My thoughts on Oceania’s Nautica.

I was recently invited for a tour and lunch on board Oceania’s Nautica ship as she embarked new passengers in Southampton. I was really excited as my parents have sailed with Oceania twice and really raved about them but whilst my parents are great people I don’t always like to take their word for things. So it was great to get the chance to form my own opinion.

We arrived in Southampton after a long and fraught journey – the M1 had been closed pushing lots of southbound traffic on to the M40. The 2 hour journey took just over 4 hours but the passage through to the ship was seemless and everyone was very friendly and smiley. At just over 30,000 gross tonnes and carrying 684 she is a small vessel but my initial impression was one of space and serenity. We stepped out on to the pool deck and I was pleasantly surprised by how big the area seemed with a decent sized swimming pool and hot tubs and after my early start and long drive down I could have just melted into the double sunbeds below.

We then toured through the various restaurants. Oceania pride themselves on their culinary pleasures and for such a small ship she offers a great choice of dining venues. We started with Toscana, an elegant Italian restaurant which was light and airy with her full length windows and sea views. It features Tuscan delights on the menu and is the only restaurant I know of that has an ‘Olive Oils’ menu. I would love to dine in here and have the waiter bring me a trolley full of oils to dip my jumbo shrimp and calamari into.

Toscana led into the Polo Grill, which offered a completely different style of restaurant with rich mahogany leather seats and its own labelled tableware. It is in here that you can sample Oceania’s famed steaks and in particular their Kings Cut 32 oz prime rib. Again the table arrangements against the windows and the small table sizes made this restaurant stand out.

The Terrace Cafe offers informal buffet style dining and lunch was being served as we walked through. The cold cuts looked amazing and there was a good selection of small sandwiches and pastries on offer. Everything looked very fresh and delicate. The Cafe offers both indoor and outdoor dining, with seating on the pool deck. I also particularly likes ‘Waves’ which is a casual dining venue by the pool, offering ice creams and a milkshake menu that changes daily, this would be my downfall on board Oceania.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to sample any and instead we went into the Grand Dining Room for lunch.

Lunch was amazing. A 6 course menu which both tasted fantastic and was beautifully presented too. Starting with a warm potato salad topped with caviar, each course was exquisite. I won’t go though the full menu but will just add this photo of the desert in – Oceania are the first cruise line that I have been on with their own chocolate. My only criticism would be that the food was too rich for me, but that is just personal choice and the menu certainly offered lighter choices which I would happily work my way through.

Oceania’s staterooms range from an inside stateroom to the Owner’s Suite and Bernie our host did a very clever job in showing us around the ship in that we only saw the concierge level staterooms and above. This was slightly disappointing in that not all of my customers want a suite and it didn’t show a true reflection of the ship. I had also been told that their cabins and particularly the bathrooms are small but I didn’t get a chance to see for myself. Having said all that the staterooms that Bernie did show us were lovely. The Owners Suites that we saw was huge and beautifully designed with it’s separate living, dining, sleeping and dressing areas and the bathroom wasn’t small at all.

The other facilities on the ship made you forget the small size of this vessel, there was a fairly large casino with a selection of slot machines and a handful of tables to play at. A theatre in which to enjoy an evening show, a couple of shops, a library with a huge choice of over 1000 fiction and non fiction books, a computer room and card room. There was also a much larger than expected gymnasium and of course the spa and treatment rooms, although I must admit the prices here did seem very expensive.

As I’m sure you can tell I was very impressed with the Nautica. I had been worried that being one of their older ships she would look a bit tired, however she has recently undergone a multi million dollar refit and was gleaming throughout. A couple of years ago I toured the Regent Seven Seas Voyager and was disappointed by scratched dinner plates, (I am a fussy lady) but I had no such disappointment here.

My warm thoughts may be down to Bernie’s great sales skills showing us the best bits of the ship but coupled with my parents glowing reports I can now happily and confidently recommend this cruise line and ship. Thank you Oceania for your hospitality.

For more photos see my further page here.