We recently returned from a 15 day round trip cruise from Cape Town, SA. The food was outstanding - the best we have ever had on 14 cruises (all on other lines). The service was mostly good, but there were a few instances of surly attitudes among the staff. I also liked not having to pay for dining in specialty restaurants, free water and soft drinks, no formal nights and no one taking your photo every time you turn around. On the other hand, there wasn't much else to rave about on this ship.

Oceania markets themselves as an upscale luxury cruise line. Such is not so. They do charge premium prices, in this instance about 250% above what a similar verandah stateroom on HAL, Cunard or Princess would cost for the same room - but you don't get anything more. Our cabin was equivalent to cabins we have had on the aforementioned lines with the exception that HAL's bathrooms are larger!

Particularly noteworthy bad was the Nautica's shore excursion program. It was staffed by two young relatively inexperienced people with the more experienced supervisor making himself invisible. We went on 8 excursions, four of them were relatively good and the other four were mediocre. One was advertised as a cultural tour of a Xulu tribal village, but was nothing more than a visit to a 1985 TV set with two hours of coffee and shopping time. Another tour was a desert 4x4 vehicle that broke down in the Namib desert after getting a flat, getting mired in the sand, missing three of the six stops and arriving back in port almost an hour late. Oceania did fully refund the cost of that trip but only after getting permission to do so from their home office in Miami (the shipboard staff should have had discretion to offer the full refund since it was a no-brainer). The 4x4 driver was also ill equipped to handle the breakdown. He had a tire jack that did not work, no radio or walkie-talkie for communicating with the other vehicles in the convoy and the next day he went out on the same tour without a spare tire! Does Oceania even bother to vet the companies they use for shore excursions? Oceania doesn't really appear to take their shore excursion program seriously, with most tours sold out weeks before they embark, a confusing pricing structure with three different price levels for the same tours, and a fee shore excursions program that only allows you to take excursions up to $199, but won't allow you to pay the difference if you select a pricier tour. Read more