Oceania Cruises
Oceania Cruises
Independent Expert Reviews by Professional Travel Journalists
Those looking for style and fine food and fascinating itineraries without the formality and price of rival luxury brands, then Oceania Cruises is a safe bet.
The relatively young US company claims to be the world’s only upper-premium cruise line operating three sister ships – Regatta, Insignia and Nautica – each with a capacity for less than 700 passengers.
Sailing to 180 places across the globe, Oceania aims to mix the finest cuisine at sea with luxurious cabins and suites, exceptional personalised service at extraordinary value.
Each of the trio of vessels offers continental cuisine in the Grand Dining Room, a steak house, gourmet Italian restaurant and terrace café.
Destinations to be covered in 2008 include Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, the Amazon, Baltic, Black Sea, China, Far East, Greek islands, Mediterranean, Scandinavia, Russia, Southeast Asia, India, Middle East, Africa, Central America, the Caribbean, South America and the Panama Canal.
This summer will see all three ships sailing in Europe operating 54 voyages to more than 70 ports of call. The Western Mediterranean, Greek islands and Scandinavia all feature with more overnight stays than any other cruise line in its class.
The voyages are between 10 and 16 days in length. On average, 10 and 12-day itineraries will feature no more than one sea day and two-week cruises will include no more than two days at sea.
The destination-intensive nature of Oceania’s itineraries enables passengers to experience many ports in a relative short period in a relaxed environment.
New ports added for summer 2008 include Haifa, Israel; Pula, Croatia; Alghero, Sardinia and Tangier, Morocco.
The use of intimate and mid-sized ships enables Oceania to schedule stops in smaller ports that many larger vessels cannot access, such as Monte Carlo, St Tropez, Sarande, Portofino and Kotor. These are in addition to perennial favourites like St Petersburg, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Venice and Rome.
For winter 2008-09, Oceania will offer more longer voyages including 32 days from Rome to Singapore, 19 days between Rio de Janeiro and Valparaiso in Chile and a 26-day Amazon Adventure from Miami.
Nautica will run eight voyages form 15 to 35 days in duration in Australia and Asia while Insignia is to operate a series of 12 to 19-day cruises around South America.
Overnight stays are scheduled for Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Luxor, Dubai, Yangon, Bali, Bangkok, Hanoi, Saigon, Sao Paulo, Kyoto and Taipei.
New ports of call to be featured are Yangon in Burma and Puerto Chiapas and Huatulco, both in Mexico.
