Genuine Issues With Oceana?

[bahrain_not_dubai!]

Hello!

 

I've got a big smile on my face as I write this as today I booked my tenth cruise, the Atlantic Shores voyage departing on the Oceana.

 

Having read a lot of reviews, they do seem to be polarized, some throwing a tremendous amount of praise, while others seem to have given a 1 star rating as their balcony cabin on Oceana didn't match up to their previous experience in the Queens Grill aboard the QM2 :rolleyes:. Those extremes aside, is Oceana, as the some reviews say, truly tired ? I don't mean a graze here and there, but in a relative state of disarray? I have cruised on ships well over 40 years old, so such things shouldn't phase me unless they befall my expectations which are for a large ship experience, with great service and food to some lovely destinations- a mainstream cruise in other words. As long as everything is acceptable, and most importantly the crew as well as the food are wonderful, I am sure I will have a brilliant cruise ( would in any case)- BUT my question is merely what are your thoughts with the Oceana? (to be honest, I doubt there is anything even nearing major, however thought I'd ask the opinion of experienced P&Oers! )

[CruiseLuvver]

Well, I'm always prepared to believe that things can change, often in quite a short time (so I don't take much notice of reviews over 3 years old), but I did read reviews not long after we sailed on her in 2008, and really, I wondered if they were talking about the same ship! Yes, it's definitely older than some of the others, but I much preferred it to, for example, Ventura. It had a lovely cosy, sort of olde-worlde feel about it, it was easy to get round, very convenient for seeing lots of shows, the food was excellent, and the maitre d' and other staff very friendly and capable. We loved it!

[Time_waster]

From what I understand oceana is having a major refit in the very near future - one of the main changes being the move of the macro Pierre white restaurant.

The last time I was on her (a few weeks ago) for the day she was looking a bit dusty and a bit tired.. But we shall see what else happens in the refit!!

 

LP

[Host Sharon]

I sail on Monday on her, but having visited her and the crew recently, I can say that the service should be excellent and the ship did not look tired to me, certainly not as tired as Oriana was before her current refit.

[bahrain_not_dubai!]

Well, I'm always prepared to believe that things can change, often in quite a short time (so I don't take much notice of reviews over 3 years old), but I did read reviews not long after we sailed on her in 2008, and really, I wondered if they were talking about the same ship! Yes, it's definitely older than some of the others, but I much preferred it to, for example, Ventura. It had a lovely cosy, sort of olde-worlde feel about it, it was easy to get round, very convenient for seeing lots of shows, the food was excellent, and the maitre d' and other staff very friendly and capable. We loved it!

 

That's fantastic to hear ! Hopefully our cruise will be all that and more !

 

 

 

 

From what I understand oceana is having a major refit in the very near future - one of the main changes being the move of the macro Pierre white restaurant.

The last time I was on her (a few weeks ago) for the day she was looking a bit dusty and a bit tired.. But we shall see what else happens in the refit!!

 

LP

 

 

Thanks for that information. Dusty/tried in what way ? When will she have the refit ? I've looked on the web and can't find anything about that, but her last refit was April 2008 so she is due for another one round about now.

 

Thanks !

[Brayman]

We were on her in May and will be again in June next year and can't honestly say she looked tired at all, no differnet from when we were first on her in 2008.

 

I did hear talk from the crew of her having work done at the end of 2012.

 

Balconies are small, it is true, but not much you can do about that. Plenty of storage in our cabin. Food and crew excellent.

 

And a very friendly ship all round.

[marylizcat]

Refit planned for next November. If you look at the schedule of cruises there is a gap then.

[Time_waster]

Hi again,

 

Carpet was coming up in a couple of places and a few things needed painting etc, but it looked like they were trying to solve these problems with ongoing maintenance. Don't get me wrong it's still a fantastic ship and if I had the opportunity to sail on her again I would straight away!!

 

The marco Pierre white restaurant is moving into the casino, they are going to build a new kitchen in there and they are going to fill in the staircase down into the art gallery. Subject to continuing planning obvs :)

 

LP

[LibraLass41]

A good idea moving MPW away from the atrium staircase, always found that a bit weird... and the traffic flow of people trying to take short cuts through the restaurant was very annoying.

[CruiseLuvver]

A good idea moving MPW away from the atrium staircase, always found that a bit weird... and the traffic flow of people trying to take short cuts through the restaurant was very annoying.

 

And it was also flippin' freezing up there.

[Denarius]

A good idea moving MPW away from the atrium staircase, always found that a bit weird... and the traffic flow of people trying to take short cuts through the restaurant was very annoying.

It was not designed to be a formal restaurant. The ship was designed before the days of select/extra charge dining; the top deck of the atrium was designed as a casual alternative to the MDR. It was originally without charge serving pizzas and simple Italian food in the evenings until P&O decided that they needed additional revenue.

[tartanexile81]

We were on her in May and will be again in June next year and can't honestly say she looked tired at all, no differnet from when we were first on her in 2008.

 

I did hear talk from the crew of her having work done at the end of 2012.

 

Balconies are small, it is true, but not much you can do about that. Plenty of storage in our cabin. Food and crew excellent.

 

And a very friendly ship all round.

 

Obviously commenting on the condition is subjective, so my opinion is very different from Brayman's..... but it hasn't stopped us booking 35 days on Oceana in 6 weeks!

 

We were on her at Easter and we thought the public areas were much better than reviews we'd read beforehand, other than the Cafe Jardin (MPW) as others have said. Our balcony cabin on B deck, however, was in need of a bit of a refit and I put that on our feedback form. As you know the balcony is tiny, it's the smallest cabin we've had, we thought it looked quite shabby and tired and the wardrobe space limited. I've posted a couple of photos on our roll call (8th Jan) so you can see the hanging space. I've got other photos of the cabin if you're interested.

 

Also someone did some videos of Oceana on our cruise so it might be worth taking a look.

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1399435

 

and http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1399436

 

BUT as I said we're looking forward to our TA on her soon