Oceania Cruises
 

Ever since I heard about Oceania Cruises, I have wanted to try them out. We are strictly NCL cruisers, but this line sounds a lot like that only more luxe-type surroundings. Anyone who has actually gone on the Regatta or the Insignia would you please let me know how you liked it. Was it too long a time as most of their cruises are for 14 days or longer? Thanks. Liz

Liz, We were on the Regatta last Sept Barcelona to Venice. This ship and the Oceania Line are top notch, much smaller than NCL, very port intensive, serves extremely excellent food, has open seating, no formal nights, beautifully appointed lounges, wonderful service etc etc. We loved it and immediately signed on for the June 1 Dover to Stockholm cruise which we are so excited about. Suggest you go to the Oceania board at Cruise critic. Let me know if you want to talk more about it. We could emai. Can't say enough good things about our experience. Been on HAL, Celebrity many times. No comparison. Peggy

Thanks Peggyann-
Exactly what I wanted to hear. I one time found a chat board on Yahoo on the Oceania and haven't been able to since. I didn't put it on favorites. I haven't found the one on cruise critic after looking. I only found a ship review. When we get around to planning I will have more questions but for now we are going to Africa and will try to work a cruise in for December/January, maybe the Panama Canal cruise from LA to Miami. It is a 2 for 1 and includes free airfare until the end of this month. Liz

Try...http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/spotlight/oceania/

According to their reps at a travel show in Boston they have two new ships coming out next year...We too are NCL fans..and I'm looking for a special cruise for our anniversary next year... They have had some great 2 for 1 deals.. I heard that the free transportation was a killer..on the one they just had...passengers had to go to Frankfurt..

Thanks ParrotMom-
We did put a tentative reservation on a Panama Canal trip from LA to Miami, departing 1/18/05. We have until November to change our minds but I really think it sounds like a wonderful deal. We were able to book a verandah on the very front of the ship so I think that will really help for the Canal transit. I think we'll leave the Europe cruises alone for awhile. Thanks for the website too. Most of it switches you to the Oceania website which I have read in detail, but the food was discussed a little differently. Sure sounds good.
If anyone knows the location of the Yahoo chat on Oceania would you please post a link. I found it and now can't. TIA. Liz

Liz: cruisecritic.com then click on Boards on the blue banner: Then scroll down to the "cruise lines", then scroll down to "Oceania" Tons of info there.
Also on "groups.yahoo.com" then OceanaCruises(Watch the spelling, no I in oceana) then "messages". You may have to register.
Hope you can get to either and/or both of these.
Also, the 14 days go quickly and we like this length, you get time to settle in and really get to know the ship and all the nice folks both passengers and crew.

Like PeggyAnn, we are true fans of Oceania. We also cruised Regatta in September: Dover to Barcelona. We will be on Insignia in June.

Do sign on to the yahoo board. It is very active with lots of discussion about the various itineraries, private tours, hotel stays, etc. Also, once you make reservations for a cruise, sign up for the yahoo party. If at least 20 people sign up, Oceania throws a cocktail party.

Also, if you are concerned about routing when the cruise line makes your plane reservations, pay $50 per person for flight deviation and you can request an itinerary that suits you. We did that because we wanted to travel in England for a few days prior to our cruise/ Well, we couldn't ask for more convenient flights. And, we even got frequent flyer miles. What a deal!

Marilyn

First of all let me apologize to Peggyann. I saw your last post last night and I very quickly used the link to switch over to Yahoo. Who would have thought they misspelled Oceania is why I couldn't find it. Anyways I stayed there with all the wonderful information until I fell asleep and early today we left for a short day trip, so I am delinquent in thanking you for your kindness in providing the info I so desperately wanted. :-D
Marilyn, I did in fact register for the party, but I've never posted on the Yahoo thread yet. If the folks on the ship are as nice as you are here, I'll need the two weeks to just get to know you all onboard. Thanks all for your info. I wouldn't miss this cruise for anything. I told my husband last night that I'm afraid they can't keep up this wonderful food and service and I hope we at least get to experience it before something happens to them. How can they do it? This seems too good to be true. Liz

In defense of what appears to be a spelling error: Oceania originally planned to call itself Oceana. As soon as the new business venture was announced, the existing board, made up of former Ren cruisers, changed its name. There was great excitement that some of our favorite ships were going to again sail and no time was wasted re-alligning ourselves. It turned out that there was a legal conflict with the name so the company inserted the "i". For some reason there was a problem changing the name of the board at that point. Quite honestly, I can't remember what that was, but that's the story and we're sticking to it.

Liz: OK so now you are hooked. Just wait till you get on board and experience the ship. Hoping you will love the cruise. Happy sailing!

This proved very productive, thanks all.
Marilyn-at first I thought the board on Yahoo was hard to find, but now it sounds like that is intentional. Since the owners of Oceania participate (?) and give them a party on board, I think they are really going all out for the former Ren cruisers. I hope it isn't their undoing by not doing the same for all of their cruisers but time will tell. I am debating about posting over there since I wonder whether they really want 'others', reason for not changing the name when the actual cruise line did. Thanks for explaining it. Liz P.S. I did register for the party on the PC cruise, we haven't yet finalized our decision about going.

Oh my gosh, Liz, I didn't mean to give you the wrong impression. The members of the Yahoo board don't want to exclude ANYBODY. The name was not left that way on purpose to make the board difficult to find. It's true the group was started by former Ren cruisers who hung together after the bankruptcy and continued to share all sorts of travel information. But Oceania is a new cruise line and this is a new day. If one of the board moderators sees this, I hope they will explain why the name wasn't changed. I just don't remember. (sign of age?)

The party is for YAHOO group members period. No matter when they joined. Hope you do take the cruise. I know you'll love it.

Marilyn

Dumb Question: Can anybody join the Yahoo forum? there are been forums I've wanted to join in and they require a Yahoo membership. As an aside on aRCI cruise we met up with some Cruise Mates in London and I want to tell you my husband has never forgiven me.. They were the most obnoxious cruisers I have ever met..When I mentioned NCL they absolutely turned up their noses.. Each one was bragging about how many cruises, which suites, which lines (not NCL), etc. etc. Meanwhile I just kept quiet in the fact I was on my 16th cruise..lol My husband says "you owe me" for that pre-cruise supper. I'm very hesitant to join any cruise group.

Dear ParrotMom:

Your husband's "You owe me" sure sounds familiar. Could he be related to my husband?

Yes, anyone can join the Yahoo forum. I confess: my email is on Yahoo so the sign up process was easy for me, but, from what I've seen, the Poster's email addresses are all over the map. The site indicates there are currently 1750 members, hardly an exclusive bunch. A number of people are "active" on a continuing basis. I imagine some signed on when they have a cruise coming up and then stopped checking in once the trip was over.

You have three options when it comes to receiving messages: 1. Each posted message can be sent to your email account individually. (During high volume time, this get to be a little overwhelming.) 2. You get a summary email with all of the day's messages or 3. You can go on the site and read the messages you are interested in at your convenience . . .like Fodors or Cruise Critic or Cruise Mates. You can change your message option at any time. This is especially good when you are going to be away and you don't want your mailbox flooded.

Liz, Please let me know where you saw the 2 for 1 and free air..thanx...PT

http://www.oceaniacruises.com - look at "promotions."

Patty-I went to the Oceania website. www.oceania.com I think. Then I looked for cruise destinations that left from Los Angeles (close by) and found the cruise I wanted. Then I called Oceania. I found by calling travel agents I never was told about the free air. So I found out that you can book direct with the cruise line and when I was talking about the Panama Canal cruise, the agent told me they were offering free air until 31 March. The 2 for 1 fares are all over their website too. Very user friendly and they are super nice in helping you. I always book our NCL cruise direct through NCL. Well, I shop them to the internet sites first, like BestPriceCruises.com, etc. and then I tell NCL I can get it for such and such and we are former NCL cruisers and I get a real good rate. So I like using the cruise line. We don't buy insurance through them though. It wouldn't protect you in case of bankruptcy. I think Oceania really offers great rates right now on all of their cruises. Good luck.

Marilyn-I'm not upset with you. It just looks like it to others not in that loop that you can't get any information on chat boards and yet all this promotional news is out there and it doesn't make sense. Then when the trick is to misspell the name you wonder why the board moderator allows that. I'm sure you all are very nice, but there does seem to be a heavy Ren connection and my husband and I are not like that, even if we were previous Ren cruisers which we aren't. We are not joiners and understand exactly what ParrotMom said about the cruise mates. That would send us right back home. Saw some of that on Princess and we just turned and walked away from the braggarts. We don't even meet other NCL people. We eat at a table for two and I make most of our friends in the casino. We talk to people who talk to us, but we are just not joiners, mostly loners. Hope that this sounds okay, I'm not trying to be critical here, just cautious. Thanks again for all of your help. You all really sound like a neat bunch of people. I think by and large we would like the Oceania. Liz

Okay, so I'm the friendly type.. we like big tables..on a two week NCL Sky through the Panama Canal we had a table that all except one couple came up to do the Majesty..On that trip over the net I met two fellow cruisers to be..one couple did nothing but complain.. the other couple and I are in constant touch. It maybe that women are more likely to reach out than men...although my husband is becoming pretty tolerant.On a trip to Bermuda we arranged to meet a couple on another cruise ship downtown Hamilton. I kept stopping men asking them if they were "Alan".. Finally, Alan showed up and when they came to this area on a cruise we showed them our Boston. But, in all seriousness I have found many of the board extremely helpful in hints.Now that I know Oceania people can book directly when I meet up with them in person in January I expect to be able to see what they can offer me right then and there.. At another show Premier (R.I.P) was setting up a booth and when the show opened I approached them and told them I wanted to book a trip..I knew what I wanted and when I wanted it...we ended up in a large cabin next to the Captain for under $500 (it wasn't a full week). The ship was old, a crew that couldn't do enough for you and sadly it's at the bottom of the Atlntic off the coast of Virginia. .Maryilynfaye...can you point me exactly to the Yahoo group..and I'll bite the bullet and join [email protected]

Okay...so I am now signed on.. this will be fun...I'm so computer illiterate..lol..but considering I'm a "white head" what do you expect..lol

Although I've yet to cruise on Oceania lines, I do have a good friend who raved about her Oceania cruise. The only complaint she had was that they have a very strict smoking policy and she was not allowed to smoke on her own balcony. She said that if it weren't for that one rule, she would cruise them again.

We had a cabin next to smokers and both the balcony and the hallway reeked the entire trip. I say good. There are two places on the ship one can smoke and I don't know just where though.

ParrotMom-
So are you going on Oceania? Liz

Liz, I did the Regatta several months ago and loved it. I posted a MEGA review on her at http://www.CruiseReviews.com. Let us know how you liked it.

Tom

In January 2005 at a travel show in Boston we hope to meet up again with the reps from Oceania..they said there were two more ships coming out..I told them we wanted a cruise for a special anniversary and we had a date for 2005 for me to pick their brains and plan. Now that I know they can book directly. I'm going to search their itineraries ahead of time (to me that is the important part of the cruise) and I'm hoping to do a cruise to South America or something that will include ports in Spain and/or trans-atlantic...at least two week cruise...We have done a partial(a highlight in 1992 was the San Blas Islands and the Kuna Indians) of the Panama Canal twice and a full transit on NCL Sky.I've dreamed of going to Manaus to see the Opera House..why I have no idea..lol and I've always wanted to go to Barcelona or Seville or better yet Bilboa. Sooooo I'm going to pick their brains and watch their site to see what they are offering by Jan. 1, 2005 and then I hope to wheel and deal. Parrot Pop and I have two passions...traveling and theatre.. and in 2005 we will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary and if I let him live (and you women know what I['m talking about).. we will take this special cruise.lol on Oceania

Lest you think I have to wait until next summer or fall, we have just come back from La Romana, in the D.R. and June 13th off on our 10th trip to Bermuda on the NCL Majesty. Can't help it we are BOP. Bermuda Obsessed People.

Tom- Kudos on the excellent report. I couldn't help but notice that Shani Reay is the hostess. When we went to Antarctica on the Orient Line, the Marco Polo was the ship. A Shani Ray was the hostess on that ship. She had just married the ship's engineer. Must be one and the same. An absolutely striking English blonde lady. Most personable lady I ever met. Sang wonderfully. Would you know?
You have completely sold me on the Regatta. You filled in all the blanks and I am sorry I won't meet you as I am sure I would adore Joanie and you both. Thanks for posting about the report. Liz

Parrot Mom-
Sadly I won't be seeing you on board. We will probably do the Panama Canal again mid-January, LA to MIA, as we are off to Africa in a few weeks and then moving to Utah in August. Next March we are hoping to do a 4 country visit to South Africa and then settle in and enjoy Utah for the rest of the year. Keep us posted here about any upcoming cruises as I would certainly like to sit with you at dinner one evening and get to know you. Thanks for posting here and hope to hear more here or on the Oceania board. Since we both love NCL, do you ever go on the Pacific Coastal repo cruises? We usually do one in the Spring on their way to Alaska. Maybe there? I'm sure we'll miss the 2005 Spring trip up though. Maybe the fall return trip. Liz

Alaska----NEVER.....The thoughts of going on a cruise where I would see snow, ice and icebergs and wear a jacket is not my thing.. We are from outside of Boston where there is enough snow and cold, we've been on many whale watches (we even for a time adopted one, Stubb). I would like to do the NCL down the Pacific coast to Mexico--way down..to revisit Cabo, P.V.,Acapulco, etc. I think there is one port we have never been. Ah Africa...that sounds exciting....Everybody raves about Cape Town., the wines and the scenery... As for me I'd like to go on a safari before our Golden Years get too tarnished. Let us know how the cruise goes..

Alaska is the best cruise most people say. The scenery, the ruggedness, the smaller fishing towns you visit, it shows this country at an earlier time. Things are still slow up there. The tours are absolutely beautiful, even going out on a glacier by helicopter. That just took our breath away. It is colder there even in the summer though.
We were going to take the NCL Star to Mexico this winter until we decided to try the Regatta. It still is a hard decision between the two. We must make the final decision in a few days.

Africa is like entering a different dimension. I hear Capetown is great, but we've never been and probably never will visit there. We head straight for the bush as soon as we get off the plane and stay there every minute until we leave. It becomes addictive. Can't wait to get back. Fixes last for shorter and shorter periods. Soon you want to go every year. Sigh! Liz

Liz...when you see Åfrican Grey parrots, grey birds with red tails...think of me and my Ms. Mellie. I have very mixed emotions about seeing them there..they are being caught by crude and cruel methods and their numbers are decreasing rapidly.. fortunately they are not allowed brought into the U.S. My Ms Mellie is a talkative wonderful bird, the most intelligent of all birds with the thinking ability they say of a six year old..emotional stability of a two year old.

Parrot Mom-
Now I understand your name. I've never seen parrots in the wild in Africa. Must be the West Coast or northern part of the continent. Sadly there is a thread on the Africa board just now I have been posting on about the dwindling species in Africa and the tragedy of it all. I understand your feelings and they are very valid today as never before.
By the by I happened onto a thread on the Oceana board from a recent returnee of the Regatta that I think decided the fate of our Panama Canal cruise for now. I guess it showed us that Oceania is like every other cruise line with its ups and downs. I think we have decided to wait a while before testing it. Too much going on right now for us to risk getting ill with a nasty virus. We'll stay with the tried and true NCL. Kinda our kind of ships. So thanks for everybodys help. You all were wonderful and showed once again that Fodorites are the very BEST! Liz

Liz, Yes indeed, Shani is one and the same as you remember. Married to the greek captain. I think she is now on the Insignia. We really liked her.

The reason that the Yahoo board was named Oceana was that was supposed to be the name of the company -had to be changed due to some legal issues with the name, I think because there is already a Princess Oceana ship.. but the name on the yahoo board stuck.. I have no idea why it never got changed. It is not to keep new people from joining. Please join.

<<I couldn't help but notice that Shani Reay is the hostess. When we went to Antarctica on the Orient Line, the Marco Polo was the ship. A Shani Ray was the hostess on that ship. She had just married the ship's engineer. Must be one and the same. An absolutely striking English blonde lady. Most personable lady I ever met. Sang wonderfully. Would you know?>>

Sorry for the delay in responding, I believe she is the one and same. She is very memorable. Have a great cruise.

Tom

Am leaving in 5 short days for Barcelona to get on the Regatta .........can't wait. I chose it for the port-intensive itineraries, the smallness of the ship (under 700 pax) and the good reviews of the food (although that's usually not important to me!) By now, you've heard that it provides all that and more - just don't expect great broadway shows, huge casino, cheap shore excursions, or fabulous, quick response if you email their Miami office. However, an email friend of mine just came back from one of their cruises and he said it did NOT disappoint!!!1 SO - 5 days and counting - and CAN'T WAIT! I'll write a review when I return.

roothy,

I am so happy for you! I can't wait to read your review. We aren't going until January and then on the Insignia, but it will really be interesting to hear all about your cruise. The two ships are "sister" ships, aren't they?

Anyway, have a wonderful time!

I hope for all of your sailing that they have improved since the March 15 Transatlantic. The worst of 17 cruises.

To PeggyAnn, I've been trying to find out about the Regatta for days now. Am planning cruise in October but have never been on a smaller ship. Do ships this size do a lot of rolling and heaving. I tend to seasickness but love to cruise. The big ships don't do a whole lot of this and I wondered about the Regatta. Can you tell me. Thanks

I was on the Regatta in May in the Med. Loved it; just booked Panama Canal trip in Jan. 12 days was not too long; didn't feel anything close to seasickness.