First Oceania Cruise...21 Days on Regatta...No Thanks...Back to Celebrity

[REDSTRIPETYPE]

THE GOOD

You could have Surf and Turf every day at Lunch and Dinner.

Ship Decor and cleanliness.

Crew professionalism and friendliness.

Easy to get extra dinners in specialty restaurants.

Library book quantity and selection. 

Bar service and waiters were knowledgeable, friendly, and efficient.

Embarkation.

 

THE BAD

Pool Chair hogs were out and locked down all the shade chairs by 0600.

Although the food was good it wasn't worth the extra cost. 

Terrace Cafe food kept under heat lamp and cold,

Like most cruise  ships, coffee was horrible.

 

 

THE UGLY

The showband is also the nightly dance band and they only play for 45 minutes

 each night after the show, but in this case THANK GOD!!!!  the male singer had a very distinctive European accent and was Tone Deaf!!! People were looking around like is this for real?

Excursion prices way over the top. 

Shower size frighting

.

[PhD-iva]

5 minutes ago, REDSTRIPETYPE said:

THE BAD

Like most cruise  ships, the coffee was horrible.

I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy your cruise enough to go on Oceania again.

I agree with you that the brood coffee is not good enough to drink. However, as compared to celebrity, there is no upcharge for any specialty coffee. Cappuccino, Café Americano, flat white, expresso, no upcharge!

Edited April 21 by PhD-iva
Edit

[Kay S]

Sounds like you really liked Celebrity in the first place.  Sometimes a new thing will not measure up to our favorite old thing.

[edgee]

Sampling the smaller older R class ships is not really a fair test of whether or not you like Oceania as a cruise line. Somewhat different experience if you try the Riviera or Marina. Many love the new Vista, but the inadequate sound insulation between cabins makes Vista a no go for me.

 

I also enjoy cruising on Celebrity, but the Edge class ships are so different than the other two classes, it is almost like there are two Celebrity cruise lines. I like their different ships for different reasons.

[jonthomas]

And then there is the celebrity class system.

 

They make sure you feel it, so you book their suites at costs greater than Os balconies.

 

No thanks, been there, done that. Now I look back and feel getting to elite plus on Celebrity  was worthless and just plain dumb.

[TRLD]

2 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy your cruise enough to go on Oceania again.

I agree with you that the brood coffee is not good enough to drink. However, as compared to celebrity, there is no upcharge for any specialty coffee. Cappuccino, Café Americano, flat white, expresso, no upcharge!

Just do not ask for any iced drink such as an iced mocha. Each batista made it differently, some did not have a clue. Those that did know made it with nestle hot cocoa. Worst iced mocha I have ever had on a cruise ship.

 

 

[TRLD]

There were 200 first timers on the 21 day cruise out of the 600 on board.

 

I suspect that many are one and done. The first timers included  those coming up from the adult mass market lines (HAL, Princess, Celebrity) as well as those that normally sail higher end lines such as Regent, Crystal, Seabourn and Silver Sea.

 

The itinerary is what attracted many to try Oceania starting in French Polynesia and ending in LA.

 

For me the issue was extreme lack of variation. The sea day schedule pretty much the same with the 3 music options, string quartet, show band and piano player doing basically the same routines each day. Mostly playing background music for tea, happy hour, etc. Little variation  little change in what was being played, little interaction with passengers. Basically playing their curated list.

 

In many ways a waste of live music  They could use canned music for background on some days and then have a concert type show with the freed up time where they could be more interactive with the audience on both type of music and maybe even requests.

 

If you take away the grill to order lobster, and steaks, as well as the sushi, the food did really not seem any better than food available on other lines, including HAL  Celebrity, and Princess, with less variation. Basically in talking with the Chef the menus are also curated by HQ and must be followed exactly as HQ indicates.

 

The pool area was mostly full. But not so much by people saving seats and not being there, but instead by people that basically spent all day there when weather allowed. The number one activity seemed to be sleeping on the lounges near the pool 

 

I have been on some sedate cruises in the past, but this cruise was more sedated.

Edited April 22 by TRLD

[Tranquility Base]

2 hours ago, TRLD said:

In many ways a waste of live music  They could use canned music for background on some days and then have a concert type show with the freed up time where they could be more interactive with the audience on both type of music and maybe even requests.

On Riviera last year, there were 45 - 50 min sets on various sea days where one of the production singers would individually highlight songs of their own choice.

They would also include a bit of chat about their background.

This was in Horizons, timed for happy hour at 5:30.

 

These were popular and were well received.

[Vallesan]

Thank goodness we have ‘choices’!

Life would be so boring if we all liked the same thing.

[Harters]

9 hours ago, REDSTRIPETYPE said:

had a very distinctive European accent

I'm not at all sure that I know what this is. Makes me wonder if my accent is similar to someone from Norway or Slovenia. Do we all sound alike to Americans?

Edited April 22 by Harters

[Techno123]

7 minutes ago, Harters said:

I'm not at all sure that I know what this is. Makes me wonder if my accent is similar to someone from Norway or Slovenia. Do we all sound alike to Americans?

Maybe he was a reincarnation of Charles Aznavour 😜

[Techno123]

@TRLD I think what we have to accept is that the small ships cannot possibly have the same level of entertainment as the mega ships do and to be honest, if people want to spend their days lying on a sunbed surely that is up to them? I have been on many land based holidays where that is exactly what people of all ages do - not my cup of tea as I like to be active, off the ship and enjoying the ports but each to their own.

 

I do hope the food reports (and I have noticed a few that are less than complimentary) are subjective. We haven't sailed O for 10 years but liked the itinerary of the one we have booked on Vista - the two things I remember are excellent food and tiny bathrooms (with awkwardly angled toilets 😜). This was Insignia - the bathrooms definitely look better on Vista so 🤞🏻 for the food.

[fille_canadienne]

11 hours ago, REDSTRIPETYPE said:

THE UGLY

The showband is also the nightly dance band and they only play for 45 minutes

 each night after the show, but in this case THANK GOD!!!!  the male singer had a very distinctive European accent and was Tone Deaf!!! People were looking around like is this for real?

 

I'm sorry, but what's a European accent? And what's wrong with having one, whatever part of Europe that person might be coming from? 

 

 

Edited April 22 by fille_canadienne

[QuestionEverything]

10 hours ago, jonthomas said:

And then there is the celebrity class system.

 

They make sure you feel it, so you book their suites at costs greater than Os balconies.

 

No thanks, been there, done that. Now I look back and feel getting to elite plus on Celebrity  was worthless and just plain dumb.

Well said. 100% 

[ak1004]

Oceania on its worst day is better than Celebrity on its best day. Like comparing Mercedes to Toyota.

 

People come to R ships and are not aware about the shower size?? This shows lack of the most basic homework.

 

But yes, entertainment and activities are not the strongest areas on O. Again, some minimal homework would set expectations right and avoid disappointments.

 

More Oceania for us.

Edited April 22 by ak1004

[TRLD]

3 hours ago, Techno123 said:

@TRLD I think what we have to accept is that the small ships cannot possibly have the same level of entertainment as the mega ships do and to be honest, if people want to spend their days lying on a sunbed surely that is up to them? I have been on many land based holidays where that is exactly what people of all ages do - not my cup of tea as I like to be active, off the ship and enjoying the ports but each to their own.

 

I do hope the food reports (and I have noticed a few that are less than complimentary) are subjective. We haven't sailed O for 10 years but liked the itinerary of the one we have booked on Vista - the two things I remember are excellent food and tiny bathrooms (with awkwardly angled toilets 😜). This was Insignia - the bathrooms definitely look better on Vista so 🤞🏻 for the food.

I have sailed this exact size ship twice nefore, one of the old R class ships though with 2 other lines. In both cases there was plenty to do.  Not so much on this. Let me rephrase that. There were things to do, but pretty much the same thing day to day.  

 

We spend about 100 days per year on cruise ships. Last year we were sailed on 7 different cruise lines from 50 passengers to 5000 passenger ships. We pick primarily by itinerary with no loyalty to any line or any style. From mass market to luxury.  We like many others picked this because of the itinerary. French Polynesia and Hawaii on a ship size we were familiar with, small enough to get into Bora Bora.

 

 We like sea days and have been on much longer cruises, we like classical music and i carry about a thousand books on my phone and read about a book a day. Entertainment is normally not an issue.

 

The problem is not what was  going on any given day it is that nothing changes between days. A kind of sea going ground hog day movie. Live music started at 4 with tea and the string quartet. Playing pretty much the same background music every day. No interaction with guests  no talking, just classical.background music. Then at 5 it was happy hour with the show band. Basically the same thing. Background music, same thing day to day, no interaction. 

 

There was also a Piano player during happy hour in Martinis that atleast spoke,  After leaving the tea the quartet would play in the upper hall where they would atleast announce what they were playing and vary it to some degree, but there was only about 8 or 10 chairs in the area.

 

So lots of live music, mostly playing a very curated background to tea or happy hour. 

 

Like being in one of my old board meeting cocktail hours for days.

 

On the surface it would seem to be something  we would like. In practice it got old very quickly 

 

About the only variation was in the one show each night. A couple were very good (one piano player did 2 excellent shows, one piano player did 2 ok shows, the comedian not so good  2 different vocalists did 2 shows each, one was good one not so much). The 4 production shows were OK.

 

As far as food goes. There were some nice features such as the grill to order in the Terrace Cafe and the sushi selection. But in general the food did not really impress. The problem there was also the lack of variety.  Again a very curated menu. Very consistent, but as far as quality goes nothing special. Not bad, but pretty much in line with other lines. It lacked the customization of the luxury lines, though did have some unique features compared to mass market lines.

 

The long time Oceania cruisers seemed to like it, the 200+ first timers not so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22 by TRLD

[Yesimapirate]

It seems to me that there were some expectations that were unreasonable going into the cruise and now you're trying to find ways to justify your unhappiness. 

 

While some of your comments are certainly true,  especially about the entertainment and activities,  those were not one offs making this a bad cruise.  Those are simply what O offes and it's pretty apparent when you take 5 minutes to research.   Had you had a better knowledge base beforehand you'd see that you got exactly what O offers.  You certainly don't have to like it but you wouldn't have been disappointed either.   That's simply why there are multiple brands with different offerings.  Find one that suits you best.

 

Comments like "if it wasn't for the steak,  lobster and sushi  it would be the same " really take any credibility from a review for me.  You're complaining it's the same while litterally stating the improvements and differences.  

 

I also don't think it's reasonable to expect musicians to take requests.   A cruise has people from all over the world with different tastes and cultures.   How could a musician possibly know enough to cover every genre and take most requests?  You're setting them up to either look unprofessional because they feel pressured to perform something outside their range and then you complain how bad they are or to look rude when they don't take your request because they don't know it.  I've been to quite a few concerts,  Broadway shows,  symphonies,  etc and I don't recall them taking requests. 

 

I think you need to realize that while O may not fit your tastes, it also does not make it bad.

[TRLD]

32 minutes ago, Yesimapirate said:

It seems to me that there were some expectations that were unreasonable going into the cruise and now you're trying to find ways to justify your unhappiness. 

 

While some of your comments are certainly true,  especially about the entertainment and activities,  those were not one offs making this a bad cruise.  Those are simply what O offes and it's pretty apparent when you take 5 minutes to research.   Had you had a better knowledge base beforehand you'd see that you got exactly what O offers.  You certainly don't have to like it but you wouldn't have been disappointed either.   That's simply why there are multiple brands with different offerings.  Find one that suits you best.

 

Comments like "if it wasn't for the steak,  lobster and sushi  it would be the same " really take any credibility from a review for me.  You're complaining it's the same while litterally stating the improvements and differences.  

 

I also don't think it's reasonable to expect musicians to take requests.   A cruise has people from all over the world with different tastes and cultures.   How could a musician possibly know enough to cover every genre and take most requests?  You're setting them up to either look unprofessional because they feel pressured to perform something outside their range and then you complain how bad they are or to look rude when they don't take your request because they don't know it.  I've been to quite a few concerts,  Broadway shows,  symphonies,  etc and I don't recall them taking requests. 

 

I think you need to realize that while O may not fit your tastes, it also does not make it bad.

Sure Oceania does a number of things well. What they do will certainly appeal to some.

 

I was pointing out some ways they could easily create variety using the same performers they have on board. Sure there are lots of very good performances that do not engage with the audience, though  even there the performers will tell you that an audiences reactions do energize their performance. Those performances also do not last for days.  The best performer they had on board was a pianist that was very good at interacting with the audience. 

 

The live music was basically live background.  Did not say they had to take requests only an option. Did suggest that they might alternate playing background with doing more of a concert where they pick their favorite pieces, where they interact with the audience maybe mixing their selections, with discussion of the their backgrounds, why they like certain pieces, etc.

 

Something that musicians and audiences alike tend to enjoy.

 

The musicians I talked with on board said that they can only play the sets defined by corporate. No changes allowed.

 

I pointed out the features of the food that was some what unique. The grill to order and Sushi in the Terrace. So I gave credit to that. A relatively small part of their overall food offerings. The rest did not stand out. Have had worse and have had better on other lines.

 

It was interesting the different views among passengers between the first timers and the repeat passengers. Many of the repeat passengers only do Oceania and would not consider other lines.  For some it is the only line they have done. 

 

The view was different with many of the first timers. With some coming from luxury lines and some from mass market. We do both in any given year

 

 As far as research Oceania is my brother in laws favorite line they have never sailed on any other. They have talked quite extensively about it. Had a very good idea about what was available. It is the lack of variance in the execution that could not be found in any research.

Edited April 22 by TRLD

[Psoque]

Since the pricing of Oceania cruises are typically higher than that of Celebrity/HAL/Princess, etc., often overlapping with those offered by the lines more known for a real luxury experience, I think it is completely reasonable for a newcomer to expect a much higher level of service on an Oceania cruise, especially in their dining rooms.  In our experience last November, we thought Oceania did a very poor job in their dining rooms.  We don’t know if this was a fluke, or maybe all cruise lines are struggling with a huge influx of new workers.  But as long as Oceania wants to differentiate itself from Celebrity/HAL/Princess, they need to work on more consistent dining service.

[TRLD]

5 minutes ago, Psoque said:

Since the pricing of Oceania cruises are typically higher than that of Celebrity/HAL/Princess, etc., often overlapping with those offered by the lines more known for a real luxury experience, I think it is completely reasonable for a newcomer to expect a much higher level of service on an Oceania cruise, especially in their dining rooms.  In our experience last November, we thought Oceania did a very poor job in their dining rooms.  We don’t know if this was a fluke, or maybe all cruise lines are struggling with a huge influx of new workers.  But as long as Oceania wants to differentiate itself from Celebrity/HAL/Princess, they need to work on more consistent dining service.

We found the service in the dining room to be quite good.  As was, in general, the service in the lounges, cafe and grill. 

[MEFIowa]

We spent 10 nights on Sirena in 11/2022 in the E. Caribbean. In a B2 cabin. Port-intensive cruise. We cruise for ports, not the ship. I can't say I'd disagree with your thoughts, but then we didn't do anything but the comic's show. Could care less about nightly entertainment, when we're in bed early to get up and be the first of the ship in each new  port. BUT that's us.

 

My wife did love the Illy coffee they were serving then. And I enjoyed some chai tea.

[TRLD]

5 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

We spent 10 nights on Sirena in 11/2022 in the E. Caribbean. In a B2 cabin. Port-intensive cruise. We cruise for ports, not the ship. I can't say I'd disagree with your thoughts, but then we didn't do anything but the comic's show. Could care less about nightly entertainment, when we're in bed early to get up and be the first of the ship in each new  port. BUT that's us.

 

My wife did love the Illy coffee they were serving then. And I enjoyed some chai tea.

Coffee was fine, unless you wanted it iced. One simply should not make an iced mocha with nestle cocoa.

 

A port intensive cruise would be better.

Edited April 22 by TRLD

[sunlover12]

It’s all about expectations.  Oceania does not attempt to compete with the entertainment on the big mainstream cruise lines. It’s not who they are. We’ve found Oceania’s show band, production shows and string quartet to be fine. The guest bands and entertainers have been very good. 
 

I haven’t been on HAL, Celebrity, or Princess. I’ve been on Royal Caribbean though. I’m very reluctant to go on another mega ship because I’d like to stay healthy. I got sick on my last 2 RC cruises. I was perfectly healthy when I embarked and quite sick when I got off. The last one which was January of this year, I was so sick it required a doctor’s attention when I returned home. No doubt it’s from all the time I spent in crowded elevators which is hard to avoid when there are 17 decks.  On the other hand, I have never gotten sick from being on an Oceania cruise and I’ve been on 7. Far fewer people and easier to just take the stairs. 
 

Oceania is about the itinerary and a subdued (not boring) atmosphere. 
 

[Harters]

6 hours ago, Harters said:

Do we all sound alike to Americans?

My apologies to the OP who I wrongly described as an American, not a North American.

 

And, yes, I do know the difference between an American and a Canadian - hockey, zed not zee, Commonwealth member, etc. Or, as I once read, a Canadian is an unarmed American with health care. 😀

Edited April 22 by Harters

[ronrick1943]

And that is why we have more than one cruise company---you along make the decision which one you cruise on and spend your dollars (or other currency).  What you expect and what is delivered is just your opinion - others might think differently.  No one is right or wrong-it's what you believe.