For those interested in a comparison, let's look at the differences between Oceania and Princess. We were on the 18-day Dublin-Copenhagen segment. This was our first cruise with Oceania. We are elite with Princess. We chose this cruise because of the itinerary: Norway and northern Russian ports. Oceania has considerably less merchandising pressure. There is no crew of photographers. The crew seems under less pressure to sell extras. There are no "cruise ship art" events. Speciality coffees and sparkling water are available without extra charge. Speciality restaurants are available without extra charge. On the other hand, the cheapest bottle of wine on Oceania is about $10 a bottle more than on Princess. That generally put wine above what I was willing to pay. The ship felt less crowded and there was never a problem finding outdoor seating (although the Northern itinerary may have had something to do with that). 650 passengers instead of thousands does make for a different (and pleasant) experience. Oceania does live up to its reputation for good food. The dining room food was consistently a notch better than Princess. The buffet food was also very good. However, the buffet was typically more crowded than I'm used to on Princess. Our cabin (C1 ocean view) was equivalent to what we'd expect on Princess. Surprisingly, the cabin steward was good, but not as good as is typical on Princess. There were two ship lecturers. We only went to the lectures by one, but she was outstanding (https://cruisethroughhistory.com}. I liked the smaller venue for ship shows, although the noise level (at times 90db or more) was louder than I'd like. Passenger demographics: Oceania is a bit older and fellow passengers are on average wealthier. They also have a tendency to provide lots of details on their previous exotic Oceania cruises. At first that was useful, since we've not been on Oceania before, but enough was enough.... Shore excursions are overpriced. We generally don't book ship excursions, but we took their tours to make life easier for the three Russian ports, and we booked the bird safari at North Cape (a mistake). In Lerwick we hired a cab for the day. I tried to rent a car, but waited too long. I'd recommend planning ahead and getting a car. Even if you feel a bit uncomfortable driving in the UK, traffic on Shetland Island is thin. We walked around Bergen, a lovely port. Instead of the Oceania excursion to Mt. Floyen, we booked in advance on-line (https://www.floyen.no/en). Efficient and lots less money. In Kristiansund, there is a company that takes off from the cruise dock and heads up the local fjord for a lot less than Oceania. The Russian tours were fine, although private packages would have saved money. North Cape was a good tour — but we could have done it for less than half the Oceania price on our own. My advice is to rent a car (there is a company at the pier that will rent a car for 1500 NOK). That would allow both the bird safari and a drive up to North Cape, and save a whole lot of money. Thee is also a public bus, although an expensive one, from the pier to North Cape. The tourist office at the pier has the details. Although the cruise to Flam is spectacular, I can't say I'd recommend the railroad trip — but if you do take it, don't book with Oceania. You can either book on-line in advance or buy a ticket once you get there. Flam itself is a town of about 500 that absorbs thousands of cruise ship passengers, and is entirely uninteresting on its own. Cabs in Copenhagen (Uber withdrew from the city) are readily available at the cruise terminal and will set you back less than the Oceania transfer. In sum, Oceania is about twice the price (or more). If I had a choice between them I'd take Princess assuming identical itineraries. However, Oceania's smaller ships bring one to places Princess doesn't. I wouldn't hesitate to book Oceania again — but only if the itinerary was one that Princess could not match. Read Less

GOOD - Nice Room with Butler/Concierge service, large bathroom and balcony, 24-hour room service. Main dining room and Toscana had excellent service staff and food was fantastic. Ship was nicely equipped and comfortable, albeit not very large comparatively. BAD - Captain and officers were completely self-righteous and arrogant, to the point of being rude. The dining personnel in the "Polo Club" were incompetent and utterly unskilled in premier food service. We are not snobs and expect minor glitches in services, etc. However, the Polo Club is a "reservations only" establishment and one cannot simply enter at their leisure. The cruise was labeled "Gaelic Glory", but there was no glory about it. The theme was advertised as "Irish", but there wasn't an inkling of Irish theme aboard ship...no Irish food, music, or adornments...??? The entertainment was reminiscent of a theme park, with less than stellar performances. Shore excursions were offered by the cruise line at exorbitant prices, usually 3-4 times the amount charged by local companies at each port-of-call. If you did not book an excursion through the cruise line, you were not allowed to disembark the ship until all of those who purchased cruise line excursion packages had departed. This usually meant waiting 1-2 hours after arriving in port. The crew was extremely vigilant in enforcing this measure, to point of acting "Gestapo" like...very discourteous and unnecessary. I could list many more negative aspects about the cruise, but I think you get the picture. Overall...VERY DISAPPOINTED...!!! Read Less

After reading a review posted here, I want to post my own review of this same cruise. On our 8th Oceania cruise, our second on Nautica, this cruise was one of our best cruises for the total ship experience with the additional charm of the Irish ports of call. If I get obvious out of the way, Nautica is way overdue for an interior refit. In no way did the condition of the ship detract from our onboard experience. If I compare our Nautica experience with our cruise to Cuba on Sirena, this cruise better organized, and, the crew had a better focus on the total customer experience. The food service, the quality in Polo, Toscana and the GDR was very good, at times our dishes were the best we have ever had on an Oceania cruise. It’s true that ship excursions board tenders before independent travelers. We booked all of our excursions with our Cruise Critic members on our Roll Call board. At no time did we find that this delay was a problem on this cruise. Yes, the Oceania excursion product is way overpriced. Oceania needs to do better in this regard. We prefer the Oceanis cruise product, and, we have booked another cruise for next year. I believe the Nautica is one of Oceania’s best ships for the overall management and for the total cruise experience for the passenger. Once the refit is complete, I expect the Nautica will continue as a top choice for Oceania travelers old and new. Read Less

The Ship, Cabin, Dining, Entertainment & Service were Excellent. Unfortunately, Travel that far is also about, if not mainly, the location and that experience. Ireland and its people were a found Treasure in spite of the shore excursions Nautica offered, not because of them. For a Ship of this caliber and cost I expected hand picked and above average Excursions. 2 out of 3 Excursions were Horrible (Kinsale & Bantry) and we gave a detailed written complaint to the excursion manager. Their attitude was, "Too Bad, no one else complained." We’ve asked to be taken off their mailing list as other options at that level of travel will be explored. Cork/Kinsale: The commentary was cute and entertaining while on route. Town was a big disappointment. Basically a Tourist trap, overloaded with Buses, wasted time with tea and scones in a Hotel with no atmosphere. Walk to the City Centre was a challenge for some. After visiting a few shops, noticed the long bathroom lines around the block at the Tourist Information Center that took up rest of the time allowed. Basically a frustrating Pit Stop. Bantry: "Spectacular Beara Peninsula": Long drive at breakneck speeds. Cannot open windows on a large Tour Bus and when A/C isn't working, it's miserable. Tour Bus used for Giants Causeway showed us what a clean, well maintained, WC on bus, excellent driver and Excursion should be. The comparison was Night and Day. IMHO all Excursions should have been at this level. Independent walks of Ports of Call would have been better use of our time rather than those two horrible Excursions.We don’t expect travel to be PERFECT but expected Oceania to handle the complaint PERFECTLY. I suggest avoiding the OCEANIA sponsored excursion. Read Less

We chose this cruise for its itinerary, ship size, and culinary reputation. Unfortunately the weather was rough--cloudy, windy and cool, which meant we couldn't spend much time eating outside or lounging poolside. Because of the heavy waves, we were unable to dock in Belfast, which, since we made the rookie mistake of not adding on additional travel time at the end of our tour, meant that we missed out entirely on Ireland. The service onboard was excellent; a very cheerful, friendly and attentive staff of waiters and cabin crew who made sure we were comfortable. We expected to enjoy dining in the specialty restaurants, which were very good, and at the coffee bar, which was also excellent. Because of the weather we only ordered from the poolside lunch counter twice, where we found excellent fish & burger choices, and a truly memorable chocolate malted milkshake. The Grand Dining Room was a disappointment, it took a long time to get the food, which was not hot, and more bland than we prefer. The Terrace Cafe had better food, more variety, and short waits. We appreciated the themed dinners, Pan-Asian, Italian, etc. Portions everywhere were on the smaller size, which meant we could try more things. Desserts were delicious, and we loved starting our mornings early at the Horizons lounge with a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant, with great views of coming into each port. Except for a few times, it never felt crowded on the ship. The library is a lovely spot to relax in. The entertainers were very young and energetic, seem to really enjoy being there. We saw just a few shows: an impressive ventriloquist, and a review later in the week. Not really our thing, so we appreciated the choice of DVDs which we could watch in our room. We also had fun with the daily trivia contests that they ran. Our package came with three excursions, the first, to Hadrian's Wall, was the best, very informative, beautiful scenery, learned leader. The next two were not as good, more pointing out the window at things whizzing past with guides who talked incessantly, saying things like, "and here is the second largest mortgage bank in Scotland." We will pick more carefully next time, or go off on our own, which worked out fine for us. And there will be a next time. We liked the comfort of the ship, the tasting menu of visiting many different ports for a day trip, seeing where we'll want to come back to and stay longer. The Isle of Man, Liverpool, Edinburgh all made that list for us. Read Less