Another Great Time with Oceania

This was our second cruise with Oceania. The first was a tour of the Baltic on the Marina. We chose this cruise because of it's interesting itinerary. The Insignia was appointed very nicely. We found the smaller ship to be a bit more intimate than the Marina. Our penthouse was nicely appointed and the size was adequate.

The food for the most part was excellent. The meals in the main dining room were consistently very good with lots of variety. We ate in the Polo Grill 4 times and it was wonderful every time. In our opinion Toscana was quite average. In fact we cancelled one reservation and moved to Polo. The Terrace Grill while offering good variety and tasty food is to be avoided most of the time. People seem to lose their manners when confronted with an all you can eat buffet. I could write a book about some of the boorish behaviour we witnessed from a small percentage of fellow passengers. You would think they hadn't been out in public or eaten for months.

The staff on board in all instances were great. Always friendly and willing to help out if asked. The entertainment was very good. We normally avoid going to the shows but found the entertainment to be quite enjoyable. Ray Carr, the Cruise Director, was fantastic. The only knock against him is he is a Seattle Seahawks fan. The only weak part of the cruise was the shore excursions which we found to be quite spotty. The positive is that it is very convenient to book an excursion with Oceania. We found, however, that some of the itineraries changed by the time we boarded the ship and some of the tours like the Mekong River Cruise were really cheesy and a waste of time. We would give 5 out of 10 for the tours. We would definitely book our own tours next time.

All in all lots of fun. We would certainly book with Oceania again. If you really want a special experience book an Oceania Suite on the the Marina or Riviera.