First Oceania Cruise, Maybe Last Cruise

[WFHFLOYD]

The best thing (to me) about this thread is the respect the poster was shown by all who replied with their own ideas and slants on the matter of land tours vs ship trips/tours.   Should you decide to cruise again, please consider land tours either secured online, with the bolster of lots of positive reviews from prior users, or through your travel agent, or AAA, or someplace like Trip Advisor.  When my husband and I have cruised in the Caribbean, we have often rented a car in places where we were on a small island and had more than 4-5 hours.  For example, St Martin and Grand Cayman, as well as St Thomas can easily be covered with a rental car and a day.  Each has roadways that circle the island, with lots to see, beaches to dip into the blue waters, and sweet little spots for a luncheon bite.  We also have rented cars in St John's and Halifax, with plenty of time to see lots of sights.  And as for the travel time onboard, I for one would much prefer a chair of my own with a good book, a drink in my hand, and the ocean breeze fanning me that a double seat on a bus (albeit with my hubby next to me), with a tv screen 18" from my face.  But it's good for each of us to use our travel dollars wisely, to purchase what we really enjoy.  That's true value.  Happy vacationing to all, and so glad again that no one allowed 'snark' to enter the conversation, which it so often does on these boards.  

[halfapair]

I'm glad you enjoyed your Oceania cruise and that you realize the limitations of cruising, which is usually just one (maybe two) days in port. We did a Baltic Cruise on Oceania that started in Stockholm. We flew to Copenhagen, spent a few days there, then went to Stockholm and stayed there for 4 days before boarding our cruise. Then the ship docked for two night in St. Petersburg, Russia, which gave us 3 full days of sightseeing there, and we disembarked in Amsterdam. We spent 3 days in Ams, and flew home from there. So it was a good mix of seeing some new cities, cruising, and getting a flavor for some small Baltic ports. 

 

We were on the Marina, which is a slightly larger ship, more dining options, and more shopping options. You may want to give Oceania another try with a larger ship.

[Mura]

As to Israel, we were fortunate that Howard's cousin is a sabra AND a license travel agent.  So she took us all over Israel for about two weeks in her personal car, and wouldn't let us pay for gas, etc.  We did pay for a couple nights of her hotels but most of the time she was staying with friends.  We also left her for a couple of days from Eilat when we picked up tours to Petra and Mt. Sinai.  She had intended to join us but decided her budget didn't permit that.

 

One of our best trips ever.  So often we were in parking lots next to buses ... we were the only car.

 

Mura

[clo]

7 minutes ago, Mura said:

As to Israel, we were fortunate that Howard's cousin is a sabra AND a license travel agent.  So she took us all over Israel for about two weeks in her personal car, and wouldn't let us pay for gas, etc.  We did pay for a couple nights of her hotels but most of the time she was staying with friends.  We also left her for a couple of days from Eilat when we picked up tours to Petra and Mt. Sinai.  She had intended to join us but decided her budget didn't permit that.

 

One of our best trips ever.  So often we were in parking lots next to buses ... we were the only car.

 

Mura

Actually our escorted Israel tour was fantastic.  Our guide was so knowledgeable and friendly.  And Israel is so small - the size of New Jersey! - that our days weren't brutally long.  We went as far south as the Dead Sea and north to the Golan Heights.  Had lunch at one kibbutz and spent a night (or was it two?) at a second one.  Met a couple who were Holocaust survivors.  And was quite happy to come home and have some bacon for breakfast 🙂  LOL.  But obviously what you experienced was the ultimate.  It's a wonderful place, isn't it?

[Mura]

Absolutely!  I was one who was reluctant to go to Israel. I was sure I'd be on the bus that blew up ... but I couldn't get over how wonderful it was.  Seeing three major religions in one small country was incredible.  And our brief time in Jordan and Egypt was also wonderful.

 

I wasn't trying to argue against an escorted tour!  But doing it the way we did was an incredible gift.

 

When we had a stop in Haifa on our November 2017 cruise we met Yafa for a late lunch, but of course on a cruise you don't have much time at a cruise port.

 

Mura

 

[clo]

4 minutes ago, Mura said:

Absolutely!  I was one who was reluctant to go to Israel. I was sure I'd be on the bus that blew up ... but I couldn't get over how wonderful it was.  Seeing three major religions in one small country was incredible.  And our brief time in Jordan and Egypt was also wonderful.

 

I wasn't trying to argue against an escorted tour!  But doing it the way we did was an incredible gift.

 

When we had a stop in Haifa on our November 2017 cruise we met Yafa for a late lunch, but of course on a cruise you don't have much time at a cruise port.

 

Mura

 

I've heard that Jordan especially is wonderful.  And friends have recently traveled in Egypt and loved it.

[Mura]

Our time was brief.

 

A tour from Eilat to Petra - we spent the night at a former Arab village which is now a 5 star hotel.  The next day we did a private tour of Wadi Rum with a former major in the Jordanian Air Force.  He cooked us our lunch over a fire in the Wadi Rum.

 

Then we transferred to the Hyatt at Taba, Egypt.  We were picked up the next morning for our visit to St. Catherine's Monastery at Mt. Sinai.  Here was the only place we had reservations about the tour!  The monks at St. Catherine's clearly weren't happy with visitors!  And the day included a trip through the desert which pretty much duplicated what we'd one at Wadi Rum, which had been much better.

 

But all in all, these were a wonderful few days.

 

Then again, crossing the border back into Israel was a bit of a pain.  My passport had extra visa pages added after it was originally issued, and the passport guards were very suspicious.  WHO PUT THESE PAGES IN?  The U.S. State Department, I said.  They finally let me back in ...

 

Mura

 

 

 

[clo]

21 minutes ago, Mura said:

Our time was brief.

 

A tour from Eilat to Petra - we spent the night at a former Arab village which is now a 5 star hotel.  The next day we did a private tour of Wadi Rum with a former major in the Jordanian Air Force.  He cooked us our lunch over a fire in the Wadi Rum.

 

Then we transferred to the Hyatt at Taba, Egypt.  We were picked up the next morning for our visit to St. Catherine's Monastery at Mt. Sinai.  Here was the only place we had reservations about the tour!  The monks at St. Catherine's clearly weren't happy with visitors!  And the day included a trip through the desert which pretty much duplicated what we'd one at Wadi Rum, which had been much better.

 

But all in all, these were a wonderful few days.

 

Then again, crossing the border back into Israel was a bit of a pain.  My passport had extra visa pages added after it was originally issued, and the passport guards were very suspicious.  WHO PUT THESE PAGES IN?  The U.S. State Department, I said.  They finally let me back in ...

 

Mura

 

 

 

Re passports, that was the first place we ever entered where they didn't stamp the book but put a loose page in.  As I understand it there are nations that don't particularly like that one has been to Israel.  I talked to a young man in an airport who has two passports for that reason.  I found Israel very intellectually profound.  Taught us a lot.

[Redtravel]

 Cruise vacations are not as good as land if you want to spend lots of time exploring a port. On a cruise, time in a port is limited. You have to make choices of what to do. When you book a cruise, the cruise ship should be your major destination. The ports are secondary. As I have aged, I have fewer expectations. Whatever I see on a cruise is nice. It is also nice to stay on the ship and enjoy the ship.

[clo]

26 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

When you book a cruise, the cruise ship should be your major destination.

We're doing a cruise in December and have only one sea day.  Part of the attraction of Oceania is the long port days.  And we begin in Rio and end in Buenos Aires with the ship spending two days in each and we've added on extra days on top of that.  The ship will never be our "major destination."

[kendon]

23 hours ago, clo said:

I've heard that Jordan especially is wonderful.  And friends have recently traveled in Egypt and loved it.

I recently went on a three week land trip to Israel and Jordan.  I lived in Israel in 1977 for a year so going back after 41 years was interesting.  Jordan was amazing, and the Jordanians are the most polite and hospitable people I've ever met.  Would love to go back.

 

[clo]

5 minutes ago, kendon said:

I recently went on a three week land trip to Israel and Jordan.  I lived in Israel in 1977 for a year so going back after 41 years was interesting.  Jordan was amazing, and the Jordanians are the most polite and hospitable people I've ever met.  Would love to go back.

 

 

5 minutes ago, kendon said:

I recently went on a three week land trip to Israel and Jordan.  I lived in Israel in 1977 for a year so going back after 41 years was interesting.  Jordan was amazing, and the Jordanians are the most polite and hospitable people I've ever met.  Would love to go back.

 

I hope you'll go back.  I came away saying "if there's reincarnation I want to return as an Israeli Jew."  No politics just loved the people.  And now I want to go to Jordan.

[RJB]

On 6/29/2019 at 9:22 PM, halfapair said:

I'm glad you enjoyed your Oceania cruise and that you realize the limitations of cruising, which is usually just one (maybe two) days in port. We did a Baltic Cruise on Oceania that started in Stockholm. We flew to Copenhagen, spent a few days there, then went to Stockholm and stayed there for 4 days before boarding our cruise. Then the ship docked for two night in St. Petersburg, Russia, which gave us 3 full days of sightseeing there, and we disembarked in Amsterdam. We spent 3 days in Ams, and flew home from there. So it was a good mix of seeing some new cities, cruising, and getting a flavor for some small Baltic ports. 

 

We were on the Marina, which is a slightly larger ship, more dining options, and more shopping options. You may want to give Oceania another try with a larger ship.

+ 1

[keithm]

On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 8:07 PM, ano said:

So we finally got to take an Oceania cruise. 14 days in the Caribbean in April. (Yes I'm a bit slow with the review.)

 

So background, the wife and I have been going on cruises over 20 years now, maybe 25 total or more.  We started on Royal Caribbean and at the time it was fabulous. Then we did some Carnival cruises, and they were pretty good too, but Royal was better (and more expensive.)  Then maybe 10 years ago we noticed something changing.  The nickle-and-diming.  Extra cost restaurants, Carnival was even charging for steak in the main dining room. The photographers EVERYWHERE. And the "free" food got worse.

 

So people told use to try Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity.  They are "different."  Long story short, maybe they used to be, but they weren't anymore. We tried them all. Even worse, in the last 5 years we saw the trend to pack MORE and MORE people on bigger ships, but at the same time, "rope-off" more areas/restaurants/pools reserved for "special people" that had suits and bigger rooms. If you weren't "special" this meant bigger crowds and even less public space.

 

So by this time, we have had it with "big" cruise lines.  Our last hope was something like Oceania. So we took a 14-day cruise with 10 port stops including some Caribbean islands we have never been to. We took the eight "free" excursions which cost about $800 extra.

 

So how was it?  We had a great time, much better than I expected. My wife was also apprehensive because she imagined it would be very "formal" with other cruisers being VERY OLD.  We didn't find this to be the case at all. There were only two children aboard, and one of them was the captain's daughter.  

 

The ship was the Regatta which is old, but really, what does that really matter for the most part. The room was comfortable, and I would say pretty typical cruise room size, but the bathroom was VERY small. Otherwise, I would say pretty typical. Normal size balcony.

 

What stood out was the service and food. Everyone was very helpful, and most of the staff got to learn our names. The main dinning room was pretty typical and we only had to wait maybe 20 for dinner a few times. Sometimes not at all. The dinning room food was very good, but the food in many cases didn't change that much from day-to-day. Some soups and appetizers were the same every day, and by the 14th day, we were a bit bored. 

 

The buffet area was small, but they did have a good variety of food in a small space, but at times it did get crowded. You could also order from the cafe, various hamburgers and such, they would give you a number and deliver it to your table. This was all free, including the "surf-and-turf" with lobster at the cafe.  In the buffet they had lobster maybe 25% of the time. The one disappointment was not very many sandwich choices. Maybe one or two for lunch and dinner, and that's it. Usually there were two pizza choices per day.

 

There were two "specialty" restaurants on the Regatta, Toscanna and Polo Grill. We ate at each twice, which is based on your room type.  Both were very good, but not that different from each other in terms of choices. The food was very good, but only a few notches above the dinning room food which is also pretty good. Some of the food was the same as in the dinning room but with a few extras. Like the lobster bisque was similar, but actually had lobsters in it. These restaurants were included, but how many times you were guaranteed to visit  was determined by your room type.

 

The entertainment onboard was OK. There was a comedian and magician and both were good. A few musical numbers were OK. All the singers/dancers were in their very early 20's and were new to the ship. One day there was a cooking demonstration. They had "enrichment" talks ever day given by a woman named "Sandy Cares."  There were no "shopping" port talks, and the talks Sandy gave weren't really about the ports, as much as they were about history 200 years ago. I found them boring, as did my wife, and she normally likes these things.  They could improve this a great bit.

 

As for low-point, I'd have to say its the shopping. Not much choice at all, very little Oceania stuff. Mainly expensive watches and very expensive dresses and suits.  It seems like they were just there to use any on-board credit you might have, and nothing else. I can't imagine they sold much, and nobody ever in them that I saw. Really a waste of space.

 

There was a casino but it never seemed that busy. No photographer or photos sales aboard. Overall, not much to spend money on, which is good. None alcoholic drinks and coffees were free and our room steward stocked our fridge with our favorite drinks. We used room service once, it was free and had a good choice of items. The gym was adequate and never very busy.  I wold say many fellow cruisers were up there in age, but there were younger people too and everyone was friendly. The ship never felt super crowded. We could find a seat at the buffet almost always first time. 

 

So finally, the excursions. So again, this cruise stopped at 10 ports, and we had eight "free" excursions we paid $800 for, or basically four excursions for two people. As most of you know, Oceania (and others) send tons of mailings about all the exotic places they go. But of course, unless you book an excursion or rent a taxis, pretty much all you will see is walking distance of the port.  This is not Oceania's fault, of course, but the reality of cruising.

 

You basically pay $100 per "free" excursion, and for that price you can pick excursions that cost up to $199.  So in theory, buying the excursion package can get you excursions at 50% off assuming you can find $199 excursions. But here is the thing, Oceania excursions cost double what they should cost, so in the end, there is no bargain.  We picked a $159 excursion which basically was a bus that drove around the island for a total of 3 hours. None of the excursions were even worth the $100 each we paid for them. Yes, certainly we cab book our own excursions without Oceania, but that is a pain, and can be risky is some situations. So I do think excursions are a ripe-off and disappointing. A small ship means less of them to choose from.

 

So to summarize, we were pleasantly surprised with Oceania. Overall, service and food were good, and isn't that the most parts of a cruise. Not a super amount of amenities like water parks, but I'll go to a water park if I want a water park.  As cruises go, Oceania was one of the best ones we have gone on in a long time.

 

But we also came to the realization of the limit of cruises. Unless you are going to spend a very large amount of money on excursions in addition to the cruise fare, then you are really not going to see much of the locations you are visiting. We looked at a Oceania cruise to Europe, and after adding the cost for the excursions we would need to REALLY see Rome and Venice and Florence and Paris and London, it would over double the cruise price. And would we REALLY see these places like we should? 

 

So we decided to pause from cruising a bit, and take land tours instead. Last year we were to take a Princess cruise to Japan, and I'm SO happy we cancelled it for a land cruise.  We had the best time ever during that land tour that wouldn't have happened with excursions. Yes, there is hotel to hotel, but you really see so much more and "live" in the country. 

 

Maybe someday a cruise ship will offer something similar.  Your cruise is broken down into smaller groups, each having a trip leader. When your sailing he/she gives you info on what you will see at each location.  At each port you leave the ship with your group, board a bus, then spend the entire day touring. And your lunch at a local restaurant is always included, maybe dinner too for later departures. The bus arrives back to the ship just before departure and has dinner together if they didn't in-town.  THIS would be a vacation I would be interested in and it would be a real tour, but sadly it doesn't currently exist. Yes, I know Viking Ocean is slightly like this, but not really.

 

So there you have it. Maybe Frank Del Rio will read this and offer it as an option.  Otherwise, for the foreseeable future, its land tours for us.

 

 

 

 

 

Likely, you should have tried Riviera/Marina, which have much better rest. choices. Entertainment is pretty boring, as the food budget far eclipses the entertainment budget. Being in the food business, this IS the reason we choose Oceania. Not having the annoying photographers is enough reason for choosing this line. Perhaps taking a break from cruising to do a land "cruise" would not be a bad idea. The Train trips into the Canadian Rockies are quite spectacular. 

[Hawaiidan]

21 hours ago, Redtravel said:

 Cruise vacations are not as good as land if you want to spend lots of time exploring a port. On a cruise, time in a port is limited. You have to make choices of what to do. When you book a cruise, the cruise ship should be your major destination. The ports are secondary. As I have aged, I have fewer expectations. Whatever I see on a cruise is nice. It is also nice to stay on the ship and enjoy the ship.

You sir  have it all figured out.....  I totally agree that it is the ship... and ports are the secondary.   If not , what do you do if you miss a port,, It rains, and you base  your entire enjoyment on ports ?.    What then?

[clo]

11 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

It rains,

Are you so sweet that you'll melt in the rain?!?!?  We have a daughter who lives in Seattle so we KNOW rain 🙂

[AlexCherie]

Not sure how anyone sees it is better off to "DIY" rather than take the O-Life option.


Nevermind ... oops on the Internet. Thanks anyways!

Edited July 1, 2019 by AlexCherie

[LHT28]

3 minutes ago, AlexCherie said:

Not sure how anyone sees it is better off to "DIY" rather than take the O-Life option.

Example: 7 day cruise Miami to Miami with the O-Life option $450 bump up. Now, if you don't use the Internet 

the internet is free  to all  not really part of any O life  deal

 

If you do ship's tours  it probably would work out for  some  people ..we do not do ship's tours

 

We like to fly in a day or so before the cruise   so if we use O air  we pay the deviation fee to fly in earlier  or  we also may book our own flights depending on the itinerary  & just take the credit for not using  O airfare

 

sometimes we take the OBC  or we just do the "cruise only fares"   no O Life or Airfare

 

You really have to work out the price point that works for you

they is not right or wrong way to do it

JMO

[AlexCherie]

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

the internet is free  to all  not really part of any O life  deal

 

If you do ship's tours  it probably would work out for  some  people ..we do not do ship's tours

 

We like to fly in a day or so before the cruise   so if we use O air  we pay the deviation fee to fly in earlier  or  we also may book our own flights depending on the itinerary  & just take the credit for not using  O airfare

 

sometimes we take the OBC  or we just do the "cruise only fares"   no O Life or Airfare

 

You really have to work out the price point that works for you

they is not right or wrong way to do it

JMO

 

 

I see that now. 

One of the things I'd like is having the airfare all worked out. I haven't done Oceania (once again trying to talk myself into it), but the idea of just arrive at the airport and your bags wind up on the ship? 

Worth the price of admission to me. That is the way it works, right?

[clo]

22 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

"cruise only fares"

As I understand it if they do the air, it's the routing of their choice and you pay extra if you want a particular route/airline.

[ORV]

36 minutes ago, AlexCherie said:

 

 

I see that now. 

One of the things I'd like is having the airfare all worked out. I haven't done Oceania (once again trying to talk myself into it), but the idea of just arrive at the airport and your bags wind up on the ship? 

Worth the price of admission to me. That is the way it works, right?

Only if you pay extra for the luggage service. Not part of the regular flight setup. 

[clo]

18 minutes ago, ORV said:

Only if you pay extra for the luggage service. Not part of the regular flight setup. 

I'm surprised it's even offered.  Must cost a 'pretty penny' considering they would likely have to send a car and driver to pick up just one or two people.  And I'm guessing in plenty of places the airport could be quite a haul from the cruise terminal.

[oceaniacruiserri]

I totally agree that there is nothing like independent land travel. Some of our best trips in the past we have flown to a large city in Europe and stayed in that city a week or so, then rented a car and driven to small towns and stayed in inexpensive gites, inns, etc. I also like cruising (on Oceania) for the simplicity and relaxation which you will never find on independent land trips unless you just plop yourselves down at a resort. Both are nice and if you are fortunate you can do both at some time(s) in your life:)

[CintiPam]

11 minutes ago, oceaniacruiserri said:

I totally agree that there is nothing like independent land travel. Some of our best trips in the past we have flown to a large city in Europe and stayed in that city a week or so, then rented a car and driven to small towns and stayed in inexpensive gites, inns, etc. I also like cruising (on Oceania) for the simplicity and relaxation which you will never find on independent land trips unless you just plop yourselves down at a resort. Both are nice and if you are fortunate you can do both at some time(s) in your life:)

+1.  Well put!  Now that husband legaleaglegreen fully retired one year ago, we have the time to mix it up more and enjoy each for its particular benefits.

Edited July 2, 2019 by CintiPam

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, AlexCherie said:

One of the things I'd like is having the airfare all worked out. I haven't done Oceania (once again trying to talk myself into it), but the idea of just arrive at the airport and your bags wind up on the ship? 

Worth the price of admission to me. That is the way it works, right?

not exactly

you pick up your bags at the airport   then take a taxi  or transportation to the port  give your bags to the porters at the dock then they are loaded on the ship  & the crew drop them by your cabin

If you take the cruise lines' expensive transfer  you will meet the rep outside baggage claim at the airport with your bags in tow  they will be loaded on the bus  while you wait for more people

 

Using the Oceania air means you fly in the day of embarkation unless you pay the deviation fee to arrive earlier