On december 26, 2022, the captain ran the ship into a sandbar on the amazon river. we lost all power (while i had just put shampoo in my hair in the shower). we also lost all water. we heard nothing from the bridge once emergency (and very limited) power came back on -- but not in our cabin. the ship dropped anchor --- i'm guessing to stop us from drifitng onto the shore or in the paths of cargo ships. no air-conditioning in our cabin on a 88-92 degree day -- all windows and mirrrors immediately steamed up. had we opened our door to our small (tiny?) deck, that would have made things only worse. so we had to sit and sweat while wondering if the "abandon ship" order was going to be issued. the public address system worked because the cruise director was kind enough to remind us of the upcoming trivia games while we were wondering if we were going to have to abandon ship!!!!!!!!!!. about 45 minutes to an hour went by before the captain came on said something -- we had no idea what he said because he was talking quickly (was he excited?) and he had a very strong accent. it was one scary hour from hell! i was told by other passengers that he said we had enountered a "technical" problem but it was fixed. (i learned about the sandbar after questioning experienced sailors (including a former u.s. Navy senior officer) among the passengers.

One of the reasons we chose this ship was because we traveled from lima to tahiti on the marina almost exactly four years earlier. i was able to use email and telephone communications and stay in touch with my clients via my computer on most days. the internet system has now been downgraded and is virtually worthless for business communications. unfortunately, on our trip to tahiti the ship suffered an rsv-virus outbreak and most of the passengers (including us) became very ill. that's when we learned what a yellow quarantine flag means when the ship began to fly the flag. we should have learned not to return to oceania.

Unfortunately, we did return to oceania eariler this year and worked with a very inexperienced crew on one of the first cruises after covid restrictions were released. but that's another horror story with the insignia ship (including running out of most fresh fruits and vegetables. have you ever tried a caesar salad made from cabbage?). Read more