Where do Oceania stand?

Last Monday I was invited on board Oceania cruises ship the Regatta for Lunch.
The Regatta is only 30,000 tonnes and really is an elegant and charming ship. With 400 staff looking after only 648 guests the Regatta offers every luxury you expect.

Oceania have no formal nights on board which many people find very attractive and the choice of food is amazing and the wine included at lunch is free flowing.

There are four unique open seating restaurants on board:

Grand Dining room – A 5* luxury French inspired restaurant offer

Terrace Café – An Alfresco dining area offering a sumptuous buffet each evening

Polo Grill – Speciality steakhouse restaurant

Toscana – Speciality Italian restaurant

Also to be noted there are no supplements for speciality restaurants on board Oceania

The suites are on board are very spacious and well decorated but I was disappointed at the size of the Penthouse suites. They didn’t have any wow factor and only seemed marginally bigger than a standard balcony. The nice thing about the Suites is they also offer course by course in suite dining.

The trip has made me wonder where Oceania stand in the cruise market? They are classed as deluxe but don’t offer the extras you get sailing with the 6* lines but yet still offer far more than the more commercial 5* lines like Cunard, Celebrity and P&O.

The only line that I think is comparable at the moment is Azamara Cruise Club and Azamara have been offering some great deals recently with on board credit and free flights. But then Oceania don’t have much availability left for 2010so they must be doing something right. What do you think?

If anyone has any questions about Oceania or any of the other cruise lines, then please feel free to contact me.