Oceania Cruise Review: Part 2!

You probably noticed in my previous blog that I liked the food on Riviera. To be honest I’m still thinking about it !!

In this blog I’ll go over the ports of call, entertainment and dress code.

PORTS OF CALL

On this itinerary I was lucky enough to vist Venice (Italy), Koper (Slovenia), Dubrovnik (Croatia) and Kotor (Montenegro).    I’m not one for excursions so I’ve noted below what I did and also listed the excursions that Oceania offer in each port.

VENICE  –  I decided to disembark and get a water taxi to St Marks Square. Water taxi’s depart every 15 mins from the port.  I then spent approx 4 hours in Venice exploring this wonderful city.  It was very very busy which is not surprising as there were 8 ships in port.

Oceania did offer various shore excursions as shown below :

Secret Corners of Venice and Grand Canal,   Island of Murano and Burano,  St Marks Square and Doge’s Palace,  Leisurely Venice,  Hidden Treasures of Venice,  Venetian Palaces,  Historical Venice and Gondala Ride and Grand Canal and the Guggenheim Collection

KOPER – the ship literally berthed approx 500 metres from the town centre.   A very picturesque small town with narrow streets and a main square.  Very nice even if its just to get off the ship for an hour or 2.

Oceania offered the following excursions :

A walking tour of Koper, Historical Piran & Wine tasting,  Postojna cave & Predjama Castle, Ljubljana from the river, Lake Bled & Island Visit, The legendary Lipizzaner Horses, Skocjan Caves & Hrastovlje and Panoramic Koper.

DUBROVNIK – again I decided to do my own thing.  Oceania had shuttle buses running regularly to the old town.  Wonderful city helped by the baking sunshine!   Stunning scenery onboard ship for about an hour before reaching port.  Did notice plenty of independent companies on the port offering excursions to all the main sights.

Oceania Excursions :

Highlights of Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik and the Croatian Riviera, Cavtat and the walled city, Panoramic Dubrovnik village life and wine.

KOTOR – didn’t know anything about this port, but I’ve got to say it was probably my favourite. The scenery was stunning from the Fjord we were anchored in. I decided I was going to attempt the climb up to the fortress overlooking the port, which sounded like a good idea but with temperatures at over 80 degrees I soon changed my mind.  I did make it however and as you can see the view was well worth it.

Oceania Excursions :

Highlights of Montenegro, Historic Kotor & Seaside resort of Budva, Leisurely Kotor.

So thats what I did during the day.  When back onboard there was an entertainment programme in place such as shuffleboard, table tennis, crazy golf and paddle tennis competitions.  Other daytime activities included bingo, social bridge play, quizzes and on Oceania they offer cookery classes at an extra charge which seemed very popular.

In the evenings after your dining preference there was always a high quality show in the theatre, and after that most of the time is spent in one of the many bars onboard.  At Horizons every night they do have karaoke if thats your thing!  I thought evening entertainment was a little lacking other than the show as quite often we’d see people wandering around looking for somewhere with people in as they’d been told the bar they were in previously had had to close.  I was always under the impression that if there were still people in spending money they would stay open……within reason of course.

The great thing about Oceania is the dress code, they call it ‘Country Casual’.  Basically no need for jackets or ball gowns as there’s no formality at all.  That said everyone in the evenings were very smart just more casual than other cruise lines.

As you’ve probably guessed by now I thoroughly enjoyed my short time on Riviera but not sure my wife did as she was left at home with my boys!      If you’re someone who enjoys the finest food and doesn’t like the formality of other cruises then Oceania I think is the cruise for you.

Let me know if you have any questions or wish to talk about Oceania as I’d be happy help.

My direct line is 0800 408 6107 or email me at [email protected].  Check out our latest cruise offers at www.cruise.co.uk

Look forward to hearing from you.

Haydn