First time on Oceania. Picked the cruise for the itinerary. We had been to New Zealand and the South Pacific before and wanted to see a few more islands. Unfortunately, coronavirus concerns by the island governments forced the ship to cancel Mare Island, Samoa, American Samoa and Huahine. No new ports were added, just longer stays in Nomnea and Papeete. Spent a couple extra days at sea, but I suppose it could have been worse. Embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly, as it should have for a small ship. Ship is in very good condition after the recent refit. Some signs of age on exterior, but a solid ship with many years of life remaining. Public areas are very upscale and comfortable. The ship never felt crowded. We particularly enjoyed the Terrace Café outdoor space. We dined there most of the trip. We had a penthouse suite on the 8th floor, which was very convenient to the activities and dining on the floors above. Room was very quiet. Rooms were outfitted with US power outlets and USB ports everywhere. Balcony was narrow, but adequate. Bathroom was very small for a penthouse. Bathrooms and showers in smaller suites were tiny. Very large flat screen TV in the room. We attended a few guest lectures and port talks, which were very well done. The WIFI was free on board, which was huge for us. Service from staff on board was outstanding. I had heard good things about the friendliness of the Regatta staff and we were not disappointed. Our butler was phenomenal. As the Oceania offered shore excursions are outrageously expensive, we arranged all of our own through Viator or independent tour companies. Cruise Critic was huge in this effort through the roll call and posts. We ended up on a few of the same ship tours at less than half the price. Oceania needs to fix this. We particularly liked the river cruise in Suva and the snorkeling in Raiatea. The only criticism we have was with the ship's communication with respect to the cancelled ports and changing itinerary. We understand that conditions did change after we were at sea, but few of us felt we were informed timely or completely. The food on board was excellent almost every day. Oceania clearly excels in this area. Overall we had a great time despite the cancelled ports. Maybe a few more days at sea on a small ship than we expected. We did book another Oceania cruise while on board. Read Less

I was worried that Oceania would ruin me for all other cruise lines. Oceania was my first luxury cruise. All previous cruises I had been on were main line cruise companies; Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian, Princess and Royal Caribbean. Well that worry was fruitless. I would tell people I was going on Oceania some would say “Ohhh Oceania”. I thought when the vacation finally got there I would get on the ship and think Ohhhh. Although Oceania had some high points I was never really “Ohhh-ed”. The first problem were the missed ports. I fully understand that it was the governments that made the decision to not allow us to make our visits. But how Oceania handled it is what I had a problem with. We book this cruise based only on the itinerary. We have a goal to visit all US National Parks. The very first person we spoke to once we boarded the ship was at the Destination Desk. She was who informed us the Pago Pago, American Samoa stop was cancelled. Pago Pago is where American Samoa National Park is located. You can imagine our disappointment knowing that we are on a VERY expensive cruise that now is not making the stop we booked it for. I said “what! thats the only reason we booked this cruise”. This the response I got from the Oceania representative “You signed a contract, we can make changes”. I guess to Oceania I’m just a contact and money, not a person devastated because something I had been planning and preparing for for several years was cancelled. The ship was nicely decorated and was well maintained. Our cabin was also very well maintained, also nicely decorated and clean. Our cabin steward was great very attentive and pleasant during every meeting. She was great. Most of the food was very good with only a few exceptions. On embarkation day we had our first dinner in the Grand Dining Room. I ordered lobster bisque (one of my favorites). It was not good and the color seemed odd. The waiter saw that I didn’t eat and ask if I didn’t like it? I said no it’s not good. He picks it up an said “alright I’ll tell the chef. Didn’t ask if I would like something else just whished it away. My husband didn’t enjoy his main dish either and only took a couple bites. They didn’t even ask about it. I left the dining thinking cancelled ports, bad food and bad service. I’m not Ohhh-ed!!!! I have to say though, I never had a bad meal after that, everything was very good. Although the Grand Dining Room serves didn’t really show much improvement. I usually only drink water with my diner meal (the weather was really hot and the ship recommended 10 glasses of water a day) it was not unusual for my glass to only be refilled once if at all. I remember nights that my glass would be empty before appetizers arrived and never get refilled. I felt on most cases the serves was better at the Terrace Cafe during dinner then in the Grand Dining Room. There were a few exceptions to the Grand Dining Room serves, some waiters were good and there was one I remember refilling my water glass frequently. The young ladies who was at the Grand Dining podium would very pleasantly greet us by name. She was always smiling and asked about our day. She was a joy to interact with. She is an example of what I thought all Oceania Crew members would be like. Now for the theater. To say there isn’t a bad seat in the house, would be a 110% exaggeration for the Regatta. It was the worst theater I’ve seen at sea or otherwise. The entertainment was ok. Two gentlemen got on the ship with us in Auckland, a magician and a singer. Both provided great shows. The singer/piano player was excellent. When I heard him I thought “well Oceania knows how to get talent” “too bad I can’t see him”. They each did two show. I started going to the theater an hour early so we could get seat where I could see. They also brought a local Fijian dance troop on board to perform before we sailed. They were amazing. There was standing room only in the theater. Since I had to stand I did see a good portion of the show. After that we spent four days at sea passing our scheduled port, the only theater entertainment was various crew members. We quit going it wasn’t worth fighting for a seat with a view. The ship offered free self services laundry facility. The room was always clean and the machines were in good repair. I think that it was a great service they offered their guests. It also acted as a social event. That where you could get cought up on all the gossip. Because I tend to be a bit of a Nervous Nellie I always book my excursions through the ship. Oceania’s excursions are way over priced. I opted to buy the all inclusive package. I found most of the excursions to be good, some only fair and some spectacular. Now when they sell you an Excursion Package do you think the price is same for every sailing or is it based on the amount of stops? With ports be taken away and some being added in we still didn’t go to the amount ports promised. I feel like at the very least Oceania should have offered a prorated refund of my excursions package. I also feel that, again at the very least, Oceania should have refunded the port fees for missed stop as well. But as previously mentioned “I’m just a contract to Oceania. I think because of the size of the ship the activities were limited. I don’t feel like there was enough of a variety of activities. However, when we ended up spending four very long days at sea I felt like the Activities Department did try to come up with things for us to do. The Country Fair was corny but fun. Very unique. So, all said and done, even if no problems with itinerary had came up, my water glass still would have been empty, the theater would have still had horrible seating and I still probably wouldn’t have been ohhh-ed. Read Less

I selected Oceania because I liked the cruise itinerary. Being this was my first cruise with Oceana I was pleasantly surprised how friendly and helpful the staff was during the entire cruise. The stateroom attendant, Joy, was amazing. Her name fitted her personality because she always greeted me and had a smile on her face. From the staff member scrubbing the decks to the Captain, I found everyone to be genuinely pleasant. The food was delicious in every restaurant. Chief Raia did an excellent job providing a wide variety everyday. Portions were generous and filling. I travel several times a year and will consider Oceania for another cruise in the future. I was amazed how many different (517) cruises are available. The only suggestion I have is Oceania revisit their solo traveler policy. They offer very few promotions for us. I think paying double occupancy for a cruise that runs in the thousands is very unfair. There are more solo travelers now days and there would be more if the single supplement was waived. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the ports that we wished to visit. But we ended up having to cancel 3 of the ports due to the corona virus. While we understand the chiefs of the various islands deciding against our ship visiting, there was no offer of compensation for even the port taxes. Also we learned of the cancellations much earlier than was announced by the ship's captain. When we went to guest services to inquire all they said was they didn't know anything. We feel the communication with the guests was poor. We upgraded our cabin to the concierge level and that was definitely not worth the added money - a tiny cabin, almost unusable shower (due to size) and the only benefit was 3 bags of laundry at no charge. In addition, embarkation was the slowest of any ship we have ever cruised - not counting the added time for health screening, once we got upstairs to check in, it was a 45 minute wait! The excursions were ridiculously expensive - we only did one and booked all the rest privately. The food selection in the Grand Dining Room was ok - but the service ranged from outstanding to very mediocre. The staff was lovely - we do not fault them. Read Less

Have cruised several times with Oceania before and they were all fine in the past.Not this time. We have a PH Suite which was fine with the exception of the postage size bathroom. The Spa was not serviced and kept clean and the Steam room and Jacuzzi were both warm but to HOT. No Sauna. My wife purchased the Premium Drink Package and more often than not could not get American Chardonnay (kept telling her that they ran out including our second day out. Service in restaurant was the worst, often waited to be served wine half way through the meal. Food was awful unlike and past Oceania Cruises. Excursions were a joke and we cancelled many after the first few. Entertainment was fair at best. Staff other than the cabin staff for the most part were not friendly and treated guests as second class citizens. I could add many more negative comments but surely you get our message by now. Read Less

It is Day 14 of our 18 day cruise from Tahiti to Sydney. I am enjoying the cruise and observe many happy guests. The crew has been amazing and Corey Powell is doing a great job as cruise director. In addition to all of the standard announcements that he is required to give, he adds some humor and fun. A really nice guy as well! All of the crew work so hard to please all of the guests even when a few guests are being demanding. The crew seems to be enjoying the cruise as well. Most of them work long hours, every day, away from their families for 6 months. I have lots of respect for all of them! The South Pacific ports have been amazing and we have had good weather in most ports. My favorites so far are Pago Pago, American Samoa, Port Vila Vanuatu and Noumea, New Caledonia. Shore excursions are well managed and interesting. We did not stop at Apia, Samoa due to the measles outbreak there and state of emergency there (a wise decision). Food has been very good as expected. Fellow guests are from Canada, Australia, USA, Germany and Europe. Majority of guests are in their sixties and seventies. Lecturers have been interesting and relevant to where we are sailing. Especially enjoyed the story of the ship's recent refit. Oceania had to move the refit of Regatta from Seattle to Vancouver, Canada due to the U.S. not allowing key contractors with special skills to enter the country. An economic boom for Canada and a multi-million dollar loss for the USA. Then it rained for 17 of the 21 days which required improvising ways to dry the finish on all of the teak wood that is applied after the teak is installed. Painting in the rain was a challenge as well and LOTS of creativity and hard work needed to complete the project. This is why they were still finishing up on the inaugural cruise to Miami. Many crew members slept thru 24 hours a day of construction and hauled all of the new mattresses and furniture in place without the use of the elevators. Wow!! Congratulations to Oceania for the successful project! The ship looks great! Also, as a visually impaired guest, all of the crew and most guests have been very helpful to me while letting me navigate on my own which I like. My only wish is that the cruise offer a nightly show sometimes at 6pm because 9:30pm is too late for many guests. I went to a few of the shows early in the cruise. I highly recommend this cruise. Read Less

I am enjoying the cruise and observe many happy guests. The crew has been amazing and Corey Powell is doing a great job as Cruise Director. Very effective and a really nice guy! He and the entertainment staff did a great job on the "Showdown" performance. The crew work so hard to please all of the guests. The crew seems to be enjoying this Transoceanic cruise as well. Most of them work long hours, every day, away from their families for 6 months. I have lots of respect for all of them! The South Pacific ports have been amazing and we have had good weather in most ports. My favorites so far are Pago Pago, American Samoa, Port Vila Vanuatu and Noumea, New Caledonia. Shore excursions are well managed and interesting. We did not stop at Apia, Samoa due to the measles outbreak there and state of emergency there (a wise decision). Food has been very good as expected. Fellow guests are mostly from Canada, Australia, USA, Germany and Europe. Most guests are in their sixties and seventies. Lecturers have been interesting and relevant to where we are sailing. Especially enjoyed the story of the ship's recent refit. Oceania had to move the refit of Regatta from Seattle to Vancouver, Canada due to the U.S. not allowing key contractors with special skills to enter the USA. An economic boom for Canada and a loss for the USA. Then it rained for 17 of the 21 drydock days which required improvising ways to dry the finish on all of the teak wood that is applied after all of the teak is installed. Painting in the rain was a challenge as well and LOTS of creativity and hard work needed to complete the project. Many crew members slept thru 24 hours a day of construction for 3 weeks. Also, many crew members hauled all of the new mattresses and furniture without the use of the elevators. Wow!! Congratulations to Oceania for the successful project! The ship looks great! As a visually impaired guy who uses my white blind cane, I was able to navigate the ship easily and the crew and fellow guests were very accommodating. My only wish is that the cruise offer a regular nightly show at 6pm because 9:30pm is too late for many guests. I highly recommend this cruise. Read Less

I know the Regatta well so it was a pleasure to travel on the newly refurbished ship. Cabin 4056 in category C1 Deluxe outside seemed like it was in a good position so that was my choice for this cruise out of Papeete, Tahiti to Sydney, Australia. I have travelled in an assortment of different cabins and categories on Regatta in Alaska and the Mediterranean and it has been fine every time. Embarkation at Papeete was smooth and easy which I knew it would be as I've boarded Oceania Insignia there before so I was familiar with the port. The cabin was convenient and comfortable. The position of the cabin was ideal as it is the first cabin in the corridor next to reception. Be aware that there is activity outside this cabin on port days as the gangway is often placed in the lounge at reception. I quite enjoyed that it was an area of high activity and of course getting off the ship to go ashore was so easy as it was right outside my door! Staff on the ship were lovely and we met some old friends who are still on staff on Regatta. Itinerary was wonderful. Sadly the stop at Apia in Western Samoa was missed due to the emergency situation with the Measles epidemic there and this was completely understandable - I have spent time there previously and stayed on both main islands so I was not as disappointed as some guests and understood the situation. Staff on board were tor the most part all lovely people, friendly and helpful. I will definitely travel again with Oceania which is my favourite cruise line. Read Less

This is the 11th day on this cruise ship Regatta. People complain about minor things but let’s stop for a moment and really think of what people complain about! I have met the most decent, hard working, humble employees on the planet. They treat you well, they attend and go beyond their work. One must remember these people are months and months without husband, wife, daughters, sons and loved ones. They work together amazingly and efficiently. The cruise is excellent. Food, shows and everything they do is genuinely good. I would like to thank all the employees for their hard work and dictation. It’s amazing to watch how each and every emplyee works in every department with each other like a fine symphony. I give it 100% score. If one has a problem, they should address it and one will see there is really nothing to complain about. Let’s have a little empathy. Read Less

We chose this cruise, back-to-back, San Francisco to Papeete and then on to Sydney, because of the itinerary and we have been pleased so far. This is our second Oceania cruise. The weather has been great, the facilities on the ship are in good order and our cabin (veranda) has ample storage room and is nicely furnished, good bedding, fake wicker on the veranda. Embarkation was very fast and easy, even though I had to change credit cards due to a fraud. Let's go with the good stuff first. The food has been, almost half way through the cruise, excellent. They must have amazing refrigeration to keep berries fresh for so long. There are ample choices at all meals and high quality. The food service at the buffet, Grand Dining Room, and specialty restaurants is professional and friendly at the same time. The Waves poolside grill is also very good with a great menu. The public areas are spotless and well-maintained. Our cabin steward is a wonder. Our cabin is always clean and fresh, with everything well maintained. Sharmila goes above and beyond to give good service. The wifi on this ship is the best I've seen on any cruise line and we have sailed on many. Help in the computer room is here for many hours each day. The spa services are priced as usual at sea (double what I pay at home) but service is excellent. The contract with Canyon Ranch will expire in 6 months and they will be switching to Steiner, so I don't know what staff changes there will be, but those working there now are great! The gym facilities are more than adequate for the passenger load. The tours are overpriced, of course as expected. We are using private tours whenever possible. The entertainment has been better than expected in the Regatta Lounge and the string quartet and pianist have large audiences every evening. Now for the bad stuff. Oceania must know the demographics of their passengers, especially on an itinerary like this one. Most are over 70 and at least half use canes or other mobility devices. The ship and, from talking with the concierge, the company, makes little effort to accommodate these passengers. Maybe is it a cost issue, but the piers chosen in Hawaii (3 ports) were out of the way, with long and difficult, badly paved walks to get out to a street. I have been to Hawaii 3 times and never had this problem with any other cruise line. Not only didn't they not mention the difficulty such as a half mile walk in Maui with no place to stop or rest, but the concierge said "It's not our fault." No mention in the Currents newsletter or port information about this. Other cruise lines provide golf cart or other shuttles, wheelchair assistance when needed and warnings. I saw a man with double canes struggling and a woman trying to get off the pier to meet a relative on Maui (not allowed to drive to near the ship) look faint as she and her sister walked with canes. This is not only inconsiderate, but dangerous as there was no way to get help. My husband and I (82 and 78) are capable of the walk, but I can't say it was easy. We had to phone relatives we are traveling with and tell them not to even try. In speaking to other passengers, we have found that this is a common complaint on this cruise, one man even taking most meals in his cabin because the ship is so unaccommodating. We have never seen or heard about this before in the 60+ cruises we've taken on many different cruise lines, including, in this price class, Viking Ocean and Azamara. And nobody in management seems to care or even admit there is a problem. Another policy issue. I spoke to the Fitness Manager and asked about offering chair yoga for those of us who can't get down on the ground. She told me she would be glad to do so but had no chairs. I suggested they use the chairs in the Card room which is right next to the Spa. She said that management won't allow it and that is true. The official line is that the card room must be kept available for card players. There are none at 8AM, I pointed out, but there would be at least a dozen yogis, maybe more, at that hour. The concierge reiterated that the room must always be available to card players, illustrating a total lack of flexibility and willingness to fill guest needs. Both Azamara and Viking Ocean are really great in doing whatever they can to be helpful, but Oceania is more about following corporate rules. For these reasons, I will probably not be cruising with Oceania again. Read Less

Regatta, SF to Tahiti Nov 1-Nov17, 2019. Concierge cabin deck 7. Worst cruise I have ever been on. Most disorganized ship ever and I have traveled with most of them. Left-over foods served, same foods daily. Service desks, destination desks, concierge desk, top management in restaurants uncaring and downright rude to guests. Rude staff. Ship Regatta just underwent revamping and it was pretty, very nice, but the personnel on the ship was the most horrible I have ever experienced. My 1st time with Oceania; I choose it for the Tahiti location and the ship size (Azamara ships and the Pacific Princess have the exact same ship (the R-ships 684 guests) which I prefer for the size). If you like this size ship I suggest to travel with Azamara or Pacific Princess! Oceania choose ports in Maui and Tahiti which had absolutely nothing there (that is because it is cheaper for the ship to pay than going to a popular port). The final port in Tahiti was on Sunday (everything closed) and we were put on a bus ($149 each) to a holding cell out of town with no food, nothing from 8 a.m. until a bus at 8 p.m. took us to the airport (PPT) for a midnight flight to the states. I have now learned Oceania has been bought by NCL and they are obviously changing how the ship is run and are literally running it into the ground as far as service, food, and common manners are concerned. I have been told by people who know NEVER to book with an NCL run ship. I feel I have just been SCAMMED out of $14,000 and hoping perhaps my review will save someone in the future. Read Less

I chose this cruise for the itinerary. Not a fan of sea days, but the ports were interesting, as was the panama canal and Havana stop. Embarkation in Honolulu was good and bad. There was no one to help us with our luggage when we got to the port. We were told this isn't the norm. The rest of the embarkation was good getting on the ship, but due to the CDC restrictions, we were unable to get to our cabin until 15 minutes before muster. Also I had to find and take my invoice down to guest services because they gave me a card without showing my drink package, although my cabin mates did have it. I stood in lline for over an hour while my friends were having lunch. Disembarkation was a total nightmare. Baggage tags for those who were to depart by 8:15 through 9:15. I was also told Oceania does not allow you to self depart with a large suitcase. At 7:15 people were lining up with their suitcases to self disembark. By 7:45 I got in line. At about 8:23 they started to allow the line to start disembarking. Those of us who had red and green baggage tags for an 8:15 departure were held up in the warehouse (about 20 of us), we could see our bags sitting there. We were told no one could collect their bags until every single bag was in the warehouse, meaning to wait until at lease 9. At this point they had stopped letting passengers off the ship. Many arguements were going back and forth between some of the passengers who were already in the warehouse and the dockside security. Obviously the Red and Green tags bags were within reach but no one was allowed. At about 8:45, the land side representative stepped away to take a call and the group rush to grab their bags. Many had early flights. I heard from friends still on board that it got ugly on the ship as well. The rain didn't help. While I have over 47 cruise in my history, none on Oceania and I’m a young active 64 year old). After a good two weeks, we started judging the average age of passengers was somewhere between 75-80. Though most everyone were in shape, healthy, happy and enjoying the bars though very few showed up in the dance lounge after the 9:30 nightly show. The choice of food venues was nice and overall excellent food. Deserts to die for. The Terrace buffet usually offered the same as the main dining room, but IMHO the dining room was the better option as the food was fresh, normal portion, although for me, I asked for and received 1/2 portions of most meals. In the terrace you were unable to serve yourself and the server would always just slop on a big portion and typically you just eat more than you should in the buffets. You can also get lobster for lunch and most nights. The Wave serves a surf and turf sandwich. A friend ordered lobster only each day and put it on top of her salad, also from the Waves. She managed to each lobster and/or crab twice a day. The few times I ate lobster I will say the Waves tasted the best. We had four bookings for specialites (Polo and Toscana) but easily went to the Terrace early morning and either go another reservation or wait listed for that night. You can also try showing up at whichever restaurant, but your chances are low. Drinks: We had the basic beverage package (wine with lunch and dinner). There were some decent wines, but my favorites are the ones that I brought on board myself. With the package, the waiters had no problem switching your wine glasses to go so you were able to walk out of the venues with your wine. Drinks are pricey, if not choosing drink of the day. The happy hour 2 for 1 were a big hit with us. The pool drink of the day was different, so make sure you check both. The typically advertised the drink of the day in the Currents (but not the pool drink). Cabin, we had a deluxe oceanview on Deck 4, which was easy access to most things, same level as guest services. I had to walk past the medical service most days and would hold my breathe walking past, lol. It was one busy place. The beds were separated as I was traveling with a friend. It was a pretty small cabin. We did not meet our cabin steward until late Day 2. Since the ship was under a CDC Code Red we were very delayed in getting into our stateroom and when we did we had quite the surprise in the toilet. We also needed maintenance to fix our less than cooling air conditioner. No one responded to us until Day 2 when we met our stateroom attendant and his supervisor. They basically said they were so busy sanitizing the ship they did not have the resources to go back and re-check every cabin. It seems there were a few cabins, where the pipes backed up and feces entered the toilets after the cleaning. Medical: We had about five medavacs or passengers who left the ship during the 24 nights, one which required return to Hawaiian waters so coast guard could airlift the passenger. We had been well on our way crossing the Pacific. This turn-a-round, caused us to skip two ports (we didn't have that many to begin with for a Transpacific), delayed by a day in two ports and shortened our time in those ports. This was a lesson learned for me. I've been on many cruises that had medavas and even an airlift or two, but we were always close enough to land and/or a port not to cause such a change in itinerary. Unlike other cruises I have taken where they return your port charges if skipped, Oceania does not do this. Another turn off to me, was they were not apologetic to those who had private tours booked. They would actually say, we are so sorry to those who have ship excursions and the destination desk is working to reaccomodate you. At least say your sorry to the rest of us. Those who did book ship excursions were learning quickly that although they paid up front via credit card, Oceania was putting their payment as OBC to be used before they got off, and/or charge them 5% if taken out as cash. Another note which many may be aware, one of the ladies whom we did some excursions with fainted of dehydration during the Panama canal transit (it was hot on the upper deck). She was brought to but insisted on going to the medical for IV fluids rather than drink her bottle of water which she wanted to do. $1500 later.... Also two others we spoke to with bronchitis received bills of $6,000 and $9,000. Not sure what that entailed. Two tylenol cost $37 from medical. Go buy them in the shops instead if you forget them. The ship is older, very dark wood. Horizons is the only indoor area (air conditioned or heated) with big glass windows. The other floors with windows for general seating is limited but the windows are small with heavy drapes. I did eat in the MDR each morning and requests an aft table which had a great view. Entertainment: The ship's entertainment was okay, there was one great singer, Crystal, a pretty decent singer Daniel, the Cruise Director Shawn also sang. Amy and Mervin were both sick the second half of the cruise - disappointing. We had a vegas style singer who was entertaining, an electric violin (jazz celtic fiddle), a ventriloquist, a magician, both good. The bad was a harpist and another female vegas style who I did not enjoy whatsoever. After the 9:30 show, the Regatta band would play in Horizons but most nights there were just a handful of us who showed up. There were two men who did the very informative lectures. The cruise director staff had a gaggle of games, shuffleboard, bingo, trivia, toss games, needlepoints, majong, and of course bridge. I almost forgot line dancing, my favorite. They give out O points which you redeem the day before you disembark for a range of items such a clothing, hats, luggage tags and travel accessories. Service: Once we were over the CDC restrictions, the staff was extremely helpful and went out of the way to please you. I can not say the same about the guest services or destination staff - they were of little help whatsoever. I wouldn't do another Transpacific again knowing the pitfalls to potential medavacs when so far out to sea. I have been on other ships where we have had airlifts and/or medavacs, but barely a blip in the itinerary. I've read that Oceania does drop ports very easily which was also the case with my itinerary. I'd like to give her another chance, but the communication was so bad and they just didn't seem to care to compensate whatsoever that we certainly didn't get the cruise we paid for. Read Less

We chose this ship because it was sailing in French Polynesia and we are avid snorkelers so this was perfect for us. The ship met our expectations. It was much smaller than other ships we have been on but exuded charm. Because we were kept busy visiting many ports and with few sea days we were never bored. The entertainment was excellent and many of the senior officers were seen to also lend a hand outside of their regular position if needed. It was like a "family" always stepping in to help out. Our cabin was on on the small side but the price was right for us so we did not have any issues. The shower was ridiculously tiny but there were bigger ones to be used if needed off the gym/spa area. We really appreciated the servers dishing out everyone's food at the buffet as this really cut down on respiratory illness. It is the first ship we have sailed on that had a noticeable absence of passengers coughing and hacking over the food. I needed the services of the ship's Dr. on one occasion and found the staff to be excellent and very professional although very busy for the limited time the hospital was open for non emergency visits. I would consider sailing with Oceania again. Read Less

Chose this for the itinerary. Food and service great. The food selection in buffet/ terrace was excellent and the serving staff were always smiling and happy., The Menu in the grand dinning room was really good. I had a dietary requirement and made my selection a day in advance although this was change 3 times by the chef. Went to the Polo grill for a Valentine dinner, expected a table for 2 but had to share with 2 others. There was no real entertainment. No ballroom dancing after 9.15 there was little thought in planning some evening entertainment ie, dancing was listed in the daily programme however on two occasions when arriving at venue the dance floor was set up with empty chairs and music stands for the show which is scheduled to commence 15 minutes after dancing (this preparation could have been done in the 15 minutes thereby freeing up the dance floor for guests to enjoy and dance to the band). Guest entertainers were good but in-house performers were very poor, high school standard. At 10.30 the Horizon entertainment consisted of the staff just chatting among themselves and could not deal with requests for music. Also in Horizon, 24 hour coffee machine was taken out of service for cleaning just when the lounge opened for the night. Twice reported dust in grand dinning room. First time discreetly to restaurant manager and on following night found more dust in another area. The dress code (country club) was not adhered to at all. Hardly any jackets worn during the evening and on one occasion a female guest walked into the main Grand Dining area wearing a cap! Some guests still wore shorts in the Insignia Lounge in the evening. No pool side entertainment during the day. Read Less

This cruise was to see islands in French Polynesia and travel to Lima via Easter Island. I had wanted to go to Easter Island since college- fifty plus years. This seemed to be a great way to visit. The ship was to be there two days. It was a beautiful sunny day but windy on arrival. The captain said the sea was too choppy for tenders. We circumnavigated the island with some things being pointed out when we were long past. He would not stay there to see if we might be able to land on our second day.. I took this trip to see Easter Island which was not done. A HUGHE heart brake. The ship is very nice and the food is excellent. The specialty restaurants are superb, but the main dinning room food is less good. The outside eating area, Waves, has a nice selection of sandwiches and salads with very good service. The Terrace , which is a buffet has very good food and a helpful staff. Breakfast in the room is excellent. Things arrive hot and on time. The stops in Polynesia were very nice. The islands are truly beautiful. I took a ship sponsored excursion on Moorea. The photographers were very helpful and informative.. The snorkeling was amazing - beautiful fish and the most beautiful coral any of us have seen. This was a very large expenditure of money for me and to not be able to do what I came for makes me very unhappy. When it is highly possible that a major destination of a trip be skipped, I believe this should be spelled out in no uncertain terms in all information on the trip. Soon after boarding the Mariina, I learned for the first time that there could be a problem with Easter Island. Makes me wonder if it was planned to skip Easter Island. Read Less

My husband and I really enjoyed the Marina because they take such good care of their passengers. I wish we would have arrived in Papeete a day earlier to see that city but didn't want to pay the extra Air Deviation fee. Embarkation in Papeete and disembarkation in Lima, Peru was extremely well organized and went very smoothly. The cabins are quite comfortable and the bathroom is by far the best I've seen on a cruise ship with marble floors and a separate tub and shower. The cabin's closet was a bit oddly designed which made it hard to open one of the doors completely but the closet space was adequate. The dining experience is superb in all venues especially the specialty restaurants. Jacques was our favorite. The only negative about the eating arrangements is that all eating venues closed by 9:30 so if you wanted to get a snack later in the evening, the only choice was to have room service because all other eating venues were closed. I didn't particularly like the entertainment and didn't participate in any activities but we did enjoy having a variety of lectures to attend. The service is impeccable and the staff seemed genuinely interested in you having an exceptional experience onboard the Marina. We chose this cruise because the ports of call included the Tahitian Islands and Easter Island; however, we understood that the weather conditions did not allow the tenders to safely transport passengers but were still disappointed that we could go to Easter Island. We enjoyed the excursions but the prices seemed to be somewhat inflated; however, I do have to say that the excursions were very well organized and executed. This was definitely a cruise for seniors and not for children as there was absolutely nothing for them to do. I think Oceania has misjudged their clientele to be country club types but, in reality, the clientele on the Marina were the usual cruisers who didn't mind the expenditures associated with this cruise experience. There was obviously a variety of interpretations of "country club casual". The dress in the main dining room was somewhat disappointing since I think there should be, at least, an effort to dress appropriately for the venue. We saw many people in inappropriate attire (jeans, t-shirts, and athletic shoes)--definitely NOT country club casual. I might choose this cruise line again (maybe for a particular itinerary) but it probably would not be my first choice as I don't think it's necessary to pay this amount of money for a very good cruise experience. The post cruise to Macchu Pichu and Lima were also very well organized and an unforgettable experience. Read Less

I have read some of the early reviews of the Papeete to Lima segment of the Marina Cruise. As usual, on certain points, I feel we were traveling on the ship in another dimension! It was wonderful cruise, with reality settling in from time to time Embarkation was a breeze (we were in the Suites line). The stateroom was a Oceana Suite which I will review in the Cabin section. We were overwhelmed by the size and decor. As Suite pax we obtained a precruise reservations for the Specialty Restaurants and with additional on board booking I snagged 16 nights in the specialty restaurants. so we ate at each restaurant 4 times. The menus were never boring and we gravitated to certain favorite dishes. We did eat in the MDR for the balance of nights and we were never disappointed. Our average dinner at all the restaurants was about two hours. With excellent service and surroundings we enjoyed every minute of the dining experience. The MDR was our daily choice for lunch. Always excellent with the" tour of the worlds" sampler appetizer being our favorite. Hint the Mediterranean sampler is heaven. The shows were not up to the level of say Celebrity talent. I understand the parent Norwegian is working on this but it did not reach the Marina for our trip. The first week's itinerary was French Polynesian Islands. We snorkeled at each Island, booking our own excurrsions. Raitea and Rangiroa had the best snorkling. We saw 5 ft white tip sharks, 4 ft sting rays and zillions of fish. I saw a group of red snapper that easily totaled 500 fish. Pitcairn Island was as expected with some interesting highlights and low lights. One of those places glad we saw it but never need to return. I had high expectations for Easter Island but we could not tender. The wave action was not severe but there is no shelter from the wind and the wind and waves were fighting against each other causing these long rollers. We were down on deck 4, ready to debark when the crew opened the tender platform and immediately seawater came sloshing into the ship. The rolling of the ship caused the tender platform to submerge and that carried seawater into the ship when the ship rolled in the opposite direction, No way any able bodied person could manage boarding a tender, let alone the great majority of seniors on this voyage. The Captain did the right thing. there would have been many injuries. This Island is similar to the vagaries of successful tender, similar to the Falkland Islands. Same thing happened to us there. The Captain had the ship circle Easter Island and I was able to photograph the back side of the famous statues all in a row shot with a telephoto lense, albeit from their backsides. Because of Easter Island we spent a total of 10 days at sea. WE were blessed to have our suite. We traveled about 5000 miles on this cruise, and never before did we experience about 4000 miles of nothingness - no ships, no birds, no sealife, just water. Callao port (Lima) was a commercial port like Cevetevichia (Rome). For non Oceania excursions and debarkation, the main gate was atrocious. Very small and just replete with aggressive taxi drivers. Oceania could improve their handling of local shuttle service. Nevertheless a perfect trip Read Less

We loved the itinerary. The service was impeccable. Dr. Ruiz was brilliant and spellbinding. The food was delicious, especially Polo. I enjoyed the shows, coloring and the movies when not on excursions. We had a perfect outside cabin, a tad bigger than most as the balcony footage was actually in our cabin. Our only disappointment was the ridiculous size of the bathroom. They also took our robes the night before departure and did not replace the used towels. I guess they were through with us. I have special dietary needs and they were handled extremely well in the dining venues. The Seder meal that nautica put out was lovely. It was awesome going from Egypt to Israel at the auspicious moment of Passover. The other cruisers were generally very friendly. I do think that the cruise was a bit pricey, especially the excursion but it was an awesome experience Julie Read Less

I am a fan of Oceania, having travelled on a few of their ships. I find the cruise line perfect for us, not to big just the right amount of quests on board. We found the ship clean, comfortable and the food excellent, the quality and variation excellent, especially Jacques and Red Ginger. One complaint I have is with the lounge chairs around the pool. It never ceases to amaze me how selfish some guests can be, they are not happy with one deck chair, but, they have to hog two, one in the sun and one in the shade. This is at the cost of other guests not be able to find just one deck chair to enjoy themselves around the pool. There has to be a way to control this, it is such a selfish act and has to be stopped. Activities - I found them adequate, all I need during the day, maybe there could be some different acts in the evening, as we found far to many musicals on the list, albeit they were good, ( more variation). Service: We found the service, on the whole very good, except I did have two episodes whilst on the ship. On in the breakfast area, where a girl behind the counter was quite rude when I mentioned I had waited for 10 minutes for two poached eggs. A chef from the kitchen came out and very quickly I received my meal. This was the same girl who looked a little hung over the previous morning and in fact left her station to go and talk to a friend at the next counter, while we all stood in a queue for our toast. The other problem I had was with the maitre D' at Red Ginger, I felt his attitude was a little off. Apart from these two incidents, I thought the staff was very well trained and very polite, and that has to do with the training programme you operate on the ship. Tours: I have to say i think they are so overpriced for what they are, so I very rarely take any, we prefer to do our own thing at half the price. The one thing I have to mention, I found our Butler excellent, well trained and very eager to help and assist when required, he did go beyound his call of duty. He was cheerful, interesting and he deserved to be in his role and we wish him every success for the future. And yes, we will travel again with Oceania, we think it is a great cruise line , it suits us and gives us what we want from a cruise. Thank you for a great cruise. Read Less

This was our first cruise with Oceania and I have to admit to being a little disappointed with the company. The Itinerary was great, although you have to be prepared for a lot of sea days (10) for the opportunity to visit Easter Island. Oceania's strong points are service and dining. The Marina itself is beautiful, well fitted and decorated, food is good and staff are absolutely excellent! Administration and organization however are their weak points. Once booked, be prepared to be flooded with a host of sometimes contradictory e-mails leading up to the voyage. On board chaos ensued as independent passengers and scheduled excursions tried to disembark at the first port of call. It was very embarrassing for the company and everyone involved. Staff couldn't seem to get control of the situation to organize departures. One would have thought this was the first time Oceania ever went through disembarkation?? While things got better at subsequent stops, they never approached the smooth process normally experienced on other cruise lines. Similarly there was confusion at another stop as staff loaded luggage and passengers onto the same tender, which apparently is not allowed - and - everyone sat waiting for someone in charge to decide how they would deal with the situation - until passengers took it upon themselves to disembark and board another tender. While it isn't unusual for cruise lines to overprice excursions, these seemed to be excessively high, e.g. $229.00 for a half day 4x4 excursion, which can be booked on the dock for $70.00. There also seemed to be a lot of confusion and contradictory information over whether passengers who had pre-paid for excursions that were cancelled by Oceania would receive full refunds, or simply be given ship board credit that had to be used before the end of this cruise. Entertainment and enrichment lectures were also a bit disappointing. Don't expect Vegas style shows. Performances were of a lower caliber than experienced on other cruise lines and to make matters worse, Oceania did not have the second group of entertainers ready to board the first day at Easter Island and had to cancel them when sea conditions changed on the second day. So shows for the second half of the cruise consisted of pulling in entertainers normally performing in the lounges (pianist, string quartet) and vocalists from the dance ensemble. With the exception of Daniel Osler, experts brought in for the Enrichment Lectures were very poor presenters. In summary, Oceania has beautiful ships, well appointed staterooms, great staff/service and above average dining, but lacks some of the organizational skills that ensure a smooth no hassle cruise.. Read Less

We sailed from Valparaiso to Tahiti in January 2016. This was our first Oceania cruise. I doubt we would sail with Oceania again. First thing was their loss leader concept on their brochures. Advertise a low fare and when you try to book that fare, it's long gone. I just don't appreciate that in a company. We picked this cruise specifically because of the itinerary. Mainly Easter Island and Pitcairn Island. When we got to Easter Island, the boarding process for the tenders was a complete disaster. We are independent travelers and we had a car rented for the first day on the island---fortunately the first day because the 2nd day was cancelled due to swells. Because all Oceania tours were allowed to board tenders first, it took us 2 1/2, yes 2 1/2 hours!, to get to the island on a tender. We had to call our car rental company from the ship to tell them we were going to be very late. It all worked out fine in the end since we saw most of the island. BUT, Oceania did a terrible job administering tender tickets and boarding. This one experience would keep me from using Oceania again. We found out later that here is a 50+ % chance of not being able to go to Easter Island at all because of the tender situation. Of course this wasn't mentioned in any of the literature when booking. Think about booking this 'trip of a lifetime' and finding out you couldn't even see Easter Island at all. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. Pitcairn Island, where the islanders visit the ship, was great. Very neat experience meeting direct descendants of the Bounty mutineers. This was definitely the highlight of the entire trip. Visits to two atolls in Tahiti plus Bora Bora were very nice but not the point of this particular cruise. I've seen a couple of posts about this cruise and one said that people were generally pushy and rude. I would agree. We met lots of nice folks and made many friends. But in general, people on this cruise pushed to get in line first, were generally very aggressive and self centered. One nice thing, not a lot of drinking like you would see on a cheaper Caribbean cruise. Entertainment in the evening was very mediocre---almost the quality you would see in a bar. Some was better than others, but generally below average. Lectures were average. One of the lecturers was excellent, but mostly not that good. With 9 days at sea, Oceania needed to make sure this part was better. The people who came on board from Pitcairn gave heartfelt and memorable talks and we appreciated that. Food was excellent and I mean excellent. Service was excellent. These two things are obviously Oceania's priority and it showed. Entertainment, lectures, and shore excursions were not their priority obviously. Disembarkation was handled very well. Bottom line, we would not likely cruise with Oceania again. Thanks for listening. Read Less

Note: we only did the 18 day portion of this longer voyage, i.e., Valparaiso to Papeete. After a many years hiatus from cruising (due to professional responsibilities), retirement found us back in the cruise world. Fortunately, several well-respected cruise specialist TAs steered us to Oceania. With multiple O cruises now under our belts, the first observation I'll make is that O's consistency of food and service quality is excellent. This was a great itinerary and our first with more sea days than ports. Sooooo relaxing. And the ports we did visit were both unique and unusual including 'up close and personal" with Easter Island's Moai (I can't believe another reviewer expected "compensation" for the captain's decision to not tender the second day due to truly rough seas that created a very dangerous condition for small craft). As has been our past practice on the O ships, we took an extended B3 balcony, which allowed us loungers that added to our relaxation. Our pre-cruise reserved four specialty restaurant reservations easily doubled once on board and the attentiveness of the maitre d's to any little hiccup in service was impeccable. As usual, the food was impressive with a nice mix of repetitive classics for the not-so-brave and truly unique efforts (occasionally themed - e.g., Polynesian buffet in the Terrace Cafe while in Bora Bora (and who can beat dining outside at Terrace with such beautiful scenery and weather. For those reading these reviews, do your research and you'll find that Oceania is truly a lot of "bang for the buck" when bottom line daily rate for your vacation is compared to wannabes like Celebrity, Princess, HAL or even Azamara (It was interesting how many former Celebrity and Azamara passengers we met on Marina, many of whom were on their first O cruise and pleasantly surprised at just how much better is the food and service on O. Can't wait for the end of this coming August and our next 18 day Panama Canal Cruise on O's Regatta from SF to NYC. Read Less

The ports of call were so interesting. Doing a Pacific crossing was on the wish list. Having travelled through the Suez Canal previously we wanted to travel through the Panama Canal on this cruise. Embarkation in Papeete, Tahiti was easy. Our concierge level cabin 7060 was lovely, clean and comfortable. A bottle of Jaquart Brut was waiting for us on arrival in an ice bucket. Wonderful destinations in the Tahitian area such as Hua Hine in the Society Islands, Rangiroa, French Polynesia in the Tuamotu Archipelago, Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands. Friendly and efficient customs immigration into the USA at Hilo in Hawaiian Islands on June 13th 2015. Highlight was an evening provided by Oceania on the battleship Missouri in Honolulu, Oahu on June 14th 2015. A visit to Maui and Lahaina town into which you can walk straight from the ship was so enjoyable. We really enjoyed a tour of Nawiliwili at Kaui, Hawaii. 5 days at sea from Hawaiian Islands to Los Angeles was smooth easy sailing and so relaxing and pleasant. Tours offered in Los Angeles were limited and poor. Loved San Diego and the tour. Cabo San Lucas in Mexico is an easy walk from the ship but there isn't much on shore except shops selling souvenirs and resorts. Huatulco Mexico was picturesque and we went on a catamaran along the 5 bays and swam in the green water. In Puerto Quetzal in Guatemala we drove to the border with El Salvador and did a safari. There was an election taking place and the woman running for office was the daughter of man who committed genocide. Interesting place. Corinto Nicaragua was experiencing a severe dust storm when we visited with high winds, very poor air quality and low visibility - echoes of environmental issues with ploughed bare lands during the beginning of hurricane season and high winds. Puntaneras, Costa Rica was peaceful and we enjoyed it there. Panama Canal transition took an entire day and was very interesting. Cartagena in Columbia saw us doing a tour of the walled city. The town is 1 kilometre from the port. Exiting the Panama Canal the sea state was very rough with 65MPH and number 11 on the Beaufort Scale winds. Horrible violent seas followed in the next few days with mountainous rough waves. The roof on the Terrace Cafe fell in! Wave height was 11.5 to 16 metres (37 to 52 ft) and exceptionally high waves with very large patches of foam driven by the wind and large amounts of airborne spray severely reduced visibility. Wind crept up to 72MPH. As number 12 on the Beaufort Scale is an actual hurricane we were creeping up that level of weather so the captain made the decision to change course to sail us alongside Kingston in Jamaica and Haiti towards Cuba in an attempt to escape the sever tropical storm. An announcement was made 'for the safety of all on board we are changing course...' We headed on the 'Old Bahama Tunnel' towards the port of Miami and the weather severity subsided. A dramatic end to a long cruise but most people were OK other than airlifted out in the middle of the night due to injuries by the US Coast Guard! Read Less

I am sailing 38 days on oceania insignia from sydney to la. i have booked an inside cabin on a good floor (close to the open deck and close to the dining room). the cabin is also located mid-ship. sounds good? think again. it is across the hall from the linen closet and the servery. all night, every night, the housekeeping team of pretty much the whole floor uses the little space in front of our cabin to stage, so there are garbage bags, biohazard bags, housemen screaming at one another, dishes clanking, doors slamming, etc they also work with that door open. you get the picture. I get that they have to do their job, i just don't think it should be done in a place that is bothersome to guests...or that they should not have rooms there. We had a 'mid cruise survey' where we provided comments on the cruise. on this survey, we highlighted the positives and the negatives, and said that our biggest problem was the noise each night was bothersome. each department head (except for the rooms guy) reached out to us to either thank us for suggestions or good remarks, or to ask us how they can improve. all, except for the executive concierge...who, after executive housekeeper had seemed to had found a solution came to see us without any real solution. if you want to pay 5 star price and have an overzealous department head make sure we know we are bothering him and have him go out of our way to find a fake solution (that is not a solution at all to our problem), then, this is the ship for you. they are not sold out and i can understand why now. It is not written anywhere on the deck plans that this faces a linen closet and servery. i feel i have been mislead and that they are not taking responsibility for this issue. quite disappointing, especially with 30 days to go. General comments Cabin is good size, room amenities in good working order. pillows are pretty bad, food is generally quite good. The boat rocks a lot. i am never seasick on a ship and have felt quite woozy this cruise. Line staff and first line of management is nice...but they are not empowered to make the right decisions. The rotten apples who are not taking us seriously are ruining it for us. Would not recommend. I feel i have been mislead...and now, they are getting a good laugh at it. Read Less