oceana any good?

[loobylouuk]

hi am thinking of booking Oceana to the canaries in September.

Does anyone have any knowledge of the ship and the ports.

Inparticular the facilities for children.

thanks

Lou

[haggis]

Hello Lou, we did an cruise last Sept on the Oceana down to the Canaries. It was our first time on Oceana, but we have cruised often on her sister ships, Adonia, Sea Princess and Dawn Princess. We rate these Sun class ships very highly and in our estimation are the best laid out ships afloat. I cant comment on the kids club as we've never had the use of it. (Kids flown the coop) but then again I've never heard any complaints about it either. I'm sure someone will assist you in that dept.

We sailed towards the end of Sept and we did have some rain, not a lot, in Spain but we really did have a good holiday.

Jimmy

[loobylouuk]

thanks jimmy,

i too have been on Sea Princess, (2006) and despite some restrictions cos of the Noro Vius thought it was great.

I am aware that Oceana and Sea are twin ships and indeed the interiors look very similar, did you think there was much difference?

Please don't mention boiled potatos for breakfast!!!:D

cheers

Lou

[haggis]

Good morning Lou,

I find all these ships very simialar in design. What I did enjoy in the Caribbean on the Sea was MUTS. (Movies under the stars) Never saw a movie mind you but in the evening, whilst Mary was getting ready for dinner, I used to sit up there and watch a concert or two. Some nights it was jazz, others reaggae and now and again a classical concert. It was always nice and quiet up there at that time of the evening and was very enjoyable.

Foodwise, there wasnt a great deal of difference. Theres been a bit of a change since anytime dining was introduced but overall, as we eat late fixed, not a lot of difference. What I do enjoy on Princess ships at dinner is the pasta they serve as an appetiser. I also miss the groups that used to serenade the ladies in the dining room but thats progress I suppose.

What we really enjoy on the Princess ships is the pampering. As Elite members, they really look after us. The biggest bonus being the free laundry. Saves carrying a lot of extra clothes on a long trip. I've never had my shoes polished mind you.

Most Princess officers on the ships we have sailed on are British, some have been Italian we've always found the British influence noticeable.

Thats a quick overview but if you have anything specific that I can help with, please ask,

Jimmy

[haggis]

I had a bit of a senior moment there Lou, sorry, wrong ship.

 

If you've been on the Sea Princess, the Oceana is very simialar in most depts. Food, cabins, entertainment. PandO seem to have more daytime activities during sea days but even that is different from ship to ship.

I do know the kids club is the same as the Sea Princess and they do have their own little pool (enclosed) on the lido deck.

Jimmy

[daiB]

:):)

 

We are looking forward to going on Oceana in August to the Fjords. We have been on Adonia and enjoyed that very much. In November we are booked on Oriana to the Canaries so with only Artemis to go we are looking for the full set.

 

Of course there is then Ventura and then ...........................

 

 

Happy Cruising:):)

[KarenR_UK]

hi am thinking of booking Oceana to the canaries in September.

Does anyone have any knowledge of the ship and the ports.

Inparticular the facilities for children.

thanks

Lou

 

Lou

 

I know you asked me on the Princess forum - I haven't time at the moment to give long answer but I will try & come up with an overview (I did Canaries on Oceana in 2005) - In the meantime if you want a short picture show (Iv'e managed to put up a whole 4 pictures:D ) have a look at

 

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/k_ravensdale/album?.dir=2ebb&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//uk.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

 

which is Oceana to the Med.

 

Have to say won't be able to help with the kids club as never used it - but it did seem very organised when we bumped into them on their 'field trips' around the ship. There were several parties especially for them - the older kids had a pool party (at the terrrace pool) one night.

 

If you have any other specific questions then just ask.:)

 

Karen

[UK family]

Hi there Lou, we have enjoyed around six or seven cruises onboard Oceana and found her to be a very nice ship. Possibly more of the "glitzy" sister of the ships, which is not to everyones' taste. All of the P&O ships have their own character, one maybe more traditional than the other, etc, but have found quite a young crowd onboard Oceana. We also have found it to be a friendly ship too. The childrens facilities are excellent as are the teen facilities. The food we have found to be variable, sometimes good, sometimes not so good - maybe it depends on the Exec Chef at the time.

 

Do hope you enjoy your cruise onboard Oceana - after our recent experience with American cruise ships, we can't wait to enjoy our Brit cruising experience again!:)

[The Monocled Mutineer]

Oceana 07/2006

 

I have to say that we enjoyed the cruise (it was a very timely and welcome break for both of us) although it would be fair to say that it probably lies in the lower quarter of our "Top 20" of cruise experiences.

 

The fabric of Oceana, her maintenance, the housekeeping and the overall service level we enjoyed, was excellent.

 

Hi-points:

======

 

After a cracking thunderstorm, whilst waiting in the departure lounge, our departure down the Southampton Water and into the Solent was bathed in sunlight. After passing the QEII Terminal we pulled up to the railing at starboard, 2 steamer chairs, propped our feet up on the rails and watched the last of England slip by, bathed in late afternoon sunlight, until we reached the Nab Tower.

 

Dinner at the Horizon Grill with a "Grandstand Table" for the 60s/70s party. The best food we had on the ship for the whole cruise.

 

The Show, "Seven". Not one we had seen before, and in fairness I must add that I am not a great fan of musicals and shows, anyway. However, not only were the slick company, excellent in their moves and song delivery, but presentation and choice of material was excellent and apt.

 

Low-points:

=======

 

Dinner in the Restaurants. We were on Freedom Dining. Reservations seem to work well, although it was my impression that you could not book a slot around 19:00 - 19:30 but were limited to 18:00, 18:30, 20:00 or 20:30. Also they would not take a booking for the "quarter in the hour". Have other recent Ocean'ers found this?

 

However my main gripe is the food itself, and in particular the Main Course (plated).

 

Now I will put my hand up immediately to state that previously on this site I have been a staunch defender of the Plated Meals principle, based on my extensive experience as a diner in many fine land based restaurants. However I do concede that, given the present food delivery offer, Plated simply did not work for us.

 

On the comment forms (because I understand that Plated service needs to remain on Oceana, due to physical galley/waiter interface constraints [remember Oceana was originally a build for the American market]) I have suggested that the vegetables should be plated separately on a "crescent shaped" plate around the main plate. This will prevent the elements that make up the main course, not only merging and starting to look unappetising, but will prevent, what I believe is a considerable amount of time for the plate being spent under a "hot lamp" while the plate is finished, and thus causing sauces to split/ skin and non sauce elements to becomes flaccid, tired and (wait for it) believe it or not, TOO HOT!!!!

 

We went to the main restaurant 3 times. The 1st night, we thought "well maybe it's a one-off". The 2nd night we had the same experience so we then decided to dine "self service style" (Plaza) or at the Horizon.

 

On the last night, because the buffet did not appeal, we had one more go at the main restaurant, but with the same results.

 

In fairness we found the starters and soups to be up to our usual expectations from P&O (good to very good) - of course here the plates aren't crowded and we actually thought that the desserts had improved since our last P&O'er.

 

Lisbon

====

 

'Nuff said. In 6 weeks time on Oriana, we shall restrict ourselves to the Open-bus tour instead, to gain a wider appreciation of this city. The medieval, criminal and pathetic, prevalent begging is a disgrace in what is a long standing member of the EU (with the shadow of dictatorship and "old ways of doing things" a thing of the past).

 

General Comments:

============

 

Much has been written recently about children on cruises. Despite that fact that there were 350+ of the young of the species on board, it has to be said that the majority were well-behaved and well managed by both parents and the P&O youth team. You should not really complain if you book a Family ship in the middle of the Summer holidays. One minor gripe: ALL the pools were available to the children, (plus there were unaccompanied children in the jaccuzis) so neither of us got a swim when we desired one (ie the hottest times of the day). One has to be so careful these days when one could be easily & falsely accused of inappropriate touching of children, given how many there could be in the pool at one time.

 

Other Hi-points:

==========

 

Our dining out experiences in Vigo and La Rochelle. Both very different but memorable.

 

The weather - glorious (La Rochelle excepted - where we dodged the cloudbursts by taxi-ing direct to our destination).

~~~~~~

Oceana 01/2005

 

An excellent cruise experience all round.

 

We flew from Bournemouth on the 7/1 on time with a Britannia charter. This was a new experience for us as we have never flown charter further than the Canaries before. How anyone of more than ample proportions copes, given the seat pitch & width, is beyond me.

 

Eight plus hours later, transfer from the plane to the transport to the ship takes place on the tarmac a few yards from the aircraft, thus we were on board Oceana within about an hour of touchdown in Barbados.

 

We were informed of our cabin number during the flight by our Bath Travel rep and were pleasantly surprised to find we had been upgraded from an OH inside to an LF outside. Cabin was a little more spacious than I recalled from our last cruise on Oceana with a more wardrobe/drawer space. A doubling hanging with shelf over, a single hanging, a “tower” of shelves (with 2 taken up by the life jackets and safe, 2x3 narrow sets of drawers and 1x3 wider set of drawers. We had brought less with our need to comply with the 25kg pp luggage allowance which was quite a struggle for us. On our last (& first) fly cruise with Holland America last February, the allowance with American Airlines was 2 pieces of hold luggage each, each piece not weighing more than 25kg: an allowance thus of about 50kg pp.

 

As our hold luggage was not labelled with a cabin number, I was required to retrieve them from a central collection point near the reception (deck 5), where they were to be found shortly after 6pm.

 

Weather for arrival day, as well as for the next 2 days was cloudy with rain, so we were not able to get into our stride, deck & sun wise until we reached St.Maarten on the Monday.

 

It was not possible to move from 1st to 2nd sitting, with a notice posted 1st night outside the restaurants informing everyone that 2nd sitting was completely full. Dinner on the first night was open seating (with the option of a buffet up in the Plaza)

 

We took dinner early, then unpacked, had a “night-cap” in one of the bars and then went to bed with tiredness and fatigue kicking-in.

 

The Ports-of-Call

=============

 

Saturday and Sunday was respectively spent at Dominica and St.Kitts/Nevis with rain being a feature. We spent the morning walking around Roseau in Dominica and took an independent taxi tour for the morning around the island of St.Kitts.

 

The two islands are a delight and are more “simpler” than some of the other destinations on this cruise. Our call at St.Kitts was special, with it being so quiet, as it was a Sunday. Passing through the small towns and villages the doors and windows of the many churches and chapels were thrown open and you could hear and see the islanders attending to their devotions.

 

In the wet afternoons we went to see the “pictures” onboard in Footlights and saw Thunderbirds and Around the World in 80 Days and both deserve a Golden Turkey Award. As I have pointed out before, the entertainment option of a film in the evening from a dedicated cinema (as per Oriana / Aurora) is not available on the Oceana, bar a couple of nights during the whole cruise.

 

Thankfully, the weather turned much for the better by the Monday for our call in St.Maartan. We went on a ship’s “tour” where we took a “Rhino Rider” which is a small 2-seater “speed-boat” and “cruised” up some of the West coast of the island in a small flotilla. We then returned to the ship for an afternoon of sunbathing and relaxing which we repeated the whole of the next day in Tortola (we did not get off there) as well as for the next 2 days at sea – bliss). We had the bonus of 2 days at sea due to a rescheduling of out next call at Catalina Island due to operational reasons. The ship averaged about 11 knots over those 2 days.

 

Catalina Island, off the Southern coast of the Dominican Republic, is a small and more or less uninhabited island geared to visiting cruise ships disgorging their passengers for a day of fun on the beach and sea with a bar-b-q thrown in. I hired a kayak for the morning and after lunch we both returned to the ship where we anticipated a quiet afternoon out on deck, and we were not disappointed.

 

Due to the aforementioned re-scheduling we had the bonus of a morning at sea at full steam to Aruba (in the Lesser Dutch Antilles, near the Venezuelan coast). Aruba and our next call Curacao, are far more developed islands than our earlier Windward calls and very much geared to the tourist and cruise caller. We did a spot of shopping here and once again returned to the ship for a quiet afternoon up on deck. Due to the re-scheduling the call at Aruba was extended to 23:00.

 

On Curacao the next day we took an independent “tour” by way of a taxi to the “Curacao Aquarium” which, aside from the usual things you expect to see in an aquarium, had large sea water pools fed by and next to the ocean, where we saw dolphins performing tricks with their trainers, together with the feeding of sea turtles and a performing sea-lion. Indoors we also saw the feeding of a bevy of Nurse Sharks. After a spot more shopping in Williamstaat we returned to the ship and the upper decks for the afternoon.

 

Another blissful day at sea followed until our call at Grenada. Although the islanders appear cheerful and our “dusting themselves down”, I felt deep down that their was an air of melancholia about the island through what had been lost and destroyed. It is going to take years to get back to “normal”. We took an independent tour of the island. The hotels (and thus their tourism income stream) were wrecked and obviously no guests present, many homes were still seriously damaged and many others still had tarpaulin roofs and their churches and chapels had also suffered similarly. A source of National pride, their “double sports” stadiums (at a cost of $40,000,000) was completely wrecked and I understand that many of the Nutmeg trees have come down and that it takes up to 15 years for such a tree to mature. A sad and sobering day.

 

Our next call, St Lucia, was a complete contrast and, along with the French Islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, must be the most developed of the Windward Islands and clearly geared to the tourism industry. Again we went on an independent taxi tour of some of the island before returning to the ship for the afternoon.

 

For our home port, Barbados, where we overnighted before flying home the next day, we took a ships tour in the afternoon having first packed 3 of our 4 suitcases in the morning. We went on a 4x4 “Safari” to a “Wildlife” reserve where we saw small monkeys, tortoises, small deer, parrots and snakes (behind glass). Our journey was through sugar cane fields in full growth, and now I know what it is like to be the height of a Hobbit!

 

Hold cases had to be outside your cabin by the time you went to dinner with the option of retaining one case until midnight.

 

We had the “bonus” of the next morning up on deck and the choice of lunch in The Plaza or Main Restaurants (which is more than you would get at a return to Southampton – all-in-all, less rushed). We left the ship at about 13:30 with only a delay of c.2 hours before we took off home touching down before 07:00 the next morning. The shortish delay was just as well as Barbados Airport is pretty dreadful and contrasted with our near “VIP” style arrival 2 weeks earlier!

 

Cuisine

=====

 

Few changes from 06/2003 to report. Good to excellent standard of fare offered. I noticed that no Roast was offered on any day from the carvery in The Plaza. My recollection was that this was offered a few times during the last cruise. Although a beach bar-b-q was available on Catalina Island there was no deck one for one of the sea days. The speciality buffets like Neptune’s and Mexican were not offered up on deck either (as on previous cruises) but were offered down below in the main restaurants.

 

The supplements for the Horizon Grill and Bistro at dinner have increased to £6.50 pp although the quality has been cranked up a bit since 06/2003. There is also a supplement of £11.50 for a cold or hot Seafood platter in the Grill which (in somewhat ambiguous terms) included the £6.50 supplement – it would be clearer if they showed these items as carrying a £5.00 supplement instead.

 

We ate alternatively 3 times in all which made a welcome change from having to dine so early at 18:30 in the main restaurants. I found 1st sitting a real bind as I enjoy, for instance, taking part in the Individual Quiz at 17:30. I would slip back to the cabin c.16:30 to shower and change which always meant I was one of the first on board to be “all-dressed-up”. I really did miss those late afternoon/ early evening hours on previous cruises with the decks growing quieter enjoying a couple of sun-downers up on the Pennant Bar.

 

We were also slow on the uptake for the Indian Buffet Dinner which had “sold-out” by the 2nd night!

 

Entertainment

==========

Stadium Company were very good. We saw Musicalities, Harlequinade, Electric, Downtown Diner and Razzle Dazzle. We attended more shows than we normally do due to being on 1st sitting.

 

We also went to P&Os version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” and I was a contestant in “Break the Chain” (The Weakest Link) and got voted off first!!!

 

We did not go to any of the Cabarets, which I see included Bucks Fizz early on in the cruise.

 

I did about 6 turns on the Karaoke in Le Club over 2 evenings and I must say that the standard from some of my fellow passengers was very high indeed.

 

The balance of our evenings was spent doing the Syndicate Quiz for which we won twice. I also won the Individual Quiz 3 times plus the Shuffleboard once!

 

Sadly the Tropical Deck party was held in the pouring rain during our Aruba call. With the re-scheduling of our port-of-calls it was shame that this was not held on another evening as we had the option of a night ashore in one of the bars/restaurants in Aruba.

 

Although I can understand the 4 Formal / 12 Smart Casual dress code, (especially in view of the ungenerous luggage allowance), I did feel that on most nights the ambiance was rather un-smart. Even the addition of a tie on the gentleman would have improved the evening ambiance on the Casual evenings. Too many gentleman also were taking off their bow-ties and jackets quiet early in the evenings on the Formal nights too.

 

All in all a lovely holiday, though. All things considered I would probably only repeat a Fly-cruise to the Caribbean if we could have a higher luggage allowance and go scheduled and be guaranteed 2nd Sitting, although obviously the weather in January is a BIG draw.

 

Whenever our next cruise will be, it will probably be from Southampton. I felt very tired through the 1st week of this cruise and absolutely shattered for some days after we got home. Cruising ex.Southampton is our preference given that we only live 45 minutes from the terminal. From experience I would avoid early and late in the ex.UK season as it can be a bit hairy on the first and last few days and nights!

 

I wish everyone HAPPY CRUISING, wherever your ship takes you!

 

“The Monocled Mutineer”

 

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[loobylouuk]

thanks everyone for taking the time to give me an overview. It sounds very similar to Sea Princess and i know that some of you (UK family ) hate Princess line so please excuse me if that offends!!

Shall get on and book now.

many thanks

Lou

[KarenR_UK]

Oceana 07/2006

. One minor gripe: ALL the pools were available to the children, (plus there were unaccompanied children in the jaccuzis) so neither of us got a swim when we desired one (ie the hottest times of the day).

 

This was my major gripe in 2005 - in 2004, the pool at the real of the ship and the associated jacuzzis were adult only, and that made it a really relaxing place to sit and have a 'cocktail or two'.:D

In 2005, I found it was no longer adult only and as with the other pools there were the kids running around, jumping in and out of the pool and jacuzzis with their usual excitable noise - it just wasn't as relaxing anymore - the only quiet place was at the bow - and that can be very windy - plus the bar service isn't as good:D

it was pity, because i thought it worked well. The families had their area (the whole central pool complex) and those wanting some quiet time had another.

 

 

Karen

[feebee_71]

LoobyLouuk,

 

I have done a P&O cruise on Oceana to The Canaries, in July/August rather than September. I haven't posted on here before having only joined recently and don't want to get it wrong so haven't posted a review of my holiday here.

 

I have posted a report on the P&O CC site and also on the UK based "Crows Nest" site, you can find it from the following link if you've not been there before.

 

http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=24347

 

There are many good reviews on these sites for both the ship and the ports visited on the way to the Canaries.

 

I hope, if you do book the trip, that you enjoy it as much as we did.

 

Fiona

[loobylouuk]

LoobyLouuk,

 

I have done a P&O cruise on Oceana to The Canaries, in July/August rather than September. I haven't posted on here before having only joined recently and don't want to get it wrong so haven't posted a review of my holiday here.

 

I have posted a report on the P&O CC site and also on the UK based "Crows Nest" site, you can find it from the following link if you've not been there before.

 

http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=24347

 

There are many good reviews on these sites for both the ship and the ports visited on the way to the Canaries.

 

I hope, if you do book the trip, that you enjoy it as much as we did.

 

Fiona

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Fiona,

Thanks for the info.I have tried and tried to get onto both Crows Nest and P&O cc !!

The sites clearly hate my posts and i cannot get access....it obviously knows me!!.......

Thanks again

Lou