Nautica Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The cruise schedule does not provide for optimum wildlife viewing, arriving late morning in most cases. This particular cruise was further impacted due to bad weather, causing delayed embarkation and departure from Capetown, an abbreviated stay in Walvis Bay, by-passing Port Elizabeth. The stop in Maputo was a wasted day that could have been better spent as an overnight in two of the other ports.

The cruise was good, although every time I moved my arm I was in pain. At least the doctor on ship X-rayed and let me know it was not broken. He gave me a sling which was a big help! I have an appointment with an orthopedic at his suggestion. There were too many days at sea due to the Namibia jaunt and the bad weather. The staff and food on Nautica made up for any complaints. It was a good trip which would have been more enjoyable had I not fallen.

It was a good cruise, weather played a role in what we did and where we went, but did not put a damper on our spirits. Fellow passengers we met were nice, friendly and fun. I give thanks and praise to our Captain and his staff for a safe journey.

We are veteran Oceania travelers because we really enjoy the line, its excellent service and food, and its relatively small ships. We liked the itinerary and had pleasant excursions (privately booked) in most of the ports. We weren't able to visit Guernsey due to rough seas, but understand that's always a risk. The Cruise Director and his staff did a great job putting together a plan for our unplanned sea day, and we had a fine time despite missing the port.

I would recommend this cruise to anyone. The size of the ship was perfect as compared to the other huge ships. The excursion choices were very good and varied. Overall the tour guides were very good.

My critique is an honest evaluation. I am a professional novel writer as well as having 47,000 followers on Trip Advisor. Oceania is a well run cruise line that approaches five stars. It would do well to have more of a "Ritz Carlton" feeling with the staff, especially the front desk and concierge. "No" should not be in their vocabulary. Having been on many Oceania cruise as well as other lines, I felt that the this one was a bit of budget cutter when compared to the others. (Especially with entertainment and wait staff in public areas.) The Horizon lounge had especially poor service with a 15-20 minute wait for a drink which on more than several occasions came incorrectly. We have two additional cruises booked for 2019 fall and 2020 June. I would like to see more elegance among the passengers who a noticeable percentage seemed to be on vacation from Walmart. The casual dress policy has turned into a bit of a joke. The old adage" you act like you dress" has some validity. All in all a nice trip. We look forward to our next trips.

Generally a fine cruise and some great tours Dinning was off and not up to expectation of Oceania's other cruises we have been on. D-day site (Omaha Beach )will blow you waya

Loved it! Would do it all over again! Everything was perfect from the booking agency to the disembarkation.

The cruise was very good. The photo safaris were mildly disappointing since they were mostly private reserves.

Oceania is a great food and service oriented line. I will sail again on the MArina and the Riviera , the 2 bigger ships with bigger staterooms and bathrooms and closet. The Nautica, Sirena and Insigna and Regatta are all smaller therefore have tiny cabins and very tiny bathrooms. I will not ever sail on these 4 ships nor can I recommend it for any one else. The Marina and Riviera are fabulous and its the same price per person per day. So bigger is better on the Oceania ships

The bath towels were beautiful with nice embroidery, but, it was like drying with a piece of carpet!!!

Very disappointed in the "refurbished"ship, again small cabins, televisions,no outlets. Service in restaurants not up to the price we paid for this cruise. Food was disappointing for a luxury cruise line.

We missed four planned excursions due to the weather and poor planning. That equaled one-forth of our cruise trip. Missed the elephant park which we really were looking forward to, as well as Maputo, Mt. Nelson Tea and Botklierskop Private Game Reserve. Seas and weather were terrible, activities on board ship mainly mindless, and to compensate, they gave us drinks for 2 hours when seas were rough and people too sick to eat or drink. Waves 30+ feet. Oceania gave us bogus onboard credit at 7 am the morning we disembarked. Couldn't use it. They WEREN'T responsive in a way that I expected from their advertising and what I had heard. Food was good, but not phenomenal. Very old crowd. Except for one young woman, we were probably the youngest on the ship. Had to take malaria medication for a port we couldn't enter. The worst cruise we ever took!

We took this trip because of the itinerary and the extras offered such as paid gratuities, onboard credit, and free excursions. That was as expected. The botched airport to ship transfer was a real downer. It cost $139pp and we could have taken a direct train from the airport to Southampton for 16 euros. The ship itself was OK, but showed its age.

Enjoyed the trip very much so (good food, nice excursions, knowledgeable guides). Jennifer Martin was very helpful in booking this trip and in providing us with all of the necessary details.

This was our first time sailing with Oceania and we had a great time.  The highlight of the cruise was the overnight in Bordeaux, France--the city is beautiful by day and magical at night.  The Nautica is an older ship that is in need of updating.  The service by the staff is absolutely top of the line.  The overall food experience was very good, but not the wow experience that we were expecting.  Tuscano, one of the two specialty restaurants, was most excellent, but Polo was below expectations.  Two of us at our table had to send food back for being overly salty and one other person had two badly cooked steaks in a row.  If you are looking for good evening entertainment, choose another cruise line.  We will gladly sail Oceania again because of their smaller ship itineraries--if the price is right.  But we've had better food and entertainment on Celebrity.

The service, as always was wonderful.  I don't think I will go on any ship sponsored tours again, though.  I always request the smaller group tours and never have gotten one.  I am ready to risk booking my own.  

For some reason, on this trip, the coffee was very bitter.  First time on an Oceania ship that I have had that experience.

Can't recommend this cruise highly enough. The crew on this detailed, clean, mid sized ship were so polite and helpful, a variety of delicious food, and the itinerary was amazing! We had informative lectures to gain information and a historical perspective before we arrived in ports. 

Petra was the best stop

Internet service needs work

Food better than great

Crew very friendly

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I should begin by saying we have cruised on the various upscale lines.  This was our fouth in a row with Oceania and second time on Nautica.  We are sold on Oceania because we like the size and feeling of their ships.  No mega cruises with thousands of passengers.  Oceania must do a great job in hiring their staff because once again they were exceptional in friendliness and service throughout the ship.  Our penthouse suite gave us plenty of extra room and we had a great time interacting with our Butler and cabin stewards.  Dining on Oceania is like going to a fine restaurant at whatever time suited us.  I am not going to write abook here -- we again had a great time on Oceania & Nautica as did many of our 672 fellow travelers -- most of whom have the same loyal feeling for Oceania and are repeat cruisers.  On-board, we booked a Caribbean cruise for February to escape our midwest winter.

Oceania had good entertainment in the evenings.  On a mid-size ship, you do not get the big Broadway productions of some of the mega cruises we have been on. I  am happy to make this trade-off.  The singers on Nautica were far and away the best of our 4 cruises.  We'd been to England many times and London; still, we did 5 days on our own in London and I am kicking myself for not doing 3-4 more.