P&o oceana -oct 2016 from venice

[ALLSTU]

Hi Fellow Cruisers,

just booked ( early special saver fare) 2 outside cabins for my wife & I plus two friends on the P & O Liner Oceana. This is a Med cruise from Venice returning to Genoa departing 12th October 2016.

There seems no threads or info , so it might be lonely !

Naturally its early days with a year in advance.

Anybody cruised on this before any interesting items to share? Lets chat

regards Stew (ALLSTU):)

[Hob123]

Hi,

We have just returned from the med cruise.we did Venice to Venice.the cruise you would be on is our 2nd week.we enjoyed every minute.just to mention the ship,yes it's a little bit dated but it does everything right in our opinion.from the staff to the food.if there is any questions you would like to ask regarding destinations or ship etc,will try and answer.a long wait for you but I am sure it's well worth it!:

 

Regards,John.:p

[ALLSTU]

Hi John, thanks for your response- we are 4 FIT Seniors !! Thought we would try P & O as we had a poor experience on the Celebration Equinox - fab ship but in Feb this year it was full of Americans and Canadians who all seemed to be infirm and sick ( slight exaggeration ) plus the ship had Norovirus as it docked in F.Lauderdale !!! Suffice to say apart from my wife we all became very sick too with our friends ending up in the ships hospital!!

Very seldom ill in the UK so we said never an American ship again !!

Plus we waited 2.5 hours in a custom shed feeling awful just to leave the port , in the EU this will be much easier & reviews all say how great embarkation & debarkation was ace!!

This cruise popped up on my search engine on the net, just a 7 day cruise with nice itinerary at an incredible price of £665 ea inc flights & transfers, so we grabbed it quick , next Oct will come round quickly enough !!

We know how to do Rome on the train its circa 11euros on the train direct to St Piere, but don't know much re: the other ports .

Re: Venice it could be we arrive from the UK early & it appears from reviews that Oceana doesn't sail until late in the evening thus we may once booked in be able to have a quick pm look at the city ? How did you find it ?

The reviews are so mixed some saying it was the worst possible cruise with rust everywhere ,poor entertainment ,& poor food , most of the others say it was fantastic and some said best cruise ever !!! I guess you always have the moaners but I always think set price against quality and if its reasonable - be happy , after all we are not on Cunard paying circa £2k each eh? We shall see eh? , re: tips was it circa £4 pp per day ? If so that's very fair. Did you eat in any of the celeb pay restaurants & were they worth the extra ? Quite a few points there John - sorry . all the best Stewart.:)

[Hob123]

Hi Stewart,

First of all we flew from Birmingham to Venice at 6.15am so we was on board before lunch,we had a bite to eat then had plenty of time to explore Venice.yes the ship does not set sail until late in the evening.our favourite destination was kotor,the approach to the town is breathtaking scenery!

Regarding the ship,we read mixed reviews but don't worry we found most things perfect from the friendly staff & food.we did find the entertainment only average.

We never went on 'the ships' excursions,even their shuttle service.we found them pretty expensive.did it all on our own & never came unstuck!

If you want any Pacific questions don't hesitate to ask?

 

Regards,John.

[Presto2]

Hi Fellow Cruisers,

just booked ( early special saver fare) 2 outside cabins for my wife & I plus two friends on the P & O Liner Oceana. This is a Med cruise from Venice returning to Genoa departing 12th October 2016.

There seems no threads or info , so it might be lonely !

Naturally its early days with a year in advance.

Anybody cruised on this before any interesting items to share? Lets chat

regards Stew (ALLSTU):)

 

You've booked a fabulous ship and a great itinerary! We did the Venice to Genoa part in April and loved every single minute and we booked the Genoa to Genoa version for August 2016. Love Oceana - she may not be the newest ship but the atrium is the best we've ever seen on any ship and we just love her (rust and all).

 

We did a day in Venice on our own - the day we flew in to the ship

Kotor - make sure that you get up early for the sail in and visit this stunning town

Corfu - did the P&O day visit and loved the meal at the farmhouse

Civitavecchia - we stayed on the ship and it was sooooo peaceful

 

You will have a great time - enjoy

[m6moy]

We did the same cruise in July, weather was glorious. Arrived in time to do Venice, just got to ship and dumped hand luggage in cabin and got the water taxi in. Kotorl was a lovely visit and great sceneries, Corfu walked around the old town and stopped to watch the passing people. Went to Rome and got the trip on the bus, seeing a lot of the sights, which as the weather was over 40 deg, was great as too hot to walk around. Monte Carlo was great as usual as been before, Prince Rainers motor museum very interesting to see and of course all the yachts. We have walked the F1 course before and the tour is very good. Enjoy your holiday.

[ALLSTU]

Hi Guy's , thanks for positive info , much appreciated - sounds we have something very nice to look forward to . Regards Stewart.

[seat1f]

We will be on this cruise Stew. We were due to sail on 9 September this year but we had to cancel due to DW being quite ill. We had booked an aft full suite and I hope the upgrade fairy was kind to someone. Pando were not as magnanimous as I had hoped when we cancelled after the customer services lady had hinted we could transfer the booking to a new date. But after being put on hold for a minute, I assume she consulted a supervisor, she informed me it was not possible. Despite my initial upset, I have decided to book on your cruise. This was to be our first ever cruise and we have read every word on this site for over a year. We had even toured the ship in Southampton last February, guided round by the fantastic Elaine. See you in Venice, hopefully!

Edited September 24, 2015 by seat1f

[ALLSTU]

Hello Seat 1f - (sorry don't have name)

Sounds good !! There doesn't seem to be a roll call as yet ,probably too early, Oct' 16 does seem a long way off eh ?

So what did you think of the ship close up, there are so many dodgy reviews but also loads of good ones so I still feel confident it will be a nice cruise & for what we paid I will not be complaining .

You certainly have a great cabin by the sounds of it .We may get an upgrade but that's probably wishful thinking on our part !! We were going to have a balcony but our friends have had very unusual financial medical problems with their daughter so we thought best to have a outside cabin otherwise don't think they would have afforded this cruise

We were the same 4 paz that went on the Equinox from F.Lauderdale with the disastrous results this year in Feb/March( if you read my earlier post )!!

Am I correct in thinking you lost all your £££ & no refund from P&O - but perhaps your insurance covered it eh? Are you close to Southampton thus the tour of Oceana - we are in Kent (Broadstairs) Hope to meet up in due course think we are pretty normal (non smoker) folk who enjoy good cuisine ,Gn'Ts & quality wine - just returned from a wine trip in the Mosel Germany the wine bought there is quite superb as are the people & the area - just hope Angela Merkal hasn't spoilt Germany & the German culture by intense migration - time will tell !!

If your thinking of a trip to Rome -The Vatican - do not buy a ship excursion ,last time we were on the JADE they wanted circa $240 each - we went by train - half mile walk to station for $11 each inc the bus & tube in Rome ,we saw most of everything & will do it again , + we were back on board in plenty of time prior to sailing - we were at a service & the POPE blessed us from 10 yards away - very nice feeling !!

The ships excursion missed the service too much traffic on the Mway ,& returned 1.5 hrs late , but naturally the ship waited for them - what a RIP OFF eh?

All the best Stewart & Brenda .

ps just received conformation paper work yippee !!

[bee-ess]

 

If your thinking of a trip to Rome -The Vatican - do not buy a ship excursion ,last time we were on the JADE they wanted circa $240 each - we went by train - half mile walk to station for $11 each inc the bus & tube in Rome ,we saw most of everything & will do it again , + we were back on board in plenty of time prior to sailing - we were at a service & the POPE blessed us from 10 yards away - very nice feeling !!

 

I don't know how long ago you did this or if you know that the port drop off shuttle now drops off in town and not at the port gates. This means that the walk to the station is much longer. Sorry if you already knew this but if not maybe you should check it out before deciding on your transport to Rome.

Edited September 25, 2015 by bee-ess

[PopsiB]

Hi Stewart,

First of all we flew from Birmingham to Venice at 6.15am so we was on board before lunch,we had a bite to eat then had plenty of time to explore Venice.yes the ship does not set sail until late in the evening.our favourite destination was kotor,the approach to the town is breathtaking scenery!

Regarding the ship,we read mixed reviews but don't worry we found most things perfect from the friendly staff & food.we did find the entertainment only average.

We never went on 'the ships' excursions,even their shuttle service.we found them pretty expensive.did it all on our own & never came unstuck!

If you want any Pacific questions don't hesitate to ask?

 

Regards,John.

 

Hi John. (Hob123)

 

We sail from Venice on Wednesday and will be on the same flight from Birmingham that you were on. Due to land at 9.25am. Did you have much waiting to board the ship and are you able to use the cabin and safe? I would like to go into Venice but don't want to carry around my valuables etc. Your information on here has been useful so thank you for that.

 

June

[Hob123]

Hi Stewart,

You will find that boarding the ship is well organised and efficient.we went to our cabin very quickly where you can settle in and use your easy to use 'safe'.then went to the plaza restaurant for a bite to eat then explored Venice.(plenty of time).

 

Regards,John.

[PopsiB]

Hi Stewart,

You will find that boarding the ship is well organised and efficient.we went to our cabin very quickly where you can settle in and use your easy to use 'safe'.then went to the plaza restaurant for a bite to eat then explored Venice.(plenty of time).

 

Regards,John.

 

Thank you very much John, that's such a relief. :)