Newest Marina Reviews?

[Paulchili]

Paulchili,

I'm in that group, also. Sometimes I feel like all I ever do is agree with some of you, but some of you put my thoughts down so well! :p

 

That makes you an agreeable person :D

[gr'aunt]

Well, I just had to jump in here and add my thoughts...I know EXACTLY how the two cruise review writers (who were on the Marina immediately before my cruise) feel. Several of the things they mentioned were items that we noticed, too. The Marina is beautiful, but... the situation with the elevators at the back of the ship is true, the closet doors are a joke (we remedied the situation by putting the umbrella in the track to keep the door closed at night), the shower was small for this 5'3" gal, so you can't imagine the torture it was for my 6'5" husband, we arrived upon embarkation to find someone elses luggage in front of our door, while one of our pieces of luggage went missing (this makes it 3 for 3 in the lost luggage department), the tender situation for passengers on private excursions was deplorable, and the food at Red Ginger can't make up it's mind what it wants to be...and whatever it wants to be is horrible! We felt that the food in the GDR and the Terrace was not as excellent as we remembered on two past sailings, and there was alot of repetition on the menu during our two week cruise. Now that more Europeans are sailing on Oceania, many of the breakfast items are geared toward them (I know I'm gonna get fileted by the Euro crowd on this) which explains the baked beans, stewed tomatoes and musli on the buffet line.

 

Now for the good: our room Steward, the food at Toscana and Jacques, the design of the ship, the public rooms, the lemonade, the ice cream, the hamburgers at Waves, the much-needed extra laundry rooms, the newness that hasn't rubbed off yet, Barrista's first thing in the morning, the bread and rolls, and the choice to NOT wear sequins and tuxes (although there were so many people who were, IMHO, so overdressed on this cruise that for a minute I thought I was on HAL). We did have wonderful private excursions, and we met some fabulous and friendly people. The comments about the age demographic aren't fair; neither are any criticisms about weather or sea conditions. Fortunately we had smooth seas and pretty good weather for the far north.

 

Like the two reviewers who are being cruise-cified on this post, we had just enough dissapointment to decide that our next cruise will be back on a smaller river ship. Maybe the dissapointment is a result of such high expectations after reading sldispatcher's glowing comments on the inagural cruise. Or maybe we just miss the smaller ships. Time will tell.

[TERRIER1]

Sorry, but everyone doesn't love the library on Marina. We found the design very poor. When most of the chairs are occupied with reading (or sleeping) passengers, such as on a sea day, it's extremely difficult to access the bookshelves, which are behind glass doors. We much preferred the library layout on Regatta.

 

Another vote for Kreastman. I loved the R ships library. I was not comfortable at all in the Marina library. I couldn't get to the bookshelves if someone was sleeping or reading in the chairs and I didn't want to disturb them. I thought the design was poorly laid out.

[LHT28]

Now that more Europeans are sailing on Oceania' date=' many of the breakfast items are geared toward them (I know I'm gonna get fileted by the Euro crowd on this) which explains the baked beans, stewed tomatoes and musli on the buffet line.

 

.[/quote']

 

As far as I can remember they have always had musli for breakfast

As for the baked beans & tomatoes just do not eat them

You did not mention the cold meat & cheses which most North Americans also do not eat at breakfast.

They cater to all tastes, if you do not like something just pass it by...no big deal

 

Lyn

[LHT28]

I agree about the library ..too bad they did not position it crossways on the ship & the computer room the same

It would have given a more open space like feel like on the R-ships

 

I know they were trying to create nooks but it just does not work well IMO ;)

[Mura]

I am not a texter either but it's used a lot on blogs.

I kind of like your latter guess but it is the former. It's used more to mean - your experiences may vary :)

 

Er ... then wouldn't it be YEMV? :confused:

[Paulchili]

Er ... then wouldn't it be YEMV? :confused:

 

It would be except that is not an acronym that people would recognize. YMMV is recognized by many as an acronym.

You can try using YEMV and see what happens - if it flies, you can take credit as a creator of a new acronym :D

[Mura]

Okay, let me invent one ...

 

year end motor vehicle?

 

Nah, that doesn't have a real ring to it, does it?

 

Mura

[wripro]

As Paul so eloquently stated the libraries on the R ships are spaces unto themselves, separated from any other area. They also have an expansive, airy feeling which makes sitting there such a pleasure. On Marina the library is really nothing more than a wide corridor separated into small compartments where ongoing through traffic interrupts any sense of privacy or peace.

 

As for the OP on this thread I still don't get why if someone posts a negative review anyone has to take it so personally and counter each element. Everyone is entitled to his opinion.

[pacheco18]

And we are all free to disregard those opinions.

 

My take -- after having trolled on and posted on the CC boards of many different cruise lines - is that O devotees are unusually protective of O's reputation and are quick to jump on anyone who criticizes anything about the line or its ships.

 

As someone posted earlier, no cruise line is perfect. Frankly, I would not even have read those reviews if the OP had not called attention to them. Sometimes it is better to say nothing and let the reviews fall into oblivion. By taking them on and challenging them, you give them an audience that they would not otherwise have had.

[gillianrose]

I just don't agree with their comments.

 

You didn't just disagree with their comments, you criticized their attitude and said they went looking for issues and to top it off you said you were not criticizing them.

 

 

IMHO the posters of the reviews obviously had some problems but apparantly not a good attitude and went looking for issues.

 

 

I wish people would stop criticizing reviews they don't like while praising reviews and comments they do like or that are written by people they favor. Make comments yes, but do we need to start rating reviews and denigrating writers of reviews that we don't like?

[LHT28]

And we are all free to disregard those opinions.

 

My take -- after having trolled on and posted on the CC boards of many different cruise lines - is that O devotees are unusually protective of O's reputation and are quick to jump on anyone who criticizes anything about the line or its ships.

 

Check out some of the luxury lines forums they can get right down right nasty:eek:

 

I think anyone that loves a specific line likes to defend it

I admit to also do that;)

[CintiPam]

Benita, I don't think they were on the same ship I was on either! I was on the Baltic cruise in June with Cintipam and her very well written review summed up my feelings about the Marina. Like you, we liked it so much we booked the Maiden voyage of the Riviera. :confused:

 

Thanks, Judy.

 

After just reading this thread now, I realize that I never even mentioned the Marina library in my review because I never used it. I disliked the putative library on Marina so much that I entered it only once to take a look and immediately left. A corridor with nooks is not a library.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Whether one agrees with acesfull1's opinions or not, you have to admit that he (or she?) was pretty funny and articulate. Having been on a few cruises, but not Oceania, I can easily see how he came to his opinions. Everyone has different expectations, and writes from that point of view.

 

Fortunately, I have very low expectations of most everything, so when something turns out nice I am pleasantly surprised... If Mrs D is happy on a cruise, that's all that really matters to me (oh, and that there be good wine available :D).

 

And what the heck is a "library" for anyway? I think I went to one of those back in elementry school (and that was a long, long time ago...). They haven't had a purpose since the rise of the internet (and sites like Amazon). YMMV.

[CintiPam]

I think I would enjoy sailing with the two of you. I go with the attitude that everything is great- it sure is better than working- and it is tough to get too upset when things are not perfect. The pluses so far outweigh the minuses. (Although I will never understand the thumbs up Pam gave to Cherry and Des - LOL)

 

Ditto, especially that I would be happy to cruise with you as well.

 

I liked Des and Cherry because IMO their act was a throwback to an older simpler vaudeville time, and looked at it almost as a nostalgic tribute to those days. Certainly no comparison to the very talented pianist or some of the other shows, but an OK way to spend an hour for someone who prefers to eat than drink her calories and enjoys gambling for perhaps five minutes total.

[CintiPam]

And what the heck is a "library" for anyway? I think I went to one of those back in elementry school (and that was a long, long time ago...). They haven't had a purpose since the rise of the internet (and sites like Amazon). YMMV.

 

You have just placed a knife in my heart.:D Yes, I was one of those kids who thought that spending a couple of hours on a Saturday roaming the stacks of our small town library was beyond wonderful, a ticket to another world. I confess that I still visit our local library every week without fail.

[LHT28]

I liked Des and Cherry because IMO their act was a throwback to an older simpler vaudeville time,

I was surprised to hear they were still doing their act

we saw them back in 2003

[yorkiemomjn]

You didn't just disagree with their comments, you criticized their attitude and said they went looking for issues and to top it off you said you were not criticizing them.

 

 

 

 

 

I wish people would stop criticizing reviews they don't like while praising reviews and comments they do like or that are written by people they favor. Make comments yes, but do we need to start rating reviews and denigrating writers of reviews that we don't like?

 

Ouch! :eek: Sorry, I will try to do better and quit that.

[Paulchili]

I was surprised to hear they were still doing their act

we saw them back in 2003

 

You shouldn't be surprised - they go all the way back to vaudeville days :D

Lyn, they were on our cruise as well - were you on that segment?

[pacheco18]

Check out some of the luxury lines forums they can get right down right nasty:eek:

 

I think anyone that loves a specific line likes to defend it

I admit to also do that;)

 

 

You are correct -- we don't dare criticize those luxury lines. LOL

 

I enjoy the lines I choose to cruise on. I defend the good and acknowledge what is not so good. Every cruise line has its pluses and minuses. But when I find a post about O that sees everything through the proverbial rose colored glasses I tend to disregard that post and that poster.

[LHT28]

You shouldn't be surprised - they go all the way back to vaudeville days :D

Lyn, they were on our cruise as well - were you on that segment?

No it must have been one of the cruises after ours

[Benita]

Ditto, especially that I would be happy to cruise with you as well.

 

I liked Des and Cherry because IMO their act was a throwback to an older simpler vaudeville time, and looked at it almost as a nostalgic tribute to those days. Certainly no comparison to the very talented pianist or some of the other shows, but an OK way to spend an hour for someone who prefers to eat than drink her calories and enjoys gambling for perhaps five minutes total.

 

When you put it that way, maybe they weren't so bad. We even laughed at their first show- by the second and third, I was ready to throw tomatoes.

[gillianrose]

Yorkiemomnjn:

 

I'm sorry, but you misquoted me by tying in two separate statements I made to dwelsh's post.

 

I addressed dwelsh, not you when I wrote: "You didn't just disagree with their comments, you criticized their attitude and said they went looking for issues and to top it off you said you were not criticizing them." That was because he had said "Without criticizing the posters......and then he criticized them."

 

 

I then made the separate comment, "I wish people would stop criticizing reviews they don't like while praising reviews and comments they do like or that are written by people they favor. Make comments yes, but do we need to start rating reviews and denigrating writers of reviews that we don't like?"

 

In the meantime I see that someone else has labeled the reviewers of reviews that are not favorable as "both curmudgeons who were looking for problems and exaggerated the valid ones."

 

I wonder, are people really allowed to state their critical opinions here?

[CintiPam]

When you put it that way, maybe they weren't so bad. We even laughed at their first show- by the second and third, I was ready to throw tomatoes.

 

We only attended their first two, which was just the right amount of nostalgic exposure for us!:)

[yorkiemomjn]

Yorkiemomnjn:

 

I'm sorry, but you misquoted me by tying in two separate statements I made to dwelsh's post.

 

I addressed dwelsh, not you when I wrote: "You didn't just disagree with their comments, you criticized their attitude and said they went looking for issues and to top it off you said you were not criticizing them." That was because he had said "Without criticizing the posters......and then he criticized them."

 

 

I then made the separate comment, "I wish people would stop criticizing reviews they don't like while praising reviews and comments they do like or that are written by people they favor. Make comments yes, but do we need to start rating reviews and denigrating writers of reviews that we don't like?"

 

In the meantime I see that someone else has labeled the reviewers of reviews that are not favorable as "both curmudgeons who were looking for problems and exaggerated the valid ones."

 

I wonder, are people really allowed to state their critical opinions here?

 

I know, I'm sorry about that. I noticed that after it was too late to change, but decided to not confuse things anymore by trying to explain. :o

 

When I tried to quote you, it did not show both quotes (I obviously didn't know how to do it right), so my post looked like I thought you were talking to me. I didn't think that and I actually agree with you that we should not jump on others that think differently than we do.

 

However, I knew I was guilty of that part of your post about praising reviews that I like. I had just posted that to Paul Chili. That's why I posted anything at all.

 

 

I really think that most of the people here are great about giving help and opinions and try not to make others with different opinions feel bad.

 

 

Whew, I hope I have explained things well enough. :) Sometimes things sound differently when typing them rather than being able to 'say' them. I didn't want you to think that I was upset about your post.