Our second cruise on Oceania. Love the "country club casual" dress, although I did wear a sport jacket on occasion. With no assigned dining times or tables, we met interesting people at dinner. Breakfast and lunch was in the terrace cafe, food was varied and interesting. Outside seating can be difficult so we usually opted for inside. Never had bkfst or lunch in the dining room. We had one meal in the Polo Grill and 3 in Toscana. We would read the evening menu for the dining room and then decide whether to eat there, in the Terrace cafe or try for one of the specialty restaurants. After the initial rush, the specialty restaurants were easy to get a table. Our outside cabin on deck 4 was adequate but the shower was tiny. The ship was very clean and the wait staff friendly. We took a couple of the ships tours (at the last minute) but in Istanbul and Kusadasi, we had private guides arranged before we left home. In Istanbul we stayed at the 3 star Hotel Nena. A great location as they are within easy walking distance of all the sights in Istanbul. They have a roof top restaurant with a nice buffet breakfast in the morning and a discount for dinner. The hotel provided free airport pick up and even took us to the cruise ship after our stay. This hotel is definitely worth looking into. In Venice we stayed at the 4 star Hotel Georgione. It was a short walk from the Ca d'oro stop on the vaporetto and there were no bridges/steps to navigate with luggage from the stop to the hotel. It's in a wonderful residential neighborhood with lots of restaurants. It was an easy walk to the Rialto and St Marks square. Like the Nena, it was a great hotel for the money. With the dollar high against the Euro, prices are a bit expensive, even for simple meals or pizza. Be prepared.