The cruise to Antarctica was spectacular. The ports of Buenos Aires, Puerto Madryn, Ushuaia, Puerto Montt were very good and worthwhile. Punta Arenas was okay. We didn't see the Falkland Islands that we really wanted to. The port of Laguna San Rafael was listed as a port but was really an anchorage where you could not get off and that was not made clear before the trip. The other ports could have easily been missed with no great loss. Oceania which was billed as a luxury cruise with the best food on the water was really like many of the other cruise lines. We were not impressed by their food or terrific service. However, seeing Antarctica made up for a lot of other shortcomings.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Embarkation was probably the fastest experience we have ever had. We signed up for the last embarkation time period because we had a private tour that day and there were very few people boarding at that time.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The main dining was very slow for the first two weeks of the cruise. It took at least 2 hours every night to eat. We tried on night to eat in the Terrace Cafe (buffet) but that was an even bigger disaster. The lines were long and there were no tables available. The food was not quite what I we expected considering Oceania states they have the best cuisine on the water. It seemed pretty comparable to the food we have had on other, less expensive cruise lines. We did get four free nights at their specialty dining restaurants, 1 night at each restaurant. The food was very good at Jacques and Red Ginger, pretty good at Toscana and only average at Polo Grill. We were up early for breakfast on most days so did not run into a big crowd at the buffet, but for lunch we again ate mostly in the main dining room as the buffet was packed with long lines and no where to sit. The dining hours were later that we were used to, and there was not anywhere to get snacks in the evening. The ship really needs someone to bake cookies as most of them were not very good. They had some cookies which were sugar free but it was never noted which ones they were or they all were as they tasted mainly like cardboard.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
We felt there were not enough activities to do on the ship during sea days. They did bring in four speakers to do presentations on Antarctica twice a day before we got to Antarctica. These were generally good, especially Peter Carey. Mr. Carey also did a commentary as we sailed through Antarctica which was excellent. The rest of the time there was needle pointing sessions, and bracelet making. They also had trivia sessions which did not interest us. They only had two bingo sessions which had a good turnout when they were held. But, it seemed that the prize payouts did not equal the amount of payments made for the bingo cards.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
They had two comedians perform, one who was excellent and one who was OK. The ships' dancers and singers were just okay, the pianist and guitarist were both just okay.
Children's Programs
N/A
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
The room stewards were excellent as were the waiters. Both were very friendly and worked to make sure the passengers had a good time. The 1.5 passenger/ship personnel did not seem that evident, especially in the dining rooms where it seemed people were running around doing nothing. They did not seem very organized as the length to time to eat was definitely noticeable then.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Ship's layout was good but the Buffett area seemed too small. It was always very crowded and limited seating.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
The cabin was nicely furnished, but it was showing it's age as the ship is due this year for refurbishing. However the pillows were very soft. The closet doors were held closed by magnets which were not very strong as when we got in heavy seas they were constantly banging open and closed. The door to the veranda did not seal very well and it high winds would whistle and also let in a lot of cold air. Not good when you are sailing in a cold climate.
Ship tip
Make sure you are sailing to Antarctica as that area is amazing and worth everything else.
We did the ship's excursion to Punta Tombo. This was a really good excursion even with the 2 hour bus trip there and back. Seeing the penguins was fabulous. the provided lunch was the best box lunch we have ever had on a tour.
We did not get into this port due to rough seas. The cruise ship refunded our tour money but did not refund the port fees as other cruise lines have done when we miss a port.
We cruised down Wilhelmina Bay on the way to Paradise Harbor. we saw whales, penguins and icebergs. The scenery was spectacular. We could not sail into Paradise Harbor as there was too much ice in the harbor. But the trip down and back was beautiful.
We sailed into Antarctic Sound and saw many icebergs, some very large. We then turned around to sail to Deception Island. When we got there the seas were too rough to get close to the island , but you could see some of the penguins. Then it started to snow and we left for Drake Passage.
When we sailed down the passage was fairly smooth. On the way back we had 6-7 meter waves. the trip was very rough but we have been in seas like this once before. the cruising was slow and we were late to our next port.
We got to port 4 hours late but we had a private tour to the national forest. It was spectacular. We were given an extra hour in port for getting there late. We returned per instructions, but we were 1 hour 15 minutes late leaving the port for which we received no word from the captain as to why.
We had a private tour in Punta Arenas. We toured the city and then went to a museum that had replica ships of Magellan's Neo Victoria and the HMC Beagle. It also had replicas of Shackleton's ship Endeavor and the life boat he used to sail to Punta Arenas to get help.
This was listed as a port on our itinerary but was actually nothing but an anchorage. You could only take a boat to see a glacier. This was not made very clear and we, like several others we talked to, thought we could get off the ship and walk around the harbor. This was very poor communication by Oceania on what this stop was.
We had a ship's tour to Coyhaique and Simpson Valley. This was basically a two hour bus ride to the city of Coyhaique, 30 minutes to visit a very small craft market, and 2 hour return to the ship. The scenery was nice but that was all.
We had a private tour with a fantastic tour guide. We saw the volcano, the waterfalls, really rapids, he'd lunch at a local Chilean restaurant, went to a small nature park which led to an overlook of the large lake and then to Puerto Varas. There we shopped at some outdoor craft markets and had ice cream at the guides favorite ice cream store.
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