Oceania Insignia/Scandinavian Splendours

Just back last night...August 10, 2011
A brief overview. Feel free to ask questions.

The small ship experience is excellent. We loved the dress code. The ports
were all impressive. These 3 things will be at the top of the list when we
cruise again.

The food was average in the GDR. The staff is friendly, service is
unpolished, and it is very clear that English is a second language.

We had a 50-50 experience over the 2 nights in the Italian (Toscana)
specialty restaurant. The food on the first night was very good. The second
night mine was inedible.
In the Steak House 4 nights (Polo) we had 100% satisfaction. Every piece of
meat was properly cooked and the sauces were very good.
The service was not better in the specialty restaurants. The menu is small
and on a long cruise one could tire easily of the specialty menus.


Our impression of Anytime Dining is C-
On one occasion @ 7:30 PM we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated in the GDR
for a group of 4…this line was still out the door into the elevator hallway
when we were seated after 45 minutes of waiting.
Our biggest disappointment with Anytime Dining is that no one ever knows
what your preferences are , as you are seated throughout the dining room,
and you never have the same wait staff… perhaps you can indicate a
particular waiter but none that took care of us on the 6 nights we had our
dinner in the GDR was the same and none would I have asked for in
particular.
The waiter and Maître‘D both laughed when three of us , being served prime
rib, asked for a sharp knife to cut our meat. Another night the waitress
made fun of the dessert order in a snide, snarly fashion, almost a rebuke.
The meal pace is rushed and it is not a relaxing meal service.

Our PH2 cabin was nicely laid out. It was more than adequate for the 2 of us
and we used our balcony every day. The bathroom is tight but doable and
although it has a bath tub if you are tall, like my husband, the shower in
the tub is not ideal. The drawer space is very limited. The closet is large
and we were able to get as many extra hangers as needed.
We used our butler every day to deliver the hot breakfast and one night we
ate in our cabin from the GDR menu…our butler was helpful in keeping the
soft drinks and water accessible and cold in the fridge. Ice is available
and melts rapidly.

The laundry /dry cleaning service is excellent but very expensive.

The Waves restaurant has very good casual food and milk shakes around the
pool.
The Tapas restaurant is casual dining from the buffet area…variety of food
and our one experience good, we sat on the aft deck but did not go there
again.


This particular cruise several generational families were on board…none with
small children that I noticed but lots of middle school through college.
Very well behaved when we saw them but the females from other countries were
scantily clad, in somewhat inappropriate clothing, for visiting the many
churches we were in.

What we did find interesting is that guests onboard were friendly, those who
have cruised many times on Oceania were seemingly well known to each other
and many college alumni groups were travelling together.
The people who were not in a group often felt alone…fortunately for us we
had our small group of 8 and often had drinks with them. This is not a party
ship in any way shape or form. The trivia is cutthroat and we did not play
but sat in one day and knew about 1/3 of the correct answers.

The lecturers were good.
The shops are terrible and overpriced.
The full time vocal entertainers are average… I had been led to believe that
almost everyone goes to bed after dinner…that was not the case on our
cruise.
The Cruise Director, Leslie Jon was fun, and had a lot of energy…he could
sing very well.
I would say that each and every show, and we saw them all, was full and some
nights standing room only.
The ship musicians were very good.
The Insignia lounge (show lounge) has very uncomfortable chairs…they need to
be replaced.

We have been accustomed to cruising where the Captain and other senior
officers are out and about, mingling with the guests. This did not occur on
the Insignia. The Welcome cocktail party was on the sail away night in The
Horizons Lounge… bad Champagne and invisible/sparse appetizers. Other ships
we have been on are over flowing with food being offered by passing waiters
and a free flowing bar service.
The lifeboat muster was on sail away day just before the ship departed…a
very serious event.

Would we cruise on Oceania again…yes, if the right itinerary presented
itself.
Did we receive the value for our money, probably not.
Would we cruise in a lesser category than PH on this cruise line….yes, the
Concierge class cabins were just fine, although small, but we would not go
without a balcony.
Many people on this cruise were on cruise line air, some with paid
deviations and many of them had missed flights and arrived grumpy and very
tired.

Our comparison to Oceania Cruise line is Crystal Cruise line where we have
85+ days at sea…in our opinion you cannot compare the two in the same
category of luxury, service, food, entertainment and enrichment. Crystal
wins hands down.


Jo