After nine Celebrity cruises on four different ships, my husband and I took advantage of an amazing discount to “upgrade” to Oceania on an itinerary we liked. We arrived in Nice the morning before the cruise and enjoyed exploring the city (which deserves more than a day). Stayed at La Villa du Victor Hugo, which was well located for walking to both Vieux Nice and the waterfront, and not far from the train station. We took the train to Monaco (an easy trip for 6 euros each ) and got a taxi to the ship. Oceania gets top marks for embarkation; it was the fastest and most efficient boarding we have experienced. (i did miss the welcome champagne that we are used to on Celebrity.). We had lunch at the buffet and were able to get into our stateroom at 3:00; our bags were delivered an hour or two later.

We had a category B3 veranda stateroom (I booked a B4 Guarantee), which was perfectly fine and had one advantage over Celebrity: the bathtub. My husband likes soaking in the tub after a day of sightseeing, so appreciated this enhancement. We found the bed to be somewhat uncomfortable: a little too soft and with a definite and distinct crack in the middle that made cuddling difficult. What surprised us was that our cabin attendant never (I mean never in the whole 8 night trip) greeted us, introduced him/herself, or asked if we needed anything. We are used to the attendant introducing him/herself on the first day, giving a tour of the room and any quirks, and leaving a number to contact him/her. This was certainly a flaw in the service. In addition, on a couple of occasions our dirty glasss were not replaced when the room was cleaned, and we never had enough soap to serve the tub, shower and sink.

Since Oceania’s main claim to excellence is its cuisine, we were expecting to be wowed in the dining room. Unfortunately, we found it no better than Celebrity. We generally dined between 7:45 and 8:30, and had no problem getting a table for two in a good location (kudos to the maitre d’s). The wait staff and somneliers were friendly and competent, and the food was fine, but not outstanding. We ate in three of the four specialty restaurants as well, but were never able to get a reservation for Jacques, even though I tried to reserve online the day we were eligible and checked every day onboard. The fact that Oceania guarantees one reservation in each specialty restaurant does not mean that you can get a reasonable time or a table for two. We were offered 6:00 at a shared table (this was at 5:50 when we had just come back on board from a port visit; the reservation agent said we could get there as late as 6:15 if we needed to shower and dress.). I had my best meal at Red Ginger, which I expected to like the least, and we enjoyed the Polo Grill (though the lighting at our table was so bad that I could not read the menu). We thought Tuscano was okay, but no better than Tuscany on Celebrity. Breakfast in the bufffet was fine, though I would have liked some good hearty multigrain bread and bolder coffee (the coffee throughout the ship was too weak for my taste). We prefer being able to help ourselves, choosing our own ingredients and determining portion size, rather than having the staff do it. Because we were in port every day, we did not have lunch on the ship. I would have liked to try Waves Grill, as their menu was very inviting, with grilled fish as well as burgers. We used room service twice (just for coffee and tea) and delivery was prompt and friendly. Read more