Overall, while we enjoyed our vacation, the on-board experience of the RSSC explorer failed to live up to the hype of an ‘ultra’ luxury cruise line and we will be unlikely to book again.
Dining: Specialty dining was an exception to our general experience, generally being outstanding on this cruise. Service and food quality in these venues was markedly superior to main dining (Compass Rose) and ...
While the staff and service was excellent, the very expensive excursions were mediocre at best. Staff was very attentive and pleasant. Considering the price of the cruise itself, $800 for a drink package is outrageous. While the food in the specialty restaurants was excellent, the food in the main restaurant was mediocre as well. Difficult to make reservations in specialty restaurants. Buffet was ...
Our cruise experience, including our pre-cruise three night stay in Tokyo, was a mixed bag at best. Starting with the "transfer" from Narita airport to our hotel: this was a disorganized, chaotic mess. Our greeters at the airport kept us waiting for hours before finally leading us on a long walk with baggage to the bus. The Hilton Tokyo was a very good hotel with an excellent buffet breakfast but ...
Oceania - March 17-April 1 - Sailing around Japan, including 3 days pre cruise in Tokyo
This was our first Oceania cruise. We are Elite on Celebrity and have also sailed Princess, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. We were never asked by Oceania to rate the trip, something that has never happened on our many cruises. Our review follows:
We traveled as a group of about 25 people mainly from ...
Experienced cruisers for 30 years. Mostly Viking fans, but our friends said "Try Oceania for the great food". Food was below Viking standards and marginal. Ordered three steaks from three restaurants on three separate evenings, all tough and flavorless. Grand dining room is a cluster- waited 90 minutes for breakfast to arrive, good thing we had no excursions scheduled that day. Service was ...
The ship is magnificent, although the recent refurbishment in 2023 didn't reach all the staterooms( not allowed to call them cabins), the carpet in our room was badly stained. When contemplating a cruise with Cunard get everything in writing, we spent 3 hours on the phone between NZ and Australia with the Cunard agent and decided to upgrade our stateroom to a room with an un-interrupted view, on ...
We especially chose this cruise ship because of its large cabin and bathroom and the "best cruise for cuisine". We have been on a lot of Azamara and Regent cruises and thought we should try this new experience. It started badly as we were sent to the wrong terminal in Bangkok.
We got on board and were very pleased with our cabin (A1). The attendant Gede and his assistant Mark were excellent. ...
This was our second cruise with Seabourn. We returned to Seabourn after an amazing cruise with them some years ago. What a disappointment second time round, so much had changed and not for the better.
Seabourn comes with a price tag and an expectation of 5 star luxury, sadly in our opinion it has dropped to 4! The attention to detail is gone, the personal touch no more, very average wines ...
Pros:
Specialty restaurants had great food and service
Entertainment and variety excellent
Art courses terrific teachers and classes
Cons:
they cancelled 7 ports with no refunds of loss port, port fees, VISA fees etc. Terrible we have done over 70 cruises and plan on doing many more but will never use them again. Their policy has changed and any cruise line we have taken has ...
This was our first cruise with Oceania and a small ship. It was great we could stop at places that larger ships do not visit.
Staff and food were really excellent, but the entertainment was not as good or varied as a bigger ship can provide.
Our cabin was on Level 7 (A1Concierge Veranda) and it was disappointing to discover our hand basin was cracked, the soap dish was badly chipped and then ...