live from marina!!!!!!! Musings from an O newbie - Azamara cheerleader.

Apologies for not doing this yesterday but I was operating on no sleep for 48 hours. Train from Budapest to Vienna took 6 hours and almost didn't make my flight to Stockholm. Once safely aboard I began the serious business of having fun. This blog will document my impressions of O. I have been accused of being an Azamara cheerleader so I am going to make some comparison as I see them. I am traveling with 10 friends that I met on AZ so ... I will try to stay focused on making "fair and balanced" assesments.

First of all - embarkation was a bit disorganized and strange. Instead of allowing folks to just go to the checkin - everyone milled around in front of security while they called out boarding priority. Thank God I was in a PH or I would still be in line. LOL. It was a little bit class structured and I was surprised.

Once aboard I had a nice lunch at the cafe. Weather was lovely and I met some CC'ers and enjoyed a martini. My favourite lunch!!!! Got into the suite by one .... Lovely! Roomy!! Totally indulgent.

Dinner was amazing in the Terrace. Fabulous. Food as good as at cc party now. Music and free drinks. They have been great. Gotta go. More later.

Glad you are finally onboard as I want to hear your impression of Oceania. The boarding thing is a pain, they have to make people who paid lots more to be on the same ship feel special. For 4 plus G,s I can wait a while. My wife just sits and thinks about the stuff she can buy with the money.

Cindi,

Looking forward to hearing about ALL your experiences and impressions - both good and bad.

Have a safe and enjoyable cruise,

Paul

Hi Cindi, I too am really looking forward to your impressions of Oceania compared to Azamara. Thank you so much for taking the time to post.

Hope you have a great trip.

Hi, Cindi! I look forward to your impressions of the Marina, since I will be boarding her on 24 August this year for the Stockholm/Copenhagen Baltic cruise, and I haven't been on her yet. However, I was on the Regatta two years ago, as well as having sailed both of Az's ships. Loved all three of the R ships, but thought food on the Az while excellent, was surpassed on the Regatta.

Again, I look forward to your impressions of the Marina.

I just love Oceania!

How was the martini, it wasn't too small was it?:D

after several years on O....so interested as well!!! Keep us in the loop!!!! LuAnn

Looking forward to your reviews since we love the R ships and have not yet sailed on Azamara.

Hi Cindi!

Thanks for posting. I'm eager to hear how you feel O compares to AZ. We board Marina July 15 for our second Oceania cruise. We have been loyal to Crystal since 1997, but we were VERY impressed with Marina last year. I hope you are, too.

Have a great time and keep us posted!

ricki

We are planning to cruise on O or Azamara in the future, so most interested in your comparisons. Thanks.

It sounds like there are a number of people on this thread that have sailed with Oceania before. I'm interested to hear more about the embarkation process. I am a first time cruiser with O in 2014. From my signature below, I have sailed on several different cruise lines, from inside cabins to deluxe suite accommodations. I've never experienced a bad embarkation process. I guess what I don't understand is why there wouldn't be several lines for different customer statuses or suite and non-suite guests to enter. On the flip side, there are at most 1250 guests boarding so maybe it doesn't take very long.

Care to share your experiences?

Sent from my Samsung Note II on the T-Mobile 4G LTE network using Tapatalk Beta 4

To be fair you cannot really compare an O class ship to a R class ship

The whole atmosphere is totally different

Now if you were comparing R class ships of either line it would be a better comparison

YMMV

Lyn

It sounds like there are a number of people on this thread that have sailed with Oceania before. I'm interested to hear more about the embarkation process. I am a first time cruiser with O in 2014. From my signature below, I have sailed on several different cruise lines, from inside cabins to deluxe suite accommodations. I've never experienced a bad embarkation process. I guess what I don't understand is why there wouldn't be several lines for different customer statuses or suite and non-suite guests to enter. On the flip side, there are at most 1250 guests boarding so maybe it doesn't take very long.

 

Care to share your experiences?

 

 

In our experience there are several lines for the different Cat

Oceania gives a time for your boarding to commence according to the cabin cat you are in ...however some people want to get there long before they are scheduled to board & sometimes you get lucky & get to board early but sometimes you wait until the time in cruise documents suggested to board

The only port we had to wait was Amsterdam they did not open the desk for the lower Cat until the time slot that was advised 3 pm

If you are schedule for a 3 pm boarding do not show up at 10am

To be fair you cannot really compare an O class ship to a R class ship

The whole atmosphere is totally different

 

Now if you were comparing R class ships of either line it would be a better comparison

 

 

YMMV

 

Lyn

I agree with you except the atmosphere and ambiance can be compared. I am looking forward to the comparisons non the less.

I agree with you except the atmosphere and ambiance can be compared. I am looking forward to the comparisons non the less.

I concur. Food and service can also be compared.

Cindi

Cannot wait to hear your impressions of O - especially compared to Azamara

I will be on Azamara in August and have a chance to do my own comparison (R ship to R ship).

I concur with Lyn - hard to compare R ships to O ships (the O ship PHs are amazing) -- but I am anxious to get your take on everything.

I too look forward to reading your on-the-spot impressions. It has been fun reading your pre-cruise posts these past few months.

We very much enjoyed our first Azamara cruise last October after four Oceania cruises, and we will sail again this fall on Azamara, but we will be on Riviera next spring. We are itinerary driven, and although we prefer the food and more updated accomodations on Oceania, we also enjoyed the more laid back atmosphere and better entertainment on Azamara.

...First of all - embarkation was a bit disorganized and strange. Instead of allowing folks to just go to the checkin - everyone milled around in front of security while they called out boarding priority...

It's been my experience that embarkation is very much dependent on the port in question. Cruise ships in general use a combination of ship staff (actually quite rare on shore unless there is a serious problem, like a communications breakdown from shore to ship), a contracted shoreside services company and local port staff.

Oceania used to use Intercruises as their port services company, but switched to another; I think it was some time in 2012; I can't recall the name. These are the folks who greet you and man the shoreside check-in desks. In many ports, they also guide you. In some ports, local port employees do the guiding.

The cruise line does not have a lot of control over how these processes are handled. Most embarkation problems are rooted in the local employees.

On my last two Oceania cruises, the port staff we dealt with was so incompetent that BOTH times they screwed up our keys, photos and credit card information. We were notified to go to Reception and fix it. We have seen "trainees" checking people in.

No big deal to us -- but that has been our experience.

On my last two Oceania cruises, the port staff we dealt with was so incompetent that BOTH times they screwed up our keys, photos and credit card information. We were notified to go to Reception and fix it. We have seen "trainees" checking people in.

 

No big deal to us -- but that has been our experience.

I do have to ask,Papeete? I had problems with mine and it took 2 trips to reception to get it fixed. The only rude staff person I found on the Marina was one of the Security people. The rest of the staff were delightful to deal with.

The OP is talking about the time slots for boarding for different cabin types and not letting people from lower cat go early. This is the Oceania plan given to the shore side company doing the work. It has nothing to due with the port or subcontractor used.

I agree with you except the atmosphere and ambiance can be compared. I am looking forward to the comparisons non the less.

And don't forget the comfort, service and cuisine. These also can be compared. And all of these are what I was really interested in.

I look forward to the comparison, too. I'm an avid O supporter - never had any problems and uber-enjoyed my 4 cruises on Riviera and Insignia.

Wondering,, were you able to get a meet and greet CC party? I haven't had one since Insignia 7 years ago.

BTW: Try the money-penny martini - bet you can't drink just one :)

Kathy

I'm reading this avidly too since I travel on my first O cruise in 6 weeks on Nautica. I guess we will be the last to board though :(