We just returned from our Pacific Coast 7 night cruise. We arrived at our designated 11 o'clock time and the lines were long. They were long because the check-in process was very old time. Even though we did the complete check-in on line, it didn't seem to matter since everything had to be redone manually. Slow and tedious. On our recent Princess cruise, we were done in about a minute with their high tech excellent Medallion service.

We have always loved the design and size of the R-class ships and this did to disappoint. This is our first time back since the complete refurbishment and they did a beautiful job. We had a Penthouse Suite and enjoyed everything about it. The colors of the cabin are very soothing and everything compliments each other. We had a prior experience in a balcony cabin on Azamara and were not happy with the size so we upgraded to a PH on this ship and couldn't have been happier. The cabin comes with butler service and Roger was great. He always checked to make sure we had what we needed. We did not use him for any special requests but he brought our daily cheese tray and made sure we had clean wine glasses and plates. The cabin stewards did an excellent keeping the cabin pristine and evening turndown service came with the requisite chocolate on the pillow. Although the elevators are tiny and few, we never waited more than a minute for one. All cabins were an easy walk to the elevators, an advantage of small ships.

Upon arrival, we had lunch on the Lido deck which was underwhelming and this was the beginning of our main gripe. Food was always excellent on prior Oceania sailings but there is much work that needs to be done. The selection was small but there was always something to be had but the quality was down. The carved meats were either dry , tough, or both. Fish dishes were just that...fishy. I had fresh grilled swordfish and couldn't eat it. One day they had an excellent roast suckling pigandt that was the most enjoyable dish on the Lido all trip. Pizza was good. Ice cream was excellent. My wife had lobster twice and found the flavor to be very off-putting. Prime rib was anything but prime and was served almost cold. It was not only the quality of the food but orders were wrong. Breakfast was very hit and miss. Eggs Benedict were left under the heat lamp and had a crust. I ordered Scrambled eggs and broiled kippers and got eggs that seemed powdered and capers. In Toscano, I had excellent osso buco and a pasta appetizer. My wife had lobster and, as previously described, was not good. Polo, on the other hand, was fantastic. The steaks were perfect as were the sides. Otherwise, the food was good but not up to Oceania's great standards. Then, there was the service, These people work hard but they did give is the bums rush on two evenings and we were not happy. Entrees came twice while we still had our appetizers and they were set on the side and got cold. The last night was the epitome of bad service. After our appetizers were finished, our table was completely cleared including breads that we were still eating and wine glasses, We were then handed dessert menus. I told the waiter that I thought I needed more than 6 snails to fill me. The table was reset and we finished. Unfortunately, I had to mention many flaws. We did have some good meals but the misses were too many. Read more