Quite frankly the thing about Oceania that most impressed me was the hand-holding they provided during travel to and from Papeete, Tahiti, our point of embarkation/disembarkation. We checked our bags in Pittsburgh, and three flights later we got off the plane in Papeete. Oceania chartered an Air Tahiti Nui Airbus A343 for the flight from LAX to Papeete. A brief stop in Papeete at immigration and we were given a flower lei and directed to a bus. We arrived at the dock, boarded the ship, got our ID/Cabin Keys and went to our room. Before we unpacked and stowed our carry-on items, our bags showed up. Sweet! Oceania had people at LAX to direct us to the Tom Bradley International terminal, and at Bradley to direct us to the gate for our flight. These people had lists with our names, and they checked us off, so they weren't just Walmart greeters. Ditto for the return flights, except that we had to claim our bags at LAX and go thru US Customs. We then put our bags back on the belt and we next saw them in Pittsburgh. All this air travel was included in the cost our trip. We've traveled enough that we don't exactly need this level of hand-holding, but it sure was nice and relieved any stress that we may have had.

The second thing we most liked about Oceania was the food. We ate in all four of Marina's specialty restaurants, and we liked them all. It's hard to pick a favorite, although Red Ginger and Polo Grill slightly bested Toscano and Jacque's. We only ate in the Grand Dining room twice, once for breakfast on a rainy morning, and once for dinner. The rest of our meals were enjoyed in the more casual Terrace Cafe where we could dine outside in the warm Polynesian weather with gorgeous views of whatever island we were visiting. Great sushi & sashimi in Red Ginger and the Terrace Cafe. We also spent a fun rainy day in their Bon Apetite culinary center taking a cooking class and eating our Zdelicious (if I do say so myself) results. My wife gained 7 pounds on this cruise, and she's the careful one. I'm afraid to get on a scale.

The Verandas on Marina are wonderful. You can sit down and enjoy an almost unobstructed view of what's out there. Very nice design with only a varnished wooden handrail at the top and several slim metal rails below. RCCI's Explorer of the Seas, on the other hand, was more metal than view from our Grand Suite. But this aspect would very greatly from ship to ship rather than from line to line. If you like to sit outside and take in the views, you'll like your veranda on Marina. Read more