3rd O cruise - still in love

[corpkid]

Just wanted to say that we had been reading all the nay-saying about Oceania going downhill before our cruise. Not the case, what-so-ever. This is our 3rd cruise on Marina in so many years and it was as good as ever. 16 days from Sydney to Auckland. We could not find fault with much (well a short plumbing issue - our shower backed up - fixed within 1 hour).

 

Seriously - we couldn't really find fault otherwise. Yes the internet is slow - but we understand why and the incredible cost incurred to upgrade that (good bye unlimited internet packages). Yes the entertainment is "good" - and it is good. I didn't sign on to see a "production" in Las Vegas for $280 pp. :) Ray the cruise director was also good.

 

Cooking classes were awesome - Chef Curtis is THE MAN! Had so much fun with him in the kitchen and on excursions. Akaroa cooking school was AMAZING! Do this! it's right off the pier. Just trust me on this one.

 

Excursions (self-sponsored): sport fishing, hiking, mountain biking, etc. Just a great trip, and it all seemed to blend well with the rhythm of the ship (back at 4:30, 5;30 happy hour drink, to dinner, to show/casino/ etc). Blame it on jetlag for everyone. :)

 

And as always the food was for the most part spot on. Service and the staff seemed happy and engaged. This was a really great cruise so much so that we have booked a Beijing to Hong Kong cruise next year. We are quite pleased with the product. Off to the Roll Call for our next cruise! :)

[Paulchili]

Glad you had a good cruise. I know how much you have looked forward to it.

Start planning for China & Asia :D

[Queen of DaNile]

Great to hear about your wonderful trip. Do you know if Chef Curtis is staying on for awhile? We're looking forward to our Pasta from A-Z class next month:D

[corpkid]

Great to hear about your wonderful trip. Do you know if Chef Curtis is staying on for awhile? We're looking forward to our Pasta from A-Z class next month:D

 

I believe so - he got on-board at the start of our cruise (Feb 12). I took that class haven been given a Kitchen aid pasta maker attachment (and no clue how to use it). It is a lot of fun and making pasta is so much easier that I thought. :) Enjoy!

[DaisyUK]

Very happy to hear you had another great trip, and that Oceania is still 'up there'. Look forward to reading your review if you get around to doing one...:)

[JPR]

We totally agree. Roviera and Marina are our favorite cruise ships.

[Leejnd4]

I'm so happy to see this! As we are now in the process of planning for our first Oceania cruise, it can be a bit disconcerting to see the negative reviews. Especially when we are trying something for the first time, and we're not sure what to expect. So...thanks! :D

[Paulchili]

I'm so happy to see this! As we are now in the process of planning for our first Oceania cruise, it can be a bit disconcerting to see the negative reviews. Especially when we are trying something for the first time, and we're not sure what to expect. So...thanks! :D

 

Understandable, but...if 90% of reviewers like it and about 10% don't (or something like that), I don't have much trouble thinking that it will be good.

JMO.:D

[Leejnd4]

Understandable, but...if 90% of reviewers like it and about 10% don't (or something like that), I don't have much trouble thinking that it will be good.

JMO.:D

 

Agree! I do try to read all reviews in context. There are some people who simply cannot be pleased, and will find fault with everything. There are others who think everything is great, even when it's not. You have to take all reviews with a grain of salt.

 

What I try to do is look for common themes. If multiple reviewers are complaining that the food quality has gone downhill, or whatever, then that's a pretty good indication something is going on.

 

There were a few negative Oceania reviews that I read when contemplating this cruise, which gave me pause for thought. But I've since read enough positive ones to counter them that I am comfortable with my choice.

 

Eventually I'll find out for myself! I just wish it was coming sooner... :o

[corpkid]

It's not perfect, but nothing is. It's a very high quality cruise experience with typically very good food on a beautiful ship. The staff for the most part are happy and thoughtful. I think the thing with the staff is you get out what you give. I saw many folks treating them terribly! A common phrase we'd say to ourselves was "OMG - relax, you are on vacation!" Some people are just jerks no matter how you slice it - sorry to say. We get along wonderfully with the staff who remember us (for the right reasons) and are more than helpful every time. We make it a point to ask them about their contracts, if they went ashore, their favorite ports, where they are from, etc. Most of the time, these people are more interesting than yourself. LOL

 

You know the ol' saying: You attract more bees with honey than vinegar. Oh and to our omnipotent (and hysterically Ukrainian) waiter "Max" - we miss you already. It got to the point where if he wasn't in our section at dinner he'd at least come over at least once to give us a good wallop of sarcastic humor. He seemed to know us from the start and we were making jokes at each others expense from day one. One funny and sarcastic guy who had us in stitches every night.

 

Point being, we had a(nother) wonderful time and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did / do! Worst case, it's decent. Best case it's pretty great. It's all in how you frame it.

[pinotlover]

Corpkid;

 

In regard to "the end of the unlimited internet service", I received a little input from one of the @Sea guys on that. The issue (we're looking at you) is that to many people are logging in with their smart phones, ipads, etc., and never logging out. It's killing the system. The expectation, which was obviously wrong, is that people would log in, do what they needed to do, and log out so others can use the system. Didn't happen.

 

Not sure how it currently happens, but I think they are looking at a system where if one is inactive for some amount of time, they will be automatically kicked off/out of the system. So in your world that does not = unlimited, but in mine it means I get to use it all I want.:D

 

Cruise Director Ray caught a group using their peds in Trivia. He read them the riot act! I think they stopped coming after that! Those tattle tell phones just light up to much in the Lounge when people try to use them to look up answers!;)

[newlondon]

Wow pinotlover, Talk about being obsessed with winning:eek:

[Paulchili]

 

Not sure how it currently happens, but I think they are looking at a system where if one is inactive for some amount of time, they will be automatically kicked off/out of the system.

 

That sounds like an excellent solution and quite reasonable to me. People should have enough sense to do it on their own, but some obviously do not.

Shouldn't be that difficult to accomplish this - I think - as there are many sites (banks, hotel bookings, etc) that will log you out if you are inactive for a certain amount of time.

[YoHoHo]

Glad to read you had such a wonderful trip. Sounds like everything was great. Hope you have time to write a review so we can learn more.

Just a great trip, and it all seemed to blend well with the rhythm of the ship (back at 4:30, 5;30 happy hour drink, to dinner, to show/casino/ etc). Blame it on jetlag for everyone. :)

Now that struck a chord. The rhythm of the cruise. That great feeling of returning to the welcoming comfort of the ship from a full day exploring to settle in, relax and start the next phase with great food, ambience, friends. To be at sea again...

[corpkid]

Corpkid;

 

In regard to "the end of the unlimited internet service", I received a little input from one of the @Sea guys on that. The issue (we're looking at you) is that to many people are logging in with their smart phones, ipads, etc., and never logging out. It's killing the system. The expectation, which was obviously wrong, is that people would log in, do what they needed to do, and log out so others can use the system. Didn't happen.

 

Not sure how it currently happens, but I think they are looking at a system where if one is inactive for some amount of time, they will be automatically kicked off/out of the system. So in your world that does not = unlimited, but in mine it means I get to use it all I want.:D

 

Cruise Director Ray caught a group using their peds in Trivia. He read them the riot act! I think they stopped coming after that! Those tattle tell phones just light up to much in the Lounge when people try to use them to look up answers!;)

 

LOL @ the trivia cheats. I swear people take themselves way too seriously - especially when on vacation/holiday!

 

I understand how the satellite service works and it would be helped by a simple cookie-based timeout system. Some of us had to work during our cruise however (I'm 37!) LOL

[corpkid]

.Now that struck a chord. The rhythm of the cruise. That great feeling of returning to the welcoming comfort of the ship from a full day exploring to settle in, relax and start the next phase with great food, ambience, friends. To be at sea again...

 

THIS is exactly what nay-sayers of cruising don't understand. Hard to put it into words but some cruises are so busy you barely enjoy the ship - some are so lazy you get sick of the ship. This one was like baby bear. LOL

[Queen of DaNile]

THIS is exactly what nay-sayers of cruising don't understand. Hard to put it into words but some cruises are so busy you barely enjoy the ship - some are so lazy you get sick of the ship. This one was like baby bear. LOL

 

LOL - So true. Our last cruise on Marina in the Baltics was so frenetic that I barely remember what/where we ate on the ship-though the Terrace was usually terrific after our long days touring. Never found time to enjoy Baristas or afternoon tea and pretty sure there was a lot to see on the ship that I missed. Hope to make up for it next time with lots of sea days.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Queen of DaNile
spelling

[ORV]

That sounds like an excellent solution and quite reasonable to me. People should have enough sense to do it on their own, but some obviously do not.

Shouldn't be that difficult to accomplish this - I think - as there are many sites (banks, hotel bookings, etc) that will log you out if you are inactive for a certain amount of time.

 

I'm a little confused on this conversation. Has there been a change to the unlimited package?

[corpkid]

I'm a little confused on this conversation. Has there been a change to the unlimited package?

 

Nope - same system as it has been for the past 3 years we've been sailing O.

[traveler916]

We love Oceania too. It's as simple as that.

 

Is everything perfect all the time? No. Nothing ever is. But this is as close to perfect as you can get.

 

I also respect that you ask about the crew and how they are doing...we do that as well....IMHO the crew makes or breaks the ship's atmosphere.

 

We are headed to Papeete soon for 33 days.

 

gary

[Paulchili]

I'm a little confused on this conversation. Has there been a change to the unlimited package?

 

I was just commenting that considering that many people never sign out (as it is UNLIMITED & FREE) and this slows down the connection for everyone, it would be good to have a system in place where one would be logged out automatically after so many minutes of inactivity. We all would benefit from this.

In fact, I hope they will institute this. After all, people sure remember to sign out promptly when they have to pay for it by the minute ;)

Edited March 5, 2015 by Paulchili

[corpkid]

I was just commenting that considering that many people never sign out (as it is UNLIMITED & FREE) and this slows down the connection for everyone, it would be good to have a system in place where one would be logged out automatically after so many minutes of inactivity. We all would benefit from this.

In fact, I hope they will institute this. After all, people sure remember to sign out promptly when they have to pay for it by the minute ;)

 

So yes - super easy to implement. On the gateway (whatever that is - some type of LAN to satellite device) set a simple mac (hardware unique address) based timeout. Say 20 minutes. However, I don't think you are going to see the gains you are hoping for, even with something like this. The nature of satellite service is very slow by nature. Everyone is competing for the same "lane." I'm no expert but unless you add more "bands" more of the same is what I predict. Let's hope I'm wrong.

[Paulchili]

So yes - super easy to implement. On the gateway (whatever that is - some type of LAN to satellite device) set a simple mac (hardware unique address) based timeout. Say 20 minutes. However, I don't think you are going to see the gains you are hoping for, even with something like this. The nature of satellite service is very slow by nature. Everyone is competing for the same "lane." I'm no expert but unless you add more "bands" more of the same is what I predict. Let's hope I'm wrong.

 

I am certainly no expert on that aspect of internet communications either but I have to believe that it would help if people did sign out (or get disconnected) when not actively using the internet - or am I just fooling myself by oversimplifying this? How else can one explain faster connections very early or very late, when presumably fewer people are signed on (with still the same bands)?

[corpkid]

I am certainly no expert on that aspect of internet communications either but I have to believe that it would help if people did sign out (or get disconnected) when not actively using the internet - or am I just fooling myself by oversimplifying this? How else can one explain faster connections very early or very late, when presumably fewer people are signed on (with still the same bands)?

 

OK- so you are correct in your understanding... The reason it is better on off hours is simply less traffic. Its like the 405 at rush hour - but make that ONE lane .... to SPACE (and back). People staying signed in unwittingly create background traffic (background updates etc). The device just sees "WIFI!!" and goes at it, not aware this is a premium situation (how could it to be honest).

This is where a simple cookie timeout would help mitigate, but not solve, the slowness issues... I tested this and was able to leave my phone connected to 3 days at sea on our last cruise (it was a test - don't hate me). I really don't know why they don't have a timeout system set up to be honest.

 

Back to my thread - we had a great cruise despite the super slow internet. LOL

Edited March 5, 2015 by corpkid

[LHT28]

In the early years when people had to pay for internet the speed seemed faster than it is now with supposed improvements

 

We had an ISP that would kick you out after 90 min regardless if you were using the internet or not :D

Maybe that is the answer for the ships ;)