There is something compelling about watching Ocean Drive’s neon lights on Miami’s
South Beach become a horizon and then fade into the dark beyond the waves.
I stood at the stern rail on the 14th deck watching the wake until my cruise ship passed the last channel-marking buoy and the little, trailing pilot boat turned around and headed back to the harbor.
I was in the warm wind and solitude under the stars since most everyone else was down below in the ship’s gourmet restaurants, or listening to live music, or perhaps, by now, in the casino.
Oceania’s newest ship, Allura, was making the last run of its inaugural season. This was a three-day “showcase cruise” from Miami to Nassau and back near the end of 2025 for the travel industry consultants aboard to see the cut of the ship’s jib.
“Allura is the eighth ship in our fleet and we have four more on order,” said Nathan Hickman, Oceania’s chief commercial officer, who has been with the company since its 2002 inception. “We would not be building these ships if there wasn’t demand.”
Oceania is for discriminating passengers who seek to visit intriguing places.
“Our ships are in that 1,200 to 1,400 guest range and the intent is to really go deeper into immersive itineraries,” Hickman stated.
He agreed with me about being captive to the soothing, hypnotic nature of the ocean from onboard Oceania’s elegant, elaborate ships. “You know, I love everything that we offer on board, but still, at the end of the day, to be on your balcony looking at the sea go by, especially as the sun is setting…those moments are just kind of magical.”
Talk From the Top
From the 14th deck of Allura, high above Nassau, Hickman and I talked more about Oceania’s special port experiences to 600 other destinations, including the fjords of Norway, Machu Picchu, Bora Bora and Himeji Castle in Kobe, Japan.
“We know in Northern Europe, for instance, our guests want to see Stockholm, Copenhagen and they have heard of Estonia’s Tallinn, but they probably don’t know of a little island like Visby Island, in Sweden?” he posited.
Visby, a walled, medieval UNESCO World Heritage site, is known as the “City of Roses and Ruins.” “So, we build itineraries to the marquis, ‘bucket list’ ports, but then also introduce guests to places they don’t realize are going to end up being their favorite part of the cruise.”
He then used Italy as another example. “In the Mediterranean, guests see Rome and we take them to the port of Livorno, which gets them Florence and Pisa, but we then go explore the Cinque Terre – five little connected colorful villages that hug the coast of Italy.”
In terms of popularity, I suggested to Hickman I’d been hearing that “Japan is the new Italy.” He concurred. “The people are the friendliest. I’ve never been to a country that was as pristine and clean. Japan is more than a little otherworldly in that it’s very familiar in some respects and yet also very different. Seeing it by circumnavigating the entire island, on an Oceania ship in the spring or fall is a phenomenal way to see Japan.”
Each day, Oceania’s communication team distributes and newsletter publication called “Currents.” It lists the day’s activities, shows, weather, and other useful information. But I liked the banner at the bottom of the back page, which listed the location of Allura’s Oceania sister ships.
On the day I reached Nassau, Sirena was in Mozambique; Riviera was in Melbourne; Vista was in Colombia; Insignia was back in Miami, and the others were at sea.
Feeling like a part of the fleet seemed to make my adventure more “nautical” in nature. I like the magic of maritime traditions, so I enjoyed Hickman describing the day Allura was christened by the bottle of champagne smashing against her hull.
“On the day that happened, we were also trying to seat a thousand people for a gala dinner, which is an incredible feat,” he recalled. “I saw the head of our hotel operations team and he wasn’t worried about the dinner; he was nervous as to whether the champagne bottle would, indeed, break.”
If the bottle hit the hull and didn’t break, it is, in maritime tradition, an omen of bad luck. “We would probably all have to get off the ship. “It is a superstition, but there is something kind of fun about it. Fortunately, it broke,” Hickman revealed.
Hickman at the Helm
“Your world, your way” is the slogan of Oceania Cruises.
“We’re very clear on who our guest is and who our guest isn’t, so we are not trying to be all things to all people. For example, we’re not a family cruise line. You’re not going to see water slides. That’s not really who we are,” Hickman explained.
“We find that the age group that we tend to attract is 55-plus, and that’s a growing number of people. The population of Americans and Canadians who are 55-plus is growing. Everything that we do, every decision we make, and even the ship’s design, is really with that guest in mind.”
Hickman and I were drinking Acqua Panna while we talked in a private room of the ship’s Italian restaurant Toscana. Since I am studying the Italian language, and occasionally embarrass myself by trying to use it, I teased Hickman. “Allora is a very frequently used Italian word meaning ‘and so…’ What does ‘Allura’ mean?”
“It is a word that really is just kind of evocative,” he explained. “If you look at all our ships, they have a naming convention: ‘Regatta,’ ‘Insignia,’ ‘Nautica,’ ‘Marina,’ ‘Riviera,’ ‘Vista,’
‘Sirena,’ and now, Allura.’ So, we have a kind of poetic flair.”
“It sounds like list of Johnny Carson’s ex-wives or Paul Anka’s daughters,” I joked.
I am not sure if Hickman is in the age 55-plus category he caters to, but he demurred by parrying back to say he was too young to get my reference.
Spry Sunflowers
When cruise ship stories make news, it’s usually for the wrong reasons. Brawls, a man overboard, over-imbibing, being late to the ship in port, etc. Oceania’s smaller, more intimate, focused ships (Allura has only 600 rooms), avoid those types of headlines because its higher-end passengers are more mature, but also sophisticated.
“When someone sails on Oceana, chances are it is not their first cruise. They’ve sailed before, and they’ve traveled before,” Hickman explained. “It’s a much more civilized
experience.”
But that doesn’t mean Oceania’s passengers are anything less than vibrant.
“Just because someone’s retired or nearing retirement doesn’t mean they want to come on board, be in a lounge chair, wrap themselves in a blanket, and watch the sea go by. They’re curious, you know, that same curiosity that makes them want to get on a plane and fly halfway across the world to board a ship. They want to keep learning, so we have those
enrichment opportunities.”
Learning By Reading Customer Comment Cards
Learning, for Hickman, means required reading: the comment cards submitted by passengers after cruises in satisfaction surveys.
“I am obsessive about it. Across our eight ships, I read every single comment card. The cards ask what they think, how they experienced Oceania, and to rate us,” said Hickman before revealing what most people comment about.
“The first is our crew. Second is the enrichment and the experience that we create on board. But the third, and I love this, is our guests love their fellow passengers.”
Oceania’s guests also appreciate the ship’s luxurious nature, whether Hickman likes it or not.
“We’ve always kind of shied away from the word ‘luxury.’ We like to call ourselves ‘premium,’ because luxury means so many different things to different people. We didn’t want to turn people off because we seek to create a comfortable environment on board and don’t want to be perceived as stuffy or inaccessible,” he explained. “But our guests are surveyed and they categorize Oceania Cruises as ‘luxury.’”
Hickman joked he chose not to spend a lot of marketing money to convince them they’re wrong. ‘It’s not the worst thing that that’s how our guests see us. That’s what we’re delivering.”
Back in Time to the Bahamas and Beyond
My 82-year-old mother, Gladys Shiels, and I each, coincidentally, had Bahamian honeymoons at Nassau. Hers with my late father Arthur, whom she called “Butch,” in 1966; While I went to Nassau in 1992 after the wedding to my then-wife, Vera Ambrose.
So, I brought my mother aboard on the nostalgic return to Nassau after a combined total of nearly nine decades away.
I feared the visit might be bittersweet because our lives without our spouses, since those honeymoons, have changed quite a bit. But so has Nassau.
Graycliff, the circa-1740 pirate mansion-turned British Royal retreat, which eventually evolved into an inn and gourmet restaurant, still serves formal meals. But otherwise, Nassau has developed major resorts and designed a downtown dock area to draw and contain cruise ship shoppers.
The World Their Way
World citizens seek opportunity working aboard Oceania’s intimately-sized ships, from the sophisticated Ukrainian string quartet performing in cozy corners, to Scotland’s Leia Rose, who wept while singing the ballad “Caledonia,” about her home soil, an ocean away.
She performed in Martini’s Lounge while her stage and life partner, Mark Johnson, from Colorado, tickled the ivories. (Their lively “Name That Tune” contest was less emotional. It’s hard to get misty singing “Crocodile Rock.”)
There was no crooning for Michigan-born Sioux Shelton, who now lives in Spain. Her voice was too hoarse due to her role selling future Oceania cruises to passengers lingering in the lobby of her fourth-deck office!
Nearby, next to the boutiques off Allura’s two-story, sweeping staircase, I was greeted by Oceania sales specialists Clifford Edward Palliser Ponce de Leon. We had some laughs with his colleague, Vivian Esther Carrazan, about having 10 names between the three of us!
“Michael…Patrick…Shiels,” she pronounced, “I am glad you like our antics!”
Rosa, a dynamic Dominican who once lived in Tuscany, authentically brewed cappuccinos, lattes and espressos in Barista’s coffee house, where Englishwoman Louise Prior, Oceania’s global communications director, recommended the almond croissants.
And when I dined 12 stories above the stern’s wake in the Terrace Café, I met Moh Moh, from Myanmar, formerly Burma, who taught me her homeland is also dubbed the “Golden Land.”
“When I get home on leave, I eat everything I want for a few weeks. Then I start feeling eager to get back to the ship,” Moh Moh admitted. While she enjoys the home cooking of Burmese mohinga, lahpet thoke, curries and umami with ngape, aboard Oceania’s ships, Moh Moh is among those serving the “finest cuisine at sea.”
The designation is due to Frenchman Alexis Quaretti, who left a Michelin-starred restaurant behind to collaborate with celebrity chef Jacques Pepin’s brand and direct the culinary program for Oceania’s entire fleet.
“I have been traveling for 20 years now and find the routine on land can be boring. It’s a very different process when we are in constant motion and everything is cooked at sea,” said Quaretti, who said fine cuisine has been in Oceania’s DNA since day one. “The Allura has 2,000 square meters of kitchen for 1,200 passengers and one chef for every eight-to-10 guests.”
Like the rest of the crew, the kitchen staff is a global community with diverse cultural talent.
“I would not put Italian or French cooks at our Asian restaurant Red Ginger, but you can’t have 10 French cooks working in the French restaurant either…after 10 days they will strike!” Quaretti joked.
His personal favorite dishes are no laughing matter when he is at sea for 10-day stretches: “Miso-glazed sea bass, and the spicy duck and watermelon salad, with cashew nuts, mint, basil, and sweet fish sauce at Red Ginger.”
It was at Red Ginger that my mother, aboard Oceania, tried sushi for the first time, and she tasted her first foie gras during the next night’s dinner at Jacques, named for Pepin.
Jacques Pepin on Land, Sea and TV
Image by Gladys Shiels
It is worth revisiting a bit of Pepin’s origin story. Pepin, 90, began working as a child at The Pelican, a restaurant founded by his father. By his teenage years, the Frenchman understudied at the famed Plaza Athenee in Paris.
Serving in the Second World War, he became personal chef to French heads of state, including Charles de Gaulle, a position he legendarily turned down when President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jaqueline offered him that prestigious role at the White House.
Pepin did come to America, though. And it may seem funny compared to Plaza Athenee, but Pepin went commercial by taking a position in culinary development for the Howard Johnson hotel company. Countless books, television shows, and James Beard Awards later, Pepin created the concept of “celebrity chef.”
“Chef Pepin was our first executive culinary director and he’s still very much involved with the brand,” Hickman explained. “His daughter, Claudin,e is actually the ‘Godparent’ of Oceania’s ship Sirena. So, it made sense that culinary was the cornerstone of what Oceania is about. But over the last 23 years, we realized that food is a great lens into culture and into the destinations we visit.”
Hickman says Oceania, through hands-on cooking schools at sea, guides guests to destinations through the lens of food and culture. “Our chefs take guests to markets in ports to buy local ingredients and they can prepare meals that reflect the region they are visiting – such as paella if you’re in Spain.”
Aboard Oceania’s cruise ships, the honeymoon is never over.
Read more of Michael Patrick’s work at The Travel Tattler and contact him at MShiels@aol.com Order his book Travel Tattler – Less Than Torrid Tales at
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