Live Blog: Marina, Sun Splashed Soiree. February 23-March 5

[calicakes]

Hi.

 

I'm Randi(female) and my wife is Julie.  We live in Santa Clarita, CA.  Julie is a Sgt with a large police department, I'm an attorney. 

 

I thought since this is our first cruise on O, I would attempt to live blog from the ship.  Honestly, I chose O because of the food.  We've previously had 4 cruises on Celebrity( only in Aqua Class) and 1 cruise on NCL( not a fan).  On our last Celebrity cruise in Sept 2019, I live blogged.  I posted a lot of food pics and I had a lot of commentary regarding the food.  Spoiler: Not impressed.  I felt the quality of the food declined over the years. I consider myself a gourmet cook and baker.  As a hobby, I occasionally sell my cakes.   On the previous blog, a CC member, suggested I should take a Regent cruise because the food would be more to my liking.  When I researched, I came across O.  Regent was a bit too expensive for our budget.    

 

Our last 2 booked Celebrity cruises were all cancelled, so we are really looking forward to this cruise.    Julie's 60th birthday is on February 28th.  We splurged for a PH2 suite.  

 

We flew into Miami on Sunday, then drove to Hollywood.  My mom lives here and I have friends in the area.  I grew up in Plantation.  We're staying at the Hampton( Cruise port South) in Hollywood.  We rented a car in Miami and will drive ourselves to the port( we can return the car there). 

 

Yesterday, we both took the proctored Emed covid tests from our hotel room and that was an easy process.  See you tomorrow!!!  

Edited February 22, 2022 by calicakes
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[KatieBelle]

Thank you for taking some of your vacation time to blog for us.  I am looking forward to your fresh perspective not only of Oceania but of post-pandemic conditions and amenities.  Love to see pics of any and all aspects you all care to share.  -Katie

[MEFIowa]

Sure you'll both have a great cruise. Do you know the number of passengers and crew? When I was on Riviera 12/13-23/21 I just asked at Reception and they gave me the numbers. (We had 719 passengers from a possible 1250 capacity.)

[calicakes]

16 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

Sure you'll both have a great cruise. Do you know the number of passengers and crew? When I was on Riviera 12/13-23/21 I just asked at Reception and they gave me the numbers. (We had 719 passengers from a possible 1250 capacity.)

I don't know, I asked my TA and she said they don't give them the numbers.  I will ask when we're onboard. 

[calicakes]

We took the Olife option of 3 excursions.  We're snorkelers, so I booked 3 snorkel trips.  St. Maarten, Puerto Plata and St. Kitts.  If we're allowed to go off on our own in St. Maarten, I'm going to cancel that excursion.  A few days ago, I saw that one of my friends( who I haven't seen in 12 years,she lives in Cleveland) is currently in St. Maarten at a resort.  Her and her hubby have a rental car and want to pick us up at the port and hang with us for the day.  

[alaskaca]

Randi and Julie, welcome to Oceania!!  We've been sailing with them since 2013 and they are the cruise line for us.  Hope you will find the same. 

Thank you for taking some of your vacation time to share your impressions with those of us currently land locked.

Wishing you fair winds and following seas!

[LHT28]

Enjoy the cruise

Be sure to ask your Butler to arrange a a cake for Julie's Birthday  dinner

 

Try the afternoon Tea  at least once early in the cruise 

 

Oceania is our go to line

We 1st sailed Insignia back in 2004  then tried a couple of main stream lines  but O won out for us

Have a safe  trip

[calicakes]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

Be sure to ask your Butler to arrange a a cake for Julie's Birthday  dinner

I will, I even brought a 6 and a 0 candle for it. 

[Twiga]

Hi, Calicakes!  I am on the Marina now.  We were in St. Maarten two days ago.  It was a beautiful port.  Yes, you can go ashore on your own.  At the end of the dock head right.  That will get you to the taxi area.  Follow the signs to rental cars.  I'm sure your friends could meet you there.  This cruise has been fantastic!  The best food ever!  Have a great time!

Edited February 22, 2022 by Twiga

[zencruisers]

Following along and look forward to reading more. Thank you for taking the time to share.

 

[dancingcgal]

Twigs & others: Anxious to hear how life is onboard? Is Terrsce easily available for dining as live eating outside? Any other outside dinner venues? Is there live band by pool? Heard 13 had to stay in Panama on previous cruise due to positive test. Any crew members or entertainers out as heard in Riviera earlier they were missing performers/musicians? Can you opt out of daily room cleaning? 

[ToxM]

Ohh thank you for blogging for us! I am very interested to hear how you find the food. We also defected from celebrity and were very very pleased. 

 

Have a great trip!

[Twiga]

8 hours ago, dancingcgal said:

Twigs & others: Anxious to hear how life is onboard? Is Terrsce easily available for dining as live eating outside? Any other outside dinner venues? Is there live band by pool? Heard 13 had to stay in Panama on previous cruise due to positive test. Any crew members or entertainers out as heard in Riviera earlier they were missing performers/musicians? Can you opt out of daily room cleaning? 

Life onboard is great!  Other than some mask wearing it is just like cruising pre-covid.  The Terrace Cafe is wonderful.  We had dinner outside this evening.  That is the only outside dinner venue. There is a band that plays by the pool most days.  There were no production shows, just individual entertainers.  I never heard of any covid onboard.  The food is great, the crew is great, and life is great onboard.  I suppose you could ask for less room service.  We never worried about it.  Have a wonderful cruise!

[Host Jazzbeau]

We warned our cabin attendant that on sea days we [I] planned to sleep in and would forego the service.  It took a while for her to believe us (she would call at 12:30 just before going on break), but eventually we worked out the rhythm.

[LHT28]

52 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We warned our cabin attendant that on sea days we [I] planned to sleep in and would forego the service.  It took a while for her to believe us (she would call at 12:30 just before going on break), but eventually we worked out the rhythm.

They have a job to do & their supervisors want it done  even if the pax does not  😉

The housekeepers like to get the work done so they can go for lunch/rest/go ashore if allowed  before having to be back at work

If we stay in  it is usually not later than 10 am so they can get their  job done

JMO

[calicakes]

We're on-board. They never asked for our negative covid test results. There are 338 passengers. We have a PH 2 suite. Lunch in the terrace Cafe. We're off to a great start. The green beans were perfectly cooked. The tart was amazing.

[ToxM]

338 passengers! It’s going to be a private yacht experience!

 

Interesting that they never asked for your covid status!

 

 

[calicakes]

I upgraded the internet so we can stream movies.   I've run into a little issue( 2 exactly).  I have braces on my teeth and use a water pik after meals.  There is no plug in the restroom.  Also, I can't plug my laptop into the plug next to my bed, as its a European plug.  I wasn't aware that I needed an adapter.  The butler has an adapter to lend me for the water pik( at the desk), but his adapter won't fit my laptop plug.  

 

Our excursion in St. Marteen was cancelled.  Serendipity, as I was going to cancel anyway, we're meeting a friend instead.  We're looking at something to do in St. John's as a replacement. 

[Jacksonmccabe]

On 2/22/2022 at 7:38 AM, calicakes said:

I will, I even brought a 6 and a 0 candle for it. 

 

1 hour ago, ToxM said:

338 passengers! It’s going to be a private yacht experience!

 

Interesting that they never asked for your covid status!

 

 

I celebrated my birthday on the Marina in 2019 and we never said a word to the crew yet there was a cake at dinner and when we got back to our PH suite there were lots f balloons…Oceania knows how to celebrate you! Have a great trip!!

 

[ToxM]

PH cruisers will put me right but isn’t there a plug in the cupboard in the bathroom? 

[ORV]

58 minutes ago, calicakes said:

I upgraded the internet so we can stream movies.   I've run into a little issue( 2 exactly).  I have braces on my teeth and use a water pik after meals.  There is no plug in the restroom.  Also, I can't plug my laptop into the plug next to my bed, as its a European plug.  I wasn't aware that I needed an adapter.  The butler has an adapter to lend me for the water pik( at the desk), but his adapter won't fit my laptop plug.  

 

Our excursion in St. Marteen was cancelled.  Serendipity, as I was going to cancel anyway, we're meeting a friend instead.  We're looking at something to do in St. John's as a replacement. 

I know you probably don't want to be spending extra money, but you might want to check in the gift shop. I think I remember them having some adaptors. We have a set that goes both ways and always take with us for extra plug ins. 

[calicakes]

42 minutes ago, ORV said:

I know you probably don't want to be spending extra money, but you might want to check in the gift shop. I think I remember them having some adaptors. We have a set that goes both ways and always take with us for extra plug ins. 

I don’t, especially since I have 2 at home. If worse comes to worse I can use my laptop until the battery runs out and then go plug it in on the desk

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, calicakes said:

Also, I can't plug my laptop into the plug next to my bed, as its a European plug.  I wasn't aware that I needed an adapter.  The butler has an adapter to lend me for the water pik( at the desk), but his adapter won't fit my laptop plug.  

 

Can you not plug the lap top in  on the desk?

How long doe the battery last ?

I plug mine in while getting ready for dinner  seems to be charged up within an hour

[calicakes]

8 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Can you not plug the lap top in  on the desk?

How long doe the battery last ?

I plug mine in while getting ready for dinner  seems to be charged up within an hour

I can. I never run on battery, not sure how long it lasts.

[LHT28]

12 minutes ago, calicakes said:

I can. I never run on battery, not sure how long it lasts.

give a try

 My laptop usually lasts about 6 hrs when on

I usually charged  it while getting ready for dinner or before bed  & it is ready for the next day 😉