Okay, by popular request, here are my opinions of the recent Carribean cruise we took on Oceania. You should know that our cruise experience is limited - 2 cruises on the Paul Gauguin, but so far no others on RSSC. 2 cruises on Silver Sea, the last one Italy/Greece in May 2002. So that's where I'm coming from. Also, remember certain things are important to us, others not - so read with a grain of salt.......

PRICE - I think the price was definitely right. It was a 12 day cruise, and the price was reduced before we went - something like $2500/pp for a "A" stateroom with a balcony. Thats before taxes, tips, etc. and comes out to roughly $200 pp.

TIPS AND EXTRAS Here we were bothered by the fact that you pay extra for drinks every time you turn around. BUT - we opted to pay the tips in front - I forget now if it was $11.50 pp/day - something like that. We did tip our room steward a bit extra at the end. Oceania adds 18% service charge to all drink orders. Drinks/wine/bottled water - all were extra of course, varying from $2.50 for water, to $6-8 for drinks and wine. They do have special drinks every day with lower prices. All in all, it added I would say maybe $30 for both of us per day - we are not big drinkers, obviously, so paying extra for alcohol really did not add that much to the total cost.

CABIN and CABIN SERVICE The cabin had a small balcony with two molded plastic chairs and a small cocktail table - adequate for sitting out there on occasion. Oceania is stricly NO SMOKING on the balconies, so that was a good thing for us that we didn't have that kind of second hand smoke to contend with. Cabin was small, but had very good storage space. Bathroom was tiny, but - again - surprisingly good storage spaces for everything you would want to put away. The cabin is no SS, or Voyager, but - again - adequate. Probably like the PG. No tub, and a very large person would have trouble in the shower - tiny, as I said - but adequate for us (and we're not small.) Oceania touts their bedding - soft duvet covers and such. Well, we don't sleep with anything but a sheet, so that was lost on us! The bed and the down pillows were comfortable.

The Cabin Steward was great. Our room was cleaned as soon as we left for breakfast, and refreshed in the evening promptly and thoroughly.

FOOD AND SERVICE Good news and bad news. Now, we aren't "foodies" or gourmet diners, so this is not a terribly informed opinion. But, in my opinion the food was very fine. Nice variety. They have a steak house and Italian type dining rooms, as well as a Mediterrean buffet with outdoor seating (the only dining room with outdoor seating.) That room, Tapas, is where we mostly ate so that we could enjoy the breezes. I liked it. It has a varied menu, and I like "a little of this and a little of that", so it was fine for us. The main dining room is very good as well.

The service was mixed. This was a green crew. They were fairly new to the ship, and all were from Eastern Europe. I must say, they had the best looking group of male waiters from Croatia I have ever seen! You know the Croatian doctor on ER? Thats what I'm talking about! So, it was a pleasure to dine.......some of the servers, however, were obviously just learning. Their English language skills were definitely lacking. However - good willingness and attitude. Just not the experience and anticipatory attitude you get on SS, for example.

MUSIC This is an important area for us. I DID NOT LIKE the ship's band. The orchestra was Polish, with a Polish singer that did not understand the English lyrics she was singing, and their repetoire was dated and trite. Period. Others may disagree. We DID like the pianist in the lounge, who could play everything with wonderful arrangements. No shows on this ship, just individual entertainers performing in the Main Lounge. The male singer was on the Whisper 2 years ago, and we became acquainted then, so it was "old home week" to renew our acquaintence, so that was fun. He's a great baritone, and we enjoyed his show.

WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TO SAY ABOUT
Casino - don't gamble, but lots of people did....
Ship Excursions - Didn't take any - booked about 3 private excursions with others before we left
Spa - good masseur - again, all staff from Eastern Europe - this guy was Bulgarian
Internet - only sent and received a couple emails - $2.95 each.

Hope this wasn't too long. Feel free to ask about things I left out. Maybe I should move this to the Ship Review sections. Got kind of carried away.

Would I take this again? No. Will go back to SS and RSSC

Glenda