Oceania Cruises

While at sea I ordered a club sandwich from the room service menu. I only managed to eat half of it before feeling unwell.

Within the hour I was vomiting and suffering stomach pains.

My wife notified 24/7 information desk and asked regarding medical help. She was told my only alternative was to see a nurse at a cost of US$300.00. WOW! I eat decontaminated food supplied by the company and then be charged $300 if I want to seek medical help.

The ship did not want to know me.

A food consultant by the name of Victoria told me that on the second day she had been trying to contact me. What rubbish. I was laid up in my room ill with food poisoning. I did not leave the cabin for the complete 24 hours.

Twice when I contacted her she told me she was arranging for the medical centre to phone me...Of course those call never eventuated.

She said I couldn't have got the poisoning from food they suppled ... I asked her did she think I had Uber deliver me a KFC take-away-food package while on the high seas. She had no sense of humour. I spent the last four days on the boat being unable to eat anything and was only able to take sips of cold water.

Plus I suffered regular stomach pains and cramps.

And for the rubbish 'Beer, wine, champagne and more' promise. What a fraudulent rip-off. When the wife and I entered the dining room we would be greeted by a wine waiter who would try to get us to buy a top-level bottle of wine and US$60.00 plus. When told we both had the drinks package he would supply us with one drink of that package and ignore us fro the rest of the lunch or dinner period.

I know of other guests who submitted written complains on being treated the very same way.

I'm not claiming to be any Marco Pol, having done 20 plus previous cruises with six other cruise lines...I must say that the Regatta is the pits. It has the smallest cabins imaginable.

The shower cubicle is minute with many large bodied passengers unable to fit inside them. They needed to shower with the doors open and towels on the floor for the water spillage.

The 'double' bed was two 'single' beds side by side...with an uncomfortable ridge in the middle.

Luckily most (not all) of the staff were friendly and helpful...and the food was pretty good.

FROM SUSAN TARASEVICH AND THEO BUCCI ABOARD VISTA 1/6/24 - STATEROOM 9004

Theo and I are aboard the Vista and it is a beautiful ship. Overall we are having a good time (but not excellent) but wish to bring to your attention a concern that has so far gone unaddressed by Destination Services.

We selected a Beach Break excursion in Antigua.

We were promised Dickinson Beach but the cruise line overbooked and we were shuttled to Mystic Beach. Unfortunately, Mystic Beach was in no way able to accommodate the number of passengers from Oceania and the other ships who shuttled people there. In addition it was deplorable.

Our lounge chairs were old rusty and missing bolts, making them quite unsafe. After several hours we did find two more stable ones.

Oceania never promised food but we had hoped to be able to buy some as the event was 3.5 hours right in the middle of lunch. Alcoholic beverages, which we gladly purchased were so terrible we spilled them out. We ended up taking a taxi back to the ship because this beach lacked basic conveniences. We put our concerns in writing as directed by Destination Services.

No response. There were at least five other couples we spoke to on that excursion that were equally upset.

We were quite distressed and cancelled our remaining excursions through the cruise line. Clearly Simply More promises more than they can deliver. I expect this from a Princess trip but not Oceania.

The concierge suggested we ask to join a private tour, which we did and were told because we didnt reserve in advance, we could not attend.

As someone who goes the extra mile for my consumers, thats not the attitude we are experiencing on Vista, at least on this issue.

Last year, aboard Riviera, we had a spectacular meal at Red Ginger and were so looking forward to our dinner there last night. They have few options for people unable to eat fish. My wifes rack of lamb was dry and lacked the beautiful flavors she remembered from last year. It was tasteless.

No one asked how our dinner was, or we would have told them. We probably wont book there again.

We were also told on Day 6 that the ship had run out of the French rose offered on the menu because people had been drinking it. Would you offer the same explanation if the vodka had run out? And this is a luxury cruise?

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There are a few wonderful customer oriented staff members (whose names we got, will mention and tip), but overall service is inconsistent.

Some are nice, many are grumpy or inattentive and inconsistent.

But I expected better from Vista.

After talking with other disgruntled passengers it has been recommended that we book on Regent Seven Seas. We had thought about booking on the Allura in 12/25 - 1/26 but now have serious reservations.

Any help or advice you can offer is most appreciated

Enjoyed a wonderful ten day cruise on the INSIGNIA. Staff food everything with the exception of the pool.

The line is geared to the older crowd but pool is not available because of no stairs with handrail. Just 2 half ladders that for older people its impossible to get in or out of the pool. The two hot tubs were hardly used so only one is needed remove one and put in a stairway. These were issues since the heat was terrific.

Many said they were unable to use the pool. Another issue was the use of a wheelchair for cruisers to possibly use to get to the end of some very long piers. Either the ship or the port should have a few available. These are the little things.

Easily remedied. Thank you. Was my first Oceania cruise and truly loved it.

Hope I can afford to go again. Diana Dumas

I must laugh when I read that the Oceania Vista is stunning. Yes, the public areas are indeed stunning, however

The cuisine is just so awful I could not believe it.

Baked potato that was rotten inside despite being served opened up to accept sour cream et cetera. Potatoes that were mashed, but had the consistency of pablum. Meat that was tough. An evening theme dinner was called: A Night in Russiahow insensitive given current geopolitical realities.

Cabin maintenance is poor with dust and dirt abounding.

The change of sheets were only on requestwhat? On other cruise lines I have had complete new bed linen every 2 to 4 days.

Dining room staff that had poor understanding of English. Excursions have not been vetted to accurately depict level of activity. In my one case an easy level was certainly better described as strenuous and on the steep ascent I injured myself (cracked rib).

Drink prices are outrageous.

When tasting two small sips of red wine and rejecting both I was billed $19.20 US and the front desk would not refund this.

Design flaws in terms of elevators that do not go to lowest deck and require attending at a bow set of elevators.

A show room with obscured sight lines and extremely tight seating and maze-like configuration.

All in all I rank this barely 2 stars out of 5. Ive been on 27 cruises on a variety of cruise lines and this new ship would be at the bottom of the list for quality.

When reviewers call it stunning I agree as it is stunningly bad.

Overall cruise was fair at best. The most significant disappointment was the Captain's impetuous decision to cancel ports of call.

3 port cancellations is unacceptable especially the last one inTangier, Morocco. The captain kept blaming the weather, but in Tangier we were NOT tendering and suppose to be docking in a hard berth against a bulkhead with secure lines, i.e. very little gangway movement with no more risk to passenger injury than any other port.

I spoke with many very disgruntled passngers, several who had been with Oceania many times in the past. ALL said this was the worst cruise with Oceania they had been on and most will NOT sail with Oceania again.

It's indisputable that passengers I spoke with did NOT feel they got a fair vallue.

Furthermore my wife and I had sailed with Oceania in the past and had a very positive experience. This cruise there was a deterioration in the cuisine. The overall selection was good, but the quality had diminished.

We were in a penthouse suite and there was a pervasive nauseating stench of sewerage which got worse as the cruise continued. Our butler, who was very nice, said it was coming from the outside and suggested we keep the slider to the balcony closed.

I can assure you it was not coming from the outside, it was with us all the time and got increasingly bad towards the end.

All passengers were offered a two hour open bar and a $750 credit towards a future cruise, most insulting. This only benefits Oceania and did nothing to quell rightfully disgruntled passengers.

Several of the ports that we did dock in were modifications to the original itinerary and were industrial ship yards with piles of metal, tires and debris.

It is my opinion that these ports were selected for cost containment reasons. We were then bussed to our destinations.

We just completed an Oceania cruise (Rio to Santiago, including Antarctica). This was our 3rd cruise.

A wonderful cruise until my wife broke her ankle on the ship. The ship medical team did ok considering the resources. My wife had to endure 6 days of pain until we reached Santiago. The concierge and destination folks were incredibly incompetent, not assisting, and basically leaving us to fend by ourselves in order to move around and get off the ship at the end of the cruise.

Furthermore, we had to cancel some excursions and Oceania would not give us a refund. The last excursion in Santiago was a 3 days excursion costing us north of $2k. So, not impressed with Oceanias assistance, sympathy, compassionate for their guests once injured. Shame on them!!!

Money, money, money.! We had a $700 credit in our account and could not use to pay off a $400 spa expense.

A glittering brochure that touts cuisine cannot hide the reality of dreadful food (it does not warrant the term:cuisine). Service levels can be very good or utterly terrible.

Clearing dishes of a table setting where no one sat is only acceptable prior to ordering by those seated or once everyone has left the table, but not during the eating of the entree. Calling an evening meal: A Night in Russia given current world circumstances is insensitive to those who know history my goodness who planned this travesty. Dusty cabins.

Having to request changed bed linen on a lengthy cruise are simply mean cost cutting measures. These and many more issues must indicate poor management at the most senior levels at head office.