34 Days Aboard Marina

[LHT28]

Again I ask, Don, did Bob say when the itineraries for the Riveria would be available?

 

.

It was posted elsewhere here that they will be out mid March

 

I think around March 16th (do not quote me on that)

[meow!]

Don,

As we board Marina in a week we are anxious to find out what they found in Acapulco re: the propeller.

Hopefully it has been corrected and she is good as new (which she is):)

The propellers were likely not really damaged, considering the ship could sail at 21 knots?

[meow!]

It is interesting that the bathrooms are causing so much contoversary, given that this was something that O wanted to improve on from the R ships. I wonder if they did enough research to determine whether people would rather have a 1) a large shower stall and no tub or 2) the present arrangement with a tiny shower and a tub. I wonder if they will revisit this for Riviera?

It is difficult to put in separate tub and shower in a standard cabin of only 282 sq.ft. including balcony. (For example, standard cabins on Silversea Cloud/Wind at 295 sq.ft. have only tub-showers, and only the Shadow/Whisper at 345 sq.ft. and Spirit at 376 sq.ft. have separate tubs and showers). Besides, as the Marina is a two-aisled ship, the cabins are more squarish, which makes it even more difficult to have a long enough bathroom to put in separate tubs and showers. The solution may be to offer two types of standard cabins for passengers to choose from: one type with a nice large rain-forest shower, and the other type with tub-shower. This way, either formula can be properly done instead of squeezed in, and both types of passengers can be satisfied. In fact, on the Shadow and Spirit, we only used the showers, as we would rather not lie in tubs that others had just used. It would be more sanitory to have water run down your body than soak in it, if there could be traces of other folks' left-overs!

[Paulchili]

The propellers were likely not really damaged, considering the ship could sail at 21 knots?

 

 

We would like to think and hope so as otherwise it could greatly impact our upcoming cruises on the Marina.

meow, I hope your Iceland cruise will go off without a hitch (or a volcano eruption) :)

[rhohea]

Hi Don, Thanks for all your great reporting work. We embark in May BUT what I want to know is when will the Marina Web Cam be up and operational. I miss my daily dose of "where is Marina today - live". Thank you and enjoy the rest of your cruise.:)

[meow!]

meow, I hope your Iceland cruise will go off without a hitch (or a volcano eruption) :)

Thank you kindly, we hope so too .. meow!

[hondorner]

On board from several sources, we too are hearing that Riviera bookings will start Mid-March, with March 16 having been mentioned. However, I would not place a bet to "win" on this specific date, as a number of things could affect it. For sure, most travel agents will have the itineraries at least two days ahead, and some (the top agents) will have them several days ahead. Those who get them really early will be sworn to secrecy.

 

I would say with 99% certainty that it will be a Mediterranean launch and christening, with 90% certainty that it will be Athens, with 80% certainty that it will be Athens to Istanbul (although I don't even have a guess to which of the 3 typical itineraries for these ports it will be, or yet a different one), and with a reasonable educated guess that it will be April 24, 2012. I will be waiting for the announcement like everyone else.

 

Here on board, we hear nothing about the web cam. The bow camera that is usually broadcast on the web is up and running on the ship's TV, but we have no way to know if it is hooked up to the web yet, or not.

[joyous]

The onboard Oceania rep is Per Orren and he is really a jewel. We like him a lot. joyous

[hondorner]

Darn. I just lost another post. I wrote about La Reserve and Privee, the third time I have tried to write about them, clicked Submit, and the comuter said ("cannot display the web page -- go back to the previous page." when I clicked the Back button, the message was gone. This can get very discouraging. I'll try again later.

 

MTN must provide an editor to create the posts and allow cutting and pasting into the web site or email. Word would be handy, but anything -- even as simple as Notebook -- would be better than what is av ailable now, which is nothing. Besides the expense of signing on to the internet just to lose the message, the frustration of having to create it over and over is agoninzing.

[seafare]

Darn. I just lost another post. I wrote about La Reserve and Privee, the third time I have tried to write about them, clicked Submit, and the comuter said ("cannot display the web page -- go back to the previous page." when I clicked the Back button, the message was gone. This can get very discouraging. I'll try again later.

 

MTN must provide an editor to create the posts and allow cutting and pasting into the web site or email. Word would be handy, but anything -- even as simple as Notebook -- would be better than what is av ailable now, which is nothing. Besides the expense of signing on to the internet just to lose the message, the frustration of having to create it over and over is agoninzing.

 

 

Don,

 

If you have access to your email program, could you open a new email to yourself and write your information and then cut and paste from there to cruisecritic? At least the infomation would be saved so you don't have to start at the begining. Might work or not!!!! :eek:

 

We all appreciate your effort in keeping us informed.

 

Jill

[findacruise]

Darn. I just lost another post.

 

Don - Thanks for all your successful posts and all your other attempts. Apprreciate the on-going updates and tidbits of information. It keeps me somewhat satisfied until our 3/28 sailing.

[LHT28]

I use Eudora for my mail... Download the mail sign off internet

Read & reply then log on & send emails

 

Last trip I did have a problem sending the mail so had to go to my webmail site ... cut & paste to send from online

 

Not sure if the problem was with the ship's provider or mine

I have used the same system for other cruises on O & it worked like a charm

Will try again on our upcoming cruise

 

Lyn

[yorkiemomjn]

Don,

 

We all appreciate your effort in keeping us informed.

 

Jill

 

Yes, we do appreciate the trouble you have gone to!!! When I have time to get on the computer, the Oceania forum is the first place I go!!

Like Cintipam says, "I'm addicted." :D Looking forward to hearing about LaReserve!

[orchestrapal]

Yes, we do appreciate the trouble you have gone to!!! When I have time to get on the computer, the Oceania forum is the first place I go!!

Like Cintipam says, "I'm addicted." :D Looking forward to hearing about LaReserve!

 

Ditto, it's a very hard addiction to overcome. I wonder if the Betty Ford Clinic ever gets requests for interventions?:D

[cruiser buce]

Among my uses of the wi-fi onboard will be newspaper downloads to my Kindle. These take less than a minute at home. Does anyone have experience with using oceania's wi-fi for this. I assume it is just sign on-off with a minute or ten at their speed to download?

Thanks, BR

[sldispatcher]

I know how frustrating that internet connection can be. Keep up the good work. I am jealous that I am no longer able to report :)

[TKS]

Among my uses of the wi-fi onboard will be newspaper downloads to my Kindle. These take less than a minute at home. Does anyone have experience with using oceania's wi-fi for this. I assume it is just sign on-off with a minute or ten at their speed to download?

Thanks, BR

 

Having experienced the internet on the Maiden Voyage, with similar results as Don is reporting on this cruise, IMHO, I recommend you download your newspapers at internet cafes along the way.

 

In my experience, the internet was faster than dial-up but not nearly as fast as land-based high-speed internet and not as reliable. Because of the reliability issue, you may find you'd have to download more than once to get the entire document. Each log in/log out costs time, hence $.

 

Good luck.

[hondorner]

Quick note from San Francisco where we are staying a few days with Betsy's sister. Beaautiful arrival under the GG bridge about 2:30 pm on the 25th, sunny but pretty cold. My computer is still kaput, will be getting a new one soon.

 

Expect to be home Mar 2, get the new computer set up and upload some pictures, and will then start reviews.

[red man]

Great--You were missed!

[AdvenLee]

Thanks, Don, I look forward to more of your reviews re Marina. Also, can't wait to meet you and all on the TA in Nov. Seems like a long time. Should we be booking shore excursions now?? THanks, Holly

[yorkiemomjn]

Quick note from San Francisco where we are staying a few days with Betsy's sister. Beaautiful arrival under the GG bridge about 2:30 pm on the 25th, sunny but pretty cold. My computer is still kaput, will be getting a new one soon.

 

Expect to be home Mar 2, get the new computer set up and upload some pictures, and will then start reviews.

 

 

Welcome home!

Looking forward to seeing your pictures and reading your reviews. I am especially interested

in hearing about the La Reserve since we have booked it for our Baltic cruise in June.:)

Judy

[Jancruz]

Hi Don, glad you had a safe trip through the Canal. We were told that there were 22 passengers from the Maiden who would reboard in Miami for the Transcanal to San Francisco. Other than a prop hitting a log it was a great transit we heard. Pat and I were aboard yesterday in San Francisco for the TA Dog and Pony show. It was like a mini reunion of sorts, great fun.

 

We are considering the TransAtlantic on the Marina in November but we are also seriously considering the Maiden Voyage of the Riviera when she starts out in April of 2012. No details have been announced of course but from what we know it will be interesting.

 

Take care,

 

Cal Ford

Morgan Hill, California

 

Maiden Voyage will be from Barcelona to Athens

Jancruz1

[JimandStan]

Maiden Voyage will be from Barcelona to Athens

Jancruz1

 

FABULOUS! :D

 

Thanks (Again) Jan-

[KatieBelle]

Welcome back Don, Betsy, Jim & Stan. We are looking forward to more details of your cruise and the lovely Marina. By the way Don, thanks for the wine tip. We have enjoyed some Casillero de Diablo wines recently. Will try the Emiliano.

[hondorner]

I bought a new computer today and have been posting some answers to various questions. I still have to transfer my photos and such to the new laptop before I write any reviews. More soon.