evyfueloil

As someone who has recently sailed on Oriana to Iceland end June, I took warm/rainproof clothes as I was expecting the worst weather (well, hopefully 12deg. at best) but it was worse than that! We were in the thermal bath at Myvatn and it was raining and 8degrees. You had to be very brave running from & back to the changing rooms!

Both of the day trips to The Golden Circle and Jewels of the North & Myvatn were approx. £100 each, included very basic lunches, and the Godfoss & Gulfoss waterfalls were both spoilt by the unpleasant wet weather.

On this trip, the best weather & best welcome was at Killybegs, in Donegal, Ireland, on the way up.

If you'd like to see spectacular scenery, waterfalls, a few geysers, and don't want to be cold & miserable, wet & windblown, then I'd recommend a trip to the Azores which is beautiful & was much more enjoyable!

Hi,

On cruises with 6 days at sea or more, there are watercolour painting classes- I tried this for the first time in my life on a cruise about 5 years ago and immediately got hooked on it. You will need to buy the kit of paints, brushes and paper though which set me back about £25 but I am still using the Cotman paints & brushes (but I used up the paper). There seems to be an equal number of men and women at these classes. If you are unfortunate and get Frank Holliday as the "teacher", he works at such a fast pace it is difficult to keep up and he is not helpful! Good luck. :p

Does anyone know if Oriana has art sales? Also is there a jewellery shop, please? (We dont drink and have been given quite generous On Board Credit - pity we cant use it to book excursions on line now, have to wait till on the ship when the best excursions will be full, I anticipate!):rolleyes:

The worst cabin we have ever had was on Arcadia, it was a balcony cabin on deck E, E1 forward. The vibration, juddering, swaying & noise was just awful. In bed at night, it felt as if someone was shaking the bed! When we docked, the noise of the anchor and an observation platform being extended just below our cabin was absolutely frightening and horrendous, especially early in the morning, waking us up. The metal fronted balcony meant you had to stand up to see anything and when it rained the balcony flooded. We wished we had gone for an inside cabin in the middle of the ship. We did not chose this cabin as we had gone for a guarantee balcony cabin, but this balcony was a complete waste of money. Never again!

Thank you for all your helpful replies - have now gone for an inside aft on C deck!:rolleyes:

I also look for these classes. In the old P & O brochures, there was a grid over two pages which told you which ships did art classes & all the other activities, facilities, etc. ( Adonia for example does not have art classes) but the new brochure does not give this information! (I do not like the way the latest brochure is set out anyway) So I had to ring them to ask. I was told it is still the case the other ships will have them if there are 6 sea days or more.

If you have already been to Sorrento (very busy place and views spoilt by pollution, in our opinion) would you consider going to the museum in Naples - we had such an interesting time there - so many exhibits from Pompeii etc. All the best stuff was brought there. It was fascinating. Only about 20 mins walk from where our ship docked, but you need to check on a map, and use a busy road. Felt quite safe. Had a great authentic pizza from the cafe opposite the museum afterwards.

Quite a few cabins on Oriana have baths if that's your main desire. Even Outside and Balcony cabins

Thank you for your reply (!) I am well aware balcony and some outside cabins have baths at greater expense, - but the only deck on Oriana to have baths in inside cabins is Deck A. :rolleyes:

We are thinking of booking an inside cabin on A deck Oriana, because these cabins have a bath, but have heard there can be noise from the Lido deck above. Would underneath the Oasis salon or treatment rooms forward deck port side be quieter,does anyone know?

I've learned not to order something like Pad Thai in a setting where it has to be prepared for 100s of people. I save it for the little local Thai restaurants. That and the King Crab on Princess Norway Fjords trip. They were old frozen and maybe refrozen. Tough and not tasty at all. You would think in the Fjords, where the King Crab is well, King, that you would get something fresh and delicious.

Usually cruise ship food is pretty good, but never as good as what we eat at home where my husband hasn't met a stick of butter he didn't love and uses fresh herbs, garlic/shallots and stocks in most dishes. So now I'm totally spoiled and cruise food is no longer the delight it was before he learned to cook. Not complaining, mind you.

I so agree with you, having ordered Thai curry on Constellation - it was just tomato soup with carrots and peas in it, served on rice - a 12 year old cooking for himself at home could have done better. When I complained, a plate of mixed veg covered in a sauce which must have had the entire contents of a jar of chilli powder emptied into it arrived. Almost every meal on this Constellation cruise was a disappointment - another example, apart from tough steaks and tasteless soups, was creme brulee, which was a slab of thick ordinary cold custard (supermarket creme brulees are far better).:mad: