Nautica

Not a cruise line I would use again or recommend

Nov 11th, 2018

We recently returned from a cruise around Italy. We traveled with friends who made the arrangements using Oceania Cruise lines. The ship we traveled on is named Nautica. My wife and I have cruised with several different cruise lines on ten prior occasions. The Nautica is a small ship – 684 total passengers with a staff of 400. We came away feeling that the overall experience was at the bottom of our list. There were a few good points – a) The crew is well trained to be very friendly; b) Cabin and public spaces were kept very clean. c) There was an ample choice of shore excursions. d) The breakfast and lunch buffet always had a large assortment of food choices. Unfortunately, there were far more bad points – a) Any cabin below deck 8 is too small to be comfortably habitable. Below the 8th deck, the largest cabin is 216 square feet. Bathroom is so tiny it was difficult to shower. There was not enough proper space to put away clothing or store suitcases. b) Main dining room: Poor to fair. About five or six main course choices available at each meal – several were the same every night. c) Specialty dining rooms (2): Very nice. Problem is that reservations must be made well in advance of the cruise. Otherwise, tables are not available. d) Entertainment: poor to fair. A comedian performed twice. He was very ‘off color’ and not very funny. Entertainment director sang one night – just okay performance. A group of five very young, inexperienced people performed on all other nights. Would expect a better performance from high school students. e) Excursions: All guides apparently local to area. Many were very well versed and provided a lot of information. Some walked too quickly, not allowing for anyone to take in local sites. On most occasions, the bus windows were filthy. There was plenty of time for the driver to clean the windows while waiting for passengers to assemble and board. To summarize – I have no idea how much better Oceania’s other boats might be, or if the above negative points flow throughout their fleet. That being said, based on our experience I cannot recommend this cruise line, or at least not this particular boat.

British Isles and Iberian Ecstasy

Oct 13th, 2018

Oceania is a great food and service oriented line. I will sail again on the MArina and the Riviera , the 2 bigger ships with bigger staterooms and bathrooms and closet. The Nautica, Sirena and Insigna and Regatta are all smaller therefore have tiny cabins and very tiny bathrooms. I will not ever sail on these 4 ships nor can I recommend it for any one else. The Marina and Riviera are fabulous and its the same price per person per day. So bigger is better on the Oceania ships

Baltic Cruise

Sep 8th, 2018

Booked last minute - very good Cruise. Excellent food especially the Polo Grill Took advantage of the Spa and on board credit Brilliant Piano player.

Somewhere a bit different.

Jul 31st, 2018

We took this cruise for the itinerary and it did not disappoint. The weather was unbelievablely good. We enjoy Oceania for the destinations, food, service and ambiance. But if entertainment and large cabins are you thing it’s not for you.

A very good cruise, great staff, food service, Most port were great, except Russia, lot of time & sailing fora poor port

Jul 25th, 2018

The bath towels were beautiful with nice embroidery, but, it was like drying with a piece of carpet!!!

Timeless wonders

Jun 19th, 2018

Very disappointed in the "refurbished"ship, again small cabins, televisions,no outlets. Service in restaurants not up to the price we paid for this cruise. Food was disappointing for a luxury cruise line.

Awesome Cruise

Jun 19th, 2018

This cruise is just right for the 60's crowd who enjoy elegance and being pampered.

The Cruise from Hell

Dec 29th, 2017

We missed four planned excursions due to the weather and poor planning. That equaled one-forth of our cruise trip. Missed the elephant park which we really were looking forward to, as well as Maputo, Mt. Nelson Tea and Botklierskop Private Game Reserve. Seas and weather were terrible, activities on board ship mainly mindless, and to compensate, they gave us drinks for 2 hours when seas were rough and people too sick to eat or drink. Waves 30+ feet. Oceania gave us bogus onboard credit at 7 am the morning we disembarked. Couldn't use it. They WEREN'T responsive in a way that I expected from their advertising and what I had heard. Food was good, but not phenomenal. Very old crowd. Except for one young woman, we were probably the youngest on the ship. Had to take malaria medication for a port we couldn't enter. The worst cruise we ever took!

retired couple

Oct 4th, 2017

We took this trip because of the itinerary and the extras offered such as paid gratuities, onboard credit, and free excursions. That was as expected. The botched airport to ship transfer was a real downer. It cost $139pp and we could have taken a direct train from the airport to Southampton for 16 euros. The ship itself was OK, but showed its age.

Enjoyable Scandinavian cruise

Sep 14th, 2017

Enjoyed the trip very much so (good food, nice excursions, knowledgeable guides). Jennifer Martin was very helpful in booking this trip and in providing us with all of the necessary details.