Oceania Cruises Reviews 132

When booking a cruise for 25K.to secure the cruise we had to pay $2300. Deposit immediately. All well and good
But unfortunately we had a medical issue and we had to cancel which was nearly 10 mths before departure
They take $350 each person for cancellation fees which we accept and the balance of $1600
Now the bad bit you have to wait 3 mths to get your refund. WHY!!!!

Horrible horrible customer service with blatant bait and switch tactics. Agreed to one price over the phone for a Greek cruise and charges a higher one after the fact without warning. Then goes radio silent when trying to reach the sales consultant (Sam or Saad Shakir) via email and phone numerous times. Says their director will reach out to rectify things but never does. And then the nerve of the company to try and keep 50% of my deposit even when I canceled within the alloted timeframe. DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS POS COMPANY. Would give them 0 stars!!!!

Customer service. Many reviewers mentioned this and we strongly agree--they should spend some money on training and they should follow through on complaints. The cruise itself was very good and the ship was new (Vista) so the accommodations were excellent, our stateroom was spacious and well kept by housekeeping. The library was excellent and the other amenities were very good. The staff were helpful and courteous. We registered with our passports on line and provided a credit card to charge for shipboard purchases as requested during the pre-cruise registration. They totally messed up the credit card info and contacted us on a Saturday night that our card was no good. We were told it was our fault for not providing the card during check in at the ship (we were never asked). The attitude we received caused my wife to get extremely upset. The larger problem was the travel to and from the ship: They did not use the name on my passport to book the flight and we did not receive the booking from Oceania in time to have them correct it, so we had to book our own flights. Because of that, they would no longer provide ground transportation to and from the ship and the airport. We paid $75.00 for a cab to the ship, they charged us an additional $138.00 for a coach from the ship to the airport, which dropped us and our baggage two floors and a half mile from the Delta check in counter. Bottom line: don't take the inclusive deal on travel, book your own and save money and the hassle of dealing with them. No, we did not get any offer to compensate us.

The crew was rude & disrespectful. Also I was charged $75.00 more than I should have. I will never use Oceania Cruise line again.
No compensation for the canceled costa mya stop, or the GI & covid that spread thru the ship making everyone sick & miserable.
The servers were the best ever, especially Nolwazi

We were on the Regatta from Australia to New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa x 2 and French Polynesia. My feedback is as follows:
1. Staff - very friendly and generally eager to please. However, tend to be a number who lack training, so service is variable.
2. Cabins - please don't pretend they are state rooms, it insults the passengers! Generally basic, but good enough, but shower area is tiny. Bigger suitcases would not fit under the bed (ours, which are medium, did). Housekeeping were excellent. For the price I really expected more.
3. Restaurants - The Terrace/Waves is basically buffet/canteen style with servers; food was reasonable, but often over salty and can run out quickly.

The two specialty restaurants had good food and service, but no menu changes/specials, so if you are on the cruise a long time it gets a bit boring.

The main dining room again has limited options, so after a while it can get boring. Service tends to be slow because they have no sittings and seems that the kitchen cannot cope if a lot of guests decide to eat at the same time. This is particularly annoying if you want to see a 21.30 show. Again, staff are keen, but some lack training, and inadequate staff at peak times.
4. Gym - reasonable facilities, but no air con, so it can get uncomfortably hot.
5. Shops - only 2, can be a bit pricey, but I guess you expect that on a cruise.
6. Excursions - extremely overpriced and the hype in the description rarely reflected the reality, so generally left disappointed. American Samoa was particularly disappointing. A cultural show where the locals spoke for 20-30 minutes in their own language, with no translation! The catamaran in Tahiti was supposed to be the fastest in its class, but didn't even have it's sails up, just puttered around, ending up for an hour on a reef for snorkelling,where there was only sand and a relatively strong current. Two passengers slipped and fell in the boat, so needs to be fitted with more grips before there is a serious accident. Zip line and long boat/waterfall tours also have potential for a serious accident, or even death.

7. Entertainment and activities - generally underwhelming. There was a bit of a lack of variety and some of the singers were not all that good. No comedian on our leg of the cruise. Magician did a good first show, poor second show. Soul singer was the highlight-two excellent shows and a great voice.

Summary - not great for the price. In my opinion Cunard is better and cheaper (based on my pre-COVID experiences).

The ship is really too small to keep more active passengers entertained for a long cruise. The excursions are very overpriced and poor quality. The food is average for what is supposed to be a gourmet style experience.

WOW! I saw so many negative reviews! But looking more into the content, many are not relevant to Oceania; the complaints about "overbooked flights" relate to airlines, not Oceania. The complaints about tiny showers by obese people, well, did you have to book two seats on your flight? Do you really think that you can arrive by air and go straight to your ship? NOOO. we always arrive a day or two before embarkation to ensure we're OK to go. The list goes on and on. We've cruised on Oceania five times (Holland America and Virgin cruises before this) and have had no bad experience, BUT when we missed ports for any reason, we were given future cruise credits without question. Food? Bloody good and if it wasn't, send it back for a redo. Looking forward to our next cruise! Here's a heads up; we only EVER deal with our Oceania rep (Tia, you're wonderful) and have NEVER had any problems!

One thing you are taught in customer service is if there are issues deal with them. Oceania failed in this regard spectacularly! We were asked for comments on day 7 of the cruise – my negative comments (with examples went over the given space by 50%. I was never approached on the cruise about them. Comments from other passengers were along the lines – they probably have so many passenger issue comments to deal with that they have not got around to mine! As I say passenger niggles were too common and them not being addressed was common place.

At time of writing we should have been on SIRENA cruising to Panama. With the cruise lines permission we were boarding at Costa Maya but the ship decided not to dock. This decision was made with full knowledge that they were abandoning us in Mexico 6000 miles from home . They made no attempt to contact us ( or our emergency contacts) either by phone SMS what’s app or e mail .The final insult to this gross misconduct is that they are refusing to give us any refund.To anyone thinking of using this line …. Don’t … as they really don’t care about you or your welfare

I and many other guests on Oceania marina sailing from Lima to Peru developed food poisoning. The food was served cold, inadequately defrosted. smelt rotten tasted awful and gave us all food poisoning at many points over the dates we spent on board. diarrhoea, vomiting and diarrhoea, abdominal pain, days of abdominal pain. All were denied by the general manager on board but when you pay over £10,000 for a cruise the least you can expect is good quality food. Dr Fiona French

Five days short of a 14-day cruise on the boat Regatta, (Sydney-New Zealand-Sydney), I was struck down with salmonella poisoning from a club sandwich delivered to my room. I suffered vomiting with stomach pains and cramps. All I could stomach for the rest of the cruise was sips of cold water. The food supervisor and other staff went into denial and I was treated as though it was my fault I caught the poisoning. I asked, as the poisoning took place on the high seas, on the boat, did they think I'd had Uber deliver me a KFC take-away meal. I was told if I wanted medical advice on the ailment, I could see a nurse at a cost of US$300.00. Their customer care policy is non-existent.

And the 'beer, wine, champagne and more' is a blatant rip-off.

The cabins are tiny with a minute bathroom and terrible shower cubicle (too small for large-bodied people).

We went on the Vista in Nov 23, cruise was good. However, I was charged incorrectly for a spa treatment and ever since I have been trying to get this refunded. The post cruise customer service provided by Oceania, in my opinion, is absolutely appalling. They either don’t answer emails or if they do, it takes a long time to get an acknowledgement, let alone a reply. I have incurred mobile phone charges in excess of £70 attempting to call them in USA, which I have asked them to reimburse me for, but they have refused. I have asked for the email address of the Chief Executive but this has not been provided. I have requested that my complaint be escalated which has to date been ignored. This company really needs to improve its customer service and this experience will deter me from ever cruising with Oceania again.

Our first (and last) cruise with Oceania. Azamara far better. Went Miami to Mexico etc on Western Caribbean Wonders and then back to Miami. Ship old (‘99) but ok. Staff great but not trained to be observant. Food no better than ok. Basic drinks package (included for us) was very good. Free WiFi worked very well. Cruise Director unbelievably camp which most passengers found very irritating. Evening entertainment awful. Only two group shows, two performances from a not funny comic, two performances from a violinist TWO FILMS and one evening of the life story of the camp director. Didn’t get to stop at Costa Maya so two days at see. Last two days in the incredibly awful Cozumel which is a resort island dedicated to big cruise ships. Sorry Oceania but you need to sharpen your act. All those we met who had previously cruised with Oceania were doubtful about returning.

The Marina customer service in the restaurants/ bar was outstanding. The food was not as they brag about, being the best cuisine on the seas. The food in the restaurants and buffet was fair to average. The hamburgers were always burnt and red inside. The chicken was consistently dry. Steaks were very grizzly and unedible. The desserts were amazing though. They had promised wifi but it was only available for 2-3 days of our 24 day cruise. Save your money and book elsewhere as this is not NOT a luxury cruise line.

We booked this Oceania USA/Caribbean cruise in Jan 2023 through ROL, provided all the information we were asked for and thoroughly read all communications that were sent.

Our very first moment of coming into contact with this holiday package was talking to staff at the British Airways checkin desk at Heathrow’s Terminal 5. This was meant to be the start of our special holiday but the BA staff member casually informed us that we weren’t booked on the flight. We said there must be some mistake as we booked 10 months earlier but she simply replied that the flight had been oversold and that there were no seats booked for us. We were taken aback by this statement, to put it mildly, still insisting there must be some mistake and when the seriousness of her statement sunk in we felt physically sick. She said the only option was to go on standby and hope other passengers didn’t show up. This of course we accepted as there was no other choice. We were then sent through to airside departures and told to speak to the BA desk who told us we had to wait until the flight had closed and then find out if any seats were left untaken.

We had an extremely anxious wait, instead of feeling elated and excited at the beginning of an adventure we were stressed out beyond belief and feeling sick in the stomach.

We waited until the time we were given to go back to the BA desk, which was now about 40 minutes before takeoff and were told there were 2 seats available, not together but that was the least of our worries. So we got to Boston but again it wasn’t a jubilant feeling of what was to come, it was a feeling of gut-wrenching relief.

We felt lucky to get on our holiday and it shouldn’t have been like that, we did everything we were asked and shouldn’t have been treated so badly. No specific information was ever given to us regarding checking in for the flights, though even if it had been provided this scenario should never happen. Seats should be guaranteed, especially as the majority of passengers on this flight were connecting with the same cruise as us. If it cost a little more then that’s a price worth paying as the alternative of being removed from the flight is beyond belief.

First impressions count for a lot in all walks of life and our first impressions of ROL and Oceania are the worst they could possibly be due to this completely avoidable situation. I can’t tell you how disappointed we were, this should never be allowed to happen. We nearly missed our whole holiday due to the nefarious practice of airlines overselling seats, but this could have been negated by Oceania guaranteeing seats booked to connect with their cruise, which they could have easily done with the leverage they had relative to the number of seats they had booked on the flight. Instead, we were treated with total disregard.

really enjoyed the Life Enrichment speakers and the
entertainment.

Excellent experience. Great service, all was perfect. We will be back.

I have just arrived back from 2 back to back cruises on Marina to South America.
On every level it was disappointing.
Communication was poor reliant on an inarticulate cruise director. A good example is that the Captain was taken off ill. Rumours spread rather than a simple statement in the news letter.
Attention to detail is haphazard. Staff not managed or badly trained.
Management were uninterested, complacent or ...
Food, best on ocean, is a joke and any comments went to junior staff who, I suspect, never passed comments on.
Simple errors were everywhere.

We have travelled with Oceania cruises over ten times. All wonderful experiences. The food is simply the best. Lobster, steaks , excellent Dover soles. Their Asian fusion restaurant Red Ginger is as popular as the French ‘chez Jacques’. The Polo Grill serves t-bones which have to be seen to be believed! We love their format. Great destinations, great shows, no extra charges , no charges for coffee and soft drinks. We’ve cruised with Seabourn, Silversea, and Regent, all very good too, but Oceania is the best - relaxed glamour at very reasonable prices. (BEWARE those companies who charge for all drinks including soft drinks - when you get the bill it’s eye watering). Oceania also have the best choice of onboard activities and the staff are marvellous. Our next cruise with them is in 3 weeks around the Caribbean and we can’t wait! One tip - Sam in the Southampton office is our go to customer service agent who can help with any queries. Go book!

Having paid a great deal of money for three previous family cruises, in August 2021, hoping for the end of the Pandemic, I booked another for April 2022. Alas, the pandemic got worse. So, in December 2021 I attempted to cancel the cruise. Oceania only agreed to refund half of the deposit, with the other half becoming a credit note which would expire at the end of 2022. With then the war in Ukraine and the ‘cost of living crisis’ taking its grip, after protracted argument, Oceania agreed to extend the credit note until the end of 2023. Alas in May 2023 my wife was diagnosed with leukaemia. I asked for a further extension of the credit note, so that I could take my family away when my wife had made a full recovery, which Oceania have point-blank refused. Having now read the massive dissatisfaction with Oceania, they obviously need my funds. I will never spend my hard-earned money with them again.

I’d happily give Oceania no stars simply because the “finest cuisine at sea” does not exist, at least not on Sirena. I’m a good cook & I have an above average palate. I say this not to boast, but to indicate the deep level of disappointment we experienced on our 24 days on Sirena. After filling out the mid-cruise survey we had a meeting with Simon Hockley, Serena’s executive chef. He’s a lovely man, polite and professional, but all we got were excuses about the supply chain. After twenty years they still haven’t figured it out? I would think that if you don’t have all the ingredients to prepare a dish properly that you would take it off the menu. Who has ever heard of serving a Waldorf Salad without grapes or walnuts? Soups were continuously over-salted & recipes were not followed. Thom Kha Goong is supposed to have a coconut milk base with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and shrimp; not a clear broth with ONE shrimp cut into pieces and NO vegetables. Caviar was served once and it was WARM. Sushi apparently does not exist in their repertoire. They don’t use real truffles either. One soup I ordered arrived with something having the color and texture of a Scotch-Brite sponge. Silly me, I had asked for extra truffles because I thought it was the real thing. One thing was consistent; the steaks were invariably chewy, tough and lacking in flavor. I was expecting organic choices but was told by Chef Hockley “we’re not there yet.” He also commented that their focus was more on French than Italian cuisine. Apparently he is unfamiliar with Catherine de Medici and the history of French cookery. Oceania makes over $418 million per year. Where is all the money going? Certainly not on the food budget. What really surprised me was the number of clients who thought the food was fine. Then I spoke with one man who only eats food he can cook in a microwave oven at home. That explains why so many return customers are content with the swill Oceania offers. I wonder if those at concierge level or in suites get a different menu. In three weeks the room service menu never varied and the “Grand” dining room menu rotated on a weekly basis. (There’s nothing grand about it) I ordered Diver Scallops for an entree one night and received three one inch scallops on my plate. The wait to order a meal ranged from fifteen to thirty minutes. Sommeliers were few and far between and the choices for a basic drinks package was cheap and pathetic. They up-sell everything. Want a nice Montepulciano with your beef? Only by the bottle. You can’t use your package to get a drink at any of the bars, only the dining venues. Not knowing this on the first day I was charged $16.80 for a glass of cheap Prosecco which was more than the cost of an entire bottle at home. Salad Nicoise’ showed up for lunch no less than four times. It was one of the better options, albeit “deconstructed” and decidedly lacking in green beans and potatoes. I ordered a fettuccine dish with sea bass one evening. The entire dish contained two flakes of fish that were smaller than the chocolates placed on our pillows at night. The chefs don’t know what “Al dente” means either. Sad to say, I have had consistently better food on every other cruise line I have sailed with, including Carnival. The only good thing about this line is there service staff. Lovely people, anxious to please and serious about providing comfort. Jacques Pepin should be ashamed to have his name associated with Oceania. Fool me once…..