newtocruise_rj

There was one in Aug last year, but may have changed since 

On 5/14/2019 at 3:11 PM, Solent Richard said:

 

Good afternoon Penny.

 

Here's a link to my blog review which has lots of photographs. We, my wife and I, were very pleasantly surprised with Oceana...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/02/17/oceana-35-night-caribbean-round-trip/

 

...and the follow up, Life onboard Oceana...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/02/24/life-on-board-oceanas-35-night-cruise/

 

 

Just read both your reviews of Oceana Richard, and thank you so much for such a comprehensive and detailed account of your experience. I'm so glad you had such high praise of the ship, it has made me very excited to experience her for the first time - just 10 days to go! Such wonderful pictures of you and your wife clearly having a fantastic cruise as well. 

10 hours ago, dazlight said:

She won’t be no? She hardly wears jeans. Nor will be the rest of my party I’m with. It’s just how I dress. Jeans , shirt , blazer and shoes. 

 

Think best way to find out is have a look what people are wearing. 

I think that combination sounds more than suitable for a casual night. As many have said, it is about the overall look. I think smart, well-fitted jeans with a shirt and blazer could easily look much smarter than dated or ill-fitting trousers of another material. 

I do think it is at the other side of the island, but if your children are into waterparks then Siam Park in Tenerife really is one of the best waterparks ever.

7 hours ago, P-L-B said:

Have a great cruise.

 

BTW, there are various other drinking holes on board.

 

Enjoy.

Ooh thanks very much for posting this PLB! Curious as to whether anyone has ever done the gin masterclass and their verdict? 

I really think norovirus is just luck of the draw. My partner has been on over 10 cruises and never experienced it, whereas I got it on my first ever cruise. Of the two of us I am far more concerned with washing my hands/hygiene in general and I really don't know what else I could have done to prevent it. There weren't any announcements or anything like that so I don't think it was an "outbreak", I think I was just unlucky. Regardless, it didn't ruin the cruise and it clearly didn't put me off cruising. 

Glad to hear you had a lovely cruise and enjoyed Aurora. 

On 7/1/2019 at 4:17 PM, DamianG said:

Some great suggestions here. If you need a refreshment stop whilst wandering and like white wine then I would recommend locally produced Greco di Tufo which is a favourite of ours.

I agree, lots of great suggestions! I'm so pleased I asked! Oh that sounds lovely, thanks very much, we do indeed like white wine!

34 minutes ago, Bedruthen said:

You didn’t mention it, but if you haven’t been to Herculaneum, then it is well worth a visit. We found it more interesting than Pompeii and much less busy. It is easy to take the train there and back from Naples

 

Sorry yes we have done Herculaneum before! But agree that is definitely worth doing and far less busy than Pompeii

Thank you all for your replies. The funicular sounds great and can't wait to try the pizza. Glad to hear so many nice reviews of Naples

Hi All. We are going to Naples on our cruise in July and since we have both been fortunate enough to visit all the nearby gems such as Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii, Vesuvius etc. Therefore, we have decided we're going to just stay in Naples and explore on our own. However, we have heard very mixed reviews about Naples itself so wondered if anyone had any recommendations for which areas are best to visit on foot from the port and any nice places for an authentic pizza for lunch!
Thanks in advance 

I think you just have to be super super vigilant. I usually have a cross-body bag zipped up and rest my hand over it as I'm walking. When we were in Rome we were approached by a group of late teen/early twenties men and they appeared to just be joking around, trying to shake our hands etc but we just kept walking and politely waved them away. A few steps later I realised the zip of my bag was undone. Thankfully nothing had been taken but it was scary how this had even happened without either of us noticing. 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise, loved the review. Baltic cruise is definitely on my cruise to-do list now (as if it wasn't already)!

We did a Pisa & Florence ship excursion last summer and actually thought it was enough time! We had around an hour and a half in Pisa and honestly felt that was enough. Aside from the leaning tower and surrounding buildings/area there wasn't a huge amount to see in Pisa itself. We then had quite a long time in Florence (around 5 hours I think) and didnt feel rushed at all. We had a nice lunch, round a good rooftop bar, saw the ponte vecchio and wondered around all the lovely streets and squares. We had also been worried it'd be too much to do in one day but it was perfect for us - everyone is different though! If you do decide to do just one then I would definitely say Florence, it is beautiful.

Thank you for the updates, can't wait for our two weeks on Oceana (for the first time on her) this July! Glad you are having a great cruise!

Just curious as to how many people who have been waitlisted for excursions have then been given a place on that excursion? I know last cruise we booked on the waitlist and then were given a place on the excursion a few days later but wondered if we were just lucky or if P&O do really try to accommodate those on the waitlist. 

In August on Azura, one of the acts in the theatre was a ukulele band called Ukebox. We thought they were fantastic and went to both of their shows, I even bought their cd to take home. I know they do a few cruises with P&O so they may make an appearance on yours!

Is this all TUI chartered (for P&O) flights or just the Caribbean ones? 

My parents will be on a transatlantic cruise on Britannia this March and I wanted to pre-purchase a select dining option for them as a surprise treat one evening/lunch. However, having not been Britannia myself (not yet!), I'm not sure which to choose. I thought maybe the Eric Lanyard Afternoon Tea as they will have quite a few sea days and it might be a nice treat one afternoon when nearing the UK and it might be a bit too cold to sunbathe? Any reviews on this, or other suggestions?

Thanks in advance x

In the summer we were around 2 hours earlier than our stated embarkation time and it was no problem at all! We went to the first member of staff we found, showed them our documentation and just explained "sorry we're a bit earlier than our embarkation time..." but we were just ushered straight to one of the check-in queues and we were onboard in no time at all, from arriving at the port to finding our cabin onboard was about half an hour I think! Not sure if we got lucky and arrived in a quieter period but it seemed like it was just a really well-planned out procedure!

Yes my parents booked this cruise a few weeks ago when it was listed as P&O's "Cruise of the Week"! They've paid almost £500 less for a balcony cabin on Britannia in March than I will have paid for an inside cabin on Oceana in July 😞 the perks of being able to cruise outside school holidays! 

Hi all! Looking at potential cruise itineraries for this summer and one of the ones we're keen on docks at Livorno. However, as we already have explored both Florence & Pisa previously, we were researching what other excursions were available from Livorno. The Cinque Terre one looks lovely but seems quite a long distance from Livorno (nearly 2 hours each way). Has anyone does this trip and is it worth the long drive? Also, has anyone ventured to Lucca from Livorno? Any other suggestions on where to explore from Livorno are also welcome (we are also considering just staying at exploring Livorno itself)!
Thanks in advance!

I was on Azura this August and didn't notice any issues with her condition. I'd read similar comments before our trip and was pleasantly surprised by the standard. When we were getting back onboard at one port we saw maintenance men on harnesses cleaning the outside of the ship. 

I was however slightly disappointed with the lunchtime buffets. As this was my first cruise with P&O I didnt know if this was a usual standard but my partner (who has cruised with P&O for years) said that the buffet wasn't as good as previous years. However, there are always options of eating elsewhere at lunchtime rather than the buffet, if it isn't to your taste. Otherwise, the food and service we thought was excellent. Our waiters in the main dining room were wonderful.

Personally I was very impressed with my first P&O cruise and am hopeful to do another this summer. 

I agree with the others! I was really worried that I would be penalised for my case being over the stated dimensions but they weren't measured at all, thankfully! I'd just bought a new one then realised it was bigger than the stated dimensions! I think so long as they can handle the luggage safely then it's fine. Happy holidays x

I agree with the above. I think if your mum is okay attending concerts and things she'll be fine in the theatre shows and definitely at sailaway parties. The only concern may be strobe lighting etc in the theatre shows, however on our recent cruise there was always announcements before each show if they were going to be using strobes/pyrotechnics etc. The music in other bars isn't especially loud either, you can still lean over and talk to the people next to you.

We were on Azura 2 weeks ago and it wasn't fixed but it wasn't completely unwatchable. We watched a few good films on the sea screen. There are still some dodgy pixels and such but it's still possible to enjoy a film.