We chose this cruise for the itinerary and we were not disappointed. The itinerary was amazing and we were successful in arranging private tours in all of the ports except 3 where Oceania had booked all the spots in the preferable tours. In those ports, we had no choice but to book with the ship and it was ridiculously expensive. The tours were great but about 4 times what we would have paid with the same tour operators if we had been able to book privately!

The ship was a great size - we much prefer the smaller ships. The ship was always spotless, with crew cleaning and attending to any issues constantly. However, Oceania seriously overbooked this cruise and we were not able to reserve the cabin we originally wanted, a Concierge Veranda, even though we booked 15 months in advance of sailing! Instead we reserved a Veranda, with wait list for Concierge. We never were able to crack the wait list because Oceania had booked this particular cruise with 30 alumni groups attached to Go Next. The alumni groups did not bother us from a noise standpoint, but when the various alumni groups arranged their individual cocktail parties (usually about 4-5 groups at a time), they took over the Horizons Lounge, making it nearly impossible for the other passengers to find a seat in the lounge. One night, due to rough seas and inclement weather, we literally could not find a seat ANYWHERE on the ship to enjoy a cocktail. Alumni groups had taken over Horizons Lounge and all the other passengers were vying for a very few seats elsewhere. We were very irritated by this because we had paid for the cruise, too, but we were relegated to sitting in the sofa and chairs near the Reception Desk and walking up a level to the bar to get our drinks before dinner. We felt this was a huge mistake on Oceania's part to allow this kind of usurpation of the public areas by one group only. Once we hit better weather, these problems went away, but it was still aggravating not to be able to go to Horizons Lounge for a drink because it was occupied for most of the cruise by the alumni groups.

We found the service to be excellent, with the exception of a few hiccups the first 2 nights in the dining room. Once the wait staff and sommeliers got their acts together in the dining room, things were very smooth there as far as service went. We had a favorite waiter but he was often fully subscribed (I have a feeling others wanted him as their waiter, too). However, from day 3 on, we had few service issues in the dining room at all for dinner. Food was always outstanding! We also had wonderful service in the specialty restaurants and at the Patio Grill. Even the buffet the one night we ate there was excellent. All in all, I would say that kudos are in order for the food and service. Red Ginger and Tuscan Grill were both fabulous with outstanding service and excellent food. Read more