Oceania - is it (again) time for new itineraries?

[Paulchili]

Some of you faithful may remember a similar cry for new itineraries not that long ago on these boards. This eventually resulted in a fun challenge by FDR for us to come up with new itineraries and eventually 3 winning itineraries were selected and the winners were handsomely rewarded.

I am not looking for a new contest nor a free cruise. I just would like to see some new and exciting destinations.

While we do like to return to some our favorite ports, we also look for new horizons and new adventures. I am certain we are not alone in this.

One example comes to mind - unexplored countries of the West African coast.

While both Oceania and Princess have called on ports in Namibia, Ghana, Togo and Senegal, there are many more adventures waiting for us in Africa.

National Geographic Explorer has a cruise that visits virtually every country along this coast (many in great detail). However, this comes at a price. Namely, the cheapest fare is around $28,000/pp - way out of our cruise budget:

http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/expeditions/exploringafricaswesterncoast/detail

Silversea has B2B cruises in Feb/March 2014 that visits several of these ports (Angola, Sao Tome & Principe, Cameroon, Benin, Gambia and Ivory Coast among others) in addition to the above mentioned "usual" stops. In fact we are signed up for this cruise.

We thoroughly enjoy the Silversea cruise experience but do not care for the formal dress code. Given a choice we would DEFINITELY choose Oceania over Silversea for this itinerary. Alas, we do not have a choice.

With the recent revelation of Insignia returning to the fleet (and perhaps another O class ship in the near future) this may be the time to get really creative and visit some new destinations.

I know that this would not be for everyone, but I think there are enough experienced and adventurous cruises on Oceania that would jump at this (or something like this). Past experience shows that every new itinerary was warmly welcomed and quickly sold out.

I would like to hear from both, Oceania cruisers and management, about their feelings on this subject. We all know that FDR is a frequent visitor on these boards; perhaps we might get lucky and hear from him.

PS this is how a true CC addict and Oceania fan spends time at LAX waiting for our flight :D

[jpalbny]

+1. Thanks for starting what should be a very interesting thread!

 

We have looked at O's catalogs for the past few years, wanting to take another cruise on O. The itineraries are by no means bad, but somehow the ones that we could take don't thrill us. It's been over 4 years and waiting...

 

But there are some good ones... We'd love the itinerary from Papeete to Lima, stopping at Rapa Nui, but can't swing 18 days plus travel time. Same with the West Africa itinerary. Maybe if they split them into A/B shorter voyages, that would work for us, beause we'd love to visit some of those places.

 

However, in all honesty this is not unique to O - we're having a hard time getting excited by any itineraries that we've seen lately for Princess, Celebrity, O, Silversea (except the Silver Explorer), SB, Regent... It may be time to do some more land-based itineraries in the short term. We loved our Nile River cruise, and have signed up for another river cruise in Europe next summer. Mixing it up is good.

 

It takes a lot of infrastructure to support cruise ship tourism, and obviously the proximity to large bodies of water limits your destinations somewhat. Are we running out of places that cruise ships can easily visit? Sure hope not!!! But after reading numerous travel blogs about what happens when even a small SS ship visits (for example) the Azores - you wonder if these places could handle a visit from even an R-class ship.

 

We're sure that we'll find ourselves back on an O cruise - eventually!

[cbb]

Paul,

Have a safe trip and great adventures!

 

I would repeat my request to cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago (by way of Valparaiso?) going through the Canal.

 

Not all of us want to gamble on Antarctica with a loved one who gets motion sick just looking at waves while standing firmly on land! c

[TERRIER1]

Whereas we are not exotic travelers we would however love to see in depth itineraries of a specific country. We would love to stop at ports in Italy starting in Sardinia and going down the Western Coast, Sicily and around the boot all the way up the Eastern coast. Same goes for all of Greece.

 

We also loved our cruise that explored the coast of Spain, up Portugal and the Basque country and the Brittany/Normandy coast. The small villages were lovely and the Basque country unique. O can keep Casablanca - we ported there twice and I will not take another cruise that has Casa as a stop.

[Hawaiidan]

In reality, safe practical ports...yes.

 

ALL of Africa is a powder keg of instablity and the Arab spring and Pirates has done nothng to improve. All the signs seem to point to a much more dangerous and anti-westerner in places from Algeria Egypt etc. With pending instability and islamic terrorist in the mid east with Iran, Yemmen, somalia, Sudan, Plus these countries are racked by disease and civil strife.....

I would not even sail thse waters unless it was on a warship..

 

Personaly I think the new schedule that sails from Sydney to London in 6 segments is one of the best I have seen. Tahiti to London via easter island, the canal Charleston, Canada,and Ireland is pretty unque in its self

 

I would like to see Hong Kong ( cheap air and easy to get too) to Ohinawa, Taipei Manila, Saipan, Yap, Palau, Vanautu Fiji,and Honolulu.

 

Or..

 

.Honolulu to Fiji Suva ,cruise the Yasawa isl , Esprit Santos, Guadelcanal, ,Palau , Manila, Taiwan, Okinawa to Guam. ( now a United hub) or to Kobe or Hong Kong.

 

 

Then Hawaii to Lima via Galapegos to New Orleans then Key West , ChARLESTON to NY and Boston.

 

Hawaii is a easy place to get to, there are tons of cheapo air fares as low as $175pp each way and peopel can travel by car ot train to the west coast. Hawaii has such a developed toursit industry that many could take pre or post tours here.

 

The entire region is pretty much not discovered and maybe one or 2 ships total do any of these ports. The area in comparison to the rest of the world is safe. There are 2 to 3 sea days between ports for enrichent and the Historic value are not to me understated Cruises wuld be in the 21 day segments. could be done as a circle trip..

[globevest]

Paul,

I very much agree with your thoughts on Africa. I remember Oceania had a West coast Africa cruise a few years ago. I believe it started in the Eastern Med.

We leave in two weeks to join Fred Olsen on a cruise starting in Tenerife and visiting Senegal, The Gambier and Cape Verde Islands before returning to Tenerife. Fred Olsen is a good cruise line with Oceania size ships, few if any children etc. Food is very good but not up to Oceania standard. We are also not keen on the two formal nights. Would prefer it to be Oceania but they don't do this or a similar itinerary.

 

I like Oceania's Western Africa itinerary from Cape Town to Singapore. We are considering this for early 2014.

[vaitape]

In reality, safe practical ports...yes.

 

ALL of Africa is a powder keg of instablity and the Arab spring and Pirates has done nothng to improve. All the signs seem to point to a much more dangerous and anti-westerner in places from Algeria Egypt etc. With pending instability and islamic terrorist in the mid east with Iran, Yemmen, somalia, Sudan, Plus these countries are racked by disease and civil strife.....

I would not even sail thse waters unless it was on a warship..

 

Personaly I think the new schedule that sails from Sydney to London in 6 segments is one of the best I have seen. Tahiti to London via easter island, the canal Charleston, Canada,and Ireland is pretty unque in its self

 

I would like to see Hong Kong ( cheap air and easy to get too) to Ohinawa, Taipei Manila, Saipan, Yap, Palau, Vanautu Fiji,and Honolulu.

 

Or..

 

.Honolulu to Fiji Suva ,cruise the Yasawa isl , Esprit Santos, Guadelcanal, ,Palau , Manila, Taiwan, Okinawa to Guam. ( now a United hub) or to Kobe or Hong Kong.

 

 

Then Hawaii to Lima via Galapegos to New Orleans then Key West , ChARLESTON to NY and Boston.

 

Hawaii is a easy place to get to, there are tons of cheapo air fares as low as $175pp each way and peopel can travel by car ot train to the west coast. Hawaii has such a developed toursit industry that many could take pre or post tours here.

 

The entire region is pretty much not discovered and maybe one or 2 ships total do any of these ports. The area in comparison to the rest of the world is safe. There are 2 to 3 sea days between ports for enrichent and the Historic value are not to me understated Cruises wuld be in the 21 day segments. could be done as a circle trip..

 

Really enthusiastic about your Asia/SoPac suggestions Dan....!!!

[umtali]

I wonder how many cruise lines will start looking at alternative routes/ports to avoid the possible escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, and future problems with the Suez Canal. Something to consider when looking at new itineraries.

[pacheco18]

I'd like to see the Mediterranean itineraries tweaked to add new and different ports.

 

Different Greek Islands -- overnight in Crete for example

Different Italian ports --

 

One of the reasons we booked an Azamara cruise is that we wanted to cruise ONLY Croatia without doing the same old ports in Greece and Turkey too.

 

As much as we prefer Oceania, itinerary is always the first consideration.

 

I'd love to see some new and different itineraries on all fronts. With 3 R ships back in the mix we should have more choices.

[hrprof]

We were lucky enough to take the extraordinary NG Explorer West Africa cruise this year. Bear in mind that 148 passengers were aboard vs 1250 or 700 with O. The tourist infrastructure was strained on a number of stops with resulting delays, breakdowns etc. Oceania is our carrier of choice for "cruise" cruises. We are Lindblad regulars for expedition cruises. I suspect that there might be some O folks not quite ready for this type of expedition adventure. We were the first group of travelers to visit Liberia since the '70s.

 

BTW, for part of the trip, we had an armed security force on board. There were no threats.

[PaulMCO]

I would be interested in Greenland and more northern cruises.

 

Also I would think a World Cruise -- Miami to Miami would be popular -- especially on a small ship like Insignia

 

Also like Dan's idea on the South Pacific.

[Hawaiidan]

THe med is so saturated with ships that it is presently like the carribe... over used and over sailed. The ports I have seen are starting to turn in to little ST. Thomas.

 

I am taking the Tahiti to London next year because of its unique trans oceanic nature and contrasts....It is pretty popular by all judgment as almost 17 months in advance the ship 70% booked ! That is remarkable, I was sorry to see the 3 day 2 night stop in Lima cancelec because that would allow Machu Picchu. But still the contrads going from Bora Bora. then easter island, experiencing the canal, Cave exploring in Beleeze , Myan ruins, Funky Key West, historic Charleston, New york, Bar harbor village and lobster, The Saint Lawerence and Canada, the North atlantic to Dublin, Cork and finaly the white cliffs of Dover ! Talk about a buffet for the sences... 50 days of continous contrast against each other.

 

Back the the south pacific and Aisia

 

No one is stopping at the other China..Tiwian! How many hit Brueni to take in the Caves of Mulu ( largest in the world) Spend time in Siapan, Guam, Yap, The other Fijian islands..Vana Levu, the Yasawa islands hope to the blue lagoon , The world hertige sites if the Rock Islands of Palau,

Historic Chuk lagoon,Saipan... The rainforests of Vanauatu, Start and finish in Hawaii, Or break it in Taiwan or Guam ( both with excellent air connections)

 

Hawaii to Taiwan and Tiawan to Hawaii each 14 day. Load up on enrichment rather than trinkets and duty free whatever.

 

Presently lots of shps sail to and from Hawaii. Less than 4 sail from Hawaii and mostly those go the Sydney. Lets look at Taiwan, notHong kong... or Guam whic is like a minature Hawaii with resorts. Ya' Guam !:D

[Hawaiidan]

Presently the Argentne folks are being very hostle to Cruise ships. and Ushaeua is the port for Argentine departure for Antarctica and must cross the nasty Drakes passage

 

Why not think Sydney to Tasmania both sides not just Hobart, for 2 stops then cross to the Ross sea to The massive ross Ice shelf and Mc Murdo sounnd. Way easier crossing, Way richer wildlife, no Argentina dictators to deal with, and the way the US currently chooses to supply it s base in Antarctica ( what do they know the cruise lines do not) 14 day s yes a lot of sea days nut chance for fantastc enricment

 

The goal and objective is to keep out of the realms of terrorists, politics and explore regions that have never seen the cruise industry...

[hrprof]

Are the hulls ice hardened?

[Benita]

Oceania's ships have too many passengers for a real Antarctica experience. There are only a certain number of people allowed off the ship onto the peninsula or surrounding islands at any one time. The Marco Polo used to do the itinerary and took only half their usual 600 passengers and allowed a third off for each landing. The smaller ships, like the ones owned by Lindblad or chartered by A&K or the Hurtigrutens were one of the few that could disembark all the passengers at once. We did it with Lindblad, which has now merged with National Geographic and there were many modifications made to the ship to make it suitable for that area.

I would like to see more sailings to and from Singapore, going to Bali and around Indonesia and Malaysia.

[RuthC]

I would be interested in Greenland and more northern cruises.

Me too. Toss in some stops in Newfoundland & Labrador, maybe a ride over to Iceland, and I'm the first to sign up.

[Hawaiidan]

Sail by or quick short stops?

 

I say this from experience, as a professional naturalist, that a good sail by over several hundred mile of coast will be much more informative in reality than putting your boots on the ice. Its like seeing Rembrants , Night Watch from 50 feet vs seeing it at 5 feet.

Its like standing in your back yard trying to immigine ther rest of the world vs seeing it from 20,000 ft. in a bigger context or relationships.

In short you will have a far better chance at personal connections seeing the things in the big picture.

 

In truth the short visits to very small areas are really productive only to one's personal opinion based on their values. To get a true grasp of any eco system or georgaphic area requires months in not years in that region...not hours or days.

 

In truth most of the expedition ships don't even put ashore on the continentbut but rather on off shore islands that give the impresson of being on a place they were actualy not.

 

If you asked each group on what they took away from either experience they would be pretty equal. Studies by the National Park Service confirm this time and time again.:o

 

Its like visiting the Grand Canyon and spending the day peering into it and learning about it from the visitor center. People take away a very good impression and dont need to spend weeks exploring, running the colorado or hikng to the botom an back. Other than the sweat each visitor connects to any place according to their personal values. ( Freeman Tilden) One is thus not better than the other...it is all perception in the visitor.

[hrprof]

As a naturalist, would you be satisfied by observing African wildlife solely from a small aircraft?

[Hawaiidan]

Without question... Observing from what ever vantage is of equal value.

 

However, observing wild animals, observing from the distance is the far better choice. When animals become habutiated to humans they are and do not act the same. Human contact changes them from their natural behaviour.

Studies have shown, for example that the Safari trade in Africa has latered the animals they come in contact. Operators of many of these use enticments to insure their customers get their wild animal fix. Animals who do not exhbit the natural fight or flight and nolonger wild animals.

 

Back to the premise of seeing what ever it is in a far broader context is thus far more enlightnng than getting up close. What benifit too does the animal obtain from my up close contact? It is NOT what the animal desires to benift him..it is for the sole personal desire of person.

 

In this relation the human wins the animal loses.

[pacheco18]

Without question... Observing from what ever vantage is of equal value.

 

However, observing wild animals, observing from the distance is the far better choice. When animals become habutiated to humans they are and do not act the same. Human contact changes them from their natural behaviour.

Studies have shown, for example that the Safari trade in Africa has latered the animals they come in contact. Operators of many of these use enticments to insure their customers get their wild animal fix. Animals who do not exhbit the natural fight or flight and nolonger wild animals.

 

Back to the premise of seeing what ever it is in a far broader context is thus far more enlightnng than getting up close. What benifit too does the animal obtain from my up close contact? It is NOT what the animal desires to benift him..it is for the sole personal desire of person.

 

In this relation the human wins the animal loses.

 

Apparently you have never been on a safari. Those animals are indeed wild animals --

 

There is nothing like being 2 or 3 feet away from a lion or an elephant or a primate from the safety of a Land Rover -- close enough to touch if you wanted to (I do not advise LOL).

[Molliem]

We have completed 10 cruises and will do March 2013 Sydney to Papeete and May 2014 Lima to New York. We are concerned over safety and will avoid troubled areas although have completed last year Holy Land etc just before the fighting. Also saw Egypt, Tunisia etc as well and enjoyed all of these. Exciting to have naval and hellicopter escort to Dubai.

But it is getting difficult to want any more existing itineraries. We usually do two weeks land tours before or after to add to our interests. We could with our 2014 cruise add extension to Montreal but decided to complete with land tour by car rental and include Newfoundland etc. The challenges are more competitive with more ships. Would be nice to incorporate a package with Galapagas which we have done.

As the world gets smaller and more challenging, presume time is to look over Canada and USA for safer and interesting itineraries.

We have Oceania as our preferred line and it may also be in our cards to just relax on some safer cruises even if we have done some of the ports previously. Service and food has been excellent and why change if they can provide interesting itineraries.

 

Elwin (Canada)

 

Sail by or quick short stops?

 

I say this from experience, as a professional naturalist, that a good sail by over several hundred mile of coast will be much more informative in reality than putting your boots on the ice. Its like seeing Rembrants , Night Watch from 50 feet vs seeing it at 5 feet.

Its like standing in your back yard trying to immigine ther rest of the world vs seeing it from 20,000 ft. in a bigger context or relationships.

In short you will have a far better chance at personal connections seeing the things in the big picture.

 

In truth the short visits to very small areas are really productive only to one's personal opinion based on their values. To get a true grasp of any eco system or georgaphic area requires months in not years in that region...not hours or days.

 

In truth most of the expedition ships don't even put ashore on the continentbut but rather on off shore islands that give the impresson of being on a place they were actualy not.

 

If you asked each group on what they took away from either experience they would be pretty equal. Studies by the National Park Service confirm this time and time again.:o

 

Its like visiting the Grand Canyon and spending the day peering into it and learning about it from the visitor center. People take away a very good impression and dont need to spend weeks exploring, running the colorado or hikng to the botom an back. Other than the sweat each visitor connects to any place according to their personal values. ( Freeman Tilden) One is thus not better than the other...it is all perception in the visitor.

[Hawaiidan]

Apparently you have never been on a safari. Those animals are indeed wild animals --

 

There is nothing like being 2 or 3 feet away from a lion or an elephant or a primate from the safety of a Land Rover -- close enough to touch if you wanted to (I do not advise LOL).

 

Why is that a good thing? In you opinion it is great..For the animal it is not.

The fact that you can get that close is indeed proof positive of animals hibuitated by mans presence. If the animal has not aquired a hibuation to people...then why did you get that close...how could you

Normal action for an animal is to get distance between him and you. What you describe is very abnormal in the wild.

 

In our national parks people who feed animals or encourage then to come near are now cited. Keeping 150 to 200 ft away at all times is required. Take a look at bears, dear, elk, foxes etc each year have to be destroyed ot they get killed because of human interaction.

 

Wild animals we see from afar retain their patterns and instincts, One that dont we call domesticated or pets. Remember our actions have unintended results.

[pacheco18]

Why is that a good thing? In you opinion it is great..For the animal it is not.

The fact that you can get that close is indeed proof positive of animals hibuitated by mans presence. If the animal has not aquired a hibuation to people...then why did you get that close...how could you

Normal action for an animal is to get distance between him and you. What you describe is very abnormal in the wild.

 

In our national parks people who feed animals or encourage then to come near are now cited. Keeping 150 to 200 ft away at all times is required. Take a look at bears, dear, elk, foxes etc each year have to be destroyed ot they get killed because of human interaction.

 

Wild animals we see from afar retain their patterns and instincts, One that dont we call domesticated or pets. Remember our actions have unintended results.

 

I will just repeat

You obviously have never been on a safari

[joysav]

Past experience shows that every new itinerary was warmly welcomed and quickly sold out.

 

Are you sure that they are really sold out quickly :confused:

[joysav]

 

ALL of Africa is a powder keg of instability and the Arab spring and Pirates has done nothing to improve. All the signs seem to point to a much more dangerous and anti-westerner in places from Algeria Egypt etc. With pending instability and Islamic terrorist in the mid east with Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Plus these countries are racked by disease and civil strife.....

I would not even sail these waters unless it was on a warship..

Having sailed before the mast I could not agree with you more.

Obviously the original poster does not watch or read quality material.

 

Personaly I think the new schedule that sails from Sydney to London in 6 segments is one of the best I have seen. Tahiti to London via Easter Island, The Canal , Charleston, Canada,and Ireland is pretty unque in its self

 

I would like to see Hong Kong ( cheap air and easy to get too) to Ohinawa, Taipei Manila, Saipan, Yap, Palau, Vanautu Fiji,and Honolulu.

 

Honolulu to Fiji Suva ,cruise the Yasawa isl , Esprit Santos, Guadelcanal, ,Palau , Manila, Taiwan, Okinawa to Guam. ( now a United hub) or to Kobe or Hong Kong.

 

Then Hawaii to Lima ( Machu Picchu )via Galapegos to New Orleans , (then Everglades area ) , then Key West , NASA area , ChARLESTON , ( Norfolk,Colonial Williiamsburg , First Flight , Mt Vernon) to NY and Boston.

 

Good ideas . I don't think enough thought is given to the Embark / Disembark Cities by Cruise Ship Operators.

If some of you guys dont know much about Airlines / Hubs etc load this down.

 

http://www.staralliance.com/en/booking/book-and-fly/#