Oceana thoughts

[annieuk]

We are coming to the end of two weeks on Oceana, in sunny Corsica today. We have eaten every evening in the Adriatic Restaurant, club dining, second sitting. I must say we as a table have thought that the food was certainly good and sometimes excellent. I have had the sirloin steak on several occasions, always ask for it rare and it's been really juicy and tender. If people want more vegetables, potatoes or whatever they only have to ask. I had a really good fish dish of halibut which was excellent. On a couple of occasions I have found it difficult to choose, sometimes because I can't eat cheese, and on those times have had the steak. The waiters seem determined to make sure our puddings are fantastic, they are bringing extra ice cream around every evening. We had the gala menu a couple of nights ago and I had the Beef Wellington which was excellent.

I do wonder if there is any difference between club and freedom dining - some people have said they think the food on club is better - same menu. I don't know about this as we've only ever done club. I certainly don't think anyone from our table would want to go up to the buffet because they are hungry, most of us have found it difficult to find room for the little extras at the end, even some of the truffles were left!

We have enjoyed our cruise, I'll post a fuller review when I get home.

[nomadgirluk]

Do P&O still do that....come round the MDR with a questionnaire on the 3rd night? I have asked the question before but haven't had an answer. So not sure if it is now standard procedure or if it was that the food was so dire.

 

 

We were not given a questionnaire at any point, other than the end of cruise form which is left in your cabin.

[StLucia]

We are due to go on Oceana Genoa to Venice in July. I really regret booking this cruise, no we did not book a late saver, made the mistake of booking early. Have thought of cancelling but now it's to late. Will never book early again as there are much nicer ships doing similar ports.

 

We will make the best of it and hope to have a better time than we did last October on Brittania. At least we know the ports will be lovely and the sun should be shining.

[Pennbank]

We are due to go on Oceana Genoa to Venice in July. I really regret booking this cruise, no we did not book a late saver, made the mistake of booking early. Have thought of cancelling but now it's to late. Will never book early again as there are much nicer ships doing similar ports.

 

We will make the best of it and hope to have a better time than we did last October on Brittania. At least we know the ports will be lovely and the sun should be shining.

 

If you thought Britannia was bad, then booked Oceana Then good luck !

I thought Britannia was excellent, compared to Ventura and what I have heard about Oceana

Edited May 17, 2016 by Pennbank

[Solent Richard]

I would be surprised if there are any Italians - it will be all Brits

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

We did a similar itinerary the year before last when Ventura was plying between Venice-Genoa - Venice and that was definitely all British.

 

I might add that it was also a great cruise considering the price we paid last minute...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2014/06/09/ventura-a-perfect-fly-cruise-med-break/

 

 

As far as I'm concerned P&O does what it says on the tin. Go with the right attitude and have a great time.

 

What did amuse me greatly was the 'Great British Sailaway' from the 'French' port of Ajaccio...

 

[Solent Richard]

We are due to go on Oceana Genoa to Venice in July. I really regret booking this cruise, no we did not book a late saver, made the mistake of booking early. Have thought of cancelling but now it's to late. Will never book early again as there are much nicer ships doing similar ports.

 

We will make the best of it and hope to have a better time than we did last October on Brittania. At least we know the ports will be lovely and the sun should be shining.

 

Good morning St. Lucia.

 

Could you possibly elaborate on why you regret booking this cruise.

 

I have a future booking on Oceana and would be interested to hear your views.

 

I would add the caveat that we also had an excellent time on Britannia...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2015/03/30/britannia-the-maiden-cruise/

 

...so we may have differing expectations/cruising ethos.

 

[Solent Richard]

We are coming to the end of two weeks on Oceana, in sunny Corsica today. We have eaten every evening in the Adriatic Restaurant, club dining, second sitting. I must say we as a table have thought that the food was certainly good and sometimes excellent. I have had the sirloin steak on several occasions, always ask for it rare and it's been really juicy and tender. If people want more vegetables, potatoes or whatever they only have to ask. I had a really good fish dish of halibut which was excellent. On a couple of occasions I have found it difficult to choose, sometimes because I can't eat cheese, and on those times have had the steak. The waiters seem determined to make sure our puddings are fantastic, they are bringing extra ice cream around every evening. We had the gala menu a couple of nights ago and I had the Beef Wellington which was excellent.

I do wonder if there is any difference between club and freedom dining - some people have said they think the food on club is better - same menu. I don't know about this as we've only ever done club. I certainly don't think anyone from our table would want to go up to the buffet because they are hungry, most of us have found it difficult to find room for the little extras at the end, even some of the truffles were left!

We have enjoyed our cruise, I'll post a fuller review when I get home.

 

What excellent news.

 

I'm so pleased to hear your valid comments particularly about the waiters, their attitude and the food quality overall.

 

I've always appreciated P&O's waiters, the majority of whom are recruited from the Indian Sub-Continent. They have what I consider an excellent table manner and tradition of unobtrusive service.

[Solent Richard]

If you thought Britannia was bad, then booked Oceana Then good luck !

I thought Britannia was excellent, compared to Ventura and what I have heard about Oceana

 

 

As I said above, so did I...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2015/03/30/britannia-the-maiden-cruise/

 

Right down to the personal greeting my wife and I received...

 

 

;)

[jaxw17]

We have just got off the ship today and have enjoyed our cruise even though we had some bad weather that is not the cruise lines fault.

This was our 12th cruise, our second on P and O. The first was Ventura and I would not sail on her again.

I found the portions to be okay and I never had a sweet. If you did want more it was available as someone on our table did.

I cant comment on the entertainment as we did not go to any of the shows. There was a Russian singer who was a joke she sang with such a strong accent.

Whilst the food was not fabulous it was good and cooked well. We went on Thomson Dream in December and they tried to kill us at every turn with raw and partially cooked food !!!

[Pee0305]

We have just returned from 2 weeks on board Oceana. The only complaint we had about the food was on the morning we breakfasted in Ligurian. Everything was served barely warm. Not an experience we risked again so had breakfast every other morning in the Plaza where everything was hot, including the plates and cutlery. Meal portion sizes, in our opinion, were just right. We prefer to have smaller portions with the option of asking for extras rather than large meals and seeing a lot of waste.

 

I have just submitted a full review if anyone's interested :p

[Presto2]

We have just returned from 2 weeks on board Oceana. The only complaint we had about the food was on the morning we breakfasted in Ligurian. Everything was served barely warm. Not an experience we risked again so had breakfast every other morning in the Plaza where everything was hot, including the plates and cutlery. Meal portion sizes, in our opinion, were just right. We prefer to have smaller portions with the option of asking for extras rather than large meals and seeing a lot of waste.

 

I have just submitted a full review if anyone's interested :p

 

Thanks, good to read than someone had a good holiday on her. Like you we prefer smaller portions than having to leave so much food (as I do on Celebrity).

Off to read your review now. :)

[Solent Richard]

We are coming to the end of two weeks on Oceana, in sunny Corsica today. We have eaten every evening in the Adriatic Restaurant, club dining, second sitting. I must say we as a table have thought that the food was certainly good and sometimes excellent. I have had the sirloin steak on several occasions, always ask for it rare and it's been really juicy and tender. If people want more vegetables, potatoes or whatever they only have to ask. I had a really good fish dish of halibut which was excellent. On a couple of occasions I have found it difficult to choose, sometimes because I can't eat cheese, and on those times have had the steak. The waiters seem determined to make sure our puddings are fantastic, they are bringing extra ice cream around every evening. We had the gala menu a couple of nights ago and I had the Beef Wellington which was excellent.

I do wonder if there is any difference between club and freedom dining - some people have said they think the food on club is better - same menu. I don't know about this as we've only ever done club. I certainly don't think anyone from our table would want to go up to the buffet because they are hungry, most of us have found it difficult to find room for the little extras at the end, even some of the truffles were left!

We have enjoyed our cruise, I'll post a fuller review when I get home.

 

Good morning Annie.

 

I shall look forward to your review.

 

I have just read Pee's and thought it very valuable, factual and precise and exactly what i would expect from a P&O cruise.

 

I guess some of us go with P&O to enjoy ourselves and the company.

 

I always get the impression that seasoned P&O cruisers set out with the intention of enjoyment.

Edited May 23, 2016 by Solent Richard

[Solent Richard]

We have just returned from 2 weeks on board Oceana. The only complaint we had about the food was on the morning we breakfasted in Ligurian. Everything was served barely warm. Not an experience we risked again so had breakfast every other morning in the Plaza where everything was hot, including the plates and cutlery. Meal portion sizes, in our opinion, were just right. We prefer to have smaller portions with the option of asking for extras rather than large meals and seeing a lot of waste.

 

I have just submitted a full review if anyone's interested :p

 

Hi there Pee.

 

Just read your excellent review. Thank you for taking the time to write such a concise and comprehensive review.

 

It mad me look forward to my upcoming Oceana cruise all the more.

[nomadgirluk]

Good morning Annie.

 

I guess some of us go with P&O to enjoy ourselves and the company.

 

I always get the impression that seasoned P&O cruisers set out with the intention of enjoyment.

 

We always go with the intention of enjoying ourselves, wherever we might be, and we did enjoy our time on Oceana. However, we do not have rose tinted glasses and certainly no affiliation or loyalty to one particular cruise line. There were many positives about our cruise, but also some negatives, most of which have been borne out by a number of other CC members.

[annieuk]

Surely if someone posts comments about a cruise that they have been on, that is how they saw and experienced the cruise - two people can be on the same cruise and have a completely different experience. Different people think different things are important. The review I posted of our Oceana cruise was how I experienced it - not someone else. We have never been on a 'bad' cruise in the 22 cruises we have done - not all P&O. Yes maybe there were a few things on occasion that could be been improved but that doesn't mean we didn't enjoy ourselves. In all those cruises there has only been once that we had to go to Reception about something that had occurred and that was dealt with within 24 hours to our satisfaction.

 

Oh and I don't believe we use Rose tinted spectacles.

[anniebea]

I'm doing the Venice to Genoa Cruise on Oceania on 8th June. I chose it because of the ports it stops at, not because of the particular ship.

 

I've never been with P&O before but am going to with an open mind and an intention to have a relaxing holiday. I agree that reviewing a cruise is very subjective, two people can go on the same cruise and have very different experiences.

 

I know it will be mostly Brits on board, but that's not a problem.

[Presto2]

I'm doing the Venice to Genoa Cruise on Oceania on 8th June. I chose it because of the ports it stops at, not because of the particular ship.

 

I've never been with P&O before but am going to with an open mind and an intention to have a relaxing holiday. I agree that reviewing a cruise is very subjective, two people can go on the same cruise and have very different experiences.

 

I know it will be mostly Brits on board, but that's not a problem.

 

We did the Venice to Genoa part last April and it was a magical week. We loved it so much that within weeks of returning we booked the 2 week Genoa to Genoa for this coming August. Ok the ship isn't new but we loved our cabin and everything about Oceana. Have a great time.

[Solent Richard]

We always go with the intention of enjoying ourselves, wherever we might be, and we did enjoy our time on Oceana. However, we do not have rose tinted glasses and certainly no affiliation or loyalty to one particular cruise line. There were many positives about our cruise, but also some negatives, most of which have been borne out by a number of other CC members.

 

Surely if someone posts comments about a cruise that they have been on, that is how they saw and experienced the cruise - two people can be on the same cruise and have a completely different experience. Different people think different things are important. The review I posted of our Oceana cruise was how I experienced it - not someone else. We have never been on a 'bad' cruise in the 22 cruises we have done - not all P&O. Yes maybe there were a few things on occasion that could be been improved but that doesn't mean we didn't enjoy ourselves. In all those cruises there has only been once that we had to go to Reception about something that had occurred and that was dealt with within 24 hours to our satisfaction.

 

Oh and I don't believe we use Rose tinted spectacles.

 

Thank you both for your comments. As regards rose tinted glasses and affiliations I think a quick perusal of my signature box will speak volumes.

 

Having said that i have never had a bad cruise with either P&O or Cunard, probably because I go with the right frame of mind and don't mind spending a few bob when I'm onboard.

Edited May 27, 2016 by Solent Richard

[Mysticalmother]

Thank you both for your comments. As regards rose tinted glasses and affiliations I think a quick perusal of my signature box will speak volumes.

 

 

Hmmm, you've done a few havent you! Lol!::D

[zanderfish]

We went on Oceana last year Venice-Venice and had an absolutely fabulous time. Liking the look of the 2017 summer itineraries so I'm sure we will be on her again soon.

 

This summer we are on Azura. I'm sure we will have an equally fabulous time!

[Solent Richard]

We went on Oceana last year Venice-Venice and had an absolutely fabulous time. Liking the look of the 2017 summer itineraries so I'm sure we will be on her again soon.

 

This summer we are on Azura. I'm sure we will have an equally fabulous time!

 

I'm sure you will.

 

We have had two great cruises on Azura.

 

Do give my best wishes to this chap...

 

Edited May 30, 2016 by Solent Richard

[tokyo]

Jose is now at a big club. Red Army. :eek: