Our full OCEANIA experience - Not quite living up to the hype!!

We cruised from Seville to Dublin June 2024 on Oceania Sirena, and have to say we were slightly disappointed for a number of reasons, the main one being that the dining didn’t match up to the registered trademark ‘Finest Cuisine at Sea’! Join us as we sail from sunny Spain to rainy Dublin! Enjoy the ports we visited, the ship, and the dining options.

[lisamushnick]

Glad I watched your posts. I'm sticking with Azamara. The food is great and the crew is the best.

[philipnawrocki]

Oh my. What a disaster for a brand that claims to be luxury. So glad we booked with Silversea! Please tell me if you prefer Seabourn or Regent. I will be looking at those two lines for our next booking. And if your parents are in their 90's they look fantastic! Thanks so much!

[maureenabba]

Always looking so glam Christina and Stuart, thank you for always posting so brilliantly I love watching your channel. 😊

[scruff]

You two always look so glamorous especially you Christina, loved it when one day your lipstick matched Stuart's shirt 😊 thank you for sharing this excellent video, happy travels x

[paulreid]

Excellent review. It's too bad someone led you to expect the Oceania experience to match Regent in terms of staff to passenger rates and inclusiveness - both impacting the cruise experience. We now have additional cruises booked with both Regent and Oceania and find both lines to be excellent. We must book a higher-level cabin in Oceania than the new Regent ships in order to have a similar ambiance in the stateroom. And we know the service will almost certainly be faster and more personal on Regent. But both experiences are wonderful to us. We keep lists of cruise staff on both lines and we appreciate the "Welcome back home." encounters from them all.

[scifimonkey]

I don’t think that Oceania pretend to be Silversea Seaborne or Regent. They align themselves more with Viking and Azamara ie somewhere between Celebrity, Cunard and Holland America and the luxury lines. Their pricing generally reflects that. So if you were expecting the Luxury experience you were always going to be disappointed.

[SarahBeadle-zs]

Really enjoyed watching and your honest opinion

[lindapeterson]

We are thinking of this same cruise. Thanks for the review.

[merilynp-j]

It would be interesting to hear Joan's feedback given what you said occurred. Sadly it seems that some cruise liners have not thought about people with mobility issues and it really needs to be addressed.

[MarcucciLeising]

For a long time, as the price of Chanel increased, I no longer thought I could afford it. I think I'll be happy that I have the kislux as my travel bag that I don't have to take care of. By the way, I'm sure no one will have a hard time telling the difference. Thanks for the comparison.

[warrenwolf]

As loyal Regent cruisers

Sounds like you get what you pay for

[johnsmith-tnrn]

We loved the original Renaissance ships. 300ft long, 160 passengers. No balconies but in the early 90’s, no one had them.

[raifcantekin]

Thanks for honest post, I took your great advise on Explorar journeys and loved it.and guest what we are going back to Explora journeys Feb 25 for 9 days from Miami to Caribbean again.thanks both of you for all your videos❤.I am afraid This cruise Oceania not my cup of tea …….

[janelleo.]

Thank you for your review, we always enjoy watching your videos! Sorry to learn of your mixed experience, we sailed our first Oceania on the Vista last month and fortunately had excellent service and food. Our understanding is that Oceania is not an Ultra Luxury Cruise line like Regent, Seabourn and Silverseas (and the pricing reflects as such). I think it is fair to say that Oceania is the "Finest Cuisine at Sea" (in its class); for us, it was the best cuisine we have ever had on a cruise. We also highly recommend their Penthouse Suites for extra space and added amenities. For us, Oceania is an excellent option for people like us who cannot afford or are not particularly keen on the all-inclusiveness found on the Ultra Luxury lines. Hope you have a better experience next time!

[AxeandYouShallreceive]

We were on the cruise that left Dublin after you disembarked and i agree the food was not good at all. Most of my meals were somewhat cold and lacking any flavour. The itinerary was super cool and the price was not terrible, so there it that.

[jasonsaunders]

The presentation of the food is terrible. We will skip Oceania and book Explora for our next trip instead. Thanks for this video it was very helpful!

[faithfellman]

Another fabulous honest post with a touch of humor. I laughed every time you said, “finest cuisine at sea”. Thank you!

[tradergood]

I agree about the food but comparing Oceania to true luxury lines (Seabourn, Regent, Silversea) isn't a fair fight because they are at a significantly higher price point.

[norfolkboy]

It’s unfortunate that you found out that marketing hype is just that, hype! We would put Oceania MDR food on a par with Azamara but below Regent. That said, Regent’s cruise fare is well above that of Oceania’s (especially their “R” type ships) based on our experience. A really enjoyable watch, thank you 🙏

[BrummieNik]

Never done an ocean cruise (river cruises, yes), but do enjoy your travelogues. VG film and editing. Apropos those burgers: I recently had one at Gatwick airport, Wetherspoons, and it looked far more appetising than what you showed !