We booked this cruise using an internet travel agency we have used before approximately 14 months before departure. At that time, it included Israel and Egypt. In April of 2011, the schedule was changed to avoid Egypt and it changed the dates of the Israeli visit. We thought about cancelling and, to be fair, Oceania offered us a full refund or credit if we did. Instead, we stayed with it, although disappointed, because we had blocked out the time and had pre-paid our pre and post cruise travel. We were not offered any credit or upgrade. We later found out others had received some consideration for not cancelling and the prices were dramatically reduced for later booking passengers. With that as background, I will say that the Marina and its crew met all expectations.

The embarkation in Istanbul was efficient and we had our luggage delivered to our room within an hour. The room was sparkling clean and kept that way throughout the cruise. Like others, we thought the bath tub was a waste of space and the shower a little too compact.

The food was, no doubt, the highlight on board. We had outstanding meals at all the specialty restaurants, except Jacques. The Escargots, Frog's legs appetizer and Duck were served in a different manner from what we were used to and left us disappointed. The dinner buffet was vastly superior to any other buffet we have experienced, including unlimited lobster tails every night. The main dining room was more than adequate, but not that much superior to other, less classy cruise lines. Read more