Monday, April 1, 2024

Oceania Cruises destinations guide: The line's best itineraries

best oceania cruise ship

The Martini Bar is the most happening lounge, located near the Grand Dining Room, several specialty restaurants and the casino. You can find all your standard mixed drinks here, as well as a special martini menu. The noteworthy Grand Lounge sports geometric chandeliers and glass shelves of vases and glass sculptures, while the faux wood paneling on the pool deck sets it apart from any cruise ship Lido you've ever seen.

Oceania Cruises destinations guide: The line's best itineraries - The Points Guy

Oceania Cruises destinations guide: The line's best itineraries.

Posted: Tue, 07 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

How much does it cost to go on Oceania Marina?

Depending on how long you want to sail and where you’re going, you can find itineraries as short as seven days and longs as a whopping 200 days. Marina blends sophistication with a contemporary flair to create a casually elegant ambiance. From the sparkling Lalique Grand Staircase to the stunning Owner's Suites, designer touches are everywhere, highlighting the finest residential design and furnishings. That said, the ship really is putting in the work when it comes to appealing to millennials. (marble counters, gold accents, leather bar stools) and pulls an espresso shot of similar quality. For casual dining, choose the Pizzeria or Terrace Café for your evening meal.

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In addition, this voyage has a number of sea days “book-ending” that string of back-to-back shore days. For example, the ship spends four days within the Tasman Sea as it sails roundtrip from Sydney, Australia. The line also typically sends a second ship on an around-the-world cruise that includes multiple segments in Asia, resulting in two of the line's ships sailing in Asia during the winter. Note that Oceania voyages in the Baltic traditionally have included a multinight stay in St. Petersburg, Russia, considered the highlight of any Baltic cruise. But in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Oceania pulled all St. Petersburg stops indefinitely.

Sails To

​​I woke up to gray skies as Oceania Vista pulled into the port of Naples, Italy. Determined to reverse my weather luck, I went to deck 12 for a Morning Sunrise smoothie at Aquamar Kitchen. Some combination of the restaurant’s white-tile backsplash and baby-blue accents and the tropical smoothie brightened my mood. Heartened, my husband and I decided to brave the rain and set out in search of life-changing pizza.

Cruisers will go ashore at Dunedin, Christchurch (Lyttelton), Wellington, Napier, Rotorua (Tauranga), Auckland, Whangarei and the Bay of Islands. In 2024, Oceania will position two ships — the 684-passenger Regatta (shown in the photo below right) and sister vessel, Nautica, in the region. A few shorter, seven-night Caribbean itineraries are also available, with routings generally focusing on the Western Caribbean and bringing stops in Mexico, Belize and Honduras.

best oceania cruise ship

Caribbean

Alternatively, you can choose Oceania's more inclusive and expensive OLife fares; these start from $2,599 for the French Veranda cabin or $2,849 for a regular balcony room. I tried a "drip technique" painting class where we decorated glass plates, and it was a far cry from the watercolor or needlepoint classes you might find on other ships. It's also a fun way to socialize with other passengers and the artists in residence. An Oceania cruise is a destination-focused trip, so onboard activities are kept to a minimum. You'll find trivia contests, spa seminars, casino tournaments and technology classes at the LYNC Digital Center, such as travel photography and photo editing for social media.

The Perfect Cruise Experience

The ship will have no windowless "inside" cabins or balconyless "ocean-view" cabins. Oceania also has two more vessels on order that will make up a new, third class of ships at the line. But the first of these vessels, which together will be known as the Allura class, doesn't arrive until next spring.

Even though they’re part of the same holding company, you won’t earn Oceania credits when sailing with Norwegian or Regent Seven Seas. Oceania markets mainly to English-speaking travelers from the United States, Canada, the U.K. New to Oceania, its most ambitious bar aboard has a menu of 26 intricate cocktails that use house-made syrups and top-shelf booze like Whistle Pig and parsley-infused Grey Goose. Of those cocktails, we tried nine (a decent showing, but not our best), and kept coming back to the Not So Sure, a potent take on an old fashioned made with Earl Grey tea–infused Woodford Reserve bourbon.

On either side of the Terrace Café are several new and returning casual dining venues that should not be overlooked. The mini fridge was stocked with soft drinks, though my cabin attendant didn't seem to notice that I was drinking exclusively club soda. You'll also find the requisite safe and hair dryer (neither of which I used), an umbrella and a shoehorn. The room had a mostly forgettable love seat, other than it looked nice and pulled out into an extra bed. Storage is decent with a two-door closet, two deep drawers in the desk, two coat hooks on the wall and a few additional shelves. It was the perfect amount of space for me, but I could see how a couple might fight over the drawer space.

You can sit back with a book in a wing-back leather chair in the English-style libraries on the ships, or sip a martini while listening to a piano player in their elegant Horizons observation lounges. The main pool areas on the vessels are classy and relaxing, with teak decking and rows of plush chaise lounge chairs facing sparkling pools. The cruise line is at its best on longer itineraries, 10 nights and up; look for plenty of overnights and a minimum of sea days on many sailings. The line's culinary tours are not to be missed if you are interested in the interplay of food and culture, and appreciate small-sized tour groups. In addition to not offering truly all-inclusive fares, Vista doesn't offer the personal, often fawning service you find on true luxury lines. The chefs weren't offering to make me dishes off-menu, and on occasion, I had to work to flag down a waiter to bring me a drink.

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It's the kind of ship where you can book an inside cabin, but still enjoy four specialty restaurants with no additional fees and never have to wait in a long queue. Where you can book a luxurious suite designed by Dakota Jackson or Ralph Lauren, but choose whether you want to pay for a beverage package or shore excursions rather than having those inclusions bump up your base fare. Where you can order a vegan smoothie or energy bowl after your morning workout, down wine during a cooking class and order multiple desserts after a long sea day of lying in the sun. The ship will come stateside in the fall, starting with an 11-day sail from New York to Montreal, then head to the Caribbean for the winter. Oceania offers a great middle ground in terms of experience and offerings—both grand and cozy, with a wider range of fare options than luxury lines, since it’s not all-inclusive. Go for excellent food and beverage, unique ports, good service, and a comfortable space you’ll be happy to come back to at the end of busy days on land.

After all, Belfast is the spot where the famous RMS Titanic, which sadly sank on her 1912 maiden voyage, was built and launched. The ship will call at the 1,000-year-old Viking town of Waterford; many guests will likely head out to peruse fine glassware at the Waterford Crystal Visitors’ Center. For a loop around Ireland, with calls in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland, we like Nautica’s 10-day “Celtic Kaleidoscope” itinerary. The 656-passenger vessel will depart August 14, 2024 from Dublin, Ireland, on this voyage that concludes in Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K. During this cruise, Insignia also will call at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

The Grand Dining Room is perhaps the most gorgeous main restaurant I've ever seen on a cruise ship. The design, with white archways in the center of the room, is also functional; it separates the giant venue into nooks, so it doesn't have that hotel ballroom feel. You are allowed to make at least one advance reservation for each of Vista's four specialty restaurants — possibly more depending on the length of the cruise and the type of cabin or suite you book. Once on board, you can ask if there's walk-in availability for additional meals.

Suites will increase the cost of the cruise but add more space for you to relax in your cabin. Oceania Cruises sails to all seven continents and visits more than 600 ports in more than 100 countries. The line recently introduced a new base fare, which includes round-trip airfare and Wi-Fi. Oceania Cruises, part of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, launched in 2002. It focuses on travelers who want more privacy and personalized service when they sail.

In fact, even the smallest room is still generously-sized at 261 square feet, and the bulk of cabins onboard hover around 300 square feet, leaving plenty of space to lounge around. If a spacious cabin and more restaurant and bar choices are what matters to you most when cruising, the line's Oceania-class ships or soon-to-debut Allura-class ships are the most logical choice. If you prefer a smaller, more intimate environment with fewer people and don't mind giving up some amenities to have it, the Regatta-class vessels might be a better fit. In general, the Regatta-class ships appeal to cruisers who care more about the destinations they will be visiting than about having a lot of onboard options for dining, entertainment and activities. That said, they remain wonderful vessels on many levels — one being that their small size allows them to access ports around the world that bigger ships can't visit.

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