jakes47 Posted March 26, 2011 #1 Share Posted March 26, 2011 We will be doing our first cruise in Hawaii with NCL next month and after that we are planning to book the Oceania Marina, 10 day, Venice to Athens, 22nd April 2012 and I am very excited about this. I like the idea of a small ship cruising and saw the Marina as a step in that direction. I would love to hear from others who made the change to the smaller ships including how you found the ships stability. Thanks Bev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andee Posted March 26, 2011 #2 Share Posted March 26, 2011 My husband hs a tendency toward motion sickness, so we always book a cabin midsdhips and as low as possible. Although we haven't been on any really large ships (I think the largest was 2000 passengers), he hasn't found Oceania's 684 passenger ships any more of a problem than the larger ones. We love Oceania--hope you do, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakes47 Posted March 27, 2011 Author #3 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Thanks Andee – that’s just what I wanted to hear. Our first cruise will be with 2200 other cruisers and the only aspects of this that I don’t look forward to are the crowds and queues even though I have been assured that this won’t be noticeable. What are the advantages of small ship cruising? Bev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 28, 2011 #4 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Bev, We did a transatlantic on NCL last April on GEM which is about 2300 passengers -- more than we are used to but we didn't see terrible crowds ... with some provisos. We were in a suite which has extra benefits on NCL. Our breakfasts and lunches were in the steak restaurant. This is a small restaurant and access was by use of your room key. We rarely had to eat dinner in the buffet restaurant (although we did a few times). We tended to have dinner in the basic "free" restaurants, and being suite passengers the concierge made reservations for us so that we didn't have the usual half hour wait for a table. (I am increasingly aggravated by NCL's touting it's "freestyle cruising" when there's nothing freestyle about having to wait half an hour for a table.) We didn't use any of the fee restaurants so I cannot speak to them. Lines were terrible at the two free restaurants (which have the same menu) which was why using the concierge to make a reservation was most helpful. If you don't mind having a drink in the bar while waiting for a table, it's not a problem. We found the buffet quite good, actually, with as many choices as you could want. The Indian food was particularly good -- on our cruise the restaurant manager was from India which I'm sure did not hurt! But the restaurant could be very crowded. When we had lunch or dinner there, we went in at "odd" times so that it was not. We enjoyed our cruise, but vastly prefer Oceania with its smaller guest list and no waiting for a seat in a restaurant. Oh, one problem with NCL in terms of crowds -- whenever we left the ship for a shore visit, the lines were AWFUL. For some reason they only had one gangway open for departure, but when we came back to the ship they had both gangways open. There were a few occasions when pushing and shoving started from people in the back. This was NOT handled well, and it something we have never encountered on Oceania's smaller ships. Heck, we didn't encounter it on the QE2 either! Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakes47 Posted March 28, 2011 Author #5 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Thanks Mura, We have booked a suite on NCL for the reasons you mentioned and will mostly dine in the specialty restaurants. Yes – I am also questioning the freestyle idea and is the reason we will book the specialty restaurants. Does Oceania have set seating times? We are planning to book a suite on the Marina also but are still questioning the value over the concierge level. Can anyone comment on this? What age group does Oceania attract? My Husband and I are 54 and would like to know if we are going to be the oldies or the young ones. Thanks so much for your help. Bev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted March 28, 2011 #6 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Thanks Mura,We have booked a suite on NCL for the reasons you mentioned and will mostly dine in the specialty restaurants. Yes – I am also questioning the freestyle idea and is the reason we will book the specialty restaurants. Freestyle is just open seating Does Oceania have set seating times? It is open seating but you need to make a reservation for the specialty restaurants What age group does Oceania attract? My Husband and I are 54 and would like to know if we are going to be the oldies or the young ones. Thanks so much for your help. Bev There are very few lines on Oceania unlike the mass market ships The age demographics are anywhere between 40 & 90 the majority seem to be 50's & 60's Enjoy lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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