Background: My husband and I are experienced cruisers, having sailed on many lines, including Cunard, Regent, Silversea, Celebrity and Holland America. We enjoy sailing primarily to relax, and look for comfortable, spacious staterooms or suites, excellent food, excellent service and interesting itineraries. This was our first sailing with Oceania.

Summary: Although we found the food outstanding, the service excellent and the Marina a spotless, pleasant ship, we did not particularly enjoy this cruise. Our small, cramped, concierge stateroom was not conducive to relaxation. It was difficult to store our clothing and retrieve it due to the small closet and lack of drawer space. The shower was also very small and difficult to use. The bed was quite comfortable, and the lighting excellent. Servicing of the stateroom was timely and excellent. Public rooms were attractive but not always available for use when we wished to relax and read. For example, the lovely, forward observation lounge was set aside for art auctions on sea days and for travel agent presentations on port days. The chairs at the side of the room were pushed up against the windows to make room for scores of "art" pieces. I have never before experienced a large forward lounge being used for art auctions on a ship. Although many comments we read prior to sailing indicated the ship spacious, we found it crowded. Perhaps not having the observation lounge available for significant amounts of time contributed to the issue. The elevators, which are very small, were also an issue at many times. Just not enough of them. We have never before had elevator issues on a ship. The Library was also small and cramped, with seats filled every time we visited. All and all, we have decided to skip Oceania in the future, although we did think the food was outstanding, and the crew most professional and helpful. Our opinion is certainly not shared by all as over 1,000 passengers on this sailing were repeats.