"The Finest Cuisine at Sea"? Well, there's the Aral Sea.
The menu read, "Duck a la Orange." How Oceania could then offer up slender morsels of duck breast, with a side sauce, is a mystery; unless, perhaps, the chef was trading on his experience preparing MRE's for the "Beau Geste" set.
The Polo Grill menu read, "Our USDA Prime beef comes from the very finest Black Angus cattle...We dry age ...
This was our 9th cruise on Oceania. We prefer the smaller R ships to the Marina and Riviera.This voyage was booked on board our previous cruise over a year ago and we liked the itinerary. We have been cruising with Oceania since 2008.
The Sirena was purchased from Princess and Oceania supposedly put a lot of money into her refurbishment. This was the inaugural cruise. Last minute hiccups were ...
I did so much research in preparation for this cruise so wanted to add detail to help others who are considering Oceana Marina. Overall, I think the trick is to work around the weaknesses of this cruise to get the best experience but for the very high price tag you should not have to do that.
Pros:
-- Excellent itinerary with no sea days, longer days in port, a mix of exotic and sure winner ...
Overall experience
Only good - for the price we paid I felt that the cruise was average.
The ship is elegant, but very dark. Food standards are good but not what you read on the reviews.
Room
We went concierge class which on reflection isn't really worth the extra. A bottle of bubbles on arrival which was average, and access to lounge which is tiny. Canyon ranch deck is good, ...
Background : Well travelled senior couple. Sailed with many cruise lines including Oceania's Regatta and Insignia. Regent Seven Seas, Princess, Celebrity, Wind Star, Holland America, NCL to name a few,we also sailed with Viking River Cruise.
Sailed from Barcelona to Miami.
Love Oceana but The Riviera was not up to standards.
We had to change cabins 3 times du to noises. First cabin 7057 was ...
This was our second cruise. Service, cleanliness, cabins all tip top. Food plentiful, mostly good, but bland. Desserts beautiful but tastes and contents are similar. The menus for the theme restaurants do not seem to change from cruise to cruise, so if you liked "Red Ginger" on your last cruise you'll see the same things on this one. They do take you to smaller ports that bigger ships can't get ...
As with anything everyone has a different taste so what appeals to one may not please another, so this is our personal opinion of the cruise. To us it appears Oceania's target market is somewhat older than us and less mobile (average age on our cruise was announced at 72) this influences everything on the cruise from setting the pace for excursions, food selection and preparation , entertainment ...
The disappointment started in Barcelona we wanted to spend a day and a half of sightseeing in Barcelona we asked Oceania to get us a room at a hotel they suggested the Rey Juan Carlos This was a terrible choice because of its non desireous location a long distance from any central Location. Secondly the cruise line charged us 2 1/2 times the published rate of the hotel. the Biggest aggravation ...
Recently returned from first Oceania Cruise aboard Marina and was greatly disappointed. This was the May 12 cruise from Barcelona to Rome heavily promoted by Oceania as a tremendous culinary trip with Bon Apetit chefs and the noted Jacque Peppin. I signed up for many of the cooking classes and was told early that some of market tours and classes were reserved for a special group...so did not get ...
I will begin by saying I have not cruised 50-100 times like many of the cruisers on cruise critic. But I like and know luxury and quality. Agree with some of the good things said about Marina, but also agree with weaknesses that when you leave always seem to stand out. I traveled with 2 other couples in a transfer back to Rome after the cruise and we all felt the same exact way, so I do not think ...