Please join us - Spain to the New World on a new ship - LIVE from Oceania Riviera

[ronrick1943]

Since you have a butler, he or she will put the luggage on the bed---and if you want will unpack it for you---same when you depart---they will pack it for you.

[kazu]

a quick try - I am hoping to find wifi tomorrow and report. I tried last night and although it said it took, it doesn't appear to have sigh.

 

Thanks so much LH for answering the question and I will try to report shortly. Sorry, internet is really bad right now no matter where you go. Hopefully tomorrow is another day.

[Mura]

Oceania calls then PH other lines call them PS just a different letter designation

 

Right, PH for Penthouse rather than PS for Penthouse SUITE. I was puzzled at first as well but figured it out.

 

It reminds me of when Marina first came out and we were talking about the Oceania Suite and some people referred to it as an "OS" which is technically the abbreviation for the Owner's Suite. A slight difference ... both categories are very large!

 

Mura

[LHT28]

a quick try - I am hoping to find wifi tomorrow and report. I tried last night and although it said it took, it doesn't appear to have sigh.

 

Thanks so much LH for answering the question and I will try to report shortly. Sorry, internet is really bad right now no matter where you go. Hopefully tomorrow is another day.

I hope the problem get fixed

I do not think it has been that bad in a yr or so

[TERRIER1]

a quick try - I am hoping to find wifi tomorrow and report. I tried last night and although it said it took, it doesn't appear to have sigh.

 

Thanks so much LH for answering the question and I will try to report shortly. Sorry, internet is really bad right now no matter where you go. Hopefully tomorrow is another day.

 

When we were on our Grand Voyage I was not always getting a signal in my cabin. I went to the computer room and I was okay. I asked the tech there and he said to move my PC closer to the window. I said the desk is right at the window but I did as I was told and I eventually got a signal. The signal is very sensitive so you may want to try this. Also, I got a better connection at sea than in port - go figure.

Edited November 22, 2015 by TERRIER1

[kazu]

thanks all. We are in Madeira at a restaurant and I probably have limited time as we are touring, but I have been trying different spots for internet.

 

It gets frustrating as it says it has posted and then it's not there and sometimes it is when it says it hasn't.

 

Anyways, I am going to keep on trying and hopefully will have time at the port at the end of the tour as well.

 

Leejnd, the butler will help you make additional specialty restaurant reservations, provides you with your mini bar refills, requests and ice.

 

He takes care of the in service dining breakfast, room service and even the orders from the specialty restaurants. I couldn't find a carafe for hot water in the Terrace Grill (a cup wasn't going to do) so I ended up calling him again last night. He immediately asked me if I wanted lemon and honey. I thanked him when he came and apologized for calling in the later evening and he said he was glad I did.

 

Apparently he is concerned that we are not using him enough.

 

Now that I can read the thread - to see what posted and what didn't and where I left off.

 

I shall return :)

 

Others have pretty much given up letting people know they will not be emailing, face booking whatever due to internet issues.

[kazu]

Our first port was Cartagena in Spain. I had a private tour booked with Ignacio for 15 of us. We were heading to Murcia to see the lovely Moorish city and then returning to Cartagena to see the Carthin/Roman city.

 

Murcia is an ancient city with one of the few sacred Cathedrals in the World (by the Vatican).

Our port arrival time had changed again and we were back to the original earlier time (yay) and my guide had emailed me that he had seen this and we would start the tour earlier.

 

Everyone met like clock work and we were off. Alas, no guide. Panic set in as the organizer. Where was he? I called him on his cell (later found out he had emailed me that morning) and sadly there had been an accident on the highway. He asked me to give him 1/2 an hour. In the meantime, he got inventive.

 

When I called him back, he had a new mini bus ordered which was arriving at our spot in two minutes and told us to get on and he would meet us. Our bus driver stopped on the highway and picked him up!!!!! right after the accident which we could see the other way.

 

oops, time to leave, I will be back later..

[kazu]

With our guide now with us, we continued on to beautiful, enchanting Murcia (can you tell I liked it?).

 

 

the bridge above and below was considered the road to danger as it led the way to Cartagena. Cartagena was besieged by pirates which is why the Moors settled in Murcia.

 

 

 

do you see the little red candles by the fountain - that is in remembrance of those in Paris. This city feels it deeply as we would discover.

 

 

and then it was time to see the magnificent cathedral...

 

 

Edited November 22, 2015 by kazu

[retiredkid]

what fabulous photos.... and the details at the cathedral are spectacular. thanks so much for sharing.

[gigianne]

We enjoyed the day in Madeira with Kazu, Skippers Mom and Torboy. What a wonderful island - probably our most favourite port of the cruise. Enjoying our first Oceania experience. Our PH is awesome - we have an excellent cabin steward and an attentive butler. He stops by daily to see if we are okay because we don't have too much contact with him - we are low maintenance. Food for the most part is great - a few hiccups. Now we begin our 5 days at sea - looking forward to enjoying what the R has to offer. One thing that needs improvement for sure is the speed and cost of the Internet!

[kazu]

This cathedral is one of the 7 sacred ones of the world. It is in the company of Santiago Compestal & the Vatican!

 

 

 

 

the organ was even playing when we were inside. It was magnificent!

 

 

 

[kazu]

Ok, this church took decades to build so different styles show in different spots as you could see on the front of the church. The detail inside is tremendous and as I was snapping these pictures enraptured with what I saw I saw a deadly flash on my camera - low battery - grrrr. So, I tried to pick and choose. DH thought I should have at least 20 more pics left in my camera. He was WRONG.

 

The outside at the bottom is the earlier portion and you see a multitude of statures telling the biblical stories as that is how the people in the middle ages learned as they could not read. As the decades progressed the styles changed.

 

The inside had different cupolas built in different years, decades even.

 

From the oldest to the newest.

 

 

 

 

then we started our walk of the old town and entered the old palace - when the Moors were finally evicted from here (Murcia was the last stronghold in this area) they moved to Granada and built the Alhambra. The style is the same.

 

 

continued on after that for more lovely views

 

 

[Vict0riann]

I'll be very interested to hear about your tour in Funchal, I was thinking it would be okay as a DIY port using the cable car, but depending on the weather, it might be interesting to see a bit more of the island. Does it look a lot like the Azores?

 

We loved Murcia, too, the Cathedral is amazing, and all the history.

 

Glad you're having a good time! Stay healthy.:)

[ronrick1943]

Great photo's, loving your trip. Looking forward to seeing some of the things/meals on the ship. Rick

[ger_77]

Fabulous photos! I feel like I'm right there with you . . . minus the butler. LOL

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[canuck.qc]

Fabulous photos.

Thank you

[Cruzin Terri]

Jacquie,

Thank you for taking us along with you.

 

I hope you post some pictures of the interior of the ship--especially the PH. We will be in the same cabin on the Marina in August and am interested in the layout of the cabin and how you liked it.

 

Also am interested in your comparison with HAL.

 

Am enjoying your review.

Terri

[sail7seas]

Thanks for the wonderful photos.

 

Any comments about the ship?

Are you pleased with the menus, quality/service in the various dining rooms?

Is the ship to your taste?

[kazu]

YAY! I think I found internet on the ship. Now to see if it works ;)

 

I wanted to try to get some more pics up while I had fast internet as sometimes pics don't load well on the ship.

 

I had fun last night going around and taking pics of the Terrace Grill Buffet and all the staff had great fun posing. It was the first time I saw them all show a bit of joviality.

 

I also met Ray Michaels our CD who apologized he could not make the meet and greet (it wasn't expected) but he plans on coming to our cabin crawl.

 

I have lots of comments/observations/whatever and am taking pictures of the ship to post that may be of interest to some.

 

There will also be more food porn.

 

OK let me see if this works first...

[kazu]

I'll be very interested to hear about your tour in Funchal, I was thinking it would be okay as a DIY port using the cable car, but depending on the weather, it might be interesting to see a bit more of the island. Does it look a lot like the Azores?

 

We loved Murcia, too, the Cathedral is amazing, and all the history.

 

Glad you're having a good time! Stay healthy.:)

 

one of the best tours I have been on (and you KNOW I am fussy).

 

Daniel Madeira taxi tours. Book him early. He's good.

 

The day was breath taking. I will post more details later (maybe even today if internet holds)

 

I had another tour organizer in our group (gigianne) and she was totally thrilled as well.

 

oops - Madeira reminded DH of the Amalfi coast and he liked Madeira better. Said it was the best kept secret out there.

Edited November 23, 2015 by kazu

[kazu]

the picture where you see the purple ribbon is the remembrance ribbon for the people in Paris. There were remembrances everywhere in this city. Truly touching.

 

In frown of the cathedral, every square, very moving.

 

We continued on our walk until we arrived at a square where the locals frequent and there we were to have our lunch. It was a lovely selection of tapas ranging from croquettes, shrimp, paella, and I forget what else. All quite tasty and reasonable. 20 euros for our lunch with our beer, wine, pop, whatever which i thought was more than fair.

 

There was a small flower stall nearby which dated back to the early 1900's and of course kazu had a peak. It seemed a tas pricey so I decided to wait to get my flowers as we still had a bit of walking to do. You know what they say about "if you see it, buy it?". Turned out I would not see another flower stall for the remainder of our port days so, this is one time kazu would not be bringing flowers on the ship. <sigh>

 

I KNEW I should have brought them on in Barcelona, but with all the luggage, etc., I didn't want to be balancing those too.

 

Oh well, the orchids in our room are very lovely - I just have a thing for flowers :)

 

Once our meal was done we headed to meet our bus and back to Cartagena where we proceeded on a small walking tour. Ignacio showed people where to buy wine (who, us???;)) and other points of interest that some wanted.

 

We headed back to the ship with a full day behind us and it was time to get ready for dinner.

[kazu]

Thanks to suggestions I got I gave up on the boards, I gave up on using internet in my room and went hunting this morning while DH was snoozing.

 

I remembered the old days on HAL when internet was spotty and went walking watching for a crew member or officer or someone who seemed very busy on internet. When I reached Waves I saw several and asked one gentleman and he said yes it usually works here and I plunked myself down and tested it.

 

If this holds, I may even be able to bring my thread up to date between today and tomorrow.

 

In real time, this is our first day at sea crossing the pond. It was a tad rocky leaving Madeira last night but things seem to have smoothed out and despite some clouds in the sky, I see the sun peeking through and it is a nice temperature here on deck.

 

It's been a long time since I was not able to use internet in my room so it never crossed my mind that would be the case on O.

 

I will post more later as long as the internet holds :)

[kazu]

Our last port before crossing the pond was Madeira. OMG how can I describe this wonderful island. We docked at Funchal and the port provided a shuttle to the town, but we didn't need it as we had a private tour arranged with Daniel Madeira taxi tours. He is highly rated on tripadvisor and for a very good reason and I will be adding my own kudos to him when I get home.

 

We were scheduled to arrive at 9:00 am so our group of 8 met at 8:45 near Destinations. And along came our CD to ask us what we were waiting for and we said for the ship to be cleared. He told us we could go.

 

Gigianne got a clap from the crew as she was the first person off the ship!

I was second. Our group was the first off the ship and as we walked to meet Daniel we heard the announcement that the ship was cleared and all had a little chuckle. Daniel was there bright and early waiting for us and off we went.

 

The plan was to do one particular area of the island which would have included the Sunday market but Daniel didn't like the looks of the weather there and since the weather can be different in different areas he suggested a different itinerary. We happily put ourselves in his good hands.

 

Funchal is named for the fennel that grew wild there.

 

It is full of peaks and valleys even mini grand canyons so to speak. I took way too many pictures (I made sure my battery was fully charged for today)

 

DH says it reminds him of the Amalfi coast. And he likes this much better.

 

Our first stop was at a lovely view point.

 

 

 

the plants with the orangish flowers are actually aloe vera. Most aloe vera species don't bloom but the ones in Madeira do!

 

 

 

[CruisingCleo]

Beautiful pictures! Looks like a very nice port stop.

We can't wait to board the Riviera next week for our Carribean cruise, but you rare whetting my apetite for a Transatlantic! Maybe in April 2017 when I turn 60, to celebrate?;)

It will be a point of discussion during our upcoming cruise!

 

I also really look forward to your comments and pictures of the ship and the food!

 

Have fun and a safe crossing!

 

Mirjam

[kazu]

then we proceeded to do some serious exploring along winding roads climbing high. Daniel explained that there are many springs in the mountains and the water seeps down through the rock. They have found a way to harness this water (it is good for drinking) and use it for drinking and electricity. Once it has powered the turbines it is then recycled through pipes to irrigate plants. They never run out of water.

 

 

we kept climbing and could start to see some of the valleys and cliffs

 

 

 

 

The area that we are looking at is the Nun's Valley, named because nuns came here originally and founded the location. There are no monasteries or convents on Madeira though. It is thought they lived in houses at the time. Later the nuns moved but the others that came stayed and their generations that followed them continue to live there.