Our first and last with Oceania. They are a fallen brand. No longer a luxury cruise line. As with other reviewers here, we will never EVER cruise Oceania again. They at best mislead us about what they deliver and at worst, flat out lied. They are disorganized beyond belief. Food is awful nursing home quality. No greasy spoon at home would survive with such awful food. Ship is literally rusting. It should be scrapped. A passenger who has sailed on Marina before had mentioned that the paintings on the ship are worth more than the ship itself. I can see why.
Embarkation
1 out of 5
Some waited in line for hours. No water, no shade. Captain gave each passenger a $100 ship board credit for the "inconvenience" and an apology. Unfortunately, embarkation was only the start of disappointments.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
Advertised as "the best cuisine on the seas". Lies. This was the most bland, tasteless, food in all stations that we have ever experienced. EVERYTHING that could add flavour was intentionally removed to create the worst nursing home quality food available. Another passenger called it "gruel".
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
If you like Bingo, shuffleboard, needlepoint, and mahjong you'd have been in heaven. The only break was from the fairly decent lectures from the Antarctic Expedition team.
Oceania advertised not one but TWO internet logins per stateroom. Well, they never promised either would actually work! After a a few days and many complaints to the General Manager, he pulled the plug on it all together. NO internet service at all for anyone. No email, no researching destinations, no communication with family. Nothing. And ZERO concern or apology from the General Manager. He could care less.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Like the food, everything blanded down to sound the same.
Children's Programs
No children on the ship that I saw.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Housekeeping staff especially were the one redeeming aspect of the ship. Servers were great, when they were paying attention.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
The ship is well past it's prime. Common areas were clean but showing their age. They had a crew out re-varnishing columns on the pool deck, as if a coat of paint would fix their appearance. The ship badly needs refurbishing. Even the hull has dents and rust. Probably, this rust-bucket should be scrapped. One passenger we dined with who had sailed 18 times with Oceania said it wasn't the same ship they knew from before. Several others said they would never return to Oceania.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
Furniture in our stateroom was old and battered. More equivalent of a seedy 1-star hotel than a "luxury" cruise. Shower stall can only be used by short, thin persons. The shower door didn't close properly and leaked all over the floor. I tried using the tub-shower instead, but there, the drain ... didn't. The bathroom door frame is literally rusting off.
Town itself isn't anything spectacular. Would have liked to visit some of the observatories in the surrounding hills but that wasn't an option. We visited a winery...which was a winery. Grapes, barrels. Nice location, but once you've seen one, they're all similar.
Anchored here again, and our first glacier of the trip. Got us excited to see more ice. Glad we saw it before Antartica. Would have been underwhelming otherwise.
Deeply disappointed the port was closed due to strong winds. We could not dock. Ship captain apparently had a medical emergency and was evacuated here. We had a new Captain from here onwards.
This passage can be treacherous but for our passage it was quiet. 3-4 metre swells was the worst we saw. We were lucky it was such a boring passage. Didn't really want excitement here.
Probably the most impressive place we've ever visited. Noting compares to the mountains, glaciers and bergs here. It's just spectacular. Our only regret was that we were not landing.
Went to a penguin rookery. Saw King and Gentoo penguins with their chicks. Great fun watching the birds look after the young, go for a swim to catch food and return to feed the chicks.
This is a well off resort town. Nice beach, homes. Excursions were to see the town and countryside. We took an excursion to yet another winery for a wine and cheese lunch. Cheese was good. Wines were ... meh.
Montevideo was ok. It's a large city. A third of Uruguay's population lives here. We took a tour of the sights then drove out to another winery. However this time it wasn't as much for the wine as the dance performance. Our first introduction to Tango. Great show.
Loved Buenos Aires. We saw the city, learned a bit about the history and went to the Gala Tango - which was an absolute highlight of the tour. Amazingly talented dancers and musicians. I didn't realize before this visit that Tango is not just a dance in Argentine. It's a culture.
We couldn't wait to disembark this rust-bucket. They even messed this up. We were taking a post-cruise excursion. They gave us the wrong tags for our luggage which would have sent it to a different hotel from which we were staying. I noticed the error and the land tour guide made manual revisions to correct the mistake.
Wow, your experience was an exception to all of my Oceania Cruises. ALWAYS excellent food and service. I kind of doubt a lot of your claims, but, if true, then please skip Oceania for your future needs.
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