Oceana Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Disaster from Start to Finish

Review for the Caribbean Cruise on Oceana
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Judejf1946
2-5 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Feb 2016
Cabin: Balcony Stateroom with Shower

Friends of ours always travel P&O and had nothing but praise for them - until now. They asked us to join them on this 35 night cruise on the Oceana as they were celebrating their Golden Wedding and I would be celebrating my 70th birthday shortly. The trouble started at embarkation. We were there on time for our embarkation time of 2.30pm. There was total chaos, nowhere to sit and the terminal was packed out - with people who should have been boarded before us. There were no apologies, no announcements and we finally boarded at 4.30pm only to immediately be called to lifeboat drill, which then left us struggling to get ready in time for dinner at 6.30pm only that had changed the time to 6pm and not thought to tell the passengers!

I have to say after a lot of complaints, the times were changed by 15 minutes. The food I found was 90% good, our two waiters in the Adriatic restaurant were amazing. Our cabin was so small even though it was a balcony cabin, that we had to leave clothes in the suitcases as there wasn't enough room to hang them or put them away. The lounge areas furniture, what there was to sit on, was grubby, the cushions sagging and generally in a sorry state. There was continual maintenance going on so the boat smelt of varnish and/or paint, continual drilling and hammering most days, and decks were shut off so you couldn't even go outside for walk. There was also a strong smell of dampness on the boat generally. We stopped using our balcony as paint was continually flaking off and getting walked into the cabin or on a couple of occasions in our coffee.

The public toilets kept overflowing and flooding, especially by the Starlights theatre and although they had dryers out there was no warnings about wet floors put out for the tiled areas. Lifts broke down several times, and there were a lot of disabled and infirm people aboard who couldn't use the stairs. In the Plaza restaurant, the carpets were taped together where they were worn which was a trip hazard for those carrying trays.

Cabin Review

Balcony Stateroom with Shower

Cabin JA

Inadequate hanging and drawer space for a 35 night cruise. It wasn't dusted or hoovered much if at all, the bathroom although clean in most parts didn't smell very pleasant and although we asked our Steward to please clean the brown marks from the toilet seat that had already been there, if never got done. The cabin was too small for a long cruise and very tired looking as was the balcony. Barely any varnish on the handrail and peeling paint and rust.

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