Life at Sea

One of the things we enjoy most, obviously after seeing old favorite spots or discovering new ones, is our time away from excursions, or Life at Sea. Oceania has a reputation as a 'foodie' cruise line, and this cruise has not disappointed. On their four R-Class (Regatta is one) 680-passenger ships there are two speciality restaurants Polo Grill (beef, lamb, pork and seafood) and Toscana (Italian). Sirena has combined these two menus into one restaurant and converted one restaurant to Red Ginger, an Asian fusion menu that we love. Reservations required, but never an additional dining charge as many lines do.

Then there is The Grand Dining Room with a wonderful rotating menu and always a few Jacques Pepin choices. Terrace Cafe aft, serving all day with constantly creative dinner choices, is buffet style and Waves is the most casual. When making a reservation or being seated, the guest will always be asked 'sharing' or 'alone.' We typically 'share' as some of our fondest memories have been meeting new people and making new friends. If we hadn’t shared, we would likely not have met a gracious WWII vet, who was an aide to Patton in France after D-Day, nor a Vietnam F-4 pilot who was a POW; more to come on that. We often entertain those we’ve met in our stateroom with choices from any of the restaurants available.

The Library (literally) aft and Horizons are two great places, including our deck, to curl up with a book. Cap devoured the 700-page Brules by Harry Combs. You Colorado types may recall that name and Combs Lear Jet at Stapleton. Suzy is reading A Mighty Long Way, written by her friend Carlotta Walls Lanier, about Carlotta's experience integrating Little Rock Central HS in 1957.

Enrichment lectures always are germane and we have three lecturers on board. Dan and Donna from Canada we met on a Panama Canal cruise many years ago, and it's been great to get reacquainted. Another lecturer we met is Dr. Russell Moll and his wife Marilyn. His speciality is ocean sciences, marine biology, and ecology, and he introduced us to the term Global Change (versus Climate Change—think about it). Before they were married Marilyn worked at NOAA in Boulder, where we lived for 20 years. Would you believe her then-boss Dr. Al Clark was one of our best friends many decades ago!! It's been one continuous gush and we just learned Al's grandson is looking at grad schools focusing on marine biology.

And there are the requisite wine tastings, culinary demos, an upcoming galley tour, special receptions, dinner with officers, and, of course, looking at future cruise bookings. No time yet for spa visits, bridge, games, or any of the other many activities. The entertainment has been fun--mostly Aussie and New Zealand talent, and a wide variety of performances.

But we should close this post with just one example of the outstanding customer service Oceania provides. We prefer Indian tonic to the American version of tonic, and found Canada Dry tonic in our stateroom when we boarded. Cap mentioned to Abhi, our wonderful butler, that he preferred Indian tonic. Abhi scoured the ship, and was able to find only a few bottles. So after our excursion in Cairns, we returned to find multiple bottles of Indian tonic in our fridge; Abhi, when asked about from where it came, said that he himself went out in Cairns and found a store (that we didn't find), and purchased 10 bottles for us--paid for by Oceania, by the way. Since then they have been able to load on more, but we thought that was pretty exceptional service. Plus he brings Cap special biscotti from Toscana to have with Cap's barista-made Americano each morning!

All-in-all, a lovely cruise.