Marina Review

4.5 / 5.0
811 reviews

Superb food but all problems are in Miami HQ policies.

Review for the Baltic Sea Cruise on Marina
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evonlef
10+ Cruises • Age 80s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Aug 2016
Cabin: Concierge Level

Oceania's Marina has the best quality food of the 8 cruise lines we traveled on, but there are major problems in entertainment and excursion policies. We were booked in a Concierge cabin and dined 6 times in specialty restaurants. All served superb food, especially Jacques. All pax get 4 free reservations and our Concierge was able to arrange two extra dinings. The 4pm tea service and violin concertos were excellent. The service quality in all areas and room were outstanding -- no complaints about the ship or its personnel. It was my 2nd cruise on the Marina.

However, Miami HQ has major policy flaws. Passengers (pax) are given a choice of on-board-credits or free excursions; however, the OBC can only be used after departure. All of our excursion requests were fully booked by other pre-cruise pax and the prices are about 25% more expensive than other cruise lines. If you book five pre-cruise excursions, the price is reasonable. HQ simply doesn't arrange enough excursions to meet demand. To use our OBC we booked two $193 massages and paid for tips. Other OBC pax bought liquor or items in the boutiques. You should not select the OBC option.

There is only one show at 9:45 pm every night and that is past our bed-time for early next day events. The reason is dining only starts at 6:30 pm and specialty restaurants also offer 7:30 and 8:30 options. On average dining took 2 hours 45 minutes, so there can only be one late show. All but one other cruise line we traveled on had an early show that Oceania refuses to offer.

Cabin Review

Concierge Level

Cabin A3

The location was excellent and right across from the Concierge Lounge and laundry. We ignored three discounted offers to upgrade to a Presidential Suite since they were for cabins not near the Executive Lounge. Jeff, the Concierge, provided great assistance, especially handling computer issues and dining reservations, as the internet attendant was always busy helping other pax. The room has its own computer, but it is always quicker accessing my gmail account from my cell phone. The bathroom wastes space with a separate tub and tiny shower at the cost of insufficient closet space.

Port Reviews

Southampton

We took a National Express bus from LHR's terminal 3 to Southampton's bus depot and taxi to berth. It was much cheaper that the Oceania transfer.

Paris

We booked an independent excursion to Giverny and Rouen that was arranged with other cruise critic pax.

Amsterdam

I bought HOHO cruise tickets and spent 4 hours at the Rijhts art museum.

Hamburg

Our German family members gave us a tour of the countryside.

Kristiansand

We took a tram ride through the city, but there was no verbal description. The Cathedral offers an organ concert whenever there is a cruise ship in port. It is a pretty town.

Antwerp

The main tourist information office provided a 5 Euro walking tour guide that took about 4 hours.

Oslo

We bought the Oslo Pass which provided free bus/ tram travel and museum entrances. We toured the Cathedral, Kon-Tiki museum, Hendrick Ipsen museum, City Hall Nobel Peace exhibit, and the Folk museum. The later was the best folk museum I have ever been too.

Gothenburg

We booked a HOHO bus and cruise ticket since the shuttle left us off at the Opera and it was far from the ferry to offshore islands. It is a large city with limited attractions, but we enjoyed walking thru the Haga old town. On my last trip here, the ship berth was near the ferry to Southern islands.

Copenhagen

Been here 4 times before, so we were content to visit the Christianberg Palace. On the last trip we bought a Copenhagen Pass and traveled by rail to many palaces outside of town.

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