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Opinion on Oceania Cruises

gusjakefred

By gusjakefred,
in Oceania Cruises

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Hawaiidan

Hawaiidan

Posted
Posted

The only lines I know that do Perth are Holland America and Princess.. both rt ftom Sydney

 

From numerous crossings and 30 years exploring the So Pacific I feel that Oceania ships are the way to go. I suggest Sydney to LA a 36 day that is offered Oceania as the way to go. Paul Gaugin is very nice but very limited in where it sails However they do a once a year Auckland to Fiji and on to Papetee.

I would highly recommend sailing all the way across as flying out of Papeete is not a pleasant experience and can be rather stressful Too, trans pacific one way ,only requires 1 overnight long haul flight cheaper and easier on the miles and body.

 

Some years Holland America runs a Hong Kong to LA about 40 days on its Amsterdam but the experience except for ports is nowhere near the others.

I would not take Princess just because of the size and the nickel dime program but they are the ones who do the Solomons and Rabaul

 

Tahiti is nice and the Marquesas' ok but don't limit yourself to that. The Cook's, Fiji, Tumotuas, Vanautu, Yap, Solomons, Yasawas, Palau and Samoas are every bit as good and in many cases better.

 

More real south pacific genuine atmosphere and people and way less commercial. Tahiti is the south pacific equal to Orlando in that it is highly commercial.... getting out of Tahiti one finds what Mitchner wrote of

 

In truth there is no one line that does it all. To see the whole 9 yards one should start in Sydney with Princess and sail up the coral sea to Rabaul and the solomons and back to Sydney then catch a Trans-pac Sydney to USA that hits Fiji

As an option There are some Sydney to Fiji. Then in Fiji take a 3 or 4 day blue lagoon cruise to the Yasawaa islands out of Lutoka. Then fly Nandi to

 

Any way you do it you will require 3 different cruises to accomplish seeing Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia By the way Hawaii is in Polynesia and Kona and Papeetee share the same weather, and the same critters and coral

 

With the exception of Palau and Fiji, Kona , Hawaii will have far better diving and snorkeling than Tahiti in terms of fish and sea scape...and Je ne parle franch// oui

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jakes47

jakes47

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to jakes 47

 

what cruise line to Perth????? Want to do Western Australia. On my huge bucket list.

 

Thanks!

 

gusjakefred

 

IMO the Western Australian coast is not all that until you get the Kimberley area. We did a “Kimberley Quest” cruise in June this year. We flew in a light aircraft from Broome in our NW to the Mitchel Plateau and were taken by Helicopter to the Kimberley Quest 2. This is a small boat of 18 guests – 7 crew and was a fabulous way to see this amazingly, beautiful coast line. But be warned – it is a very intensive itinerary starting at 5:30am. There is another company, which is similar – “True North” cruises. They have a bigger boat and more extensive itinerarys but both are what I call aussie adventure cruising and your time on board is in shorts and bare feet – very, very casual.

 

As for the bigger ships to do Aus and NZ, I would start looking at Azamara. I haven’t been with them yet but they have some good itinerary’s.

I would also like to know more about the age and stability of the ships - as Aussie and NZ waters can be quite rough at times.

 

Bev

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ceba

ceba

Posted
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IMO the Western Australian coast is not all that until you get the Kimberley area. We did a “Kimberley Quest” cruise in June this year. We flew in a light aircraft from Broome in our NW to the Mitchel Plateau and were taken by Helicopter to the Kimberley Quest 2. This is a small boat of 18 guests – 7 crew and was a fabulous way to see this amazingly, beautiful coast line. But be warned – it is a very intensive itinerary starting at 5:30am. There is another company, which is similar – “True North” cruises. They have a bigger boat and more extensive itinerarys but both are what I call aussie adventure cruising and your time on board is in shorts and bare feet – very, very casual.

 

As for the bigger ships to do Aus and NZ, I would start looking at Azamara. I haven’t been with them yet but they have some good itinerary’s.

I would also like to know more about the age and stability of the ships - as Aussie and NZ waters can be quite rough at times.

 

Bev

 

 

 

We really like them. As far as stability goes we went thru Drake Passage in a pretty significant storm and all things considered it went pretty well.

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beachmudhut

beachmudhut

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Back on topic!

 

4. No Kids – We have bought up 4 beautiful children and would prefer to reserve our energy in that area for our grandkids

 

Bev

 

Whilst I appreciate it was right in the school holiday season, we were on Riviera a few weeks ago and there were a LOT of children on board. I was surprised since there is little provision for them. Most of them were beautifully behaved and their parents should be very proud of them. However there were a few................ Say no more!!!

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tvmovielover

tvmovielover

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We did 2 'O' cruises this year on the Marina. Both were great and I would highly recommend any 'O' cruise itinerary that is appealing (have not had a chance to try smaller ships yet). We liked the food and the ability to dine when we wanted with or without others (but at least once or twice try a share in the specialty restaurants-all were fun and interesting). We liked not having to dress formally for dinner. I am not that big on ship entertainment so while O offered nothing that great, I did not think their shows were worse than what I saw on RCL for example. My favorite thing on both cruises were dawn in Horizons (if cold or wet) or on the walking track during sail-ins. It was quiet and beautiful in FP and in Europe.

 

There were no kids on our South Pacific cruise but several on our Baltic cruise. I was surprised at how many were on the Baltic cruise that were never seen or heard and all were very well behaved in any restaurant we were in. The PG may be a better choice in FP because it is smaller and can get to more ports without tendering (though the tendering was not a problem and ran very smoothly on our Marina cruise) but our Marina FP cruise was great. Give Oceania a try when an itinerary appeals!

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Hawaiidan

Hawaiidan

Posted
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I think "O" is a pretty good line and will fill your needs. However they need to work on service a bit in the Restaurants and the food a little.

Rick

 

 

Your pulling our legs.... right / Found it the best service and food on any ship in the past 30 years.....

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gusjakefred

gusjakefred

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Thank you!!! Appreciate your insights. I am seriously considering PG and will probably extend it to include a land tour of New Zealand. I would like to try "O" thought and when I like an itinerary, I will book.

 

Again, thank you.

 

gusjakefred (Carol)

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Flatbush Flyer

Flatbush Flyer

Posted
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Sorry for this snide comment, but IMHO, children should only be allowed on DISNEY cruises -- especially the young ones. Sorry to all….

 

gusjakefred

 

 

We're "O" cruisers and can't wait to take our granddaughter with us!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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gusjakefred

gusjakefred

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LOL. Knew I would offend some folks -- didn't mean to. Well-behaved children are wonderful and we enjoy them. Unfortunately, the last few times on cruises, we had bad experiences, so it takes a bit of time to forget about them.

 

Enjoy!

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Mura

Mura

Posted
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I guess I have to ask just what you are wondering about. Most of us here are big Oceania fans (but we do try to be unbiased in answering a question like yours). Have you read through the entire thread? Because you might find some answers there.

 

We pretty much exclusively sail Oceania. Here are some reasons why:

 

Few children, if any

No formal nights

Excellent cuisine

No-Fee specialty restaurants (except for Privee or La Reserve on the two bigger ships, and there is a reason for that)

Extremely limited smoking

 

Some drawbacks

 

If you prefer ships tours to doing it yourself (or with friends you meet here), you will find they are very expensive. Most of us would say outrageously priced.

 

Expensive drinks on board BUT a liquor package is available if you think you would drink enough to justify its cost. (There are those who take the package for the convenience and who don't care if they end up paying more per drink.)

 

There are other reasons both pro and con, but basically we vastly prefer Oceania to other lines we have tried.

 

Mura

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Paulchili

Paulchili

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I have been looking at a Med. cruise for next Sept, (2015). As we have not cruised on O before, mainly on various Celebrity offerings. This old boy is just wondering before I put the $ down.

 

There have been discussions on this topic before.

Using the search function and putting in Oceania vs Celebrity, you'll get threads like these:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1914743&highlight=oceania+vs+celebrity

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1889262&highlight=oceania+vs+celebrity

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1788748&highlight=oceania+vs+celebrity

and others.

Have fun reading them :)

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Benita

Benita

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Can anyone tell me a little bit about Oceania Cruises.

 

Also, what ship would anyone recommend who would like a comprehensive South Pacific cruise itin.

 

thanks.

 

gusjakefred

 

We have sailed with Oceania 7 times and loved each one. That said, when we went to French Polynesia last year the only ship we considered was the Paul Gauguin. They are truly the experts in the area and the ports, especially in the Marquesas were way too small for 1200 passengers to get a similar experience. The Oceania ships are much nicer and the food is much better, but when going to a place like FP, I would stick with the experts. The Windstar line will be returning to FP in 2015 and their ships are even smaller, and quite lovely, but I would give them time to rev up in that location, before going.

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Paulchili

Paulchili

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Any recommendations for a 7-day cruise in the spring? Any destination and from anywhere. Thanks

 

Is this a serious question?

Do you want a recommendation for a Celebrity or an Oceania cruise?

What destinations are you interested in?

If you want serious input from others, you'll have to give us a bit more information.

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