Re: Oceania Cruises
 

We will be travelling on Oceania Cruise Line in late Fall. Has anyone had experience with this cruise line? Any suggestions or recommendations would be helpful.

Any comparison to other cruises lines? I've travelled on several luxury cruises but I'm unsure of this relatively new cruise line.

Thanks for any help/assistance.

You may get more information on the Oceania board at www.cruisecritic.com and the Oceana (yes, that's how they spelled it) at yahoo.com.

We're leaving Saturday for the Insignia Venice to Athens cruise, so I hope Oceania is wonderful!

Would appreciate a report when you get back. There are many repeaters according to their site on Yahoo and we are considering booking either the Amazon or a trans-Atlantic.

Friends just back from a Mediterranean cruise aboard the Oceania report a pleasant cruise, but they thought the prices for the shore excursions were outrageous! Consider yourself warned . . .

I had some friends go about a year ago and they complained about prices onboard - they said everything was 2x as much as other lines. Otherwsie, they enjoyed the line and their cruise.

We just (tonight) got back from an Oceania cruise, and it was fabuloiuys. I can't wait to sail them again.

The size of the ship was perfect, the room was beautiful, plenty of storage space, the staff was great, the food excellent. There are four restaurants with open seating, so you can eat at any time with whomever you like.

Abram...........I know that you cannot eat in the Italian and Steak speciality restaurants except without a reservation......maybe one per cruise.

You do need to make reservations for Toscana and the Polo Grill. We ate in each restaurant twice, which was enbough for us, as the menus in those restaurants don't change, and we enjoyed the Grand Dining Room.

If you stay in a suite (we didn't) you can make reservations as frequently as you'd like.

We stayed in a Penthouse Suite, and had a horrible time getting reservations there. I do not recommend this company, or the Regatta. Two weeks was two weeks too long.

I agree with Abram. Insignia was a great ship to travel on,the captain and crew were excellent. If I was to criticise it would be because of the high cost of the wine. Easily fixed.......we didn't drink wine on the ship

I agree that the wine was pricey. We bought inexpensive, but delicious, wine in Italy, and had it before dinner in our cabin. If I wanted a drink, I had the $4.00 drink of the day. That worked for me.

We had no trouble getting reservations in the Polo Grill and Toscana.

WITH JOY IN MY HEART BECAUSE OUR BELOVED RED SOX WON THE PENNANT... According to the November 2004 Conde Naste Traveler (manycruiser) I must tell you to turn to page 271... Oceania is rated #5 Your experience on the line has left a sour note..the same as my experience on the RCI Brilliance of the Seas.. You must realize all of us can afford the Crystal, Radisson or Seabourn or afford a penthouse suite

Congratulations ParrotMom! But to set the record straight- The Yankees won the pennant. The Red Sox won the World Series. A sad but loyal Yankee fan.

Although this posting is too late for your cruise, I will reply for other people thinking about taking Oceania. I took it last November and it was one of the best ships I have ever been on. The ship is beautiful, the food is fantastic and the service is great. They told us that we were entitled to reserve two nights at the steak and two nights at the Italian restaurant - which we did. I agree that you should keep your onboard purchases to a minimum. Wine, gifts, and excursions are quite expensive. However, I don't take excursions and we rarely drink wine at home so doing without it on the ship wasn't a problem. My major complaint was that you had to pay for soda pop. I like the cruise lines where soda is included. My overall rating on a scale of 1-10 would be an 8 or 9.