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Posted on 2 Sep 2010
By elliott, south lanarkshire
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Posted on 2 Sep 2010
By Manning, New Malden
Ventura cruise April 2010 ..A244 cabin.. was bigger than we thought it was going to be!! our first cruise and we loved it..looking for our next one now..far to many to choose from.
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Grand Lobby Deck 3
Norwegian Cruise 2010
Posted on 30 Aug 2010
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Cruise Reviews

P & O Oceana bliss
Reviewed By: Rimmington, Oswaldtwistle, Accrington on 18th Jul 2009
Cruise Line: P&O Cruises Times cruised before: 0
Cruise Ship: Oceana Sailed: May, 2009
Destination: Mediterranean Age: 46-55
Cabin: Inside
Before I start this review, a message to anybody who has booked their first cruise or is thinking of cruising and is looking for information and inspiration on forums. I very nearly cancelled my cruise after reading the sort of unpleasant and unhelpful comments on some of these threads. I thought I clearly wasn’t cut out for cruising if this was the only people I was likely to meet. Thankfully, I didn’t cancel, so here is my review.

So our first cruise ever (self and partner and daughter aged 14) was on P & O Oceana E912 Western Med 16th May 2009. Check-in was early, quick and smooth. First job onboard (after saying WOW in the Atrium) was to find a bar showing the Champions League final. This turned out to be as easy as everything else onboard, just ask any one of the brilliant staff and if they don’t know they’ll find somebody who does. There was one member of staff in the shop who was rather stand-offish but apart from that, the other 900 and something were all professional, well-trained and superbly friendly.

Most holidays I take at least 3 – 4 days to unwind, but on this cruise, it was relaxation from the first minutes on board. There is so much variety on offer, that you can either fill every minute of the day or night, or simply do nothing. I was worried that an inside cabin for three of us might be claustrophobic, but they are so well-planned that this wasn’t a problem. There is loads of storage so everything can be stashed away, and the beds are so comfortable that we all slept soundly every night (except maybe the first couple in rather rough weather to say the least!). Shower rooms are small, but adequate and the towels and toiletries are quality.

We sampled a lot of the entertainment. The Headliners theatre group performed six different shows over the fortnight, all of which were excellent, high energy and polished and embraced a wide range of musical styles. We also saw cabarets from Paul Hughes (“Swing” vocalist) and Anna Reay (versatile vocalist) both of which were splendid, well-attended and well-received. There was also a very good duo of classical pianists. We didn’t see Martin Gold, the comedian but others who did said he was also very good. In addition all the bars, have a pianist, a duo, or a band of some description. Our particular favourite was The Freedom Band in the Yacht and Compass. Also the ship’s entertainment team kept us occupied (and highly amused) with quizzes, sailaways, party nights etc. A special thank-you goes to Renate who worked with my daughter on the Kid’s Talent Show and gave up her free time to do some choreography.

We also swam, sunbathed, danced, walked, and watched a couple of good films in the theatre. One piece of advice, don’t watch Marley and Me on the afternoon of a formal night. Having cried all afternoon, plenty of make-up was needed!

As varied as the entertainment is the food. We opted for Freedom dining so were allocated the Ligurian restaurant. This serves the same food as the Adriatic restaurant for Club dining. We occasionally had to wait for a table for three but never for very long. Each night has a good selection of between five and seven course, although we never managed more than three on any night! All the food is beautifully served and cooked. The only criticism in this restaurant is that the photographers can be persistent and intrusive.

There is plenty of other choice on Oceana, all of which I think we tried! Café Jardin (Marco Pierre White) has a £5 per head cover charge for dinner (no charge for breakfast, lunch or late-night snacks). This has an interesting menu but the food tends to be very rich. The Horizon Grill has a £7.99 per head cover charge for dinner (no charge again for all-day poolside eating). This serves typical top-end grill steaks and fish, again beautifully cooked and served. The select dining venues are less rushed than it can be in the main restaurants. There is still too much food – don’t think we had one dessert between us all cruise!).

The Plaza buffet serves from 06:30 to 21:30 every day, serving first continental breakfast, then full English breakfast, then brunch, then lunch, then afternoon snacks. After this every night is a dinner menu of different themed buffets. We had no complaints about any of the food, although getting a table at breakfast was sometimes tricky. We also used room service while crossing the Bay of Biscay as our daughter didn’t feel up to leaving her bed!

There are twelve bars on board offering a variety of atmosphere and entertainment. Drink prices are very reasonable, certainly no more than pub prices (even in the North of England), so probably considerably less than those in the South. In addition, there is no objection to bringing reasonable amounts of alcohol on board, and any duty-free bottles purchased will be delivered into your cabin along with ice and lemon. Cocktail of the day is very good value and was duly taken advantage of!

Once DD had got over her sea sickness and then her shyness, she went to the Kid’s Club and very quickly settled in. In fact, full marks to the Entertainment team for actually ringing her in the cabin and asking her to go down. After that, she pretty much had her own programme and sometimes did not even eat with us during the evening. They did so much over the two weeks and she made some very good friends.

All this without yet leaving the ship. We took the “Rome on Your Own” and “Florence on Your Own” trips and because of the distance from the ports and the additions of guides found them to be reasonable value. The rest of the time, we just made our own way ashore. At Cannes, we got the train to Monaco and managed to see some of the practice for the Grand Prix before returning to Cannes and taking photos on the red carpet at the film festival! That’s quite a lot for one day! We loved Barcelona and Cartagena was a completely lovely surprise. We would go back to any of these places given half a chance.

We are all agreed that we can’t wait for the next cruise. Sorry for the lengthy rambling but enjoyed it so much, there’s so much to talk about!
Quality of Food5
Mostly Freedom dining in the Ligurian for dinner and Plaza for breakfast.
Entertainment5
The Headliners shows and the cabarets
Shore Excursions4
All of them
Staff5
All the restaurant and bar staff and Juvy, our cabin steward
Children's Facilities5
Teens Club was loved
Onboard Activities4
Did most of the quizzes - didn't win any of them!
Cabins4
Very comfortable
Overall Rating5
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Comment by O'Neill, Douglas (18 Aug 09 08:54) about this REVIEW
It sounds a lovely ship, we cruised for the first time this year with Ocean Village to get a feel for cruising we enjoyed it so much we have now booked to go on the Oceana next May (29th) around the Med. This cuise sounds lovely and I am sure my daughter will enjoy the kids entertainment.
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Comment by O'Neill, Douglas (18 Aug 09 08:54) about this REVIEW
It sounds a lovely ship, we cruised for the first time this year with Ocean Village to get a feel for cruising we enjoyed it so much we have now booked to go on the Oceana next May (29th) around the Med. This cuise sounds lovely and I am sure my daughter will enjoy the kids entertainment.
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Opinion: Agree Comment by Peek, Marlow (20 Jul 09 10:31) about this REVIEW
i agree it was the best cruise ever , i found it better than ventura because i didnt get on with the people who worked in kids club , but rob and claire were hilarioius , i miss all the friends i met too, especially nicola and cerys !! Loveeyaa x
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Opinion: Agree Comment by Paull, Redruth, Cornwall (19 Jul 09 19:43) about this REVIEW
We were on the same cruise, also our first and I agree with everything you have written. Our son, Elliot also attended the Kids Club and even though there were not many in his age range ( 13 ) he thoroughly enjoyed the company of all he met there. Well done Kids Club staff and thanks for the unexpected gift of backpack, towel etc. I loved getting up early and walking around the promenade deck in the early morning sunshine and could not help but think how privileged I was to be there. My Dad at 82 was very happy with entertainment to suit him, films, whist drives, shows and just watching the dolphins playing in the wake, the list is endless. We were a varied age group and each of us enjoyed the cruise immensely. Anyone thinking of taking the plunge, go on, jump in, the waters lovely.
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Comment by Rimmington, Oswaldtwistle, Accrington (20 Jul 09 10:37) about a COMMENT by Paull (19 Jul 09 19:43)
Thanks for reading and commenting. How could I have forgotten to mention the real stars of the show, the dolphins! How clever of P & O to lay that on!!:) By the way, Nicola says "Hi" to Elliot.
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Opinion: Agree Comment by Connolly, Widnes (18 Jul 09 16:14) about this REVIEW
So glad you enjoyed your very first cruise, I was just the same after my first one and Oceana is my favourite ship. There are some wonderful cruise itinerarys out there so just carry on cruising. Best wishes.
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Opinion: Agree Comment by Brown, Bolton (18 Jul 09 15:08) about this REVIEW
Very well written and informative review
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