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4 Things That Make Oceania Cruises Different To Others
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Jan 28, 2025
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 ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 90 cruises I have done to date. BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- * Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— * Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join * Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ * Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA ———————————————
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as many cruise passengers point out to
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me on the surface oceania appear to be
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basically exactly the same as all the
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lines they compete with so people ask me
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why do i like them so much i actually
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struggled to answer that so on my most
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recent oceania trip i paid really
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careful attention and this is what i
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discovered about oceania
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if you're new here welcome aboard i'm
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gary bembridge and it's my goal to make
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it easy and fun to discover plan and
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enjoy unforgettable cruise vacations so
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let's go explore oceania cruises who
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exactly do oceania compete with well
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they're in the smaller ship category and
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what i think of as a luxury area so this
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category falls in pricing at least
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between the larger ship premium lines so
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things like honda america princess
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celebrity virgin cunard and then on the
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other side ultra luxury all sweet lines
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like seabourn silversea region 7c
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cruises they actually have seven ships
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within their fleet four r-class ships
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which carry 694 guests insignia regatta
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serena and nautica then they have the
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sister marina and riviera with 1 250
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guests and the brand new vista with 1
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200 guests so they compete with lines
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like viking ocean 930 guests azamara 690
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guests one star between 148 and 342
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guests and also probably sagar in the uk
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with around about a thousand guests they
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also compete with small ship lines like
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pranant in france for example oceania is
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like all these lions i think in at least
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five obvious ways first of all they're
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ships the ships are plush they're smart
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they're revamped all of the ships in
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recent years the ships are so much nicer
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than when i first went on them in 2016
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much much nicer but oceania is not
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unique in this though because all the
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smaller ship lines have upped their game
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too either have brand new ships like
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viking or like azamara windstar have
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undergone big interior upgrades
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they have a wide cabin range ranging
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from inside cabins up to suites with a
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butler which i was actually fortunate to
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experience when i was upgraded from the
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cabinet book to veranda up to a suite
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secondly their fares in my experience
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they're broadly the same as the other
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small ship lines on average as mentioned
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smaller ship fares are higher than the
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bigger premium ships like celebrity
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holland america of course as you would
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expect being a smaller ship
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oceania affairs actually fall within the
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middle of the smaller ship pricing with
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viking and windstar usually higher
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viking because it's got more inclusions
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in the fair and windstar as it carries
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much fewer guests oceania has what they
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call olive fares so you can choose from
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three added inclusion options a package
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of excursions a standard drinks package
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or onboard credit the affairs include
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all specialty dining standard wi-fi soft
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drinks regular specialty coffees fitness
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classes and the extra costs are
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gratuities and then drinks and
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excursions based on what choice you've
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made the olaf inclusions do have limits
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and so i always go for the onboard
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credit the excursions are added per
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cabin if you go that route not per
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person so it's actually less attractive
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because as a couple you're really
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halving the number of excursions if you
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know what i mean the drinks package is
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limited and i've seen most people
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upgrade if they've gone that route by
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the way wi-fi is for one device and if
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you really want to do anything much like
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i do when i'm on board you need to
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upgrade to the streaming option thirdly
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oceania like the others focuses very
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much on destinations and input
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activities having smaller ships means
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the ship itself is more of a floating
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luxury hotel than a destination itself
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so i like that oceania offers me a huge
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range of itinerary options in all
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regions they've got lots of different
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lengths they've got smaller and more out
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of the way ports they call on of course
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they go to the expected and the obvious
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as well but i find the variety really
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really appealing of course this is also
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true of all of the smaller cruise lines
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they all cover the same regions the
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caribbean the mediterranean alaska asia
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australia south america they also do
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quite a lot of overnights in ports
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although azamara probably does more than
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oceania
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their 180 day world cruise on insignia
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though is probably the best and the most
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intensive of all the smaller ship lines
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it's the one world cruise of all the
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lines that really appeals to me
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fourthly as with all the other smaller
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ship lines the on-board experience is
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very informal and it's very relaxed
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oceania have a high crew to passenger
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ratio it's almost one for one by the way
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and so service is really good and it's
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definitely attentive i personally find
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it much more personal and personalized
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than i find on bigger premium lines like
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celebrity honda america and so on but
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it's not as formal as on the ultra
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luxury lines like seabourn more on this
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later because this is very important the
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dress code is what they call country
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casual so no jacket or and no tie is
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ever required i do find actually though
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the people do dress up for the captain's
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welcome and farewell parties always take
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something kind of smart along but they
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don't they they actually ask you to not
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wear jeans in the speciality restaurant
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in the grand dining room but if you do
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no one actually stops you i found that
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out on my last trip
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like cruise lines in this category
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oceania have open seated dining in the
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grand dining room their main dining room
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the daily program is classic cruising
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stuff quizzes
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deck games enrichment talks
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enrichment events live music in the bars
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song and dance shows in the theater so
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very very classic
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now these are small ships and like all
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the other small shift lines these are
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small scale theater shows in my view the
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shows on oceania are very predictable
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cruise review stuff they rely a lot on
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older music eras than i would like but
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in practice all the smaller ship lines
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are pretty much the same here now
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fifthly
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although unlike viking which is for 18
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plus guests only oceania in my
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experience is effectively an adults only
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line i have never been on board with
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kids or teens there are no kids clubs
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there's no kids facilities there's no
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family cabins on oceania there's no
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family excursions although they do put a
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little stuff on i believe in alaska like
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most small ship lines oceania attract
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adults mostly and mostly couples over
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the age of 50. whenever i'm on oceania i
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find fellow travelers to be really
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interesting they're well traveled
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they're active because like me they're
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looking new destinations they're looking
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for new ports and they want a smaller
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like i do a more intimate way to get to
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them
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so while oceania does all these things
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well as you can see
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all the smaller lines also do them
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pretty well so is there anything within
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there that is different well there are a
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couple of things they focus even harder
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on enrichment all of those small lines
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have speaker programs but with oceania i
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think they go further with three really
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key things they have the artist loft on
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the bigger new ships where an artist in
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residence runs crafting and artwork
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classes which are really interesting
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they have a large culinary center which
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runs almost daily cooking classes on the
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three bigger ships and on vista the
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cunnery centre now has its own dining
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room which is pretty interesting there
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are also large libraries on all of their
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ships even the smaller ships it's not as
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big as you're going to find on say
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cunard ships but it's probably one of
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the biggest libraries that i've seen on
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other ships particularly for its size
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however while these
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do not really make oceania cruise
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experience that unique i guess is there
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anything beyond that that oceania does
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that is truly truly unique it's time to
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talk about food i'm often asked if
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oceania live up to their advertising
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claim of providing the finest cuisine at
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sea it's a slogan by the way that
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they've even trademarked
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so do they
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because you could argue that most cruise
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lines especially on the more premium
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side have upped their food on recent
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trips i've commented how even lions like
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holland america celebrity and so on
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now have really good high quality food
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it seems to me that every single lion
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these days no matter what category it's
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in has a partnership with some
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well-known celebrity chef or they've
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created a culinary council to help them
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improve food oceania is no exception
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their partnership is with a chef called
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jacques pepe
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he's worked for two french presidents
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and i believe he's a really big deal in
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the united states restaurant world
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there are a few things when it comes to
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food that i do think
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are different on oceania all dining is
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included within the fairs the grand
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dining room the terrace cafe buffet
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which by the way in my view is probably
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one of the best buffet restaurants of
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any line i've been on
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no matter what category
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also included is the informal dining and
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waves grill they serve things like
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hamburgers and stuff like that but also
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all specially dining venues are included
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in the fair this for me is a big big
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factor on the smaller ships there are
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only two specialty restaurants you've
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got polo grill which is the steakhouse
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and toscana which is italian but on the
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bigger ships when i go on those i have a
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huge choice i've got red ginger really
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remarkable asian fusion jacques which is
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the french bistro on vista they've also
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got ember american classics aquamar
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kitchen which is kind of a healthy
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options wellness thing and of course as
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i mentioned earlier on vista you've also
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got the culinary center dining option
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all of these are included in the fair
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and you can go to each of those at least
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once on your cruise now if you're in a
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suite you can go to them pretty much as
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often as you like you can go every night
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if you wanted to to one of them
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they also
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by the way have
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especially dining events which do have a
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charge they have low reserve bar wine
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spectator wine paired menus and you can
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also then do preview which is a private
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dinner party for a group of you these
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specialty restaurants are all
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very very good my favorite by far by a
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long way is red ginger that asian fusion
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my least favorite is because i find that
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overall fussy is jacques but i'm not a
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big fan of french cuisine the philistine
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that i am but other people who like
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french food really liked it now another
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big standout for me is horizons this is
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the lounge that overlooks the bow of the
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ship here's where they do afternoon tea
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every day it is amazing it is absolutely
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one of the best afternoon teas at sea in
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my view
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do oceania have the finest cuisine at
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sea
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i don't know if they have the finest but
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they certainly have some of the best
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cuisine at sea i found that they
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consistently in my view anyway pip
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some of the ultra luxury lines in many
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many occasions and many restaurants so
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what makes them interesting is in terms
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of value the amount that i pay to go on
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oceania versus an ultra luxury line i
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think gives you much better value
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when it comes to food but
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is food enough to say that they offer
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something different in cruising because
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all lines have great food these days
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there is another thing that i feel
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makes them different
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and this has a really big impact
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i feel that i have two very distinct
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cruise experiences based on which of the
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class of ships i cruise on as i said
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earlier there are the four r-class ships
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694 guests
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and the 1200 marina riviera and new
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vista
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they are in my view very different
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experiences and i spoke to many other
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people on my most recent trip who'd been
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on both and they agreed with me on this
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and it's really important because on the
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smaller ships like insignia
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i have a very intimate experience of
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course there's fewer choices of venues
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there's a tiny casino there's only the
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two specialty restaurants
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but when i was on marina it felt like a
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bigger ship experience i had a lot of
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choice i had the same and even more
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choice especially dining venues than on
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say larger ships like holland america
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cunard and even princess ships it did
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feel on that class of ships much closer
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to going on a bigger ship experience but
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with a big plus you don't have the
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crowds you don't know the lines but you
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do have a lot of choice and i think it's
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very important to understand if you
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decide to go in oceania you have two
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really distinctive alternatives to think
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about do you want the very small ship
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with much more limited experience or do
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you want a closer to a big ship
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experience but with the perks of not
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having the crowds and the lines i went
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with my partner on insignia and he was
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much much less keen on it because he
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felt there was too little choice he
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wanted bigger production shows he wanted
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a larger casino i on the other hand
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loved it i liked the smaller more
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intimate experience fewer guests i got
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to know the much better and i was less
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fussed by not having as much choice but
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the bigger marina riviera and vista are
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much more suited to the way that my
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partner likes to cruise more choice
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slightly bigger ship experience no
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matter which of those ship size options
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appeal
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while i think many people could argue
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there's not that much that sets oceania
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aside from the other smaller ship lines
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i have come to appreciate that the main
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reason i like oceania so much and the
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reason i like to suggest it to cruise
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passengers like you
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is because of something much less
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tangible which i think they are
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definitely a notch up on over experience
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feels luxurious and this comes heavily
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from the service and attention to detail
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the crew quickly learned my name they
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quickly learn my likes it is ultra
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luxury cruise line like service but for
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a much lower price than ultra luxury
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cruise lines for example the waiters in
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the terrace cafe and the main dining
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room they within a day or so learned
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that i don't drink alcohol but i love
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caffeine free
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coke which was only available in very
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limited number of bars
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they would always ask when i sat down if
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i wanted one so they could make sure
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they could go and find one for me the
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internet cafe guy knew i was on board
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doing lots of stuff
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trying to upload videos and things and
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he would keep checking in when i passed
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if the streaming service was working as
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i needed
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oceania have an almost one to one
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passenger ratio they claim to recruit
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the state dream stewards from the
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world's finest five-star hotels and that
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the butlers have been trained by the
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guild of professional english butlers i
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don't know if any of that is all true
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but while the hardware aspects of
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oceania are like the other smaller
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cruise lines
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it's the food and that softer side that
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i think really sets them apart so if
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you're looking for a smaller ship
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experience but you don't want to go the
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whole way of going very very small with
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the limited choices that comes with that
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you've got a good transition by going on
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marina vista or riviera it's a good step
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away from the 2000 plus ships you're
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going to find in holland america
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celebrity princess and so on you're
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still going to have a lot of choice
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but if you really do want to go the
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small ship experience the great news is
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you can go on the smaller r-class ships
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that i love but it's still it's
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relatively big it's 694 guests it's not
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tiny like say windstar is
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but if oceania doesn't sound right for
15:34
you why don't you watch this video where
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i dissect and look at viking ocean in
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detail where i start off by talking
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about one thing that their fans told me
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that i was extremely dubious about
15:45
see you over there
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