Live reports from our Baltic cruise on Oceania Marina

[ORV]

I would have to say that having servers in the Terrace cafe is one of my top 5 favorite things about Oceania. But I'm a fanatic about germs and hand washing while on a cruise, pretty much normal in real life, but I'm not around a lot of people most of the time. I just can't find a down side to this.

[artbcpa]

Sorry. It was late at night and my reference to the Oasis was incorrect. It was Oceania I was referring to, not Oasis. At least I was consistently wrong.:eek:

 

By the way I didn't know that the Marina had had a case of the nurovirus. In any case, I think we have beaten that topic to death.

 

Today is Tuesday and we have a beautiful two days in Saint Petersburg. Sunny with highs in the mid 60's. We have 2 days of private tours planned and are so looking forward to exploring this city. It is our first time in Russia.

 

I haven't seen any comments about the photos which is usually a big topic in my live threads. Is there anything specific that someone would like me to photograph?

[Iamthesea]

More photos of the stateroom & ship, please. :) I was in the Baltic's last May, so I have my share of port photos (around 2000!.:D) What photos you have posted are very good. :)

 

Let's all agree that you are very good about washing your hands. Can you guarantee that anyone seeing you help yourself is equally responsible about sanitation? Of course you can't. And that's the problem. Don't think about your behavior. Think about the worse case behavior and how some rotten apples can make a lot of people very sick.

 

:confused: I don't understand why you are "calling me out.":( I have no problem with being served, but do prefer to serve myself and take the appropriate measures to make sure that my hands are clean (before and after serving myself) not only for me, but for others as well.

 

In a buffet, I like small portions of a few items. Servers normally give portions way larger than I need..even if I say "small"! I usually eat a salad and maybe a piece of pizza or bread for lunch. I prefer to make it from different items around the buffet, not just at the salad bar. For instance, I may want to add some tuna to my salad where it is in another station. It's really difficult to do this when having to wait in each line to be served that one little item that I want for my salad. However, you will not get any argument out of me if the cruiselines policy is to serve the passenger!

Edited August 18, 2015 by Iamthesea

[Pet Nit Noy]

I don't understand why you are "calling me out.":( I have no problem with being served, but do prefer to serve myself and take the appropriate measures to make sure that my hands are clean (before and after serving myself) not only for me, but for others as well.

 

In a buffet, I like small portions of a few items. Servers normally give portions way larger than I need..even if I say "small"! I usually eat a salad and maybe a piece of pizza or bread for lunch. I prefer to make it from different items around the buffet, not just at the salad bar. For instance, I may want to add some tuna to my salad where it is in another station. It's really difficult to do this when having to wait in each line to be served that one little item that I want for my salad. However, you will not get any argument out of me if the cruiselines policy is to serve the passenger!

 

The last sentence in this post certainly changes the message you wrote earlier. Any reasonable person reading post #41 must conclude that you have good sanitary practices and that you prefer serving yourself because you're left handed. Now, you may have always known the other piece of the message -- "you will not get any argument out of me if the cruiselines policy is to serve the passenger!" -- but that's not what you wrote.

 

Just out of curiosity, are you cruising O ships primarily? On the R ships, I've never found the lines at the Terrace stations to be an issue. If I have to wait for one person to be served, that doesn't even cross my radar screen. (The only place where I have noticed occasionally bothersome lines is at the omelette station. Otherwise nothing I've ever experienced at the Terrace rises to the level of "really difficult." And as for the omelette situation, if there's a line, I simply change my breakfast plans that day. Lots of good eating options every meal, every day.)

Edited August 18, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy

[Travelcat2]

We sail on the larger ships and have seen long lines at night - particularly for the pasta station.

[artbcpa]

What a fabulous first day in St. Petersburg - exhausting but fabulous! There is just so much to see, to learn, to experience. Our tour guide and driver were just unbelievable - how the driver got into the tiniest spaces and was always there for us and how our guide bypassed all the lines so that we never had a wait. Apparently there are three stages to the hierarchy - those who are not in a group; those who are in a group; and those who have private tour guides. We just zipped by all the group tours and there were even special entrances and elevators with no one else there.

 

As far as the places we visited (Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral, Church of Spilled Blood, Hermitage Museum, Nevsky Prospect, Jewish Synagogue, plus the harbor and other places I don't remember their names) my head was spinning with the opulence and the number of famous paintings, the history of the Czars, their intrigue, creativeness and deaths. We have SO many pictures! Even though I transferred all of them to my iPad, posting them online will be a whole different project.

 

We were exhausted by the end of the day, but I am sure tomorrow we will be refreshed for more.

 

For the second night in a row, we were so pleased with our tablemates for dinner. While I know some people prefer to eat alone or only with friends, we learn so much from the people we sit with. Tonight we sat with a couple from Ottawa, Canada and another who live in Houston but emigrated from the Netherlands. We all shared our day in town, plus stories from our past.

 

By the way we ate tonight at Red Ginger and the quality of the food matched the outstanding presentation and service.

 

Overall we are half way through our cruise and are very pleased with our itinerary, ship and and fellow passengers. I would highly recommend taking a Baltic cruise for those who have not yet done so.

[hypercafe]

My impression of going to Russia is if you take the ship tours you do not need a visa, if you go on your own you must get one. Is this now the fact and if so how did you get it, thanks a lot.

[DOJO466]

My impression of going to Russia is if you take the ship tours you do not need a visa, if you go on your own you must get one. Is this now the fact and if so how did you get it, thanks a lot.

If you are going as individuals not on a private tour you will need visas. If you are booked on a Private tour as an independent with a local approved tour company (Alla, SPB,Red October etc) you do not need a visa. All your info will be collected at the time of booking by the tour company. O leads you to believe that you will need a visa if you are not booked on one of their tours. This is not true. There has been much discussion on these boards about this subject. I am surprised you were not aware.

[LHT28]

In a buffet, I like small portions of a few items. Servers normally give portions way larger than I need..even if I say "small"! I usually eat a salad and maybe a piece of pizza or bread for lunch. I prefer to make it from different items around the buffet, not just at the salad bar. For instance, I may want to add some tuna to my salad where it is in another station. It's really difficult to do this when having to wait in each line to be served that one little item that I want for my salad. However, you will not get any argument out of me if the cruiselines policy is to serve the passenger!

 

Do not worry the servers on Oceania start with small portions unless you ask for more sometimes they will have tuna right at the salad station

 

As posted the lines are very short if any the grill & omelette station seem to be the longest maybe 5min but if that is too long to wait you can always go to Waves & get breakfast there as well as the Terrace or GDR

Edited August 18, 2015 by LHT28

[Gbear12]

I couldn't disagree with you more on this subject.

Just because the hand wash is available it doesn't mean that everyone uses it.

Believe it or not, not everyone washes their hands after using the bathroom :eek: even though we assume they all do. Believe me, I have witnessed it more than once.

Or would you rather have the staff stand at the door and sing "washy-washy" as I understand they do on NCL? :)

When people help themselves at a buffet, not only does it pose a potential health hazard but they tend to make a mess of the food. I have seen more than once people use their hands to help themselves to bread and some other items (or fruit and then put it back if not ripe or too ripe).

I like it just the way it is :)

 

Totally agree with Paulchili. For those who are careful and frugal, serving yourself is just fine, but I'm afraid most people are not. Many take far too much and waste food, whereas the servers dish out an appropriate amount and if you want more you can always ask for more and they will gladly comply.

 

Also I'd rather have servers with utensils and clean hands serve me than wonder who just went through before me and hauled stuff out with their hands potentially. It keeps down the dreaded nor-virus or whatever germs are floating around, and it does not inconvenience anyone, in my opinion.

 

I don't understand any complaint about the use of servers as it all seems to be positive to have servers dishing out our food.

[artbcpa]

My impression of going to Russia is if you take the ship tours you do not need a visa, if you go on your own you must get one. Is this now the fact and if so how did you get it, thanks a lot.

 

Thank you so much for your question. It is an important one as Oceania as well as most other cruise lines try to imply that you must book through them in order to get a VISA. This is simply NOT TRUE. Nearly every tour company can obtain the necessary documentation for you.

 

For many people they just feel safer booking their excursions through the ship and are willing to pay extra to do so. This is true not only in St. Petersburg where there is some special considerations because of the visa, but it is also true for their other excursions where not getting back to the ship on time is a concern.

 

I have no problem if you make that choice given all the facts and if the quality of the excursions provided by your cruise line are commensurate with their charges - that is superior prices should demand superior performance. Unfortunately, what we have found far too often does not meet those criteria. The quality of the ship's tours are just as inconsistent as those you can book on your own. In fact, it has been our experience that we can often get a superior product for FAR less money. In some cases, we have booked overnight excursions on our own and stayed at the some location as the ship passengers for as much as 50% less than the ship's identical excursion.

 

That does not mean that we never use the ships' excursions. They sometimes offer exclusive excursions that are either very reasonable in price or unduplicateable (is that a word?) on your own. In Helsinki, I will be taking the ship's tour going shopping with the ship's chef and then come back to the ship to cook a meal.

 

If you have more questions about specific tours or cities, CC has a separate section just for this purpose.

Edited August 18, 2015 by artbcpa

[hypercafe]

If you are going as individuals not on a private tour you will need visas. If you are booked on a Private tour as an independent with a local approved tour company (Alla, SPB,Red October etc) you do not need a visa. All your info will be collected at the time of booking by the tour company. O leads you to believe that you will need a visa if you are not booked on one of their tours. This is not true. There has been much discussion on these boards about this subject. I am surprised you were not aware.

 

You are right, I have seen all kinds of discussion here about this with different opnions. Since he is there as I write this and has just taken a private tour I thought it would be great to get the very latest information right from the horses mouth so to speak!

 

 

Sent from my SM-T320 using Forums mobile app

Edited August 18, 2015 by hypercafe

[buggins0402]

Totally agree with Paulchili. For those who are careful and frugal, serving yourself is just fine, but I'm afraid most people are not. Many take far too much and waste food, whereas the servers dish out an appropriate amount and if you want more you can always ask for more and they will gladly comply.

 

Also I'd rather have servers with utensils and clean hands serve me than wonder who just went through before me and hauled stuff out with their hands potentially. It keeps down the dreaded nor-virus or whatever germs are floating around, and it does not inconvenience anyone, in my opinion.

 

I don't understand any complaint about the use of servers as it all seems to be positive to have servers dishing out our food.

 

Besides the hygienic value, with the servers, Terrace does not leave the impression of a meal in an "Old Country Buffet" restaurant (not that we've ever eaten in one of those). It slows things down, so there isn't this mad rush for offerings. No bun fight atmosphere that I've seen on some mass market lines. It is one of the reasons while we will pay more for a lesser cabin on O, than booking a higher cabin on a mass market.

Edited August 18, 2015 by buggins0402

[Pet Nit Noy]

...Oceania as well as most other cruise lines try to imply that you must book through them in order to get a VISA. This is simply NOT TRUE. Nearly every tour company can obtain the necessary documentation for you.

 

I've just spend an unproductive half hour searching the Northern Europe and Baltics Board for a thread that included an interesting exchange about the way cruise companies scare people into taking the ship's tours in St Petersburg. A cruiser posted the actual email that Oceania sent him before his cruise on Marina. It was a masterful use of language because the words in the email were absolutely true, and yet any reasonable reader would come to a completely wrong conclusion. The explanation portrayed the situation as one of two options only: go through the hassle of getting an independent visa or breezing into the country visa free by taking a ship's tour. Of course, the email completely ignored the option of touring with a private licensed company. With this third option, guests enter Russia just as visa free as ship's tour guests.

 

Maybe someone can have better luck finding this email. It really is a perfect example of using language to confuse people without actively saying anything wrong.

[Iamthesea]

The last sentence in this post certainly changes the message you wrote earlier. Any reasonable person reading post #41 must conclude that you have good sanitary practices and that you prefer serving yourself because you're left handed. Now, you may have always known the other piece of the message -- "you will not get any argument out of me if the cruiselines policy is to serve the passenger!" -- but that's not what you wrote.

 

The OP asked how we felt about being served, and I simply answered that I prefer to serve myself. Oh, and I am not left handed. I only use my left hand to serve myself to lesson the risk of germs to mouth. I also use hand sanitizer, again, before eating my meal.;)

 

Just out of curiosity, are you cruising O ships primarily? On the R ships, I've never found the lines at the Terrace stations to be an issue. If I have to wait for one person to be served, that doesn't even cross my radar screen. (The only place where I have noticed occasionally bothersome lines is at the omelette station. Otherwise nothing I've ever experienced at the Terrace rises to the level of "really difficult." And as for the omelette situation, if there's a line, I simply change my breakfast plans that day. Lots of good eating options every meal, every day.)

 

We have never cruise with Oceania. February will be a first. It's not really the waiting to be served that bothers me. It's the waiting in line with other people that may be hacking, sneezing, breathing on my plate! LOL

[brumagin1]

What a fabulous first day in St. Petersburg - exhausting but fabulous! There is just so much to see, to learn, to experience. Our tour guide and driver were just unbelievable - how the driver got into the tiniest spaces and was always there for us and how our guide bypassed all the lines so that we never had a wait. Apparently there are three stages to the hierarchy - those who are not in a group; those who are in a group; and those who have private tour guides. We just zipped by all the group tours and there were even special entrances and elevators with no one else there.

 

As far as the places we visited (Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral, Church of Spilled Blood, Hermitage Museum, Nevsky Prospect, Jewish Synagogue, plus the harbor and other places I don't remember their names) my head was spinning with the opulence and the number of famous paintings, the history of the Czars, their intrigue, creativeness and deaths. We have SO many pictures! Even though I transferred all of them to my iPad, posting them online will be a whole different project.

 

We were exhausted by the end of the day, but I am sure tomorrow we will be refreshed for more.]

 

 

 

What tour company ae you using in St. Petersurg?

[artbcpa]

What tour company ae you using in St. Petersurg?

 

We are using Insider Tour.

[babysteps]

artbcpa, thanks for the live blogging! My folks are doing an O cruise in the Baltics this month, so fun to follow along :) We very much enjoyed our own Baltics cruise a few years ago.

 

We have never cruise with Oceania. February will be a first. It's not really the waiting to be served that bothers me. It's the waiting in line with other people that may be hacking, sneezing, breathing on my plate! LOL

 

My husband really enjoys Terraces, so we eat there pretty frequently when on board (especially when the weather is conducive to sitting outside). Suffice to say we haven't found Terraces uncomfortably crowded - but some times are is busier than others. Each cruise has its own rhythm. Some folks don't care for Terraces and "never" eat there, which is also an option!

 

In an effort to offer more info to those who haven't been on O before, I would describe Terraces as much more like the cocktail hour at a lavish wedding than it is like a commercial buffet restaurant or potluck dinner (or NYC subway rush hour...). And there is certainly a higher station-to-guest ratio than any wedding I've been to :) But that might be my selection of weddings ;) I am sure others will have better descriptive powers!

 

In our experience, breakfast at a popular port where seemingly 'everyone' is grabbing a bite at once before heading ashore is the most likely to be a busy time at Terraces. Not every port (more like 1-in-4ish?), so we don't worry about it ahead of time. Other options include GDR (they have an 'express' option), Waves, room service, Baristas breakfast pastries...

 

Some cruises there is a predictable dinner rush hour time in Terraces, other cruises not so much. Other dinner options include another pre-dinner libation to wait out the rush, GDR, room service...

 

These are "high class" problems :)

[artbcpa]

We are now in our last full day of the cruise. Tomorrow we disembark in Stockholm. I had a long discussion with Ellie last night about our impressions of Oceania and it was so interesting that even with us there was a difference in our perception; so hopefully it will be helpful if I relate both of our opinions and you can see how even one couple can have different views.

 

First of all both of us were very impressed with the attitude and effort made by the staff of Oceania. When things go wrong (and they do) the staff was attentive and did their best to make it right with a very caring attitude. This is not always true. We have been on cruises where the company personnel stuck by the company line and were very defensive and we have also encountered situations where nobody with any authority could be found to speak with. So kudos to Oceania in this day and age where customer service has really taken a tumble.

 

Having said that, Ellie was disappointed at the number of things that did go wrong or were not up to the standards of a cruise line with a reputation like Oceania's. As I said in the beginning of my thread, I try to come into a new situation without preconceived perceptions. So I was not as disappointed in things like the stains on the carpet, the broken room safe, appointments messed up by the spa, meat that was undercooked or items served not as ordered.

 

We were both extremely pleased by the quality of the production shows. Ellie felt that the balance of the of the entertainers were not of the caliber we have become used to seeing on our previous cruises. We were surprised at how many passengers we spoke with who had not attended any of the shows. Some were dismissive in that entertainment is not their thing (totally understandable), but others just didn't get around to it and were sorry they had not made the effort to attend when they heard the reviews from us and many others. Similarly, we happened to walk by the quartet one day and were so sorry we had not made more effort to hear them. They were wonderful. On such a short cruise with so much to do, it is so difficult to know about everything that is going on.

 

While we loved the attitude and friendliness of the staff, the number of service people who did not have command of the English language was also surprising. That is something we expect when we are ashore, but not on our ship. We have not run into this before on any other cruise line.

 

Embarkation went extremely smoothly. In fact it went smoothly in nearly every port; so if anyone has experienced the problems of hour long waits to embark and disembark, Oceania has conquered this issue. The only backup was in St. Petersburg and that was beyond their control.

 

We have previously discussed our opinions about the food. On this both Ellie and I agree. The quality and consistency of the food does not match the high rating of a 5 1/2 star ship.

 

With regard to the excursions, Ellie and I each took only one of the ships excursions; so I don't think we are qualified to give any kind of overall judgement on them. We did speak to many of the passengers about their experiences. Their reaction seemed to be consistent with what we have found on other cruise lines. The quality and consistency just does not match the high prices.

 

I have to reiterate my surprise and happiness over the payouts at the casino. Just about everyone we spoke with had had some success. Whether you win or lose, you would like to at least get something back to keep up the excitement and fun. We actually ended up making money on both the slots and roulette. Many ships have outside concession that run their casinos. On Oceania, the casinos are run in-house.

 

We both loved the itinerary and every single port we went to. So my overall opinion is very positive, while I would rate Ellie's as more guarded.

 

Hopefully this thread will be of some assistance to someone who is considering going on a Baltic cruise and our assessment of our experience on Oceania will provide some guidance of what to expect. As you can see, though, even within our single family we had a difference of opinion.

[LHT28]

The casino is just recently switched to in-house but glad to hear you can make some money there now :D

 

The CURRENTS daily newsletter tell you what & where something is going on each day

I am amazed at the number of people who do not read it

One lady found Afternoon tea the last day of a 14 day cruise & asked if they only did this on the last day of the cruise as it would have been nice on a sea day ...DUH!!!

Edited August 20, 2015 by LHT28

[ORV]

Thank you for your well balanced and clear review and live reports.

[Iamthesea]

Thank you for your well balanced and clear review and live reports.

 

The same from me! Your last post was very informative. ;)

 

The casino is just recently switched to in-house but glad to hear you can make some money there now :D

 

The CURRENTS daily newsletter tell you what & where something is going on each day

I am amazed at the number of people who do not read it

One lady found Afternoon tea the last day of a 14 day cruise & asked if they only did this on the last day of the cruise as it would have been nice on a sea day ...DUH!!!

 

I had given up on playing the slots because it was not much fun anymore. I am looking forward to trying my luck with Oceania. :D

 

I am the type that carries the highlighter with me and mark over anything that interest me for the day.

 

babysteps - I imagine that the stations are much like Celebrity Cruises, only the venue may be a bit smaller. ;)

 

artbcpa mentioned embarkation being smooth. This reminded me that I saw on my reservation that there was a certain time that we can arrive at the port. I cannot remember that time at the moment, but I'd like to know just how does embarkation work with Oceania? Can you arrive at the port earlier, even though you may have to sit quite awhile? We have a standard Verandah stateroom.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Iamthesea

[canuck.qc]

artbcpa: your review was very well written. thanks for taking the time.

[newbie60]

[quote name=I

 

artbcpa mentioned embarkation being smooth. This reminded me that I saw on my reservation that there was a certain time that we can arrive at the port. I cannot remember that time at the moment' date=' but I'd like to know just how does embarkation work with Oceania? Can you arrive at the port earlier, even though you may have to sit quite awhile? We have a standard Verandah stateroom.[/quote]

 

The blue brochure that you will receive 30-45 days before your cruise will tell you what time you can board. Sometimes you will get on earlier, but that is a crap shoot. Cabins are ready for occupancy based on cabin category - the higher suites are ready earliest, then PH, then Concierge, then Veranda. So, you will probably be sitting somewhere! But it you get on board, you can sit in leisure with a nice beverage.

[Iamthesea]

Thank you! Any ideas about the time that Verandahs usually board? We need to arrange our transportation from our FT. Lauderdale hotel to Miami. ;) If the time is late afternoon, then we may pay extra to use the hotels facilities until time to leave for Miami.