Premier Cruise Lines - Oceanic

[P Van Veen]

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has travelled on this ship
recently - there never seems to be any posts regarding this ship on this
NG. Is it because it is an older ship and people are staying away from
it? We are thinking of it as an alternative to Carnivals Fantasy cruise
to Bahamas because it has a dolphin encounter which my kids are
extremely interested in. If you can provide me with an overview of your
experience on this ship, please email. Thanks!

[GoldCat]

P Van Veen wrote in message <35852601...@ciaccess.com>...

Well, part of the absence of mention as the 'Oceanic' has to do with the
ship being better known as "The Big Red Boat" when it offered the Disney
packages. They did have some recent trouble with the Coast Guard over SOLAS
paperwork, SOLAS being the "Safety Of Life At Sea" requirements. The SOLAS
work was in order, mind you, but the paperwork apparently was not in order,
and that's a serious no-no whenever you're dealing with the Coast Guard.

There may be more that some other NG posters have to share in the way of
experience, but "The Big Red Boat" seems to be how the ship is commonly
referred to, so maybe that will be helpful in your research.

GoldCat

[Aaron Farr]

Not that popular.

clip from early June>

The Coast Guard suspended cruises aboard the Big Red Boat over a fire
safety inspection. Over 1000 passengers were outraged and stranded.
Passengers are being offered free flights home and vouchers for future
cruises, and free hotels and meals. Nonetheless, the passengers were
infuriated at the company which left them waiting for hours in the hot
sun.

[David Redlawsk]

We took the Oceanic (Big Red Board, BRB) on the three night cruise last
Christmas as our very first cruise. (Our, being my wife & I, and our two boys,
ages 9 & 11.) We had a great time, and are hooked on cruising. I did not
know about this newsgroup ahead of time, so I had no one to tell me that
I wouldn't have a good time on this ship! ;-)

We did the dolphin encounter at Salt Cay, and it was definately one of
the highlights of the trip. The looks on my kids faces as they petted
the dolphin and were nuzzled by it were fantastic.

We found the cabin spacious (Continental Deck, C113) and well cared for --
had a small problem where a closet light didn't work -- someone came
and fixed it within 10 minutes of our call!

The food was very good -- and the kids (and we too) enjoyed the little
shows the dining room staff put on each night. We didn't see any of the shows
so I can't comment on them, but the singer/comedian in one of the
lounges (can't remember his name!) was great -- we went back to see him
a couple of times.

The Salt Cay experience was a great shore excursion, exactly what we
expected of "being in the Bahamas" since we'd never been there before.
Port Lucaya was less interesting, we didn't do any formal shore excursion,
just walked around the shopping area. The weather wasn't very cooperative
that day -- it was quite chilly and overcast.

I liked the size of the ship -- not huge like the new megaliners, and
I thought that made it more personal and personable! Anyway, the BRB
really was a great experience -- our only complaint at all was that the
trip was too short.

Now we're hooked, as I said, and my wife and I are going on the Song
of America from NYC to Bermuda in August, and looking forward to another
great experience.

Finally, FWIW, my feeling is that you will get what you expect out of it,
in that if you go with an upbeat attitude looking forward to a lot of
fund, and not get too uptight when things aren't perfect, you'll
get what you deserve -- a wonderful time.

Dave Redlawsk