First impressions of our first Oceania cruise

[DCGuy64]

My wife and I returned late Saturday from our first cruise with Oceania, on the Nautica. I plan to write a more comprehensive review later, but our first impressions are that Oceania is a great line for older folks, but maybe not for us (we're somewhat younger than the apparent demographic, at 59 and 47). Most of our fellow passengers seemed to be 70s and 80s mostly, although there were definitely some younger than that. We loved the ship, it's quite beautiful. Loved the rolled cotton towels in the bathrooms. The bed was super comfortable, and probably our favorite thing about the cabin. Free internet was nice, too. But there are definitely aspects that were less pleasant. Dinner is served extremely slowly, usually around 2 hours. That wouldn't be so bad except that it could take a long time just to order a drink, much less get it. The lack of common items like salt/pepper, sugar, and rolled silverware on the tables at the Terrace Cafe was a major disappointment. Same with ordering drinks there. Overall the staff was superb, friendly and cheerful. But some of them seemed sullen and disinterested. My steak at the Polo Grill was served way overcooked, so I had to send it back. There is no actual thermal spa at the spa, only a salon and a place to pay for (overpriced, IMO) spa treatments. That one shocked me. And having to pay for drinks at the bar when you're shelling out $5,000 and up for a cabin seems ridiculous. All in all, I'd say we will be sticking with NCLH's "junior" member, NCL, from now on. We're not quite ready for Oceania.

[MEFIowa]

Sorry to hear, though WHAT cabin level were you in?

 

Wife (56) and I (59) had a great time on Sirena in a B2 11/2022 and also on Riviera in an A4 12/2021. Yes, we were a bit younger but we cruise for excursions and ports.

 

Never saw this: "The lack of common items like salt/pepper, sugar, and rolled silverware on the tables at the Terrace Cafe was a major disappointment." We ate there every evening we didn't eat at a Specialty restaurant.

 

As an fyi, only Riviera has the larger outside therapy "pool" on the spa deck forward.

 

AND we bring our OWN ALCOHOL on board at embarkation and at ports. Haven't spent a single penny on O's alcohol. (Plus there is the Captain's Party and for 2nd and later cruise, the Repeater Party, both with free alcohol each night.)

[LHT28]

38 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

 And having to pay for drinks at the bar when you're shelling out $5,000 and up for a cabin seems ridiculous. .

Oceania is not all inclusive  so should not have been a surprise  with  the drinks

They do offer  a beverage package  for a fee

I am sure NCL  either offers a  beverage package or rolls it into the price

Glad the rest of the cruise  was OK 

At least you gave them a try

 

Enjoy

 

[Woofa]

Thank you for your review.  Sorry Oceania was not for you at this time but I think you did the right thing giving it a try.  luckily there are plenty of great choices to fit everyone.  I wish you luck on your other cruise lines.

[osandomir]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:And having to pay for drinks at the bar when you're shelling out $5,000 and up for a cabin seems ridiculous. All in all, I'd say we will be sticking with NCLH's "junior" member, NCL, from now on. We're not quite ready for Oceania.

If you enjoy sailing with NCL it’ll be a no-brainer to stick with them. Definitely will be cheaper even if they charge you for drinks at the bar. People often paying a lot more than $5,000 to sail on Oceania and still have to pay for their drinks. It’s something else about Oceania cruises that keeps us to sail with them again and again.

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

Most of our fellow passengers seemed to be 70s and 80s mostly, although there were definitely some younger than that

That is the only negative in my opinion of Oceania. A good number of passengers couldn’t get off the ship at the ports because of mobility impairment. The food and service were great. Loved the Terrace Cafe. I like the itineraries that smaller ships can do. The alcohol prices don’t bother me because I don’t drink much. The drinks that are important to me, specialty coffees are included. And the iced tea is delicious. I would like to try some other smaller ship cruise lines to compare. Viking maybe. Virgin might be too out there but maybe. NCL I never had a great cruise on. I could do Celebrity, HAL and Princess in the future but I will lean towards non mega ships.

Edited April 24, 2023 by Charles4515

[DCGuy64]

10 minutes ago, osandomir said:

If you enjoy sailing with NCL it’ll be a no-brainer to stick with them. Definitely will be cheaper even if they charge you for drinks at the bar. People often paying a lot more than $5,000 to sail on Oceania and still have to pay for their drinks. It’s something else about Oceania cruises that keeps us to sail with them again and again.

Yeah, exactly. We sailed on the NCL Epic back in December, all of my drinks were comped courtesy of the UBP and we had a much larger cabin vs paying for drinks at the bar on O (not during mealtimes thanks to the O Life choice), and yet the cruise on NCL cost $1,000s less. Make no mistake, I am not trashing Oceania at all. We had a fantastic cruise, and we met some truly wonderful people, as well as having some excellent food. But since we paid a lot more than we've paid on NCL (and even MSC), we naturally expected more. I just don't think the value is there for us. It's a different product and I think it's not really for us, that's all. I'm very much a believer in value for one's dollar. What we got didn't justify the price we paid. Everyone is different so by no means do I think our experience will be everybody's. I also hope that by sharing my impressions, we may help other newbies understand what they're getting. I will be more specific when I write my full review.

[DCGuy64]

1 hour ago, MEFIowa said:

Sorry to hear, though WHAT cabin level were you in?

Inside.

 

1 hour ago, MEFIowa said:

AND we bring our OWN ALCOHOL on board at embarkation and at ports. Haven't spent a single penny on O's alcohol. (Plus there is the Captain's Party and for 2nd and later cruise, the Repeater Party, both with free alcohol each night.)

We did bring some bottles of wine onboard, and did avail ourselves of drinks at the Captain's Party. I also made a point of going to HH most days for the BOGO (although I dislike having to drink the same exact drink twice, some of them were better than others and I'd have preferred being able to get a different one for the 2nd round, but that's not how the rules work).

[jonthomas]

24 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

That is the only negative in my opinion of Oceania. A good number of passengers couldn’t get off the ship at the ports because of mobility impairment. The food and service were great. Loved the Terrace Cafe. I like the itineraries that smaller ships can do. The alcohol prices don’t bother me because I don’t drink much. The drinks that are important to me, specialty coffees are included. And the iced tea is delicious. I would like to try some other smaller ship cruise lines to compare. Viking maybe. Virgin might be too out there but maybe. NCL I never had a great cruise on. I could do Celebrity, HAL and Princess in the future but I will lean towards non mega ships.

 

We returned from Viking, April 3. Awful food, very boring lectures, roof over main pool closed almost the entire crossing and it was calm and warm outside. Will never sail Viking again. But if it the drinks that are important,  then sure most lines will do.

[MEFIowa]

10 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Inside.

A G or an F? Never had one, have always upgraded up from them on a cabin-upgrade or similar O sale.

 

BUT either Gor F, that price seems steep: $2500 PP ("when you're shelling out $5,000 and up for a cabin seems ridiculous"). We paid $2099 PP for our A4 on Riviera and $2349 PP for our B2 on Sirena.

[AMHuntFerry]

31 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

A G or an F? Never had one, have always upgraded up from them on a cabin-upgrade or similar O sale.

 

BUT either Gor F, that price seems steep: $2500 PP ("when you're shelling out $5,000 and up for a cabin seems ridiculous"). We paid $2099 PP for our A4 on Riviera and $2349 PP for our B2 on Sirena.

I think Nautica was in Japan...one of the higher cost/day itineraries.

[MEFIowa]

12 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

I think Nautica was in Japan...one of the higher cost/day itineraries.

Pulled out the massive 2023 Collection of Voyages book and see that Nautica was in Japan 4/2-12 and then 4/12-22, both Tokyo to Tokyo (p. 227). And looking even at the cruise-only prices, they're off the charts! Japan doesn't interest us so never really looked into prices for a cruise there.

[AMHuntFerry]

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

There is no actual thermal spa at the spa, only a salon and a place to pay for (overpriced, IMO) spa treatments. That one shocked me.

 

The smaller ships have just steam rooms and whirlpools at the spa; are you talking about a dry heat room? The larger ships have additional amenities such as the heated lounges...listed in the individual ship description for others considering O.

DCGuy64: BTW, thanks for recognizing that O wasn't a good fit for your wishes without bashing the line; I hope others will realize that their priorities are not everybody's and that it is OK to have different tastes.

[DCGuy64]

45 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

A G or an F? Never had one, have always upgraded up from them on a cabin-upgrade or similar O sale.

 

BUT either Gor F, that price seems steep: $2500 PP ("when you're shelling out $5,000 and up for a cabin seems ridiculous"). We paid $2099 PP for our A4 on Riviera and $2349 PP for our B2 on Sirena.

I think it was an F category. The original cost was $5400 per person but that included a $1300 flight portion which we later asked to have removed since we did our own air ultimately. So what we paid out of pocket was around $4000 pp. Contrast that with an NCL Club Balcony suite for a similar itinerary, upcoming cruise (10 days) for $4000 for both of us, and that price includes specialty restaurants and UBP per NCL's FAS package. So we're talking 2x the price for a smaller cabin. I hasten to add that I realize Oceania is a different product, so making comparisons is bound to be tricky, but I'm coming at it from the standpoint of "what's my cost and what do I get for it." YMMV.

[DCGuy64]

5 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

DCGuy64: BTW, thanks for recognizing that O wasn't a good fit for your wishes without bashing the line; I hope others will realize that their priorities are not everybody's and that it is OK to have different tastes.

Not at all! And thanks, I wasn't trying to the bash the line. There was much I loved about it, for one thing the CD was amazing. He spent a lot of time chatting with me and my wife when I know he had other things to do. One of the maitre-d's got us in at Toscana on an evening where they were full (or had been earlier in the day, some people cancelled). I also loved the fact that the jacuzzis had actual hot water instead of the tepid stuff, and they were by-and-large unoccupied. As I said, I'll be writing a comprehensive review and giving my impressions. Oceania is definitely a fine product, but you need to know what to expect.

 

9 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

Pulled out the massive 2023 Collection of Voyages book and see that Nautica was in Japan 4/2-12 and then 4/12-22, both Tokyo to Tokyo (p. 227). And looking even at the cruise-only prices, they're off the charts! Japan doesn't interest us so never really looked into prices for a cruise there.

We were on the 4/12-22 one, no doubt Japan is pricey but that was a destination we had been wanting to go to for years. We had reservations on the Diamond Princess for 2021 and Norwegian Sky (or Sun, I forget now) for 2022 and both of those were cancelled because Japan still wasn't open yet. In many ways, we're grateful we were able to go at all.

[Woofa]

We met a nice couple on our January Riviera cruise.  Had some meals together, met up here and there on the ship.  Had breakfast with them the last day and we were discussing what a great time we had and that we had purchased a future cruise credit onboard.  They let us know that while they also had a great cruise, they were probably one and done with Oceania.  There just was not enough action for them.  I am guessing they were slightly older than us but we at 46 and 53 are certainly in the younger demographic.

We understood.  Truth be told most of the people we know would probably not choose Oceania at the price.  For us, the laid back, luxurious vibe was a perfect fit.  I had no problems sleeping late and spending hours by the pool reading a book.  My wife loved going to tea most every afternoon even mostly by herself.

The key is to find what makes you happy.  And we know that can change over time as well.  If everyone loved Oceania, how would we ever get the cruises we want?  As my father used to say "Everyone likes a different horse, that's what makes horse racing."

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, MEFIowa said:

Japan doesn't interest us so never really looked into prices for a cruise there.

Japan is of great interest to me but I would never do a cruise there. I would want to be on land taking it all in, eating the local food and staying in local accommodations. 

[MEFIowa]

37 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Japan is of great interest to me but I would never do a cruise there. I would want to be on land taking it all in, eating the local food and staying in local accommodations. 

I did that in the Philippines in 1990-91, courtesy of the USAF. Also got to experience communist killings of GIs downtown Angeles City, a massive 7.7 killer earthquake, and Mt Pinatubo exploding during a typhoon, seemingly bringing on the end of days (36 hours of darkness with lightning and "concrete" pouring down on us & earthquakes).

 

And my son experienced Japan for 3 years in the USN (Misawa). Back for 3 more years in Japan (Tokyo Bay) starting Jan 2024. He was born in the Philippines and married a Filipina he met in N. Japan. Karma? Fate?

 

I tell every teenager I meet, regardless of sex, one thing: Join the military (Air Force or Navy. My dad was a Marine & said he'd shoot me if I joined them). See the world.

[DCGuy64]

45 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Japan is of great interest to me but I would never do a cruise there. I would want to be on land taking it all in, eating the local food and staying in local accommodations. 

We hope to do that some day, too. For us, getting to see 9 cities in 10 days without having to drive or take the train was worth it. I think our next trip to Japan will be land based. FWIW, we had no trouble eating local food while still on a cruise. Usually we'd have lunch on land and dinner on the ship. But yeah, Japan by land is a GREAT plan. We plan to do that.

[MEFIowa]

52 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

... I would want to be on land taking it all in, eating the local food and staying in local accommodations. 

 

4 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

We hope to do that some day, too. ... But yeah, Japan by land is a GREAT plan. We plan to do that.

That was PARAGUAY for me, 14 days in country April-May 2022. A magical history tour I put together with a single-proprietor tour operator there (American ex-pat type). Studied 500 years of history, including 2 major wars, 2 UNESCO world heritage sites (just me and guide there, no one else!), and four fascinating dictators. She drove me around over 2000 KM from deep in the Chaco Desert to the swamps of Neembucu to see the skyscrapers in Asuncion and across the Parana River looking into Argentina from Encarnacion. What was ironic is that the local insects swarmed her, not me in the swamps, and she got sick one night eating local food, while I did not. I'd wake up at 4:30 or so in Asuncion and walk for a couple hours as the city awoke (6 mornings). Did that, too, in Bella Vista, Filadelfia, Humaita, Paraguari, & Pilar.

 

Paraguay is CHEAP and delicious and the people so friendly. I turned $400 into Guarani 2.7 million! AT G6830 to the $1. A bottle of delicious 8-year-aged Fortin dark rum only G25,000. And a 930 ml bottle of delicious Bavaria beer only G8000. (Cheaper brands as low as G6000.)

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

 I hasten to add that I realize Oceania is a different product, so making comparisons is bound to be tricky, but I'm coming at it from the standpoint of "what's my cost and what do I get for it." YMMV.

Some lines are not for everyone   & you have to try them to find out  if  they work  for you

 Hope you enjoyed  the cruise even if  somethings were not to your  liking

 

[Charles4515]

50 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

 

I tell every teenager I meet, regardless of sex, one thing: Join the military (Air Force or Navy. My dad was a Marine & said he'd shoot me if I joined them). See the world.

I would never tell anyone to join the military to see the world. If they are interested in seeing the world I would advise them to take time after graduating from school, HS or college before getting settled,  and backpack, staying at hostels etc. 

[ShopperfiendTO]

Hopefully you'll cover it in your review, but if you aren't planning to, could you let us know if the ports and hours in port were as listed in the final cruise summary that you would have received shortly before your cruise? 

 

If there were changes to the itinerary during the cruise and they were *not* safety/emergency related, how many ports were affected and what were the port hour changes/differences? 

 

Just wondering if the trend of post-Final Payment reduced port times was present on your cruise as well.

[rbtan]

5 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

My wife and I returned late Saturday from our first cruise with Oceania, on the Nautica. I plan to write a more comprehensive review later, but our first impressions are that Oceania is a great line for older folks, but maybe not for us (we're somewhat younger than the apparent demographic, at 59 and 47). Most of our fellow passengers seemed to be 70s and 80s mostly, although there were definitely some younger than that. We loved the ship, it's quite beautiful. Loved the rolled cotton towels in the bathrooms. The bed was super comfortable, and probably our favorite thing about the cabin. Free internet was nice, too. But there are definitely aspects that were less pleasant. Dinner is served extremely slowly, usually around 2 hours. That wouldn't be so bad except that it could take a long time just to order a drink, much less get it. The lack of common items like salt/pepper, sugar, and rolled silverware on the tables at the Terrace Cafe was a major disappointment. Same with ordering drinks there. Overall the staff was superb, friendly and cheerful. But some of them seemed sullen and disinterested. My steak at the Polo Grill was served way overcooked, so I had to send it back. There is no actual thermal spa at the spa, only a salon and a place to pay for (overpriced, IMO) spa treatments. That one shocked me. And having to pay for drinks at the bar when you're shelling out $5,000 and up for a cabin seems ridiculous. All in all, I'd say we will be sticking with NCLH's "junior" member, NCL, from now on. We're not quite ready for Oceania.

We prefer the larger O ships Riviera & Marina. They seem to be run a little better than the smaller ships.

[rbtan]

2 hours ago, Woofa said:

We met a nice couple on our January Riviera cruise.  Had some meals together, met up here and there on the ship.  Had breakfast with them the last day and we were discussing what a great time we had and that we had purchased a future cruise credit onboard.  They let us know that while they also had a great cruise, they were probably one and done with Oceania.  There just was not enough action for them.  I am guessing they were slightly older than us but we at 46 and 53 are certainly in the younger demographic.

We understood.  Truth be told most of the people we know would probably not choose Oceania at the price.  For us, the laid back, luxurious vibe was a perfect fit.  I had no problems sleeping late and spending hours by the pool reading a book.  My wife loved going to tea most every afternoon even mostly by herself.

The key is to find what makes you happy.  And we know that can change over time as well.  If everyone loved Oceania, how would we ever get the cruises we want?  As my father used to say "Everyone likes a different horse, that's what makes horse racing."

Your reasons are why we choose O more than other lines. We're 60 & 68(closing in on the older demographic) That laid back experience just doesn't get much better.