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I explore the pros and cons, the watch-outs and the things that you really need to know about Oceania Cruises before you cruise with them. I look at topics including the type of passengers they are best for in my view, the food, the ships and what to expect from the fares and on-board experience. Want to find out more about Oceania Cruises? Then watch my other video Oceania Pros and Cons: https://youtu.be/CnjxfmKdRaA
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Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 60+ cruises.
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0:00
what are the seven things you need to
0:02
know about Oceania before you consider
0:05
cruising with them
0:07
I'm Gary beverage this is another of my
0:09
tips for Turner's I'm in my cabin
0:11
onboard oceania insignia and there's a
0:15
whole bunch of things that I've learned
0:16
through my oceanic trips that I thought
0:17
that you really need to know if you're
0:20
ever considering cruising on oceanic
0:22
cruises starting with this one
0:25
Oshie onea operate small to mid-sized
0:28
ships and time recording they have six
0:31
ships in their fleet and they have two
0:33
more on order four of those are a closer
0:36
ship called the r-class ship like the
0:39
insignia and this is great because it
0:42
just has just under 700 guests about 698
0:45
passengers so it's a really good small
0:48
sized ship then they have two
0:50
purpose-built ships which are the marina
0:54
and the riviera which carry 1250
0:57
passages so definitely in that small to
1:00
mid-size area so if you want to go on a
1:03
smaller more intimate ship can
1:05
definitely Oceania is for you and that's
1:06
one of the things and reasons that I
1:08
really like Oceania a huge amount the
1:12
second thing you need to know is Oceania
1:14
operates a premium luxury cruise line so
1:16
it's not an ultra luxury line so it's
1:19
not a seaborne as silver sea or in fact
1:21
their sister company region seven seas
1:23
they operate that premium luxury side
1:25
and so they're probably really compete
1:28
with lines you could argue like Azamara
1:32
win star those sort of lines which also
1:35
operate smaller ships the sort of luxury
1:38
they offer though is a more relaxed form
1:40
of luxury so they have for example a
1:42
more relaxed dress code ever country
1:45
casuals dress code so it basically means
1:47
you don't wear jeans and t-shirts to
1:49
evening dinner although you can if you
1:52
want to and you can wear shorts in the
1:54
informal dining so it's a it's a much
1:57
more relaxed dress code the service is
2:00
good but it's a slightly more informal
2:02
more relaxed dress code so if you're
2:04
looking for luxury looking for premium
2:05
but don't want to be formal and stuffy
2:07
with also dress codes very formal
2:09
service then definitely Oceania is
2:12
something to
2:13
consider one of the key big strengths of
2:16
Oceania something they would argue and
2:18
the people who love Oceania they were
2:20
the ISO control of Oceania I would say
2:22
is the food in fact they believe so
2:25
strong in their food that they've
2:26
trademarked a slogan the finest cuisine
2:29
at sea they do have reported here and
2:32
that certainly seems to be verified the
2:33
highest spend per passenger on food in
2:37
its class so they do come a lot of
2:39
energy into their food and certainly we
2:41
look at the scale and scope of the menus
2:42
on board there are very comprehensive
2:44
they have a culinary partner who helps
2:46
them craft that and that's a Frenchman
2:49
who is now based in the u.s. he's an
2:51
author he's a TV personality
2:53
I was actually the chef for three French
2:55
presidents and that's a man called a
2:57
Jacques Pepin on some of the bigger
2:59
ships they have a country center or so
3:01
with excursions they offer specific
3:03
culinary excursions where they can then
3:05
food and wine tours and they basically
3:08
have a huge big focus around food
3:11
linked to that the fourth thing you need
3:12
to know which is a really great thing is
3:15
that all dining options are included
3:17
within the fair so it's really great so
3:19
I'll just give an example which is
3:20
pretty consistent across the ships
3:22
although some of the restaurant names
3:23
slightly change overall but on insignia
3:26
for example this is what is included in
3:28
the fare you have the main dining room
3:29
the grand dining room breakfast lunch
3:31
and dinner as already mentioned huge big
3:33
menus you then have the Terrace Cafe
3:36
which is the more informal dining that's
3:39
a buffet breakfast lunch and dinner huge
3:42
choice of food and often the evenings
3:45
they will have theme nights Mexican
3:47
Italian those kind of themes they have a
3:51
infos of grill which is the wave grill
3:53
out on the pool deck early morning
3:55
breakfasts and then you can get things
3:57
like hamburgers and hot dogs that kind
3:59
of stuff at lunchtime they have baristas
4:01
we get always specialty coffees and
4:03
snacks and then they have often in tea
4:06
every day
4:06
which is beautiful often tea with cakes
4:08
and sandwiches and scones and that's
4:11
held on insignia in the horizons lounge
4:15
up on deck 10 every day also room
4:19
service is included then they have two
4:21
speciality restaurants which are
4:23
included within the fair on insignia
4:25
it's the peligro which is
4:26
Steakhouse big luscious steaks and
4:29
having Italian which is Toscana so all
4:32
of those food options
4:33
huge big menus which are massive big
4:36
menus are all included within the fare
4:38
again because they focus on food on
4:41
marina and Riviera the special edge
4:43
restaurants are slightly different -
4:45
they are on the regatta class ships and
4:47
these are shark which is French red
4:51
ginger which is Asian and Tuscan which
4:53
is more of the steakhouse another thing
4:57
that you need to know about Oceana is
4:58
certainly something that I know a lot of
5:00
patterns that I spoke to appreciate is
5:02
the fact that you have a choice of
5:04
having much more included within your
5:06
fare so let me talk about what is
5:09
included within the fail to see the
5:11
usual think she'll accommodation the
5:12
food as I've mentioned is included Wi-Fi
5:15
is also included at a basic level so you
5:17
get free Wi-Fi per cabin it's for one
5:21
device so they'll simply log out if
5:23
someone else wants to use it it's pretty
5:24
basic internet so it allows you to do
5:26
the usual sort of browsing email if you
5:28
want to go a little bit more
5:29
sophisticated you want to be able to
5:31
provide up to streaming quality
5:33
you then have to pay for that and on the
5:35
crew so I was on it was nine dollars
5:37
ninety nine per day to my experience in
5:39
Oceania is okay on the trips that I've
5:41
been on it's certainly not like leading
5:44
edge at this stage but you do have
5:47
unlimited Wi-Fi at a basic level
5:48
included also what you then can choose
5:51
is a whole bunch of other things
5:53
included so they have what's known as Oh
5:55
life affairs and you get to choose with
5:59
another life a couple of things I first
6:00
of all normally it includes airfare you
6:02
can have that stripped out and you get a
6:04
discount if you don't want F ain't
6:06
really but normally there include your
6:07
airfare to get to the ship then you can
6:10
choose to have one of three different
6:12
amenities one of which is you can just
6:15
simply choose to have onboard credit so
6:17
for example I was on a 7-night cruise
6:19
and I got four hundred dollars onboard
6:22
credit and that was for the cabin not
6:24
per person you just have that or you can
6:27
choose to take excursions so again for
6:29
example on the seven are Caribbean you
6:30
get for excursions instead as your
6:33
option or you could choose to get a
6:35
drinks package and the drinks package is
6:37
the basic package which will give you
6:39
drinks as
6:40
lunchtime and at dinner not the bigger
6:42
package this is more ultimate package a
6:44
couple of important things to note with
6:46
those inclusions so if you go for the
6:48
excursions on you've got four excursions
6:50
so there's two of you in a cabin you
6:52
know it's basically two excursions that
6:53
you go onto together so if you wanted
6:55
more excursions you have to pay for that
6:56
if you're going for the drinks package
6:58
if you wanted to go for the bigger
7:00
package which allowed you drinks all the
7:02
time then there would be I think it was
7:04
about twenty dollars per person per day
7:05
to upgrade to that so there are more
7:08
inclusions you get to decide which of
7:10
those are important what I did which I
7:12
think was a great thing to do is I took
7:13
the Armel credit because then I could
7:15
allocate that to drinks and two extra
7:19
Wi-Fi or excursions as I wanted very
7:22
importantly exclusions in the fare
7:24
gratuities are not included or bundled
7:27
in the fare and at the time of recording
7:29
the gratuities was sixteen dollars per
7:31
person per day in a balcony cabin
7:33
slightly more review in a suite so
7:35
that's about one hundred and twelve
7:36
dollars per person so two hundred twenty
7:39
four dollars for a couple in a cabin
7:42
excursions of course are not included if
7:44
you haven't reported within that package
7:46
and you probably don't want to do more
7:47
excursions if you're unemployed
7:49
intensive so those big things to watch
7:50
out for Wi-Fi is included a basic level
7:53
which is fine so you may not need to
7:55
spend any more money there you've gotta
7:57
do more excursions you've got that cost
7:59
and you've then of course got the cost
8:02
of gratuities but certainly lot of
8:05
people that I spoke to they really
8:06
appreciate the fact that you had the
8:08
choice of having more bundled into your
8:10
fare and also the other thing I found is
8:12
there was also events and activities
8:14
where drinks was included so for example
8:16
on the captain's welcome party there was
8:18
drinks and canapes and there for two
8:20
hours after that there were free
8:21
cocktails in the bars and often they'll
8:24
be two-for-one cocktails and other
8:25
offers so certainly there is a lot of
8:28
drinks and things included within the
8:30
fare that are not formally declared as
8:32
it were within the overall package the
8:35
next key thing to know although I've
8:37
already touched on is in terms of the
8:39
informal dress code the dress code is
8:41
called country casual and it does mean
8:44
that you're asked in the evenings in the
8:46
main restaurant to wear sort of slacks
8:48
if you're gentlemen some sort of
8:50
collared shirt
8:52
and equivalent for ladies you will find
8:54
however the dress code is relatively
8:56
relaxed and not everyone sticks to it so
8:59
you can find that some people are dress
9:01
incredibly beautifully and there's an
9:03
extra people in the restaurant that are
9:05
really touching the edges of country
9:08
casual suddenly if you wanna come on a
9:09
luxury cruise a premium Cruise and
9:11
dressed very casually shorts for dinner
9:13
you can do that but you just can't go to
9:15
the main dining room but you are going
9:17
to find out a lot of variants in the
9:18
dress code and annealing so you can
9:20
easily be walking on the ship in the
9:22
evening with a wide range of dress codes
9:24
so that's very important understand if
9:26
you're looking for a much more formal
9:27
dressy event of course you can get
9:29
dressed up but not everyone on the ship
9:30
is going to be doing that in terms of
9:32
guests onboard you're going to find it's
9:34
very much a couple's experience and it
9:36
does seem to be slightly older although
9:39
on mcruiz IV now it's been really really
9:41
varied with people in there let lay 30s
9:44
40s 50 60 70 s and above so it does tend
9:48
to have a wide range but it's very much
9:49
a couples experience I was actually
9:51
traveling on this as a solo traveler and
9:53
I said it was the exception very
9:56
important there aren't solar cabins and
9:58
you do in a paint pretty much a full
10:01
couples fair if you are going to have a
10:04
sadist cabin of course look out for
10:06
deals but the whole experience is very
10:07
much around a couples experience so if
10:09
you want to have tables for two for
10:11
example you can put you're going to find
10:13
you'll get groups or friends traveling
10:15
together but it's not really a kids
10:17
experience so certainly there's no kids
10:19
clubs there's no kids facilities onboard
10:21
and it's very much a older couples
10:24
experience not families so even as a
10:27
multi-generational in my view it oh sure
10:30
on is not really what you're going to
10:31
find a good match because I think the
10:32
kids are not gonna find a great
10:34
experience and probably I'm guessing or
10:36
they don't know because it covers
10:37
experience kids will find that they're
10:40
not really integrated as they could be
10:42
on other cruise lines
10:43
the one key exception from that is if
10:45
you are looking to garnish on it in
10:47
Alaska and they do run a youth program
10:49
for kids up to the age of 15 on their
10:53
very specific Alaska program so they do
10:55
cater for kids in that particular
10:58
itinerary a small to medium ship
11:00
experience a relaxed luxury experience a
11:03
big focus on food
11:04
and a premium experience that's not
11:08
going to be fussy that really is Oceania
11:11
they argue they cater and focus on small
11:14
timid ships
11:15
food and real destination emotion that's
11:18
what they claim I think that it's really
11:20
around the small ship and the food is
11:22
the real heart of it of course you
11:23
choose that generic to make sure you get
11:25
to great destinations and itineraries
11:27
that really suit to you hope you found
11:30
that helpful is giving you a good sense
11:31
of what you need to know about Oceania I
11:33
have loads of videos of all sorts of
11:35
tips advice and information so why don't
11:38
you watch another one of those right now
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