My husband and I chose this cruise because of the itinerary and our past experience with the vegetarian food on Oceania. We have only sailed on the larger Oceania ships - this was our first time on one of their smaller ships. We could not have been more disappointed in the food quality and selection. The limited number of options were vegetables that were either fried, soaked in oil or in a cream sauce that tasted horrible and was highly caloric. Two nights in a row featured the identical menu for Pan-Asian food; another two nights in a row featured New Zealand cuisine - again, the identical menu. One of the evening they did not even offer a green salad. My husband lost 8 lbs. because there was nothing for him to eat at dinner.

This cruise was a nightmare, from start to finish. We paid for a penthouse and were told, in writing, we could board at 11 a.m. We had to sit in the terminal for 2.5 hours because they had to disinfect the ship from the prior cruise, where guests suffered from a gastro-intestinal virus. When I asked why they didn't send people an email to this effect, they said they did. We never received an email, and all of the other guests waiting at the terminal said they did not, as well. For three quarters of the time on the ship, they sprayed disinfectant all over the tables and chairs, which landed on the food we were eating. The smell and taste of disinfectant served to ruin our eating experience even further. There were no table cloths or place mats for more than half of the trip.

The first evening we sailed, the captain chose to go out on seas with 30 foot waves and not inform the guests. As a result, the majority of guests with whom we spoke got motion sickness. I was so violently ill that the doctor had to come to my cabin twice to administer shots of zofran. I was billed $327 for this - which added insult to injury. After 24 hours, I felt well enough to leave my cabin. Upon speaking with the Executive Concierge, I was told the captain had "made a mistake" by not informing guests of the impending 30 foot waves, and that I should just file a claim with my insurance company. Other guests shared that glass bottles and glasses flew from their table tops and shattered in their cabins throughout the night. Oceania never apologized to anyone. We could have stayed in Sydney that evening, since Oceania cancelled our first port of call (Eden) due to the brush fires. There was no reason to take the ship out into such rough seas. Read more