This cruise began in Istanbul and ended in Athens. Because of the unrest in the middle east, Egypt was cancelled 6 months ago- a disappointment and I believe premature and wrong but I understand that Oceania has to try and protect their customers. A coworker just got back from Cairo and had a great time, there was no problems and because of all of the cancelled tours and cruises the monuments were the least crowded in probably over 50 years.

Just as the ship was starting boarding passengers we found out that the port we anticipated docking at in Ashdod was changed to Haifa over safety concerns. Again, frustrating and messed up our private tours we had scheduled months before but a safety decision.

Aside from that, the cruise was as expected. Food was too good with only a few only mediocre dishes, service was very good and I believe Oceania does a great job in screening their staff to appear happy and customer oriented. Read more