Oceania Marina with wheelchair

[urlaub]

I wrote this also as a Member review but maybe in this Board it is also interesting .This is only a short review especially written for people in a wheelchair who are not able to walk some steps or stand.

I also apologize to you because of my English! Since my husband and I started to cruise in Fall 2008 this was now our 17th cruise. The second with Oceania. Last year we were on Nautica from Hongkong to Dubai. When I compare these two ships Marina is the winner. There are more choices of staterooms ( Inside, Outside, Balcony) than on Nautica which has only inside accessible cabins. There I felt like in a dark tomb. There were not enough lights in the room and the furniture was also very dark. On Marina we had a bright outside stateroom. A balcony was not necessary for us in this cold region. The bathroom was large, there was a roll-in shower, a big seat in the shower and I was happy that it was also nice decorated. This is not so often to find! The room itself had a lot of space for a person in a wheelchair. The only problem was the wardrobe. There were very small drawers and it was impossible to put in the sweaters you need in colder regions. The wardrobe itself was too small for a couple and two weeks!

 

But all in all the accessible stateroom was good for a handicapped in a wheelchair.

 

In the ports Oceania offered free shuttle buses to reach the center if the ship was too far away. In Dublin and Reykjavik they were not accessible and so we needed to take a taxi (and pay for). In Belfast the shuttle was accessible. And now there is the point I didn't like Oceania:

 

When we were on Nautica we often had to wait in the heat for a longer time until people come and carry my husband in the wheelchair up into the ship. We thought that this is just a problem with Nautica but it isn't. We had to wait also with Marina longer than necessary. In Belfast we had terrible weather and we waited 20 minutes outside in rain, wind and storm until we could go inside. Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have always people near the ship's door who know how to carry people in wheelchairs. The security people from Oceania must call housekeeping to send assistance. This means that a guest has to wait until the guys from housekeeping find their way and there are also always different people. So you have to tell them every time how to do. That's normal because they are not used to do this but for the guest it is very unpleasant. The easiest for my husband were the two tender ports, because Marina is very good equipped with an elevator down to the boat level and the seamen who are with the tender boats are strong and know how to carry a person in a wheelchair. So my husband unusually felt better at tender ports than at normal ports :-) ! Food, service, room, the ship itself is very nice but keep in mind that, if you are in hot or cold regions Oceania let wait you too long!

 

Embarkation in Dover was easy but disembarkation in Copenhagen seemed not organized. We wanted to stay in a hotel in Copenhagen and needed a taxi. There was not indoor room, the luggage stood outside, some suitcases under a small tent roof. Good luck that it was not raining. The line to the taxis was terrible long and there were no luggage carts. There were some porters but they also had to wait with the people so there were not enough. A luxury cruise ended poor.