Oceania Cruises Stories: 20 Years at Sea

With more than 60 founding members still part of Oceania Cruises today, many individuals have grown alongside the company during the past two decades. As Oceania Cruises expanded and evolved, our family of ships grew and so did the family that brought them to life. Below we hear from one of our second-generation Captains, our Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations and our Vice President of Destination Services, with each offering their own personal reflection on what it was like at Oceania Cruises during the early days and what it has been like to witness the evolution of the company as they each grew along with it in their distinctive roles.

SHAPED BY A LIFE AT SEA
Maroje Brajcic, Captain

I still remember boarding Insignia in Marseille in 2004 with the type of positive trepidation you feel at the beginning of something profound. I was joining Oceania Cruises as an Assistant Safety Officer and we were in charge of preparing the ship to begin sailing – it was a huge responsibility, and it was the first time I began to work with my father, who was then Captain of Insignia.

At this time in my life, I remember really wanting to advance in my work – I was eager to learn and grow. I especially tried to make my father proud of me. I can tell you that this was not always easy. My father was my biggest supporter but also a great critic. He always expected more from me than from others, and all of it was a completely new experience for me.

I persevered and in 2015, my dream came true. After 11 years, I was promoted to Captain of the same ship that I started with, the beautiful Insignia, which I have so much history with. Now after 20 years, I am still Captain of my favorite ship. It’s been an incredible journey and it gives me chills when I tell it.

As for my favorite memory of all these years at Oceania Cruises, I will tell you without a doubt, it is the day I met my wife, who also was working for Oceania Cruises at the time. We met in the Genoa shipyard on Riviera and it was her first contract with Oceania Cruises as a spa therapist. From that moment, we both knew we were meant for each other.

Seeing Oceania Cruises grow over the years has been an immense source of pride and pleasure for me. It is a company that gives opportunity and perspective to everyone who wants to progress in their career. Oceania Cruises has always attracted people who love what they do, which I think is one of the most important things. When you love what you do, you give more than 100% and there is passion. I perform my role with a lot of enthusiasm, love and dedication, and it will remain like that until the day I retire.

NEVER STANDING STILL
Franco Semeraro,
Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations

It was January of 2003 when I traveled to Marseille with Oceania Cruises Founder Frank Del Rio and Executive Vice President of Vessel Operations Robin Lindsay to take an initial look at a ship that would eventually become our first ship, Regatta. I had met my future wife just months earlier and about one year later, she moved permanently to Miami. I remember it like it was yesterday, wholeheartedly promising my future mother-in-law that we would return to Italy to run the family business – a beautiful beach resort with a big restaurant, bar and beach services – right after we had two ships up and running.

Well, 20 years later, six ships in the water, two under construction, and 12-year-old twin boys, we are still here in Miami. The most important thing is that there has not been one single day that I am not happy to go to work to my second home, with the Oceania Cruises family.

When I look back on the early days, I would describe us as a bunch of kids in a candy store – in the best way possible. There was a contagious happiness. There were so many obstacles, but every day we overcame them and we reached another milestone. The best was sitting at the meeting tables and working on the first menus with Frank Del Rio and the team. I remember so clearly the discussion when we created the Polo Grill and Toscana menus and later, the pride we all felt when we read the comments of the first guests that sailed and everyone loved it.

Being part of this incredible company from the beginning and participating in its growth and success has been a blessing. The fuel that has driven the growth and evolution of the Oceania Cruises experience is the passion, involvement and full commitment of the entire team, including the very top executives. I think the Oceania Cruises story and my experience of it is best captured with the short phrase, “never standing still.”

A DIVINE BEGINNING
Christine Manjencic,
Vice President of Destination Services

When I began at Oceania Cruises, I started out as Insignia’s Destination Manager. After a short initial period at the headquarters in Miami, I headed off to open Insignia during her Inaugural Season and soon after, Nautica. One of the most memorable trips of my life took place during those first weeks on Nautica. We were at the incredible Taj Mahal, and there was a palm reader in the hotel as part of the excursion. I’m not much into palmistry or the stars or that sort of thing, but I went to see him to have a bit of fun. After I sat down and the palm reader examined my palms, he looked me in the eyes and said, “You are going to meet someone in a few weeks.” I thought that was a bit funny since I was on the ship, and had been quite buried in my work, but he continued. “He will be the one and you will have a few months’ courtship and then he’s going to ask you to marry him.” I was more than a little surprised at the specific details he shared, but I didn’t put too much thought into it.

Well, exactly one month later, we were just outside of Cambodia and it was the Captain’s Welcome Night. I was dining with guests who had already sailed with us many times and the waiter was making lots of jokes, laughing and smiling – being very friendly with me. My dining companions commented on how much he seemed to like me. A few days later, this waiter asked me out for a coffee, and the rest is history. Six months later he proposed and a year and a half later, we had our son, an Oceania Cruises baby. We’re celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary this year and our son, Ethan Sky, is now 11 years old.

Eventually, I transitioned from a life at sea to shoreside, but I obviously wouldn’t trade the early years for anything – personally or professionally. I met my husband on board, we traveled the world, and life changed forever. My 15 years of being at sea continue to shape everything I aim to do with destination experiences. In particular, having the guest connections that I made as a Destination Manager is so beneficial in my role. To this day, I still reach out to guests and run new concepts by them when we are considering new ideas for destination experiences. Now I work with a talented team of nearly 30 and we have brought destination managers from the ships shoreside to head our programs because we see how important that in-depth experience of the ports and excursions is; what a difference it makes. We never follow what everyone else is doing – my goal is for the Oceania Cruises destination experience to be creative, memorable and trailblazing.