A new ship for the Oceania fleet

[joeinsb]

At his pep talk about Oceania's cruising schedule for the reat of the year (book now, save bucks), our cruise director on Nautica, David Shermet, told us that Oceania plans to add a new ship to its fleet sometime around 2009. I asked if it would be another R-ship, since there are a couple making the rounds in Europe that I thought might be up for grabs (Pullmantours' Blue Dream and Delphin Renaissance), but he said it would be all new and larger--I'm thinking about the size of Seven Seas Mariner. Maybe somebody could shed some light on this. And tell us when can we book?

[sandbag7]

No larger please, a smaller ship- that would be appreciated.

[esther e]

Most definitely agree with sandbag7. No larger, please, please.

[frankpc]

We chatted briefly with the Oceania Marketing VP on the recent reunion cruise... he was pretty certain the new ship would be 1000-1100 passengers. He was soliciting feedback for the cuisine that the additional restaurant should have ...

Frank

[hondorner]

I suppose only Oceania knows the economics of size and whether they require a larger ship. I certainly hope that if the ship is larger it's out of need, not greed.

All I can say is that we sailed on the Costa Allegra last February, a slightly larger ship at less than 800 passengers and slightly more than 30,00 tons, and almost the same 600' or so length as the Oceania ships. While the Allegra was a much older ship (and on her last couple of cruises in that market), what we discovered was that we absolutely loved that size ship. It was perfect for us.

I had never heard of Oceania. I set out on an intensive round of research, searcning for ships of around 750 passengers, longer cruises than the mass market ships (the Allegra cruise we took was 12 days) and ports we had not yet visited, yet without breaking our finite budget. I also looked for more balcony rooms

The result stood alone. The only choice was Oceania, it fit my parameters perfectly. We booked the 26 day Amazon cruise this year and a trans-Atlantic for next year, and are confident it will be a great fit.

For us, the answer is pretty easy. If they bring out a new, larger ship, we can choose to not sail on it. I suppose we could give it a chance but as long as the other Oceania ships are still sailing, we'll be happy.

[esther e]

We chatted briefly with the Oceania Marketing VP on the recent reunion cruise... he was pretty certain the new ship would be 1000-1100 passengers. He was soliciting feedback for the cuisine that the additional restaurant should have ...

Frank

This sounds like it will still be open seating. Is that right? I sure hope so!

[Leonid]

The Crystal Symphony and the old Crystal Harmony had two, assigned seatings in the main dining room plus two specialty restaurants. Each could accommodate between 940 and 960 pax.,depending with whom you talked. I don't see how O could still maintain a single, open seating with that many pax. even with four restaurants.
Just got back from an Alaska cruise on the Silver Shadow (first time), which can accommodate 384 pax. (had 369 for the sailing). We really liked the size of the ship and all it had to offer. That said, we are booked on O for our next two sailings. Their pricing is going up for 2007, which could spell trouble for them... 700 is about as big as we will go. Our only O sailing was as good as any we have taken on Crystal, SS or SB.

[Jancruz]

There will be no changes in the open seating or country club casual..it will just be done in more elegant surroundings..
Jan
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[esther e]

Jan

:D :D :D Good news!

Esther

[Imagineer]

...several months back I thought I read on here that they were going to introduce a 4th ship, another former 'R' vessel, to be christened the Marina and operate it in the far east...
...does anyone else remember that as well? What happened with that idea?

cheers,

the Imagineers
upcoming NCL cruise on the Wind - Aug 27/06 - wow, only 2 days til Alaska!
upcoming Oceania cruise on the Insignia - Apr 28/07

[Jancruz]

All the R ships have been sold so there is none to buy
Jan
*************

[Leonid]

Jancruz1: O will maintain single, open seating with 1000 - 1100 pax? If my memory serves me correctly, Joe Watters, when he was with Crystal, said emphatically that they would never, ever go to a single, open seating concept. Is he still with O and if so, has he changed his mind, or has JDR overruled him? A single, open seating policy with that many pax. will be a challenge.

[Jancruz]

I am having dinner with Joe the first week of September..I will be happy to ask him his opinion..but I do know thats the way it will be!!
Jan
*************

[LHT28]

Jancruz1: O will maintain single, open seating with 1000 - 1100 pax? If my memory serves me correctly, Joe Watters, when he was with Crystal, said emphatically that they would never, ever go to a single, open seating concept. Is he still with O and if so, has he changed his mind, or has JDR overruled him? A single, open seating policy with that many pax. will be a challenge.

maybe they will have 2 dining rooms!
We were on an NCL ship with open dining and 2300 PAX
2 dining rooms plus 2 specialty dining areas (1 smaller than Polo)
Didn't seem to be a problem....a short line-up on a few nights but everyone got to eat!

So it can be done

[brian_uk]

Is it not strange that the ONLY thing talked about when discussing the new Ship is THE FOOD......

How will we eat, where will we eat, will there be enough, will I get a seat .....oy vay

my thanks to Jackie Mason

Brian

[Jancruz]

LOL..I guess Oceania cruisers travel on their stomachs!!
Jan
*************

[Leonid]

Brian: it's not the FOOD, it's the LOGISTICS that interests me. I seriously doubt that the new ship will have two main dining venues with only 1000-1100 pax. If the two specialty restaurant concept is maintained and they are not much bigger than the present ones, then there could be a problem seating pax. who want to eat early. In fact I surmise that it probably overwhelm the dining staff.Even with Tapas, which we love dearly, I can forsee a problem. That's my take.

[brian_uk]

Logistics....shmogistics

I want a table and chairs and foooood.

Just a joke.....

I dont even need a table.

Brian

[frankpc]

My conversation on board Insignia led me to believe that they were looking at a third specialty restaurant. IIRC he specifically asked about Asian/Fusion or a Pepin styled Bistro.
A Tapas type scenario would also remain. We complimented him on the sushi there, he said that some guests were know to stop in Tapas for sushi before heading to the GDR (so they caught us ....)
Since one of the popular threads here is "How many times do I get to eat in the specialty restaurants" adding capacity in the specialty segment is probably a smart way to go. In exchange for the larger ship size, they *might* offer more specialty restaurant dining opportunities?
JHMO here but my sense was they were very close to the actual ship design. More focused on shipyard pricing/delivery date details than a "what size will the ship be" ...
I guess 1100 passengers is small by today's standards. The OC guys and gals are still our favs so it will be interesting to see how it works out.
We did a 90 passenger ship (with 60 guests aboard) in the Galapagos two years ago. If you really want to know your fellow guests, that's hard to beat. I thought I was back in summer camp. Not sure I would have wanted that for two weeks ...

Frank

[Windrunner I]

I'd been told that in addition to the usual suspects, Grand Dining Room, Polo and Toscana, they would be adding two more specialty dining rooms on the new ships. Sounded to me like the new ship is probably larger because they're trying to build in more options for the passengers.

[LHT28]

We did a 90 passenger ship (with 60 guests aboard) in the Galapagos two years ago. If you really want to know your fellow guests, that's hard to beat. I thought I was back in summer camp. Not sure I would have wanted that for two weeks ...

Frank
We just did a 100 PAX cruise with 29 onborad for 12 days...it was cozy but not in your face.
People were friendly but you didn't feel you had to spend all your time with them.

[drwong]

I'd been told that in addition to the usual suspects, Grand Dining Room, Polo and Toscana, they would be adding two more specialty dining rooms on the new ships. Sounded to me like the new ship is probably larger because they're trying to build in more options for the passengers.

How successful are the Asian cuisine dining rooms offered by other lines?

[Raphy]

I'd been told that in addition to the usual suspects, Grand Dining Room, Polo and Toscana, they would be adding two more specialty dining rooms on the new ships. Sounded to me like the new ship is probably larger because they're trying to build in more options for the passengers.

Hopefully Oceania will "update" their fine cuisine to include much more imaginative & gourmet Vegetarian menu offerings.
Frankly during our recent 14 day Oceania Baltic Regatta , cruise the vegetarian food was unimaginative, BORING & quite disappointing!
Even the Vegetarian "basics" like Tofu were missing!
We have cruised with other cruiselines that provided much more imaginative & gourmet Vegetarian options.
Oceania Chefs, PLEASE get current...learn from the excellent land-based GOURMET Vegetarian Chefs & Restaurants.
Raphy

[Leonid]

How successful are the Asian cuisine dining rooms offered by other lines?

On the old Crystal Harmony, the Asian cuisine dining room was the Kyoto. It was pure Japanese and excellent yet not well patronized...never could figure that out. On the Crystal Symphony it is the Jade Garden, which offers a selection of different Asia cuisines .The food did not agree with us at all. Tried it twice on two different cruises and never went back.

[Druke I]

Yes, Kyoto on Crystal Harmony was underutilized.

They did serve some delicious Kobe beef there.

[Raphy]

:o I am having dinner with Joe the first week of September..I will be happy to ask him his opinion..but I do know thats the way it will be!!
Jan
*************

Jan
Perhaps the following will get to the right source through you.
Thanks so much.
Raphy

Hopefully Oceania will "update" their fine cuisine to include much more imaginative & gourmet Vegetarian menu offerings.
Frankly during our recent 14 day Oceania Baltic Regatta cruise, the vegetarian food was unimaginative, BORING & quite disappointing!
Even the Vegetarian "basics" like Tofu were missing!
We have cruised with other cruiselines that provided much more imaginative & gourmet Vegetarian options.
Oceania Chefs, PLEASE get current...learn from the excellent land-based GOURMET Vegetarian Chefs & Restaurants.
Raphy

[Windrunner I]

Jancruz1: O will maintain single, open seating with 1000 - 1100 pax? If my memory serves me correctly, Joe Watters, when he was with Crystal, said emphatically that they would never, ever go to a single, open seating concept. Is he still with O and if so, has he changed his mind, or has JDR overruled him? A single, open seating policy with that many pax. will be a challenge.

Well Joe's no longer with Crystal. :)

I do believe that concept would not work for Crystal, but the open-seating concept has worked very well for O right from the start. It also helps that these ships were designed and built for this, vs Crystal's which are much more traditional. Conversely, staff on the Pacific and Tahitian Princesses have stated that the two-seating concept of seasting close to 300 diners per assigned seating in the main dining room causes a strain.

O's current ships can seat over 500 in the 3 dining rooms at any one time for dinner, not counting Tapas on the Terrace. I would imagine the new ships will be designed with a similar capacity.

[JimandStan]

Getting this post back onto the original "Will there be an Oceania New-build" topic, I would like to point out that conventional wisdom in the ship-building financial community indicates that luxury ships in the 30,000 ton range (such as the dear, departed Ren fleet) are only profitable if you can buy them second hand.
Rather than succumbing to the glamour of wider verandahs, bigger bathrooms, or a dedicated Sushi Restaurant (as much as we'd love them) wouldn't FDR be more prudent to consolidate equity?
After all, given the unsteadyness of the World situation, who knows when the misfortune of another Cruise-line might put another Ren-ship onto the market?
:rolleyes:

[Mura]

JHMO here but my sense was they were very close to the actual ship design. More focused on shipyard pricing/delivery date details than a "what size will the ship be" ...[SNIP] We did a 90 passenger ship (with 60 guests aboard) in the Galapagos two years ago. If you really want to know your fellow guests, that's hard to beat. I thought I was back in summer camp. Not sure I would have wanted that for two weeks ...

Frank


Hah, Frank. When Howard and I did the Galapagos 20 years ago with Inca Floats we were on a 12 passenger motor cruiser. Our cruise was 2 weeks in duration and fortunately we all liked each other. I won't talk about the size (or lack thereof) of the cabins ...and the shower was a real treat. But it was not possible for Howard and me to be standing in the cabin at the same time.

I agree that my perception on our recent cruise was that we are talking a fifth restaurant. They aren't going to try to do 1100-1200 passengers with only two restaurants! And I sure didn't have the feeling they want to dispense with open seating.

They were also talking about state of the art communications, etc., on the new ships. Oceania did want to get one of the "R" ships but it didn't work out, so they moved on to the idea of building their own.

I personally will continue to prefer the smaller "R" ships but I'd be willing to give a larger one a try ... assuming I can still climb on board by 2009!

[frankpc]

Hah, Frank. When Howard and I did the Galapagos 20 years ago with Inca Floats we were on a 12 passenger motor cruiser. Our cruise was 2 weeks in duration and fortunately we all liked each other. I won't talk about the size (or lack thereof) of the cabins ...and the shower was a real treat. But it was not possible for Howard and me to be standing in the cabin at the same time.

I agree that my perception on our recent cruise was that we are talking a fifth restaurant. They aren't going to try to do 1100-1200 passengers with only two restaurants! And I sure didn't have the feeling they want to dispense with open seating.

They were also talking about state of the art communications, etc., on the new ships. Oceania did want to get one of the "R" ships but it didn't work out, so they moved on to the idea of building their own.

I personally will continue to prefer the smaller "R" ships but I'd be willing to give a larger one a try ... assuming I can still climb on board by 2009!

To try and save my tarnished reputation :-), the "I didn't want to do that for two weeks" quote was more in reference to the ships ammentities than the passengers. When you shrink a ship down to 90 pax you give up some things I'd rather have for a two week cruise.

Frank

[shoshona2]

As an aside, I just read that Royal Caribbean just acquired the Spanish Cruise Line Pullmantur in an effort to have a bigger presence in Europe and Latin America. If the deal goes through, RCI will acquire two former Renaissance R-series ships as well as the former Pacific Princess (The Love Boat).

Yesterday, I received a new brochure from RCI detailing a huge amount of ports in Europe and South America for 2007 and 2008. So this mystery is over. Now you will know who has two of the former Renaisance R-series ships.

Sheila

[interestedincruising]

I also heard about a new bigger ship for O this will not work, the magic of this product is the ship size once that is gone they will just be another HAL. I think we look past a lot of O's shortcoming due to the smaller ship size. And by shortcoming I mean the small cabins, bad baths, and lack of access to the alt dining rooms.

[fsalzer]

... I think we look past a lot of O's shortcoming due to the smaller ship size. And by shortcoming I mean the small cabins, bad baths, and lack of access to the alt dining rooms.
We had an inside cabin (7071) on Regatta for a 16-day Panama cruise. We felt that the cabin was comfortable and had adequate storage.

We ate in the alternate dining rooms several times and had no problem getting reservations. If I remember correctly, they were never full when we were there. We ate at various times. Maybe other itineraries are different in this respect.

O is now our favorite! We have two more O cruises booked.:D

Fred

[HiFi43]

We have switched to Oceania because of the smaller size and because of the open dining. We liked Crystal but it was a bit too formal for us and too scheduled for us. It was also just enough larger that you had to plan what you were going to do. I do hope Oceania is able to keep the same feeling it currently has with a larger ship.

The other thing we are looking for in Oceania is some originality in its selection of new places to cruise. I am glad they have added Australia and New Zealand next year but wish they had added a few more sailings so there were more choices of dates.

But, that said, it is still the best value going for quality vs price and we will continue to be loyal.

[ClaudiaF]

wrote in part:
" When you shrink a ship down to 90 pax you give up some things I'd rather have for a two week cruise. "

Frank

Add 22 pax and you have the "original" R ships..which by the way were absolutely the best and most beautiful ships ever..and I'd cruise on them any day....
what this has to do with the O new build , nothing..:rolleyes:

[esther e]

As I get older, my memory fades, so if I've already posted this, please humor me. When we sailed out of Dover last month Swan Hellanic's Minerva 11 was docked next to us. I mentioned it to a friend from the UK who was traveling with us and he said what a fine line SH was and how they did everything "right." Well, come to find out recently, the Minerva 11 is one of the Ren ships.

This also doesn't have anything to do with the topic, but that's o.k.
Esther

[ClaudiaF]

Esther,
I guess it just goes along with Brians' reasoning that it is all about the food anyways..so I suppose this is "food for thought":D

[esther e]

Claudia

Isn't EVERYTHING about food? If not, it should be!!!:D :D :D

Esther

[bernster]

As I get older, my memory fades, so if I've already posted this, please humor me. When we sailed out of Dover last month Swan Hellanic's Minerva 11 was docked next to us. I mentioned it to a friend from the UK who was traveling with us and he said what a fine line SH was and how they did everything "right." Well, come to find out recently, the Minerva 11 is one of the Ren ships.

This also doesn't have anything to do with the topic, but that's o.k.
Esther

:( The Swan Hellenic Minerva II was originally the last Ren ship the R8 which I had the great pleasure to sail on just 2 weeks before 9/11.(the ultimate cause of Ren's bankruptcy)

Alas, this ship is soon to be turned over to Princess which will now have three of these beauties, with no more available for Oceania.

Bernie

[brian_uk]

Claudia and Esther

How things have changed......it used to be about

"""" Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll """""

Now I take 6 drugs and travel on ships that rock and roll in high seas !!!!!!!

Brian

[esther e]

Brian

Was there supposed to be a comma between Sex and Drugs?????:D

Esther