Buryfan

Yes sofa and desk side by side creating a much more open feel to that end of the room. Our friends had a standard balcony cabin which seemed small in comparison and our balcony easily accommodated the 4 of us sitting down. ( using desk chair and footstool!) I would definitely book that cabin over a standard one . Shower was fine, bed firm but comfortable,tv great when watching from bed,no idea why only one footstool tho! Enough hangers and storage certainly for a 7 day cruise. Lighting good. Close to elevators but around corner and quiet

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Sorry don't understand why they duplicated. Forgot to take pics till last day so a bit messy but I think you get the idea !

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I am in 7134 on Sunday for 7 days. Will let you know

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Obviously you are a Brit and therefore too nice & polite :D

We Yanks tend to be more firm (but hopefully still civilized)

You are so right🇬[emoji1058][emoji1058]🇧

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I agree with the embarrassing part. Easy enough to say - No thank you, we'll be just fine :D

He wouldn't take no for an answer!!

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I really can't comment on the business side but from a user's perspective we have just been on Riviera and found it just as good as 3 years ago. Apart from the entertainment ( of which we have zero expectations anyway) we had nothing to complain about . Booked again for January without hesitation

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Based on our experience last year on Sirena ... absolutely nothing ! The only one thing we asked of him was to rearrange a restaurant booking and he was unable to. He also insisted on escorting me to dinner one evening leaving my OH to trail behind. It was embarrassing.

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When I use my iPad, it takes forever to load "find a cruise" searches. Does anyone else experience this problem?

 

 

 

Harrt

Yes I can't load it at all on my iPad but my partner can on his . No rhyme or reason to it !

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Buryfan

 

The only thing that I thought about was that they should have had an officer around the pool, the children, (3 boys) jumping off the jacuzzi and into the pool most days, for one thing they could have damaged themselves. The parents seemed to be nowhere to be seen. Also two days they had water cannons and were firing at passengers.

The waiters said that it need a passenger to complain at reception, but no, an officer would have been great to see. In fact we did not see many officers throughout the cruise.

They were annoying but I know several people who did complain and they were less disruptive in the latter half of the cruise.They were Portuguese and maybe did not understand English.

I don't blame the kids but the parents who brought them on a totally unsuitable ship. It was refreshing however to see quite a lot of younger people on board

Buryfan, thank you for your review. We are checking out Sirena itineraries.

I am a Radcliffefan from many moons ago.

Just down the road !

Finally our suite and the ship itself.

First time in a PH and we loved the extra space. Oceania have the best beds and Sirena's are still new.

The bathroom was great especially the large shower with fixed and hand held heads. Numerous large towels and lovely robes.Nice toiletries too.

We had a couple of minor problems with the safe and once wth the air con. These were attended to promptly and efficiently

I don't however get the whole butler thing but there's a whole other thread on that.

Overall the ship is well refurbished clean and tidy . I didn't notice as much interesting artwork as on the larger ships.

Weather concerns caused an itinerary change which was dealt with efficiently.

I was puzzled though why a small ship had to have so many tender ports. I thought the whole point was that they could dock where larger ships can't !

The itinerary had some very interesting new places such as Gozo and Mahon as well as some old favourites and despite a few niggles with the dining we had a wonderful cruise

As far as concerns entertainment for me there just wasn't any. It was all music based and I am not a big fan of singing and dancing. I prefer comedy or a magician or at least a little variety but none was to be had.

Also whilst the show was on the rest of the ship was totally dead.Late night happy hour livened up Horizons but often the music was too loud to carry on a conversation.

The string quartet sounded very nice

The Same loop of songs was played by the pool every single afternoon.There is enough easy listening music about to have a larger selection

One more moan then I'll stop - Baristas doesn't seem right in the Grand Bar. It would be far better as a focal point near the shops as on Azamara.

Let us know how she is. Cruising Barcelona to Rome August19

So now the cruise is over and we had a great time overall.

My thoughts firstly about the food and drink :-

1. I can only compare with O class ships though I have cruised Azamara which is same size. Whilst I love the smaller ship I thought Riviera and Marina had the "edge"somehow overall.

2. The food and service in Red Ginger was top notch but the layout of the room made it lack the ambience we remembered

3. The same goes for the Tuscan Steak . Food was hit and miss with Dover Sole being the highlight.

4. Also Red ginger only ever seemed half full yet extra bookings were not available The chef told a passenger the galley was too small to cater for a full restaurant!

5. Main dining room was a disaster the first time we tried in with regard to both food and service. The choice ( particularly for non meat or shellfish eaters) was poor, portions in some cases tiny and service haphazard and even surly at times. The evening was rescued by an unexpected anniversary cake and song for our companions. This had not been flagged up to Oceania but they knew ! Kudos to them for that.

Second visit to Dining Room was at same table and service had improved so maybe new staff are still training.

6. Dining in the Terrace in the evening was consistently good though we like to dine later and we felt we were rushed as 9 pm approached. We would have liked it to stay open an hour longer.

7. Waves was as good as ever

8. We only managed it once but Afternoon Tea is wonderful and sets

Oceania apart

9.There are too few waiters by the pool during the day and in Horizons for the late happy hour .

As you can probably tell we were a tad disappointed with the food and drink especially as we had enticed our cruising companions with promises of great dining.Whether it is just this ship or Oceaniacross the board I don't know.

does it look anything like the sample menu online??

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/experience/dining/jacques-bistro/

 

Maybe someone can post the PDF file I am not sure how to do it

Yes it looks like the sample menu and the Tuscan steak menu is the same too

Is there any way that you could post a copy of the menu from Tuscan Steak?

I am curious as to which food items from Polo & Toscana were retained and which ones were dropped.

TIA

Here it is hopefully

Sorry can't seem to attach clear photo. - help anyone ?

We're booked on 7th August cruise in a Penthouse suite which our travel agent said has been refurbished. We chose Oceania on recommendation from friends. Have been on most other cruise lines. Will be very interested in your comments. Have a great holiday.

Cheryl

Hi Cheryl

We are in a PH. I would say it has been partially refurbished. All the soft furnishings are new and the lighting. The bed is the comfiest ever. Balcony furniture is new and I discovered yesterday the chairs recline !

Bathroom is all new with large walk in shower with modern static head and a hand held. Loads of storage.

The wood furniture though appears to be original. Dark and a bit old fashioned and drawers stick a bit. TV also is small and has to be pulled out on a sliding base to watch in bed.

Copious mirrors throughout including a magnifying mirror ( can be a positive and a negative ! )

Le us know what you think. Would love to get a real time opinion of things. And I too am not concerned about the bathroom or cabin size-I know what to expect there. Are things working properly? Are the staff as good or better attitude wise as my remembrance form Regatta? What do you think of the Horizon's make-over? The combining of the two restaurants? Internet better as they said it would be? Shows upgraded as promised? Between the Princess apparent quality lapse and Oceania being bought out by a company that is squeezing costs out, am curious if there is a trickle down effect.

Very briefly all is good and it seems a happy well- run ship.

Having only been on Marina and Riviera before I can't compare it with other R ships.

Horizons is lovely and is very busy as night as there is a Happy Hour from 10.30 to 11.30 pm

Not keen on the restaurant combination but may have just chosen badly so will reserve final judgement until second visit. Red ginger beckons tomorrow

Just seen one show as singing and dancing is not really my cup of tea. There is a company of 6 and whilst very enthusiastic and extremely hard working it all seemed a bit amateurish to me.

Internet much better though still has limitations with Face time etc but best I've ever had at sea.only one device per cabin at a time can be a little annoying.

Lunch in GDR is it only Jacques Bistro menu or do they also have another menu for lunch ??

 

thank you

The menu outside seemed to be Jaques Bistro. I took a photo and will try and post it later

Is there any way that you could post a copy of the menu from Tuscan Steak?

I am curious as to which food items from Polo & Toscana were retained and which ones were dropped.

TIA

I will try but having technical issues with photos at the moment.

We have eaten there and whilst service and ambiance were excellent the food was just ok. In our opinion the marriage is not as good as each single restaurant on Riviera/Marina

I am on Sirena for the next 9 days if anyone has any questions

[[/i]

i would like to know if the oceania marina docks in the city (or a short walking distance of the city) or at a container port for the following cities:

 

st. Petersburg

tallinn, estonia

helsinki, finland

riga, latvia

klaipeda, lithuania

warnemunde, germany

 

 

does oceania provide any free transportation into any of these cities or is are they accessible only by booking excursions? (with the exception of st. Petersburg where we will just take oceania excursions)

 

 

 

also, on a cruise that goes to these ports, which side of the ship would be a better balcony room?

 

 

If you have any suggestions for oceania excursions or non-oceania excursions for any of these cities that would also be appreciated.

I have recently returned from a Marina Baltic cruise.

There were free shuttles in Kleipeda, Helsinki and Tallinn .

Warnemunde and Riga were walkable.

I endorse what a previous poster said about Kleipeda !

I'm just using a browser on my Android tablet. Doesn't an iPad have a browser? Do you have to use a dedicated app?

Yes. Posting now via Safari on iPad !

It's definitely a problem with the App. I deleted and reinstalled and now it won't open at all!

With our cruise just 6 days away I have been avidly reading up on Cruise Critic. However, for the last 3 days the App for the iPad and iPhone have not been loading recent threads. Is it just me or have others experienced similar problems?

No it's not just you. Mine is the same. This thread for instance is not showing nor is anything later than 21/4.