The ship is gorgeous -- decorated in very elegant but striking gold and glass. It sounds kind of glitzy but every day I would notice a new spot on board that was just exquisite. The ports that we visited on Mediterranean Tapestry were are great. There is so much to do that, in each place that even if you have been to them before you could find someplace new to discover. Go book this cruise now! It was wonderful! Dining Food was pretty good. We dine out a lot and I enjoy cooking so I know what good food is and I also know what institutional food is. I went on this cruise with fairly high expectations because of other reviews but tempered with the understanding that I was on a cruise ship with 1200 paying passengers plus crew. The specialty restaurants delivered good food AND service that compared to many restaurants in the states. I must confess however if the service could be tweaked just a tiny bit (more on that later) in the Terrace Grill one of my favorite meals would be breakfast in the Terrace. Chocolate Croissants, a wonderful bowl of perfectly ripened berries (ok and maybe a slice or two of bacon on a couple days) along with a great cup of coffee made for such a great way to start the day I gave up room service just to come up and enjoy. We ate in each of the specialty restaurants and I would encourage everyone to take the time to make reservations ahead so that you are not disappointed. They each are very special. My favorite was Jacques but my husband liked Red Ginger. It's very minor but the weak link I found in the restaurants was starches. I love potatoes and honestly, the best potatoes I had on board were the fries on the Waves Grill. I had frits in Jacques and the ones in Waves were better. I can't tell you what I had in the main dining room but across the board the potatoes were under seasoned and disappointing -- I'm guessing these are the most often pre-prepared dishes. Speaking of pre-prepared, cruise ships should just realize that beef Wellington is not something they will be able to do well and quite trying. I watched a tablemate grimace a bit when he found the soft (not crispy) pastry wrapped around a nice piece of beef. My service concern in the Terrace is just a training issue that Oceania should address because I'm not the first person to notice. The staff is very well trained to greet everyone who comes thru the door. However, in the morning I don't need 8 people saying "Good Morning Madam" as I walk in. I just want my coffee. AND, I want my coffee to stay warm and at the table while I am in the dining area. In addition to being trained to greet everyone in their path the staff in the Terrace must be trained to remove anything and everything that isn't being consumed at the moment. One day a server actually interrupted a conversation in order to remove a small little piece of paper (empty tea bag maybe?) I saw more that one person have their wine or beer removed while they went to the buffet line at lunch or dinner. It frequently took too long to get coffee. If they can have staff standing around for half consumed drinks they can have staff roaming thru dining area with a pot of coffee. Culinary Center If you are interested in cooking by all means sign up for a cooking class in the incredible culinary center. I had experienced cooking classes on other ships where the instructor was more concerned about being entertaining than instructing so I was a little leery of trying again but I couldn't have been more pleased. Chef Noelle is passionate about cooking and sharing her cooking skills with others. I definitely came away with a few ideas I wanted to try when I came home which is why one would take a class.

Concierge? We had used Concierge lounge on other cruise lines because it was the one place onboard where we could reliably find fresh fruit and vegetables and friendly, helpful service. The food and service on Marina were so good it wasn't necessary to use the concierge lounge and quite honestly, the food there (in CL) was not all that interesting or plentiful. We were in cabin 11064. This is a regular outside veranda sandwiched in between penthouse staterooms. I didn't really enjoy it. Because we were not "penthouse" guests we had to walk past the penthouse concierge lounge (which seemed very seldom used) on our level to go down to the regular concierge lounge. It would have been very convenient to do laundry and use lounge while waiting. In addition, every afternoon when I returned to my cabin (which was lovely) I walked past carts of chocolate dipped strawberries and all kinds of yummy looking snacks that were not available to me because I wasn't a "penthouse" guest. I don't know why but the staff seemed to use the space right outside our room as a parking spot. If I had been on the 8 floor with all of other veranda staterooms, I'm sure I would not have thought about the snacks but walking past them every afternoon became a nagging little irritation. On the few occasions I did look for concierge help the person at the desk was very helpful.

Tours We booked all of our tours thru private operators prior to boarding. It only takes one time of sitting on a large bus of tired tourists waiting for one inconsiderate passenger to stroll slowly up to the bus and feign any understanding of why everyone on the bus is irritated to convince me there is a better way to travel. We had great professional guides in most ports and I wouldn't do Europe any other way. (feel free to contact me directly if you want info on any of the services we used -- chocchic@wi.rr.com.) Read more