I have just returned from a 14-day cruise on the Oceania Insignia. While I knew all three Oceania ships are identical, it was interesting to see firsthand that there really is no physical difference between the ships. Upon entering the ship I was immediately impressed by the beautiful common areas and elegance similar to an Old World European hotel with a baroque ambiance. The standard cabins are smaller than Regent but very nicely designed with plenty of closet and drawer space. There are great “Tranquility” beds, down pillows, and duvets with Egyptian cotton sheets. Plush terry robes are provided along with slippers. They were changed out after the first week. A lighted alarm clock is provided. All staterooms have safes.

There are 9 first run and 3 classic movies per day on the stateroom TV as well as 13 music stations, tour talks, CNN, Fox News, National Geographic Specials and documentaries. There are DVD and CD players in the concierge level and above suites with DVD’s available at reception.

Two negatives are:
1) Smaller bathrooms than Regent with shower only until penthouse suites and above which have tub and shower. For those staterooms that are not concierge level and above there is a 900-watt hair dryer attached to the bathroom wall. I would suggest bringing a hand held dryer that you can take to the dressing table in the room where there are two standard plugs in front of a large mirror. A more powerful 1800 watt hand held dryer is provided concierge level and above.
2) Staterooms are smaller than Regent until you reach penthouse level.

Amenities such as shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, and lotion are provided of course. There is a great larger shower head that is adjustable in height.

There are wonderful common areas with comfortable seating that are never crowded. There is a very large and elegant library with great big chairs and sofas and two computers.

There is a computer room with 18 computers. They are slow and pricey.
.95 per minute unless you take a package of 100 minutes for $80.00, 200 minutes for $140, or 500 minutes for $300. They also provide classes such as introduction to Windows/Email or Digital Image Download/Organize that are free of charge. They also provide classes for Adobe Photoshop or private lessons which incur a fee. You can send and receive emails from Oceania@sea for $2.00 each for 100KB. If you bring your laptop internet access is available in each stateroom as well as there is wireless access in several places, but not in your stateroom. Charges for internet minutes are the same.

There are 4 restaurants, which are casual and open-seating dining throughout the cruise. Beautiful Versace china is used in 3 of the 4 restaurants. They use more practical white china plates in the Terrace Cafe/Tapas as this is a buffet and it probably not wise to use Versace china here. There was a great string quartet from Poland that played in the foyer outside the grand dining room every night before dinner. There are no formal or informal nights, although many people dressed up for the captain’s welcome aboard party. In my opinion, the food was consistently much better than most cruises I have been on. Next time I will bring clothing with elastic waistbands for my ever increasing waist size as the cruise progressed.

1) Grand dining room is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Very elegant. Open seating. Good variety in menu. The head chef was formerly with Silversea and was fabulous. The pastry chef was from France and also could serve some exceptional desserts and pastries, which are my downfall. They do not accept special orders. You can order as many items off the menu as your wish, but you cannot order items that do not appear on the menu. My husband wanted berries for dessert one evening and since they weren’t on the menu he was told they were not available. It was not that they were out of berries as the next morning the berries were abundant on the breakfast buffet. They simply will not accept any special orders except for dietary reasons such as for someone with lactose intolerance, diabetic needs, or peanut allergies. This should be indicated on the guest information form prior to sailing.

2) Terrace Café for breakfast and lunch, which is a buffet with two omelet stations at breakfast that make eggs to order and also has a pizzeria at lunch. There is lots of shellfish and fresh fish as well as carved meat or poultry at lunch and dinner. I loved that at breakfast all 14 days they had fresh strawberries, blueberries, and red raspberries (as many as you could eat and they never ran out). At night it becomes Tapas on the Terrace which is also a buffet. If you are on a tight schedule it works very well and has great views from both the all round windows and back terrace. It was much better than average for a buffet. Several nights they had all the escargot I could possibly eat.

3) Polo Grill is a great steak and seafood restaurant with 32 oz. Prime rib, porterhouse, filet, rack of lamb, oysters, escargot, and lobster. I have never experienced such good cuts of meat. Reservations are required but there is no additional cost.

4) Toscana, which is a traditional Italian restaurant, has very quality food and a very large menu. The courses include a hot appetizer, a cold appetizer, pasta or risotti, soup, salad and to top that off an entrée. The final act is marvelous and tempting desserts. Both the Polo and Toscana had whole Maine lobsters as well as Polo had Florida lobster tail. Reservations are required but there is no additional cost. Both Polo and Toscana have great views from all the windows.

Each stateroom is permitted 1 reservation in each specialty restaurant and concierge level and above is given a second reservation. We were able to waitlist for additional times. In fact we were able to eat 4 times at each restaurant, which we loved.

Room service is available 24 hours and they have a standard menu with starters, soups, sandwiches, salads, fruit, cheese, deserts, and main entrees including burgs and spaghetti. However, there is no pizza. It is possible to order food from the menu for the Grand dining room during dinner hours and have it delivered to your suite.

There are a number of bars including a Martini bar with a wonderful pianist and a single malt scotch bar. There is a pretty standard casino with slots, tables, and roulette. There is not a craps table.

The fitness center is well equipped with a variety of machines and weights. There are some classes that are complimentary and there are some classes that they charge for as well as personal training sessions. Bring your own headphones for the tv or radio as they charge $5 if you forgot yours.

There is a laundry, which helps with clothing on the longer cruises. It is $1.50 to wash and $1.50 to dry with tokens charged to your onboard account. Detergent is provided as well as irons and ironing boards.

Cappuccino, Expresso, Coffee, Tea, and dispensed juices are complimentary at all times. All bottled water, sodas, and alcoholic beverages are charged to your onboard account. There are a number of drink specials per day that are $4.25. On our cruise the first three specials were the same each day – Mimosa, Bloody Mary, and Screwdriver. The last 2 changed daily to include a margarita, Manhattan, Rusty Nail, etc. They do not object to you bringing bottled water, sodas, or alcohol on board and consuming it in your stateroom. There were a number of people that purchased wine in port and had it served in the dining room, and it is a $20 corkage fee. If you purchase one of their bottles of wine and do not finish it, they mark it with your room number and keep it for you.

There are 8 private cabanas on the forward section of deck 10. These can be rented by the day, week, or entire cruise. On our cruise, all 8 were booked prior to embarkation and were not available for rental during the entire cruise. Each had a name such as Bora Bora, Saint Barts, Santorini, etc. They are a white tent with two wooden Balinese lounges and a table. There is a very nice section on deck 9 near the pool that has a much larger tented area with 6 lounges, seating for 9 in very comfortable sofas all totally shaded that are complimentary and available to everyone. There were plenty of wooden chaise lounges with thick cushions available on the pool deck including ones that accommodated two individuals.

Most of the staff were European or from the Philippines. I was amazed at how many married couples worked on the ship with their spouses. Most seemed genuinely happy and very service oriented.

There are art auctions and somewhat typical entertainment for ships with 684 passengers. They had comedians, Broadway production shows, and a clarinetist. There was also a husband and wife team that were guest lecturers. One day they had a wine tasting.

They have a very large card room with all types of board games and puzzles. There are also chess and checker tables at several locations throughout the ship.

Overall my husband and I were very impressed with the food, staff, and ambiance of the ship.

They had daily activities such as the Daily Quiz, Shuffleboard, ping pong, golf putting, and trivia contests where one could earn points that could be redeemed for gifts on the last evening. However, we had 4 sea days and I didn’t feel there were enough interesting things to do.

Sorry for being so long winded, but I wanted to help answer many questions one might have about the ship and its amenities.

Susan,
That was a great review and Oceania has interesting itineraries. I still have a few questions.

What was the age group of the passengers? Was there activity after dinner, or did people return to their cabins early? Also, I read that they charge for everything, even bottled water. Did that become an annoyance, or was it handled seamlessly? (I have been on very large ships that charge for everything but it is handled quickly.)

Did you take any shore excursions? If you did, were the guides good and how large were the groups?

Thanks for the information.

Merril

Thanks for the thorough review, Susan. I'd like to put you on the spot. In your opinion, how does the food compare with Regent? I would also be very interested if you could share any experiences concerning excursions. My conclusion from much analysis based on numerous threads from several forums (but no first-hand experience) is that although the Oceania itineraries are very enticing, to have a similar experience to Regent, would require booking a Penthouse suite. In general, for many similar cruises that makes the cost very close to Regent's, and Oceania is not all inclusive. Furthermore, Oceania's excursions and travel arrangements seem to generate consistently less positive comments than Regent's. Therefore, it is difficult for me to be seriously tempted to try Oceania. Is my reasoning faulty?

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Eugene

Great review - I have one question which is about tipping. I know it is not included, but heard somewhere that passengers are billed a certain amount per day for tips. Does this include drinks (alcholic or otherwise), cabin personnel, etc.? We are considering Oceania for a few itineraries that Regent does not do, so would be most grateful for this information.

Thank you.

Eugene,
Your reasoning is not faulty at all. That being said I think the food is comparable to if not better than Regent or at least the several times I have sailed with Oceania, it has been. I truly believe with all lines it depends on the chef. They handle charging you for things very quickly and efficiently so it isn't that big of a bother. I do not agree with the pricing on their excursions and for that reason do all my own arrangements independently. I did speak with a number of passengers on my sailings and all had positive comments about the actual excursion itself. None were particularly impressed with the destinations desk itself, however. One thing I did like is that they had a local tourist representative on the ship in each port that would answer any questions, provide maps and port information. In most cases I could either walk to town or share a cab with another couple and book excursions cheaper in town. I find the lower level cabins quite comfortable and since I don't ever use the tub on Regent the shower only cabin is sufficient for me. However, for apples to apples comparison you really need to look at the Penthouse. I am a Regent loyalist, but I do believe Oceania has some very unique itineraries that Regent does not.
Susan

Merril,
I think that the majority of the cruisers on the 12, 14 and 16+ day cruises are retired. It is very difficult for those still working to devote such a large chunk of their vacation time to one cruise. You are most likely to find those still working target the 10 day cruises. Since my recent cruise was 14 days, the majority were 60+ in age. There were several families with small children, some with teenagers, some young couples, and even two babies.

Surprisingly many ate dinner late and the show was well attended which was from 9:45-10:45. The casino was always full. It is similar to ships of its size though where you really don't run into a lot of people late. They did have entertainment late every evening in the Horizons Lounge on the top deck forward and there were always people there but it was not crowded.

I did not use the destinations services on any of my cruises with Oceania. I feel they are pricey and I prefer making my own arrangements. The groups were manageable however and everyone I spoke with felt the guides were good. I know in particular several had mentioned how good the guide was they had in Dublin. I don't tend to use Regent's shore excursions either so I may not be the best judge, but I did not find the destinations desk particularly helpful. The local tourist representative was my saving grace.

Very informative Susan, thank you for your trip review!

Sue,
I am happy to provide information and try to be as objective as possible in my overview so each one can make their own decision based on what is important to them.

Susan,
Thanks for your answers. It was very helpful.

Merril

Merril,
You are most welcome. If you think of any others, please don't hesitate to ask.

Ollie,
Gratuities for all cabin and dining services are added to your shipboard account. They are $11.50 per person per day for staterooms lower than penthouse. Penthouse level and above are charged $15 per person per day as they have butler service also. If you do not feel the service warranted this amount, you can go to reception and have it changed. 18% gratuities are automatically added to all drink purchases. It is not necessary to tip beyond that charged.

I forgot to mention that they have outstanding sashimi every evening in Tapas. I could not decide which I preferred the salmon or tuna so I just had to have both most times.

Thank you for the clear explanation of tipping on Oceania. We are looking at the Greek Islands cruise in September, 2007. We would stick with Regent, which we adore, but there are more islands and I think 5 more days on Oceania.

Thanks again.

Susan, wonderful report on Oceania - you have answered a lot of the questions that I have seen asked in the past on this board and others. I like the sound of those cabanas on deck 10!

Thanks again!

They do a great job; they've easily become our #1 "go to" cruiseline.

Another thing I forgot to mention was the great embarkation we had. It was a rainy dreary morning in Dover and we had to return our rental vehicle early. We were concerned what to do until 3 p.m. embarkation. We went by the ship at about 9:30 a.m. and they gladly took our luggage and indicated that we could probably board if we came back at 11:30. We returned the car, walked around Dover for a while. When we returned at 11:45 we were able to check-in and board the ship. There was a nice lunch available in the Terrace Cafe. Concierge level and above rooms were available at 1:30 and all staterooms were available at 2:30. I asked if this is customary as it was not the case last summer in Stockholm. They indicated it depended on the port arrangements and that this early embarkation is not available in all ports. However, I have to say I really appreciated that it was available on this sailing.

wonderful review Susan..
can't wait to cruise O again ...

Susan:
Could you give me an idea of what drinks, (liquor)
costs were on board?
Example: One time we were on NCL and it was something like $5.10 for a CC & water and then they added a 15% tip on it right there making it $5.80 per glass.

Susan, What a perfect review, thank you. I have posted questions abour comparisons and they have all been answered. After eight Regents and two silverseas, I am just a wee bit leary about a change. But due to the great itineraries I am tempted. A bathtub and a veranda are a necessity, so I guess we will opt for the penthouse suites which you indicated were comparable to Mariner or Voyager. (This expressed by another member.)
Our extras will be cocktails and wine at dinnertime. (usually 7,30 to 8.)
We are small eaters so gourmet foods look good.
And we always plan our own excursions.
Tipping. Everyone hates it. And we are not used to it on Regent and SS. I do not like being told what to tip and how much. On Princess, Costa and Celebrity we tipped the cabin staff, the waiter due to the 'same table' set up, and that was it.
Which personnel share the $15/per day/person ?
Next question. There was much socializing on SS at the cocktail hour and it was a fun time. Now that Regent has the new policy, this will like SS.
How does O compare in Sring and Autumn cruises ?

Missed out the "P" in Spring and "be" after "will"
Should have previewed.

Neville, click this thing at the top of any of your posts and you can change anything in your posts at any time.

Great review Susan:

Carla and I have decided to give Oceania a try, we have been only on Regent till this point but the Ports for our Insignia 10/17/2007 Athens to Venice are incredible and want to give them a try.

Frank

Their newest European 2007 itineraries is out..just got one in mail yesterday..some really fabulous cruises in there..and longer ones too.

Sorry I didn't answer your question about tipping earlier but I am sailing in Alaska and having so much fun I haven't checked LCT. The tips are shared equally between all the dining room, room service, and room steward personnel. It is not necessary to tip individually unless you care to as the tips are automatically added to your account. An 18% gratuity is automatically added to all bar bills.

I just read a sophisticated review on another board. There were some hassles with excursion changes and other problems. However, my wife just read this review and all of the comments. The costs worked out the same as Regent's Mariner or Voyager, although the add ons were a nuisance. The itineraries are better than Regents and there are more 10-12 day cruises. To fly to Europe for a 7 day cruise seems impractical especially since we have spent time in most of the start and finish ports. Just one person's view.

Susan, thank you so much for taking the time to do this. It was very informative. We have toyed with the idea of trying Oceania for some time now and they do offer great itineraries, so it is good to know both the "pluses and minuses" as you said, so that you can make an "informed" decision.

We found several for the Spring that are very tempting indeed, especially with their 2 for 1 and free air program.

Thanks again!

Don,
The 2 for 1 specials with free air expire August 31,2006 and many of these cruises for 2007 are already sold out.

Susan, thanks for the heads up.

Susan - your review was great, thank you. After our cruise last Feb, would agree with everything you said - we had a great time and loved the whole experience. Did they do the Sunday jazz brunch in the Main Dining Room? That was really special and we loved it.

Plan to cruise them again in the near future.