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I review and explore Oceania Cruises and look at what they do the same and different to other similar lines – and why I like them and keep going back to them, and recommend Oceania Cruises to other cruise passengers
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0:00
as many cruise passengers point out to
0:02
me on the surface oceania appear to be
0:04
basically exactly the same as all the
0:07
lines they compete with so people ask me
0:09
why do i like them so much i actually
0:12
struggled to answer that so on my most
0:14
recent oceania trip i paid really
0:16
careful attention and this is what i
0:18
discovered about oceania
0:21
if you're new here welcome aboard i'm
0:23
gary bembridge and it's my goal to make
0:25
it easy and fun to discover plan and
0:28
enjoy unforgettable cruise vacations so
0:31
let's go explore oceania cruises who
0:34
exactly do oceania compete with well
0:36
they're in the smaller ship category and
0:38
what i think of as a luxury area so this
0:41
category falls in pricing at least
0:43
between the larger ship premium lines so
0:46
things like honda america princess
0:48
celebrity virgin cunard and then on the
0:50
other side ultra luxury all sweet lines
0:53
like seabourn silversea region 7c
0:56
cruises they actually have seven ships
0:58
within their fleet four r-class ships
1:01
which carry 694 guests insignia regatta
1:04
serena and nautica then they have the
1:06
sister marina and riviera with 1 250
1:09
guests and the brand new vista with 1
1:12
200 guests so they compete with lines
1:14
like viking ocean 930 guests azamara 690
1:18
guests one star between 148 and 342
1:21
guests and also probably sagar in the uk
1:23
with around about a thousand guests they
1:25
also compete with small ship lines like
1:28
pranant in france for example oceania is
1:31
like all these lions i think in at least
1:34
five obvious ways first of all they're
1:36
ships the ships are plush they're smart
1:39
they're revamped all of the ships in
1:41
recent years the ships are so much nicer
1:44
than when i first went on them in 2016
1:46
much much nicer but oceania is not
1:49
unique in this though because all the
1:51
smaller ship lines have upped their game
1:53
too either have brand new ships like
1:55
viking or like azamara windstar have
1:58
undergone big interior upgrades
2:01
they have a wide cabin range ranging
2:04
from inside cabins up to suites with a
2:06
butler which i was actually fortunate to
2:08
experience when i was upgraded from the
2:10
cabinet book to veranda up to a suite
2:13
secondly their fares in my experience
2:15
they're broadly the same as the other
2:17
small ship lines on average as mentioned
2:20
smaller ship fares are higher than the
2:22
bigger premium ships like celebrity
2:24
holland america of course as you would
2:26
expect being a smaller ship
2:28
oceania affairs actually fall within the
2:30
middle of the smaller ship pricing with
2:32
viking and windstar usually higher
2:35
viking because it's got more inclusions
2:37
in the fair and windstar as it carries
2:39
much fewer guests oceania has what they
2:42
call olive fares so you can choose from
2:45
three added inclusion options a package
2:48
of excursions a standard drinks package
2:51
or onboard credit the affairs include
2:54
all specialty dining standard wi-fi soft
2:56
drinks regular specialty coffees fitness
2:59
classes and the extra costs are
3:01
gratuities and then drinks and
3:03
excursions based on what choice you've
3:05
made the olaf inclusions do have limits
3:07
and so i always go for the onboard
3:10
credit the excursions are added per
3:12
cabin if you go that route not per
3:14
person so it's actually less attractive
3:16
because as a couple you're really
3:18
halving the number of excursions if you
3:19
know what i mean the drinks package is
3:21
limited and i've seen most people
3:23
upgrade if they've gone that route by
3:25
the way wi-fi is for one device and if
3:27
you really want to do anything much like
3:29
i do when i'm on board you need to
3:31
upgrade to the streaming option thirdly
3:33
oceania like the others focuses very
3:36
much on destinations and input
3:37
activities having smaller ships means
3:40
the ship itself is more of a floating
3:42
luxury hotel than a destination itself
3:45
so i like that oceania offers me a huge
3:48
range of itinerary options in all
3:49
regions they've got lots of different
3:51
lengths they've got smaller and more out
3:53
of the way ports they call on of course
3:55
they go to the expected and the obvious
3:56
as well but i find the variety really
3:58
really appealing of course this is also
4:00
true of all of the smaller cruise lines
4:02
they all cover the same regions the
4:04
caribbean the mediterranean alaska asia
4:08
australia south america they also do
4:10
quite a lot of overnights in ports
4:12
although azamara probably does more than
4:16
oceania
4:17
their 180 day world cruise on insignia
4:20
though is probably the best and the most
4:24
intensive of all the smaller ship lines
4:26
it's the one world cruise of all the
4:27
lines that really appeals to me
4:29
fourthly as with all the other smaller
4:32
ship lines the on-board experience is
4:34
very informal and it's very relaxed
4:37
oceania have a high crew to passenger
4:39
ratio it's almost one for one by the way
4:41
and so service is really good and it's
4:44
definitely attentive i personally find
4:46
it much more personal and personalized
4:49
than i find on bigger premium lines like
4:51
celebrity honda america and so on but
4:53
it's not as formal as on the ultra
4:55
luxury lines like seabourn more on this
4:57
later because this is very important the
4:59
dress code is what they call country
5:02
casual so no jacket or and no tie is
5:06
ever required i do find actually though
5:08
the people do dress up for the captain's
5:10
welcome and farewell parties always take
5:11
something kind of smart along but they
5:14
don't they they actually ask you to not
5:16
wear jeans in the speciality restaurant
5:18
in the grand dining room but if you do
5:20
no one actually stops you i found that
5:22
out on my last trip
5:24
like cruise lines in this category
5:26
oceania have open seated dining in the
5:28
grand dining room their main dining room
5:31
the daily program is classic cruising
5:34
stuff quizzes
5:36
deck games enrichment talks
5:39
enrichment events live music in the bars
5:42
song and dance shows in the theater so
5:44
very very classic
5:45
now these are small ships and like all
5:47
the other small shift lines these are
5:50
small scale theater shows in my view the
5:54
shows on oceania are very predictable
5:56
cruise review stuff they rely a lot on
5:59
older music eras than i would like but
6:02
in practice all the smaller ship lines
6:04
are pretty much the same here now
6:06
fifthly
6:07
although unlike viking which is for 18
6:10
plus guests only oceania in my
6:12
experience is effectively an adults only
6:15
line i have never been on board with
6:17
kids or teens there are no kids clubs
6:20
there's no kids facilities there's no
6:21
family cabins on oceania there's no
6:24
family excursions although they do put a
6:26
little stuff on i believe in alaska like
6:28
most small ship lines oceania attract
6:31
adults mostly and mostly couples over
6:34
the age of 50. whenever i'm on oceania i
6:36
find fellow travelers to be really
6:38
interesting they're well traveled
6:40
they're active because like me they're
6:41
looking new destinations they're looking
6:43
for new ports and they want a smaller
6:45
like i do a more intimate way to get to
6:48
them
6:48
so while oceania does all these things
6:51
well as you can see
6:53
all the smaller lines also do them
6:55
pretty well so is there anything within
6:57
there that is different well there are a
7:00
couple of things they focus even harder
7:02
on enrichment all of those small lines
7:05
have speaker programs but with oceania i
7:07
think they go further with three really
7:09
key things they have the artist loft on
7:11
the bigger new ships where an artist in
7:14
residence runs crafting and artwork
7:16
classes which are really interesting
7:18
they have a large culinary center which
7:21
runs almost daily cooking classes on the
7:23
three bigger ships and on vista the
7:26
cunnery centre now has its own dining
7:27
room which is pretty interesting there
7:29
are also large libraries on all of their
7:31
ships even the smaller ships it's not as
7:32
big as you're going to find on say
7:34
cunard ships but it's probably one of
7:36
the biggest libraries that i've seen on
7:38
other ships particularly for its size
7:41
however while these
7:43
do not really make oceania cruise
7:46
experience that unique i guess is there
7:48
anything beyond that that oceania does
7:50
that is truly truly unique it's time to
7:53
talk about food i'm often asked if
7:56
oceania live up to their advertising
7:57
claim of providing the finest cuisine at
8:00
sea it's a slogan by the way that
8:02
they've even trademarked
8:04
so do they
8:06
because you could argue that most cruise
8:07
lines especially on the more premium
8:09
side have upped their food on recent
8:11
trips i've commented how even lions like
8:14
holland america celebrity and so on
8:17
now have really good high quality food
8:20
it seems to me that every single lion
8:23
these days no matter what category it's
8:25
in has a partnership with some
8:26
well-known celebrity chef or they've
8:28
created a culinary council to help them
8:31
improve food oceania is no exception
8:34
their partnership is with a chef called
8:36
jacques pepe
8:37
he's worked for two french presidents
8:39
and i believe he's a really big deal in
8:41
the united states restaurant world
8:43
there are a few things when it comes to
8:46
food that i do think
8:48
are different on oceania all dining is
8:51
included within the fairs the grand
8:52
dining room the terrace cafe buffet
8:54
which by the way in my view is probably
8:56
one of the best buffet restaurants of
8:59
any line i've been on
9:00
no matter what category
9:02
also included is the informal dining and
9:04
waves grill they serve things like
9:05
hamburgers and stuff like that but also
9:08
all specially dining venues are included
9:11
in the fair this for me is a big big
9:14
factor on the smaller ships there are
9:16
only two specialty restaurants you've
9:18
got polo grill which is the steakhouse
9:20
and toscana which is italian but on the
9:22
bigger ships when i go on those i have a
9:24
huge choice i've got red ginger really
9:27
remarkable asian fusion jacques which is
9:29
the french bistro on vista they've also
9:31
got ember american classics aquamar
9:34
kitchen which is kind of a healthy
9:35
options wellness thing and of course as
9:38
i mentioned earlier on vista you've also
9:39
got the culinary center dining option
9:41
all of these are included in the fair
9:44
and you can go to each of those at least
9:46
once on your cruise now if you're in a
9:48
suite you can go to them pretty much as
9:51
often as you like you can go every night
9:53
if you wanted to to one of them
9:55
they also
9:56
by the way have
9:58
especially dining events which do have a
10:00
charge they have low reserve bar wine
10:01
spectator wine paired menus and you can
10:04
also then do preview which is a private
10:07
dinner party for a group of you these
10:09
specialty restaurants are all
10:12
very very good my favorite by far by a
10:15
long way is red ginger that asian fusion
10:18
my least favorite is because i find that
10:20
overall fussy is jacques but i'm not a
10:23
big fan of french cuisine the philistine
10:26
that i am but other people who like
10:27
french food really liked it now another
10:29
big standout for me is horizons this is
10:32
the lounge that overlooks the bow of the
10:34
ship here's where they do afternoon tea
10:36
every day it is amazing it is absolutely
10:40
one of the best afternoon teas at sea in
10:42
my view
10:44
do oceania have the finest cuisine at
10:46
sea
10:47
i don't know if they have the finest but
10:49
they certainly have some of the best
10:51
cuisine at sea i found that they
10:53
consistently in my view anyway pip
10:56
some of the ultra luxury lines in many
10:59
many occasions and many restaurants so
11:01
what makes them interesting is in terms
11:03
of value the amount that i pay to go on
11:05
oceania versus an ultra luxury line i
11:08
think gives you much better value
11:11
when it comes to food but
11:14
is food enough to say that they offer
11:17
something different in cruising because
11:19
all lines have great food these days
11:21
there is another thing that i feel
11:23
makes them different
11:25
and this has a really big impact
11:28
i feel that i have two very distinct
11:31
cruise experiences based on which of the
11:33
class of ships i cruise on as i said
11:36
earlier there are the four r-class ships
11:38
694 guests
11:40
and the 1200 marina riviera and new
11:43
vista
11:44
they are in my view very different
11:46
experiences and i spoke to many other
11:48
people on my most recent trip who'd been
11:50
on both and they agreed with me on this
11:53
and it's really important because on the
11:54
smaller ships like insignia
11:57
i have a very intimate experience of
11:59
course there's fewer choices of venues
12:02
there's a tiny casino there's only the
12:04
two specialty restaurants
12:07
but when i was on marina it felt like a
12:10
bigger ship experience i had a lot of
12:12
choice i had the same and even more
12:15
choice especially dining venues than on
12:17
say larger ships like holland america
12:20
cunard and even princess ships it did
12:23
feel on that class of ships much closer
12:26
to going on a bigger ship experience but
12:28
with a big plus you don't have the
12:30
crowds you don't know the lines but you
12:31
do have a lot of choice and i think it's
12:33
very important to understand if you
12:34
decide to go in oceania you have two
12:38
really distinctive alternatives to think
12:39
about do you want the very small ship
12:43
with much more limited experience or do
12:45
you want a closer to a big ship
12:47
experience but with the perks of not
12:49
having the crowds and the lines i went
12:51
with my partner on insignia and he was
12:53
much much less keen on it because he
12:55
felt there was too little choice he
12:57
wanted bigger production shows he wanted
12:59
a larger casino i on the other hand
13:01
loved it i liked the smaller more
13:02
intimate experience fewer guests i got
13:05
to know the much better and i was less
13:06
fussed by not having as much choice but
13:08
the bigger marina riviera and vista are
13:11
much more suited to the way that my
13:13
partner likes to cruise more choice
13:15
slightly bigger ship experience no
13:17
matter which of those ship size options
13:20
appeal
13:21
while i think many people could argue
13:22
there's not that much that sets oceania
13:25
aside from the other smaller ship lines
13:28
i have come to appreciate that the main
13:30
reason i like oceania so much and the
13:33
reason i like to suggest it to cruise
13:34
passengers like you
13:36
is because of something much less
13:38
tangible which i think they are
13:41
definitely a notch up on over experience
13:43
feels luxurious and this comes heavily
13:46
from the service and attention to detail
13:48
the crew quickly learned my name they
13:51
quickly learn my likes it is ultra
13:54
luxury cruise line like service but for
13:56
a much lower price than ultra luxury
13:58
cruise lines for example the waiters in
14:00
the terrace cafe and the main dining
14:03
room they within a day or so learned
14:05
that i don't drink alcohol but i love
14:07
caffeine free
14:09
coke which was only available in very
14:12
limited number of bars
14:13
they would always ask when i sat down if
14:15
i wanted one so they could make sure
14:17
they could go and find one for me the
14:18
internet cafe guy knew i was on board
14:20
doing lots of stuff
14:22
trying to upload videos and things and
14:23
he would keep checking in when i passed
14:25
if the streaming service was working as
14:27
i needed
14:28
oceania have an almost one to one
14:30
passenger ratio they claim to recruit
14:33
the state dream stewards from the
14:34
world's finest five-star hotels and that
14:37
the butlers have been trained by the
14:39
guild of professional english butlers i
14:42
don't know if any of that is all true
14:45
but while the hardware aspects of
14:48
oceania are like the other smaller
14:50
cruise lines
14:51
it's the food and that softer side that
14:54
i think really sets them apart so if
14:57
you're looking for a smaller ship
14:58
experience but you don't want to go the
15:00
whole way of going very very small with
15:04
the limited choices that comes with that
15:06
you've got a good transition by going on
15:09
marina vista or riviera it's a good step
15:12
away from the 2000 plus ships you're
15:14
going to find in holland america
15:16
celebrity princess and so on you're
15:18
still going to have a lot of choice
15:19
but if you really do want to go the
15:21
small ship experience the great news is
15:23
you can go on the smaller r-class ships
15:25
that i love but it's still it's
15:27
relatively big it's 694 guests it's not
15:30
tiny like say windstar is
15:32
but if oceania doesn't sound right for
15:34
you why don't you watch this video where
15:36
i dissect and look at viking ocean in
15:38
detail where i start off by talking
15:40
about one thing that their fans told me
15:43
that i was extremely dubious about
15:45
see you over there
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