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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 |
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