The biggest take-away from this cruise is to say that if you do take medications, take an extra seven days worth with you. We were lucky and did, which we have done on previous cruises. You never know what may happen. After you read the rest of this you'll understand. We chose this cruise for the itinerary. This was a Buenos Aires to Lima cruise around Cape Horn. We were also looking forward to the Oceania post-cruise tour to Machu PIcchu. We arrived a day early and opted for the pre-cruise hotel offered by Oceania. The hotel was very nice. The check-in was quite awkward and individual rooms were doled out one at a time. The only status was that everyone would get into their rooms by 3:00 PM. The cruise started out as all the other Oceania cruises that we have been on. This was the first time we have been on the larger ship in quite some time, so it took a bit to get re-oriented. We opted for a PH2 cabin category. The cabin was appointed nicely and had ample storage and closet space. Our butler and stateroom attendant were there quickly to introduce themselves and so see if there was anything that we would require. Our butler was great throughout the cruise and was able to get additional dinner reservations in the specialty restaurants, which he did with us asking.The ship departed on time and we headed off to our first port. We selected some some of the Oceania tours off the ship. They were all preformed well and we especially enjoyed the Falkland Islands Penguin Safari. I never thought that we would be on a privately owned sheep ranch that had an entire penguin colony resident on the beach. Walking very close to the penguins in the wild was a real treat. From there we continued on to cruise around Cape Horn. The Captain did a 360 degree turn around the island so that we had a great view of the farthest point south of the continent. That was the point that there was more and more reports on the Coronavirus started coming in. The staff made sure that they would try to do everything possible to ensure that we were kept as sanitary as possible, including restaurants, common amenities, and individual cabins. We departed San Antonio, Chile to next port was Pisco, Peru. That morning I thought we were cruising along at a good speed and we were due to be in port. I turned on the TV and checked the cruise map and saw that we had passed Pisco and it looked like we were headed to Lima. Shortly thereafter, the Captain came on the PA and indicated that they had just received word that Peru closed their ports of entry. He said that we would turn around and got back to Chile. After then cruising back south for a few hours, We were informed that Chile had closed their ports of entry and the Captain indicated we would turn around again and head to Panama. The next morning as we were cruising on our way to Panama, the Captain informed us that we would anchor off the Canal, wait for a slot to transit the Canal. After the transit we would head to Miami. We were also informed things Oceania would do to help ease the extra length on the ship. These included free ship to shore telephone calls, additional laundry services, open bar for happy hour for two nights, reimbursing portion of any airline change fees because of the changes, refund of excursion cost, for ports missed post-cruise extension, free port transfer to the airport, and offering 50% off on a future cruise. We were supposed to have completed the cruise on 03/15, but with the additional time required to get to Miami, we didn't get off the ship until 03/23. Except for missing the two ports the rest of the cruise went fine. It did not appear that there were shortages of anything on the ship except for a couple of minor things. One outstanding item we saw was that we were kept informed, by the Captain and staff, all long the way of the status and any changes. The cruise line and Captain deserve strong kudos for that. It did give us time to react to inform family, house sitters, and our travel agent of changes in our arrival at home. Our debarkation was handled well, just as other Oceania cruises. We felt that Oceania did a very good job with the changes and adjustments that had to be made as a result of the Coronavirus. Some additional things to mention include having a featured speaker, Sportscaster Verne Lundquist have a few talks about his career and stories of different sports players. He also added a couple of Q&A sessions when the cruise extended. Also, there was a speaker that narrated some of the events that took place, going around Cape Horn and also the canal transit. The chef's demonstrations were also very good and the head chef made them quite entertaining.The specialty restaurants were very good and the menu selections at Toscana were excellent. The Terrace Cafe was, as always, very good for breakfast and lunch. We did not use the Cafe for dinner. Service in all the restaurants throughout the cruise was excellent. One new venture we tried was a dinner at La Reserve wine pairing dinner. This was an excellent and enjoyable evening. We also participated in a wine tasting, whiskey tasting, and single malt tasting. We enjoyed all of those. We don't usually go to any of the shows. We prefer to just have an after dinner glass of wine and do some reading. To sum up the cruise, we really enjoyed it, even with the unexpected additional time. We thought the ports on this cruise were good choices and we enjoyed the tours we took. Cabin staff was very good along with the dining venues. We would recommend Oceania for additional cruises and do have additional cruises booked. Read Less

Super luxurious . Fabulous food and staff. Really was the trip of a lifetime .. Highly recommend though we went for the splurge option by having a penthouse with butler service. We would definitely use Oceania again . The only negative of the entire cruise was the dull yoga class ! Otherwise great. Avoid the extremely overpriced excursions other than the lovely schooner trips. You can either walk or use public transport in the ports that this cruise visits. Eg , subway in Buenos Aires and hop on bus is Montevideo . Other ports are easily walkable around .... Restaurants all excellent and it's the food , the amazing staff , the outstanding afternoon tea and the very interesting sociable guests who made this cruise so enjoyable. The ports that we visited were lovely , even Rio Grande was interesting and the tender process is extremely efficient. All in all , a wonderful experience ... Read Less

When our (my wife and I) scheduled Crystal Cruise to SE Asia fell apart due to multiple schedule changes, and with 3 weeks suddenly open on our calendars, we opted at the last minute to schedule this Rio to Buenos Aires itinerary (as far away as possible from covid-19 issues). We literally booked on Sunday before a Wedn departure from Rio. We considered a Celebrity Buenos Aires roundtrip as well as an Azamara Buenos Aires roundtrip which fit the dates but we picked this one because it was one-way and had more stops. When we arrived at the pier in Rio on Wedn, our names were not even on the passenger list, but we got that straightened out easily enough. We booked a Veranda stateroom which opened up at the last minute---the cruise being completely booked when I first checked it. Embarkation went smoothly after our status was straightened out and we were thrilled to find a beautiful stateroom- bigger than most in this category and well-appointed. After a much needed nap, after having flown overnite from the US, we embarked on getting to understand the most important element of this cruise and cruise line-- the FOOD! Four specialty restaurants are available at no extra charge and the game (at least for us) was to try to get reservations at these restaurants whenever possible because all agreed it was a superior product to the Grand Dining Room or the evening buffet. All guests were entitled to at least one night in each. The four are comprised of Asian (Red Ginger), steak (Polo Grille), French (Jacques), and Italian (Toscana). Since we booked so late for the cruise, we had no advance reservations, so we headed to the reservation desk and got to work. If you are flexible as to times and whether or not you will be at a group table (usually 6), generally you will get in. On evenings where all advance reservations were full, we would show up at 645p (all restaurants opened at 630p) and ask if there was a late cancellation or no-show. This worked and we ended up eating at a specialty restaurant all 12 nights of our cruise, 3 times in each one. All are truly excellent and would be $100 meals (or more) at a nice restaurant in a big city. We thought Red Ginger was the most unique with a Sea Bass to die for. Jacques was a close second, but the others were terrific as well. You can't go wrong with any of them! Breakfast and lunch were fine at the Terrace Grille. The Grand Dining Room was fine but a little ponderous for both those meals. This cruise had two speakers, Verne Lundquist (an American sports broadcaster) and another who was a South American history and geography specialist. Verne was well-received by the Americans on-board but others did not know him. The S.A specialist (whose name I do not recall, sorry) was interesting. We did not use Oceania excursions at all because of our late booking. We did use Viator and Tours by Locals online. I looked at the Oceania pricing and they seemed about double what you might pay through Viator. Oceania had a very competent on-board group of singers and dancers who put on some excellent shows, including the obligatory Broadway show. Their two single performers (a comedian and a ukulele player) were simply not up to standards expected on a major cruise ship. The comedian was especially off in his second show when he regaled us with stories of a major fraud crime he apparently committed in his past as well as ending his set with a story about "spiking" someone's drink. The audience literally cringed. Service throughout was excellent. Staff come from a wide variety of countries and all who deal with direct customer service spoke English very well. They were truly one of the stand-out parts of the ship. All in all, we had a very good experience on a cruise line we had barely any knowledge of before this trip. The food and the port-heavy itineraries make them well worth considering on all cruise planning. Read Less

I was very disappointed with this cruise after having a wonderful experience on the Nautica last January on a cruise from South Africa. I found the entertainment average, although the staff entertainment was very good. The shore excursions were very poor. The guides were good, but I found none of the sites at all interesting. At the excursion in Cozumel they put us on a bus for a tour of the island where the bus had heavy screening covering all the windows, so you couldn't see out. Several of the ports, ie: Costa Maya only had excursions that were rated moderate (scuba diving) or strenuous. They should have had other choices. The ship activities, I felt, were not varied. They were they same every day - Mensa, trivia, lectures, bingo. They seemed to be geared to a college graduate, highly educated crowd, but very little just to have fun. The shops sold high end expensive merchandise, nothing souvenir like or representative that you might want to bring home. HOWEVER - my main complaint was the food which I felt was substandard, especially for a cruise line that advertises itself for its gourmet food. I have never returned so many dprovided.ishes because they were inedible. The meat was tough, the fish overcooked, the vegetables undercooked, the cookies I couldn't eat (and I love cookies). Portions - main dish: scallops 3, raviolli 4, beef wellington size of half a dollar! The best food - the ice cream. I lost 4 pounds on the cruise. With food choices on the menu that I was not sure what they were, I asked the waiter, and, on multiple occasions, then waiters were not able to explain to me what the item was. Once I wanted to order fish and the waiter told me not to orders the fish was dry and once I wanted to order steak and the waiter said don't because the meat was tough. On days where shore excursions lasted over the lunch hours and meals were not provided as part of the tours, the only food available was at the Wave's Grill, which could not accommodate the number of people coming off tours who needed to eat. On all other cruise lines where we have sailed, accommodations have been provided. In summary, I am very disappointed by this experience and will not cruise with Oceania again! Read Less

Prior to boarding the Marina for our January jaunt up the western coast of South America and through the Panama Canal, I read many reviews here that had me slightly concerned. People complained that the portions were small in the specialty restaurants and that the food had deteriorated since our last trip three years ago. They complained about service in the main dining room (which I had experienced the last trip) that the buffet wasn't self serve and that portions weren't as large as when they go to Denny's. There were also a surprisingly number of complaint that the entertainment wasn't what it was on other lines. There were a lot of complaints from people - who sounded - like they lamented that this wasn't a Carnival Cruise. It wasn't; thank goodness. Oceania is all about the food. The four specialty restaurants were very good, with three of them being better than our last cruise (Jacques, Toscana and the Polo Grill) with one of them not quite as good (Red Ginger). The main dining room was much better in terms of food and service, and overall, the wine was far superior in all areas of the ship. Does this ship cater to children, or those who seek Las Vegas styled entertainment? In a word, no. There ARE excellent lectures focusing on the history and area of the world that you are in, there is a good string quartet, and piano player, library and games room. This is a cruise line that caters to food and wine snobs (of which I proudly acknowledge I am one). The food and wine on this cruise (including the Dom Perignon tasting dinner) were absolutely outstanding. The quality and service everywhere on board was better than our last cruise with Oceania, and you can tell the staff are - for the most part - extremely well trained. The ship is going in for a make-over in April of 2020, and I am looking forward to seeing improvements in decor and WiFi (the latter of which is truly dreadful) We didn't go on any company excursions as they weren't accessible (my wife is in a small manual wheelchair) and stupidly expensive. We preferred to do our own thing. If you like food, wine, literature, other educated guests, few children and well appointed rooms, the Marina is an excellent choice. Want Denny's sized plates of food and Vegas shows? Look elsewhere. Read Less

We have been on over 40 cruises throughout the years. We cruise on all cruise lines including Crystal, Princess, Holland America, and Celebrity; depending on our schedules. We took this cruise because of the reasonably good itinerary, but, sadly this cruse was a disappointment mainly because of the ship. The major disappointment was the food. ( There were a few bright spots, like the soup and the steak in the Polo Grill. ) Other than that, the rest of the dinning experiences were sub-par. The bread were dry and hard. So were the pastries, the muffins and croissants. The meat ( chicken, beef and all others ) in the main Dinning Room and the Terrace Cafe were tough and chewy. Same old, same old ice cream flavors every day and without much condiments variations. The presentations of the food were not welcoming either. One lobster dish from the Toscana looked like a left over from the previous dinner. The Red Ginger was a mix mash of nothing-not Chinese, not Japanese, not Thai and not Vietnamese. It was like throwing all the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and other spices together and calling it a creation. The chopsticks which were offered to each diner were all worn out. The gym equipments were antiquated and not working properly. The weights handles were all worn out. The excursions were over priced and complicated to book. The sound system, especially in the theater, was poor. Read Less

We chose this trip for a few reasons: 1) the itinerary - to sail around Cape Horn/southern ocean 2) Timing - wanted a trip over the holidays (this one was from Dec 19-Jan 4) 3) Friends had sailed on the Oceania Marina ship To the Baltic a couple of summers ago - and had raved about their experience SERVICE: Overall, the service was fantastic - ratio of Crew to Passengers is 1.56:1 - - with 1250 passengers I think. We were told there are146 chefs on board and can see that this must be true. This makes sense, as the food on Oceania is ranked as one of their big selling points. All of the day to day crew on board couldn’t have been nicer/more pleasant/professional - from housekeeping, butler, waitstaff. Not such great marks for the Reception Desk, Concierge, Destination Services and Reservations desks - we were never greeted with enthusiasm or smiles - and were made to feel as if we were bothering them. NOTE TO OCEANIA: Those desks are your first face to the customer - would recommend that you staff them with pleasant and accommodating people. We never saw the Officers - who made themselves scarce - with the exception of the “Meet the Bridge” cocktail reception and the Captain who said Farewell at the end during the “Crew Salute”. We would have liked to have heard and seen the Bridge Officers more often. FOOD: There were four Specialty restaurants - NO UPCHARGE for any of the Specialty restaurants which was great- and you were able to book One reservation at each restaurant in advance of departure. Because we had a PH1 suite, we were able to reserve as of Oct 5th. The food in all was very good, but service at their signature Jacques, was less than stellar. Don’t overlook the Grand Dining Room which had a different menu every night and fantastic service! And the Terrace Cafe (amazing breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets!). SPA: Used the Spa for Acupuncture (3 sessions) and a manicure - - those were all great - however, I didn’t like the hustle/upsell for products or additional sessions - it was fairly high pressure. Did Pilates and Yoga classes - they were OK - they guy leading the classes is really more of an intense “Bootcamp” guy - used the equipment in the gym - plenty of it - water bottles, towels, mats, well equipped gym. Because we had a Penthouse suite, we had access to the private Spa Deck, which to us, was such a nice perk. It was super quiet, soothing music, right on the bow of the ship - in nice weather, it was a perfect place to be - watching the ocean in front of you, sitting in lovely cabana seating, and also had two hot tubs up there. Spent time reading and relaxing there. Being our first Oceania cruise, we were favorably impressed, but others we met who have done numerous (Oceania) cruises - mentioned that the ship/food were not as up to snuff as it used to be before Norwegian acquired them. To us, It was a beautiful ship, everything very clean - and the food was fantastic. However, you can see that materials/carpets/furnishings could use a touch up - and from what we heard, they are planning a refurb in April/May 2020. ITINERARY: overall, the ports of call were nothing to write home about - but we were on this cruise for Cape Horn, Falkland islands, Ushuaia, Chilean Fjords - and we were IN AWE and not disappointed. 1) Started in Buenos Aires - recommend that you arrive in BA early. We gave ourselves two full days there and it was perfect. Oceania had us in the Alvear Art Hotel which was really nice and modern - big rooms, lots of USB ports, great shower, bedding, etc - the contemporary sister to the more lush Alvear Palace. Did a Tango show one night (booked it through Viator - $156 for two of us - at Piazola (?) - fantastic two hour show, plus dinner, plus option to take a 30 minute tango lesson - which we did and it was a lot of fun. Day 1 (arrival in AM) Walked around the city - walked to the Recoletta Cemetary (Eva Peron burial site) - we used the Tour Guide who shows up there every day at 3pm for a two hour tour, and so glad we did - we would have missed so much otherwise. Had dinner at hotel because we were exhausted. Day 2 - full day of walking to The Obelisk and to Plaza de Mayo. (FYI, pronouncing “y’s” is the sound of “je”. So, Plaza de Mayo sounds like Plaza de Majoh). Gorgeous architecture all over BA - very French - The Paris of South America as it’s called. Plaza de Mayo is the home of banking and federal buildings including the Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires (gorgeous! Make sure you walk through and spend time) and the Casa Rosado (Pink House) where Eva Peron stood on the balcony to address the people of Argentina. Returned to hotel mid-day and had a delightful lunch buffet and iced teas and included a glass of wine! - Total of $33 (!) for Two people! Prices in BA very good. 2) Montevideo (Uruguay) - felt like you needed to be on your guard a bit - the market area was interesting and felt safe enough - but you probably don’t want to wander off too much more without a guide. not much to see there. 3) Puerto d’Este (Uruguay) - ended up skipping this due to incoming inclement weather and the Captain wanted to keep moving to stay in front of the system - which was appreciated - (we still had very uncomfortable seas for a 12+ hours, but subsided. 4) Puerto Madryn - nothing to write home about - We had an excursion planned to see the Penguins at Punto Tombo - but ended up bailing on it - because it was going to be a THREE HOUR drive each way - and then only one hour of seeing penguins. Didn’t feel like doing the 6 hour drive for penguins. We were glad we cancelled - and there were plenty of other opportunities to see Penguins in other portions of the trip. Instead, we got off the ship and walked for an hour or so into/around town - nice little beachy town, clean, civilized and didn’t seem so poor, like Montevideo did (nor as sketchy). Huge tide comes in and out of there. And the sea seemed dirty, especially close to shore, like sewery... (Smelly for sure). 5) Falkland Islands - very cool that we were able to even get there. Many cruises cannot make it in there if there is rough weather. We arrived on Christmas morning, thus, not much open, but it was great to walk around and look at the charming British homes/shops. 6) Ushuaia - WOW FACTOR all the way - this was where the trip REALLY took off. Woke up to a brilliant, clear, sunny crisp morning - and a gorgeous harbor filled with sailboats and dramatic snow-capped mountains all around us. EXCURSION: Boarded a high speed catamaran for 90 minutes - packed with people, stopped for about 90 minutes at Estancia Haberton (oldest farm in Argentina) and then took a two hour bus ride back which had spectacular scenery (and a few moments of good naptime!) Sailed the Beagle Channel for about 90 minutes - saw Terns, Sea Lions, Lighthouse, Mountains 7) Cruising CAPE HORN & BEagle Channel - AWESOME! SO EXCITED that we got to circumnavigate the Cape Hornas Islands - truly the last slice of land before you get to Antartica. There was talk that we were going to skip it - due to what looked like poor weather conditions, but the weather-gods were with us, and Captain decided (after much prodding from us and fellow passengers) to do Cape Horn - - after all, THIS is the reason we chose this itinerary! In addition to seeing the infamous Cape Horn, we also Enjoyed a full day of Glacier after Glacier - magnificent!! EXCURSION: Estancia Fitzroy - sheep farm - About a 90 minute bus ride each way - to a very cool sheep ranch - saw tons of old artifacts - old plane, trucks, dishwashers, stoves, demonstration on sheering sheep, little calves that I got to nurse with milk, baby lambs, big bull and cows and llamas and herding dogs - watching them corral the sheep. 
Wonderful Lamb BBQ lunch - with salads, wine, dessert 8) Cruising the Chilean Fjords (two days) - beautiful as well - tucked into the archipegleo (thus better/smooth sea conditions) and saw islands after islands going by. (We LOVE the sea days - getting into the rhythym of the sea, having time to relax, read, exercise, spa - and think we had more Sea Days than land days on this itinerary which was perfect for us. 9) Puerto Charabuco - as we started heading north on the Pacific side of South America - EXCURSION: did a Wellness Excursion on New Years Day - a 90 minute catamaran ride through beautiful fjords, mountains to Thermal Hot Springs where we relaxed/rejuvinated in three different thermal pools - they served us drinks, waters, snacks - and then another catamaran ride back - volcanos, and gorgeous scenery! 10) Puerto Montt - Disappointing and Dirty. (This is a place where you SHOULD have an excursion planned!) We did not have an excursion, so got off the ship and walked to “the Markets” - little shanties with trinkets for sale - didn’t buy anything - crossed over the street and were going to walk into the Centro (center of town) but as we proceeded, lots of homeless, urinating/deficating in the streets, graffiti all over - it was gross - so we cut our walk short and went back to the “Civilization” of Oceania Marina. 11) Cruising Pacific Ocean to San Antonio (Santiago disembarkation) - at sea for a day EMBARKATION: Good and smooth DISEMBARKATION: Fubar - could have been better organized process ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES ONBOARD: 1) They had a few speakers - but our favorite was Greg Wheeler, a retired (10 year) professor from Cal State Poly. As a Geologist, he taught us a lot about the earth, ice ages, volcanos, glaciers, etc - we always looked forward to his lectures and tried not to miss them. 2) Hands on Cooking Classes with “Chef Steph” (Stephanie Hirsch - who used to work with Julia Childs for many years). THESE CLASSES WERE EXCELLENT!! $69 per class - you work in pairs - my husband REALLY loved these classes as well. Really cool clean kitchen - we watched and listened up close while Chef explained what we were cooking, doing, how to prepare - and then she sent us back to our workstations to do it. Then you get to eat your cooking and everything was Fabulous! (We did our classes at 4pm - 6pm - - SUGGESTION: Try to book for 10-Noon classes - because then you can eat your food without guilt - especially if you have dinner plans, you will be too full to eat dinner if you do the 4pm class!) 3) The head chef - French guy can’t remember his name, brought along a side kick each time - either the Italian Pastry Chef, etc - and it was a like a comedy show - - very entertaining yet also instructive. (Not to be considered a substitute for Chef Steph classes, though!!) ENTERTAINMENT: While some of the entertainers were not top notch, what made it worse was the lame audience. Passengers just sit there - don’t show any energy - didn’t clap or inspire the performers. C’mon people - lighten up, have some fun, show the entertainers you appreciate their efforts, at least. - There was a group of singers/dancers who were sweet young things, seems that they are getting their start. Not necessarily top notch Broadway talent, but you have to start somewhere and they had great energy and were fun to watch. They performed three or four nights. - Salvatore Hasard - multi-faceted musician and singer who performed on two nights - FANTASTIC - plays multiple instruments and great voice. - Paul Hughes - also FANTASTIC - singer, crooner, does standards - i.e. Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble - really great - Nicole Sasser - female trumpet player and singer - very personable and a good musician- but to her credit, she plowed through despite a Dead Audience. - Comedian and Magician - who we did not go to see CRUISE DIRECTOR: Speaking of Comedian, Peter Roberts always had a good joke or two each day -but he was a bit of a flamboyant clown. I think Oceania would do better to be represented with a more upscale professional tone - not stuffy - but someone who epitomizes the class and service of Oceania. WOULD DEFINITELY DO THIS TRIP AGAIN. And will go with Oceania again. Very impressed overall with the quality and service we experienced. Read Less

Short attention span version - Fabulous! The itinerary was Buenos Aires - Miami 34-day "Grand Voyage", AKA B2B. Captain - Luci Manzi General Manager - Dominique Nicolle Cruise Director - Peter Roberts First impression: Marina is in outstanding condition. DW and I didn't observe any unsatisfactory issues as some have described. Excellent dining in GDR, Wave Grill and specify restaurants. We didn't dine in Terrace. Speaking of specialty restaurants, we had no problem obtaining additional reservations than allowed for our B3 cabin. Due to rough seas and last minute cancellations, we obtained reservations for 2 alone on 23 of 34 days. Average age of passengers Buenos Aires - Santiago de Chile was 60s - 70s. In addition, there were 27 young children. Average age of passengers Santiago - Miami was late 60s - early 80s. In addition, there were 2 young children and 2 teenagers. Zero behavioral issues due to parental control. Dress code was only enforced on a random basis. "Dressy" (sarcasm) Levis or Wranglers were allowed in GDR and specialty restaurants unless they were faded. Minimum age guideline for specialty restaurants were also ignored. For example, there were 5 - 6 children, approximate age of 5, dining in Toscana that had no interest in the food but enjoyed a lively game of hide-and-go-seek around the tables. Jumping on their chairs was also acceptable. Parents were oblivious to it all. Vero water - excellent. Sparkling and still were available. Passengers don't have access to a refilling station. Cabin attendants don't refill partially used bottles. They are replaced twice - daily in the morning and at turndown by new bottles. Additional bottles were available on request. New 4X water filtration system takes the "odd" taste out of desalinated water. In addition, most of the time the tap water was cool instead of warm. Announcements - Peter kept his 10:00 am announcements to around ten minutes most of the time, except on shore days. If you wanted more detailed info, it would be broadcast on cannel 10. The captains 12:00noon announcement was also informative but short. No problem. Noro issue first half of cruise - During Peter's announcements, he would mention that Marina was a "healthy ship" and we would do our best to keep it that way. The usual direction, wash hands often and use the sanitizers. Noro precautions second half of cruise - Pater warned that the area was notorious for noro, Extra steps were taken to prevent a potential outbreak. There were spray sanitizers provided in the cabins. Passengers using board games were instructed to return them to the front desk. Books were to be left on the tables rather than returned to the bookshelves. There we no outbreaks that we heard of. Read Less

We have cruised on different cruise lines and are Princess platinum members. We are celebrating a special anniversary and based on the Oceania marketing decided to spend twice as much money as any other cruise line would charge to experience the “above and beyond” the Oceania offers. And in my mind the first thing would be exceptional service and attention from the cruise staff. So, here is what we experienced: 1. Disorganized boarding. Partially due to the necessity to rely on the locals. You have to be transported from the check in to the ship by a small bus. That bus has been waiting until it was bursting at the seams with passengers and carry on luggage until it took you to the ship. However, one would expect that there will be a cruise staff helping organize those bus transfers. There were none. You were on your own, all those who paid lots for suites and those who paid a lot less for insides. We were neither, but I am giving this as an example of the promise of pampering the guests. 2. Ok, finally on the ship. If you expect ANYTHING different from any other cruise line, lower your expectations. NOTHING is different. Oh, yeah, the exception and the claim to fame is that you get free soft drinks that we haven’t touched. And free water and coffee throughout. But after doing a simple math and assuming you pay for every bottle of water and specialty coffee cup on any other cruise line, it will not amount to thousands you have to pay for an Oceania ticket. 3. The “real” breakfast, not continental, is ceased by 10 am. So, if you are a late sleeper, you have to have an alarm wake you up to make it to the same boring and limited menu in the dining room before 9.30am. Or, you can run up to the Terrace Cafe before 10 where you can find more and better variety. Of course, it’s completely crowded, but the service is very nice. But wait... The Terrace Cafe has doors to the outside that are kept open and from the moment you step out of the elevator until you get inside the cafe, you are propelled by drafts. Of course, Oceania has no control over the weather outside, but they have total control of the inside conditions and assuring that every minute you spend on board their “ luxurious “ vessel is comfortable and you are not exposed to the horrible condition when the wind is blowing into your face and back because they don’t keep the doors outside closed. You call it caring for your guests’ well being, comfort and health? So, if you don’t want to get sick, you can exclude the Terrace Cafe from your itinerary and become prisoner of the dining room if you want to eat. 5. Exceptional food and specialty restaurants. The only memorable occasion was not the exceptional food ( because it was not), but ordering decaf cappuccino that lead to my husband’s sleepless night, that leads me to believe it was caff and not decaf. Aside from that, don’t expect above ordinary. Very unimaginative and boring average food. 6. They give you free WiFi for ONE device only. But don’t worry, it works very, very poorly anyway. 4. No activities to speak of, laughable so called “ entertainment “ 5. Disorganized disembarkation. Having said that, this is MY experience and the conclusion that Oceania Marina may not be for everyone, but may satisfy those who love smaller vessels ( 1300 passengers) who are not interested in entertainment and simply don’t like a lot of people. Case in point: lots of tables for two ( that’s a good thing, though, if you want to be on your own). Many tables for 2 along the windows that differentiates Marina from other cruise lines tables for 2 that are practically next to each other. Bottom line: no matter how you look at it, it’s highly overrated and overpriced. They don’t offer ANYTHING above and beyond. I found better and much more organized service at Holland and Princess. The Oceania advertising is not just exaggerated, it’s simply not true. Not true at all... Read Less

We chose this particular cruise because the itinerary and dates matched what we wanted so we were excited to try Oceania, having heard great things. We stayed in cabin 10015, which was the lowest Penthouse Suite Category. Overall, the cruise was *good*. The food was good but not great except for Polo Grill, which was fabulous. The most aggravating thing about the food experience was not being able to serve yourself at the buffets. The crew served you, even if it was a salad bar, a dessert or the entire buffet line. It was very crowded in the Terrace Cafe and Waves Grill. Also, in mid afternoon when many people were returning from excursions, the restaurants were closed so the only way to get something to eat was room service. Waves Grill was open but had 1/2 hour to an hour wait to get food. At this price point, we expected more options and higher quality. The wine selection was good, but for wine by the glass, there were not many choices. The drink package at $56/pp per day was well worth it with a $15 price tag per drink and $32 for a double with tax, gratuity and Brazil's absurd 25% tax while in Brazilian waters. Embarkation at the Suite level was a breeze. Definitely worth the extra money to board with virtually no wait. Likewise, luggage retrieval was very easy. The cabin was nice and well appointed. One thing I have to say is we were given the option of using Oceania's hotel transfer service to our hotel (Park Tower) in Buenos Aires for $349 USD for 2 people. I looked at a map and it was about 2KM... I literally can see the ship from our hotel on the 14th Floor. We arranged transport from Quickcar for $35USD for a Mercedes and professional driver who met us right at the pier. This was 1/10 the cost Oceania wanted; That is a disgrace. The idea that they would offer transport at such an outrageous inflated price would lead me to never sail Oceania again. As for ports of call, We loved Buzios, Porto Belo and Punta Del Este. Parati isn't for everyone and Rio Grande should not even be a stop on a cruise at this price point. We're not really show people so I can't speak to the quality of the shows. The crowd was decidedly older; probably 70's was the age bracket with a few younger folks. I saw one child on board the whole time and a few older teens with a family. Overall, I wouldn't sail Oceania again unless the itinerary was solely the determining factor as we preferred Azamara. Read Less

This is our second cruise with Oceania on the Marina this year, but unfortunately we won't be actively checking out Oceania cruises for our next trips - we really wanted to like them! The ship is nice, a good size, public areas and spaces are very well appointed and maintained. They also have some nice itineraries, and being a smaller/mid-sized ship can get into most places We travelled as a party of 4 and pretty much all felt the same post trip. I think the main disappointment, after all the hype, was food quality and unfortunately some aspects of service. The food was ok, not spectacular and pretty much what you see on most cruises. Our biggest issue was that they just cannot cook a 'well done' steak! I know most chefs cringe at the well done brigade, but when you even have a guide outside of each restaurant quite clearly showing what the different steaks should look like - we were hopeful. There were times when we had to have 3 attempts to get a steak that didn't have pink inside, surely this shouldn't be such an issue. This even happened in the Marco Polo steak restaurant! We eventually just stopped ordering steak, which we really shouldn't have to do Most staff in the restaurants were very good, but unfortunately not all, which was true of staff throughout the ship. It is the first cruise where we have ever felt disappointed by the cabin stewards, who do an amazing job. We are the sort of passengers who tidy up before we leave the cabin, don't leave any mess or make crazy requests - always treating the stewards very well, and showing our appreciation. But, we have to say the lead steward we had on the last ship just didn't want to be there. The room was cleaned quickly, but surfaces probably not dusted during our entire stay, water bottles left half full for days, and a range of things which did surprise us. I don't like moaning about cabin stewards, but this is how we felt It was great to have a choice of restaurants, all of which were pleasant - the Italian being our favourite Cabins are well appointed and comfortable - bathrooms are nice, but as most have a separate shower and bath, why is there a fixed glass screen across half of the bath, which also has a shower head - crazy as this makes getting in and out of the bath a challenge for some TV and films in staterooms, not the best with some quite inappropriate choices! Entertainment is not the best, but we were not expecting anything much better on a small ship Tours and excursions are far too overpriced, a problem with a lot of cruise lines. We just didn't bother and were able to entertain ourselves in each port We are still waiting to find that cruise line to become our go-to favourite - think we'll have to try Silversea next Read Less

We went on our second Oceania cruise two weeks ago on the Marina. We had taken an Oceania cruise to Cuba on the Sirina about a year ago. We had heard such wonderful things about the Marina, large cabins, great service and great food. We have been consistent Crystal cruisers. (18 over the years) The Marina is a small ship, the type we like and the cabins are a bit larger than Crystals. Bathrooms are large with a shower and a bathtub. Quite nice. The embarkation onto the Marina in Rome (Civitavecchia) was awful. No longer can your driver pull up to the ship but one has to take a bus with all your luggage in hand from the port entrance to the ship’s dock. Quite a shlep and very uncomfortable. Once we checked in, we were greeted with a bottle of champagne ( which we never drank) You get the feeling that Oceania tries to be friendly and caring but they fall short in many areas. The cabin stewardess was excellent. If one is in an A cabin you get free wi-fi for the entire cruise which is very nice. The unfriendly crew member who sets up the wi-fi on your IPad and IPhone is another story. The Marina has 4 dining specialty restaurants, which are quite good. The main dining room is something else. Not having the same wait staff each nite does pose some problems. The food in the main dining room is mediocre, at best. We eat a bit late, around 8pm, and on two occasions when we went to the main for dinner for 2, the dining room was mostly empty, the head waiter put us at a table for 2 next to the waiters bus station. I pointed out that maybe there was not a two by the window but there was a 4 nearby. The supervisor’s answer was “if you don’t mind sharing this table with another couple if they come then it is yours”. At that point I was furious. I went to the maître d and not so quietly explained the situation and that we were not leaving the table for 4 nor will we agree to eat with another couple (Again the dining room was mostly empty at this point.) Of course the Maitre ‘d took care of this situation. This happened on two occasions. Inexcusable! The wait staff in the main dining room were fair, at best. Lunch in the main dining room takes forever and they explain that most of the waiters are upstairs at the buffet restaurant. Oh well. Breakfasts were more than fine. The entertainment, as before on the Sirina, was awful. The friendly Oceania concierge explained that they put most of their money in food and not entertainment. Well, it almost shows. The shore excursions were a ripoff. We used WithLocals to meet us at each major port and they gave us wonderful personal tours in each city, for ¼ of the Oceania prices. We took an Oceania shore excursion in Provence (to St Remy) and this was quite a ripoff. While, I admit, Oceania is not Crystal, there is quite a big difference in attitude of crew, dining room, quality of entertainment and front office personnel. It’s just a feeling I got. And, the costs are not that great a difference to save anything. This was a learning experience. I must say it was nice but next time, I would pay the difference and cruise with Crystal every time. Read Less

We chose this cruise because my parents wanted to see Greece and this cruise went there. They also dreamed of going on an Oceania cruise because the food is supposed to be great as well as service and staterooms. The cruise began on a sour note as the cruise could not leave from Monte Carlo as it was slated. The reason was given as weather, however, we spent 3 days in Nice before departure and did not have bad weather. There was some rain beginning the night before departure and day of, but nothing difficult. We were emailed this change update on 11/8, 3 days before departure. We were told that we had to go to Monte Carlo to get a bus to Marseille where the ship would be waiting. Anyone flying in on departure day could go from the Nice airport, but we had to go to Monte Carlo, The complete opposite direction to turn around and go past Nice to get to Marseilles. So after several emails back-and-forth to my travel agent we were able to get the transfer from the Nice Airport. We should not have had to spend our time doing this. It was very disorganized. And to make matters worse we had to go back to Monte Carlo from Marseille the next day which changed our itinerary for the next several days. It was amazing to me that we could get into Monte Carlo just the next day that we couldn’t get in. It seems odd. We also missed a stop in Crete because of this. It made no sense and the issue was never addressed by Oceania. All of us with tours outside of the cruise had to scramble to get our tours changed There was some loss of tickets purchased in advance. Now it gets better. On the 4th day of the cruise, there was a breakout of nora virus. The ship had to go on the CDC protocol of cleaning. Dining rooms were emptied of all glasses, Plates, silverware, salt and pepper shakers, etc. This took its toll on service as every single thing had to be brought to the table one by one. You could not sit at a table in the buffet until it was sterilized. This made for a lot of waiting during busy times, especially when arriving in port to disembark for the day. Many people who Became ill were quarantined for 48 hours. Therefore they had to eat all of their meals in their room and were not offered anything from the main dining rooms. You could only order off of the room service menu. You had to give your room key up and were told if you left your room you would be put off the ship in the next port. It was very serious. Now two weeks later we have heard nothing from the cruise line in regards to loss time as well as lost ports. I find that odd. Otherwise the food was good, but I would not say great. The service was lacking as the staff seemed stretched thin. The only restaurant that was really great for us was The Red Ginger. The service was amazing, as well as the food. We would have eaten there every night, but it stayed booked, as did most specialty restaurants. The entertainment was definitely for an older crowd. No comedians. Just small productions with a nice band, but nothing extraordinary. For the money, I do not recommend this cruise Unless you are 70 plus and don't really want to be entertained. Excursions are outrageously priced as well as wine and cocktails. Our room steward was the highlight. He was amazing and always kept Us laughing. Read Less

This cruise was 3 back to back segments totalling 34 days covering East and West Mediterranean islands and ports some of which we had not previously visited and an Atlantic Crossing with a stop in Cape Verde Marina and Riviera are comfortable stable ships and we choose them for that reason. On this trip there were challenges. Strong wind forecasts 2 days ahead of arrival in Monte Carlo made docking in that confined port risky. Oceania remained in Marseilles to accommodate a passenger change over. This was indeed a great inconvenience for embarking and disembarking passengers but any idea that somehow Oceania did this to inconvenience people given the cost and total disruption to them of making a safety decision is absurd. We had a private tour arranged for Livorno. On communication with that local provider they had no problem refunding our payment given the change in the ship schedule. Two days out of Marseilles Noro Virus cases began to appear and the crew began to take appropriate precautions. As cases increased appropriate appeals to all passengers to follow prescribed sanitation requirements were made. We followed the instructions, could not pass a hand sanitizer without using it, and washed hands frequently And used bathroom facilities in our own cabin. Oceania followed the required procedures, Oceania did not invite the virus aboard. We have experienced a similar problem on Cunard. All cruise lines encounter this problem. The entire ship was sanitized in Barcelona and that caused more discomfort and inconvenience to embarking passengers and the 48 of us who were staying aboard to Rio and beyond. During this virus event, buffet food services reverted to being served and this added a burden on the catering staff who handled it very well. Unlike some comment we found the staff to be polite and very helpful. It did not take any effort to understand why this change in service and react accordingly and appreciate the increased pressure the staff were encountering to give service. With a maximum of 1200 passengers and the size and number of ship function rooms, the scope of the entertainment is obviously very different from a 5000 passenger ship. So when selecting a cruise personal expectations have to match the ships ability to deliver. We do not use Oceania for its entertainment. We like Oceania for the ship and have made many voyages over 20 days. Their approach to dress as Country Club casual sets a good standard that some do not respect but is not as formal as say Cunard where there also were people who disregarded the set code. The service delivered is very good, the staff are well trained. We watched with great interest a new and young employee grow in confidence as every day passed. What an experience and opportunity she was experiencing but it is hard work. The virus was a reality, the ship did what it needed to do, we received our meals in the quantity and selection we wanted. We were only slightly inconvenienced but we had the time. Marina is due for a refit and it is beginning to be time for her to be freshened up. Read Less

We took this cruise believing the marketing hype from Oceania that they were a Premium cruise line. I can assure you it is definitely NOT! Of the 8 cruises we have done other lines like RCL, Celebrity, Princess etc this was the worst cruise of them all. It was more like a 7 night stay in a funeral parlour. The cruise director was useless, there was no shipboard activities, no sail-away parties, no themed events, The "entertainment' was sub standard & the ship was totally devoid of any sense of fun or adventure whatsoever. The Captain only spoke once in the entire voyage to inform us that the visit to Monaco was cancelled due to high winds. The entire crew & service staff appeared to be bored, they hardly ever smiled & many of them were just not skilled in the jobs they were doing. Oceania claim they have Premium restaurants & Superior food service. That is another false claim. Whilst the specialty restaurants had good food, they were no better than any of the specialty restaurants on other cruise lines. The main Dining room food was frankly not as good as most other lines with minimal options & quite bland choices. The 'Afternoon tea' was served during a very short 1 hour time window & the tea was always only lukewarm. The shore excursions were pathetic & way too expensive. The general cleanliness & maintenance on the ship was very poor with dirt & food stains, areas needing a coat of paint etc. Don't waste your money on an Oceania cruise, it was obvious that their product was nothing like what they promise to deliver. Read Less

Room is fine 11061 is a bit noisy but great size butler &maid Dining & tour arrangement a 3rd rate low price Cruise line disaster. Tour changed with no notification (some attendees, not all received notification 2 days in advance. WE DID NOT) from am to pm thereby not allowing time to dress for cocktail party & attend dinner reservation at speciality restaurant. The restaurant refused to change reservation 2 @ any time ! Reservations made online weeks ago for a very special birthday. Birthday when attempting to confirmed with Butler upon boarding I was informed my reservation was for the ninth not the tenth but he assured m we no problem as long as we were flexible with time. Tried to confirm planned birthday celebration at Jacques 2 day in advance informed I was on waitingist THANK YOU VERY MUCH Not even Carnival abuses multu repeat crusiersj. Oh wonderful !!just learned Port of Monte Carlo will be cancelled Read Less

Superb Customer Service / Care by the crew and staff. Excellent time keeping on destinations albeit the weather issues for Monte Carlo. Food and Dinning is an experience to behold. State Rooms were spacious and clean. State Room attendants were sharp in maintaining room cleanliness and comfy. Excellent nightly shows and programs to keep us occupied. Daily updates through door notes and announcements were clear and precise. Gym ,Sauna and Steam Room were well equipment , well maintained and convenient for use.Daily Breakfast is a much awaited session with a superb array of dishes palatable to various nationalities need. Daily Lunch buffet spread is not only lavish is also delightfully a look forward to episode. Dinner ,hmmm what to say ,the fine dining is a time of pamper with a varied cuisine. Coffee and Teatime is quintessentially memorable time , decor of lounging area makes it all the more lovely. Thank you Oceania Cruise, it was a lifetime memorable trip. Thank you thank you thank you. Read Less

We would give this cruise a top star rating. The food, service, rooms, scheduling,and communication were all well planned and exceeded our expectations! The staff were willing to meet your every need. Our room staff even spoke to us by name and were so sweet. The food was more than we could have imagined offering us the opportunity to try many varied types of meals. The evening shows were fun sharing tunes most of us were familiar with. The fitness area offered a variety of equipment and classes which kept us healthy and fit. The cruise director was engaging and kept everyone well informed of upcoming events. The captain kept a prompt schedule even through some tough winds which we won’t forget. Our luggage was taken care of efficiently with little concern. As this was my first cruise I will consider this again some time in the future. Thank you for a job well done! Read Less

More than a disappointment, we felt duped! Jacques Pepin should be ashamed. Our seven day cruise on the Marina ended as efficiently as it began- no more no less. The cruise experience was Applebee’s food on a fair airport hotel on the water. Embarkation was efficient, but cold. Not one crew member or staff member smiled during the entire seven days we were on board! Only our cabin steward Anna welcomed us, but she did not explain anything about the veranda cabin we were assigned to. She, like most of crew members spoke minimal English or, if they did, seemed not to acknowledge us with anything other than a blank nod. Let’s start with the cabin: large bed was only comfortable amenity on the cruise. A stained carpet welcomed us. The bathroom had a huge bathtub that was impossible to get in and out of for people over the age of 50; we had to use the minuscule shower which had a nozzle that spouted water everywhere in the bathroom, and the portable showerhead if dropped, could break your toe. The hairdryer was vintage 1980, weighed at least 8 pounds, and looked like it has seen many many heads. The fake leather brochure holders were chipped, and it took us two days to discover that on the bedside were books to inform us about the amenities of the cruise and they were impossible to release from there receptacle. Breakfast room service did not allow us scrambled eggs, omelettes or bacon, just pastries, breads, juice, fruit salad, yogurt. The bread and bagels were stale; the pastries felt like rocks; the yogurt came in a “Toy Story” paper container and the fruit salad appeared to be cubed Dole canned fruit salad and was both tasteless and disgusting looking. The restaurant service was impossibly disorganized. We never never knew who our waiter was and we never saw one staff person more than once in the “Grand” Dining Room.The sommelier was surly or pompous or both. And not one of the servers seem to understand English; they either ignored us or walked away when we spoke to them. Only one restaurant staff was pleasant and that was in the Red Ginger restaurant. The rest of the kitchen serving staff, especially in Terrace Buffet, seemed to be automatons, roaming around, not knowing what to do or where to go. They certainly weren’t serving anyone either politely or in a welcoming manner. As for the so-called gourmet food, he buffet were plentiful but everything seemed to be just defrosted from a large refrigerator; it was pretty cold and tasteless. The sushi were like like pellets and desserts overly sweet. The Grand Dining Room was anything but grand. The meat was tough; the portions impossibly small and often lukewarm and bland or overly spiced. After dinner we felt we’d rather have had a hamburger. There was no attempt to math the buffet food with the port local cuisine/(We had a Mexican buffet the secon night out of Venice. The specialty restaurants all had snooty servers and slow inattentive service. Again, the meat was tough; the lobster had never seen Maine and, all in all, we felt they thought we were privileged to eat there when in fact we had much better food in off ship in port then we had on the cruise Jacques really should be ashamed! In contrast, last year we had spectacular cruise on Azamara; we felt like we were welcomed as family and friends Oceania particularly sends us huge amounts of brochures every weekend in our newspaper and then our mail. They are spending more money on advertising then they are on their ships - very sad. The most frustrating thing about the cruise was the so-called “free Wi-Fi” Oceania only allowed one Wi-Fi account per cabin. My husband and I are very computer savvy. He brought his tablet. I have an iPhone and a Kindle, and we had to log out of each device before the other person could login any other device It was very frustrating to find how to login and how to log out as we were given vague, then confusing directions, and we spent way too much time discovering that it was just a pain to do so. For a ship of this size the access and quality of the Wi-Fi was miserable. Even the feedback survey that Oceania wanted us to fill out about the cruise was difficult to reach online and so we never sent this critique to them. We are broadcasting this critique on all travel websites to alert people how disappointed we felt about this cruise. We’re hoping that Oceania will indeed respond. We feel we wasted both time and money and caution all of you not to believe the hype. Read Less

Marina is looking good as usual. Food was good to great. No real misses, everything is better than the mainstream lines. Ports were very good with 3 days in Isreal. Getting on the ship is amazing, 5 minutes at peak time. They processed everything on board, was a nice touch. The ship never feels overcrowded and laid out well. Ports were good. Ship tours thru O-Life Florence/Pisa, Rome, Capri, Cyprus. 3 great, Cyprus not much to see. Did our own thing in Isreal with rental car and hotel. Able to see everything we wanted! A few other Greek stops like Rhodes then disembark in Athens. Again very smooth disembark. Only negative would be we didn’t care for Red Ginger. Service was excellent just isn’t our taste. Tuscany and Polo great, Jacques very good. Main DR good a few great dishes. Again nothing bad. Terrace for lunch and once for dinner. Prefer dining room. Also room service was slow but that was likely because everyone was returning tired from Isreal. Older group and ship was in bed by 10, fine for us! Went for few lectures, they were very good. Didn’t go to any shows but heard the comedian was good. Overall great cruise, great service. A notch below luxury but above the norm. Read Less

My wife and I plus best friends wanted a Mediterranean cruise. Our travel agent recommended Oceania cruises. Smaller ship with upscale rooms and dining. This sounded great and the itinerary hit all the spots we had on our wish list. Flew into Nice France 2 days early to explore all was great, would like to visit with more time. Boarded the boat in Monte Carlo and have to say it is lovely and our room on the concierge level was as described. Bathroom was roomy and the cabin as a whole met our expectations. 12 day cruise with 10 days in port of call. We had a tour scheduled for every port of call. We only used Oceania tours, pricey but easy to arrange. Overall we are happy BUT...some of the group tours didn’t have the electronic listening devices so we had to stop and huddle. Very annoying with 30 people. We had a small tour in Jerusalem and it was amazing, guide was great and only 10 people, highly recommend the small tours if the budget allows. As most reviews note the entertainment on board is not great but after touring each day we were tired so This didn’t impact our review of the cruise. Dining, very nice as advertised. The one area of dining that was disappointing was the steak house. The steaks were average at best with a limited selection. Overall the dining experience was very good. The primary reason we selected the concierge level room was so we could have a full breakfast in the mornings before our early morning tours. Meals was delivered on time and were great. Now you might be wondering why only 1 star. After a long day, We went to supper then to bed exhausted because of a 7am tour departure the next morning. When we awoke, showered and dress then we straightened the room. To our aghast one of the pillows was stained with thick brown material on 1 side. My wife thought I fell asleep with chocolate in my mouth. I assured her I didn’t because the chocolate was still on my nightstand. After she realize what this”stuff” was she was sick. We took pictures then wrote a note which we placed on top of the pillow. We went to our 7am tour and figured management would contact us. We returned and no note or anything acknowledging our issue. We went to the concierge in main entrance, the gentleman’s general attitude didn’t set will with me but he stated he would have staff contact us. Later 2 officers? that oversee room staff came to our room to discuss. They stated they saw our note and the pillowcase. They could not explain how this happened and said they were sorry and promised to get back with us. Never heard from them again. Upon our return we wanted to contact Oceania to discuss our incident. We contacted our agent for executive contact information, she asked why and we explained and shared the pictures. She was appalled and offered to share our story with Oceania, we thought this was great of her to do this. After a long delay finally here is part of Oceania’s response to the travel agent... “As a matter of reference, our stewards arrange the pillows during the day, as well as during turndown service. Therefore, we believe there is no way that this dirty pillowcase would not have been noticed by the steward the night prior. Moreover, we are confident to say that none of our housekeeping staff would have place a dirty pillowcase on your clients’ pillows on purpose. Unfortunately, this rare and isolated eventuality remains a mystery to all of us, including our onboard Officers.” To me this is saying we did this to the pillow case which is horrible. I haven’t asked for one single thing other than find out who did this to us and apologize. Oceania executives still haven’t contacted us so my review has to be a 1 star with a vow never to cruise with them again and never give them a positive review. PLEASE SEE MY PICTURE OF THE PILLOW.. Read Less

We chose this cruise for it's Spain-intensive itinerary and no at sea days. This turned out to be a mixed blessing, as we did private tours (Spain Day Tours, which we greatly recommend). All of the tours involved van/bus rides of 1-2 hours, and quite a bit of walking, so we were pretty tired and had no at sea days to recuperate and just enjoy the pool, spa, or the rest of the ship. This was our third Oceania cruise overall, and this time it was just me and my wife (no kid or parents). Even though we tend to keep to ourselves, we met a lot of amazing people during this cruise. At the specialty restaurants, we were required to share tables in order to get an earlier dining time. All of the people we met were modestly to wildly successful, loved to travel, and were a delight to spend an evening with! If you are this type of person, and aren't hypercritical about your room, food, etc. you are going to have a wonderful time on Oceania Marina. Just sit back and let it happen! Observations: - We didn't spend a lot of $$$ on alcohol. We did take advantage of happy hour drink prices at Horizon's, the captain's cocktail party, and discounted drinks each day at the pool (we only had time to use the pool twice though). - Free internet was greatly appreciated. I only used it to check personal email and do some photo editing. The wifi reception wasn't great in our room, but I'm an early riser and would go up for coffee and then sit with my laptop in the library where the connection was great. It's a charming and quiet place to sit. - There is no nickle and diming on Oceania to buy drink packages, buy photos, etc. Very relaxing. - There was more storage in our room than we needed. That was a first!! Unfortunately our oversize luggage wouldn't fit under the bed. - If pressed, we might have noticed a slight decline in the food quality since our previous Oceania visits. Friends we met on board thought so too and one had a pleasant conversation with the head chef about it. But we still enjoyed our meals immensely and this is not really a complaint. My favorite specialty meals seem to change every cruise. This time I liked Toscana the most; Polo Grill was my least favorite as my steak was just OK (loved the pork belly appetizer and the dessert sampler though!). - I would have liked to leave our balcony door open at night and sleep to the waves, but there is too much wind whistling for that. We slept very comfortably with the door closed. - There are plenty of hand sanitizing stations around the ship, and the staff won't let passengers serve themselves at the buffet (these are very good things!). The ship was spotlessly clean. We can't wait to go back to Marina or any other Oceania ship for that matter!!!! Read Less

We sailed aboard Oceania Marina from Lisbon to Monte Carlo Sept 29 – to Oct 6 2019. Our expectations and excitement for the journey as well as the Marina were high based on much research and Oceania’s marketing. Our cruise experience was not five star/luxury, intimate, personal, or warm. Cabin and Concierge Service Cabin service was average, but not personalized or attentive beyond usual clean up and prep. Examples: used more than one bucket of ice nightly, but always had to ask for second one. Superior service would have inquired proactively. Turn down service often clashed with when we were preparing for dinner (8:30p reservations). Superior service would have had our reservation schedule and worked the evening cabin duties accordingly. The patio cushions were removed in the evening but not replaced in the morning. Our attendant and assistant were both pleasant, but seemed to have too large a base to serve for the entire trip. Per Oceania’s marketing, we expected more focused attention (smaller crew to passenger ratio). Concierge service was lacking. Although attended, not welcoming or personalized, even though we used service daily. Recognition and acknowledgement would have elevated the experience. Deck door between our cabin deck and our neighbor’s cabin deck was not secure/firm and would rattle and clunk during the night. Food and Beverage Service Drink service at bars was often slow regardless of number of patrons. Bartender acknowledgement, even if busy with other tasks, is expected and was rarely given. Weather was warm, and deck service was never offered on the three occasions I chose to utilize the various areas, to include spa terrace, main pool area, and conversation areas. We dined at Waves Grill for lunch three times and the steak and lobster was superb, as was the ahi tuna. The other sandwiches were average. Waves Grill table service was lacking. Water service was immediate, but bar service was slow and inattentive. It also lacked personalization. I had a premium beverage package and ordered wine with lunch with ice. Never was I recognized or asked proactively if I wanted wine again with ice – this would have been superior service and not just average service. Sommelier service in the buffet was slow as well, but only used it on the first day. It is noted the buffet table service on the port side of the Terrace Buffet was far superior to what we experience elsewhere (breakfast). Red Ginger was superior in service and food quality. Barristas was very good as well, but table service in the library would have been excellent/superior (or at least to be asked once settled). Jacques food quality was lacking. Lamb was overcooked, sent back, and overcooked again. In fact the waiter even mentioned that my barely pink lamb was indeed medium rare versus offering something different or even preparing again, which I would have expected from Superior service. Sommelier service was good/attentive. Our first Grand Dining room service seem strained. Our waiter indicated 9p couldn’t come soon enough. Service throughout the evening wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t excellent. I had to ask for refill of wine when needed. Our second Grand Dining experience was similar to our first. The escargot was very good, lobster bisque lacked any indication of lobster, and crème brulee was grainy and of a pudding/undercooked consistency rather than custard. Table service did not inquire why it wasn’t eaten or if it was satisfactory or if we wanted something else. Superior service would have been more aware of our experience. Tuscany grill was average for food quality, sommelier service, and table service. Not bad, but not 5 star. Our last night was Polo Grill. Initial table service was commendable, but bar service and sommelier was extremely anxious and stressed and virtually non existent, even as the volume of people diminished (we had 830 reservations and were there at 825). Had to ask repeatedly for wine/refill and table service seemed not to know our understand how our experience was going or being paced to facilitate beverage/wine service – they did not seem to partner with the sommelier or kitchen very well. We were virtually ignored for an hour by our table service (other than water). The main course never came and no one spoke to us about delays or gave any indication that they were even aware of delays. Around 9:30 my husband sought the maître de and still no one came to talk to me or refresh my service. By 9:40, I was upset and left the restaurant with my husband in order to pack and prepare for departure tasks. Only at that time did there seem to be any concern about our service and experience. Although apologies were given and alternatives offered, at that time is was far too disappointing and too late to repair. Other Services/Activities I had planned on using the artist’s loft (one of the reasons I chose Marina), but it was never attended nor any products or amenities available to use other than the 4p class which conflicted with excursion timing. A self service option would have been lovely to use for sunset sketching or morning activity. Summary: After much research, I chose Oceania because we enjoy a casual, resort environment with outstanding amenities, focused service, and five star cuisine and culinary experience. The service and quality aboard Marina was inconsistent and impersonal, not superior or intimate. I am very disappointed to have paid more than twice what I have on other cruise lines while experiencing less service, quality, attentiveness, and appointments (including Celebrity, Carnival, and A-Rosa River cruises). It is noteworthy to mention I have not received a follow up directly or indirectly from Oceania for feedback as of 17 October (11 days after disembarkation). Read Less

We really like the quiet atmosphere of Oceanic - very few children, not a lot of loud music. The pool area stays relatively quiet. The food is, for the most part, very good - especially in the specialty restaurants. We had the wine and beer package, which allows beer and wine by the glass at meals. It was adequate. I would suggest they add a couple of WBTG at each restaurant to complement the food. Our cabin was wonderful - Penthouse Suite. Roomy and comfortable. Rahul the butler and Danelia the housekeeper were friendly and efficient. You get hors d-ouvrves each afternoon, which was nice, but they weren't great. The only noise from above was late at night, and it was minor. Every stop on the Iberian Quest itinerary was fabulous - just beautiful. However, Oceania's excursions can vary in quality. We had some very good ones - Cadiz, Provence - and one unsatisfactory one. We had booked the spa trip to Granada, but it was changed to Malaga. Also lunch was not provided. Oceania did provide a 25% refund after we complained. Marina is a pretty ship with great food and service. My observation is that Oceania's passengers are trending older, (I mean really older) so if you want a more lively atmosphere, try another line. We would definitely return to this area of the world, but maybe on our own or with Celebrity. Read Less

This was our 6th Oceania Cruise, 3 on each Riviera and Marina. This size of ship suits and have not tried the smaller ones. We booked our flights independently and flew to Lisbon on the day of the cruise arriving at the terminal about 11am, had a quick coffee at the coffee shop next to the cruise terminal and a Pasteis de Nata which was delicious. Embarkation was quick and efficient and we were on board by midday. Included in our package was the Classic drinks package which we upgraded to the Prestige package as soon as we got on board, this cost was $20pp per day which was quickly used up after having one glass of champagne, so upgrading is definitely worth it. Headed to the pool bar for a pre-lunch drink then headed to The Terrace for lunch. As usual the buffet was very good, the selection of food was very good and the service was excellent, plenty of staff and lots of sommeliers so no problem getting a drink. Our cabin was ready by 1pm so we headed down to have a look, we were located midships beside the lifts and stairs an ideal location. The cabin was in good order, plenty of wardrobe and drawer space, bathrooms were still as plush so we were very happy. The suitcases were already in the cabin when we went in so we quickly unpacked and headed back to the pool deck. Food in the GDR was very good and again the service was first class, attentive waiters and sommeliers, again no problem getting glasses topped up and we were often asked if we would like another bottle. We took advantage of the 4 speciality restaurants and these didn't disappoint, the food was excellent in each of the restaurants. What lets Oceania down is the poor entertainment, the production company were poor, weak singers and the guest entertainers were poor especially the comedy magician who was on twice and he was embarrassing to watch, the exception was the violinist and the group which played in Horizons. Oceania really need to up their game when it comes to entertainment, there was the usual Trivia in Martinis at 4:30 which is a pain if you want to have a drink as inevitably you need to keep quiet as this is taken very seriously by the teams playing. Oceania trips in my opinion and well over priced and would not book them. We had been to most of the ports with the exception of Alicante so we just did our own thing. We have embarked in Monte Carlo before but never disembarked there. It was a bit chaotic as there is only a very small area for collecting suitcases, this is outside and uncovered, so if it was raining it would have been a bit of a nightmare, also the number of cars in this small area was dangerous. We didn't see much of the Captain or Officers however overall this was an excellent cruise, we met many interesting people and look forward to our next Oceania Cruise. Read Less