Seabourn quest vs Oceania Nautica - which cruise to choose?

Oh dear,

An apology would be good here:rolleyes:

From whom?:rolleyes:

 

I joke now that on my Oceania cruise if there was a bad dish to be ordered I found it and if a crew member was having a bad day I wound up with them.

Wow, Emperor Norton, you have captured our experience perfectly, except ours was on the Nautica. We are new to cruising, and had only been on Norwegian (love the casual dress code) and heard so many positive things about Oceania. By day 3 of a 21 day cruise, I was ready to get off and find the fastest flight home. Remember, we had only experienced mainstream lines. Oceania's food, service and management could not compete. Each time I say that, I really cannot believe it. And how could we find a mainstream line better? How does a line known for its food, fail at a poached egg? Or gnocchi that when touched, melted into the cream sauce. Or bad chicken? How do you screw up mashed potatoes? So many simple dishes; dry, over cooked, flavourless. The only edible food came from the Italian specialty restaurant: but even there, I ordered the same meal 3 times, out of fear that anything else would be inedible. Staterooms, from balcony to inside are very small. Cleanliness is questionable, which became apparent in a Norovirus outbreak which carried over from the previous cruise. The medical clinic was the one area that I found the staff both competent and attentive. Generally, an experience I would have preferred to avoid, but my IV fluids did come faster than a cup of coffee in the dining room.

However, the fellow passengers on our cruise were so wonderful, and highly forgiving of all the shortcomings. It seemed like those who had sailed before were happy with their experience. Those who were on the ship for the first time were not so forgiving. My guess is, few of the first timers will be repeat customers. We had two more Oceania cruises booked, which were cancelled on our return, and I am now looking at Seabourn for future unique itineraries. If I can just overcome my aversion to formal nights.

I like Emperor Norton's description, as the only way I have described our trip is to make note of the wonderful ports and the amazing fellow passengers. I generally try to avoid speaking about the cruise part of the trip. So my vote is, avoid Oceania. I reserve opinion on Seabourn until I experience it.

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quote - "I am now looking at Seabourn for future unique itineraries. If I can just overcome my aversion to formal nights."

On formal nights - Call room service for champagne and caviar. When it is delivered, have that night's menu marked with what you would like for dinner. Have it delivered course by course. You can eat in your pjs if you want to. After your dinner, non-formal attire is acceptable throughout the ship.

Thanks so much for that. I am sold.

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quote - "I am now looking at Seabourn for future unique itineraries. If I can just overcome my aversion to formal nights."

 

On formal nights - Call room service for champagne and caviar. When it is delivered, have that night's menu marked with what you would like for dinner. Have it delivered course by course. You can eat in your pjs if you want to. After your dinner, non-formal attire is acceptable throughout the ship.

Remember its now formal optional. You can dress a step down and still be OK.

Hi Elke

 

We have sailed both the Seabourn Quest and on the Oceania regatta which is the exact same ship as the Oceania Nautica.

 

Both have their good points, but if we had to choose on a similar itinerary, we would choose Seabourn.

 

Why?

 

Fewer passengers on the same size ship and you do notice the extra 50%!

 

Seabourn square - fabulous spot and a great innovation.

 

Food - subjective, both lines very good - Oceania has a reputation for their food being the "best at sea" - they do offer more choice of eating venues, but I really don't think their food is any better or worse than Seabourn. You can have great and on occasion, not so good on both! Like I say subjective.

 

The staterooms on Seabourn are bigger sq ft than a standard stateroom on Oceania - we had a penthouse on the Regatta and found it matched the size of a verandah on Seabourn. I would not recommend a lower grade stateroom on Oceania as they really are quite small, but maybe ok for a single traveller.

Staterooms on both are well furnished and the beds very comfortable on both.

 

Butler service on Oceania is a definite plus for us and we were very well looked after by both butlers we have had.

 

Officers and crew - Seabourn wins hands down! no question. We loved the interaction and friendliness with the Seabourn officers and crew led by the great Captain Magnus when we were on the Quest Maiden TA a couple of years ago! I will give you an example - the officers were highly visible on Seabourn, would say "hello", host tables for dinner etc., just be "seen" around the ship - you will not find that on Oceania. We saw the captains on Oceania maybe once or twice and officers would pass you by without as much as a nod! Now we do not need to have interaction with anyone to enjoy our holiday, but to me this is just a bit strange! So for a single traveller, Seabourn would win hands down with their hosted tables which are great fun (we certainly enjoyed our invites).

 

We usually don't bother with evening entertainment much preferring to enjoy a later dinner a deux or with our new best friends! We don't do trivia either!

 

Smoking - better policy on Oceania for us non-smokers, but to be honest, we never found it an issue on Seabourn except for one guy smoking cigars on deck,which he is allowed to do, but the smoke drifts, if you catch my drift! We just learnt to avoid the smoking areas, as we did on Oceania.

 

Drinks inclusive - the DH took the drinks package on Regatta but not all drinks are included, such as top shelf spirits and some wines. Much more convenient I think the Seabourn way. I don't drink, so some would say I "pay" for others imbibing, but I don't! So if you take the drinks package, then add the gratuities (which are included on Seabourn), the base cost of your cruise on O starts to add up.

 

Sea days - I'm like you, I love being lazy and we love sea days - another thing Seabourn has is "on demand" movies in the stateroom TV - perfect for a truly lazy day with room service! This was also where Seabourn square came into its own! you could always find someone to chat to there if you wanted or just pop along for a coffee , milkshake, yet another delicious morsel .... You get the picture! But in fairness, Oceania has Baristas which offers coffees and small bites too, and on the regatta, a lovely library. There seemed to be fewer spaces outside your stateroom on the regatta to go for a change.

 

Pool service much better on Seabourn, staff more visible, but of course, they don't have to "sell" you a drink on Seabourn! They bring you drinks and cocktails on Seabourn regularly, along with towels to freshen up with, clean your sunglasses etc. On Oceania, those cocktails would be on a trolley to buy.

 

Value for money, Oceania is hard to beat - but just be aware of the few small issues I've mentioned above. First world problems really! ;):).

 

Oh and I must just say, we did prefer the passenger mix and atmosphere on Seabourn also. You will be amongst the youngest though, but there are some older Seabourn sailers out there who will most definitely give you a run for your money!!! How ya doing Miss M??? :D

 

So, to summarise, Seabourn would be our first choice, but if they didn't offer an itinerary that we wanted to do, we would choose Oceania.

This is a great comparison. Other cruisers will benefit from your analysis. Thanks for taking the time.