Live Blog: Marina, Sun Splashed Soiree. February 23-March 5

[Jancruz]

20 hours ago, dancingcgal said:

Music 🎵 please! 🎶 what types does band play? how often play? Or are they the quarantined performers? How are shows? 
I know now “O” has “FOOD , Glorious Food!” Wish I could find out how many guests on next sailing, March 5?!? Wonder if officers onboard now know? 

I dont know why it is so important but there are 400..

Jancruz1

[calicakes]

1 hour ago, dancingcgal said:

Thank you for sharing; excited to go to all the dining venues especially Jacques after seeing the food! Only been on 1 Oceania cruise & just booked last minute on Marina so can’t made dinner reservations until board😲. How were things in Barbados & where did you go snorkeling? 

We were in st. Johns antigua. We were ar Dickenson bay.

[calicakes]

Masks are optional now.

[calicakes]

Lox, eggs, onions, mushroom scramble.

[calicakes]

We are in San Juan today. All aboard time is 1:30pm.  We are staying on the ship today.

[lj77346]

We are also on this cruise. Needless to say, service is great as there are only about 360 passengers and a crew of over 700. We spoke with a member of the cruise director’s staff who mentioned that there are no Covid cases on the Marina. Incidentally, the cruise director is Peter Roberts.

 

There are no production shows this cruise (and if I heard correctly, next cruise either) because a new production cast just came on and they are in a mandatory quarantine that I believe ends today. There are a few performers from the previous cast who have been running the various activities during the day and will be involved in the “handover” to the new production cast that apparently will be rehearsing during the next cruise.

 

We attended the shows in the Marina Lounge each night and they have been very good. There are 4 “headliners” performing - a comedian (Darrell Joyce), a guitarist (Greg Rodman), a vocal group (4 Other Guys, who did a 4 Seasons tribute in their first show), and a pianist/vocalist (Martin Kaye and his second show was an Elton John tribute which was fabulous - high energy with great piano and vocals).

 

From what we heard, the next cruise will have about 400 passengers and the trans-Atlantic will just about be sailing at full capacity. 
 

On this cruise, specialty restaurant reservations were easy to get as at lunch someone would be going around asking if you wanted a reservation for that evening.  This is our third cruise since September and had by far the lowest passenger numbers, so it was an unusual but fun experience. As someone mentioned previously, masks are no longer mandatory, but still encouraged. It appears that many passengers (us included) are still wearing masks in the Terrace Cafe and Waves while ordering food and in the restaurants until orders are taken as well as in elevators and indoor activities with many participants and while heading to the lounge for shows.

[kibutzer]

4 hours ago, calicakes said:

Masks are optional now.

Glad they are expressing a preference to try and keep their passengers safe. Hope people choose wisely. The staff and company are doing an amazing job, so much of which we don't see or hear about. Time to write Frank and give him a compliment like my Dad would. He is doing a yeomans job.

Edited March 2, 2022 by kibutzer

[calicakes]

Departure from San Juan has been extended to 3:30 due to operational visa issues. Lunch at Waves.  They made me a custom panini. Lobster, mozzarella, pesto basil.  Jules had a hot dog. 

[ronrick1943]

Looks like your having a great time, enjoy and thank you for posting.  The photos are great.  We won’t be on a ship for a little while—ours were canceled, but we keep booking and hoping.  Safe travels.

[dancingcgal]

9 hours ago, lj77346 said:

We are also on this cruise. Needless to say, service is great as there are only about 360 passengers and a crew of over 700. We spoke with a member of the cruise director’s staff who mentioned that there are no Covid cases on the Marina. Incidentally, the cruise director is Peter Roberts.

 

There are no production shows this cruise (and if I heard correctly, next cruise either) because a new production cast just came on and they are in a mandatory quarantine that I believe ends today. There are a few performers from the previous cast who have been running the various activities during the day and will be involved in the “handover” to the new production cast that apparently will be rehearsing during the next cruise.

 

We attended the shows in the Marina Lounge each night and they have been very good. There are 4 “headliners” performing - a comedian (Darrell Joyce), a guitarist (Greg Rodman), a vocal group (4 Other Guys, who did a 4 Seasons tribute in their first show), and a pianist/vocalist (Martin Kaye and his second show was an Elton John tribute which was fabulous - high energy with great piano and vocals).

 

From what we heard, the next cruise will have about 400 passengers and the trans-Atlantic will just about be sailing at full capacity. 
 

On this cruise, specialty restaurant reservations were easy to get as at lunch someone would be going around asking if you wanted a reservation for that evening.  This is our third cruise since September and had by far the lowest passenger numbers, so it was an unusual but fun experience. As someone mentioned previously, masks are no longer mandatory, but still encouraged. It appears that many passengers (us included) are still wearing masks in the Terrace Cafe and Waves while ordering food and in the restaurants until orders are taken as well as in elevators and indoor activities with many participants and while heading to the lounge for shows.

Thanks. We’ll both really enjoy “Elton John” ! What about the band? Will they be playing nightly? Will be awfully  disappointed if no band on 3/5  cruise.☹️ And hope the production performers too will perform! 

[lj77346]

15 hours ago, dancingcgal said:

Thanks. We’ll both really enjoy “Elton John” ! What about the band? Will they be playing nightly? Will be awfully  disappointed if no band on 3/5  cruise.☹️ And hope the production performers too will perform! 

The group that plays at the pool during the day and at Horizons at night is leaving when this cruise ends in Miami. I’m not sure of the status of the band for the March 5 cruise. It looks like the new production performers were getting their orientation tour of the ship today as we could see them following the cruise director around as he was explaining what their duties will be.

[calicakes]

We're in Puerto Plata today.  We booked a power snorkel( excursion ) through O.  There wasn't much in the description about location or how we'd get to the snorkel location.  Last night I went to the destination desk and asked about it.  They told me it was a 2hr round trip to the snorkel beach.  After trivia last night, I asked Julie if she minded if we cancelled.  I didn't want to sit in a bus for an hour each way, only to have 1hr to snorkel.   She said " No problem, I'm sure the buses are not great either".  Wow, I should play the lottery, because both our premonitions were correct.    

 

O ended up combining the snorkel excursion with the beach excursion.  We've been hanging out with a couple who went on the beach excursion.  I spoke to them when they returned and they told me the bus ride was simply horrid.  It was basically a flat bed truck, with seats.  The road wasn't great and the snorkeling was not clear and they didn't see much.   Apparently, a good majority of the folks are going to complain and try to get a refund(ours was booked as part of Olife).  I'm super glad we didn't go.   We had a nice relaxing pool day. 

[Acrusa]

Help please anyone in an A3 or A4 cabin on deck 9.where the bed is facing forward the deck plans are confusing thanks

[basor]

39 minutes ago, Acrusa said:

Help please anyone in an A3 or A4 cabin on deck 9.where the bed is facing forward the deck plans are confusing thanks

They face both ways, depends upon where the door is entering the cabin.......head of bed is on opposite wall as door, behind the bathroom.

[Acrusa]

2 hours ago, basor said:

They face both ways, depends upon where the door is entering the cabin.......head of bed is on opposite wall as door, behind the bathroom.

I know that but O has 2 different diagrams on there web site. One when you look up Marina DeckPlans-OClass and when u look for staterooms that are available cabins in all categories and under that it shows DeckPlans-OClass opposite entrance so really not sure which deck plan is correct

[basor]

53 minutes ago, Acrusa said:

I know that but O has 2 different diagrams on there web site. One when you look up Marina DeckPlans-OClass and when u look for staterooms that are available cabins in all categories and under that it shows DeckPlans-OClass opposite entrance so really not sure which deck plan is correct

Sorry, can't help you....it never mattered to us so did not pay any attention to the deck plan versus bed placement.......assume the only way to know for sure is to try and get someone currently onboard Marina to go look at your stateroom....

[triplestar]

Position of beds  If you look on the deck plan you will see  an indent for where the door to the cabin is.   The bathroom is always next to the door & the bed the same side as the bathroom .My husband always works it out as I like to face forward if possible. The inside cabin beds  face the door so are  east to west& don't face forward or aft so to speak  Hope you can make sense of this  much easier when you have a deck plan in front of you. 7114 will face forward and you can use that as a guide

[Beagle5]

3 hours ago, Acrusa said:

I know that but O has 2 different diagrams on there web site. One when you look up Marina DeckPlans-OClass

Our last stateroom on Marina was 7115. Bed head was facing forward. That is consistent with the diagram on the website under Marina Deck plans, where the door indent is indicated on the bow side:

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/ships/marina/deck-plan-details?deck=07#nav

 

[Jacksonmccabe]

1 hour ago, Beagle5 said:

Our last stateroom on Marina was 7115. Bed head was facing forward. That is consistent with the diagram on the website under Marina Deck plans, where the door indent is indicated on the bow side:

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/ships/marina/deck-plan-details?deck=07#nav

our last stateroom was 11034 and the headboard was toward the front of the ship (forward)…..this is consistent with the deck diagram. The bed is on the opposite side of the door…ie. entry on left….bed on right behind bathroom.

1 hour ago, Beagle5 said:

[Acrusa]

You are absolutely correct but look at deck 9 cabin 9120 for instance the diagram in the brochure that's printed is opposite of the deck plan on Oceania web site . The brochure shows entrance on top web site shows it on bottom. Deck 7 is consistent with both

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Acrusa said:

You are absolutely correct but look at deck 9 cabin 9120 for instance the diagram in the brochure that's printed is opposite of the deck plan on Oceania web site . The brochure shows entrance on top web site shows it on bottom. Deck 7 is consistent with both

I guess you will just have to pick one plan to believe  & take your chances

9120 on the deck plan not the brochure one the bed is facing aft 

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/ships/marina/deck-plan-details?deck=07#nav

 

The other person posted  the direction the bed was facing when they were onboard  🙄

you discounted  it  so what do you want if you do not believe  people

JMO

 

[MEFIowa]

15 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

... The other person posted the direction the bed was facing when they were onboard  🙄

you discounted it so what do you want if you do not believe people.

 

Though I was on RIVIERA, not Marina. There are some odd differences in the two. Like the one big (Riviera) versus two small (Marina) hot tubs on the terrace spa deck.

[Acrusa]

I believe him just doing due diligence LOL

[kjbacon]

Just read through this thread and thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you, calicakes, your pictures and descriptions are great. We are like you in that we are avid snorkelers and rarely go to the evening entertainment. Which snorkel did you do in Puerto Plata?

 

We board Riviera on Tuesday for our first O cruise and I plan to do a live blog too. 

[calicakes]

57 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

Just read through this thread and thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you, calicakes, your pictures and descriptions are great. We are like you in that we are avid snorkelers and rarely go to the evening entertainment. Which snorkel did you do in Puerto Plata?

 

We board Riviera on Tuesday for our first O cruise and I plan to do a live blog too. 

Hi

 

We signed up for the power snorkel.  I'm thankful we didnt go after speaking to even more quests.  The guests that were on the beach break were forced to sign a waiver regarding their going into the ocean.  This is the first time O has gone to Puerto Plata .