Just came back from Msc Bellissima ,we booked a year ago . This is our 15 th cruise ,second time on Msc.We were so looking forward as Msc Splendida was perfect. But unfortunately this one no.Inside cabin very small,buffet always same food. The only positive place was the Lighthouse Restaurant staff very nice especially our Waiter Antonio and his wife Sandy.Food was very good and health there.Its the only place we looked forward . Every day at 5 pm huge noise of a drill every single day.So never a siesta. I think Msc are building too many ships in short time ,and things are not being done in good details.Changing of ceiling screen is nice but not everything. We look for nice details,Doors from were you can go to see the sea on most floors. Italian shows used to be better,Cirque de soleil was very nice ,but cancelled once so many missed it . Read Less

We choose this cruise as we wanted to see Greece & Croatia as not been before. We loved every port we visited, Mykonos was my favourite and the wife’s was Venice & Dubrovnik. The ships food was amazing. So much to choose from every night. The waiters looked after us with extra chips and veg & Ice cream every night. The headliners were the best I’ve seen on any cruise, we loved the killer queen & musical shows. Also north by northeast singers were really good. Around the pool was really busy on sun days but as I’d get the pool at 8.45 it was easy to get beds. After 9 it was hard to get one in front of the pool. Service for drinks was great and not long to wait. My favourites bar was winners with football on and the casino was great and wasn’t busy so always a seat. Le club was great for a dance and was in there most nights. Stayed open till 2 but you could get a drink in and stay till 3am. Peroni on draught was good and they had doom bar in big bottles which I like. Our kids 11 & 13 girls loved the kids clubs and soon made friends. The only tours we Done was In Dubrovnik the game of thrones walking tour. That was amazing but hard going as very hot and a lot of steps. But me and my wife enjoyed seeing all the locations and the views. Also in split we went on the KrKa waterfalls tour which we didn’t enjoy that much as it was a long day on the coach and very rushed so didn’t get to enjoy the walk in the park and not much time to have a swim. I love this ship as it’s a smaller one so not hard to get seats for shows and space in bars and casino. Would definitely cruise again on oceana as staff are friendly and like the less busy areas. Read Less

It was our 24 Th wedding anniversary. So wanted to do a beautiful cruise in the Med as you can almost ensure perfect weather. We have been with P&O Many times brilliant ships. ENGLISH sterling and English plugs. Fantastic. The staff are so friendly and the cabins are clean and tidy. But a little on the small side but that's no problem really. We love the evening shows and Entertainment. The staff are all helpful And the good has a good choice and really nice. We prefer to eat at the buffets as it's so much nicer to pick what we wish. The only thing that rubies our holiday was the pool side singer called Frankie. She was awful, she had one of them voices which drones on and on and on the sound system was way too loud. She played guitar but only knew a few chords so it was like she strumned away the same rythem and sand different songs over it. It was so loud you could not read. Relax or talk to each other at all I walked around the deck and saw no less than 5 people with fingers in ears or hands over ears . this is surely not right. How come the volume was so loud when you are trying to relax. She played everyday and sometimes 3 or 4 half hour sets straight after each other playing the same songs.. So so boring. I had to get up and walk away each time she came in. Terrible like torture almost after a while. Read Less

We have visited Malta previously and had the opportunity to spend some time in Valetta before the cruise.We found everything to be well organised with regards embarkation and disembarkation although Malta airport seems to struggle with the volume of passengers. We will be revisting Croatia in the future - enjoyed the shore trips and would like to see more. The ship itself was impressive and we had no complaints about the food and all of the staff were pleasant and helpful. Cabin was comfortable but a bit tight for space with suitcases etc. The rule about not reserving sunloungers could be more rigorously enforced as it took a few tours of the ship to find one that did not have a towel on it most of which remained unoccupied for hours or even for the full day. The entertainment provided by the Headliners cast was excellent - The London West End on the high seas. The cast speaking to members of the audience at the exits after each show was a nice touch - a very talented group! Read Less

My wife and I have cruised 1/2 dozen times. P&O, RCI, Princess, and Celebrity. We booked this cruise a couple of months back as an extra holiday this year. There were some poor reviews, negative comments like, old ship, bad smells, poor food, miserable staff. What a load of old rubbish people come out with. I’ve even read stuff about flight delayed. As if that’s P&Os fault. Or bad weather. (Our captain even diverted the ship to find us sun) I say to most of those people “Get a life” our flight was delayed 2 hours due to fog. I’d much would rather sit on an aircraft and wait than take a chance and take off. In fact an announcement was given on the aircraft saying not to worry the ship wouldn’t leave without us. The food was lovely with lots of choice. Did I like everything all of the time? Of course not. But it was well presented and most of the time suited my own taste buds perfectly. The staff in ALL of the restaurants were immaculately dressed. The tables were always clean and very quickly cleared away too. There was rightly, maintenance being carried out constantly to keep the standards high. I read reviews about Rule Britannia and such like being constantly played. I could hear it in the background occasionally but I certainly didn’t find it overpowering. There was differing music being played throughout the ship for everyone's taste. Once on a sail away union flags were given out and I can honestly say that everyone around the pool deck thoroughly enjoyed singing along to English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh songs waving their flags, as did other nationalities. The headliners shows didn’t do it for me but they worked really hard. I just felt that their singing skills were poor. Nevertheless I watched and sang along. The other entertainers I enjoyed. If you don’t do excursions as we don’t, do some research and do your own thing. Some ports in the U.K. are not very nice but, move away a little and there is often so much to enjoy. I’m sure that there are some genuine complaints, there are bound to be,,,,,,,do things ever go right at home all of the time, is your gutter and facia sparkling clean on your house? Nothing ever broken down? Blocked up? I dropped my luggage at Gatwick and it arrived outside my cabin door and on the way back, I left it outside my cabin and next saw it at Gatwick on the conveyor reclaim belt. So, to everyone I say, Ignor the moaners, chill, and do what I firmly believe P&O want you to do and will help you to,,,,,relax and have a lovely cruise. My wife and I sure did. Our cruise was a 7 Day on 4/10/18 From/To Valetta. Read Less

Have been on this ship before, so tried again. It looked very nice after a supposed refit, some places were looking very tired in the guests quarters. My cabin window ( paid extra for) was filthy and never got cleaned hence not decent views We won't be on it a 3rd time Had to vacate cabin at 8 am for a flight scheduled for 7pm. They wanted £45-£85 for a cabin for 5hrs, although we paid for a full 14 night cruise. I did not pay. We sat around until 4pm waiting to be transferred to airport, we got there and told it was delayed. The ship knew this but still "got rid of us" Our arrival was 7.30pm and we were MADE to do the sea safety training (after travelling all day and hungry). Maritime law states it should be within 24 hours of embarkation.I Emailed P&O during the cruise a week before our disembarkation , about the vacating cabin issue, hoping I could get a resolve, but still I haven't had a reply. The evening shows were very good, but only lasted 45 minutes max, the only thing to do after that was be pestered to buy drinks or go to casino Read Less

On the 9th day of our holiday my husband fell really ill.he had to be rushed in to Athens Hospital, he had 10 days in intensive care in all he spent 6 weeks in hospital. i would like to thank p&0 Oceana doctor for spotting the seriousness, as we thought he had heat stroke..turned out he had a gallstone blocking his bile tube completely he certainly would not have survived had it not been for the Oceana doctor and the greek doctors. also i would like to thank the lady who phoned me every day from p&o for 6 weeks while i was in Greece even sending magazines for me and a phone.. if i needed it!! even though my holiday ended long before i could fly home.she was a comfort to me being able to talk to someone english, so i would certainly holiday with p&o again. My holiday was excellent until it came abruptly to an end. Read Less

This was my first cruise and I wanted it to be in the Mediterranean which is usually fairly smooth. The facilities on this ship were really excellent. The cabins are well kept and the staff could not be more helpful. Both embarkation and disembarkation went very smoothly. Numerous staff were on hand at London Gatwick to assist and the flights and times were part of the cruise package. I was with two friends, and we went on shore to Monte Carlo (by tender) and also Corsica and Florence. All these trips were very easy although quite expensive. The single supplement meant we all paid almost double for the cabin but we had no interest in sharing. Dining was in a most attractive room with excellent staff. The entertainment was reasonable although usually of quite short duration. There were many activities during the day. We travelled as a group of three, and we had a table to ourselves for meals. In addition to the main dining room, there is an extensive buffet on the 14th floor, where one could get snacks, tea and coffee at all times. We will definitely be arranging a trip in the near future. Read Less

Cruise chosen because P&O treat passengers like adults, ports of call, variety of reasonably priced trips, `live' performers, bonded luggage scheme and a few new ports for us to visit. Oceania is due her refit and it was slightly noticeable but did not detract from the top rate service. A beers and standard drinks package would have been welcome in addition to the soft drinks, coffee and wine schemes. The Headliners show team were top of any teams that we have seen over many years of cruising and mostly sang live where possible. We never felt pressured into buying stuff that we were not interested in, although there were plenty of add on's and specials for people who like that sort of thing. The three paid trips we made (Butraint national park, Spinalonga and Cetina river) were very good in terms of interest, timetable, tour guide information and historical facts. Read Less

Having thoroughly enjoyed last years cruise on Oceana we certainly felt things had changed this year. The Thomson flights were acceptable, transfers and embarkation all very good as usual with P+O. As we had saver fare we got our cabin allocated (A715) and dining which was (again) fixed at 8.30pm, so for the second year with didn't bother with the MDR which is no loss to us. Our cabin was high, starboard at the rear, so more movement felt this year but nothing untoward, the balcony a first for us was welcome but small and tbh we didn't sit on it much, more of a viewing platform ! it was under the Lido deck and the only noise from above was the odd heavy footed passenger during the day. The cabin itself was functional but tired, small tv and limited channels, the cabin was kept tidy though by the pleasant stewardess. Beds and pillows we're very comfy. As i said we don't use the MDR, so the buffet is our haunt, food very much canteen style, heavy on Indian and Chinese we thought, too much so. Food is acceptable but nothing special (watery custard, watery mash, poor meat joints spring to mind) as a buffet its quite small and limited, lets say in comparison to the huge Egyptian spreads in hotels we visit. The desserts are generally tasty though. As with any buffet it can look a bit untidy at times and picked over, more front of house staff needed we thought. Service in the buffet for drinks and table clearing etc is apathetic and lackluster, staff seemed unmotivated, more so than last year. Oh and the dress code is now not enforced in the buffet, t-shirts, shorts flip flops all now allowed, i did ask the manager directly and he said said it was because of customer back lash on challenge ! The rest of the ship as we know is old and tired now but still fully functional and P+O do a great job of sectioning off areas to suit all tastes, the quiet promenade deck for reading and snoozing, front of ship for quiet sunbathing, center of ship for you party folks and the adult rear section for peace and quiet, the odd kid did stray to the rear and unfortunately wasn't advised by staff. Ports of call we're all very nice and well handled, shame as with all cruises excursions are over priced, just one tender port, Sarande. Entertainment and the theaters all excellent as last year with some good shows as usual. So the main point of change for us, STAFF, on the whole just so apathetic and un-engaging, so different from what we remember. Examples, no drinks offered for 2 hours round pool, approached bar for water told "over there ! ", served at Horizon Grill with not a single word, plates left on breakfast tables 30 mins+, staff passed in corridors in silence, served at meat station in buffet again in silence etc etc, all on there own small things but as a whole do not really equate to any form of "service". We filled in the on board questionnaire and reduced our "auto gratuity" by 50 % as we really felt we received little to no service above semi acceptable, where as last year it would never have crossed our mind to do so. So overall we did enjoy the cruise i promise ! P+0 still do well in a lot of areas but this ship desperately needs its anticipated re-fit and for me P+O need to decide where in the market they want to be as at the moment they seem unsure. This year we went straight to P+O for our second cruise without thought next ...sorry P+O i think we may try elsewhere. Read Less

I had read some not so good reports of Oceana and was a little concerned before the cruise from Malta, however as usual P&O did not disappoint, embarkation was excellent and very well organised, the staff on board were very helpful and polite, the food was of a good standard with plenty of choice, the cabins (we had an inside one ) were clean and quite spacious as was the bathroom, the entertainment on board was good especially the We Will Rock You show in the theatre which was amazing, the ship is due for a refurbishment later this year but even though it looked a bit tired it was kept spotlessly clean, overall it was good value for money, the trips were also very well organised and reasonably priced. The only minus point was the dis embarkation, we were off the ship by 8am in the morning with our flight being at 11-40 it involved a long wait in the airport which is only 10 minutes from the ship. Read Less

We have just had two weeks on the Oceana. I read a lot of recent reviews and a lot are very similar ... Charming ship, a little tired, wonderful staff but overall an absolute fabulous holiday. Sure you get the regular moaning minnies who complain they cant find a table in the plaza straight away or their cabin is too noisy but if you book on the saver fare option meaning P & O allocate your cabin where they want you to go, you do risk being put under a noisy lounge. What we take for granted is the very high standard of operation and services from P & O. Everybody knows their job and from the waiters to the room steward to the deck staff, they could all not be more helpful. There is still a problem with people reserving sun loungers but until P & O really start removing items after the 20 mins they that they say they will, this will continue to happen. My real only gripe is the Oasis Spa. The services they offer are great but the hard hard sell after for you to buy their potions and lotions put me off from having any more massages and treatments. Likewise my daughter found that there was only two hairdressers in their staff .... not enough P & O !!! The ports were a great mix, Split and Dubrovnik being the best for our taste, Venice is just too busy now and I know P & O had to find a replacement stop to replace Turkey due to security reasons but Sarande in Albania ?. Sorry but it would have been better to sail round and round. Cannot wait to go again! Read Less

The ship is of course not new. We booked on April/2017 (two adults and a child) a balcony cabin. The check in was very smooth since we embark from Malta and very few people embark from there. The total price was very cheap and we sailed 3 years ago with Costa Mediterranea and we liked it. But Costa Cruises have changed everything since then. There is no free coffee 24hrs only in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. Other hours you have to pay. No free sunday anymore for the kid. Again you have to pay each scoop. No free pizza (are you serious? we are in an italian ship). The breakfast was awful. No eggs on the eleven floor only on the 3rd floor which you had to wait for a table. The cabin was ok but nothing else. It was overcrawded and you had to wait for the buffet and then if you are lucky you could find a table to sit. No smoking to the casino and service at the bars was awful. We are really dissapointed with Costa. I even mentioned it to a ship manager and his answer was: "Well you pay less than other cruise ships you must expect less" Yeah sure I paid less but with all extras (coffee, pizza, ice-cream, not finding a table, not good entertainment etc) at the end of the cruise it cost us more. So trust me Costa Cruises is out of our list from now on. We cruised with MSC and Carnival until now and Carnival Vista was the best cruise. We almost cry when our cruise was over. Read Less

It was a wonderful experience. We had been on 10 other Mediterranean cruises before, but this was by far the very best! We chose this cruise because of the interesting itinerary, but everything was just right, especially the friendly service with a smile on every face. We had already planned what to do at every site visited but modified our plans according to the excellent opportunities provided at each country. Embarkation and disembarkation could not go more smoothly. The ship was wonderful and the cabin most comfortable. Dining was always delicious and well presented, and the entertainment most pleasant, especially for the shows by Jon Courteney. We are an elderly couple and we found help every time we needed it. So much so that we plan to go on another cruise on the Oceana 0n the 28th September 2017. A huge THANK YOU to all staff on board Oceana for the state of the art of the presentation and service. Mario and Doris Sammut (Malta) Read Less