Couple of questions about Oceana

[TotallyAngelic]

Hi - we are cruising with P&0 on Oceana for the first time in May and just have a couple of questions ...

 

1. Are the pools heated ?

 

2. Can you use Costa gift cards or Costa points in the Costa on the ship.

 

Thanks muchly

 

Sarah

[BrianI]

1. Yes the pools are heated.

2. You can't use any Costa cards or loyalty cards. You can purchase a 10 cup coffee card which gives you around a 10% discount.

Brian

[john watson]

I have found, on occasions after your cruise account has been shut down on the final day and you are hanging about waiting for your alloted time to disembark the ship, Costa Coffee opens up again and accepts your cruise card. It is separately billed to your credit card as a small entry after getting home. You end up with a small bill and a big bill!

 

Regards John

[TotallyAngelic]

1. Yes the pools are heated.

2. You can't use any Costa cards or loyalty cards. You can purchase a 10 cup coffee card which gives you around a 10% discount.

Brian

 

I have found, on occasions after your cruise account has been shut down on the final day and you are hanging about waiting for your alloted time to disembark the ship, Costa Coffee opens up again and accepts your cruise card. It is separately billed to your credit card as a small entry after getting home. You end up with a small bill and a big bill!

 

Regards John

 

Thank you both - the 10 cup coffee card will be very useful :):)

[pandasteve]

Hi - we are cruising with P&0 on Oceana for the first time in May and just have a couple of questions ...

 

1. Are the pools heated ?

 

2. Can you use Costa gift cards or Costa points in the Costa on the ship.

 

Thanks muchly

 

Sarah

 

yes pools heated. however....... choose a different outfit if you can. you aint going to enjoy oceana.

the food is disgusting!! I am a chef so I know what i'm talking about. the filth they serve up is the sort of muck you/we do not eat at home. it's the processed stuff and chemically enhanced rubbish. I have written to them and was fobbed off. I have rang them, and some woman would neither deny or confirm that they use this rubbish. I asked about 8 times, and she continued to evade the question.

I have taken many cruises, and this is the first time I have returned home weighing less than when I started the cruise. p and o have lost my custom. the ship stank of sewage the entire cruise on many decks. p and o now stands for PONG AND ODOR.....

the lifeboats were constantly being worked on. they were up there banging away and applying heat to the mechanisms, and I heard one of them talking, saying to his mate, they were seized up and couldn't be launched. rather worrying when in the bob in rough weather. the ship is looking rather tired and sad, it's time they sold it to saga and got another one. it's a pity, because we sailed on this ship about 3 years ago and was great!!!

it has now put me off cruising for life.

[TotallyAngelic]

yes pools heated. however....... choose a different outfit if you can. you aint going to enjoy oceana.

the food is disgusting!! I am a chef so I know what i'm talking about. the filth they serve up is the sort of muck you/we do not eat at home. it's the processed stuff and chemically enhanced rubbish. I have written to them and was fobbed off. I have rang them, and some woman would neither deny or confirm that they use this rubbish. I asked about 8 times, and she continued to evade the question.

I have taken many cruises, and this is the first time I have returned home weighing less than when I started the cruise. p and o have lost my custom. the ship stank of sewage the entire cruise on many decks. p and o now stands for PONG AND ODOR.....

the lifeboats were constantly being worked on. they were up there banging away and applying heat to the mechanisms, and I heard one of them talking, saying to his mate, they were seized up and couldn't be launched. rather worrying when in the bob in rough weather. the ship is looking rather tired and sad, it's time they sold it to saga and got another one. it's a pity, because we sailed on this ship about 3 years ago and was great!!!

it has now put me off cruising for life.

 

Oh dear that doesn't bode well .... sounds as though you have had a very disappointing experience. As we have booked and will be taking a cruise on Oceana in May, I hope that our experience will be a better one. I hope also that as a chef your knowledge and expectations re the food are way above mine, and so long as I am eating an acceptable meal cooked by someone else then it is not a deal breaker for me if it is not a fine dining experience.

 

My expectations for this cruise are not sky high, and after reading many negative reviews I am expecting the ship to be a bit past her sell-by date, the food to be nothing special and that maintenance may well be ongoing, but I will be relaxing for a week in the sun, visiting beautiful destinations and enjoying the company of my family, and that will make it enjoyable regardless of the state of the ship / food etc.

 

Funny how opinions differ though, we met some friends this morning who are seasoned cruisers and had just returned from 5 weeks on Oceana around the Caribbean. They commented on how wonderful the whole experience had been and they had re-booked for a month next winter.

 

I guess we will find out for ourselves soon enough ;);)

[heathcharnock]

yes pools heated. however....... choose a different outfit if you can. you aint going to enjoy oceana.

the food is disgusting!! I am a chef so I know what i'm talking about. the filth they serve up is the sort of muck you/we do not eat at home. it's the processed stuff and chemically enhanced rubbish. I have written to them and was fobbed off. I have rang them, and some woman would neither deny or confirm that they use this rubbish. I asked about 8 times, and she continued to evade the question.

I have taken many cruises, and this is the first time I have returned home weighing less than when I started the cruise. p and o have lost my custom. the ship stank of sewage the entire cruise on many decks. p and o now stands for PONG AND ODOR.....

the lifeboats were constantly being worked on. they were up there banging away and applying heat to the mechanisms, and I heard one of them talking, saying to his mate, they were seized up and couldn't be launched. rather worrying when in the bob in rough weather. the ship is looking rather tired and sad, it's time they sold it to saga and got another one. it's a pity, because we sailed on this ship about 3 years ago and was great!!!

it has now put me off cruising for life.

 

Are you going to repeat this rant on every thread ?

[Bacardi..]

Don't listen to to pandasteve. I was on her last year doing this cruise and it was so good I booked again this year. The food will be the same as any other p&o ship. Maintenance happens on every ship all the time.

 

I certainly don't think it nice of pandasteve to be trying to wreck your holiday prior to you going. Listen to your friends would they have rebooked if it was so bad. When in May you going I'm getting on on the 18th for two weeks

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[annieuk]

Take no notice! We were on Oceana last year and will be on her again in a month or so. We've never had anything but good food on the ship and she is one of our favourite P&O ships. The comments read like a complete rant - we expect to enjoy our next cruise on Oceana and I'm sure you will too.

[Scriv]

Listen to real views and reviews, TotallyAngelic and ignore that post. If it is a genuine opinion, which I doubt, it is someone with a grudge or an intention to make mischief.

 

We had a short cruise on Oceana last November and admittedly her outside needs a touch of paint and rust treatment in places, but we had a lovely time on her with excellent service and lovely food in whichever venue we chose to eat. I'm sure you will have a great time on her too. :)

Edited March 14, 2016 by Scriv

[mandylennon]

We have been on Oceana twice and loved every minute, food, cabins and entertainment were excellent, a bit rusty here and there but aren't we all. Would love to go on her again, no hesitation needed.

[Johngela13]

Yes, our first cruise was on Oceana last year and we are doing the other half of the cruise in 4 weeks - very much looking forward to it😎

[magpieman]

Please don't listen to the negative post, you will love Oceana, have a look at our video, you will notice that the same person has commented on the video with exactly the same comments about pong and odour, they obviously have an agenda.

 

Edited March 16, 2016 by magpieman

[Josy1953]

Ignore the negative post, we had a great time on Oceana and would go on her again in a heartbeat. The negative poster has posted the same rant several times in response to different threads. Go, enjoy and make up your own mind.

[daisymay1960]

We went on her last year and loved it so much we are going back this year

 

There was a problem on the last day when one of the toilets on our deck blocked up , but it got fixed no big deal , if we were desperate , we could have found one lol. They may have been a whiff now and then , or was it once , or was it somewhere else , cant remember , didnt care obviously

 

The food is ok to nice , portions are small ............but we spent so much time talking to other diners ( and having a good time) eating slowly showed we normally eat too much , and if you are hungry there's always the buffet .

The lack of speciality restaurants is a shame , I like the ones on Celebrity and RCi ( tbh the only thing i liked on that one ! ) However if you go on either of those two lines you pay through the nose for the extras . Two years ago on Celebrity wine was $12 a glass plus tax ! You could get a whole bottle on Oceana for £15

 

We felt at home on Oceana , it was relaxing , friendly and fun( but not in your face fun )

 

If you want 5 star treatment you need to go to a five star line ( and pay 5 star prices )

[dronnygirl]

We were on Oceana in September and had a lovely time. The food was good and we found the portion sizes to be okay. We had the cheese board at the end of each meal and really enjoyed that. We also tried Cafe Jardin which was only £5 extra and had a wonderful evening and felt very pampered by the staff. Go with an open mind and you will enjoy your cruise:)

[dronnygirl]

We were on Oceana in September and had a lovely time. The food was good and we found the portion sizes to be okay. We had the cheese board at the end of each meal and really enjoyed that. We also tried Cafe Jardin which was only £5 extra and had a wonderful evening and felt very pampered by the staff. Go with an open mind and you will enjoy your cruise:)

[gadabout60]

I was on Oceana at Christmas and found it quite poor

 

Food was not good (and indeed P&O have admitted they got poorer than usual feedback for food at the end of the cruise)

 

I stopped using the buffet as selection of food poor and hygiene of other passengers appalling

 

I didn't rate MPW café or Beach Hut in the evening and wished there was a proper speciality restaurant to use as a treat

 

Many problems with toilets, our cabins and others and constant humidifiers in corridors

Lots of other issues - many minor in themselves but collectively not good - especially for an expensive Christmas cruise

 

I won't be on Oceana again

[ScribesWtr]

We returned from a 35 night cruise on Oceana last Monday (14 March 2016). The main issue we had from P&O was:

 

a. the very chaotic boarding experienced at Southampton at the start of the cruise which was delayed by over two hours for no apparent reason other than a very inefficient system.

 

b. our itinerary was changed with one of the overnight stops in the USA being reduced to a single day without any apparent effort by P&O to provide an alternative port call. This was put down to an administrative problem. Having booked the trip nearly two years before, this seemed to us to be a rather lame excuse.

 

The ship is indeed in need of some serious extra maintenance work as she, like most other cruise ships, is run continuously without any breaks for remedial work. There was lots of work being undertaken during the trip which did restrict passenger movement around the upper decks quite a bit.

 

The food, whilst not of a standard that you might expect at the Ritz, was generally very acceptable to us although there were plenty of people who seemed discontented with what was put in front of them. We prefer to use the dinning rooms rather than the cafeteria so can't comment on the latter.

 

However the thing which had the greatest negative impact on our cruise was the amazingly large number of passengers who continued to moan about most things to anyone who they could pin into a corner for a good ear bending. I think there are probably some of those on this forum as well!

Edited March 19, 2016 by ScribesWtr

[Mysticalmother]

We returned from a 35 night cruise on Oceana last Monday (14 March 2016). The main issue we had from P&O was:

 

a. the very chaotic boarding experienced at Southampton at the start of the cruise which was delayed by over two hours for no apparent reason other than a very inefficient system.

 

The ship is indeed in need of some serious extra maintenance work as she, like most other cruise ships, is run continuously without any breaks for remedial work. There was lots of work being undertaken during the trip which did restrict passenger movement around the upper decks quite a bit

 

However the thing which had the greatest negative impact on our cruise was the amazingly large number of passengers who continued to moan about most things to anyone who they could pin into a corner for a good ear bending. I think there are probably some of those on this forum as well!

 

Hi Scibeswtr....I am not a moaner - honest!

I understand your boarding was delayed becuase Oceana was late arriving back in Southampton. This was announced on the P &O cruises official facebook page. Whether any other communication was issued I have no idea! But You, probably along with hundreds of others may not have received anything from P & O individually asking you to arrive for check in 3 hours later than on your tickets,, which I suspect will have caused the chaos.

Oceana , like Oriana is in need of some tlc so I understand! Unfortunately this happens on the older ships. I am going on Oriana soon, so will expect to find the same. But they do look more like ships than blocks of flats on sea.....:D

With regard to your last point....I sympathise! I am quite good at avoiding these people from cornering me....a quick reference to the " very delicate stomach I am experiencing at the moment " usually results in a quick retreat from conversation!

[ScribesWtr]

The chaotic boarding which I was referring to in my previous post occurred on 8th February. Oceana was not late in on that occasion although the weather was a bit rough. The problem on that occasion was definitely due to the 'new system' introduced last October, which was pretty abysmal when we boarded Arcadia on 10th October 2015 and no better this February. I have contacted P&O about this direct as the letter sent out by the Director of P&O stating how good the new system is, bears no resemblance to what has been my recent experience. It was much better under the old system whereby people were boarded as they arrived at the cruise terminal.

 

Oceana did arrive back much later than scheduled on 14th March but this was due to an engine room fire and the loss of the port engine for about 6 hours on the previous Saturday night in the South West Approaches. Because of this, those boarding for the cruise to the Canaries last Monday were all very much delayed as the arriving passengers didn't disembark until nearly 1330 on Monday (14 March). That was not the fault of the Southampton terminal but down to a fairly major technical problem, which as it turned out seemed to have been handles very well by P&O.

Edited March 19, 2016 by ScribesWtr

[Presto2]

D

With regard to your last point....I sympathise! I am quite good at avoiding these people from cornering me....a quick reference to the " very delicate stomach I am experiencing at the moment " usually results in a quick retreat from conversation!

 

Love it ------ will remember that one !! Thanks Mysticalmother :):D

[Mysticalmother]

The chaotic boarding which I was referring to in my previous post occurred on 8th February. Oceana was not late in on that occasion although the weather was a bit rough. The problem on that occasion was definitely due to the 'new system' introduced last October, which was pretty abysmal when we boarded Arcadia on 10th October 2015 and no better this February. I have contacted P&O about this direct as the letter sent out by the Director of P&O stating how good the new system is, bears no resemblance to what has been my recent experience. It was much better under the old system whereby people were boarded as they arrived at the cruise terminal.

 

Oceana did arrive back much later than scheduled on 14th March but this was due to an engine room fire and the loss of the port engine for about 6 hours on the previous Saturday night in the South West Approaches. Because of this, those boarding for the cruise to the Canaries last Monday were all very much delayed as the arriving passengers didn't disembark until nearly 1330 on Monday (14 March). That was not the fault of the Southampton terminal but down to a fairly major technical problem, which as it turned out seemed to have been handles very well by P&O.

 

Embarassment all round! Misread your post ! Sorry":o

[tartanexile81]

We returned from a 35 night cruise on Oceana last Monday (14 March 2016). The main issue we had from P&O was:

 

a. the very chaotic boarding experienced at Southampton at the start of the cruise which was delayed by over two hours for no apparent reason other than a very inefficient system.

 

b. our itinerary was changed with one of the overnight stops in the USA being reduced to a single day without any apparent effort by P&O to provide an alternative port call. This was put down to an administrative problem. Having booked the trip nearly two years before, this seemed to us to be a rather lame excuse.

 

The ship is indeed in need of some serious extra maintenance work as she, like most other cruise ships, is run continuously without any breaks for remedial work. There was lots of work being undertaken during the trip which did restrict passenger movement around the upper decks quite a bit.

 

The food, whilst not of a standard that you might expect at the Ritz, was generally very acceptable to us although there were plenty of people who seemed discontented with what was put in front of them. We prefer to use the dinning rooms rather than the cafeteria so can't comment on the latter.

 

However the thing which had the greatest negative impact on our cruise was the amazingly large number of passengers who continued to moan about most things to anyone who they could pin into a corner for a good ear bending. I think there are probably some of those on this forum as well!

 

We were on the same cruise ScribeWtr so maybe we met? We had a great time meeting lots of new and old friends so we were definitely not amongst the moaners. However we completed our online P&O questionnaire yesterday and certainly highlighted what for us were the positives and negatives.

 

We were lucky to have priority embarkation at 1:00 but we could see as we were checking in that there was chaos all around. We thought that was because the terminal staff were not dealing with all the people standing around at the top of the stairs filling in the immigration docs etc and causing a huge traffic jam.

 

We thought our cabin was better than the one we had 2 years ago - the wifi and air-con in particular were much better. However our balcony was very rusty, as was the exterior of the ship, but neither of them detracted from our experience.

 

Unlike you, we were very disappointed with the quality of the food. We found the meat to be tough most nights and although I ordered rare meat on many occasions I was never served it, despite sending it back numerous times and reporting it to the maitre d' a few times. We also thought the selection of salads, meats and cheeses in the Plaza was abysmal. However we ate several times in Cafe Jardin and The Beach House and enjoyed them very much

 

Where did you hear there was a fire in the engine room? We were told it was a fault in the electrical motor driving the propellor.

 

We didn't mind the change of the timings in Charlestown as we were still able to do everything we had planned but we thought it was a pity that e.g. another island on the Azores wasn't substituted.

Edited March 19, 2016 by tartanexile81

[ScribesWtr]

Hi Tartanexile81

 

In reply to your question "Where did you hear there was a fire in the engine room? We were told it was a fault in the electrical motor driving the propellor." , that was exactly what I was referring to.

 

During the early evening, the captain made a broadcast in which he mentioned that there was a problem with the port propulsion with smoke coming from the machinery. This was continuing despite the motor being turned off so presumably the crew had to deal with some sort of fire? As the propulsion is located in the general area of the engine room, that was what my previous comment referred to. Later on, he made another announcement to say that the windings on the electric motor had been partly replaced by the engineers, presumably because the originals had bunt away, but that the motor would only run at a lower power output. Hope that clarifies and confirms that we are largely on the same page?

 

For anyone reading this who is not aware of how the ships are propelled, Oceana and indeed most other ships are driven by electric motors which are supplied with their power by diesel oil type generators. These also supply all other electrical power to the ship.

 

I understand that the affected equipment was being replaced during the turn around in Southampton so hopefully, there will be no further recurrence in the near future. As I said in an earlier post, the ships are on the go continuously so in the end, technical problems will inevitably occur.