Insignia Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The cruise was very good. The seas were a little rough in the Atlantic from Portland, Maine to New York. The ports selected by the cruise line were very good. Two of the ports had to be canceled because of the weather and one port was added Portland, Maine

rWe took the 35-day leg of this around the world trip from Cape Town to Singapore. We decided on Oceania because of the itinerary they offered on this leg of the trip.

The problems we had with Oceania just getting us transportation to Cape Town should have been a hint of what was to come. We wanted to book a 3-day pre-cruise tour through Oceania, and did so; but then they couldn't get us on a flight to get us there in time; really?  So we ended up having to cancel that safari and wind land 3-day event. Disappointed greatly with that.

There were many problems with this cruise, mostly on the ship, but also with some ports. So much to say...

1st:  Regarding the ship - it is an older smaller ship, with a lot of problems. While we were on it, they had (in  addition to a norovirus-like epidemic) a horrible leak of pool chemicals (sulfur hydrochloride, I believe) which forced us out of our cabin for a couple of hours and was awful to breath in. We didn't hear anything definitive from the captain for several hours - some communication would have been advised. After he finally did make an announcement it was never mentioned again. No "we apologize for the inconvenience and have a drink on us" or "can we make that up to you?". Nothing. The woman in the suite 2 doors down from us had to go to the hospital as it caused breathing difficulties for her, even though we were all exposed. It stunk our eyes, chests, throats, noses - etc. We were advised that it wasn't toxic, but when we asked what it was they said they didn't know. (So how do they know it wasn't toxic?) All I can say about that is that it hurt physically throughout our reparatory systems.

2nd:  The cabin next to our suite had a bathroom leak which leaked into our cabin, causing a sopping wet carpet for several days. It still was soaking wet when we disembarked in Singapore at the end of the trip. Again, no apologies for anyone about it.

Next, let's discuss the attitude of the officers and staff.....

1st: We were on one 35-day leg of the 180-day Around the World Trip. It seemed that the ship's officers and crew catered mostly to the "180's" (as we came to refer to them), and couldn't have cared less about there rest of us. For example - the 180's were given unlimited internet which many of them just stayed connected to full-time. That made it nearly impossible for the rest of us to get on the Internet. Extremely frustrating. Also, they charged 95 cents a minute for internet service, and sometimes it took more than 30 minutes just to get connected! What a joke, and how cheesy of them to charge us that kind of $$ when more than half our time on the Internet was just trying to get connected. Super expensive, we spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars "on" the Internet.

Next, the 180's got free laundry. The rest of us had to pay (despite the fact that we were even in a suite). We've never had to pay for laundry on any other cruise line when you book a suite - again they were nickel and dime-ing us. Additionally, at one point during the norovirus outbreak, they closed the laundramat altogether, meaning that the only way to wash clothes was to pay to have that done; really?

The 180's also were given free excursions, even overnight ones - the rest of us paid dearly.  

All in all, we were NOT made to feel like we mattered at all to this company on this cruise. You know the ads (for other cruise lines) that refer to being treated like queens and kings on a cruse? Well, that was so NOT the case on the Oceania Insignia.

Now, let's talk about the ports of call and excursions --

1.  There were several really depressing, dirty ports of call that should not have even

     been on the itinerary - Maputo, Mozambique for example. Really filthy and urine

     smell everywhere. We did a walking tour there, and couldn't wait to get back on the

     ship.

2.  Several of their excursions had questionable guides. Some of them never shut up

     for hours, and on one, when several of us were trying to sleep toward the end of 

     the long tour, the tour guide came around the bus and in a VERY LOUD voice        yelled "NO SLEEPING". (A similar thing happened with another tour guide, too.)  3.  Several tour guides wanted to sing for us (heaven help us), and as if that wasn't

     bad enough, they were insisting that we all sing with them - songs we didn't know &

     in one case, a language none of us spoke.

4.  We went on a total of 5 game park excursions - not once did we see any elephants

     or big cats (lions or cheetahs). That was really disappointing as it will probably be       the only time we will ever have that chance again in our lives. The tour guides said

     it was because by the time the ship docks at the port and we get to the game

     preserves, it's late morning and most of the animals are already resting. Perhaps if

     Oceania wants to offer these excursions, they should plan to get to the dock earlier

     to ensure that their customers actually get to see some game. (Shimba Hills Park      was the most disappointing - we saw VERY little in the way of wildlife.)

Entertainment and casino.....

Entertainment was disappointing - no shows - just 1 or 2 performing artists with the ship's 5-piece back-up bank. We (and most passengers we talked to on the ship) prefer the shows.

Casino - nice staff, but they didn't offer even one Slot Tourmament - while every day at sea a Black Jack Tournament was offered.

Lastly, the food.......

I would have rated this cruise only 1 star but because the food was so wonderfully delicious and beautifully prepared, they got an extra star in the rating. It was very difficult to resist the temptation to overeat. The dining room service was slow (perhaps due to missing staff suffering from the virus that was so prevalent), but the staff was very good and friendly. Standouts were Neil and Anatoli (sp??)

Should also mention that Andy and Tammy were excellent and really took good care of us while on tours and on the ship - not an easy task with so many elderly people on board.

My wife and I love to cruise. This past cruise was our 15th and it was totally enjoyable.  The Insignia isn't the newest or the largest but it is filled with great crew members who are always available to assist you in any way possible.  Our eleven night cruise from London to Barcelona was out of this world.  This was our first cruise on the Insignia but we are hoping it will not be our last.  Our cruise expert went over the top for us, everything he told us about was 100% correct.  We are so very pleased he helped us with our choice.  Thanks Rickie, you are the best!

The Insignia is identical to the two Azamara ships. They all are intimate, small and provide excellent service. Perhaps Oceania offers just a notch above Azamara.

We enjoyed the bed so much that we ordered one for our home along with the pillows. We had the best nights' sleep at sea of any cruise. I have back issues and actually awoke in the mornings without pain! You can check out the bedding on their website. Our cabin, a balcony, was small as expected and was meticulously maintained.

The food.....it was excellent. Even in the buffet lobster was available for the meals we had there. The only disappointments were the cookies and caviar. Everything else was top notch and the buffet is really not quite that for you are served your food. My wife, a coffee drinker, said the coffee was the best she ever had. The dining tables are elegantly set. It was a pleasure just to walk into the restaurants. Speaking of which, the specialty restaurants do not charge extra. Isn't that refreshing! However, book them before you even board or as soon as you board or you will not be able to get in or be limited to a day and time. Some people we met had reservations for every night.

The Insignia is not for anyone looking to have a wild time. It is beautifully appointed, no formal wear nights (thank goodness), super library in case you forgot reading material and is a quiet ship. There are no hairy leg contests, photographers pestering to take your photos, or waiters doing the same with drinks at poolside. It is a reserved class act allowing you to simply relax and enjoy life. It certainly is not a ship for youngsters. The only item they might enjoy would be the pool.

As with Azamara, poolside lounges are at a premium on sea days. If you simply want to be out in the sun there are other decks available.

In our opinion, Oceania and the Insignia provide ideal and luxurious service well worth our travelling dollar.

We were docked in St. Lucia several days into the cruise when a fire on board took the lives of 3 people and terminated the voyage.

Oceania does  include air  in their pricing. Be advised this does not include transportation to and from the airport. On other lines we have traveled when we purchased air through them transportation to and from the ship was included or it was clearly stated it was an extra. This may be a petty item and we stumbled across it just two weeks from departure. My thought, Oceania, being an upper scale line, should include this in their pricing. Raise the price if necessary but cover it. I wonder how many unsuspecting passengers found out too late about this?

We boarded in San Juan. There was no one at the boarding ramp to help me board! I needed assistance and none was available or provided. A person not affiliated with the line walked by, saw my dilemma and provided the aid needed. This was the only lack of service we encountered.

We intend to sail with Oceania again.

Bestr cruise we have ever been on.

One of the best cruises I have been on. The Ships crew were just the best, they were so helpfull. Our room stueword was just wounderfull, for awhile I thought she was going to park our bags for us.

The ship is beautiful, the service is exceptional, the food is delicious and the accommodations are great.  Oleg the pianist was wonderful and so were the singers and dancers.  Diego the concierge was a saint having to put up with legitimate complaints and is the ultimate professional.  However, we expected more from the cruise director Leslie regarding lectures onboard and not just dry talk about places we were going to visit, did not need lectures about shopping.  More activities on the two sea days would have been welcome.  Oceania is not known for its sea days but this cruise was altered without much thought.  We initially booked this cruise because of the three Ukrainian ports, Yalta, Sevastopol and Odessa.  Thanks to Mr. Putin we had to miss all three.  Oceania had no choice on this but the passengers expected better customer service from the main office, the suggestions fell on deaf ears and we all felt that a complimentary bottle of wine would have been a nice gesture.  This was a very expensive cruise that did not meet anybody's expectations regarding the destinations.  A second greek island would have been preferable to two days in Romania.  This was my 6th cruise with Oceania.  I am still debating whether I will sail with them again.

The public areas are new and elegant, but the rooms were not remodeled. Old and dated.

Impressions of the ship were excellent, perhaps the best of the 15 or so we have taken...only real problem were the air travel arrangements made as a part of the cruise package.

We were upset that we missed departure of our cruise. The trip was booked through Oceania including our airfare. Unfortunately the flight we were booked on was overbooked and we had to sleep overnight at our connecting city to be rerouted to the next port of call. We can understand these things can happen, but felt that it was totally unacceptable that we had to pay for our own hotel and food, and were never compensated for our expenses or troubles, nor the loss of 3 days of our cruise. Despite our best efforts, Oceania refused to compensate us for our loss. Our warning is not to trust travel arrangements made for you by Oceania.

The Insignia cruise ship was clean and very well maintained. The crew were well trained, polite and helpful. Room attendants and dining staff were truly excellent. We found the ship-arranged shore excursions to be over priced and we found that we could make private arrangements for land tours at 1/4 to 1/2 the cost. Thje open dining hours were excellent and we enjoyed the "country club casual" approach for dress code.

Did not have eneough help for specialty restaurant each nite so was partly empty and had a TERRIBLE meal atPolo which took ship 4 days for ship to respond to and then did nothing.Many people even on the concierge section could not get a second reservation and their specialty rest.with no extra fee is one of Oceania's selling points.WE won't go back until we hear this has been rectified.

I will always recommend the Oceania ships as I believe they are the finest "small ships" in the industry, but our recent trip was a terrible disappointment. We did South America in January -- thought it was summer in the southern hemisphere. The cruise line did not at all prepare us for the freezing weather and the very rough seas. We were on the ship for 18 days and only able to go into ports six times due to the conditions of the seas. I wrote to Oceania when we arrived home with some suggestions for this particular itenarary ~ First, aside from the weather and rough seas, our major disappointment was that there were virtually no Chilean or Argentinean wines on board. We were in the wine country of South America and could not even buy the wines from that region to sample. I suggested two things to Oceania -- either make this cruise a Food & Wine Trip, stopping in Chile and Argentina cities to visit the vineyards and have gourmet chefs on board for a major culinary experience, OR make this trip a true Nature Trip -- telling passengers in advance that they will be around glaciers and see penguins -- obviously, that would indicate COLD WEATHER -- we did not anticipate freezing temps. Let people know that the seas may prevent docking at some of the ports of call and that the weather is going to be very cold so be prepared to do things on board that do not include being outside on the decks. Also, passengers should be told in advance that the casino on board will be closed for 3/4 of the trip since you are not allow to gamble in Chilean waters -- we were do disappointed that we could only visit the casino like four or five days out of the 18 days of the trip.

A truly beautiful and extremely comfortable ship, and the crew was excellent. Found the prices for extras extremely high, but the cruise was inexpensive so we factored that into the overall cost. A bit of sticker shock for the cocktails and wine prices.

We booked a concierge level balcony stateroom which was lovely. The cabin steward couldn't have been nicer, and my husband and I found the staff to be generally accommodating. We sailed the Meditteranean, and the ports and shore excursions were good (although the excursions were pricey). The restaurant choices were great, and the open seating policy in the dining room is a pleasure. This was our second time on Oceania, with both of our cruises offering free air. Both returns were botched by missed connections and a day's delay in returning home. However, the return from Rome via Paris was a disaster because the connection in Paris was overbooked. We were put up in a hotel that can only be described as a sewer, and I sat in the lobby all night. Also, when we disembarked the ship, my husband's suitcase was broken, obviously mishandled by the baggage crew. The Insignia staff were no help and offered no assistance. What was a wonderful cruise ended badly. Our prior cruise through the Panama Canal was wonderful also, but once again, the trip home took 2 days and was exhausting because of missed connections. When we returned home, I wrote to Oceania not expecting anything, but hoping for at least an acknowledgment and maybe an apology. I received a curt letter that they were not responsible for anything that happened. I disagree because the cruise line did handle the air and advertise this "perk" extensively. We will go back to sailing with Silverseas, Windstar and Celebrity. If we do sail with Oceania, will book our own return travel and suggest this to others.

Great ship if you want easy off and on at ports. Mature crowd. No steel drums and headbanging music at the pool. It is for those who wish to relax by the pool or enjoy quite times onboard. The food was second to none.

We are a four time traveler on Renaaissance now Oceania. It keeps geting better.

I would rather do 4 regular cruises,than pay the kind of money I did.Partially my own fault.I am not a big drinker.The crowd was mostly friendly and educated.Not one obese person.

We had an EXCELLENT experience on this ship last Dec/Jan 18 day Panama Canal). The food was outstanding and so we naturally expected the same on this cruise. I don’t know what happened between Jan and Sept but it appears to be a corporate issue and seems unfortunately to be fleet wide. My brother is currently on Riviera and experiencing the same poor MDR entrees. Specialty restaurants are excellent as are pastries and desserts. Oceania is losing loyal customers due to this poor decision. Menus were terrible as was the execution of entrees. I will not book again until convinced this has been fixed. Oceania is not an inexpensive line and there is no excuse for poor food. The crew was excellent as always!

Oceania is a must for those who like different places and love lobster.