A penny for your thoughts about Oceania

[ksc1984]

For those of you who have cruised Oceania, how does it compare to Holland America? I love HAL, but I see an itinerary with a good price that intrigues me on the Regatta. Thanks...

[Karennella]

I haven't sailed on Oceania but my travel agent indicated that they and Azamara are becoming very popular with my fellow Australians as they do not have formal nights. As our cruises are often part of a several week trip (because of the time and cost involved in getting almost anywhere) it is a nuisance having to pack formal clothes or hire them. I was sorely tempted by an Oceania cruise for that reason but the itinerary on Prisendam tempted us back to HA. Our culture is also pretty much dress up for work, casual for leisure. My husband will once again have to be bribed and bullied into his formal gear!:rolleyes:

[sunny54]

For those of you who have cruised Oceania, how does it compare to Holland America? I love HAL, but I see an itinerary with a good price that intrigues me on the Regatta. Thanks...

Hi, we've sailed once on O and a number of times on HAL. Just a few points:

• O is the food is far superior to HAL. It is truly 4 or 5 star dining every night.
  
• what we liked in the Med (because of long flights, etc) was no formal nights just country club casual. We do enjoy formal nights, but it is easier when you're traveling from Florida to Venice via Atlanta and Paris (well, you get the picture) to leave the formal stuff behind.
  
• I like the self-serve laundry which is not available on all (the Prinsendam had one and maybe a couple others) HAL ships.
  
• The guest lecturers were great.
  

Now.......with that being said......we've ALWAYS found HAL's service to be impeccable. Had an issue on O where our cabin key did not work for 7 of the 10 days....had to go to the Front Office every time we wanted to get in. (Think of how many times a day you need to get in and out of your cabin). They would NOT change the lock - just kept sending the handyman down until we finally "lost it" one night. The General Manager came down and supervised the changing of the lock - big deal!

• HAL offers a lot more entertainment (maybe not always what you want to see, but it IS available)
  
• We've met some great friends who we still see or correspond with on some of our HAL trips
  
• Good value for the money
  

I hope this helps - if you have any specific questions, I will be happy to try to answer!

Happy New Year!

[comcox]

I've done 3 HAL cruises and 1 Oceania. I've stopped sailing with HAL because of the smoking problem. I'm very allergic to smoke and I just cannot stand the smell in the cabin areas anymore. If HAL ever revises its policy, I would be back with them in a heartbeat.

 

HAL's cabins are much bigger, while Oceania has superior service and their food selection was a bit better and of higher quality. HAL still does formal nights, but the dress code does not apply to the buffet anymore. Oceania's dinner dress code is upscale resort casual. I do like the smaller ship size with Oceania although HAL's Prinsendam fits that bill as well. Oceania's schedule is definitely aimed at night people as there is no breakfast until 7:00 or 7:30 am and no dinner, even in the buffet, until 6:30 pm (the pool cafe closes at 4 pm). Oceania's has only one show at night and that is at 9:30 pm. HAL has earlier meal/show options for morning people like me.

 

Oceania's level of enrichment programs is extremely poor. We just did their Amazon cruise and had only a historian on board who was given just 45-50 minutetime slots for lectures. I could not believe they did not have a naturalist on board for such an itinerary. Oceania's port lectures only talked about shore excursions and port handouts were just copied out of Fodor's guide books. On a HAL cruise around Australia earlier this year we had two naturalists, two historians, a GBR pilot who gave lectures as well as a Port Director who provided detailed port lectures as well as talks about birding.

[Richie2pies]

Oceania has too restrictive a smoking policy for my taste. I'll leave O for the anti-smoking crowd and cruise HAL, Princess and NCL.

[coldinreno]

We have sailed over 200 days with HAL & 7 times with Oceania. I recommend you try Oceania, it is a class operation way better than the mass market lines, HAL included.

[serendipity1499]

We just became 5 star HAL Mariner's & have only cruised Oceania's Regatta once to the Amazon in 2007...We also cruised on Hal's Prinsendam to the Amazon in 2006...

In addition, we have another Regatta Cruise booked in April 2011..This 14 day itinerary is unique as it goes up the East coast from from Miami to Charleston,U.S.; Williamsburg (Yorktown) U.S.; Hamilton, Bermuda; San Juan; Samana, Dom Rep.;Grand Turk;Miami..

We normally enjoy the smaller ships, & our favorite HAL ships are the Prinsendam followed by the Amsterdam... Oceania is usually more expensive, however our cruise in 2007 to the Amazon was actually less expensive than our Prinsendam cruise the year before, as we had prepaid Grat.s & were refunded for the air, which we didn't need..

Oceania Pro's:

1) The Hotel Service charge is higher, however the service overall was much better on the Regatta than we've ever had on any HAL ship with the exception of our last cruise on the Noordam..

2) Oceania has a very restrictive smoking policy & will not hesitate to put someone off the ship who might try to abuse the policy, by continuing to smoke in their cabin or on their veranda..:)

3) There is no extra charge for their alternative Restaurants (Italian & Steak house)..These Restaurants are fabulous, but wish they would serve smaller portions..:eek: My Friend & I can't eat the large portions, but our DH's were in their glory..I think next time she & I should share a portion, especially the salads & appetizers..

Those of us in outside cabins were able to get two bookings a week in the Alternative Restaurants & Suite Psgrs got priority Res. However, when they were not fully booked they opened up reservations for those of us in in outside cabins & we ate in the alternatives quite a bit on our 25 day cruise..

4) Oceania has great Hamburgers,! They use the best meat & will make a wonderful RARE Hamburger, which we have never been able to get on HAL..

5) Even though Oceania is Country Club Casual, everyone was beautifully dressed without exception..We plan to wear the same dinner (non formal) clothes that we normally wear on our HAL cruises..

6) Oceania served scones with pure clotted cream at their Afternoon Tea!

7) Oceania does not have a Master Chef's dinner which should be done away with on HAL...LOL

Oceania Con's:

1) Oceania does not have a wrap around Promenade Deck which we love on HAL & it's sometimes difficult to find chaises out on their deck..

2) Oceania does not have the wonderful Bread Pudding in their Buffet..

3) Their entertainment is not as good as HAL's..

4) Oceania does not have laundry by the bag service..

5) Service was extraordinary!

We thoroughly enjoyed our Oceania Cruise, found the service was fantastic all around & the food was actually better overall on Oceania....Even though the cabins on the Regatta are a bit smaller than HAL's normal cabins we had no problems..We don't care about self service laundries, as would rather send our laundry out on HAL..Of course on HAL we now get free laundry...:)

We normally enjoy Formal Nights, but find that on the HAL cruises It's sometimes tiresome to have to dress formally..DH found that when we got to our eighth formal night last year, he was tired of them..

We enjoyed our Oceania cruise & look forward to our April cruise once again..

Hope this helps..Happy New Year....:) Betty

[erewhon]

serendipity1499,

 

You state that you have just become 5 star mariners on HAL.

How many days on HAL to qualify for that level?

[Karennella]

Very helpful replies! Has anyone been on Azamara to compare with HAL? Another point for non-Americans for Oceania, I am pretty sure they price in US dollars at the exchange rate at time of paying. Carnival Corp lines do not; they set their own foreign prices and block us from using US travel agents. It is a very big issue here as we often pay a lot more for a cruise than Americans and we have less favourable cancellation conditions.

[sachiboo]

We have done 4 cruises with Oceania and loved it. We now prefer small ships. Give Oceania a go.

[MightyQuinn]

For those of you who have cruised Oceania, how does it compare to Holland America? I love HAL, but I see an itinerary with a good price that intrigues me on the Regatta. Thanks...

We’re 4* Mariners who took the plunge last year & tried Oceania. I felt like we were "cheating" on HAL because we usually never thought of any other cruise line. But things change, loyalties shift & memories of the good ole days start getting foggy. We were ready for a different cruise experience.

 

We thought Oceania was great. They actually delivered on what their marketing materials promised! Beautiful (smaller) ships, well appointed staterooms, super comfy beds, delicious & well presented food in MDR, fabulous buffet & grill selections, outstanding service, elegant casual dress (no formal), interesting fellow passengers and no lines anywhere. Oceania doesn’t have art shows, an on-board photographer or towel animals. These were in the plus column for us, YMMV. There is no charge for specialty dining (2 restaurants on the “R” ships and 4 on the new Marina), unlimited soft drinks & bottled water are included, as well as complimentary shuttles in certain ports. Oceania also includes round-trip air (from select gateways) in their prices, but you can purchase the cruise only & receive an airfare credit.

 

But it’s not a case of absolutes - HAL does some things better. We missed the gorgeous teak wrap-around decks and the expansive outside public viewing areas. Passengers cannot access the foredeck on Oceania, which is a bummer for scenic cruising. HAL staterooms are larger across all cats compared to Oceania and HAL gets the edge for allowing passengers to remain in their staterooms to await final disembarkation (though I read this practice may be changing). HAL has fresh squeezed OJ while Oceania has hand-dipped milkshakes. Take your pick! Both have overpriced excursions & typical shipboard activities. Entertainment is very different between them – HAL has more lavish productions while Oceania is more cabaret lounge style.

 

Bottom line, Oceania trumped HAL on what matters to us. If you're tempted to give them a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed. That's my $.02 - you owe me a penny!

[happy cruzer]

HAL does better at room service. Unless you book the suites on O you do not get hot breakfast via room service or to order from menus for lunch or dinner.

 

I personally thought the MDR was very comparable to HAL's, just slightly better on O. The specialty restaurants were excellent as was the buffet.

 

I have a recent review posted for the Regatta on the review boards.

 

Nice to have some good choices :)

[micarda]

Would like to reinforce the comments from others: smaller ship, no formal nights and no need to bring extra clothes, food is good (excellent is going a bit overboard) but lectures were awful. Get to know a lot more people due to size and also ship easier to get on and off. Staff very good but watch out where you sail. We sailed the south China Sea and it was very rough. Would sail with them again if itinerary was interesting but HAL is a good value.

[KCGranny]

We have sailed on Oceania's Regatta three times and all were great. Would go again in a heartbeat; however, they have become too expensive for our "pocketbook". We have been on HAL only once, but were pleased with them enough to book another Alaska cruise (14 days) for next Sept.

[M&M in the Sun]

sorry, hit the wrong buttons.

[Balliett]

We sailed on Oceania once, HAL probably 12 times, RCCL once, Regent twice. Oceania is fairly as described above, although I don't recall the entertainment being that bad. It's an upscale line and more expensive. One near-dealbreaker: The Oceania bathrooms are TINY, even in a balcony cabin. Maybe their new ship is better about this feature.

[serendipity1499]

serendipity1499,

 

You state that you have just become 5 star mariners on HAL.

How many days on HAL to qualify for that level?

 

Whoops....There is no such thing as 5 star Mariners..Should have proof read better..We just became 4 star Mariners (200 plus days)

Sorry about that..

Cheers...Betty

[Jade13]

Very helpful replies! Has anyone been on Azamara to compare with HAL?

 

Yes, we were on Azamara Quest in February to SouthEast Asia and it was the best cruise experience we have ever had. The crew is amazing. We mentioned we had not been able to get in touch with our daughter and the front desk handed us the phone and asked for the number so they could dial it for us (no charge). We could not get through and they asked the next day if we wanted to try again. That would never happen on HAL.

 

We were on Maasdam in August/September and it was a disappointment, mainly because the second half of the cruise was "canceled" due to a hurricane Earl warning so we missed 3 of the 5 ports. The biggest disappointment on HAL was the overall food. That included the "burger bar" where the hamburgers were not edible. On the other hand Azamara's pool grille was the best we have ever had at sea. With that said we are going back on HAL and Maasdam in 2011, but we are also going back on Quest in 2011 as well.

 

The only negative I can think of for Azamara is that there is no promenade deck, but a wonderful running track. The other negative is that if you are not in a Suite the bath is tiny with shower only. We were in the PH/owners Suite and loved our butler.

 

When comparing pricing note that Azamara's includes gratuities, unlimited cola's, bottled water, non-alcoholic drinks throughout the day and in your stateroom, and wine with lunch and dinner. They are providing free shuttle service at some ports. Suite guests have unlimited free dinner at the two specialty restaurants and a head butler. If one has status on Celebrity or RCCL they offer reciprocal benefits, including free laundry, internet, happy hours, champagne on arrival and more. They will happily give you tours around the ship including galley tour, bridge tour, and an engine room tour.

[erewhon]

Serendipity1499,

 

Thank you for your response.

 

Congratulations on reaching 4 stars.

[ksc1984]

Your descriptions have helped me feel comfortable with my decisions whatever they may turn out to be. Oceania seems to have some definite advantages for someone who does not smoke, likes smaller ships and less formal dinners and a different variety of ports.. But after only two cruises, HAL feels like home. I've got some thinking to do.

Currently in my future is a cruise to S. Amer. Jan2012 on the Veendam.:D

Thanks again

[Willem Ruys]

Whoops....There is no such thing as 5 star Mariners..Should have proof read better..We just became 4 star Mariners (200 plus days)

 

Sorry about that..

 

Cheers...Betty

 

 

WRONG, Betty...we President Club's members (about 26 people at latest count and probably going to be 30 next month) ARE considered by HAL's FIVE STAR MARINERS. To become a member of the President's Club you need at LEAST 1,400 days of cruising on HAL ships - ACTUAL days - bonus days aren't counted - AND an invitation to join.

[serendipity1499]

WRONG, Betty...we President Club's members (about 26 people at latest count and probably going to be 30 next month) ARE considered by HAL's FIVE STAR MARINERS. To become a member of the President's Club you need at LEAST 1,400 days of cruising on HAL ships - ACTUAL days - bonus days aren't counted - AND an invitation to join.

 

 

OHHHH MY...:D You should at least get a free cruise for that many days..

No way we'll ever make that, since we did not start our annual/semi annual big ships cruises until after I retired from the Airline Industry & we sold our boat..Of course we could buy a retirement cabin & cruise 365 days a year..Lets see it should take us a bit over three years to make 5 star..LOL...

 

Cheers....Happy New Year...:)Betty