Oceana Review
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What a fantastic week long cruise. We are a couple in our 40's and have been on the Azura previously. Oceana is not as modern as that but the cabin and other areas were always clean and the staff were friendly enough (some more than others, but fine). We actually liked it being a smaller ship than the Azura and thought it had a really good, chilled feel to it. It didn't seem too busy either but maybe it wasn't at full capacity. We have also been on the Thomson Dream which is a similar sized ship, but we preferred the layout of the Oceana.
We flew from Manchester and embarkation and disembarkation were a dream, cases taken care of and no waiting around (although the outgoing flight is an early one but can't be helped).
We had a balcony cabin which was fine for the two of us, plenty of room and the shower was bigger than I thought, in fact it was bigger than the shower we had on Azura. Yes, there was a little rust on the balcony but we just wanted to see the sea and have more space, for which it was perfect. On the Livorno to Naples sea day, we were having a chill for a few hours on the balcony and we saw dolphins frolicking by the ship and a turtle swimming by, it was brilliant. On the day of embarkation there were black bits in the toilet water (although it was clean), it was almost like ash, we asked about it and were told it was as the ship and the pipes were old. It disappeared after a day or so anyway. Cabin steward Sagar was excellent but not in your face and over the top.
Cabin Review
Balcony Stateroom with Shower
Ample size with great storage space, very clean. A little rust on balcony but no problem. Very well located, close to buffet and pool areas but no noise from them. Close to lifts but couldn't hear any noise from them. It is close to the crew entrance but we have any problems with noise from this either.
Port Reviews
Genoa
This was our embarkation port so just wanted an afternoon trip. Went on a hop-on hop-off city sight seeing tourbus which stops outside the port. It was 15E each. There are headphones on the bus. We were quite disappointed with the tour as we expected the town to be quite pretty but seems very much a port town. Columbus's house was interesting to see but apart from that we were a bit unimpressed. The buses are only every 30 min so if you "hop-off to take a photo or something you will wait a while for the next one.
Dubrovnik
LOVED Dubrovnik, absolutely stunning. Did our own thing here. Shared a 13E taxi into town with another couple. If you are fit enough, would recommend walking the walls. You will need Croatian currency for this. The views are absolutely stunning! In very hot weather, prepare to get sweaty, take a hat and lots of water! The main town street has marble floor and little walkways off, very pretty. Ask a local where the "Buza" bar is. It's a bar cut into the walls overlooking the sea, very cool. Drinks are expensive but a nice experience.
Just off main square we had lunch (chicken with mushroom sauce and chips, Hubby had traditional stew), it was around 10E each so not too bad as have been told it would be expensive.
Venice
Been to Venice before so did our own thing. You can actually walk into main Venice from the port, go over the bridge, probably about 15/20 mins to the edge of it but lots of walking to get to main points in Venice or take a water shuttle, this is quite expensive though we thought. Main points to see are Grand Canal, St Mark's Square, Rialto bridge, Campinile etc. Be prepared to get lost down the back streets as not very well signposted anywhere. Venice is a very impressive place, always worth a visit.