We met the captain once at a ship's party. Otherwise, he was not much in evidence. Tours of the bridge, kitchen and engine room were not advertised. A concierge is available during the day. When our room keys acted up, he quickly had the problem fixed. The staff comes from many countries, and most had good command of English and were very friendly.
Shore excursions were as with many ships, terribly overpriced. Details about them, necessary to decide which ones to select, were hard to come by before we boarded. Calls to the 800 Oceania number were answered by dour, unhelpful individuals. For some of the port of calls we decided to prebook private shore excurions through local tour operators before boarding to Nautica.
- Athens - we used Spiros from www.athenstaxi.net He is very reasonable...around 200 euro for up to 4 people for a full day tour.
- Rhodes - we used Nick of Rhodes Private Tours We went all over Rhodes and over to Lindos - great trip
- Kusadasi (Ephesus) - We used Ephesus Private Tours. E-mail is and the Web site: http://connect.to/ephesustours. I found them very courteous, professional, and very quick to respond to my emails. There are many wonderful reviews about this company. They were first class and the guide was very helpful and informative.
Except for Mykonos, in the rest of the ports we booked ships excursions. Among them our favorite port was Santorini! We took the half day tour and still had time to shop and make it back to the ship for a late lunch. Everyone takes either the gondola or the donkies back down to the tenders! Fun! In Mykonos, we didn't take a tour because the ship has a shuttle bus to town. We enjoyed the photo opportunities here as well as shopping for music. We heard some complaints from people who paid for tours here... but then there are always some unhappy campers everywhere!
In talking to many of our fellow passengers, we heard nearly-unanimous praise for the Nautica. A surprising number of them had been on Oceania two or three times before, although the company has existed only a few years. One woman, apparently a chronic complainer, said maintenance of her stateroom was lacking, crew were impolite, and food was not "phenomenal." It was difficult to believe her first two claims. As for the food, meals were always enjoyable and delicious; for "phenomenal," you go to gourmet restaurants.
Several passengers got on board without their luggage. I suspect that was the fault of airlines. I would strongly advise against arriving in Europe on the same day your cruise ship departs -- too much opportunity for trouble. Service in the Nautica buffet was at times a little slow. The staff should also enforce the dress code. We had a few louts who came to the buffet in sleeve-less t-shirts and baggy shorts, and one who talked loudly on a cell phone.
