Teri West
Oceania Cruises may have just christened its newest ship, but it's already eager for advisors to learn about its next one.
The cruise line revealed imagery of the Oceania Sonata, due up in 2027, days after officially naming the Oceania Allura. The Sonata is the first of four ships in the pipeline for Oceania's next ship class, and I spoke with chief commercial officer Nathan Hickman about what will differentiate the Sonata beyond its size, which will be larger than any ship in the current fleet.
First, the ship will have a greater percentage of suites: 30% compared to 25% on the Allura class.
New suites, more suites
"We're doing that because the ship sells from the top down," Hickman said. "That's where the demand has especially been strong, so we feel like we have to adjust for that."
The Sonata will have two new types of suites, the deluxe penthouse and the horizon suite. The deluxe penthouse will be about 40 square feet larger than the other penthouse suites and will have a larger balcony, Hickman said.
There will be 50 horizon suites, which will be the size of two standard veranda cabins, making it larger than the ship's penthouse suites but smaller than the Oceania suites. The bedroom, connected to a walk-in closet and bathroom, will be completely separate from the dining and living areas.
Clues of what's to come with dining
Oceania is also expanding its dining options with the Sonata; there will be a new casual venue and one new fine-dining venue. That's all Hickman would share about the eateries for now, but he did also say guests can expect more space at certain favorite venues, specifically the casual ones.
Those three eateries -- Terrace Cafe, Waves Grill and Aquamar Kitchen -- have proven popular enough that the cruise line chose to make them larger on the Sonata, he said.
"We recognize that as much as our guests love the specialty restaurants in the grand dining room, with those white linen tablecloths and two-hour, multicourse meals, when you're sailing for a week or two weeks, or up to six months, you also want to be able to have more casual dining," he said.
Oceania is also doubling the size of the Lync digital center where the cruise line offers tech-related classes such as photography lessons and introductions to social media platforms. They've proven so popular that some classes on the existing ships are now being held in restaurants so they can accommodate more than 50 people, Hickman said.
A change to the atrium?
From a design and decor perspective, the Sonata "will be an evolution versus a revolution," he said.
But one change to expect will be in the atrium.
"We've always been known for that staircase, but on all our ships that atrium area has always been about two stories," he said. "The atrium on Sonata will actually go all the way up the height of the ship and let in natural light from the top."