We were very curious about Oceania, and all the brochures that were piling up from the mail piqued our interest as well. We actually thought we were their targeted demographic; our WSJ had brochures enclosed weekly. Also, a few years ago, while at an awards ceremony on another line, the well-traveled couple next to us suggested we'd love Oceania. So on May 21, there we were, efficiently boarding in the port of Barcelona, but without our typical embarkation photo! There is no photographer on board. Hmmm .....no champagne or crew delighted to welcome us either! We'd booked a concierge level cabin, and after a disappointing embarkation lunch of fish cooked to cardboard in the outdoor cafe, made our way to our floor. Suitcases lined the hallways and landings. Passengers were locating and lugging their unwieldy bags down the corridor in both directions to their cabins. Being newbies, we followed suit. Is this the way it's done? Still not sure. We have been sailing in suites for the last 20 years. This was the smallest piece of real estate we've had so far (exception river boats), smallest balcony, and more limited storage space than typical. We were still getting sorted, and I decided to visit the lounge on our floor. Quiet....but I found the teabags and hot water, but, alas, only miniature takeout cups with cute mini lids! The novelty of this find only distracted me briefly, before I realized my cup of tea would be about 3 swallows! Oh well, day one, always a few glitches.....

Dinner in the Asian restaurant was good; black cod is a favorite of mine, but again a few glitches......

The next many days were filled with ship shore excursions in Spain, Portugal and France. We'd been to several of the ports before, added Bordeaux, Oporto, Bilbao, Cartagena this trip. Some background might be helpful. Oceania mails a lovely personalized book of your itinerary, and a complete list and description of all shore excursions. However, the pricing for ordering multiple shore excursions was complicated, and customer service reps warned me twice to call back before I finalized my selection to make sure of pricing. At the time I thought this was much too complicated and too much phone time compared to other lines, where I can easily choose online. But, if this is how an experience is personalized, so be it. We did basic city excursions daily. Some were more successful than others, but all participating passengers were directed off to their tours efficiently. Read more