Why we are DISAPPOINTED with Oceania Cruises!
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- čas přidán 6. 07. 2024
- Our recent cruise on Oceania was disappointing for quite a few reasons, and we highlight a few of them here! We were so excited to try Oceania and 'The Finest Cuisine at Sea' but we weren't bowled away!
Thanks for the honest heads up. Will re think any future Oceania cruises. Have cruised with Azamara and Viking, very happy with both.
We absolutely love Oceania but personally I would go on the larger ships note the R class
Fabulous, honest review-there are too few of these in this creative space. Have sailed exclusively on Silversea, Seabourn, Regent (and recently Ritz-Carlton) for over 20 years. Was considering Oceania. Your video has saved me from them as dining is our key issue, too. Consider this video a Public Service Announcement. Thank you!!!
Thanks for the great comments. Glad you found it useful, Oceania doesn’t compare to Regent or Seabourn unfortunately! 🤗
We are loyal Regent cruisers. I have considered Oceania you have answered many of my questions. Thanks for saving us the trouble 🥺
Glad you found it helpful. No comparison to Regent! 🤗
We did our only trip with Oceania last autumn - New England, Insignia (R Class ship). We filled in the feedback form to make exactly the points you raise. Our food was 'fine', but having been told to expect the 'finest cuisine at sea' we felt let down. Apart from the main meals, two things stick in our memories: 1) the afternoon tea experience where we went up to a counter to take a scone from a chafing dish; not a premum experience, 2) running out of maple syrup as we visited the Canadian cities. First world problems perhaps but this market segment is all about the detail in the experience. We have used multiple cruise lines eg Cunard, Silversea, Seabourn, Azamara and have settled on Azamara (same R class ships) as a preference (although Cunard retains the prize for afternoon tea...)
Interesting to hear your thoughts. We haven’t been on Azamara for years so will have to give them a try again soon and add it to our channel. Thanks for watching 🤗
Thanks for an honest appraisal. We were due to go on our first Oceania cruise but then they cancelled the cruise less than 3 months before sailing - no compensation at all, not even a token on board credit offer. Took 8 weeks to get our refund. Then we had our first Silversea cruise cancelled too - they offered 10% off any other booking plus then when we rebooked they honoured the price for our replacement cruise that they were offering during wave season when we booked the original one (unprompted). Guess who we will be booking with in future....
Thanks for watching! We can’t wait try Silversea, hopefully soon! 🤗
We're not big drinkers but we do enjoy a glass of wine with dinner. Oceania's fare includes select beer and wine with lunch and dinner. Oceania also has 2 for 1 bar beverages during Happy Hour each day. Most staterooms come with a chilled bottle of champagne upon arrival. And there's complimentary bar drinks on the 2nd night at the Captain's Welcome Party. My point is that most passengers wouldn't have to purchase very many (or any) bar drinks beyond the offerings I mentioned.
Thank you for your review. Now I know what to expect on my upcoming cruise.
We are about to put an experience video on of the whole ship and it wasn’t all bad! We did have a good time overall, we just felt we had to report back on the ‘finest cuisine at sea’ declaration!! Hope you enjoy your cruise 🤗
Thank you both . Good review . Thankyou.
Thank you so much for your honesty. I cruise because I want to totally relax, your experience sounds like constant irritations. Next cruise Regent.
Very interesting, thank you for sharing your experience
Having cruised with Azamara,Regent, Seabourn & Silversea we had looked at Oceana for a future oprion. Not any more listening to that, one failure would be annoying but what you described sounds systemic and not what I pay for . Thx for the very useful review.
110% agree with your comments and I would add some negativity of my own. What was very evident on my last two O cruises on Sirena and Marina over 24 & 14 days respectively was the lack of staff causing endless problems in all public areas along with the fact those present were poorly trained and hadn't a clue what they are doing eg ask what is in the dishes at the buffet and they can't tell you or stir it around a bit and guess a potentially dangerous action or have a group discussion involving endless waits until they find someone who knows.
Food low quality ingredients, range and choice, the have done away with their USA AAA grade beef in speciality leaving tasteless, grizzly, tough meant in its wake. One of the cost cuttings evident to knowledgeable foodies is the lack of range of ingredients that go into making the dishes which behind the scenes adds to savings on purchasing and storage, many of the offerings appeared to be pre cooked by a catering company prior to sailing, chilled and finished on the ship. I know my food and have travelled with O for a long time so feel able to comment on the changing standards. I do agree the ship is lovely.
Needless to say my next cruise is on Explora Journeys II.
@@christinesmith3862 Thanks for your comments, and glad we weren’t the only ones who experienced this, we were wondering whether we were the only ones after some of the comments we’ve had! Lots of people have advised us to go on one of the newer ships to see the difference. It was unfortunate we chose Sirena as our first Oceania cruise! Thanks for watching ❤️
Well that has put me off as Oceania is very expensive anyway without all the add ons!
As I have commented before we were disappointed with Regent. We still love Seabourn and had our first Silversea cruise this year which was fabulous! I do prefer all inclusive as then you do not have any nasty surprises 😀
We also were very disappointed in Regent but LOVE Oceania, it’s about half the cost of Regent. No one can drink that much booze 😂
May I ask why you were disappointed in Regent? Was thinking about booking them next year but have never sailed on that line. I have sailed on Silversea
I think we were just unlucky.We were on Splendour in the Caribbean . In the MDR the food was disappointing in that it was often quite cold. Also the noise level was quite high.The service was also slow. Afternoon tea was also disappointing compared to what we have seen on CZcams..On the whole we enjoyed the cruise but we preferred Silversea. I am sure you will have a wonderful time. The reviews in general are all really good!
Keep in mind that the Sirena is a 25 year old ship. We sailed on Oceania's mostly refurbished Riviera ship twice in early 2023. After a wonderful 23 day cruise on Riviera, we flew home for a month, and then rejoined the ship in Barcelona. To our surprise many of the excellent crew members weren't there when we returned. Many of them were recruited to work on the new Vista ship. I suspect that some of the best crew from ALL of the Oceania ships went to Vista (chefs and all). The same may happen again in July 2025 when Allura begins sailing. Prior to 2023, Oceania didn't have a new ship for 11 years. They may have some growing pains.
@@DaveM-FFB Better try Allura or Vista next then! 😂👍
We can so relate to this, especially the slow drinks service. We have been sailing with Oceania since 2013. The last two cruises, 2020 and last august the service has really been cut down on. It is not the staff but the lack of staff. Especially only two sommeliers in the main dining. Constantly taking the card and be away for ages. But pouring water is more important. Drinks service at the pool,is a complete drama, I filed a complaint about that last August. I asked if I could get a cup of tea and got answered that I had to go to Horizons and get it there. While I am relaxing in my bikinis at the pool. After complaining at guestservice, I finally got my cup of tea in the afternoon at the pool. Was that so hard? We pay a lot of money in the end. We tried Azamara again. Just got back two weeks ago. What a difference in service, every waiter can serve wine in the main dining. They just ask your cabin number and thats it. Foodwise, I like my eggs benedict in the morning and on Oceania I had to send them back several times because overcooked, on Azamara, not once. We have booked two other cruises with Azamara now. Their ships are maybe not as well designed, but the food and the service are so much better.
Interesting comments thanks and a definite trend here that Azamara are winning! Will have to give them another try as it was years ago we last travelled with them. Thanks for watching 🤗
Thank you for your comments, I would be very disappointed with this experience. Appreciate the heads up.
Thank you so much for your honest reviews. I have a booking on Silversea and have high expectations - and my wife and I frequently look at Regent and Oceania among other lux lines. Your videos help us see what reality vs expectation is especially as cruising returns post covid. I look forward to watching many more! Cheers from Richmond Virginia USA!
Thanks for your great comments. We were recently on Regent (which we thought was incredible)and someone told us Silversea is better! Can’t believe it so will have to experience it for ourselves 🥂😂 Have a great cruise I’m sure you will have an amazing time! Oceania ‘experience’ video in the pipeline, the ports were great, shame about everything else! 😂🤗
Thank you for telling the truth about the current state of Oceania. We did a 24 day cruise from Miami to Manaus and back to Miami on the Sirena last December. The food was every bit as dreadful as you described. Plus, they ran out of Diet Coke and lettuce - at one point I was served a Caesar salad made with cabbage. The crew we had was delightful, striving to overcome the stingy policies of Oceania. It’s sad to hear that they’ve been beaten into submission by Corporate. I’m glad you got the fancy dinner plates. Too bad I can’t post a picture of what we were served…a bit like a nursing home.
@@designdavid8104 Thanks for your comments. The staff morale is now being affected from above, the Hotel Director and F&B Director were not great basically too good for the job, hardly ever saw them! Maybe it’s Sirena with the problem, as we’ve had some comments saying they’ve had nothing but fabulous experiences onboard! Thanks again for watching and commenting.
Interesting review. We mostly sail Holland America, and not a chance am I going to pay extra for the same dining experience. We're thinking of trying Viking Ocean on a transatlantic for an ultra-premium cruise experience. Sometimes the rarer cruise routes are actually more expensive on mass market lines, such as the Caribbean to the Amazon, or Iceland to Belgium/Netherlands, so why not go for the better cruise line?
We’ve heard Viking is excellent so will have to try it! 🥂 Thanks for watching
I thought Viking food was just above average
@@happytraveller2122 We're limiting Viking to when it is reasonably close to mass market, so that's fine with me.
I thought we were going to partially land with Azamara, but they've botched our reservation right out of the gate, double charging our deposit. First story was that they would have my refund completed in 5 days, then they blamed me for the double deposit because I added a $99 shore excursion to the reservation. $99 X 2 on July 1st triggered a double deposit of $1,100 going backwards through time on June 28th?
Thanks for the video.
We were on Seven Seas Splendor about two months after your video came out, great timing.
We are on a Uniworld Bordeaux cruise next Sunday great info from your Uniworld video thanks again.
Have been in Cunard Queens Grill four times (Queen Anne in October) but after our Regent trip we are converts, the inclusions on Regent are amazing plus the food is excellent.
Was very surprised about how lively the nightlife was on Splendor, only made it to breakfast twice!
We live just south of Dublin on the coast and get to see all the ships sailing into Dublin.
Great content, very helpful.
@@marklloyd136 We’ve obviously got the same tastes! 😂🥂🎉Have a great time on Uniworld and don’t forget the 70s gear! 😂🎉
Hi Stuart & Christina. We were on the same cruise but didn't manage to say hello. Your review is spot-on. Fortunately we bought a drinks package pre-cruise so didn't have the same experience with rip-off pricing. Also, in the MDR lots of wait staff kept topping up our wine glasses, with the exception of the first night, when a female sommelier was very protective of her territory/commission but not efficient. She also went off on one when we ordered and were supplied with a liqueur coffee from a regular waiter. Generally, if staff are particular about "who-does-what" it suggests they are not happy with the management. Oceania was a world away from our recent excellent Regent experience, surprising given that both are part of NCL.
@@michaelinlondon Hi Michael, that’s reassuring to hear as we were hoping it wasn’t just us being fussy! Shame we missed you! Yes Regent is part of the same company but Worlds apart when it comes to the experience, we couldn’t fault them when we travelled with them in February. Thanks for watching 🤗
Agree completely. I have been on Riviera pre covid and the brand new Vista in Jan 2023. The food is not as advertised. Yes it was ok -good food, but not excellent.
I will not be using Oceania in the near future.
New to you and will pull others but quick question Oceania I I thought some. Drinks came with package? ❤
@@lynnfranklin5098 Thanks for watching ❤️ most of their cruises include the basic wine package at the time of booking depending when you book (wine with lunch and dinner) we didn’t have this. The cost to upgrade from the basic package is $30 per day per person and the full drinks package if you don’t have the basic package is $69 pppd. Thanks again for subscribing ❤️🤩
Hello to you both. Since booking our first ever cruise with Regent for September this year I've been following you guys as I love the fact that you speak as you find. I'm so hoping that hubby will love our Regent cruise that I am already thinking about the next one and was considering Oceania. Think I'll give them a miss for the moment. Thank you for sharing your experiences. 😊
@@janetdavies3818 Regent is wonderful, the dining we experienced incredible. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did! 🥂 We’ve written to Oceania, and have had so many comments, many saying we were really unlucky, and think we need to give them another try and do the newer ships. If we do we will post our experience and let’s hope this time it’s good! Thanks for watching ❤️
Have you done a cruise on Scenic eclipse 2
No but definitely on the list it looks amazing! 🥂
Fascinating. I hated regent and loved the cruises I have had on Oceania, but have never been on the Sirena.
I’ve never seen your channel before. The CZcams algorithm recommended your channel. I’m glad it did because I’ve been cruising with Holland America exclusively since 2006 and as I approach my mid-50s I’m researching other cruise lines such as Oceania. I appreciate your honest review. As a consequence, I am a new subscriber to your channel.
Thanks for your comments. We’ve cruised Holland many times and have enjoyed it, great standard in its class. If you’re going to try the next step up I would go for Seabourn, excellent food, wonderful inclusions and some amazing special events (galley market, caviar in the surf etc). We’ve had various comments about Oceania (good and bad) and feel now that maybe we were unlucky and our experience wasn’t the norm, especially on the newer ships..
Thank you for the suggestions. I had been leaning toward Seabourne or Explora.@@theposhtravelblog
We had exactly the same issues on Vista in May this year. Totally put off Oceania will stick with Regent
Have to agree with many of your comments. We have been Oceania cruisers for 10 years and, since COVID, the food is extremely disappointing. We are now seriously considering moving to a different line but aren't sure who is comparable.
Thanks for your comments. We like Seabourn, Regent and Explora in the 6* category. We haven’t been on Silversea yet and that’s in the pipeline . We’ve had so many comments on this video and a recurring theme is Azamara cruises is better and of course the ships are the same or similar, we haven’t been on them for years though so can’t pass comment on this. Thanks again for watching 🤗
Hi agree with you both, we took our first Oceania cruise in November 2023, and thought at best it was equivalent to Holland America, Cunard and Celebrity, definitely not up there with the big 3. On your recommendation we had our first Seabourn cruise in June around the Eastern med and Croatia. We had an incredible experience and loved every minute of it. I agreed with 9 of your 10 favourite things on Seabourn😀. On the back of that 6 star experience with have booked Regent next November and Silversea next year.
Enjoying your videos, carry on cruising, Neil and Liz x
Glad you loved Seabourn, it is amazing, hope you love Regent too - the dining is the best! 🎉🥂
Well Stuart, tell us how you really feel! LOL! As someone who worked in the food industry for over 30 years, I sense a problem with upper management. The Sirena is an old Renaissance R class cruise line ship, and although it has been upgraded, it all depends on the staff. After looking at your pictures of some of the dishes, I can heartily concur. The upper management is, as I said, to blame. The fact that the waitstaff is not up to par with even Carnival is apparent. Not good for the price they charge. To be fair, there have been a couple of bloggers who have said that Regency cruises service and food is falling also. All the cruise lines are following the airlines and nickel and diming or (Schilling and Pencing) to make the almighty buck, or pound. Well, that's my story. I could talk all day, but you had your fill of the "Bloody Chatty Yanks" on your cruise, LOL again! Thanks for your vlog.
Love it! 😂 Yes it’s all down to the mighty dollar or the pound and the bottom line! Just putting an experience video together and that shows the speciality dining which were good, and as we expected the main dining room to be! Didn’t feel I could hold back on this one, and to be honest didn’t even give the whole story there was more!! Some of the upper management left a lot to be desired! Thanks for the comments and great humour 🥂
Thank you. We were on Regatta recently and had an experience exactly like yours. Barely acceptable food in the dining room and only slightly better in specialty venues. Unfortunately no Red Ginger is available. We will never sail Oceania again. Crystal, Regent and Seabourn will be our go to in future. Appreciate your honesty.
Appreciate the honest review and wonder if what you're experiencing is unique to the Sirena or across the entire cruise line-fingers crossed NCL/Oceania sees this and makes changes, before we sail on the Marina next April. As a subscriber, I know that you've tried mightily to identify additional positives, so this is extremely worrisome! While not quite the foodies you are, we won't ignore the tremendously lacking service elements. We may be one and done-and back to Viking and Regent.
Thanks for following. We are hoping it’s just the Sirena as we spoke to another couple and they agreed it was better on the other ships. However they must still have the same policy about the sommelier serving the drinks resulting in long waits, crazy. No comparison to Regent either. We were travelling with Christina’s elderly father, and his partner, and the assistance at embarkation was shocking to say the least and at disembarkation too. We really do feel the crew didn’t gel on this ship and that was probably half the problem. Hopefully you will have an amazing time and this is a one off! Thanks again 🤗
I think you may find this is possibly down to the smaller ship. I can’t comment on those as we have done about 6 or 7 cruises on Marina and one on Vista, everything has been perfect and the food outstanding! In comparison we have just returned from a Regent cruise on Splendor and we’re very disappointed. The food was no where near as good and generally the higher cost of Regent just wasn’t worth it. We can get a far superior suite on Oceania for the same cost as a Penthouse on Regent. Overall, we were glad we experienced it as we now know we prefer Oceania.
@@leetony7468 that’s reassuring to hear and you may well be right. The crew didn’t gel at all on the Sirena. Will have to try one of the other ships and do another review! Also the Regent Explorer which is also one of the newer ships compared to Splendor was incredible, so maybe you have had the same experience we have? We travel Seabourn a lot and they are excellent too, plus prices better than Regent as excursions not included in the base price, maybe you should try them? 😊
How was the excursion experience? Enrichment?
Did our own excursions as we were cruising Seville to Dublin so can’t feedback on them. Expensive I would imagine like everything else 😂
@@theposhtravelblog that’s why I’m sticking with Regent🚢
I was surprised that there were NO enrichment lectures or guest speakers on this cruise.
@@michaelinlondon so sad🙁
Wow, I took an Oceania cruise in 2017 on the Marina. It was incredible. Jacque Pepin was aboard. Incredible food and drink and service. It sounds like the food and service has gone down. I will consider other lines. We have the regent explorer to Japan in 2025. We enjoyed your video on that cruise.
@@user-nf2vg8uv7b We’ve had comments saying it’s fantastic and also comments saying we were right so think we need to try one of the larger ships and see how it works out! Regent Explorer - amazing, one of the best cruises we have ever taken. Have an amazing time 🥂🥂
We have had mostly very good results on Oceania over many years but Regent does surpass them. Then again the price difference is substantial. Also, if you do not consume much alcohol or want a lot of shore excursions we can understand that may be a problem with Regent. We had a very good experience on Oceanias new Vista ship earlier this year but heard others complain about noises from the adjoning cabins. It appears that Oceania tried to squeeze in more cabins per floor at the cost of thinner walls. We did not have that problem in our suite. We did not have the problems you had with the food, however, this was their newest ship and upon reflecting they could not afford to have any bad impressions on this new ship. We think we will stick with Regent for now and have one booked this fall in Spain. Unfortunately many simply cannot afford the cost of Regent. We have had very good results with Holland America in the past and would advise budgeting for some of the speciality restaurants. Rudys Sel de Mer was just wonderful when we were there. We would go on Holland again particularly if certain destinations are interesting to you. Staffing seems to be a real problem now with all cruise lines
@@jerryabbanat9452 Thanks for your comments. We did a price comparison with Seabourn and Oceania for next June and there wasn’t much in it, and by the time you add all the extras with Oceania it’s a lot more expensive and a lot less luxurious! Regent always works out more but they have so many inclusions, but as you say if you don’t want the trips or the drinks then you’re paying for something you’re not benefiting. It’s good to hear you had a good experience on Oceania, maybe we were unlucky being on one of the older ships. 😊
@@theposhtravelblog Oceania has noticeably increased their prices over the last 18 months and that's caused us to seriously consider Viking.
Ahoy from Marla and Gene! We loved Oceania for some fine cruises but the last one, years ago, was not up to par in the food category as you point out. I believe it is very dependent on the head and sous chefs to make or break a ship. Off to Copenhagen on this coming Saturday for a 20 night Nordic venture on Regent Mariner. Regent is our favorite line but Explora1 ( 5 star food court) 😅 and Seabourn are grand as you pointed out. We love your detailed and interesting VLOGS and never miss one. We will think of Christina in the dining room and Stuart for our lovely packaged included laundry! 😂
@@GeneMcC Hi both, lovely to hear from you! Thanks for the lovely comments. Have a fantastic cruise on Regent, we absolutely love Regent! Love from us both ❤️🚢🥂🥂
Thank you for being honest. Had been considering Oceania for a Mediterranean cruise; however, we will go Regent. Loved Splendor before and will love their food again. Don’t promise it if you can’t deliver it!
Stick with Regent! Same parent company, Worlds apart! 🎉🥂
We find Oceania food far better than Regent, we have just returned from Splendor and the general opinion from other guests we spoke to onboard was that they find Oceania food much better. We were disappointed overall with the value for money, I can’t see how they justify it.
@@leetony7468 Shocked at that comment as we’ve just travelled on Regent Explorer and it was miles above Oceania on quality and presentation. We must have been unlucky with Oceania. We’ve had quite a few comments since we posted the video with people agreeing with us, I guess it’s down to the personal experience onboard. 😳
@theposhtravelblog I honestly think you'd have a better experience on their larger ships. The R class are much older.
We didn't have one meal on Splendor that was up to the standard of Oceania, including the buffet. And as I say we've done about 7 cruises on Oceania (one which was a 3 week cruise on Vista)
For new ships, I was also very surprised on Regent at the lack of automatic doors on Splendor. This is a big issue for people with mobility problems and wheelchair users.
We also far prefer to be served in the buffet and are surprised as they are sister companies,that Regent don't do this. Cross contamination of germs and viruses can always be a problem on ships.
We aren't being overly picky for the sake of it, but there were so many things we prefer about Oceania but the food was the main disappointment on Regent. Jacques is far better than Chartreuse. Polo knocked the steak from Prime 7 out of the park and the sides were disappointing. Service in there was also not good. Red Ginger is way, way better than Pacific Rim and Toscana we can't compare to Sette Mari as we couldn't get in there.
There were disappointed people on the 1st night (embarkation) that were told they'd have to wait 40 minutes for a table in Compass Rose with no alternative dining option. They were elderly and I felt really sorry for them.
The crew are wonderful on both, the cruise director was great but our overall experience including the suite left us in no doubt who we will sail with in the future. In fact we have another 3 booked. 😁
@@leetony7468 it’s unbelievable, because we had our elderly parents with us (84 & 91) and we were treated atrociously. They even said at 91 she would have to get out of the chair and climb the staircase to get onboard, which we advised them in advance she couldn’t do. Also Christina was at the top and the staff helping sneered and said in a sarcastic manner to his colleague ‘she’s yours I’m not doing it’ about the 91 year old, we eventually had to put her in where the suitcases go to get her onboard, it was so stressful. Additionally on departure they didn’t help at all, we watched them tell this old lady who couldn’t walk to get out of the chair and walk down herself and her son struggled to help her down it was awful to watch. The cruise director didn’t care and the son asked could she just help him push the chair to the top of the gangway as he had his hands full and she simply said ‘I don’t push’! We were horrified. There’s plenty more to tell but can’t put it all in a comments section, suffice to say we were disgusted at the treatment. Also the ship was no good for wheelchair access as the thresholds were so high, it was very difficult! Definitely got to try the new ship and maybe we will have a better experience. In the meantime my father and his partner have announced no more cruises for them as can’t take the risk of being treated like this again. Such a shame 😥 We don’t have good memories of Oceania! 😩
I must say that the "finest cuisine" is very subjective. I never had a bad meal on our two Oceania cruises. Personally I detest "food as art". Food "presentation" is somewhat wasted on me. The flavor wins me over on it's own. To some degree you get what you paid for. Oceania is approximately half the cost of Seaborn and Regent Seven Seas. Regardless of marketing slogans, you should expect more from those brands. However since Oceania is a bit more expensive than Princess and Holland America, you should expect Oceania to have elevated food offerings in comparison, and I believe they've accomplished that.
@@DaveM-FFB It wasn’t the food presentation, although that does help at this level, especially when advertised as ‘finest cuisine at sea’. The food was bland and uninspiring. We did discover that the regular chef had been replaced by a temporary chef and that may have been the problem. Regarding price, we did a price comparison for Oceania and Seabourn for next June Med for 10 nights and there was little in it based on a balcony cabin. We have had numerous comments, some express disbelief as they had such a great experience, and others agree with us wholeheartedly. Maybe it was our misfortune to be on Sirena, and if we had chosen one of the other ships we may have enjoyed a superior experience. It has made us think that maybe we should try again, as we may enjoy it better next time. We could then update our channel accordingly. Thanks for watching and your comments.
Aww such a shame when you pay so much for your cruises, love the honesty, can't wait to watch your next one guys ❤
Sounds like a horrible experience, thanks for making this video. I go on a lot of cruises, and I rely on other individuals experiences when I make a decision as to which ship to travel on. I think for the immediate future I’ll pass on Oceania.
This is actually sad, as regular cruisers on Oceania, we absolutely love it. We had tried Regent and Cunard and were very disappointed in them both. The food experiences we have had on Oceania are far superior to the other 2. We do only sail on their larger ships, which are NOT crowded. We actually felt it busier on Regent, especially around the pool area.
Regent is just not worth the money in our opinion.
For those of us not interested in gourmet food and non-drinkers, how does Oceania compare in value for excursions, room amenities, entertainment, and adult focus with other luxury cruise lines?
We have been cruising over thirty years but for the last nine cruises we have been with Oceania. We felt when we first started cruising with them they hit the spot for us. Since Covid however we have seen standards drop in most areas. We were told that Oceania expected a lot of their original staff to return but this hasnt happened therefore staff were untrained and unprofessional. We have also cruised Regent prior to Covid and enjoyed that too but felt it was expensive as we didnt always wanted to take the included excursions. We are having a change next year and cruising Cunard Queen Anne but the following year have booked Oceania Marina to give them another try. We had booked the drinks package on our last Oceania cruise however particularly in the speciality restaurants we found they were adding to your glass after you had only taken two or three sips and swiping your card as though you had had much more than you had actually had! We arent huge drinkers but as we travel with friends we like a couple of cocktails before dinner wine with dinner and sometimes a drink in the theatre. Although the portion sizes have been reduced we have still found the food of good standard however not the quality of quantity it once was.
Thank you for taking time to do this honest review! Looking forward to your future videos.
Thanks for your comments and for watching. Interesting you feel they have started to slip standards wise post covid. We have had so many comments from this video and a common theme is the newer larger ships seem to have the best service and dining so maybe we need to try again and see if it’s better. The interior of the ship was lovely, but unfortunately Sirena has serious issues in some areas. We are just putting together our experience video on Sirena so that will be out shortly! Thanks again ❤️
What a shame, always fancied going on Oceania but have recently been on Regent twice and Oceania prices are not much less than Regent. Regent have more inclusions and now that i know the food and service is sub-par this line is a no no for me. Thanks. Subscribed.
At odds with our experience. We took lunch at the buffet on a recent Marina cruise. Great choices of what I consider high quality selections of poultry, meat, fish, pasta, etc. We passed up the outdoor grill - why would we have a hamburger on a luxury cruise? Some people just have to have a burger !? You could see the grill - nothing special, dozens of burgers being flipped on large griddle top. Not surprised it was ordinary.
We generally eat at high end restaurants. The main dinning very good to excellent depending on choices. The specialty restaurants were excellent. Least favorite was red ginger.
No telling for taste.? 16:30
Hi Stuart and Christine firstly I appreciated your very honest review of Oceania this has made my decision easier for our next cruise 2025, we have chosen Regent again. My husband and I have just returned from our first cruise Regent Seven Seas on the Explorer to Alaska, we decided to do 14 days on the ship North and South, there we observed a great difference on the two cruises, smiles switch on and off very quickly and the strangeness towards posting a review on the app prior to the day of disembarkation . We loved the food on RSS, Stuart you're correct Prime 7 is sublime as is Pacific Rim, what I loved as you've said Christina previously the laundry is all included, what a treat. We walked away from every restaurant loving the experience. My negative towards the cruise was the madness at lunch times after people had returned from excursions grabbing at food at La Verandah or the pool grill it was almost frantic, children putting hands in the bowls of fries or people piling plates so full that food dropped on the floor. I look forward to your future blogs and appreciate the honesty. Oh BTW Stuart and Christine I followed your advice about obtaining a Wine List on the Explorer it took 24 hours, I now have a wine list for our next cruise. 😊
Hi Maureen, thanks for watching! You’re right, it’s crazy how two cruises on the same ship can be so different. As for the people grabbing food and piling the plates up, horrendous, you’d think they hadn’t eaten for a month! Fortunately we never experienced that on our Japan cruise, and from memory we didn’t see one child due to the itinerary and time of year. Our Regent cruise was perfect, we ate in Chartreuse for lunch on a couple of occasions as it was open for lunch on a few days and it was wonderful. Cant fault it to be honest. We’ve had a few comments stating that it’s not a fair comparison on price to Oceania, which I guess it isn’t due to the inclusions, but if you take Seabourn for example as a direct comparison, we priced up next June for a 10 day Med cruise and the prices for Oceania and Seabourn were similar but by the time you add all the ‘extras’ to Oceania you’re better off with Seabourn, and of course again World’s apart in service and standards! Thanks again for watching and commenting 🤗
We went on Oceania spring of 2023. It was our first time trying them out and we were excited to try their "finest cuisine at sea" trademark food. It was a huge disappointment to say the least. About our 4th night in on our cruise the executive chef came by our table asking us about our food and I told him I had yet to have a properly cooked piece of fish. He seemed shocked and said next time I was ordering fish to let my wait person know and he would cook it for me. Sure enough, he came out and we discussed which piece of fish I was interested in trying. My fish was delicious and cooked perfectly. Too bad it takes a negative comment to get a properly cooked meal.
My husband and I had conversations with several Oceania loyalists who agreed their food was not up to par. Every single one of them were hoping it was a one off situation and that this would not be Oceania's new normal. Sounds like they have not improved.
Truly, Celebrity's specialty dining and Viking Ocean's food are leaps and bounds above what we experience on Oceana.
Our cruise experience was so poor, we canceled an upcoming 57 day cruise with Oceania. There's no way we want to spend that kind of money for a ho hum experience.
We have booked an upcoming Med cruise with Regent for September 2024 and are looking forward to giving them a try, especially after watching your videos of your cruise.
I know you are mostly positive and that is what attracted me to your channel. However, it's important to call a tour operator out when they trademark a false claim. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the comments. Hope you love Regent as much as we did. Think Oceania need to rethink their trademark! 😂
Perhaps you two need your show comparative vids of each ship to prove your points.
Think we need to do one of the new ships as we’ve had so many great comments about them..
To be fair Regent is an ultra luxury line and Oceania is a step below as a luxury line. Food is underwhelming though they should update their marketing or improve the quality of the presentation.
@@jasonsaunders8175 we did a price comparison for next June and the price for Seabourn and Oceania was similar! But of course you have all the extras on Oceania and Seabourn is far superior 🤩
@@theposhtravelblog I was shocked by the drink prices! Not good value for money on Oceania evidently. I think we will look to Explora or Seabourn next time.
Thanks for your honesty. We recently sailed on Regent Splendor, being foodies and having heard such rave reviews of Regent's fine dining, sadly, we were also very disappointed. Stone cold food on the first night in the main dining room, to which you think, "oh well, embarkation day, it will get better" but it continued into average food for the rest of the journey, certainly not fine dining. I had to ask three different members of staff in the main restaurant for a spoon for my breakfast cereal. Afternoon tea was shocking, "no cream!" really? and at our last breakfast, just to finish off the trend, it took 25 minutes to get a cup of coffee. Do you cry or laugh? You really, really don't want to spoil your holiday by spending it complaining. If we had been in a hotel and not on a ship we would have left asap and saved the money. I read a recent review from people on our splendor cruise on "cruise critic" and thought "yes...that's just what we thought, glad it wasn't just us."
It seems that sometimes things just don't work out as expected, we loved Oceania Riviera in 2023, food and service was wonderful and under half the price of recent Regent disappointment.
Regent Splendor again, it’s becoming quite a theme in the comments! We cruised Regent Explorer and it was probably one of the best cruise experiences of our life! Just mentioned to someone else it appears the smallest and oldest ship in the fleet definitely turns out to be the worst! 😂 Thanks for watching.
Totally agree with you. We were on the Sirena last March, first time and definitely the LAST time on Oceania! We have done more than 30 cruises mostly on Seabourn, Silversea and Regent. We chose Oceania because of the itinerary, going through the Panama Canal. We were actually looking forward to try what they pride themselves to be « The best cuisine at sea ». What a hoax and a complete disappointment. You couldn’t have summarized in such a better way our own experience and it is very clear that will NEVER sail on Oceania again! Thanks for the great video!!!
Thanks for the great comments. So much feedback in this video and it appears the larger newer ships are great and Sirena isn’t!! We were unlucky with our choice! 😂
That's unfortunate to hear. We were on Oceania Vista for 15 days on a transatlantic cruise, and the food was better than Regent Splendor. Ship was stunning. The gripe we had was the passengers. Very unappreciative. Hapless. Rude. Entitled. Elderly. And the entire ship shuts down at 10:45pm because said passengers are in bed.
We cruised Regent (Explorer) and it was incredible. We’ve had so many comments on this video and a lot of negatives about Regent Splendor (our friends are about to go on it!😩) It appears that the oldest smallest ship in the respective ship fleet is the worse (Splendor & Sirena). Thanks for watching!
@theposhtravelblog we were on Regent Navigator in January and the food was great. Splendor was all show and no substance. Staff was not engaging. Passengers were icy at best. The only decent meal we had was at Prime7. In our opinions, no one tops Silversea for food. Second is Crystal. We haven't done Explora yet though. Trying them in January.
I watched with interest your Sirena Vlog and your disappointment but may have had a bad time based on your feelings.
I have done 22 cruises(more than 500 days)on Oceania and on most vessels as well as 6 RSSC and 2 Viking. Did RSSC in January 2024 and Oceania and would have them equal re : everything with RSSC being a little more expensive and itineraries are not as adventuresome as Oceania who tend to have great itineraries with new ports each year. Suspect you don’t go ashore much. Viking is great as it not as Americanised as Viking and as such has great global food. But in general would have all 3 of them on a par.
Sounds like your biggest issue was the inability to get a drink.
We do not pay for alcohol at all these days and our cabin credit( purchase Barolo, brunello, chateau nuf de pap, Tuscan heavy reds not cheap Rose). My lady drinks Sauvignon from South Africa or New Zealand which is in drinks package Oceania Provide.
We have not had issues with the food on all 3 lines except once just after Covid .
I guess that explains why these 3 cruise lines have a 80% return clientele.
These lines are not meant to be seaborne, Silverseas, Ponant etc.
We all have a cruise that does not meet expectations.
Keith in Australia
Have cruised over 600 cruise days, 40 days of river cruises(including Ganges from Kolkata to Varanasi), more than 100 ports and visited 95 countries so have some knowledge of the globe
Hi Keith, thanks for your comments. Just to clarify we do go ashore in every port, our biggest gripe wasn’t the drinks service, although it was bad, it was the fact they advertise ‘finest cuisine at sea’ and on that basis they should be better than RSSC, Silversea etc. Why declare this if they are in a lower category and have no chance of meeting it? We’ve had loads of comments on this video quite a few in agreement with us, and quite a few such as yourself who extol the positives of Oceania. Maybe we just had a bad experience on Sirena and should try another one of their vessels? There was quite a bit we omitted to say in our video, the service we received was shocking to be honest and very disappointing. We have travelled to over 80 countries in our lifetime, and cruised over 50 times (including a world cruise) as we used to own travel agents, so don’t give out our experiences lightly without knowing what we are talking about. The ship itself was very nice and the ports of call really interesting and enjoyable. We are putting a video out on Sunday with our full experience of this cruise and it comes across well with the exception of the MDR where their registered trademark of finest cuisine at sea just didn’t work. Thanks for watching and your comments, which we will take onboard, we may have to do another cruise with them to see if we can enjoy a different experience 😊
@@theposhtravelblog hi guys
A great many thanks for your great response. Very much appreciated.
I found Seville unusual embarkation. In our cruises only been to visit and not regularly used by Oceania to embark & disembark
Just to update you we recently did a cruise with Oceania from Singapore to Dubai(was to originally go thru Suez and travel from Trieste to BCN) and The atmosphere was not normal. Came about the captain and officers were not to be seen during 20 days except on special events. Very weird and a first.
I have never heard of a formal night on Oceania. Wear a jacket and shirt occasionally(no tie since I retired).
I take no notice of the finest cuisine at sea logo as all cruise vessels have their moments but will not even contemplate the food on the big boats after watching all the vlogs on what people eat and how it is presented.
Re : Waves don’t eat the burgers just the meat and salad leave the rest including bun. Now eat the impossible burger with no grease and tastes like meat but is not meat. First found it on Regent. Typical American food fare with greasy meat,
Re : locks on river leaving Seville. The same occurs when leaving or arriving in Amsterdam. The boats similar in size to Sirena sail up to centres of Bordeaux, honfleur on the Seine(1 hour to get there), Saigon, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Greenwich or Tilbury and many others where big boats normally berth at least 1 1/2 - 2 hours away and need Shuttle buses.
Maybe look at Marina or Riviera which are slightly larger and have extra restaurants
@@user-qx7up2jm9m thanks for the comments again. You are right about the officers not being on show, we only saw them on the last day when they waved us off with a smile! 😂 Will have to try the impossible burger next time! Will try one of the other ships next time and do another review to set the record straight! 🙏
As you have said very disappointing that no way 5 star, if they are stating best of the best they need to show it and by your account they're no where near that. Hope your next cruise was way better x
Yes it was disappointing. The following cruise was a 4* UK cruise and it beat it in a number of areas - unbelievable! ‘Experience’ video in the pipeline, the ports of call were good so that made up for it! 😊
Oceania is not in the ultra luxury category, therefore it’s wrong to make comparisons with that level. I do hope all your grievances have been shared with Oceania management and not just a rant on social media. As you said in your other blog but not mentioned in this one ( the head chef was taken off the ship) that may have explained a lot of the inconsistencies.
@@shonadixon609 When they declare ‘finest cuisine at sea’ they are pitching themselves against the ultra luxury brands, so we disagree with you. Yes we have contacted them for your information and awaiting a response. There was plenty more dissatisfying elements to the cruise and we had some shocking service which we didn’t include in the video! We even had a follower contact us who was on the same cruise and agreed it was terrible, and they have travelled Oceania previously. This was our first experience and we report back as we find. All the ships should operate the same and with the same standard of cuisine but this is obviously not the case .We only discovered the chef had left on the last day of the cruise. Think we will have to try another Oceania cruise, as from the many comments we’ve received from Oceania devotees it appears not all the ships are like the Sirena! Our bad luck.
Finest food, worse service, not for me. Enjoy the remainder off your time on board
Great video you two but this ship and line are US-owned and you mention other lines such as Silversea and Regent owned by NCL as Oceania is and owned by US lines. People talk about 6 star cruise yet not even one 6 star hotel in the USA. so how can these ships possibly be 6-star or even 5-star. You mention the drinks and a glass of say scotch same price as you can get on shore for a whole bottle and yet the ship gets all duty-free and tax free. Fares are way overpriced but then again these are USA-owned ships and have no idea how to run any shio and certainly not ultra-luxury ships. Check the Capataimns and ships offices usually European few American and staff Asian. They have no idea that was why `Cunard and P&O among others have gone way down. Think I have mentioned it previously try Fred Olsen for a complete relaxing experience like being at home no hassles and all excellent.
Funny you should say that as we’ve just got off Fred Olsen and had a great time! Video on the ship and our experience to follow shortly! 🥂🎉🙏
Very disappointing.
Hi, very, very surprised to be honest, although we have been on Oceania about 7 or 8 times we’ve haven’t been on the smaller R class ships.
We recently went on Regent Seven Seas Splendor and were VERY disappointed. The food wasn’t a patch on Oceania and the cost was so much higher. In our opinion definitely not worth the extra money.
We spoke to several other passengers whilst onboard who all said they preferred Oceania and the food is far superior.
For the cost on Regent for a Penthouse Suite we can get the same on Oceania in an Oceania suite which to be honest is no comparison. The Oceania Suite is double the size, has 2 bathrooms and is far more comfortable. Even the balcony furniture on Splendor was not comfortable.
No casual dining in the evenings seems very strange, I could go on but for us the experience does not stand up to the higher cost.
I guess it’s each to their own but we certainly wouldn’t return to Regent and will always in future sail with Oceania.
I wonder if you would have had a better experience on one of the O or Allura class ships.
Think you’re right, maybe we were on the worst ship in the fleet! Nice to hear that this isn’t across the Oceania board. Same with Regent, Splendor is the smaller older ship, we had such a fantastic time on Regent Explorer, probably the best cruise experience we’ve ever experienced. I guess it’s down to the ship on the day. Will have to try one of the newer ships and then update the reviews! 😊
I understand you pick up on the “best cuisine at sea” and you don’t agree. But please, do not compare Oceania with P&O, it jest shows how little you know about the budget cruise line P&O. Also interesting to note most food was rated before you tasted the dishes…??? The same in your Region cruise, both NCL. I understand you do not find Oceania to same standard d as sister company Region, which is fair, however put it in perspective, How much more do you pay for region and silver? I still understand the fact of marketing a brand as the BEST Is a dangerous strategy
@@hawill100 We definitely disagree and to market ‘the finest cuisine at sea’ and ‘bang’ out the basic food on a Versace charger plate is a complete con. We priced up Seabourn and Oceania for a balcony cabin for next June both 10 nights and there was nothing in it, apart from Seabourn being leaps ahead in quality, service and standard. Actually we only compared p&o when we ordered the grill food on our video, and for your information it is superior on p&o, the food on Oceania was bland and basic and in fact we have travelled on P&O on numerous occasions in the past and they don’t pretend to be anything other than their 4* rating, whereas Oceania are overselling themselves and under delivering at a premium price!