photo and when she finished I said, “Frank, do you mind if I get one with you and my mom to?”

 

“Sure I’d be happy to,” he said, so now I have my favorite photo from the trip—Mom with her nemesis Lumpy.

 

Although it has been fun to try to beat Lumpy’s team every day I suspect when we are down to our last week, Ray’s prediction will come true, and we’ll love Lumpy again; I know life won’t be near as interesting when I have to return home and instead of getting to face-off against Lumpy’s trivia team every afternoon at 4:45, I have to be at my office working. Since it is 4:30, I have to go…. trivia is calling and I can’t be late!

 

NOTE: I just returned from trivia. We tied for first. We would have won if I had remembered the computer from ‘2001, A Space Odyssey’ was HAL 9000—I said HAL 2000 (no one else knew the number either). At least I knew The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, died in the late 1960’s—I guessed 1969, the answer was 1967, but the point went to the closest and that was my team. Who knows what salient facts I’ll learn tomorrow.

[Sharicruz]

Cell phones are now working from the Nautica. I spoke to Jan and Stu from their stateroom last night. They are having a wonderful time. Right now they are at sea. Next stop, India, and the Taj Mahal. Stay tuned.........

 

Shari

[rreett]

Are you also filling out the daily quiz? It is another good way to get points for cheap stuff with the ship's name on it. I have a visor and magnet! ha.

 

Anyway when I was on the Nautica the quiz was found each morning on a desk near destinations services. The good thing is you can use the "reference books" in the library! Often there seemed to be themes for the day's quiz.

[merryecho]

Jack, you just keep getting better! The Lumpy story is hilarious- it sounds like he has stayed in character all these years. I always thought his dad on the show was even more obnoxious than Lumpy, but can't for the life of me remember his name. If you need to make conversation with the Lump, you might bring up Whitey, another character, who died recently in Portland after living as a street person for several years. The obit talked about him regularly cashing his $15 royalty checks. I wonder if Lumpy got the same deal?

[Aussie Gal]

Jack,

 

I have enjoyed so much reading your latest post today. Your writing is wonderful and I am so glad you are spending some your precious vacation time doing this for us. A big thank you.

 

Jennie

[tgg]

Jack,

 

We howled when we read your description of team trivia - especially how the mood of the competition changes over time. Your descriptions of the team members was perfect. I still remember the guy on the other side of the room who argued about so many of the answers.

 

Thanks to Team Trivia we brought home one O visor and two O caps from our last cruise. We passed on the towels and thin t-shirts, thank you very much.

 

Thank you for helping us relive the wonderful memories of our fantastic trivia team. We looked forward to seeing them every afternoon at 4:45. What a great time we had.

[JackfromWA]

A few updates before the mid-cruise review:

 

Decebel, the cabana has been wonderful. I haven’t used it as much as I hoped—some days are too darn hot—but between my mom, dad and I we are getting our money’s worth from it. The Banyan Tree wasn’t flooded in the 2004 tsunami, but they did have extensive wind and storm damage.

 

Update on Ty: My partner Ty has been referred to a specialist for his biopsy. He is scheduled to go in on May 3rd. Hopefully his appointment will be moved up, but if it isn’t I’ll be home about the time he gets his results. Thanks to everyone who sent positive thoughts/prayers/ and wishes for his good health our way—I believe it helps.

 

MID-CRUISE REVIEW

 

Today marks the middle of the cruise. For those looking forward to an Oceania cruise or contemplating a trip of this length I wanted to share some of my thoughts and observations. Remember this review is an anecdotal non-scientific opinion about my first time on Nautica—some, or maybe all, of your experiences will be different.

 

In my first review I mentioned Regent’s Mariner (or her sister ship Voyager which has better bathrooms) is my favorite cruise ship. If price is not a factor, my opinion hasn’t changed. The reason I prefer Mariner to Nautica can be summed up in three words: standard cabin size.

 

After eighteen days I still haven’t learned to enjoy the size of my cabin. I have adapted to it, I got what I paid for, but I find 165 s.f. is too small for a 35-day trip for two. On the other hand, my parents seem to be doing just fine with sharing an identically sized cabin (with the exception of not enough closet space), so your contentment with the cabin size depends entirely on what you are comfortable with. A friend and his wife onboard have a Vista Suite (approx 800 s.f.), and they prefer the layout of the 550 s.f. Royal Suite on Celebrity. They love their suite, they are perfectly content, but they miss having a walk-in shower. Another friend and his wife have a Penthouse Suite (approx. 325 s.f.) and they couldn’t be happier. I know I would be happiest in an Owners or Vista Suite, I am a sybarite at heart, love lots of space and enjoy having my cabin resemble my living room at home, but since I don’t want to pay the premium I would purchase a Penthouse Suite when traveling with Ty.

 

In defense of the cabins, they are well laid out and the space is intelligently designed for maximum efficiency. Despite my criticism of the size, it has not interfered with enjoying my vacation—I just prefer Regent’s Mariner and Voyager standard cabin configuration and look forward to Oceania’s cabins on her new ships.

 

Food generally creates the most controversy when comparing cruise lines. After eating onboard Nautica for several weeks I now have an informed opinion about the cuisine and how it compares to Regent, Silverseas, Celebrity, Holland America and RCCL. In short, it is significantly superior to Celebrity, Holland America and RCCL and easily competes with Regent and Silverseas.

 

Portions tend to be smaller than on some of the other cruise lines, but it is never a problem to ask for more, and like any long-time cruiser in good health I have never gone to bed hungry. Some of the desserts are truly outstanding—a chocolate mousse with caramel served with orange sauce served in the Grand Dining Room, and a refreshing Cassis sorbet spring to mind—and every night there is a vegetarian course, spa or light cuisine menu, pasta course, wok course, and salmon, steak or chicken entree on the dining room menu. In short there is something for everybody, and the quality, temperature, taste, incredible variety and portion sizes have been perfect for me.

 

One of my litmus tests for a cruise ship dining room is a Caesar Salad. On Nautica the lettuce is always crisp, so I know the salad is tossed when I order it, anchovy strips are available and slices of aged Italian Parmesan cheese are plentiful and savory. On some cruise ships the Caesar consists of limp, wilted lettuce and grated Parmesan if you are lucky. Another test is orange juice. I love fresh squeezed orange juice and purchase it by the half-gallon from Costco at home. Unfortunately Nautica fails. The orange juice is good for reconstituted, but it lacks the flavor and zest of good fresh squeezed juice.

 

Another test is room service. While I don’t order too much food to my cabin, after a shore excursion or long day it is nice to just have something simple. Nautica has an excellent room service menu. The French Onion soup is particularly good, and steak, hamburgers, spaghetti and ice cream are always available. The room service is much better than most cruise lines and almost as good as Regent or Silverseas. Since I am in a standard cabin I can’t order dinner from the dining room or alternative restaurants—that privilege is reserved for concierge level and suites—but if I could order from the dining room during meal hours I would rate the room service as high as any ship I’ve sailed.

 

While true gourmands will probably be happier on Silverseas, the food on Nautica is superb, and I think 95% of the passengers will be just as delighted by the superb food on Oceania as I am. When I think about how consistently excellent and varied the food onboard is, and consider all the logistical challenges in making it available daily on a ship, I am extremely impressed.

 

My expectation for entertainment on this ship was very low. I assumed with only 600 passengers show entertainment would be an afterthought. I was wrong. The nightly shows have been good and extremely well attended. While there are only four singers onboard, they manage to consistently produce outstanding (for a cruise ship) variety shows. Singers, guitarists, violinists and the cruise director Ray, who puts on an incredibly entertaining variety show of his own, augment their performances. My only complaint about the shows is the lack of a proper venue. The Nautica lounge is not terraced or elevated, so unless you sit in the front few rows, part of your view is often obscured. I suspect Oceania will correct this when they build their new ships.

 

The highlight of the entertainment for me is bridge classes and trivia. I wrote extensively about trivia in my last post, and though I could write chapters about learning to play bridge, I’ll just mention a few highlights. First and foremost is the instructor, Jean Joseph, a delightful impish lady from Kansas City.

 

From what I can tell Jean is the only person on the ship that can routinely and resoundingly put every passenger in his or her place. My father was an education professor for over thirty years, and both of us left Jean’s class exclaiming, “She is an excellent teacher.”

 

Jean taught kindergarten and first-grade for many years and she brings her years of experience teaching children to the more challenging task of teaching pampered adults. She tolerates no talking while her back is turned to write a bridge hand on the chalkboard.

 

“I hear talking, and I know you can’t be listening if you are talking. You just can’t do both at the same time so you need to be quiet and listen,” she frequently says. When explaining a difficult-for-a-novice-bridge-player-to-grasp-principle, Jean breaks it into simple steps such as counting, “You all know how to count to eight don’t you?” she asks. She usually ends her illustrations with, “Now that’s not hard now is it?” And in the easy to understand way she conveys difficult principles is isn’t hard to understand.

 

A beginning bridge class with Jean fills your head with new words like singleton and doubleton and old words like dummy, pass, and void that have new meaning in bridge lexicon.

 

Her greatest gift is her ability to inherently motive her students to “make her proud.” She has that ineffable quality all great teachers possess—they make you want to please them—and they do it in a nurturing, wise, mentoring manner that makes their necessary criticism a painless motivation to learn and do better next time. Watching a room of successful, experienced, mature adults respond to the same techniques that motivate five year olds is one of they great joys of this cruise. I hope to find friends to play bridge with someday, but whether I do or not I’ll fondly remember the 18 lessons at sea in Mrs. Joseph’s class.

 

The second highlight of bridge is spending time with my mom and dad in a classroom. My dad has always enjoyed bridge, but since my mom has never had lessons he doesn’t play much. It is fun to sit in a classroom with my father, enjoy his greater knowledge of what I am learning and allow him to share his love of bridge with my mom and I. The hours in the classroom and hours spent practicing bridge is another wonderful opportunity to spend quality time with my mom and dad.

 

The onboard library is extensive and well maintained. There is a section for New York Times bestsellers that is fairly current. There are hundreds of biographies and novels, an extensive travel library and a very large guest paperback exchange. In addition to several cozy leather chairs with ottomans, there are two computer workstations and a printer. Best of all, the library is on an honor system which allows it to be open twenty-four hours a day.

 

I have only taken one of the ship’s shore excursions, “Bangkok On Your Own”, which was really more of a bus transfer, but I have listened to my fellow trivia team players, bridge students and dining companions and overall Oceania is earning high ratings. This may be due in part to an excellent shore excursion manager, Cynthia, but I also think this is an area Oceania recognized it needed improvement and made changes. I’ll write more about this after taking the Luxor and Cairo shore excursions, but I haven’t heard any complaints, and I have heard many compliments about the quality of the guides and the organization of the ship tours.

 

No review would be complete without a commentary on service. Service on a ship can be hard to define but I suggest it is a genuine attitude of friendliness and willingness to totally meet guests needs and desires. By this standard Oceania is the best I have sailed. I described the overall service last night to a well-traveled friend at dinner as, “Holland America’s service on steroids.” He wholeheartedly agreed.

 

Service is unfailingly consistent, feels absolutely genuine—they really want you to have the time of your life—and is usually accompanied by smiles and a friendly demeanor everywhere on the ship. For those critics reading this I am not a travel agent, I am not trying to “sell” you on Oceania (remember I said if money wasn’t a factor I would still pick Regent’s Mariner over Oceania)—I have just had nothing but consistent positive service experiences everywhere on board. The complaints I’ve overheard about service are things like, “Why do they change my towel every day. I don’t do that at home!” or “These people are bugging me, they are always asking if I need something. I wish they’d just leave me alone.” I wish my business had complaints like that!

 

A small example of the service is a pool bar waiter I didn’t know approached me yesterday and asked, “Can I get you something from the bar for you sir?”

 

“No,” I replied. “I am doing just fine thank you.”

 

“How about a lemonade or a cold glass of water?” he asked.

 

“Actually that sounds great. Thank you,” I replied. Not many ships have pool bar waiters, who get paid largely from tips for bar drinks, encourage you to enjoy a free drink they have to fetch on a hot, humid day. I think if I tried to order a free lemonade on RCCL the waiter would at best reluctantly disappear for five or ten minutes and eventually fetch it. On Nautica I had ice-cold lemonade in less than a minute, served with a genuine smile. Somehow Oceania has created a corporate culture that encourages all personnel to genuinely strive to make guests comfortable and happy.

 

The number one complaint I have heard is the price of alcohol beverages (a beer starts at $3.75 + 18% service) water and sodas (a Diet Coke is $2.00 + 18% service). The number two complaint is laundry. There is only one laundry room on board and to say the self-serve laundry is overtaxed is like saying Bombay might be a little crowded.

 

Early in the cruise some experienced self-centered passengers attempted to buy all the laundry tokens from the purser desk. Whether they were trying to replicate the Hunt brothers silver exploits in the 1980’s or simply trying to stop everyone else from doing laundry, I don’t know. When the ship belatedly realized they suffered a run on laundry tokens they instituted a daily limit of two per cabin (it takes one token for one washer cycle and one token for one dryer cycle). Despite the new limit and frequently emptying the token receptacles in the laundry room, the desk shortly ran out of tokens. Two days ago the purser took the unusual step of making the laundry room free, rendering all the tokens as valuable as confederate dollars, in hopes that the laundry room would sort itself out—it didn’t. Now that is free it is worse than ever.

 

Urban legends about the laundry room abound. I have heard tales of fistfights, shoving matches, stolen laundry, obscenities and lines forming at 6 a.m. (the laundry room is open from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.). I don’t know if any of these are true or not, I suspect some of it is hyperbole or an excuse not to do laundry, but I did here from a reliable source there was talk of having a security guard posted outside the laundry room door on sea days and that ship’s officers avoid walking by the laundry room. I can’t help but be amused that on a trip that almost every passenger paid thousands of dollars to take, such a furor would erupt over laundry. I have sent most of my clothes out (my mom is aboard and has graciously offered to do some of my laundry along with hers and my dads, plus she irons it for free, thanks mom!). My total laundry bill is about $60—my internet bill is over $500, I bought a 1,200-minute package—so I just don’t get it. I must be missing something. I guess everyone has different priorities, but you won’t catch me duking it out in the laundry room—I’ll be lounging in my cabana, reading a book, writing, or studying bridge.

 

One of the great delights of a long cruise is the wealth of days. There isn’t the sense of urgency I feel on short cruise. There is enough time to eat, watch, listen and view everything. In my regular (not at sea) life I live with deadlines, schedules and appointments. On Nautica I have time to strike up a conversation with an 85 year old woman from Nova Scotia, assist a fellow passenger with adding titles to his pictures in Adobe Photoshop, chat with Raquel at the reception desk, attend bridge class and stop and “smell the flowers.” One of the most valuable things I have learned so far this journey is my personality is much better suited to a less time-sensitive lifestyle. I feel physically, emotionally and spiritually better when I can interact with people without an impending sense of urgency. My self-imposed deadlines at home are not as congruent with my personality as the liberation from time I have on the ship, so when I get home I want to figure out how I can place some of that wisdom in my everyday life.

 

If I could change ten things about Oceania it would be (in no particular order):

 

1. Fresh squeezed orange juice.

2. Faster internet speeds.

3. Free sodas in all dining venues and better prices on all bar drinks and water in staterooms.

4. Larger standard cabins.

5. More laundry rooms.

6. More phones scattered around the ship to call staterooms.

7. A terraced main showroom.

8. A more sensible repeat guest program (Regent counts the number of days you cruise for more benefits, Oceania counts the number of cruises so for 35 days I only have one cruise with Oceania).

9. Affordable single supplements. (perhaps 50% instead of 100%)

10. A larger game and card room.

 

All in all I am more than satisfied. Oceania is in that rare strata that if you can’t be happy and content here, you probably can’t be happy and content anywhere. Although there is no perfection this side of heaven, Oceania comes closer than most vacations and I plan to relish and savor the remaining days.

[CruisingSerenity]

This thread has been, by far, by miles and miles, my favorite thread on Cruise Critic ever.

 

And when you return home and find some of that "stop to smell the roses" time, I hope you decide to write a book. It is SUCH a joy to read your posts. Your writing ability is phenomenal. I get the feeling you could write about grass growing or paint drying and it would be interesting, informative and humorous. To think that people in this world have not discovered your writing is....sad to think about, actually.

 

I echo the gratitude from others: Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts and observations with us. They are such a treat.

[fjdelrio]

Hi Jack and Hi Everyone:

 

I just wanted Jack to know that I too, have joined his fan club.

Your posts IMHO are, informative, funny, entertaining, and accurate.

 

I agree with your opinions, both the positive ones and the negagtive ones. I wish I could enlarge the bathrooms (wait until you see the BR's on the new ships!!), add a second story to the show lounge etc. The OJ issue is a tough one. Although not fresh squeezed (only OS and VS are served fresh squeeze) the OJ we serve is Tropicana, which I belkieve, is the best you can buy. Maybe we've had trouble sourcing Tropicana in the Far East whcih could explain why the OJ onboard is not to your standards.

 

I understand your point of ..."if money were no object"... But that is why Oceania is so popular, you just can't beat the COMBINATION of high quality (cuisine, service, ship decor etc) and reasonable prices.

 

I am so impressed with your posts, that I hope you accept my humble offer to grant you FREE unlimited access to the internet. I would not want money to in anyway interfere with your posts, if anything, please add more juicy details!!!

 

I join the throngs of Jack fans wishing and praying for Ty's good health.

 

Again, I just wanted to thank you and to congratulate you for providing all Oceania fans such wonderful insights and for sharing your experiences with all of us. I hope you and your parents and friends continue to enjoy Nautica.

 

All the best

 

FDR

[tak2]

Good move, FDR.

 

Thanks for providing the free internet time so Jack can keep entertaining those of us that are so looking forward to our turn on O.

 

Have you thought of publishing his journal, perhaps for those that wish to book long journeys with the broadening itneraries when the new ships come out?

[meow!]

I agree with your analyses of things. The service on Oceania is very good, the people are jovial, and fellow passengers are folksy. As I have mentioned before, food is also very good, actually with more variety than on Silversea, for example, except that on Silversea you can have caviar and foie gras on demand. The entertainers on Oceania try hard, but that "hall" is more like a night club, and not a mutistoreyed, tiered theatre, and the sound equipment (at least in 2004) left much to be desired. I would prefer they turn off their loudspeakers! Again, as mentioned before, the standard cabin is no frills, stardard fare (with those on RSSC and Silversea being much larger at Oceania's PH size and much more elegant). As we have discussed on another thread, I have made some guesses (based on published data) on what the newbuilds' basic staterooms are likely to be. Your story has become a daily entertainment with interesting information, and thank you for the perseverance and effort!

[LHT28]

I understand your point of ..."if money were no object"... But that is why Oceania is so popular, you just can't beat the COMBINATION of high quality (cuisine, service, ship decor etc) and reasonable prices.

FDR

 

Having not sailed any of the upscale lines we love Oceania the way it is.

We find most of the passenger to be down to earth, well travelled friendly people.

 

We like the small ship experience with O ..after 3 cruise and 2 more booked with O I cannot think of too much we would want changed.

Perhaps another laundry room, cheaper bottled water :).

 

You have made a special cruiseline in Oceania.

 

Lyn

[Twiga]

I, too, have been enjoying your postings, Jack. I have been a "lurker" but now that you are at the half-way point I must come out in the open and say "Great writing!" I am eagerly awaiting the next installment. I love Goa and all of India. It has been quite awhile since I have been there, so I can't wait to read about your experiences in India.

 

I also want to says "Thanks!" to Mr. Del Rio for reading these message boards and responding to the comments made, both good and not so good, by Cruise Critics members. I am booked on the Nautica in September. It will be my first time on Oceania. I know I will become an Oceania convert. Until my cruise, I am enjoying my virtual cruise with you, Jack, and your parents. They sound like wonderful people and terrific cruise buddies. Thanks for sharing your cruise with all of us!