Oceania Cruises - Marina Reviews

Oceania had several nice features, such as restaurants and excellent attentive Service.

Oceania is very good and has the best cuisine IMO. But their responsiveness has diminished over the past few years since they got bought out. Further, we have heard great things about Viking Ocean cruises, and will likely look at them first.

Great ports & excursions!

Oceania surpasses all expectations. The food was great and the scenery was breathtaking.

We chose this cruise based on its itinerary and a recommendation from a frequent Oceania cruiser. We're glad we did. We loved it! It will most likely not be our last Oceania cruise. Embarkation: We arrived at the port in Stockholm at approximately 1pm and we were on the ship in a matter of minutes. We were told our room was ready as well. Dining was available in the Terrace Café buffet. It was a little chaotic, but not as bad as I anticipated. By the time we finished our lunch and toured the public areas, our luggage had been delivered to our room. Service: We found the service to be uniformly excellent throughout the ship. Restaurant, bar, housekeeping, and desk staff were always friendly and accommodating. Dining: The Grand Dining Room and all the specialty restaurants were all excellent. Service was always very prompt. Unlike many of the reviews I've read, we never found the service to be slow or meals prolonged. Our favorite restaurant was Jacques, and we were fortunate to have eaten there twice. We enjoyed Waves Bar for lunch. The port-rich itinerary, however, prevented us from having many lunches on board, so we didn't take advantage of this often. We ate all breakfasts at the Terrace. If the port disembarkation was early, it was often very crowded and, occasionally difficult to find a table. The weather was often nice, though, so we had many lovely breakfasts al fresco. We only ate dinner and lunch there a couple of times, and I thought the food was OK — better than other cruise line buffets, but not as good as the sit-down restaurants. Enrichment and activities: A well-travelled couple collaborated on port presentations covering history and points-of-interest. These were enjoyable presentations with good background information. The ship offered cooking and art classes, but we did not participate. The ship had daily trivia and other contests, but we seldom participated. My wife enjoyed a needlepoint gathering on our sole sea day. The pool area was pleasant, never crowded, and extremely well maintained and attended. Entertainment: The string quartet and pianist playing before dinner and in the lounges were very good. Having a cocktail and listening to them was always a good way to spend part of the day. The onboard singers and dancers were pretty good and the shows they put on were entertaining. Stage shows were presented at 9:30 each night, and we attended all but one. Peter Cutler, a singer with a comic bent, performed two shows. We thought his shows were average and his voice overshadowed by the band. "Five O'Clock Somewhereâ€� also performed two shows, with the second having an Irish theme. We found them to be original and much more entertaining with emphasis on technology; they relied very little on the ship's band. Samantha Ivey performed two shows as well. She had a strong voice, and we enjoyed both of her performances. Public spaces: Overall, the ship is beautiful. The lounges and bars are very nice. The library is quite large and well stocked with books and games. It was heavily used when we had the rare bit of bad weather. Disembarkation: We did rely on house staff to move our luggage. We went to one of the lounges at 8 to await our chosen 8:30 time. We were in the cab line at Amsterdam's port within minutes of our group being called. There was no passport control. We found the 280+ sq. ft. veranda cabin to be more than sufficient. It had a nice couch with small coffee table and a desk with chair. Closet space was also sufficient. Shelves and drawers were not as plentiful, though (maybe we packed too much). The veranda was nice, but we seldom used it (photos are exception). The bathroom was a good size, but the shower was a bit cramped. There is a bathtub as well, but we never used it. We would have gladly traded a larger shower for the bath. We seldom saw our housekeeper, Elena, but our room was always tidy. Throughout the ship, the housekeeping staff did a great job.

We enjoyed this Cruise. Got to visit a lot of places.

Jeni from Avoya was easy to work with and provided excellent insight into the cruise. She advised me on which shore excursions to take, and which ports might be better to explore on my own. The cruise itself was amazing with 24/7 complimentary room service, and access to a crib, which made traveling with my 16 month old much easier than it would have been otherwise. All in all, this was a great experience.

Loved the itinerary. Especially enjoyed Oviedo, Spain.

Multiple stops in Canada were great - lots of wonderful sights to see. And, we love the Marina. The three days of ocean sailing were smooth (I think we were lucky).

Weather cooperated and service was wonderful. Food just good. Need smaller portions of entrees and better quality.

Very clean ship, good food and service. Ports of call all good except Port Canaveral.

Cruise line is superior..... land traveling arrangements are very early in morning.... took 29hr to return home..... long flights and longer layovers......