Good bye Symphony, Hello Marina

[pakitin]

Our favorite ship for many years has been the Crystal Symphony but since the Crystal ships were getting older and the company showed no intention of ordering a new ship we were looking for a replacement cruise line that had the same “home away from home feeling”.

Besides the Symphony we sailed during the last few years aboard Regent, Seabourn and Oceania ships.Despite the Regent ships having much nicer cabins and Seabourn entering the mid ship market with their three brand new ships our favorite vessel remained the Crystal Symphony. We felt that the on board life, speakers, shows, passenger mix, food quality and their staff and crew were the best by far.

Last year we did a cruise from Buenos Aires to Manaus aboard the Seabourn Odyssey and despite been a new ship we found it to be very poorly designed. On some decks you could hear conversations and the TV from the cabin next door, high speed vibrations, columns blocking the view of the stages, oxide from the pipes staining the clothes and many other problems. Many logistical problems with the staff placement like not assigning enough waiters to the busiest restaurants and inexperience in the part of the crew. With three larger new ships placed in service in a short time frame Seabourn went from serving seven hundred and fifty passengers to triple the amount to two thousand one hundred cruisers thus needing one thousand new crew jobs. They transferred some very good employees from their small ships but the rest were new and poorly trained. We discarded Seabourn as a choice.

A few months ago we were invited to visit Oceania’s Marina at the Port of Miami and we fell in love with the ship. We decided to take our next cruise on the Marina and did the Barcelona to the Holly Land and Istanbul sailing.

We knew that in order to have a great cruise besides a beautiful ship we needed to find good staff and pleasant fellow cruisers. We were lucky to experience all these elements in the cruise aboard the Marina. From the general manager, restaurants manager, hospitality manager, head chef and cruise director down to the rest of the crew you could feel their desire to make your stay as nice and pleasant as possible. Most of the passengers were very friendly and we loved the casual atmosphere.

The vessel layout is extraordinary with public spaces like the Barista Bar, the Culinary academy and others areasdesigned to enjoy a view of the sea, the lounges providing a good view of the shows, six unique restaurants (Jacques is incredible) with excellent food and cabins with bed and linens better than a five star hotel.

The ship has beautiful original artworks, Lalique fixtures and elegant furniture.

The shows were not as good as Crystal but the guest performers were good and some like pianist Naki Ataman and comedian Billy Boyle we saw them before performing aboard the Crystal Symphony.

We have found our new favorite ship, the Oceania’s Marina and doubt that we will sail in any other ship for a long time unless is the Oceania’s Riviera.

Paco

[hondorner]

Welcome to the family! Very nicely written report.

[Meg]

Bravo and well said! After our sailing on the Marina last year, we feel the same exact way!

[digtexas]

Paco,

Thanks for sharing your opinions. We enjoyed meeting you and your lovely wife on that brief, unfortunate cruise on Seabourn and we look forward to sailing with you again someday. Having sailed on the Symphony many times, we look forward to our first cruise on the Riviera in January.