Random thoughts from Marina's 3rd voyage

[TKS]

My idea to overcome the paper cup situation is to take an insulated coffee mug with you. Idea???

 

Cool idea, dwelsh. Baristas was my favorite place on board. I will remember this tip the next time we sail Marina or Riviera.

[ladysail2]

I didn't read through all the posts yet...but did anyone find the plug behind the tv on the wall? In our cabin, there are two plugs, one being used to plug the tv in, and the other one was 'free'. Albeit not very handy, it is there to be used.

I agree that the two plugs at the desk are too close together to be useful with any plug wider than an inch...

Just my hopefully, helpful, input!!

Joyce :D

[roothy123]

I have a question of major importance: is it true that Marina has 4 laundry rooms? My husband does laundry, and he mentioned that someone told him that Marina didn't have ANY. He went back to the room and checked the ship deck plans and found those little laundry rooms.

 

Is there ever a line at any of the laundries?

 

I was really kidding about the importance of the laundries, but now here's a "real" question:

 

How are the oceanview cabins, if you've seen one? Are they any bigger than the inside cabins on Insignia, once you take out the size of the bath tub? I really could care less about the bathtub, but maybe I'll store the life jackets there if I ever make it to Marina!

[ladysail2]

Yes, Marina has laundry rooms...used them myself, and yes, there are line-ups. There are 4 washers, and 4 dryers, stacked...so if you're short, bring a stepstool..it's hard to see into the dryer if you're not at least 5'5"....LOL

Sorry, I didn't see an Oceanview cabin.

Hope that helps.

Joyce :D

[Paulchili]

Returning to the ship today (and everyday) one cannot but notice that she is a BIG SHIP. Today in Acapulco we were docked next to the Coral Princess and there was not much difference between the two ships. She doesn’t feel big as in being crowded but she does feel big as in walking from your aft cabin to the Marina Lounge. The large number of passengers may also be the reason for the theater seats being smaller than economy seats on airplane with no elbow room at all (although with plenty of “foot” room). I think the seats had to be fairly narrow to fit in as many as possible.

Everyone is talking about Red Ginger. It would seem that once again I am in the minority – no matter, I am used to it by now. Red Ginger was very good but I find more options for me for repeat dining at Jacques. Obviously, it is a personal choice – there is no bad food on Oceania; only good and better.

Speaking of food, the Terrace café serves grilled (Florida?) lobster tails EVERY night along with grilled jumbo shrimp and an assortment of grilled meats and fish. This is unique to Marina, I am told.

Internet was acting up last night a bit, but not as bad as at the start but not as good as it had been for a while. I am now in the terminal in Acapulco where they want $6 for 30 minutes - very fast, so it's worth it.

wripro – please do bring Watson, just dress him up a little so he can fit in better J As I seem to be of little help to our team this time around, I’ll be happy to give up my place on the team for Watson.

[Dmgmd50]

We belong to two country clubs: one in Florida and one in Chicago. To me, "country club casual" means "jacket- no tie" or a button down shirt with or without a sweater, but not golf shirts. Certainly no demin. Is that I what I should expect to see at dinner on our upcoming Marina cruise?

[lyndenfa]

Paulchili: thanks for that clarification; we noticed several jackets and a good amount of ties for the specialty restaurants. Dennis just feel more comfortable (ready?) with a jacket and did wear a tie two or three nights (I am smiling that a picture could be a man wearing a tie and jacket w/ no shirt) but your know what I mean.

Dmgmd50: not sure what you consider golf shirts, but a casual shirt w/ a collar seems okay to me for a gentleman in the GDR.

Lynne

[hondorner]

We belong to two country clubs: one in Florida and one in Chicago. To me, "country club casual" means "jacket- no tie" or a button down shirt with or without a sweater, but not golf shirts. Certainly no demin. Is that I what I should expect to see at dinner on our upcoming Marina cruise?

The requirement is for a "collared" shirt. Many wear pullover polo shirts, which others may call golf shirts (I don't play golf but wear the shirts :rolleyes:). However, I don't wear them to dinner, and prefer to wear a jacket many nights (never a tie). Betsy says the reason I like to wear a jacket is a mistaken hope that fewer people will notice my pot belly. I had three different sports coats with me on our recent 34 days aboard Marina.

 

Jeans are specifically outlawed at dinner except at the Terrace Cafe, where the dress rules are slightly relaxed. I've only seen denim one time in the Grand Dining Room, but the only reason I noticed is because it was me -- I wore reasonably tasteful olive green trousers in a denim material when we toured Los Angeles and did not return to the ship until 9 PM -- I threw on a light brown silk jacket and rushed to make dinner on time. No one noticed but me. Most of the time my legs were under the table.

[Bernergirl]

Now I'm concerned ;) -- we live in the Durango, CO area now and a couple of years ago it was voted the least fashion conscious town in US. All of the Buffalo, NY fancy clothes went in a house fire a few yrs. ago. Bob's basic is still button-down white or blue shirt, blue blazer, khaki's or grey flannel's, and tie. Will that work for most of Marina's restaurants? Dress up out here is good pair of jeans & tweed sport coat (often for both of us). The dressiest I have now is Eileen Fisher and a few silk skirts -- one of reasons we went with Oceania is we did not replace the formal wear. When I did a semester long sub. in our high school this past fall I was accused of being "east coast" with that -- oh well. Maybe it was the black on black I did replace ....

 

Thank you for all the info.

[orchestrapal]

Now I'm concerned ;) -- we live in the Durango, CO area now and a couple of years ago it was voted the least fashion conscious town in US. All of the Buffalo, NY fancy clothes went in a house fire a few yrs. ago. Bob's basic is still button-down white or blue shirt, blue blazer, khaki's or grey flannel's, and tie. Will that work for most of Marina's restaurants? Dress up out here is good pair of jeans & tweed sport coat (often for both of us). The dressiest I have now is Eileen Fisher and a few silk skirts -- one of reasons we went with Oceania is we did not replace the formal wear. When I did a semester long sub. in our high school this past fall I was accused of being "east coast" with that -- oh well. Maybe it was the black on black I did replace ....

 

Thank you for all the info.

 

Remember your still on Oceania which has not changed it's dress code.You sound like you'll be fine with what you have and can just ignore those who need to overdress as they will ignore you too. Let's live and let live.;)

[Dmgmd50]

'

Bernergirl: A blue blazer for the husband and Eileen Fisher for the wife is exactly what we would think of as "country club casual."

[Bernergirl]

Thank you -- an absolutely wonderful idea ;) -- we do tend to follow our own path. It may be why we live 30+ miles from the grocery stores in Durango. We're not going to take the planned shore excursions. We'll walk/public transit around the ports. I found what appears to be a decent site for info., Whatsinport.com, with maps, how to get around, etc. We've found with our yrs. in RVing that we do best not in crowds or part of organized tours. By the end of leading a 2 week HFH careavanner build we were always ready race to somewhere with fewer people. But I'd love to read any ideas that you think newbie cruisers, esp. to Oceania & transtlantic, have to know/better know.

 

Hoping for more snow in SW Colorado @ 7400'

[TKS]

Now I'm concerned ;) -- we live in the Durango, CO area now and a couple of years ago it was voted the least fashion conscious town in US. All of the Buffalo, NY fancy clothes went in a house fire a few yrs. ago. Bob's basic is still button-down white or blue shirt, blue blazer, khaki's or grey flannel's, and tie. Will that work for most of Marina's restaurants? Dress up out here is good pair of jeans & tweed sport coat (often for both of us). The dressiest I have now is Eileen Fisher and a few silk skirts -- one of reasons we went with Oceania is we did not replace the formal wear. When I did a semester long sub. in our high school this past fall I was accused of being "east coast" with that -- oh well. Maybe it was the black on black I did replace ....

 

Thank you for all the info.

 

Not to worry, Bernegirl. We're from Santa Fe, NM, which is just as casual as you in Durango, maybe even more so. I took some black slacks (polyester so they were easy wash/non-wrinkle), a black skirt for some evenings, and some simple but attractive blouses/tops (again easy wash/non-wrinkle), a couple of simple, tailored jackets/sweaters, for cool evenings, a pashima and a pretty scarf, and only two pairs of shoes (my Sketchers mary janes Shape-ups and a pair of 2" heels).

 

I certainly wasn't the most fashionable person onboard, but I felt right at home and no one commented negatively. My husband dressed equally simply, and we did fine.

 

I found I took too many clothes - for exactly the reason you stated. however, Marina has laundry facilities on each passenger cabin deck, and people are very non-judgemental as long as you are clean and neat - no one cares if you wore the same outfit three days ago.

 

Just go, enjoy yourself, and remember you're on vacation with a great bunch of folks.:)

[Marebear]

I live in jeans during the day and Eileen Fisher at other times. I also live in Colorado and belong to a country club. You'll be just fine!

[AWED23]

Paul-

 

Did you finish at Jacques with the Pots du Creme? It was "eyes roll back in your head" good!

 

Best hint for Trivia: When it doubt, the answer is "Vatican City". :D

 

Have you guys had your CC get together yet?

:confused: I thought there were only 2 universal answers....ABBA & ANKA.....Or maybe that is for music questions in the crossword puzzles....More Gin!

[wripro]

Paul,

 

No way would I replace you with Watson. No matter what contributions any of us make or don't make the point of trivia for me is to have fun and I hear Watson has absolutely NO sense of humor.

 

As for dress code I'm bringing one blazer which I will probably never wear unless I'm cold. The ability to do this is one of the main reasons I like Oceania.

[Bernergirl]

I live in jeans during the day and Eileen Fisher at other times. I also live in Colorado and belong to a country club. You'll be just fine!

 

Sante Fe is a little more dressed up than Durango -- more urban black on black -- less fleece. Went to an early svc. at a church there a few yrs. ago and looked underdressed in a khaki skirt -- just never went back to that church -- no problem.

 

Glad to know there will be others from CO on Marina. Still haven't decided whether I'll even pack a pair of jeans, though I often wear them with my Dansko's (too heavy in luggage, but so easy to slip out of) when I fly. I know I'll overpack; too many years of packing for trips in our rv. Maybe I should practice on our roadtrip back to BUF to visit the kids in June.

 

Any tips you ladies have on packing I'll love to hear. We don't even own anything, but two carryon size bags anymore. Well, except for the two pullman size Hartmann's that I had to replace due to the way our homeowner's insurance was written. Have not figured a way to use them as they each total over any linear measurement I've found. Even tried to sell them on ebay w/o reserve. I now use them to store winter sweaters. I'll be checking our thrift shops or Tuesday Morning for something in the 25"-26" size.

 

Enjoying all the good ideas.

[Paulchili]

We are in Puerto Chiapas today.

In mild to moderate seas the ship, as well as our cabin, creek quite a bit (we had 2 such days at sea) – maybe the walls are just settling in. I expect this from older ships but I have never been on ship as new as Marina and was surprised by this. I am sure it is normal and I am not concerned just surprised. Overall, however, the ship tends to be quieter than the R ships in terms of any engine noise. Most of the public rooms and restaurants tend to be cool or cold, even in hot weather conditions outside, so those people that tend to be “cold” should bring something to keep them comfortable.

We were able to get a reservation for Red Ginger for tonight (although it is for later than we usually eat, but it is a table for 2). This is our 3rd extra reservation with another 9 days to go. Red Ginger seems to be the most popular restaurant and thus the most difficult extra reservation to get.

The Terrace Café usually has a special ice cream of the day (Macadamia nut, Cinnamon, etc). If you love ice cream and see your flavor as the flavor of the day, don’t wait too long – they tend to run out and then there is no more (this is not true for the “regular” flavors).

We had a very nice day in Puerto Chiapas today. However, I do have a small bone to pick with the shore excursion desk.

This was so far our only ship excursion as we prefer to do our own. The town of Tapachula is a 30 minute drive from the port. The ship offered 2 excursions that we considered – a 3 ½ hour guided tour of town for $89 or a 3 ½ hour town “on you own” for $49. As all the attractions are on the main square, I didn’t feel the guided tour warranted $ 80 extra for the 2 of us. I asked at the tour desk for all other transfer options in port and was told that taxis should be available at $20 each way. Even though that was less than ½ the price of O transfer, we decided to take the tour (transfer) with Oceania as I did not relish the prospect of not finding a taxi that would take us back to ship (as they would not get a return fare back to town at that time). As we were disembarking the ship, the local tourist office set up an information desk in the lobby and we saw that they were offering transfers to town for $10/pp each way on an hourly basis. Iwould have liked to have been informed of this by the tour desk before making my decision. Our “tour” turned out OK, but only because we had a lovely young woman from Belgium who was very informative and had an excellent command of English. She also gave us a short tour of the town (this was unadvertised and unexpected but much welcome). However, several people who have already paid $49 for RT transfers decided to stay in town and do some shopping now that that knew that they could easily get a transfer back to the ship for $10. These people would wind up paying three times more than they needed to - $59 instead of $20, if they knew about the shuttle beforehand (most likely). This is not a large sum of money but I did not like the intentional (?) misinformation provided to me by the tour desk. After all, they were here just 2 weeks ago and surely knew about the transfers provided by the local tourist office. I (and others) still may have opted to take the O transfers but that would have been MY informed decision and not a decision “forced” on me by the shorex desk. As usually, it is the principle of the matter that counts (more than the money).

The port has a very nice terminal with lots of shopping and continuous entertainment by the local dance troupe. There is also a very nice swimming pool used (and I am sure welcomed) by the crew. The internet at $4/hour is a bargain as well.

On to Costa Rica…

wripro – thank you for that vote of confidence and loyalty. We WILL have fun and some good times – win or lose.

[Orange County Murphy]

Thank you for your ongoing reports. We're looking forward to boarding in 3 weeks and meeting you and the rest of our trivia team.

[MightyQuinn]

Hiya Paulchili!

 

Too bad you didn't know about the shuttle to Tapachula before you got on-board. The local tourism folks have operated a shuttle for cruise passengers for a few years now. We availed of it when we were in Puerto Chiapas in April '09. At that time, it was $10 pp return. Looks like the price has doubled (!!) in a few short years but is still an excellent alternative to ship transfers.

 

I'm really enjoying your comments about Marina. And good on ya for scoring all those extra reservations in the specialty restaurants. Do you plan to buy the Pepin cookbook? I assume it's available for purchase on-board. Cheers.

[tanny18]

Hi Paul,

So nice to read all your "random" thoughts about Marina. Sounds like you and Marsha are having a wonderful time and I will keep all of your musings so that when Allan and I sail on Marina next summer, we will have them to peruse and see if anything has changed. As for "Jacques," when we sailed on Insignia over Christmas, the maitre d' in Polo (lovely young Frenchwoman), told her she was leaving mid cruise to take on the same position at Jacques. Cannot recall her name, but she was just lovely. Hopefully one day the four of us will sail again. Keep those reports coming and enjoy the rest of the journey!! Arlene;)

[Paulchili]

It is a sea day today and the weather continues to be sunny. This afternoon we will have a lecture by (Ms) Willie Friar on Panama Canal. She is a true authority on the subject as she served as the director of PR for the company for many years and has written several books on the subject; she still lives in Panama. We enjoyed her prior lectures on Mexico as well as her talks about the culture and art of the indigenous peoples of the region.

Despite the fact that it is a sea day, we were able to do our laundry without any wait (at around 8:45 AM). In fact, when we returned to put things into the dryer, another washer was empty. Maybe we were just lucky.

We had a great dinner at RG last night. Our reservation was at 8:30 and there was a different feel to RG from our earlier experience at 6:30. With early seating the restaurant is only half full (at least for a while) and thus is quieter; also the service is a bit faster as the staff is not as busy. With the later seating the restaurant was full and bustling; the noise and energy level were definitely higher, the service understandably a bit slower. Some people may prefer this higher energy ambience; we preferred the quieter earlier seating. Take your choice.

I enjoyed the spicy tiger prawns. I love duck but I was uncertain if I would like the crispy duck/watermelon combination salad. I am glad that I tried it because it was excellent.

The Penang curry short ribs were only so-so (IMO); the meat was very tender but the sauce was a bit heavy and overpowering.

I have another simple suggestion for future improvement on Marina/Riviera. It has been alluded to before elsewhere. The forward bank of 4 elevators has 2 sides that operate independently from each other. It is human nature to press the buttons on both sides but only use the elevator that comes first – thus the next stop on the opposite bank of elevators is for naught. In fact, once just the two of us traveled from 15th floor down to 5th and made 5 stops without anybody getting on (they obviously left on earlier elevators from the other bank). It seems inefficient and I would think it shouldn’t be too difficult to “tie” them together.

The internet continues to be quite good. I use it only sparingly – just to read important e mails and post CC messages composed off line - the internet is fast enough for that.

Orange County Murphy – looking forward to meeting you as well. Looks like Nolan Dean will leave the ship in Miami for a vacation (he has a lovely 6 months old daughter and I am sure he cannot wait to see her). We’ll miss him as he adds fun to the trivia – he is a likable fellow.

Mighty Quinn – I misspoke – I believe the shuttle is still $10 rt. I did not know about it and again, I am more upset about the principle that the cruise desk would not tell me about it when I specifically inquired about other options. I would not expect them to advertise it in the daily currents, for obvious reasons, but when asked directly they should have told me about it.

The cook book (called Taste of World – Food and Flavors of Oceania cruises, with foreword by Jacques) is available for sale for $55. It contains many popular recipes from all the ships, including the 2 new restaurants. Today’s cooking demo was done by the chef from RG and included the duck-watermelon salad and the Chilean sea bass. It’s a wonderful book with lots of great illustrations but it is heavy – so you should allow for it in your checked/hand luggage. At home we cook fairy basic and simple things so we would not put this cook book to good use. We’ll enjoy Oceania’s great food onboard the ships J

Arlene – I am sure that young lady you met is here. Most of the wait staff people at Jacques are French and all are very nice and cordial; we see them all over the ship in other venues during the day. It would be fun cruising with you and Allan again – you never know.

[skigrams]

The cookbook (Taste of World – Food and Flavors of Oceania Cruises) is a positively beautiful book, but yes, it is heavy. To be exact, it weighs 5 lbs. I have almost finished reading it cover to cover. I am a cookbook collector and have always read one just like I read a novel. Weird, I know, but that's me. I don't plan to make anything from the book because I too, would rather eat that kind of food on the high seas in the beautiful dining rooms of Oceania.

Sound like you are having a wonderful cruise. I'm glad that Nolan is getting another vacation to get back to Tennessee to see his little bundle of joy. Wonder what ship he will be on next? He was on the Nautica prior to the Marina.

Thanks for the updates. Love to travel vicariously.

Bobi

[WesW]

wonderful on board reports, thanks paul.

[Itzmyn]

Bruin Steve, we did the 2wk Panama Canal cruise on Celebrity and there were not many men in tuxes. My husband did a very nice sport coat, slacks, shirt and tie, and was among the majority of men onboard.