Insignia Reviews

It was a really good cruise despite some strong winds. The food has to be amongst the best that I have had on a cruise ship. The staff were as usual very attentive and looked after us very well. The decor was excellent and the ship had only completed a refurbishment 2 weeks before. Fantastic. The entertainment was not up to standard; one of the speakers was poor and the other's subject matter was not of much interest. There needed to be more speakers particularly as we had 6 sea days. The guest entertainers lacked variety. The 2 who joined the ship half way through, one was a ventriloquist and the other a magician and OK for one performance but not 2.

End of October is not a time to do a fall cruise. 4 out of the 8 stops were cancelled due to various weather conditions and whilst this is not the cruise lines fault their response is. The line provided free drinks for 2 evenings to compensate passengers, as I had bought a premium drinks package this was of no benefit to me. When I asked at reception how I was to be compensated I was told " it was the luck of the draw" and I was not to receive anything! In relation to the cruise itself I found the selection of tours disappointing. The entertainment was acceptable and much better than 5 years ago when I last used oceania ( although this is not a high bar). Food is good and service is like most cruises, good in parts. Outside of the cruise you had provided accommodation and transfers all of which worked well except for the transfer from hotel in new York to cruise terminal. We had to wait one and a half hours make 4 phone calls and listen to excuse after excuse - very poor

Ship in need of refurb . Variety of food and d rink very good but always Luke warm not hot. Entertainment mediocre.pool not a swimming pool a plunge pool . Ship very clean staff excellent in every way . The hotel on day and night prior to cruise although central for everything was poor .Room very small difficult for my husband who is severely sight impaired it was on the 15 th floor lifts worked intermittently.Breakfast included had very little variety. The tours off ship - 3were cancelled we were given option of other tours or money back to on board spend only .Some of the option tour were good some were not so good. When disembarking as we got though customs it was absolute chaos nobody there to tell us were to go to get taxis or go on tour as flight late evening .

Concierge balcony cabin was in poor condition, did not appear to be any benefits of concierge on this 10 day cruise. The panels on the balcony dividers had paint peeling off and the sliding balcony door black dirt and rust.The food was good, but not as claimed by Oceania to be exceptional. The service of the staff was very good, plenty of them and they were attentive. Entertainment was poor, just like a lot of small cruise ships, six singers and dancers, we did not think we're very good. We have cruised seventy times with several different cruise companies,this cruise line we would not use again.

The cabin was overdue a refurbishment. The furniture was warn and there was paint peeling off the balcony divider. The balcony door was surrounded by black rust. The service was good, the food was good but no more than that, it certainly didn't live up to pre cruise adverts of best food at sea. As far as value for money is concerned this was poor value. The ship's entertainment was poor, very little going on during the day. The change in itinerary due to Hurricane Florence, which was perfectly understandable, meant that we spent two days in Portland, Maine. There wasn't much to do there, it was a poor substitute for Bermuda. Having cruised roughly 70 times, we would not choose Oceania again.

You will know we have travel via yourselves many times. We enjoy quality but value and you predominantly hit this brief HOWEVER arranging a Thomas Cook Air tanker after we paid and got a 5 star cruise seriously affected our holidays. The plane had extremely poor services and facilities and was a huge disappointment. Prior to going I would of complained about the extra charges incurred regards compulsory charges for the hotel which we had not been informed of until literally the last minute BUT we ignored it because overall your holidays have worked out really fine. The Air tank you arranged for us despite others who used Iglue for the same cruise and same airport was such as Virgin. I am unhappily bemused that your organisation thought after a quality holiday we would want to come home in an excuse of 21st century travel. VERY DISAPOINTED.

Just home from amazing cruise New York through New England to Bermuda Fab itinerary. Great ship great crew wonderful group of fellow passengers Really enjoyed the experience My contact at iglu did a good job and was very helpful many thanks Luke Morgan well done Anne

I flew out to Bordeaux with a work colleague from Birmingham on the 5th June to board the Oceania Insignia for a 5 night sailing. Our flight landed at lunchtime but the ship did not arrive into the port until several hours later so we had an enjoyable afternoon meandering along the promenade with numerous stops for refreshments. Despite neither of us speaking much French we were able to get a taxi from the airport to the port with a non English speaking driver thanks to the Google translate on our phones. This also proved invaluable on several other occasions during our trip. First lesson learned - It is no longer necessary to book transfers with an English speaking driver at an inflated cost as long as you have access to Google. Once the ship had arrived and completed docking we were able to board, there was no rush as we were staying in port until the following afternoon, however the embarkation process was quick, and very straight forward. Once checked in we were helped with the luggage to our balcony suite up on deck 7, from where we had a fantastic view of Bordeaux. I must say it was a relief to finally be able to leave our bags. The suite itself was of an average size and comparable in size to a balcony cabin on most mainstream cruises, it was however very tastefully decorated and there was ample storage. As well as the hairdryer on the wall in the bathroom ( does anyone ever actually use those ) there was a normal hand held one in the drawers. The bathroom again was a similar size to most on cruise ships but the luxury toiletries added that special touch. After unpacking and freshening up we went down to the main dining room for our first of many delicious meals on board. The al a carte menu in this restaurant changes each day but with a few staple dishes such as a New York strip steak being on permanently. This was what I opted for on the first evening and it was out of this world. You could tell that as well as being cooked by a top chef the actual quality of the food was outstanding. Due to a long day of travelling and a meal of over indulgence we felt wiped out after our meal and so decided to call it a day and get some sleep ready for the days ahead. The following morning we decided that having seen Bordeaux the previous day we would spend our time taking a tour of the ship and all it had to offer which was quite a lot for a small ship. As well as the main dining room there are 2 speciality restaurants, a buffet restaurant and a poolside grill. There is a lovely spa with a gym – which I only used once, but I did think about using it more! There was a theatre which is small compared to the ones on many of the newer ships but more than big enough for the number of passengers that she carries and there was a different show on every night as well as lectures taking place in there during the day. If you wanted a quieter venue there is a well stocked library and the way it is furnished makes you feel like you are sat in a cosy living room at home. The ship also has an internet café, a card room with board games and jigsaw puzzles and a casino. Plenty to keep everyone amused. Up on the top decks you could play crazy golf, walk around the track or simply lie back on one of the very plush sun loungers round the pool - even on sea days there are more than enough to accommodate everyone on board, or sip a cocktail of the day in one of the Jacuzzis. We interspersed our tour of the ship by stopping in each of the bars for a drink as we passed through and each time the bar staff could not have been more friendly. Despite being a small size ship there was as much choice of drinks as on any of the larger ships. At lunch time we ate in the buffet restaurant which has an alfresco area where we sat looking out in the sunshine. Again you would never think you were on a small ship, there was certainly nothing small about the food choice on offer. Later that evening we met up with other travel agents and our hosts from Oceania in the horizons bar – a lovely area with panoramic views across the front of the ship, a great place for pre dinner drinks. This is also the place where they serve a traditional afternoon tea each day and then late into the evening it hosts live music and a disco. Following drinks and introductions we headed off to the Italian restaurant for our evening meal. The menu in here stays the same each day with just one speciality dish which can change daily. We sat at a table for 10 and most people ordered something different, from Steak, to Veal, to pasta or pizza, and I don’t recall anyone sending anything but empty plates back. The food was so good that even when you felt full you had to keep going until the plate was empty – not good for the waistline. We awoke the following morning in Lorient and took the complimentary shuttle bus into the town centre, where we spent several hours wandering around the shops and small marina. Once back on the ship we had lunch at the poolside grill where even the burgers are made from wagyu beef. The evening meal was taken in Polo the Steakhouse where I went for the traditional surf and turf, and it was the best I have ever eaten. Apparently they have their own farm for the beef and even have their own oyster farm, and when you taste the food the difference is so obvious. The following day was a sea day so I went to the gym and then we went to the games room and attempted a jigsaw – it was still unfinished when we left the ship. The afternoon was spent sunbathing around the pool with a few cocktails followed by afternoon tea. Our final day was in Belfast where we had booked an 8 hour excursion to Giants Causeway and a city tour . The guide gave us a commentary the whole way with lots of interesting information on history, politics the troubles of the recent past and everyday life as it is now. As we drove across Ireland I was amazed at the beautiful scenery, far nicer than I had expected. Our last evening we ate outdoors from the buffet restaurant and chilled out ready for our journey home the following morning. To summarise the Oceania Insignia whilst being a small ship is very cosy and friendly and still retains lots of facilities that the bigger ships offer but without the queues. The staff are all extremely friendly and helpful and nothing is too much trouble for them, again because there are less passengers on board the staff get to know them and their requirements. Our hosts from Oceania treated us very well and created a good atmosphere between all the agents from different companies and it was a pleasure to be on board with them. They got the mix just right in that we were able to experience the ship as a normal passenger would enabling us to pass this on to potential customers in the correct way, but also holding a presentation for us with lots of information about the company and its other ships which I found very useful. The strap line for Oceania is “ finest cuisine at sea” and I can 100% verify this.