Marina - Specialty restaurant times

[AudenHoggart]

I believe this has been discussed, but I can't find it by searching:

 

We're on the Jan. 3 sailing of Marina and want to make our 4 specialty restaurant reservations. We're going to aim for sea days or days when the ship leaves port relatively early.

 

I know I've read some comments about making reservations for the early time slot if you want to see the evening show. Does this seem correct? I do know that some people haven't been thrilled by the onboard entertainment, but we won't know unless we try some of it. Are there shows every evening and, if so, are there repeats? This might factor into our choice of dining times.

 

We like late dining on cruises. This is our first Oceania cruise -- we've been on Celebrity previously. On Celebrity there was the possibility of an early show and then dining, but that doesn't appear to be the case on Marina.

 

Any advice? Thanks!

[rheasue38]

Hi!

This will be our 10th Oceania cruise. The shows are never repeated! They usually begin about 9:45. My husband and I usually make a 7:30 reservation and have no trouble making the shows. The entertainment on the Marina is of better quality than that of the smaller ships. You should try the production shows!

Rhea

[JimandStan]

I believe this has been discussed, but I can't find it by searching:

 

We're on the Jan. 3 sailing of Marina and want to make our 4 specialty restaurant reservations. We're going to aim for sea days or days when the ship leaves port relatively early.

 

I know I've read some comments about making reservations for the early time slot if you want to see the evening show. Does this seem correct? I do know that some people haven't been thrilled by the onboard entertainment, but we won't know unless we try some of it. Are there shows every evening and, if so, are there repeats? This might factor into our choice of dining times.

 

We like late dining on cruises. This is our first Oceania cruise -- we've been on Celebrity previously. On Celebrity there was the possibility of an early show and then dining, but that doesn't appear to be the case on Marina.

 

Any advice? Thanks!

 

There will be a show scheduled, in the Marina Lounge, for every evening that you are on the ship. The starting time of that show is usually between 8:30 pm and 10pm, but that is dependant on the length of the performance, as well as the occasional need to use showroom for other purposes.

 

This may work to your advantage, however, because the dining experience on Oceania, particularly in the Specialty Restaurants, is not something that you will want to "get through before the show". The wonderful food is one of the selling points of the Cruise Line, and while you can certainly have a fast meal at the buffet if that is your choice, I would suggest that you make your "Specialty dinners" really special by not rushing through them.

 

Alternatively, on those nights, when seeing the show IS your priority, may want to have a deliberately late lunch at the Pool Grill, or have a lobster tail grilled to order at the Terrace Restaurant.

 

If you're still feeling peckish after the show, indulge in some of the sinfully good chocolate cake (ala mode if you are feeling crazy!) from the room service menu.

[CintiPam]

As many of you know, I am a notoriously slow eater, so when I wanted to be sure to see the show, I made a 6:30 PM specialty restaurant reservation, and we usually were finished by 9 PM. As Jim stated, the food in the specialty restaurants indeed is very special, and I did not want to rush.

 

Note, however, that my Marina cruise was a Baltics cruise, so I did not follow my usual routine of taking a swim and sunbathing on the pool deck when we returned from our sightseeing, so eating early was no issue. On our Med cruises, we dined later.

 

There were no repeated shows on our Marina cruise in June.

[ksps cruise fan]

There will be a show scheduled, in the Marina Lounge, for every evening that you are on the ship. The starting time of that show is usually between 8:30 pm and 10pm, but that is dependant on the length of the performance, as well as the occasional need to use showroom for other purposes.

 

On the recently completed holiday sailing, the show started every evening at 9:45 p.m. There was no variation based on type of performance of duration.

[JimandStan]

On the recently completed holiday sailing, the show started every evening at 9:45 p.m. There was no variation based on type of performance of duration.

 

Yes, but as you say you were seeing the ships own troop of entertainers each evening.

 

On those cruises where other entertainment is booked, the show times will vary, dependent on the length of that performers act.

[ksps cruise fan]

Yes, but as you say you were seeing the ships own troop of entertainers each evening.

 

On those cruises where other entertainment is booked, the show times will vary, dependent on the length of that performers act.

 

Five of twelve nights the entertainment was provided by performers who aren't part of the shipboard entertainers. Those performers were flown in for limited engagements. All performed at 9:45 p.m.

 

Perhaps the Caribbean itinerary of our cruise produced consistent times for the holiday sailing. Perhaps each cruise director has a different scheduling philosophy. Perhaps each outside performer was told to perform for the duration of the shipboard entertainment. But ship's entertainers VS outside talent did not produce different start times on the December 22 sailing.

 

I'm sure your information is accurate based on your experience. And I'm equally confident that my information is accurate based on our experience. Folks will just have to discover the entertainment schedule when they take their cruise.