Live from Marina (Nov 20 BCN to Rio)

[Mura]

This isn’t a review, just some comments so far on our cruise. We’re just about half way between Barcelona and Rio – on the first of three sea days before arriving at our first Brazilian port.

 

First of all, I’ve never heard so many foreign languages on an Oceania cruise. (No, I’m not complaining!) We had a lovely dinner with a Dutch couple the other night. One day I ran into a French woman in the corridor who was trying to find the top deck. There is a large group of Philipinos who may or may not be traveling together although often you see them sitting together in groups of 6 or 8 at meal times. (A dinner companion tonight said she thought there are about 40 of them traveling together. She herself is from Hong Kong.) And so on. Many of the languages I recognize, but some I do not.

 

There is also a good mix of ages. I haven’t seen any children (nor did I expect any at this time of year) but we have 20 and 30 somethings all the way up to the elderly (and I guess we now count as the elderly although I have yet to think of myself that way, Medicare or not).

 

We’ve been traveling in tandem with the Seven Seas Mariner and two of the Regent passengers shared our shuttle back to the ship in Cape Verde yesterday. One of the women commented on how our group was younger and more active than the people on Mariner. She herself looked to be in her late 50s, perhaps early 60s, so she wasn’t a youngster unhappy at cruising with people older than herself ... she just would have preferred more active fellow passengers.

 

For those who have complained on other threads about stand-offish crew, I don’t see it. Perhaps those who say Azamara crew are friendlier want more friendliness than we do, I don’t know. But we cannot walk down the hallway without each crew member greeting us. Service by and large in the restaurants has been excellent. We did have a few minor glitches in Polo the other night, but they were very minor and easily corrected.

 

There is more officer interaction on this cruise as well. I personally have not experienced this, but there was an activity the other day where officers challenged passengers in shuffleboard and the like (I forget exactly which “sports”) and today there was a “country fair” where officers took part.

 

Back on our fifth and sixth (and maybe seventh) cruises – but not since then – we were invited to dinner with an officer. Usually with another couple or two, and not with the captain but some other lower level officer. They would have dinner with us in one of the specialty restaurants with free flowing wines and these were very enjoyable evenings. But we haven’t been invited to such an event recently and I have wondered if perhaps the reason might be that there are so many more people now who have sailed with Oceania five or more times that it just isn’t feasible to do this any more. Whatever the reason, these were pleasant times but we don’t have to be entertained this way!

 

So far a very pleasant and relaxing cruise. We had wonderful private tours in Lanzerote and Tenerife, did Cape Verde on our own (not hard to do since there isn’t much to see) and we have some more upcoming in the Brazilian ports. We did Cartagena on our own because there was confusion about when my guide would show up and when he didn’t, we went off on our own. Unfortunately he showed up somewhat later ... but too late for us! We passed on Gibraltar since we’ve already been there several times.

 

Another delicious dinner in Jacques tonight ...

 

Mura

[brian_uk]

Hi Mura

 

Really enjoyed your initial comments on the cruise. Keep them coming.

 

Brian

[ptcellen]

Hi Mura,

 

Thank you so much for your live review. Just a few questions. How are

the weather and the seas, and can you give us the name of your tour guide in Tenerife? We are booked on the transatlantic next Nov, so we are looking forward to getting a lot of information from you.....

 

We had booked an inside guarantee and received our cabin assignment today. Thank goodness we got one of the midship insides, so we are happy campers. This will be our first time on Oceania.

 

Thanks again.

 

Ellen:)

[wripro]

Thanks for the update, Mura. Keep enjoying!

[Waynetor]

Sounds like you are having a great trip so far.

[Andromeda93]

Hi Mura, thanks for providing the updates! Please keep them coming if you have time. Sure wish we were there with you and your DH. In case you missed my bon voyage email, we are sending you both our best - have a fabulous rest-of-the-cruise! :)

[Jancruz]

Back on our fifth and sixth (and maybe seventh) cruises – but not since then – we were invited to dinner with an officer. Usually with another couple or two, and not with the captain but some other lower level officer. They would have dinner with us in one of the specialty restaurants with free flowing wines and these were very enjoyable evenings. But we haven’t been invited to such an event recently and I have wondered if perhaps the reason might be that there are so many more people now who have sailed with Oceania five or more times that it just isn’t feasible to do this any more. Whatever the reason, these were pleasant times but we don’t have to be entertained this way!

 

I bet it happens on this trip..Have a great cruise!!

Jancruz1

[Mura]

Ellen,

 

I don’t mind giving you Patsy’s contact info, just bear in mind that I have been told that she is already booked for the day you will be in port. And I’ve already provided the info to a few others. Of course, I don’t know if you will all want to get together to form a group yourselves.

 

Things can certainly change in a year. We booked with Patsy around February, but originally it was a woman named Gail and I who were interested. She already had a small group but they were willing to have us join them.

 

Then they cancelled.

 

Then GAIL cancelled!

 

So someone else’s group became mine around April or so.

 

Patsy also knows of other guides if the need arises. In the end my group ended up being 18 people in a 29 seater (a brand new wonderful Mercedes bus) although we started out as being about half that size. I took pity on some late comers when Patsy said she could get the larger bus for no extra cost to us.

 

patricialittle@hotmail.com

 

 

As to weather, it was pouring our first day in Barcelona, not so bad the next as I recall. Nice the day we left! We had one rainy sea day and it has been warming up. Yesterday was 85 and, no surprise, humid. Seas have been pretty good except for the first day or two which were rough-ish. I tend to be sensitive to the motion but haven't had any problems so far.

 

Andromeda, I did get your note! Thank you. It just takes so darned long to answer anything! I'll write in more detail when we get home.

 

La Reserve tonight ...

 

Mura

[ptcellen]

Hi Mura,

 

Thank you so much for Patsy's name. My friend has already contacted her more than a week ago, but no response. We've been told she is the best. Hopefully, we will hear back from her and if she is already booked, then maybe there will be room to add more to her tour, or like you said, maybe she could recommend 1 of her friends. Right now we are traveling with 6 other couples unless some cancel out. Glad the weather hasn't been too bad, but I don't like humidity. I am also prone to seasickness, and that is why I am glad we got a midship cabin. Looking forward to your full review when you get back. Enjoy the rest of the cruise.

 

Ellen:)

[orchestrapal]

Maura,

Am enjoying following you and your experiences and look forward to your posts.

Enjoy La Reserve!

[Mura]

Patsy happened to show someone her book as I was standing right by her and she is booked solid for the month. So if she doesn't answer right away it's no doubt because she is swamped. She always answered me as quickly as she could (although not necessarily immediately) so I am sure she will answer -- even if it is to say she is booked!

 

Good luck,

 

Mura

[YoHoHo]

Thanks for taking the time to post and sharing some of your cruise experiences with us. Enjoy!

[Mura]

Weather has warmed up incredibly ... it was comfortable in Lanzarote and Tenerife, warmer in Cape Verde. By the time we were in Recife yesterday is was JUST PLAIN HOT.

 

As to Recife, my judgment is that the guides aren’t all that hot (as opposed to the physical temperature) and there really isn’t all that much to see anyway. I saw an early note in my file today that said someone on CC had mentioned that guides weren’t great. I wish I’d remembered that!

 

I didn’t set up our tour and while I wasn’t happy with the guide, as I say, I don’t know that it was all his fault. His English was good but not flawless. Frequently he struggled to find a word but he was certainly understandable. But when we asked for further details about what we were seeing, he generally couldn’t respond. He knew early on that some in our group were interested in seeing the Synagogue, but never checked to see when it was open ... and wouldn’t you know, it was closed on the day we were there.

 

I should also say that what I heard second hand was that people on ship’s tours weren’t all that happy with their guides either. AND wherever we went, there was a ship’s tour. (Plus the ship only offered two tours which could have been a hint.)

 

So I would say that a guided tour in Recife is NOT necessary. They will pretty much just take you to shopping spots anyway, and my judgment (for what little it is worth) is that the shopping wasn’t all that great. We did see a small place in Olinda that had some interesting looking wood carvings but they were too big for me to bring home and so I didn’t even check prices. There are plenty of vendors waving goods at you, none of which looked worth it to me after a cursory glance. Real shoppers may well disagree!

 

We arrived in Salvador this afternoon but we stayed on board rather than investigating since we have a full day’s tour tomorrow with a guide who grew up in New Jersey ... The highlight of our day was watching Regent’s Seven Seas Mariner dock in back of us ... quite entertaining to watch someone parallel park that baby!

 

I should add something about the food on MARINA on this trip. In general, as excellent as ever. But I find myself somewhat disappointed in Terrace’s dinners. By no means are we unhappy! The variety remains as wonderful as ever, but the quality doesn’t seem to be of quite the same level. And maybe that is because we were so blown away with the food in Terrace on our first MARINA cruise two years ago that we just got spoiled.

 

As a further comment, on our August 2012 Black Sea cruise on Regatta someone commented how much better the food in Terrace became after there was a change in chefs ... Not saying that is the reason for our very slight disappointment!

 

 

Lastly, we dined in La Reserve last night with the Connoisseur menu. This was no less than absolutely spectacular. WELL worth the extra cost. We enjoyed the Exploration menu two years ago, but Connoisseur is incomparable.

 

Mura

[ptcellen]

Good morning Mura,

 

Thank you for all the information you are giving all of us, and for letting me know that Patsy is still very busy, and hopefully, we will still hear from her.

 

Can you let us know about your tour in Rio with Manu as we are considering hiring him, and also your tour guides name in Salvador. I know you haven't taken either yet, but would appreciate hearing from you after both those tours.

 

Once again, thank you for your honest opinions.

 

Ellen:)

[Mura]

We had a guide change in Salvador but we had no complaints at all. He actually was the “boss” of our first guide who took over. We went to “native” places and had marvelously helpful commentary. Traffic was terrible but we’ve seen nothing but terrible traffic in Brazil so far so we couldn’t blame the guide for poor planning. So write to me if you want names and contact info for next year.

 

We’re trying to figure out why we have a time change going AHEAD one hour tonight when we’ve consistently been going BACK one hour. Must have to do with Brazil’s funny shape ... today we were on Salvador time, it seems that tomorrow we’ll be on Mid-Atlantic time.

 

http://www.salvadorcentral.com/aboutus.htm

 

Our guide today was Randy (that is his website above). Originally it was to have been Ben who can be reached at "Bennett Paris" <bt_paris@yahoo.com>

 

Both are Americans living in Salvador.

 

Will let you know about Rio next week.

 

Mura

[A Knitter]

I hope Mura doesn't mind if I add to this review. Certainly a younger crowd than I have seen on previous cruises which has been a nice touch. Paul and I do a lot of walking and some of the ports we did on our own and was lucky to have a English tour guide in the upper City in Salvador. Be sure to visit Lagomar when in Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Omar Sharif's house which is now a restaurant. He bet and lost his house during a bridge game. Spectacular Views.

 

As Mura mentioned officers have been most friendly. I asked for one I have known many years only to find he was on the Voyager. The Executive Concierge Javier sent Paul an email and we received a bottle of wine with a nice note wishing he could share the bottle with us. Class Act. We also dined with the Oceania Ambassadors at Polo and enjoyed Jennifer and Carlos.

 

I upgraded to a PH as a anniversary present to Paul. It has been nice to dine in our cabin after a long day. Our Butler Ismail is the best.

 

 

Thank you! Mura for putting together the MM. :)

 

I find the internet somewhat better if purchasing the unlimited plan.

 

Maria

[pacheco18]

Maria - I was hoping you would post

 

Glad you came up for air LOL

 

Send me photo of black Prism project (you've had time to finish it).

 

Wonderful that you and Paul are enjoying the PH and the butler.

 

We board Riviera in a week.

[findacruise]

The Executive Concierge Javier sent Paul an email and we received a bottle of wine with a nice note wishing he could share the bottle with us. Class Act. We also dined with the Oceania Ambassadors at Polo and enjoyed Jennifer and Carlos.

 

I upgraded to a PH as a anniversary present to Paul. It has been nice to dine in our cabin after a long day. Our Butler Ismail is the best.

 

 

Thank you! Mura for putting together the MM. :)

 

I find the internet somewhat better if purchasing the unlimited plan.

 

Maria

Thanks for posting about Javier and Ishmail. We met them both on one of our early cruises. Ishmail was a waiter then and fabulous at that position. On a later cruise when we saw him and he was a butler we were so pleased. He remembered us and was so happy to see us. Javier was the concierge on one of the R ships and so helpful. When he became executive concierge on Marina he helped me arrange dinner in La Reserve to surprise my husband. Both class acts.

[a5lson]

Hi Mura,

 

Thank you so much for your live review. Just a few questions. How are

the weather and the seas, and can you give us the name of your tour guide in Tenerife? We are booked on the transatlantic next Nov, so we are looking forward to getting a lot of information from you.....

 

We had booked an inside guarantee and received our cabin assignment today. Thank goodness we got one of the midship insides, so we are happy campers. This will be our first time on Oceania.

 

Thanks again.

 

Ellen:)

 

Mura was correct in advising that Patty Little did answer me that she was already booked for that day. She would not share any information but said she would contact them and ask if we could join their group. I have yet to hear back from her. She also said she could recommend someone. My answer to her was "if it was someone of her caliber". Again, still waiting a reply. Let's keep in touch. Arleen:)

[a5lson]

Good morning Mura,

 

Thank you for all the information you are giving all of us, and for letting me know that Patsy is still very busy, and hopefully, we will still hear from her.

 

Can you let us know about your tour in Rio with Manu as we are considering hiring him, and also your tour guides name in Salvador. I know you haven't taken either yet, but would appreciate hearing from you after both those tours.

 

Once again, thank you for your honest opinions.

 

Ellen:)

 

Hi Ellen,

I know you are traveling with a large group (you are your own tour) but would you consider adding four more to your group for Salvador?

Arleen:)

[a5lson]

We had a guide change in Salvador but we had no complaints at all. He actually was the “boss” of our first guide who took over. We went to “native” places and had marvelously helpful commentary. Traffic was terrible but we’ve seen nothing but terrible traffic in Brazil so far so we couldn’t blame the guide for poor planning. So write to me if you want names and contact info for next year.

 

We’re trying to figure out why we have a time change going AHEAD one hour tonight when we’ve consistently been going BACK one hour. Must have to do with Brazil’s funny shape ... today we were on Salvador time, it seems that tomorrow we’ll be on Mid-Atlantic time.

 

http://www.salvadorcentral.com/aboutus.htm

 

Our guide today was Randy (that is his website above). Originally it was to have been Ben who can be reached at "Bennett Paris" <bt_paris@yahoo.com>

 

Both are Americans living in Salvador.

 

Will let you know about Rio next week.

 

Mura

 

Always enjoy reading your posts. Keep up the good work :)

 

Arleen

[ptcellen]

Hi Arlene,

 

Yes, as of right now we are traveling with a large group, however, 2 couples have already cancelled and others may also, so not sure of our actual numbers yet.

 

We have not yet booked anything for Salvador or Tenerife. I also e-mailed Patsy as did my friend, and neither of us heard from her. Knowing that she is booked means we will look elsewhere. My friend has been to Tenerife before, and had a wonderful tour guide, but they need at least 30 people for a really good price. I will let you know as soon as we hear more back from them.

 

We just booked Daniel Cabral for Rio, (#1 on trip adviser)for a day and a half tour and will have room on that one. We booked for 18 people, so if you are interested in joining us, please e-mail me at ptcellenatcomcast.net.

 

Thanks for confirming that Patsy is already booked.

 

Ellen:)

[ptcellen]

Hi Again,

 

I forgot to ask you that if you are looking to book a tour in Salvador, can you please let me know what you are booking, and let us know if there will be room to join you. Thanks.

 

Ellen:)

[ptcellen]

Hi Mura,

 

Just wanted to thank you once again for all the information you are supplying.

 

Really looking forward to your full review once you arrive home.

 

Ellen:)

[a5lson]

Hi Again,

 

I forgot to ask you that if you are looking to book a tour in Salvador, can you please let me know what you are booking, and let us know if there will be room to join you. Thanks.

 

Ellen:)

 

Hi Ellen,

I believe we might both be contacting the same people. Let's join forces! I am going to go over all my emails, pieces of paper, scribbled notes, etc. etc. tomorrow and try to make some order out of chaos. Send me your email and I can prepare a list of who I have contacted, heard from, not heard from, etc. etc. Think this might be better. Agree? Are you staying any longer in Rio or are you flying out that day/night?

Arleen