Why again? This was our third cruise to French Polynesia, the first two being on Tahitian Princess in 2008 and Royal Princess in 2010. Simply put; we love these islands, their laid back atmosphere, the beautiful lagoon waters, the whole South Pacific atmosphere. And this time we would visit the Marquesas, which we had not seen before. In addition, we had cruised on Marina before, a TA from Rome to Miami in 2011, and thought it a marvelous ship.
Getting there
This was a near disaster, but in no way attributable to Oceania. We therefore gave “Embarkation” a “4” for reasons we will explain.
We had a “Concierge Level” but otherwise basic verandah cabin; 214 ft² plus the verandah. The walls were a pleasant cream color with dark walnut for the desk, trim, and closet doors. There was a convenient oval table with a handy shelf in front of the sofa. There was one side chair for the desk. The bathroom was quite attractive with marble tile surfaces on the walls and floors, a granite sink counter, a tub with a hand-held shower head, as well as a separate shower with both a rain shower head and another hand-held shower head option. As usual on board ship, there was more than enough storage space in both the bedroom and bathroom. Plenty of hangers were provided. We had a mini-bar with complimentary soft drinks and water. The large TV was wall mounted, and the desk had a laptop computer, which as far as we were concerned, merely took up space. The verandah had two faux wicker arm chairs with seat pads and a small table. Cabin lighting was excellent, each bed having, in addition to normal table lamps, goose neck halogen reading lights on each side. The cabin thermostat actually worked! All in all this was a first class stateroom which, for its size, would not be matched on any other ship.