Oceana Help

[grprk02]

Hello

 

We have just returned from a cruise on Celebrity Constellation and are now considering a cruise on Oceana. Has anyone sailed these two ships and are able to offer any help or comparisons.....

 

Hope someone can help

 

GARY

[LEESRE]

Hello

 

We have just returned from a cruise on Celebrity Constellation and are now considering a cruise on Oceana. Has anyone sailed these two ships and are able to offer any help or comparisons.....

 

Hope someone can help

 

GARY

 

Gary,

Have sailed on Ocean many times and Millennium sister ship to Constellation. Yes they are very very different.

Constellation is more refined in that it is not as "Glitzy" as Oceana.

I find Horizon Court much much better also they have far more choice than P & O (IMOP.)

Celebrity also have an indoor spa area for adults which is great, the sea water pool is really hot and they have massage water coming out of spouts around the pool area.

Some people think that Constellation is a little stark but in our opinion we love Celebrity.

 

Anything else please ask.

 

Rex

[Pontius Navigator]

Gary,

 

Yes albeit the Ocean was 2 years ago and only for 3 days. I shall try and be positive (but fail :))

 

The Oceana, unlike the Constellation has a theatre at one end and something similar to the other, can't remember exactly. The theatre in the Constellation, OTOH is superb and set out like a club. Seats are in groups and there are tables for drinks etc. It was large and on two levels.

 

For the entertainment it is really too long ago to be relevant and on the Connie there were significant problems that possibly applied only to our voyage.

 

Oceana is an ex-US operated vessel and has plastic (well it had) crockery in the self-service restaurant as this had access to the pool area. The plate washes were purpose designed for the plate shape so I expect that hasn't changed. The Connie, OTOH, as a British registered vessel had no such limitation.

 

We thought the self-service catering area on the Oceana interuppted the passenger flow.

 

More later if I have time

[Pontius Navigator]

to continue:

 

I agree with the previous post which crossed. When we got on board the Connie our firstimpressions were certainly WOW compared with the Arcadia but on a par with the Oceana.

 

Cabin-wise chalk and cheese. We had an inside 2-berth on the O, comfortable and adequate. On the Connie an outside balcony, more comfortable and more comfortable. Service in both was impecable.

 

Crew wise it was a different story. Nothing remarkable about the Oceana, it was Captained British by a 4-ringer and the officers were also, IIRC, British. The Connie was captained by a Greek Vice-Admiral :) with most of the senior staff also Greek except for the Honduran doctor. The meet and greet on the Connie was a very stand-offish affair. The Captain stood on the stage, champagne in hand, the riff-raff sat dry in the theatre seats. On the Oceana, even on a 3-nighter, there were black tie cocktail parties for each dinner sitting on one evening with many of the ship's officers in Mess Undress. For a 4-star vessel we found the Oceana had far more style.

 

The proof of the pudding is that our next 3 cruises will be P&O.

[grprk02]

many thanks for your help. Although we very much enjoyed ourselves on Connie we felt that there was something missing and the future cruise sales staff on board unhelpful and showed the least bit of interest in us almost to the point of being rude that is the only reason we are looking elsewhere for our next cruise.

 

GARY

[dak]

For what it is worth, I would agree with the previous postson Oceana. I have never cruised X, but Oceana is the only P&O ship that I can say I disliked in any way. Too glitzy, passenger flow, too American in styling (not surprising since she was Ocean Princess). The best I can say is that she is better than nothing. For me, she is not a ship for the "British Style" and I would actively seek out one of the other ships, but each to his own and that's only my opinion.

 

David

[Benzowner]

My only cruise with P & O was on the Oceana. This followed a cruise on QM2 oh dear what a comedown. Don't get me wrong, the food was excellent, the cabin was excellent, just way too many passengers for the ship size IMO. At sea, it always seemed overcrowded and was difficult to find seats. I must try another P & O ship, but at present, I have been tarnished by my experience.

[Pontius Navigator]

many thanks for your help. Although we very much enjoyed ourselves on Connie we felt that there was something missing and the future cruise sales staff on board unhelpful and showed the least bit of interest in us almost to the point of being rude

 

Gary, OK, I'll come off the fence. The officers on the Connie made no attempt to engage with the passengers. It was noticed that one 3-ringer did so engage but his wife clearly didn't like it. One of the pursers similarly engaged with the pianist in St Michael's Club.

 

A particular pool butler was far more interested in engaging with the young girls rather than clear up cigarettes and litter. Litter remained on the upper decks for a number of days as evidenced by the date on the bar slips. Despite telling several officers several times this was never corrected and an ashtray had a slowly disintegrating cigar over several days. the only officer I rated as a New Zealand (f) purser and the hotle services manager (4-ring) although he still failed to get the decks cleaned.

[Sikwemu]

Gee thanks folks. I've just booked my first cruise on Oceana (we usually go with Cunard) as there is a flight from my local airport. I'm wondering if I should forget my deposit......anybody care to speak up for Oceana at all?

 

Liz

[feebee_71]

Gee thanks folks. I've just booked my first cruise on Oceana (we usually go with Cunard) as there is a flight from my local airport. I'm wondering if I should forget my deposit......anybody care to speak up for Oceana at all?

 

Liz

 

Liz,

 

I have been on 3 cruises on Oceana in the last 20 months (Canaries, Western Med and Weekender). I have travelled as part of a family and with an adult friend.

 

I have really enjoyed all 3 cruises and really have no complaints about Oceana - except having to get off at the end of my holiday!!

 

I have experienced both Club and Freedom Dining and they have worked for me/us but perhaps we didn't expect things to be 'just so' and were happy to go with the flow. Even when Freedom Dining we were able to book the same table at the same time each night (if we wanted to!) by being organised and deciding what time we wanted to eat the day before and booking up for the following evening during booking hours the previous day. One night when there was nothing suitable in an alternative dining venue (they wouldn't cater for special diets in that one venue and only told us when we asked for dairy free menu items) the head waiter for our section of the Freedom Dining restaurant organised for a meal from the nights main menu to be delivered to me cabin and it was no trouble even in view of my dietary needs.

 

The crew from 2006 recognised and remembered us in 2007 and always stopped for a chat when they saw us about the ship. When I went onboard with an adult friend I was constantly asked about the children I had travelled with in the summer. The Cruise Director and the Entertainment officers always made time for single travellers and organised plenty of meetings for us - even on the weekender cruise I went on.

 

If you have any specific questions you would like answers to you can contact me privately on fiona_rolls@hotmail.co.uk

 

Feebee_71 :)

[daiB]

Gee thanks folks. I've just booked my first cruise on Oceana (we usually go with Cunard) as there is a flight from my local airport. I'm wondering if I should forget my deposit......anybody care to speak up for Oceana at all?

 

 

Liz

 

 

Liz,

 

We have been on most P&O ships. Oceana is by far the most glitzy, as she was Ocean Princess first. Life is centered around her Atrium with bars, shops, coffee shops, main reception all to be found here at different levels and within the Atrium there are many places to relax and people watch. As with all P&O ships the food is good to excellent.

 

The only thing I did not like was the fact that the center (glass) lifts did not go up to the upper decks. As I am disabled I cannot walk far and I found moving around, in particular back to the cabin, was not as easy as on other ships.

 

Otherwise I would fully recommend the Oceana Experience.

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[Sikwemu]

Thanks Feebee and Dai:)

 

I shall look forward to the Carribean with enthusiasm. I should have realised after the recent discussions on the Cunard board about how horrible Queen Victoria was.....and then the "hang on a minute we liked her a lot" people spoke up that it is always folk who are disappointed in something that usually say something first.

 

Liz

[graham uk]

We've had some lovely cruises on Oceana and will have again I'm sure in April this year. I think all ships have there best bits and it's often down to personal preference regarding what people like or don't like about their cruise experience and what they personally like doing on board.

 

Enjoy - graham :)

[devon girl]

we had our first cruise last year on the Oceana and loved it. I know some people were moaning, especially the older folks about the plated food service in the dining rooms, but I couldn't find anything to fault. Everywhere was clean, food was fantastic, used the self service restaurant during the day, and freedom dining in the evening, and couldn't find anything to complain about. The cabin, an inside, was perfectly adequate and the steward marvellous. When we booked, we didn't choose the ship, we chose the location, which was the Norwegian Fjords, which again we found superb, the fact that the ship was perfect was an added bonus.

 

Of course, this was our first cruise, and as such, apparently will be our best, but within a fortnight of coming home, we had booked for another cruise this year.

 

As with life in general, I believe your holiday is what you make it, and I think you will enjoy yours.

[Jock514]

Just booked my second cruise on Oceana, I had the best two weeks ever!

[Pontius Navigator]

I know some people were moaning, especially the older folks about the plated food service in the dining rooms

 

The Connie had plated food service too and a scarcity of the greens. they did however provide an extra dish if you asked for it.

 

Everywhere was clean, food was fantastic, used the self service restaurant during the day, and freedom dining in the evening, and couldn't find anything to complain about.

 

On the Connie the external decks were never clean for days on end with ashtrays with dead cigar butts. The self-service restaurtant during the day was fine, at night it was virtually the same everynight - sushi, pasta, pizza.

 

I believe your holiday is what you make it, and I think you will enjoy yours.

 

Very true.