Great Trip on Marina

[frankdp]

First let me say that his is not a full blown review, just a brief overview of our first cruise with Oceania.

 

A little about us to begin, My wife and I, both newly retired 66 year olds love to cruise. For the past 5 years we have found time around our pesky work schedules to sail an average of three times per year so while not cruising legends, we're certainly not rookies. Our previous cruises have been with RCI, Celebrity and Princess, all of which we will not hesitate to sail again.

 

We are Floridians living near Tampa so we can easily drive to four different cruise terminals in the state. Its very nice to not have the extra cost of airfare to factor into a good portion of our travel. Of course sailing out of Florida ports limits our itineraries a bit but we take great pleasure in the shipboard experience and love our sea days. For the past 2 years we have done one cruise per year that were more port intensive and did not depart from a Florida port. Of course the one I'm writing about now and an Alaska cruise tour on RCI Radiance of the Seas, last year.

 

This trip was on Marina from London (Southampton) to Copenhagen. The itinerary began in London. We arrived two days early and stayed at the Rembrandt Hotel in the Kensington area. The first day in we rested a bit and spent a few hours exploring the area close to the hotel. Had a nice pub lunch at a very cool little London pub called A Bunch Of Grapes. Very old and very good pub food. I had bangers and mash and my wife had fish and chips and of course we both enjoyed a pint of a local brew. The next day we did a "London in one day" tour, 10 hours of touring this amazing city by bus and boat on the Thames. Saw a lot but it was very tiring.

 

We got picked up by private car the next morning and made the two hour ride to Southampton to board Marina. This ride was a bit uncomfortable because our driver had the worst case of body odor I've ever encountered. Faith and I each cracked our windows (it was raining) to try to create a cross wind but it didn't help much. Oh well, we were on our way to a cruise ship, we'll get over it.

 

We got to the terminal right around noon and the place looked like bedlam but it went much quicker than I would have guessed. We were checked in and on board by 12:30 and our rooms were ready at 1:30. We had a drink in the casino bar while waiting for the room, our luggage was waiting at our room when we got there. We were on the concierge level and I think that might have helped getting our bags quickly. The stateroom was really nice, quite large with a very large bathroom which had a bathtub and separate shower. I will tell you that the bed and bedding are by far the best we have every slept on on board ship. Really incredible. That evening we ate at the Polo Grill and got our first real taste of Oceania food, and were not disappointed. We both had the filet and lobster tail and loved it. I had the foie gras puff pastry for an app and it was spectacular.

 

While talking food let me address the rest of our dining experience at this time. We ate in all of the specialty restaurants once and in all of hem the service was top notch and the food was very good for the most part. The exception was in Red Ginger where my wife, Faith got the red snapper dish and it was not particularly to her liking or mine. I got the scallop trio which was very good. One of the dining highlights for me was in Jacques, where I got the Dover sole. It was truly one of tastiest fish dishes I've ever had and I highly recommend it.

 

As much as we liked the specialties, the Grand Dining Room is not to be missed. Again great service and the food was very good. As always allow a good two hours for dining in the specialties or GDR. If you are in a bit of a hurry or just don't want to give up two hours of your day don't hesitate to go to the Terrace Cafe. By day five or six I was a bit over the event of GDR and specialties so I quickly learned to love the Terrace. First and foremost it is a served buffet, meaning that a staff member will serve you, meaning no dirty hands on the tongs or serving spoons. Oh and the food and selection is once again very good. Where else can you have a steak, lobster, swordfish steak or a mahi mahi filet grilled to order as you watch?

 

For lunch (or breakfast) don't forget to try Waves Grill, an outdoor (under roof) restaurant near the pool. Great burgers, paninis, hot dogs and salads. They serve a Kobe burger that I had twice. If you like burgers, don't miss this.

 

OK, enough about food, I'm making myself hungry. Day two was in Le Havre. Many folks went to Paris but we opted for a private tour of the Normandy beaches and the American Cemetery. This day was very close to the highlight of my trip, so moving. It was hard to imagine this beautiful beach that I was standing on was awash in the blood of allied soldiers, sailors and Marines 72 years ago. And the cemetery with the long line of crosses and Stars of David stood perfectly straight and upright like the men they signify did so many years ago. Thank you to Susan and Chris who made this tour happen and best wishes to them, their son Jack and daughter Katie and to Tom and Caroline, also on the tour.

 

Day three was in Zeebrugge Belgium. We did a panoramic tour of Ghent. What a beautiful city with it's spectacular town square and he gilded centuries old buildings. We had a "walking around" Belgian waffle here. This is a very light and fluffy waffle with a sugar coating. Very easy to handle and eat while walking.

 

Day four was Antwerp Belgium where we took a bus tour to Brussels a large, metropolitan city with a ton of old world charm. In Brussels we went to a cafe where we could sit and enjoy the other kind of Belgian waffle. Again, it starts with a soft fluffy waffle but this one is loaded with strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate shavings and comes with a small bowl of hot Belgian chocolate sauce to dip bites into. Decadent but a flavor party in your mouth.

 

By now, I was on sensory overload and my memory has faded a bit on exactly what we did. I need to look at my photos but my laptop which contains them is with the computer guy getting fixed. I hope to post some photos when I get it back next week. For now, I'll just cover the itinerary and any highlights that pop into my brain.

 

We continued on to Hamburg, Amsterdam, Kristiansand Norway, Oslo, Gothenburg Sweden and disembarked in Copenhagen.

 

Disembarkation was the quickest and easiest I've ever experienced. We were out of our room at 7:30 and out of the terminal with luggage in tow by 8:30. We stayed a couple of days in Copenhagen or Kobenhavn in the old language. Absolutely loved this city. Very large and active, great vibe. We stayed at the Scandic Palace, right downtown in the middle of everything. The first day we did a canal boat ride and saw a good bit of the city, went to the Hans Christian Anderson museum which was just OK and had an amazing steak dinner a few doors from the hotel.

 

Day two in Copenhagen we went to Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park/garden center (think Disney but a little less over the top). This place was very cool, so much so that we went back that night and were very glad we did.

 

Tivoli has entertainment stages in several locations around the park. Earlier in the day we saw a military type band, all boys ages 10 to 16 (my guess) performing Sousa like songs. They were very good. That evening when we returned we walked into the Pantomime Stage just in time to see the local Ballet company perform Cinderella. These were adults doing what seemed to me to be very high level ballet. I am certainly not a ballet expert but I thought it was a very good performance. The icing on the cake came during the second or third curtain call where they brought out the behind the scene folks like the choreographer, director etc. One of these folks was an older grey haired lady who designed the sets and costumes. A little later when speaking to a local lady who also saw the performance she told us this lady was the queen of Denmark, Margrethe II. Very cool.

 

After the ballet at another stage we saw a big jazz band playing many old American standards. The band was led by an amazing singer named Anders Blichfeldt. When he sang, you would swear he was from USA but between songs when he spoke he was pure Dane.

 

We really had a great visit in Copenhagen with but one complaint. It was unusually hot there, as warm as 85. The hotel and most cafes and restaurants have no AC. As I said earlier, we're Floridians and we get much hotter temps than this but we have AC. Oh well, we were certainly warm but we loved Copenhagen regardless.

 

To sum up in just a few words, this was a great trip. Loved the itinerary, eight countries and 10 cities in 10 days on the ship and another four days pre and post.

Absolutely loved the Marina, the food, the accommodations the staff were amazing. As an aside, I spent a lot of evenings in the casino. It is a small casino but very well run. Loved the staff in the casino especially the BJ dealers.

 

We booked our second cruise with Oceania on the Serina out of Papeete in Feb of next year. I hope to post a few photos in the next couple of weeks. Fell free to ask any questions you might have.

Edited June 28, 2016 by frankdp

[StanandJim]

What a lovely, compelling review!

Bravo!!!

We Hope to hear more, much, much more. :D

[Queen of DaNile]

Thank you for the extensive "overview" and glad you enjoyed your first Oceania cruise. Interesting that you stayed at the Scandic Palace which is where we are staying in August and were thinking about an evening in Tivoli. Can you share the name of the restaurant near the hotel? Thanks again.

[deus]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Our first Oceania cruise will be in August and liked your positive comments about Oceania. Thanks!

[frankdp]

Queen, no I don't recall the name but it is 4 or 5 doors down from the hotel. As you exit the hotel go left. The awnings over the outdoor cafe has Veuve Clicquot in gold script on them. Indoor or outdoor seating, I had the ribeye and it was very good. We shared truffle fries and they were very good too.

[frankdp]

Deus, I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did ours.

[LHT28]

Thanks for the review

 

I love Copenhagen

[sammiedawg]

Thanks for the lovely review. Marina is our favorite O ship. We love all the Oceania food options which are mostly terrific.

[H20mac3]

We were on the Marina on the Lima to New York cruise and loved every minute of it!

Edited June 29, 2016 by H20mac3

[wally_bushy]

We were on the Marina in Feb 16 and agreed it was the best ship of many we have been on. (but we also love the smaller R ships :))

[aquidneck1]

FrankDP,

 

Great review. We are taking our first Oceania cruise next Feb in Tahiti. Hope to see you on board.

[rheasue38]

Hi!

We were also on this cruise. Your review really captured the cruise highlights. This was our 25th Oceania cruise. The food and services aboard are fantastic! We also loved this itinerary.Sorry we didn't get to meet you Frankdp. We were also in Polo the first night and also were in a Concierge Cabin.

Our favorite port was Hamburg where we took a Land and Sea tour from the ship. Our guide, Patty, was so knowledgeable and really had great enthusiasm. We loved the Town Hall and the boatride was so relaxing and the scenery was so beautiful! In Oslo, we revisited Vigland, the sculpture park, definitely a highlight for anyone visiting this port. We had been to Vigland many years earlier and wanted another chance to see the magnificent sculptures all about the Circle of Life. We have 8 upcoming Oceania cruises and look forward to sailing again on Marina this Sept.

Rheaa

[skiladyldp]

frankdp, thank you for this review. We will be doing this itinerary in August so your details were helpful. Can you please tell me was it easy to get a cab from Copenhagen terminal to your hotel and which terminal was the disembarkment. I would greatly appreciate this information.

[Paulchili]

frankdp, thank you for this review. We will be doing this itinerary in August so your details were helpful. Can you please tell me was it easy to get a cab from Copenhagen terminal to your hotel and which terminal was the disembarkment. I would greatly appreciate this information.

 

Due to its size the Marina was pretty far out even though the port was not busy that day.

Cabs are easy to find but there always is a line - moving fairly quickly. The fare to center is around 250 DKK

2 days later when we boarded the Nautica there were SEVEN ships in port, counting the Nautica. She was the smallest and the closest to town.

Agree with OP about the great cruise on the Marina.

[USAFSS4Ever]

which terminal was the disembarkment.

 

Oceankaj Pier, Terminal 2, Quay 332, according to the CPH Port Authority

 

website.

[skiladyldp]

Thanks to those that responded to my request for cab information disembarking in Copenhagen. That helps me out a lot.

[LHT28]

Thanks to those that responded to my request for cab information disembarking in Copenhagen. That helps me out a lot.

You can check the Quay for your date at

http://www.cmport.com/ships-in-port/cruise-ships

subject to change depending on the Harbour Master

 

When you go to the baggage area there is a line for taxis it can take up to 30 mins to get one depending on how many people & ships are in port

there is a person at the exit that will assign you the next taxi in line for your party

 

If you pre book there is a shorter line on the other side of baggage claim where you just exit to find your driver

[skiladyldp]

LHT28-Thank you for the information. Do you have any information on pre booking a taxi? Virginia

[Paulchili]

LHT28-Thank you for the information. Do you have any information on pre booking a taxi? Virginia

 

AFAIK you cannot pre book a taxi - only private "limo/car" transfer services (most likely more expensive as they will be there waiting for you).

Last year I tried prebooking a taxi (Van) for the 6 of us and was told to call them about 30 minutes before I needed them.

YMMV.

[LHT28]

AFAIK you cannot pre book a taxi - only private "limo/car" transfer services (most likely more expensive as they will be there waiting for you).

Last year I tried prebooking a taxi (Van) for the 6 of us and was told to call them about 30 minutes before I needed them.

YMMV.

Thanks for that info Paul

Last time there we did see people with drivers waiting for them they must have called that morning

[LHT28]

LHT28-Thank you for the information. Do you have any information on pre booking a taxi? Virginia

You could check on the Ports of Call forums in the Northern Europe forum

"DanishViking" is very helpful with all sorts of info

[skiladyldp]

Thanks again for additional information regarding taxi.

[lianaks]

Do you know what is the latest time to disembark on Marina. I have private tour to pick us up at 10 am in Stockholm this July when we disembark. Are there wait area when we retrieve our luggages?

 

LS.

[ronrick1943]

Thanks for the report, really nice and fair-we enjoyed reading about your trip. We took this trip and Copenhagen is a port you really need a car pick-up. We did a b2b and Copenhagen was the end, we were happy we had a ptv car, no taxi line and the airport is a mess on cruise day. The driver not only took us to the airport but got out and guided us thur the airport---took some hours, with the drive we were on the air side in 10mins.

[Paulchili]

Do you know what is the latest time to disembark on Marina. I have private tour to pick us up at 10 am in Stockholm this July when we disembark. Are there wait area when we retrieve our luggages?

 

LS.

 

You must be off the ship by 9 AM.

You may want to move up your pick up time, unless you want to sit there for an hour:confused: