NOT THIS time. In January, we joined the Obrien Estate Winery's sponsored "wine cruise" to South Africa. Except for the first time on Celebrity Reflection, O'Brien doesn't usually schedule their cruises on larger ships. The small ship was new to us. This cruise was on NCL-owned Oceania Cruise Lines. The ship was the Nautica - one of Oceania's smallest ships. With a capacity around 650 (there were only about 400 passengers on our cruise), it is about one-quarter that of our usual ships. Along with that, it was a much physically smaller version of what we are accustomed to. It is easily the smallest ship we have ever sailed on. That made for some interesting contrasts to our usual experience.
CRUISERS TODAY may choose from among about 50 cruise lines and 270-some ships. That is a lot of choice! One online source classifies the lines into 3 categories. While a bit of an oversimplification, let's go with that for this post. 😐 They are, "mainstream," "premium," and "luxury." Using that criteria, Oceania Cruise Lines fall within the "premium" category. Oceania itself, characterizes their cruise ships as "small ship luxury" (as this blog matures, I may come up with my own classification system, as I am not sure this one fits my views).
OCEANIA OFFERS just 6 ships with a seventh to be debuted in just a couple months in April 2023. Of the six current ships, four have passenger capacities of about 650 passengers. The other three hold just double that at around 1200. The Nautica was recently refurbished (2022). The decor is really nice, with lots of classic wood and marble. It is generally a very comfortable ship, with spaces reasonably well thought out for such a very small overall footprint.
BUT I have to chuckle a bit at their own rather grandiose description of the ship. They tout 4 "open seating" restaurants. Not sure what they mean by "open seating," but presumably they mean there is no "set" dining. But let's be honest. Most of us (I know I don't) do not count the buffet as a "restaurant. The online description of the Nautica does. There are really three true restaurants. The Grand Dining Room, which is the traditional style cruise ship dining room, covers an entire aft roughly quarter on deck 5. True to their literature, it is very nice. And the food is very good. Up on deck 10, there are two "specialty" restaurants, "Tuscana," and "The Polo Grill." They are small, but also very nicely appointed. But like all specialty restaurants, they require reservations. And, depending on circumstances, those reservations aren't easy to get. That stands to reason, as they are relatively small and there are over 600 passengers on a full ship - often without many alternative things to do. I wouldn't characterize that as "open seating," though. At least not without the "reservations required" caveat. Ironically, my single "mediocre to almost bad" meal on the ship was in one of the specialty restaurants. Again, the choices and quality of food in the main dining room was consistently excellent.
THE BUFFET? Well, it is a buffet. What more can I say. In fairness, the food on the buffet during the lunch and dinner hours is perhaps the best buffet food I have had, sometimes matching the quality of the food in the Grand Dining Room (of course, with less selection and a more down-to-earth presentation). Breakfast is pretty much what you get on any cruise buffet. They do a nice job with their eggs cooked to order stations (two of them during busy periods), and I found their eggs benedict to be as good as I have had on a cruise ship buffet. On the aft of Deck 9, the buffet serving area is rather small compared to the larger ships. Seating is on either side, with a rather generous outdoor seating area on the back. But I found that during busy periods (even with only 400 occupants), it was difficult to find a place to sit in the buffet. One problem was if it was windy, cold, or raining, the outdoor rear area was essentially unusable. The buffet serving area is also rather cramped and with a very narrow space between the two serving counters, often kind of difficult to navigate. I don't know what - if anything - could be done to ameliorate this. It just may be one of the limitations of a very small ship.
THE WAVE grill is adjacent to the buffet, on the way to the pool area. It is a nice space and oddly enough, comparable in size to the grill areas on larger ships. Again, I don't think it would be accurate to characterize the grill as an "open-seating" restaurant though. The food there is also good. Indeed, I think this grill handily beats the "poolside" grills I have experienced on any other ship. In addition to the standard "burgers and hot dogs," they have a few other nice options, including a salmon burger, and my favorite "surf & turf" (a sandwich with steak bites and lobster medallions). I just had them skip the bun. Grilled and very tasty. On our last couple Celebrity Cruises, the "Mast Grill" (where we used to anticipate a fresh grilled burger) has gone (extremely) downhill and offers steam table burgers with stale buns). The burgers and all other grill foods are done to order, fresh and excellent!
I think this grill handily beats the "poolside" grills I have experienced on any other ship
THERE IS a nice, quiet library space tucked away on the 10th deck. These ships seem to be very "activity" oriented, with lots of things going on in the casino, trivia sessions, bridge lessons, bracelet-making, etc.
I REFERENCED the nearly 300 cruise ship choices available earlier. There are many different variations and approaches to cruising. Style and size are pretty much all over the place. That is - in my view - a good thing. Something for everyone. Some folks like the very small, intimate approach we experienced on the Nautica. Some like the "floating city," 6000 passenger liners. Some like a more sedate cruising experience, while some seek a party atmosphere, and/or amusements like climbing walls, waterslides, etc.
THE NAUTICA has a nice, if small, walking/running track that is well positioned and out of the way of general ship traffic (better setup than our Celebrity ship experiences). They also have a nice spa and workout center for those inclined to work off the ship food. And, up on the top deck, forward, there is a small putting green and a shuffleboard court.
WE ARE somewhere in the middle of all this. We like the more sedate experience with nice bars, music, and evening shows. Our sweet spot is probably the around 2500 passenger capacity, and ships that house a few more amenities. For the most part, consequently, we were basically not compatible with the Nautica. Though we have to say, it was a cruise, we made wonderful new friends, and in spite of my negative observations, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
BUT THE diminutive Nautica did have its shortcomings for us. The cost is significantly higher than we pay for what we consider to be an equivalent-itinerary cruise on Celebrity or Princess. We were also disappointed in the "premium" drink package. Interestingly, they have a couple of liquor tastings, offering "craft" liquors (most of which they do not then offer on the ship 😕). I was somewhat underwhelmed with their selection. Three gins (Tanqueray - but not T-10 😞, Bombay Sapphire, and one other standard gin), Two (pedestrian) bourbons, and no anejo tequila? Yet we paid for their "premium" package and this is a "luxury" line! The barista coffee bar was included for all cruisers (where it is covered only by the drink package on Celebrity). A nice touch, but then why is the "package" so costly? The do have some nice bar spaces, on the other hand, including the fairly large Horizons Lounge on the front of the ship on deck 10, and Martini's near the casino. We spent some good time in both places.
THE STATEROOMS were just plain small. As in "honey I shrunk the ship" small. 😎 We had a "concierge" class (means pretty different things on different lines), with a balcony. The balcony was small, but adequate for our purposes. We never seem to spend a lot of time in our rooms. The bathrooms, on the other hand, were just too cramped (though I hear they are a bit more generous in the suites and on the two larger, 1200 capacity ships). The shower was basically a wardrobe and for large people, a challenge.
ON OCEANIA'S site, under "things to do on board," they tout their boutiques. I have to laugh. Out loud. There are 2 (yep, just 2) tiny spaces between the elevator banks and the Martini's Bar and the Casino. One sells a small variety clothes, Nautica-badged merchandise, souvenirs, and a very limited selection of "sundries." The other is a jewelry and watch store. Pretty limited selection there, too.
THERE IS one approved cigar area (you knew I was going to go there eventually). It is, for lack of better description, adequate. It is a reasonably generous, covered area adjacent to the pool bar. There is another "goldfish bowl" smoking area, which is a totally glassed in room off of the Horizons Lounge, but it is cigarette smoking only. As always, I made some new friends in the cigar area. I really miss the sunset bar area on my "favorite" Celebrity ships though. There is no truly outdoor smoking area on the Nautica and at times we felt like we were being "punished." I get that we are in the minority.
THE OVERALL entertainment, while good, was - for us -underwhelming. The quality of entertainers and musicians, in our experience, is just plain excellent on all cruise ships. No exception here. There was a 3-piece jazz/pop combo that was my personal favorite, and they played out by the pool or up in horizons. Listening to them was a really nice experience. They also had a strings combo that did mostly classical music near the boutiques. They were very good, but not my personal cup of tea. The shows were good, but small. We are used to the more extravaganza type shows with the large orchestras, dancers and musicians of the larger ships. We also like more venues to sit, bars, lounges, coffee areas, etc. to listen to music and "people-watch." Again, it may well come down to personal preference.
working staff were - too a person - polite, friendly and attentive
I MUST comment, though, on the quality of the working staff. Bartenders, waiters, room stewards, the barista, and the staff in the buffet and Wave Grill are all outstanding. They were - too a person - Polite, friendly and attentive. The always had a smile and a greeting and would go out of their way to be of service. Bartenders quickly learned my "drink quirks and preferences," and made great cocktails. I often feel that all of these workers are the unsung heroes of a cruise - they don't get much recognition. And they are often much less economically fortunate in their personal situations. We try to tip generously, and very much appreciate them!
WHILE GENERALLY polite and courteous, management was not so good. My comments about them are less enthusiastic. Starting with boarding and embarkation, it seemed like there were a lot of "misses." The boarding process was among the most unorganized and inefficient I have ever experienced. Celebrity boards 2500 people efficiently and quickly. Even during the Covid issues, the boarding was efficient. Oceania, on the other hand, took an hour, in two different lines, to board 400 people, who presumably had been given specific boarding times. We arrived to stand in a "Disney-like" qeue, to go through security. There was only one screening station open, and they kept closing it, because the next qeue would back up. Once through security screening, we then stood in line to "check in." We had been given a digital boarding pass. No one ever asked to see it during any time in the process! We showed our passports, and they let us on the ship. Once on the ship, we were directed to (the wrong place!) another spot on ship, and when we got there, the person rather officiously asked us where our ship cards were. We didn't have them. This was not just us. We were in a group of about 20 people. She took us back to another waiting line (where we evidently should have been directed in the first place). There we were again asked to show our passports, and then to answer a series of questions. My person asked me to sign a blank tablet page. I asked what I was signing and she explained that I was signing that my answers to the questions were true and accurate. Before she asked me the questions? Nope. I'll sign it after I have heard and answered the questions, thank you. 😏 Finally, we were on the ship.
a high-visibility crew member, leaving for his own private excursion, basically just shrugged his shoulders and said, "try Google" as he jumped in his hired vehicle and left the port
THE OTHER "management" fiasco involved itinerary and ports. In fairness, nobody - management or not - can control some things, like weather and foreign port authorities or rules. But maybe they could learn from recurring events. One incident that stuck out to me was the cancellation (we weren't directly involved but friends aboard were) of a major, ship-sponsored excursion at the last minute (after some had been loaded on buses) involving 100 or so passengers. There was no "plan B." In fact, a high-visibility crew member, leaving for his own private excursion, basically just shrugged his shoulders and said, "try Google." The he jumped in his hired vehicle and left. I was part of a team that ran a business for many years. Even if it wasn't "my" problem, if a leak developed, I changed my own plans, and jumped in with a bucket to bail. I found the ship response mind-boggling. We missed a port because the weather was too rough to tender in. Later, I learned from some of the ship employees that this was the 3rd or 4th consecutive time this had happened. Oceania, do you think it is time to re-think that port?
THE VERDICT? Excellent food (as good or better overall than anywhere else). Wonderful working staff. Beautiful, clean ship. But very small, lack of things to do, and not the best logistics. Expensive overall. So, in terms of "bang for the buck," this is not the cruise line for us. I know you should never say never, but we won't likely cruise it again. We met many folks who have cruised Oceania multiple times and love it. So not "dissing" it. Just noting it is not our thing.
WE HAD one interesting experience we had never seen before in our cruises around the world. It apparently is common in South Africa (and maybe other places and I have just not noticed it). I have many photos of the ports' Pilot Boats either dropping a pilot off or picking them up. In a couple of the South African ports, this process was done by helicopter. Pretty interesting to watch!
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