Sad Day

This is bad news for O.....

Returned fron 7th O cruise on the Insignia last week. The writing was on the wall during it.

Our party of four all agreed that the service was significantly worse than any of the previous six.

Witnessed two arguments with staff & open dissent between staff & supervision

No bar tender for 15 -20 mins in Martini bar around 23:00 every evening. Symtamatic of breaks were not being covered. Wait staff mixing the drinks. Not what I expect for $12 drink with 18% service charge

Was the norm to wait for >10 mins after ordering a drink in Martini. Wait staff stretched covering a larger than normal area.

Cabin steward - 22 cabins to look after with 2 assistants. Quantity over quality. Previously was 10-12 with x1 assistant when i have asked on other cruises. Symtamatic of over-stretching & cutting back on staff

Mens urinals outside Terrace cafe out of order for the full 12 days of the cruise.

No enforcement of personal belongings on sunbed policy.

Not stocking premium drinks in certain bars. if ordering a T10 gin in Martinis or Show Lounge, the bar tender used to 'disappear' from bar on each ocassion to get the drink. Stock levels being run too tight /inventory control ?

Lack of visible supervision. Minimal presence in all areas.

Smelt smoke in cabin ongoing through cruise. Reported x 4 times. Was never resolved.

AC did not work in cabin. Thermostat / controller changed but problem never resolved

Air conditioning throughout the ship was very erratic & not controlled. This was a continuation from what other posters found on prior cruise to ours

Did the above spoil my cruise... NO......however standards have slipped & todays news reaffirms my feelings that something has / or was in the process of changing.

Will i cruise with O again...YES. The food is still the biggest draw for myself, but it will be price dependant v what is available at the time with Seabourn, Crystal etc...

Disappointed O Cruiser

Maybe because the staff new they were in limbo until the NCL acquisition was finalized. ;)

Sorry to hear this.

Unfortunately, you are not the first "O loyalist" to have such an experience.

See this:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1977934

LHT28 is a very level headed person, well known and respected on this board and a loyal O customer, so I take her word seriously.

The NCL acquisition was announced, but has not yet "closed." So NCL does not yet have legal control over Prestige. And if current Prestige / O management is already "doing things" (staff cuts, inventory cuts, etc.) in anticipation of the acquisition, then that would seem to seriously undercut yesterday's release about O's high-quality experience not changing. Perhaps there is another explanation for your many unfortunate experiences. We can hope.....

We board Riviera this coming Monday for a 14 night Med cruise. As an O "newbie" but Regent cruiser, I'll be happy to post my personal opinion on the service level. No one likes uncertainty and if you are lower down the chain of command, uncertainty can feed on itself. Perhaps, given the discussion of a sale, the staff was understandably concerned.

This is bad news for O.....

 

Returned fron 7th O cruise on the Insignia last week. The writing was on the wall during it.

 

Our party of four all agreed that the service was significantly worse than any of the previous six.

 

Witnessed two arguments with staff & open dissent between staff & supervision

 

No bar tender for 15 -20 mins in Martini bar around 23:00 every evening. Symtamatic of breaks were not being covered. Wait staff mixing the drinks. Not what I expect for $12 drink with 18% service charge

 

Was the norm to wait for >10 mins after ordering a drink in Martini. Wait staff stretched covering a larger than normal area.

 

Cabin steward - 22 cabins to look after with 2 assistants. Quantity over quality. Previously was 10-12 with x1 assistant when i have asked on other cruises. Symtamatic of over-stretching & cutting back on staff

 

Mens urinals outside Terrace cafe out of order for the full 12 days of the cruise.

 

No enforcement of personal belongings on sunbed policy.

 

Not stocking premium drinks in certain bars. if ordering a T10 gin in Martinis or Show Lounge, the bar tender used to 'disappear' from bar on each ocassion to get the drink. Stock levels being run too tight /inventory control ?

 

Lack of visible supervision. Minimal presence in all areas.

 

Smelt smoke in cabin ongoing through cruise. Reported x 4 times. Was never resolved.

 

AC did not work in cabin. Thermostat / controller changed but problem never resolved

 

Air conditioning throughout the ship was very erratic & not controlled. This was a continuation from what other posters found on prior cruise to ours

 

Did the above spoil my cruise... NO......however standards have slipped & todays news reaffirms my feelings that something has / or was in the process of changing.

 

Will i cruise with O again...YES. The food is still the biggest draw for myself, but it will be price dependant v what is available at the time with Seabourn, Crystal etc...

 

Disappointed O Cruiser

We agree with Jakedog..the experience on our three cruises on Regatta this year were not nearly as good as our previous ones.

Much staff was noticeably untrained especially in the MDR and one butler who boarded the ship with us who had little or on experience. Fortunately he only filled in during our butler's breaks. We were lucky with the housekeeping staff because we had one of them from several previous cruises who looked out for us. Would we cruise with O again? We'll wait and see!

Or perhaps, with an influx of some cash, things might get rectified? Think positve.

We board Riviera this coming Monday for a 14 night Med cruise. As an O "newbie" but Regent cruiser, I'll be happy to post my personal opinion on the service level. No one likes uncertainty and if you are lower down the chain of command, uncertainty can feed on itself. Perhaps, given the discussion of a sale, the staff was understandably concerned.

Please do! Our first O experience was on Riviera in March, and we had a wonderful time. So that has become the "yardstick" for future experiences. Anxious to hear yours.

I was on regatta in June and nautica in July

I noticed no deterioration whatsoever, no decline in service

Two people can be on the same cruise and have totally different experiences. Just read some of the member reviews. Until I hear multiple reports of poor experiences on a single cruise I chalk it up to one person's bad experience

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We agree with Jakedog..the experience on our three cruises on Regatta this year were not nearly as good as our previous ones.

Much staff was noticeably untrained especially in the MDR and one butler who boarded the ship with us who had little or on experience. Fortunately he only filled in during our butler's breaks. We were lucky with the housekeeping staff because we had one of them from several previous cruises who looked out for us. Would we cruise with O again? We'll wait and see!

I agree with you. We sailed on Regatta in June to Alaska. On our first day at sea we decided to get up early and go to GDR. It was not crowded at all but we waited 45 minutes for our very simple breakfast. No servers came by our table. We decided to try this again later on in the cruise and it was worse. I waited 20 minutes for maple syrup (to replace empty one delivered to us) and was finished with my meal when they returned.

Decided to again try MDR for dinner.service incredibly slow. We had wine and waited over a half hour for them to pick up our card so we just walked out.

We did mention to food/bev mgr that we were not pleased. Things did get picked up a little after that, but it is very obvious they are short staffed and much less experienced.

As an aside, we had the prestige bev pkg, they ran out of both of our favorites on day 5 of a 10 day and then ran out of our second choices...and no, we did not drink them dry. many had complaints about this.

So now the food.....it was our most disappointing experience on O. This was our 12th cruise, 5th on regatta. Not what we have come to expect. Overall we love the experience and have booked again for Alaska but if this next cruise fails to wow us as O usually does, we may be rethinking our future plans

I agree with you. We sailed on Regatta in June to Alaska. On our first day at sea we decided to get up early and go to GDR. It was not crowded at all but we waited 45 minutes for our very simple breakfast. No servers came by our table. We decided to try this again later on in the cruise and it was worse. I waited 20 minutes for maple syrup (to replace empty one delivered to us) and was finished with my meal when they returned.

 

Decided to again try MDR for dinner.service incredibly slow. We had wine and waited over a half hour for them to pick up our card so we just walked out.

 

We did mention to food/bev mgr that we were not pleased. Things did get picked up a little after that, but it is very obvious they are short staffed and much less experienced.

 

As an aside, we had the prestige bev pkg, they ran out of both of our favorites on day 5 of a 10 day and then ran out of our second choices...and no, we did not drink them dry. many had complaints about this.

 

So now the food.....it was our most disappointing experience on O. This was our 12th cruise, 5th on regatta. Not what we have come to expect. Overall we love the experience and have booked again for Alaska but if this next cruise fails to wow us as O usually does, we may be rethinking our future plans

And I was on the cruise before deb and had no problems

We thought the food was better than usual in polo and Toscana. We generally eat in terrace to avoid service issues that gdr is known for. We think GDR service is poor on every o cruise Slow slow. Slow.

If u go to GDR half hour earlier or later your experience can be very different. We tend to avoid it

Can't speak to the liquor issue as we don't drink I don't think the sky is falling. But I mix it up anyway. Trying seabourn. Even trying Allure for some good entertainment. I've heard its a lot of fun. It's all good IMO

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I was on regatta in June and nautica in July

 

I noticed no deterioration whatsoever, no decline in service

 

Two people can be on the same cruise and have totally different experiences. Just read some of the member reviews. Until I hear multiple reports of poor experiences on a single cruise I chalk it up to one person's bad experience

 

 

I seem to recall you were complaining about the hard cookies

We have not experienced those

So yes people can have different experiences but does not mean you should discount the other person's experience just because it did not happen to you

Lyn

LOL

The cookies were great on Regatta -- and fixed by the chef on Nautica.

And there will always be something not perfect. The cookies are not a deal breaker for me. LOL

I was NOT discounting anyone's experience. You could not have read my post. To the contrary. I stated that if you look at member reviews, two people on the same cruise can have vastly different experiences -- and both are probably true. On my recent Nautica cruise (20 nights) I spoke with a man who hated everything about it. I loved it and so did the fellow ccers we cruised with. One of the best cruises I have ever taken. There will never be 100% agreement among passengers on whether a cruise is good, the food is good, the service is good. Member reviews are the best proof of that.

My main point is that until there are 50 or 100 of cruisers complaining about a single Oceania cruise -- which would be fairly strong proof that things are going downhill -- I am not going to pay much attention to the complaints. There will ALWAYS be someone who is not satisfied on a particular cruise.

We sailed for 9 days on Regatta to Alaska in early August. The food in all venues was excellent. The waiters were attentive and the sommeliers provide expert advice.

John McNeill, the Captain, was visible throughout the cruise providing understandable comments on sea and weather conditions. Perhaps it was because he is a native English speaker.

This was our 7th Oceania cruise, the 5th on Regatta. For us, Oceania is maintaining their usual high standard.

Cheers,

Don

The LHT28 post was from back in January, so its relevance is dubious at best. We were on the same cruise and had a completely different and typically very positive experience.

As far as the recent problems, it seems quite premature to blame them on the impending merger.

We sailed for 9 days on Regatta to Alaska in early August. The food in all venues was excellent. The waiters were attentive and the sommeliers provide expert advice.

John McNeill, the Captain, was visible throughout the cruise providing understandable comments on sea and weather conditions. Perhaps it was because he is a native English speaker.

This was our 7th Oceania cruise, the 5th on Regatta. For us, Oceania is maintaining their usual high standard.

Cheers,

Don

And I bet someone on your cruise had a lousy experience, thought the food was awful yada yada. LOLOL

It is inevitable. You can't please 700 people -- even on Oceania.

John McNeill, the Captain, was visible throughout the cruise providing understandable comments on sea and weather conditions. Perhaps it was because he is a native English speaker.

John McNeill was Captain on an Oceania ship? I didn't think Captains were moved around between Regent and Oceania.

Just to get back to unhappiness on various cruises, we were on Marina Nov22 to Dec 8 and again on May22 to June8 and didn't discern differences in service.

When we go back on board in April we'll be thinking hard!

Mura

Just off the Marina yesterday, our first cruise with Oceania, we thought the service in all restaurants was fast, even breakfast in the GDR, with regular check backs from the wait staff and supervisors on how our breakfast, lunch or dinner was going.

One example going the step beyond in service was in Polo- I had ordered the 3 prawn cocktail and the crab cake appetizers, my wife ordered 1 app and salad. So we had the first apps together, then I was served the crab cake, she the salad course. When the waiter saw her very much enjoying a taste of my crab cake, he asked if she would like one of her own- she didn't want to interfere with the chef's schedule on the main course, so she first declined, but the waiter said he was still holding the order. She ordered the crab cake, I added an order of salad to keep her company. and the main- veal chop- came out perfectly.

We haven't tried the R ships but have booked future cruises on the Marina.

The LHT28 post was from back in January, so its relevance is dubious at best. We were on the same cruise and had a completely different and typically very positive experience.

 

As far as the recent problems, it seems quite premature to blame them on the impending merger.

Sorry that my DH got served raw chicken & you did not

it happened....

Like I said before

just because it did not happen to you does not mean it did not happen

No need to post disparaging remarks

I've sailed on O and I've sailed on RCI. Paid almost twice as much on O two years ago, and did not find twice the value. I sailed with a devotee of O - she could not bear to try another line - she just loved the luxury, the quality, the outstanding service too much to ever consider something else. I wanted to travel with her, so paid twice as much to do so.

Honestly, many things were the same. The Room Steward was about the same. Guest Services was a little better on RCI. Room Service, about the same. Dining room staff, about equally well-trained and more than capable. Pool staff about the same. On-board activities and entertainment, about the same but different - RCI was more fun, O a tad classier.

The food, well, the food was entirely different. O was over-the-top rich sauces, and heavy on the starches. Delicious but too much for me as a steady diet on a ten-day cruise. RCI did a lot better on the fresh veg, salads, and simple small servings of meat. It's my personal preference to eat more simply, so let's call the food a tie.

Don't quiver in your docksiders. There is pleasurable cruising on other lines, and NCL is not the devil. You might actually welcome some of what they can bring to O. Could be a breath of fresh air.

On the other hand, maybe you're concerned about what kinds of fellow passengers this might introduce to the rather homogeneous O passenger lists. Relax. Most of the time they can figure out what fork to use in the dining room. Most won't have much use for a butler, I daresay. Because they don't have one at home - do you?

I've sailed on O and I've sailed on RCI. Paid almost twice as much on O two years ago, and did not find twice the value. I sailed with a devotee of O - she could not bear to try another line - she just loved the luxury, the quality, the outstanding service too much to ever consider something else. I wanted to travel with her, so paid twice as much to do so.

 

Honestly, many things were the same. The Room Steward was about the same. Guest Services was a little better on RCI. Room Service, about the same. Dining room staff, about equally well-trained and more than capable. Pool staff about the same. On-board activities and entertainment, about the same but different - RCI was more fun, O a tad classier.

 

The food, well, the food was entirely different. O was over-the-top rich sauces, and heavy on the starches. Delicious but too much for me as a steady diet on a ten-day cruise. RCI did a lot better on the fresh veg, salads, and simple small servings of meat. It's my personal preference to eat more simply, so let's call the food a tie.

 

Don't quiver in your docksiders. There is pleasurable cruising on other lines, and NCL is not the devil. You might actually welcome some of what they can bring to O. Could be a breath of fresh air.

 

On the other hand, maybe you're concerned about what kinds of fellow passengers this might introduce to the rather homogeneous O passenger lists. Relax. Most of the time they can figure out what fork to use in the dining room. Most won't have much use for a butler, I daresay. Because they don't have one at home - do you?

Isn't it really great that all cruise lines are not identical and we each have a choice as to which one we each prefer to sail on (for whatever reason) - don't you agree? :)

Don't quiver in your docksiders. There is pleasurable cruising on other lines, and NCL is not the devil. You might actually welcome some of what they can bring to O. Could be a breath of fresh air.

You obviously didn't welcome the "fresh air" that the Oceania cruise brought to your cruising experience - is it then so hard to imagine that most Oceania's cruisers would not welcome NCL's "fresh air"? They cruise on Oceania for a reason - just like you do on RCI for your own reason.

We're going on the Insignia this Saturday. Our first time with O. I'm hopeful that all will be wonderful. O