Oceania - The good, the bad, and the ugly

[pappy3393]

Just got back from a 10 day western mediterranean cruise on Oceania Nautica. My previous cruises have been with Seven Seas/Radisson. There were 5 of us on the cruise: my wife, my 2 sons, my daughter in law and myself. We had a great time. I would say that the Radisson cruises are definitely a step (or 2) above Oceania but at a different price point.

 

The good: the ship is in great shape; our stateroom (veranda) was comfortable - the bathroom and shower are small as others have said but it's functional. The stateroom stewards were GREAT. The embarking and disembarking process were easy and smooth. Oceania arranged for the flights and they were good going in both directions. I would say that Luftansa's service is much better than Continental's service. The tendering process was very good. We did all private tours (comments will be on the port section of this website). The itinerary was very good and was the main reason why we chose Oceania.

 

The bad: the food was OK but not great. The specialty restaurants were better then the Grand dining room. Service in all of the dining rooms was good until they became crowded and then it deteriorated quickly. One time we waited 20 minutes for someone to pick up our plates after dinner but only after we asked. The dessert order and coffee order followed and the dessert was delivered in a timely fashion but the coffee and tea was not delivered until after we finished dessert and we had to ask again. Service in all of the restaurants was not acceptable once it became busy. This was a common problem no matter where we ate.

 

The bad: when we came back to the tender dock in Sorrento, the ship was gone. We were back in plenty of time. What we found out was that the captain decidede to move the ship to a dock in Naples because of the rough seas. We understand that and respect the captain's decision because safety is the number 1 priority. The bad part is that Oceania did not leave any employees behind to work with the passengers to get alternate transportation to Naples. There was someone at the tender dock to tell us that the ship was gone but they didn't offer help. Fortunately, we ran into other Oceania passengers and a 3rd party tour guide who was organizing buses to Naples. We did get to Naples and back on the ship. When we went to the front desk to complain about the situation, we were directed to the concierge. He seemed disinterested in our problem and didn't even look at us. An announcement came on later explaining the decision but nothing was said and no apology was issued as to the handling of the situation.

 

Having said all this, we still had a great vacation and we would travel with Oceania again, although our expectations would be lowered.

[pappy3393]

More thoughts came to me after I submitted my original thread. Being able to dress casually was a great plus as well. There were 2 smoking sections: one on the pool deck and in one section of the main lounge. The inside smoking section was not ventilated well and you could definitely smell it even when in other parts of the lounge. I also won a little money in the casino, so that was a plus! We went to one show, and it wasn't very good so we didn't try again. The ship always pulled into port right on time.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

The incident at Sorrento is just unacceptable. Poor you, I can't imagine.

[pappy3393]

Wendy,

 

I think Oceania left it up to one of their subcontracted tour guides to coordinate the bus trip back to Naples. They got us all back but it was not well coordinated. I would have expected Oceania to have employees at the tender dock to inform and coordinate. Safety always comes first and I believe that there was a safety issue based on comments from passenegers who had late tenders to shore. The situation was made worse by the concierge who had little interest in hearing the complaints from several passengers. I don't know that he was the right person to talk to but that is where we were directed. Despite this bad experience and the OK food (below our expectations based on Oceania's advertising and claims) we still had a great time.

[wripro]

If you didn't get satisfaction from the concierge you should have gone directly to the Hotel Manager. Frankly, I would write a strong letter or email to their offices now and explain the situation. I would love to hear their reply.

[pappy3393]

Do you have an email address for a person in power at Oceania? I would love to write them an email about Sorrento and about the service in the dining rooms when things got crowded. Despite these issues, we still enjoyed the trip and still believe that Oceania is a fit for us because of the size of the ship and the value as compared to the up scale cruise lines.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Pappy,

 

I think that the issue of the dock really rests with the Port Agent but of course ultimately with Oceania. We were "stranded" at JFK without transfer by Regent on one cruise a few years ago and it was due to the miscommunication at the Port Agent. It took me two hours to resolve.

 

That said, something that I will always do now is travel with a cellphone that works ashore no matter where I am (Tmobile or Mobal are both good) and I never leave the ship without the telephone number of the port agent so that if there were a situation such as yours I can resolve the problem easily.

 

That said, I have now done 27 days on Oceania and almost 100 days on Regent and have learned a few minor ways to compensate for the differences - we go later to dinner than 7pm - we found that 7:45 and later always got us perfect service or earlier such as 6:30 when the GDR opens. We board and take a wine package so we don't sign for wine at dinner and the sommlier gets to know us whereever we are onboard; and we have the cabin attendant stock the room with bottled water and drinks and have the chit signed right up front so we just take what we want - we've paid for it.

 

We found the service to be compariable when we have done that. We really like both lines with only about 10% advantage to Regent; As far as smoke goes, we have had far more issue with it on Regent even with the latest policy. The casino for me on Regent is a real issue far more than the corner of Horizon's on Oceania.

[pappy3393]

ChatKat,

 

I agree on the smoking policy. Regent is worse. I was under the impression that there was only 1 outside smoking section on Oceania but there was 1 inside section as well. I wish they would eliminate smoking entirely but that would upset some people.

 

On the Sorrento issue, it was a tender that was moved during the day to Naples for safety (high seas) reasons. I understand that completely. My issue with Oceania is how they handled it. People were coming back to the return tender throughout the day & evening and the ship was gone. I would have expected Oceania to have a representative on hand to inform the passengers of the change and also to help them get transportation to the new port. It was confusing and didn't need to be with a little bit of attention.

 

I do (and did) have a cell phone with me.

[Gail C]

>>>>We board and take a wine package <<<<

 

Kathy, would you mind elaborating on this. Hopefully, I'm not straying too far from the orginal topic for some.

Thanks,

Gail

[meow!]

Pappy 3393: I can empathize with the difficult situation you were in. To start with, Sorrento seems to be a difficult port for tendering. In April, 2004, we had to skip it altogether and directly went to Naples. Also last month, on the Celebrity Century, we had to skip Guernsey and went directly to Le Havre, and since the cruise line could not be responsible for the weather, they did not even apologize!

 

Of course, nobody can control the weather, but as you have said, they should make better arrangement for the stranded passengers. I can well understand the worry and frustration seeing your ship gone when you return to the tender point! Hopefully, they will learn from this and do better for future passengers.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

>>>>We board and take a wine package <<<<

 

Kathy, would you mind elaborating on this. Hopefully, I'm not straying too far from the orginal topic for some.

Thanks,

Gail

 

 

Gail, if you see the sommlier in Terrace Cafe when you board they have a list of wines you can pre order for your consumption. A mix and match list with a minimum of three bottles gets you a discounted price on some reserve (and not so reserve) wines.

[Gail C]

Wow, thanks, Kathy. I have never heard to such an arrangement. I will *surely* remember this should we decide to give Oceania a try.

[kathy16]

I also agree the incident was unacceptable. Although the passengers usually are responsible for transportation back to the ship/tender port, this situation mandates Oceania employees assistance for passenger return to the moved vessel.

[LHT28]

J

 

The bad part is that Oceania did not leave any employees behind to work with the passengers to get alternate transportation to Naples. There was someone at the tender dock to tell us that the ship was gone but they didn't offer help. Fortunately, we ran into other Oceania passengers and a 3rd party tour guide who was organizing buses to Naples. We did get to Naples and back on the ship.

 

Just curious in case this happens next year.

What was the cost of the transport back to Naples to meet the ship?

I usually have my Visa with me but want to make sure we have enough cash should it be needed.

[pappy3393]

There was no cost to the passengers for the bus trip. I heard that people who left earlier then we did went on a ferry and they had to pay for that themselves.

[LHT28]

There was no cost to the passengers for the bus trip.

 

Thanks

 

Was it put on by Oceania or port authority?

[pappy3393]

I think it was coordinated by a 3rd party person who did a bus tour for Oceania that day. The detais are sketchy because we didn't know what was going on. We were told to get on a specific bus and it would take us to Naples and it did. Once we got back on the ship the people at the front desk didn't even know we had been bussed in.

[merryecho]

I can imagine there was a lot of finger pointing by those in charge of O land arrangements on that ship,(I told Joe to handle it, and Joe told Bob..) But someone really deserves to be fired over a fiasco like this- it demonstrates sloppy service by those in charge.

As for dinner- have you ever been to a restaurant where service didn't slow a bit during a rush? On a ship with open seating, there is often going to be a large number of people who want to eat at the same time. Do you hire 10 extra staff to work that one hour, who aren't needed otherwise? Remember, they are trying to keep costs down, so we have to be reasonable in our demands.

[pappy3393]

Merryecho,

 

I realize that service will slow down when things get busier. Several times it got beyond reasonable ... waiting 20 minutes to clear plates and not until I after I asked the supervisor. I was apologized to several times and told it was unacceptable to wait as long as we did. If this was an isolated incident, I would brush it off. It wasn't. It was consistent in all restaurants, even the specialty restaurants, so I think Oceania needs to hear about it and address it.

[esther e]

What is being described in this unfortunate situation is exactly why we only do ship's tours.

[pappy3393]

This impacted everyone including those on ship tours. The ship tours are actually 3rd party subcontracted tours, so when they showed up at the port to tender to the ship, they were in the same situation - no boat & no information.

 

I understand the comfortable feeling that people have with ship tours but I for one don't like them - they are actually more expensive, less personal, and you get to do and see fewer things. But everyone has their own opinions about this topic and I respect all of them. There are pros and cons to all choices.

 

The point of the thread though is to make people aware that things like this could happen and that you should have contingency plans in mind.

 

Hopefully, someone from Oceania will read these comments and make changes to their policies and practices and make an effort to keep people informed and to improve the dining room experience. Despite these issues, I enjoyed the cruise line. They did a lot of things right and I would travel with them again.

[meow!]

Many cruise lines have port agents (albeit temporary) in every port they call. When the decision is made that a ship has to leave with some passengers stranded on shore due to dangers in tendering, the captain should call the port agent immediately and tell them to go to the tender point to co-ordinate things.

 

This should apply whenever the ship needs to sail ahead of time, or they cannot pick up customers, regardless of whether those passengers are on the cruise line's own excursion tours or not. I forget about how Oceania does it (the last time we cruised Oceania was in 2004), but on the Silversea cruise ticket, for example, it lists the names, addresses and telephone numbers for shore agents (even if temporary) in every port. We all understand that nobody is responsible for the weather, and safety must come first, but it is the duty of the cruise line to co-ordinate and inform. I am not saying that Oceania has not done that, just that it can be better handled, based on what we have read on this thread.

[esther e]

For some reason I was under the impression all tour guides were informed of changes. Thanks for clearing this up for me. Please understand I was in no way bashing independent tours; I was just speaking for me and my husband.:)

[LHT28]

I forget about how Oceania does it (the last time we cruised Oceania was in 2004), but on the Silversea cruise ticket, for example, it lists the names, addresses and telephone numbers for shore agents (even if temporary) in every port.

 

In the "Daily Currents" there is the name, address, phone number of the port agent.

However not many people take the paper with them ashore.

I write it down or take the paper with us.

[pappy3393]

Thanks for that information. I am a novice cruiser so I didn't realize that. Many other people were caught of guard because several buses were loaded and even more took the ferry to Naples.