My Oceania Experience

I have recently returned from a 5 night cruise on Oceania Insignia and one word sums it up, Wow.

This was my first time sailing on Oceania and the whole experience was exceptional. My colleague Danielle and I flew to Bordeaux to meet the ship and were met with a seamlessly smooth embarkation. We had a B1 Verandah Cabin on Deck 6  which was good size with plenty of storage space although the bathroom was fairly small but supplied with lovely Bvgari toiletries.

As we didn’t embark till 7pm it was time to get ready and head to the Grand Dining Room on Deck 5. This was a beautiful, light and spacious room  and as Oceania is well known for the food it  was second to none. The staff in the dining room were also very attentive and nothing was too much bother for them. Every day inside the daily newsletter there was the evening menu to look at so you could look over all the choices before hand.

After Dinner we headed to the Horizon Lounge which is situated on Deck 10 and is one of the entertainment venues. This is where the evening entertainment was held and also in the Insignia Lounge on Deck 5. Horizons had Happy Hour from 5pm-6pm and 10.30pm-11.30pm every night where you could have 2 for 1 drinks served by the fantastic bar staff who knew what everyone’s drink was after the first night especially Ryan who became out personal barman for the cruise. All soft drinks and teas and coffees are included

The ship was in port overnight in Bordeaux so we decided to have a lie in and order room service for Brunch. This is available 24 hours a day and like all the other service on the ship was great. The food arrived freshly prepared and piping hot. Breakfast Service is also complimentary every day in the cabin if you didn’t want to go to the dining room or the Terrace café.

The ship carries 684 passengers and feels more like you are in a Grand Country Hotel rather than being on a ship. There was a very relaxed feel about everything but this didn’t take away the feeling of elegance. There are 342 Suites onboard of which 70% have a Verandah and 400 staff to look after all your needs.

There is a well-stocked library on board and also a well-equipped gym for exercise lovers which is a really good size for a small ship. Even the artwork onboard is Picasso! There was also Boutiques and shops onboard for anything you may have forgotten or if you wanted to treat yourself to some perfume or Jewellery.

 

The next port of call was Lorient which a small port but free shuttle buses were available to take you into the town and after a short walk around we headed back to the ship to grab sometime in the sunshine. The pool decks had plenty of comfortable loungers which had lovely soft mattresses on them with fluffy white towel covers and there were plenty of pool towels available too. Waiter service Drinks around the pool was fast too and you never had to wait for a drink, so soon as you put your hand in the air a waiter or waitress was there to serve you.

As the Speciality Dining is included on Oceania we had the chance to dine in Toscana which is the Italian Restaurant and also in Polo Grill. The food in both of these restaurants was outstanding but my favourite had to be Polo Grill. For starters I had the Caesar Salad which is prepared at the table  and the Polo Grill Surf and Turf of Florida Lobster tail and Filet Mignon for my main course  which was cooked to perfection. All of beef dishes are all USDA Prime and dry-aged for 28 days to enhance the tenderness and flavour my Filet Mignon was proof of this.  I don’t normally have a desert even on a cruise but even I couldn’t resist the deserts and went for the trilogy of Homemade vanilla Marshmallows dipped in Chocolate, Caramel and Berry Coulis! These were like 3 Marshmallow lollipops!

 

In the main dining room every night there was also  a Jaques Pepin Signature dish to choose from and also a dish  from Red Ginger and Jacques so you could experience a taste from these restaurants as they don’t have this particular restaurants on Insignia. All of the crockery on board I the main dining rooms is Versace which was stunning.

The entertainment onboard was very good too and as we were heading to Ireland the featured a St Patricks  day in June evening with “5 O Clock Somewhere Duo” who sang lots of Irish Songs and also Irish Comedian Billy Boyle. The duo performed again on another night and did a lot of more up to  date music while playing lots of various instruments. I have to say they were both brilliant singers and very talented musicians.

The Insignia Production cast were also very good with the 2 male and 2 female lead vocals having incredible voices. The performed twice during our 5 night cruise and did an Acoustics Session Evening of pop music over the last 4 decades with songs from Billy Joel. Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and many more. The other production that they did was Broadway in concert singing songs from a lot of the lasts shows.

Insignia Lounge

The quality of the entertainment was in keeping with the whole quality experience that you receive from Oceania.

I also have to mention the  lovely Lisa Clarkson who was our host on board Oceania for all the care and attention she gave us while we were on board and making sure we all had everything we needed. This was truly memorable experience and one I will remember for a long time


About Me

With the better half! Hello There, Well now my blog has had a makeover I thought I had better update the details about me. It doesn't seem like 5 minutes since I was writing about myself for the first time but that was nearly 5 1/2  years ago, they do say time…

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