When Renaissance Cruises, with its eight nearly-identical ships, suffered financial collapse a few years ago, those ships were dispersed to cruise lines around the world. Princess Cruises now operates three of them, Royal Caribbean recently acquired one and three of them sail under the new flag of Oceania Cruises.

Oceania Cruises began operations three or four years ago with the former presidents of Renaissance and Crystal Cruises at the helm. They created a new cruise line that offers destination-intensive cruises primarily in Europe, Asia, the South Pacific and the Caribbean.

Oceania's Insignia

Oceania's Ships
Their three nearly identical ships, the Insignia, the Regatta and the Nautica, offer rich decors with dark woods and plush oriental-style carpeting. Each vessel accommodates about 700 passengers. When our guests boarded the Insignia last November, they found their staterooms smaller than they expected. Many of our larger guests found the tiny bathrooms and showers particularly confining. On the positive side, the beds and bed linens were exceptionally comfortable and the ship was kept in immaculate condition.

Dining and Attire on Oceania
First of all, there are no formal nights; that means, of course, there are no occasions on Oceania when a tie or suit is required. Perhaps the dress code is best described as "Country Club casual". In the evening, we saw men wearing sport jackets, open collared shirts and just about everything in between except jeans.

The ships offer four dining venues. The main dining room is open sitting, meaning that you arrive at the time of your choice and dine with the companions of your choice. (Often there was a bit of a line waiting for tables.)

During the course of the cruise each guest was allowed to make a reservation at each of the two optional restaurants (suite guests enjoyed priority over those in lower categories): Toscana (Italian, of course) and Polo Grill (steaks and seafood). There was no extra charge for either of these two restaurants. Finally the Terrace Cafe, the typical "Lido" buffet, opened each evening on an open-sitting basis.

Except for the Terrace Cafe, we found the dining to be excellent in terms of selection, quality of ingredients and the quality of the preparation. Toscana and the Polo Grill both offered full Maine lobsters on their menu each evening as one of several main courses. Steaks and chops in the Polo Grill were excellent. For those of us who live to eat (Unfortunately I count myself in that category), dining on Oceania is a treat.

Oceania's Onboard Entertainment
Do not come to Oceania for daytime entertainment. Since Oceania's excellent itineraries are focused on their cruise destinations, there are very few days at sea on most of their cruises. That's good because there is very little going in comparison with more traditional cruise ships. Highlights of days at sea on Oceania consisted of 'art lectures' by the shi's art auction manager or fine jewelry lectures by the ship's shop manager. If the Oceania cruise you select includes several days at sea, bring a couple of good books with you.

In fairness, however, most guests enjoyed the scaled-down evening entertainment in the showroom.

Price and Value on Oceania
Summary: The cruise prices are very attractive, particularly in view of the comparatively small compliment of passengers and the high quality of the service and cuisine.

Unfortunately some of the low buy-in value is offset by very high on-board pricing. In this aspect of their operations, Oceania reminds us of a mass-market ship.

For example, the cruise line adds an on-board service fee of 18% to all alcoholic drinks and services in the spa and salon. This would not be so onerous if the prices for bar drinks and wine were not so high to begin with. If you order a glass of the ship's house wine the total charge, after the 18% service charge, tops $10. The final cost of the ship's signature martinis is also over $10 each. The minimum price for a bottle of wine in the restaurants was $30. With the service charge you pay $35.40 for a bottle of wine you might find in your grocery store for about $8-10.

One afternoon I booked a haircut in the salon. The charge was $45 for a decent 20 minute cut (no shampoo, just a 20 minute cut). When preparing my bill, the stylist added the ship's 18% service charge, then added an additional line for me to add a gratuity on top of that!

Conclusion
When working with Oceania before departure, we found the cruise line to be quite inflexible. But once we boarded the ship, we found the General Manager, the Concierge and the Dining Room staff very accommodating. We could not have asked for more. Very impressive.

The dining on board blew me away. I compare the cuisine in the dining room favorably with Crystal and Regent and the two alternative restaurants were as good as theirs. Oceania must plan for a very good per diem food cost to offer the quality of food we received. (I was disappointed with evenings in the Tapas in the Terrace but that's insignificant compared with the other three restaurants.) We enjoyed excellent personal service.

We found the staff to be well trained, friendly and accommodating. Kudos. I had a few little frustrations with the Front Desk and with the Excursions folks but nothing serious.

Upgrade, upgrade, upgrade

It is definitely worth paying more to book the largest stateroom you can afford. Those in the A or C categories felt their rooms, particularly their bathrooms, were uncomfortably small. The PH categories imply penthouses; however we would classify them as deluxe staterooms with balcony.

My only disappointment came in the high cost for on-board purchases: drinks, wines, excursions, salon etc. Many of our guests felt that passengers would drink and buy more but the ship's high prices combined with their 18% service charge discouraged them. (Instead many of our guests savored their evening cocktails in their staterooms, sitting on the bed. Kind of tacky but understandable.)

Others felt there was too little to do on days at sea. That may be true but Oceania is destination-focused (which I like). My conclusion is that Ocean has one foot in the deluxe camp (service, dining, itineraries) and the other planted squarely in the territory of mass market on-board merchandising. We would classify them as a 'premium' line.

Based upon the unfortunate demise of Renaissance Cruises and the subsequent financial loss suffered by many passengers and travel agencies, (including this one) Cruise Masters approached selling Oceania with great caution. However the business press generally reports financial stability for Oceania. Virtuoso, our by-invitation-only marketing alliance, has given them their stamp of approval; therefore, we are pleased to work with Oceania without reservation. We welcome your call!