Cruise West Spirit of Oceanus reports?

[tsd1]

Anyone been on Cruise West Spirit of Oceanus lately?

[surfklutz]

I went on her last year on the Alaska cruise from Vancover to Whittier. They had done some renovation of the ship and added cabins where they used to have outside deck space, so things felt a bit cramped when we were outside viewing. The ship - even when it was a Renaissance ship - appears to try and be elegant, but comes off looking "plasticy" and cheap:. The food ranged from abysmal to acceptable - but nothing prepared was fantastic - either in taste or presentation. The crew was friendly but service was minimal compared to other lines where I have paid as much.

 

What I found to be disturbing was that I went for the promise of "upclose and personal" - and we were not delievered anywhere close or personal. I found that some of the bigger ships were far closer to shorelines and glaciers. Having been on Cruise West previously, the upclose aspect was what compensated for what lacked onboard. We saw literally no wildlife on the full 11 days.

 

I realize that wildflife viewing is a crap shoot - but I didn't feel like they even went into areas that would offer wildlife.

 

We paid approximately $15,000 for just the cruise - which paid for "shore excursions" ( which were very often just walks with a crew member) and gratuities, but cocktails and wine at dinner were additional. I did not feel that we got our money's worth in any way whatsoever.

[photopro]

We're cruising on the Oceanus on Sept 27 around Japan. Return Oct. 9. If you have any questions re the cruise, ship or ? , contact me after the 9th.

 

Jean

[nowornever]

We'll be on the 10/27 Kobe - Tokyo so will definitely have many questions. When you return, please post to this board with your thoughts. The reactions have been mostly mixed. Let's hope they have taken the negatives seriously & rectified the shortcomings. Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Bonnie

[photopro]

Bonnie ... We have also heard the positives & negatives. A past cruiser has given me a lot of info and I'd like to be able to do the same with this recent cruise to see if there is any changes.

 

I have a lot going on, will try to remember to post as soon as we return.

That's why I mentioned for anyone interested to please post a question to me after the 9th.

 

Jean

[pacmom]

Jean,

 

Have a wonderful cruise and be sure to try the green tea ice cream!!! Pat

[donmimi]

We are also cruising on Oct 26th to Japan -- really looking forward to it -- we would love to hear in advance from others going -- and are looking forward to meeting you all on board. Please see our detailed post in reply to ScottnZelda on this board for more details.

 

Don & Mimi

donmimi@optonline.net

[photopro]

First of all the cabin was the nicest we have ever had on any cruise, we were in 255. The staff is wonderful. You'll have a mini fridge that is stocked with water and cold drinks and a basket of fruit. The food was pretty good to excellent. The meals off ship were also very good, except one that was 'real Japanese' but still very interesting. You'll have 4-5 lunches off ship. These are long days as you don't return to the ship until late afternoon and you must stay with the tour. On several days we had at least 1 hour to our destination.

 

The only problem we had was that touring some of the sites were too short for us. To see much of anything you must keep on the move, no time to really stop and 'smell the roses'. The tour in Beppu to the fok art museum really isn't worth it but they leave plenty of time for the now usual shopping of the same of stuff. Of the 3 bus guides there was one over all that we really didn't care for, he also bought up the subject, in Hiroshima, of America dropping the bomb on Japan when the war was already over and we bombed them to show Russia our military strength. That didn't go over very well with most of us. As the guides rotate on the buses sometimes they repeat what the other has already said. The gardens are beautiful. We were in Nagaski and S. Korea on holidays and encountered 100's of school children. Both peace parks at Hiroshima and Nagasaki are somewhat similiar.

 

Take an ATM card and get your Yen before you leave your first destination. In Toyko, there is an ATM just around the corner of the hotel building. If anyone needs info in taking the bullet train from Kobe, or any other questions, let me know.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Jean

[nowornever]

Wonderful information. It's better to be forewarned on some of these issues, even if we don't have the same guides. How were the "facilities" on your sightseeing trips? How was the wine selection on the ship? Did you abide by the "gratuities not expected"? This is the age old, oft discussed conundrum. We leave on Thurs. am. for Osaka, counting days now. Again, thanks for your thoughts & I'll check back in case you think of anything else we should know. Welcome home.

[photopro]

Bonnie ...

 

No matter where we went the 'facilities' were very clean. If you want a western style toilet look for the stall door that has japanese writting, that usually proved to be a ws.

 

Not heavy into wines and usually order ones that I'm familiar with. There did seem to be a nice selection.

 

To my knowledge everyone that we encountered went by the 'no gratituties expected'.

 

Have a safe trip.

 

Jean

[tsd1]

I'll be interested in hearing more about the ship itself. We're doing the Voyage to the Bering Sea in July 08.

[photopro]

We found the Oceanus in pretty good shape. The diningroom is nice. There's nothing in the gift shop except stuff with their name. There is a small library of old books, a number of video cassetts (nothing current) and the internet is all in the club room. The internet was pretty good, only had a problem on one day. Cost is $25/65 min.

 

Re the Bering Sea, the ship was just coming off their last trip there. The weather had been really bad and several stops had to be canceled. You can't count on the weather being good.

 

Jean

[tsd1]

Thanks for the information, Jean. We'll be prepared that there may be some cancelled ports. The scenery will be worth it. Tim is a big fan of "The Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery channel - where Dutch Harbor is featured. If he can see that, he'll be happy. Wish that they would get some DVD players instead of VHS! We'll bring our own laptop to pass the time in the evening after the lectures.

Sheila from Iowa