Oceana advice please

Going on Oceana in a couple of months and have a couple of questions - hoping you knowledgeable people will be able to help??:)

Florence and/or Pisa from Livorno. What time does the ship arrive and what is the best way to do DIY? Also, what time does the ship leave? I have checked cruisett but that ony gives the times the ship is booked.

Naples, has anyone taken the train down to Herculaneum or alternatively an independent trip to Capri?

Dubrovnik - does the ship's shuttle take you right into Dubrovnik?

Has anyone booked the Cafe Jardin for dinner? What was it like?

Thanks in advance.....

Hello

Ships normally arrive 8ish each morning.

In past did Pisa by taking shuttle bus to Livorno then getting bus and train tickets to Pisa. May be best to taxi from Pisa station to Tower area as it is a distance.

Florence is risky to do true diy. We take P&O trip Florence on your own. No risk of being left behind at docks as ships do wait for P&o cruise trips but not diy passengers. Florence about 90 minutes away

Capri by diy is easy. Ship docks near ferry station. Tip - book a seat back from Capri as soon as you get there to be certain you get back in time

I can help with the port times in Livirno!

I rang P&O last week for our cruise from Genoa on 19th August and they told me that we are in port from 7am to 11pm, need to be back on ship at 10.30pm.

Do you need any other port times?

Thanks for your help - you can get all the port times from http://www.cruisett.com but I wasn't sure whether the ships are there for the whole time. Other cruise lines state the expected times on their itinerary.

Not sure what night to book the restaurant, do you know when the formal evening is?

Hi

Rule of thumb for formal nights is on sea days. It is on the Genoa to Venice leg

Going on Oceana in a couple of months and have a couple of questions - hoping you knowledgeable people will be able to help??:)

Florence and/or Pisa from Livorno. What time does the ship arrive and what is the best way to do DIY? Also, what time does the ship leave? I have checked cruisett but that ony gives the times the ship is booked.

Naples, has anyone taken the train down to Herculaneum or alternatively an independent trip to Capri?

Dubrovnik - does the ship's shuttle take you right into Dubrovnik?

Has anyone booked the Cafe Jardin for dinner? What was it like?

Thanks in advance.....

When are you on the Oceana? We go on August 5th. Also thinking of doing Pisa on our own. We were thinking of taking a taxi (maybe with others who want to share) and booking in advance to go up the tower for about 12pm, staying around that area for a while and then taxi or train back to port sometime in the afternoon. Open to suggestions. Hope you enjoy your cruise Dronnygirl. :cool:

Thanks SmithieNix - we go on 2nd September. Hope you have a lovely cruise. Really looking forward to it as 1st time P&O. Not too sure about 2 sea days but I'm sure we'll find something to entertain ourselves. We prefer port intensive cruises but fit so much in that we usually arrive home ready for a holiday;) - this should be more relaxing!

Hope you enjoy it! It's our first cruise, so it seems like a good combination for us! Can't wait! :)

Going on Oceana in a couple of months and have a couple of questions - hoping you knowledgeable people will be able to help??:)

Florence and/or Pisa from Livorno. What time does the ship arrive and what is the best way to do DIY? Also, what time does the ship leave? I have checked cruisett but that ony gives the times the ship is booked.

Naples, has anyone taken the train down to Herculaneum or alternatively an independent trip to Capri?

Dubrovnik - does the ship's shuttle take you right into Dubrovnik?

Has anyone booked the Cafe Jardin for dinner? What was it like?

Thanks in advance.....

We just got back from our cruise and Pisa by ourselves. Free shuttle, Number 1 bus, then train and either walk or taxi. Book the Tower on line in advance. You have plenty of time, but don't leave yourself short of travel time.

The shuttle takes you right into Dubrovnik. It is free if your shuttles are included, otherwise it's £5 per person each way. You can walk it, but it will take about 20 minutes.

We ate breakfast, lunch and evening snacks in Cafe Jardin but not an evening meal. We found the food to be lovely. Mixed reviews about evening meals there.

Hope this is useful dronnygirl. ;)

We've had dinner quite a few times in Cafe Jardin. Sometimes we book and sometimes we just turn up if we've had a busy day ashore and can't face the MDR :D. We enjoy the casual menu, but not so keen on its position round the atrium and also the noisy 'garden' furniture.

We DIY in nearly every port but of the ports you mention, we had real problems in Naples and Livorno.

We did Florence on our own and would NEVER do it again. First of all we struggled to get a taxi from the port to the station. On the way back we couldn't find the station in Florence so we were very late arriving, only to find the train was leaving from a platform at the other end of the station. There were then no taxis at Livorno station to get back to the ship and we were on tenterhooks if we'd make it back before sailaway. NIGHTMARE. Don't do it.

We left the ship around 9:00 to try to DIY to Capri. The ferry terminal is quite close to the ship but when we walked over there were hundreds of people waiting for various ferries and it was total chaos so we went back to the ship and managed to get on an afternoon tour to Pompeii. However we'd also like to visit Herculaneum one day and I found this advice on TripAdvisor some time ago which I've kept in my notes for future reference. Hope it helps

Take a taxi or the Alibus to the Naples Central train station. Buy ticket to Ercolano Scavi on the Circumvesuviana line, on the main level and board in the basement. It takes about 20 mins to the Ercolano Scavi stop. Walk from the stop to the ruins.

Sounds fab, have a great cruise! For some reason in Dubrovnik the shuttle queue back is always a bit of a rugby scrum [emoji23] think of me when you experience it [emoji12]

we didn t have an evening meal in Café Jardin on our cruise on Oceana last year but it is a lovely place to have late night snacks and hot chocolate all for free! Enjoy your cruise!

I've just remembered cafe jardin - good place for breakfast!

We are going on Oceana from Genoa in sept and have an early flight out of Manchester. How far is it into Genoa to a supermarket ? What time do we sail ? Thanks

Hi Lou71 - I believe it's about 20 minutes walk into Genoa and there is a hoho bus there if you want to see the sights. The ship leaves in the evening so you will have plenty of time.

We had dinner at Cafe Jardin, there were 3 of us and all ordered something different so the mains all came with different side dishes which was very nice but we couldn't eat it all. We loved having lunch there (free) you pick a buffet salad to start and order main and then go to the buffet again for dessert. My son who went to the kids club in the evenings went there with his friends late night and had hot chocolate and pizza (it was free I think after 10).

Loved Oceana, just the right size, hope you do to.

We are going on Oceana from Genoa in sept and have an early flight out of Manchester. How far is it into Genoa to a supermarket ? What time do we sail ? Thanks

We'd like to find a supermarket in Genoa to stock up on bits and pieces before we sail too.

It looks as if there's a big COOP store by the ferry terminal. Has anyone tried this? It looks as if it's easily walkable from the ship.

Hi We're 1st time cruisers too going genoa to venice 7 dasy. thinking of DIY florence shareing. plus any tips on day to day from 'old-timers? :confused:

Ollie121 we are not exactly old timers, but having just come back from the same cruise, I feel that I can offer a bit of useful advice for you.

Florence on your own could be tricky and expensive but you do have a lot of time, as the ship doesn't sail until 11pm. I would pay for the Florence on Your own trip offered by the ship and decide what you want to do there and book things online in advance.

In Dubrovnik, you could easily do the walls on your own, taking the ship's shuttle. You just pay for the walls when you get there. There would probably also be time to do Cavtat or the cable car... Again you can book them when you arrive in Dubrovnik town centre.

Day to day, there are lots of different options and variety of things to do. Make sure you try them all at least once! Afternoon tea is good fun, as are the late night snacks... Not because you are hungry, but because you CAN!

A tip that I picked up from here was to take some magnets to put the daily newspaper on the wall and keep the dressing table area tidy. I also took clothes pegs to hang up our wet swimwear - another useful tip from here!

Just relax and enjoy it! We can't wait to book our next trip! ;)

Going on Oceana in a couple of months and have a couple of questions - hoping you knowledgeable people will be able to help??:)

Florence and/or Pisa from Livorno. What time does the ship arrive and what is the best way to do DIY? Also, what time does the ship leave? I have checked cruisett but that ony gives the times the ship is booked.

Naples, has anyone taken the train down to Herculaneum or alternatively an independent trip to Capri?

Dubrovnik - does the ship's shuttle take you right into Dubrovnik?

Has anyone booked the Cafe Jardin for dinner? What was it like?

Thanks in advance.....

We were on this cruise in May. We did the ship's "Florence on your Own" as we been on the Piza/Florence trip on a previous cruise and felt it was too rushed.

Dubrovnik is easy and in Naples we hired a private minibus (AldoLimos) with 2 other couples to Sorrento and the Amalfi coast.

We had breakfast in the Cafe Jardin most mornings and occasional lunches but much preferred the Horizon Grill in the evening. Went twice just for the fishcake starters!

We were on this cruise in May. We did the ship's "Florence on your Own" as we been on the Piza/Florence trip on a previous cruise and felt it was too rushed.

Dubrovnik is easy and in Naples we hired a private minibus (AldoLimos) with 2 other couples to Sorrento and the Amalfi coast.

We had breakfast in the Cafe Jardin most mornings and occasional lunches but much preferred the Horizon Grill in the evening. Went twice just for the fishcake starters!

SmithieNix Thank you, that is really helpful. Will go and get some magnets now! Florence on Your own sounds like a good option, how much was it to book, and is it possible to bookj ahead of time on line? we were also looking to maybe share a tour pool and will keep our eye on the cruise sharetool here, as our week has not appeared yet...:)

Ollie121 we are not exactly old timers, but having just come back from the same cruise, I feel that I can offer a bit of useful advice for you.

Florence on your own could be tricky and expensive but you do have a lot of time, as the ship doesn't sail until 11pm. I would pay for the Florence on Your own trip offered by the ship and decide what you want to do there and book things online in advance.

In Dubrovnik, you could easily do the walls on your own, taking the ship's shuttle. You just pay for the walls when you get there. There would probably also be time to do Cavtat or the cable car... Again you can book them when you arrive in Dubrovnik town centre.

Day to day, there are lots of different options and variety of things to do. Make sure you try them all at least once! Afternoon tea is good fun, as are the late night snacks... Not because you are hungry, but because you CAN!

A tip that I picked up from here was to take some magnets to put the daily newspaper on the wall and keep the dressing table area tidy. I also took clothes pegs to hang up our wet swimwear - another useful tip from here!

Just relax and enjoy it! We can't wait to book our next trip! ;)

SmithieNix Thank you, that is really helpful. Will go and get some magnets now! Florence on Your own sounds like a good option, how much was it to book, and is it possible to bookj ahead of time on line? we were also looking to maybe share a tour pool and will keep our eye on the cruise sharetool here, as our week has not appeared yet...

Hi Ollie121 - you can always set up a new thread for the dates you are going...

Ollie121 it's one offered by the ship, so you should find the details on cruise personaliser. Dronnygirl's idea of creating your own thread for your dates is a good one. :)