The first hull built for this line
Every previous ship had been taken over from someone else. The Oceania
Marina, delivered in 2011 by Fincantieri at Sestri Ponente near Genoa, is the
first the line had built for itself. That is a change of scale as much as of
status: sixty-six thousand and eighty-four gross tons against thirty thousand
for the 1998 hulls, six hundred and twenty-five staterooms, one thousand two
hundred and fifty guests, fifteen decks.
Her twin, the Oceania Riviera, followed the next
year.
What that format changes aboard
Doubling the tonnage was not used to double the guest count: it went into
larger public rooms and restaurants. That is this line's logic and it is what
explains its position. The number of speciality restaurants included in the
fare, with no cover charge, is the central argument. On the 1998 hulls there
are fewer.
One hundred and thirty-six departure dates are on sale for this ship: fifteen
in 2026, sixty-six in 2027, forty-two in 2028 and thirteen in 2029. That is the
second largest inventory in the fleet.
The number of wheelchair-accessible staterooms is published for
no ship in this fleet. We check it at booking rather than quote a figure.
What is included, and what changed in 2024
Start with what many people still think they know. The simply MORE
package, which added a shore excursion credit and an alcoholic beverage package
to the fare, ended on 30 September 2024. Its replacement,
Your World Included, applies to bookings created from 1 October 2024
for sailings in 2025 and later. It gives more in some respects and less in
others.
What it adds: shipboard gratuities are now included for every guest
everywhere, where before they came only with certain regions or loyalty
programmes. What it removes: the excursion credit and the alcoholic beverage
package are no longer granted automatically. A guest who booked with this line
before autumn 2024 therefore arrives with an idea that is no longer accurate.
The rest of the fare is stable and it is substantial. Speciality restaurants
are included, with no cover charge, and this line makes that its central
argument. In-suite dining is included. Starlink Wi-Fi is included and
unlimited. Soft drinks, speciality coffees, teas, still and sparkling water,
juices, smoothies and ice cream are included. So are group fitness classes and
laundry service.
Shore excursions and alcoholic drinks are paid separately, or bought as a
package before departure. Ask your advisor exactly what your booking carries,
because two files on the same ship may not include the same things depending on
their date.
Meanwhile, in the fleet
The two most recent hulls are the
Oceania Vista of 2023 and the
Oceania Allura of 2025. The fleet also
holds three survivors of the 1998 series, all on their way out.
Booking from Quebec
The contract is with Oceania Cruises S. de R.L., headquartered in Miami, and
the ships fly the flag of the Marshall Islands. A claim for personal injury,
illness or death goes to the United States District Court for the Southern
District of Florida in Miami, or to a Miami-Dade County court. Every
other claim goes to binding arbitration before National Arbitration
and Mediation in Miami, and the contract imposes a class-action waiver. Only
small claims filed in Miami-Dade County escape that clause.
The deadlines differ by claim type, and the second one surprises people. Six
months' written notice and one year to sue, for personal injury. But
thirty days' notice after the cruise ends for any other claim,
and six months to act. Damaged luggage, a service not delivered, a cancelled
call: thirty days from disembarkation. Baggage liability is capped, and the cap
rises only on a declaration of value with a fee attached. The Athens Convention
applies to international cruises calling at neither a US nor a European port,
with its own limits.
The carrier reserves the right to change the date or time of sailing, the
port of embarkation or the destination, to shorten the cruise or substitute the
ship, without notice and without compensation, except as the law requires.
Nothing establishes a Quebec licence for it. Your protection comes from here:
Voyages AquaTerra holds a licence from the Office de la protection du
consommateur, your payments pass through a trust account, and your departure is
covered by the compensation fund for travel agency customers.