Excellent South Pacific Polynesian Paradise Cruise

We sailed from Los Angeles on 2 cruises back to back to Hawaii and to the French Polynesia. This was our first cruise on Oceania and it will be the only cruise line that we will be sailing on in the future.

The ship was an older ship that was refurbished, so the bathrooms are quite small, which didn't matter to us. The bedding and linens are very comfortable and we never have slept so good. The public rooms are very grande and nicely decorated.

The officer were very personable from the Master Captain down to the restaurant workers. They knew our first and last names. Even the crew members that worked in the restaurants, bars and in the cabins were very pleasant and always had a smile on their faces.

The food was fabulous and delicious. I could probably count on one hand on a dish that I didn't like basically because it had bell peppers in it, which is not my preference. We ate mostly at the buffet for breakfast and dinner so I could see what I wanted to eat and we didn't need to wait for the 7 courses at the fine dining rooms. We did dine in the grande dinning room and the specialty restaurants and the food and service was impeccable. Also, the times for dining in every restaurant are posted daily in the Current Flyer so you can eat at whatever time you wanted to and with whom you wanted to dine with. If the restaurants were closed you do have 24 hour room service with no extra charges.

The drinks are pricy but they do have happy hours posted each day for buy one and get one free at Martinis and the Horizons. Not having the drink package made me not drink as much.

There is a small pool and 2 hot tubs. There are lounge chairs around the pool and fresh pool towels. On the sailing days, we did have trouble getting lounge chairs people would put their belongings on the lounge chairs and leave for the day, which the cruise staff asked you not to do.

We enjoyed the massages on Canyan Ranch and then used the Thalasso Spa, Steam room and showers.

Both Embarkation and Debarkation was a simple process. We paid for the transfer from the airport on embarkation day and we had no problems. We also paid for a day room at the Le Meridian on debarkation day, which gave us another full day in Tahiti. Our luggage was picked up outside our cabin the night before and then we claimed the luggage at the airport the next evening. Remember to pack your daily needs in your carry on bag.

We are early risers and early to bed, so we did not attend any of the shows.

We did not book any shore excursions, except for the transfers and day room at the end of the cruise. We are adventurous and went about on our own exploring every island.

Now that we are home, we do miss being on the ship. But we do have something to look forward to is our next cruise that is already booked on the Marina. This cruise was worth every penny (thousands) we paid.