Is Oceania right for me?

[kaerofan]

I am presently booked on Insignia for October 2008 (final payment due in July). I have cruised many times but never with Oceania. I will be travelling solo and have chosen this cruise due to the itinerary, I have never been to the Med. before and this cruise has a lot of unique ports that appeal to me. Now I'm just having second thoughts and wondering if I'm going to be comfortable on this ship? I'm having difficulty finding ship excursions that interest me and I can't afford to do private tours by myself (I can't find anyone else going on this cruise - no roll call). I'm mid 30's and very casual- laid back, don't really care about dining or entertainment. I can do a Royal Caribbean for half the cost of Oceania but I do realize you get what you pay for and I would be missing some unique and interesting ports,however, Royal Caribbean seems to offer more shore excursions which is fairly important to me. I guess I'm just wondering if Oceania is solo friendly and if they are worth double the price?

[nparmelee]

Always a difficult question, O can attract an older age group, no kids programs so usually just a few if any kids or family groups. For us the service and food is important and we do like O's food. The primary factor for us is the ports, we don't tend to do ship excursions, only do a few private ones and tend to do most ports on our own. In our case, I'll be 44 and DH will be 57 on our cruise next May, we have one private tour currently arranged with one other couple joining us and we'll be looking to add more folks either from the roll call or once on board, all other ports we'll be doing on our own. Personally, I think any vacation is what you make of it, how much you want to get out there to meet others and for what you want to do in each port/city. If there isn't a roll call yet for your cruise, have you started one? Maybe others on these boards just don't want to the first to post. What is it you want from the cruise ship part of your trip? Have you researched the ports to see if they are easy to do on your own? You still have some time to decide, we hope you enjoy your trip no matter what you decide to do.

[Bruin Steve]

I am presently booked on Insignia for October 2008 (final payment due in July). I have cruised many times but never with Oceania. I will be travelling solo and have chosen this cruise due to the itinerary, I have never been to the Med. before and this cruise has a lot of unique ports that appeal to me. Now I'm just having second thoughts and wondering if I'm going to be comfortable on this ship? I'm having difficulty finding ship excursions that interest me and I can't afford to do private tours by myself (I can't find anyone else going on this cruise - no roll call). I'm mid 30's and very casual- laid back, don't really care about dining or entertainment. I can do a Royal Caribbean for half the cost of Oceania but I do realize you get what you pay for and I would be missing some unique and interesting ports,however, Royal Caribbean seems to offer more shore excursions which is fairly important to me. I guess I'm just wondering if Oceania is solo friendly and if they are worth double the price?

 

IMHO, Oceania is a touch overpriced...But the clincher is often the itineraries...That's the main reason I end up cruising them...The food is outstanding...it easily beats Royal Caribbean, but, then again, there is nothing wrong with Royal Caribbean's food...The other thing one would cruise Oceania for is the smaller ship experience--which could be a plus OR a minus depending on your particular circumstances...

 

You have noticed one result of this--the smaller selection of shore excursions...You can only offer so much with 684 guests to go around as opposed to 2-3,000...We had trouble finding shore excursions we liked on our Nautica cruise a couple of years back...but, with two of us, we managed to make sense out of private tours for Istanbul, Kusadasi, Athens...and found someone on our roll call to share a tour with in Amalfi...

 

Another aspect of the smaller ship is that there will be less of a selection of other similarly situated persons to yourself--just the law of averages...That and the pricing pretty much limits the number of 30-something singles...You will likely find many more folks in your category on Royal Caribbean...

 

So, if you switch to Royal Caribbean, you give up those ports you find intriguing and you give up a measure of "elegance"...but you get more people in similar circumstances to your self, a greater selection of shore excursions and a much lower price...

 

If I were you, I would consider it strongly...

 

BTW, you might also want to check out some of the Celebrity itineraries for October, like this one on the Summit:

http://www.celebritycruises.com/search/vacationItinerary.do;jsessionid=0000tBFJCJkY6j7GqZDbT5Ouqzx:12hdebebp?packageCode=SM14M018&backPageName=Itinerary+Search+Results

 

The Summit is about three times the size of Insignia, but has a similar space-to-passenger ratio, excellent food and service and a similar shore excursion selection to RCCL...and some favorable pricing depending on the sailing...For a solo cruiser on that one, you're looking at insides starting at 2,889...2689 for the November 15 sailing...

 

Good luck...

 

Good luck....

[LHT28]

It is hard to say ...you need to decide what is important to you.

People are very friendly on Oceania and being a solo cruise should not be a problem

You do not say what sailing you are booked on but check the roll call section to see if yours is listed

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=421

 

enjoy what every cruise you choose

[Wineart]

If shore excursions offered by the ship are important to you, be aware that if enough people don't sign up for an excursion, it will be cancelled and you probably won't find out until the day before the tour. This happened to us with Oceania, and the only alternative is to sign up for a different excursion (which you might not be as interested in) or see the port on your own.

[merryecho]

Have you checked how long RCC is in port? The one time we cruised with them our port stays were about 4-5 hours long- with so many people on board, by the time we got off it was time to get back on again.

[NYLady]

I have only taken one Oceania cruise but I was so happy to find it to be a great match for myself and my husband. If I were to travel solo, however, I would look elsewhere...Those who were traveling solo on my cruise all said it was a little difficult and, as you noticed, the excursions are extremely limited.

[orchestrapal]

Eight cruises on O and have only seen way over 60's singles.

Much as I think you would enjoy the ship and the ports and food you may find yourself very lonely.:(

[HBINDC]

If the lack of cruise sponsored excursions is the main reason holding you back, and you can't afford private ones, here is a solution (assuming you are not handicapped): In most ports, there is plenty to see and do in a day with walking only, or by just quick cab ride or use of public transport.

 

I looked at the ports of the 3 Insignia trips in October, and there is no reason you could not do this in almost all (if not all) of the port stops. Be creative!!

[lcand1923]

We've been on two O cruises. There are very few singles.

 

Try this:

1. If a Roll Call hasn't been started, start one. See if you can attract any others wanting to do private shore excursions.

 

2. If cruising in October is your only option, research other cruises in the Med. O does not have many shore excursions and, as someone else pointed out, they do tend to cancel for "lack of participation". Once you find the available cruises, research THEIR shore excursions. Larger vessels tend to have more options. See if another line has the ports and excursions that interest you.

 

3. Research the O ports again. See if you can do something on your own via walking or hiring a cab when you get off the vessel.

 

4. You COULD wait until you are onboard and "share" a dining table, go to tea, etc. to mingle with other travelers. You COULD get lucky and find another couple who has arranged a private tour that interests you. This is really taking a chance, but it COULD work out.

 

Best of luck!

[almtyrob]

Look elsewhere! At your age, you will be the youngest on board. Unless you really love the itinerary, there are many other options. This line is for OLDER cruisers who want to sit, read & watch the water go by. Limited entertainment, worthless casino (if that means anything to you), very dated musical groups. If you want great food, service & accomodations (except VS) and don't need the others..try it out, otherwise look somewhere else.:confused:

[NYLady]

Our cruise was somewhat adventurous (around the tip of South America) so there were probably more "younger" folks than might be normal but it still offered very limited opportunities for those traveling solo.

I had an experience that made me decide that traveling solo might best be done on a larger vessel - I adore horseback riding and I was out of my mind with excitement at the horseback riding excursion in Ushuaia ("the end of the world"). I signed up months in advance and thought it about it alot. DH wouldn't even consider getting on a horse, so I was on my own.

 

When I boarded the ship I was told that there were not enough people signed up so I should be prepared for cancellation. I checked and discovered that I was the ONLY person who signed up. I had one week to stir up interest. There were probably 25 people on board who I thought might be interested and able to ride horseback and 6 of them were part of the same group. I lobbied for a week but, in the end, no one else signed up and the excursion was cancelled. What a pity, we only needed 8! Anyway, when we arrived in Ushuaia, I checked with the riding club and discovered they will only allow rides for groups, I couldn't even rent a horse for a few hours...I don't think this would have happened on a larger ship. If I were to travel solo, I would look for a bigger ship.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

On every cruise I have been on and the couple of Tauck Tours we have taken, there has been a single person or two we have met. On the Oceania cruise we took last June there were a couple of them - we were on Istanbul to Athens. We've always dined with the singles when we find them - and we've always enjoyed their company.

 

That said, a lot of people including you will depend of you and your approach to meeting others - if you are warm and friendly and let others know you'd enjoy their company, you will likely have it. You do have to be comfortable travelling as a single and it helps to be a bit outgoing, warm and friendly to others. I go to a number of business events and found that if I pretend it's my party that everone is attending and I take on a role of the hostessl it becomes inevitable that I meet others. You might have fun on Royal Caribbean, but, you might prefer the lack of party atmosphere on Oceamia.

[kaerofan]

Just wanted to say thanks for all of the advice. I think I'm going to cancel the O cruise and book with RC. I'm giving up a couple of ports but I think I will actually end up seeing more because of the tours offered (big variety). The fact that I'm saving more than $3000 will also allow me to do all of the tours that I wanted to do. Thanks again.

[orchestrapal]

Kaerofan! Good work.. You'll have a wonderful time and at your age I would hope that you have many more wonderful cruise experiences after this one. Have a blast and enjoy the ports.:)

[lcand1923]

Thanks for letting us know what you decided. Being able to join Ship Sponsored Shore Excursions, you will be able to see a lot. Granted, you will have to deal with people getting on and off buses, waiting for the "late" folks, etc, but you will be able to do some of what you want to do. It is very unlikely that your selected excursions will be cancelled.