Oceana/venice

[tayjay2001]

We are due to land in Venice this Wednesday at 13.45 to meet the ship. Can anyone tell me if we will get time to see any of Venice before we sail. I was thinking not with check in and muster. Was really wanting to see a bit of it. Thanks

[FAB1]

We did this cruise in April last year. We landed about 10am and were on the ship just after 12. I am pretty sure we didnt sail till quite late, about 10pm. I would think you should be on the ship for 4pm and would have a few hours spare to look round Venice if you are not too bothered about dinner in the MDR.

 

P&O provide a water taxi service at a reasonable price. If you just dump your carryons in the cabin and head straight for the water taxi you should be fine. You just need to check what time the last one back to the ship is.

 

The sail out of Venice in the dark with all the buildings lit up with classical music being played on deck is not to be missed. There was a commentary as well pointing out all the landmarks.

[tayjay2001]

Thanks for that I've heard the muster is about 5.30pm so that might be a problem.

[FAB1]

Ah that rings a bell, think you might be right. I think you can go after muster though.

 

I am sure someone on here will be able to confirm for you.

[Green Cathedral]

Apologies for going slightly off topic; I've been looking at a last minute week on Oceana (either Genoa to Venice or vice versa)in September or October. As I've not sailed on her before, I'd be interested to hear about the OP's experiences, or from anyone else who has recent experience of her.

 

Online reviews of her seem pretty negative. I tend to take online reviews with a pinch of salt as they're usually fairly balanced between positive and negative, but Oceana doesn't seem to come off well even making allowance for her age (not that she's ancient!).

[StLucia]

Apologies for going slightly off topic; I've been looking at a last minute week on Oceana (either Genoa to Venice or vice versa)in September or October. As I've not sailed on her before, I'd be interested to hear about the OP's experiences, or from anyone else who has recent experience of her.

 

Online reviews of her seem pretty negative. I tend to take online reviews with a pinch of salt as they're usually fairly balanced between positive and negative, but Oceana doesn't seem to come off well even making allowance for her age (not that she's ancient!).

 

We have just been on Oceana Genoa to Venice. The ship itself was ok and our cabin bigger than on Britannia for the same class, don't expect to get a sun bed though unless you are up at 7am. Lots of pax saving and no monitoring of the situation. The food however was a different matter, dreadful in buffet and MDR. We have made a formal complaint to P&O about it, worse we have ever experienced. The ports were lovely though and the weather mixed. We would not book another cruise on her, doubt we will do another P&O, those paying select are subsidising the saver fares and suffering for it. The cuts have now gone to far.

[Mr Piano]

We have just been on Oceana Genoa to Venice. The ship itself was ok and our cabin bigger than on Britannia for the same class, don't expect to get a sun bed though unless you are up at 7am. Lots of pax saving and no monitoring of the situation. The food however was a different matter, dreadful in buffet and MDR. We have made a formal complaint to P&O about it, worse we have ever experienced. The ports were lovely though and the weather mixed. We would not book another cruise on her, doubt we will do another P&O, those paying select are subsidising the saver fares and suffering for it. The cuts have now gone to far.

 

Oh dear, doesn't sound good. Just booked next years cruise. Fly cruise to Malta on Oceana in June. Wanted a change from our usual Ventura and Azura and really didn't fancy the Britannia itineraries, hope we've not slipped up. A golf buddy of mine said Oceana was his favourite ship, he's done most of the P&O ships

[StLucia]

Oh dear, doesn't sound good. Just booked next years cruise. Fly cruise to Malta on Oceana in June. Wanted a change from our usual Ventura and Azura and really didn't fancy the Britannia itineraries, hope we've not slipped up. A golf buddy of mine said Oceana was his favourite ship, he's done most of the P&O ships

 

Oceana is a nice ship and it does have a proper promenade deck. But we think the food quality across the fleet is disappointing, not just an Oceana issue, it was poor on our Britannia last October as well. That is why we have made a complaint to HQ.

[gadabout60]

I know its 8 months ago now but our Xmas cruise on Oceana was the worst I have been on.

Poor food in MDR and buffet (P&O acknowledged that it was rated below par this to me when I complained)

 

Lots of plumbing issues

 

You would have to pay me to go on Oceana now

[StLucia]

I know its 8 months ago now but our Xmas cruise on Oceana was the worst I have been on.

Poor food in MDR and buffet (P&O acknowledged that it was rated below par this to me when I complained)

 

Lots of plumbing issues

 

You would have to pay me to go on Oceana now

 

We feel the same about Britania, dreadful plumbing, dirty decks, poor quality food, P&O really need to listen to what their pax are saying, and stop the cost cutting, it's gone to far.

[TheArchitect]

We have just been on Oceana Genoa to Venice. The ship itself was ok and our cabin bigger than on Britannia for the same class, don't expect to get a sun bed though unless you are up at 7am. Lots of pax saving and no monitoring of the situation. The food however was a different matter, dreadful in buffet and MDR. We have made a formal complaint to P&O about it, worse we have ever experienced. The ports were lovely though and the weather mixed. We would not book another cruise on her, doubt we will do another P&O, those paying select are subsidising the saver fares and suffering for it. The cuts have now gone to far.

 

 

We were on Oceana on the Venice to Genoa run in July and the food in the MDR was very good, for breakfast and for dinner.

[StLucia]

We were on Oceana on the Venice to Genoa run in July and the food in the MDR was very good, for breakfast and for dinner.

 

Good to hear you enjoyed it. Green beans every night though for dinner is a bit much. We did not breakfast in the MDR. Hope the bacon was better quality than the buffet

[TheArchitect]

Good to hear you enjoyed it. Green beans every night though for dinner is a bit much. We did not breakfast in the MDR. Hope the bacon was better quality than the buffet

 

We thought the buffet was pretty horrible and we're only in it twice. MDR breakfast bacon - and sausage - very good and very, very British. Good range of veg in MDR but green beans made frequent appearances depending upon the main course.

[Green Cathedral]

Yes, Green Beans are a bit of a staple on P&O these days! My OH hasn't been able to look at one since our summer cruise last year. His heart sank when they made the first of many appearances again back in May when we sailed.

[Cruise Puss]

On a positive note ..........

 

We've just returned from Britannia recently and were on Oceana in March.

 

We had no complaints about food or anything else for that matter on either ship.

 

All ships get slight niggles after a while and Oceana is no exception so you should expect her to show her age I'm afraid.

 

Britannia is a new ship, and is decorated in a completely different style to the P&O ships. Maybe some don't like this change. There was nothing wrong when we were on board.

 

Go with an open mind and a positive stance and you'll be fine.

 

Happy cruising! :)

[StLucia]

On a positive note ..........

 

We've just returned from Britannia recently and were on Oceana in March.

 

We had no complaints about food or anything else for that matter on either ship.

 

All ships get slight niggles after a while and Oceana is no exception so you should expect her to show her age I'm afraid.

 

Britannia is a new ship, and is decorated in a completely different style to the P&O ships. Maybe some don't like this change. There was nothing wrong when we were on board.

 

Go with an open mind and a positive stance and you'll be fine.

 

Happy cruising! :)

 

We actually thought Oceana was in very good condition considering her age, and as far as the ship was concerned we liked her.

 

We were very disappointed with Britannia, we were looking forward to our 3rd transatlantic having been on both Ventura and Azura for their maidens. We have now received a reply to our complaint about Britannia and particularly the soot problems. This has been acknowledged by P&O as a problem that they are trying to address. It will be interesting to see what steps they take. We did not have an issue with no centre lifts and our cabin was mear where they would have been. The crew stairs were opened for muster.