A quick review of my Marina cruise

[Ibis]

We are very disappointed to learn of the obvious presence of many Covid cases currently on Marina and the lack of implementation of required testing and masking. We are scheduled to board on April 6 in Miami and this news changes our perspective on our transatlantic. Certainly, we are aware there is risk everywhere; most especially on cruise ships and it is our personal decision to travel. However, we do expect cruise lines to act in a responsible manner towards their passengers and feel that Oceania should have a better response to this situation. We will be awaiting further news and hope more reports will be posted. Thanks to everyone who is currently giving us an objective view into the situation on board regarding Covid, schedule changes, internet   and availability of various menu items.

[coleen c]

I nearly didn't leave the ship because they cancelled tours due to safety concerns...I am sure this is the reason many people avoided going into town. However after so many sea days I wanted to avoid 3 straight days stuck on the ship.  I asked both at the reception and destinations desk and they said Lima was fine to visit and encouraged us to go (thanks guys good advice!)  I also emailed our Embassy and they stated that Lima downtown was safe.  Note that Oceania did not advise people to remain on the ship.

 

So my issue is if Oceania believe it's unsafe to provide tours, why allow shuttle buses to drop passengers in an urban area 40 mins from downtown? How is that protecting passenger safety?

 

Why cancel tours to a city that is otherwise very hard to get to from a  busy commercial port without cruise terminal? Turns out Lima is a wonderful city   I'm glad I visited. 

[LSuzQ]

On 3/23/2023 at 9:42 AM, Ibis said:

We are very disappointed to learn of the obvious presence of many Covid cases currently on Marina and the lack of implementation of required testing and masking. We are scheduled to board on April 6 in Miami and this news changes our perspective on our transatlantic. Certainly, we are aware there is risk everywhere; most especially on cruise ships and it is our personal decision to travel. However, we do expect cruise lines to act in a responsible manner towards their passengers and feel that Oceania should have a better response to this situation. We will be awaiting further news and hope more reports will be posted. Thanks to everyone who is currently giving us an objective view into the situation on board regarding Covid, schedule changes, internet   and availability of various menu items.

Agree! Will monitor for future posts—now questioning our decision to cruise the Mediterranean this fall on Marina (first time on Oceania).

[MEFIowa]

5 minutes ago, LSuzQ said:

Agree! Will monitor for future posts—now questioning our decision to cruise the Mediterranean this fall on Marina (first time on Oceania).

No concern or hesitation for us about COVID on Riviera in the Med 10/30-11/19/2023. Had a wonderful cruise on Riviera 12/2021 and another on Sirena 11/2022. Ten nights each. Now port cancellations or shortened hours, that's a different concern.

[JPR]

On 3/23/2023 at 5:37 AM, MEFIowa said:

Anyone who has legitimate objective complaints should care less about "cheerleaders". Facts speak for themselves. Just curious, how did the captain handle the boos? Did he respond with any attempt at a reasoned factual discussion?

 

And while my focus in S. America is Paraguay, the recent weather & natural disaster news out of Peru has been horrible. As has the political instability, rioting, demonstrations, etc. over an ousted President and a resurgent Congress. Can't say I know much about what is going on in Chile. Weatherwise or politically.

 

Cyclone in Peru causes major flooding, at least six dead (yahoo.com)

 

How Peru’s Crisis Could Send Shockwaves Through the Region | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org)

Way exaggerated now; it’s all calmed down. We went post-cruise to Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu and there were no issues whatsoever. We did see lots of national police in Lima and some in Cusco too, which was comforting.

 

The passengers who cancelled their post-cruise excursions to Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu really lost out…

[JPR]

Re the disappointing cruise itself, here are my comments (by the way, Pinotlover organized great private wine tours!):

 

We loved our Vista Suite (we splurged for our 40th Anniversary). My wife loved the Artists Loft program. And our butler was excellent.

 

The poorly communicated cancellation of the Pisco stop (an overreaction to cancel and also to cancel all Lima ship’s excursions) and the Laguna San Rafael stop with its only three 100-150 person glacier excursions (leaving over 2/3rds of the passengers high and dry!) were highly controversial, to say the least. We could have used an overnight and extra day in San Antonio/Valparaiso instead.

CD Peter Roberts has a somewhat annoying nasal voice (some passengers absolutely despised him) but did do a good job with daily trivia, which is about the only time I paid much attention to him other than his occasional announced daily schedule changes.
 

But there has indeed been a significant decline in Oceania’s once excellent cuisine, though at least we avoided the painfully slow and mediocre Grand Dining Room at dinner, and Toscana improved. Chez Jacques and Polo were good too, though the latter for the Colorado lamb and the lobster not for the tasteless steaks (didn’t experience the cold there but in the GDR at breakfast). The Jacques crab salad is gone and replaced with a bad fish salad, but both foie gras appetizers, onion soup, escargots, Roquefort salad, cheese soufflé, tournedos Rossini, veal, and filet of sole were excellent. Loved the off menu Crepes Suzette. (All a matter of timing, since Pinotlover got them on off nights, it appears.) Kippers, Eggs Benedict, and pancakes were fine at breakfast in the GDR. Omelets were good in the Terrace but the pancakes were not, and (unlike the bacon) the waffles were not as crisp as they should be. Pool Bar hot food was fine too, though took forever and sometimes they lost the order altogether.
 

Red Ginger was inconsistent; a 40+ Expedia Wine Group monopolized the top chef for several special wine pairing dinners. So the duck salad was bad the first time but excellent the next two times. Miso sea bass always delicious. Lobster appetizer wasn’t good but the sushi platter was fine. But no asparagus that the menu says comes with several dishes. Broccoli or no vegetable!

They ran out of blueberries and strawberries well before the end of the cruise and refuses to restock in port; Miami or bust!

and no caviar at all onboard, even for sale! That should be a revenue item for Oceania, at a minimum.
 

No unsweetened plain yogurt available after the first two days, though they bought us some onshore. Some doofus bought tons of plain yogurt with artificial sweetener, misreading it as being unsweetened.
 

Honey for tea in the GDR took nearly half an hour to arrive; no small jars. Poor quality green beans, which were a past favorite of ours. And poorly trained staff, with lots of avoidable mistakes (e.g., many lost or mixed up orders, problems with language/communications), informing me there was no cream of wheat onboard as they served oatmeal to my wife, 20 minutes after I had ordered), culminating in our being awakened at 10 pm one night when Reception somehow confused my name with Cruise Director Peter Roberts’s (who would never be staying in a Vista Suite!) and transferred the priest onboard to our room to inquire about having a mass the next day!

[Furball83]

On 3/21/2023 at 6:58 PM, pinotlover said:

Buenos Aires to Lima 2/27-3/19

 

Embarkment- arrived at cruise terminal at assigned time, 2:00. Argentina security/immigration was running about an hour behind, so we sat. Not Oceania’s fault. 
 

Since Chile had just changed entry requirements requiring either proof of vaccination or a Covid testing, Oceania required it for boarding. This added to the problems. People paying the port for a Covid test and awaiting results. No pre warning of this from Oceania.

 

Ship’s condition- overall I found the ship to be in very good repair. No real visible shortcomings. The heating/AC was most always messed up however. The Lounge could be freezing cold as well as the GDR. One day at lunch the staff in the GDR were wearing their lined winter’s coat while serving guests. More on this later. 
 

Service - I found the staff to be friendly, enthusiastic, and energetic. Peter, the CD, was the exception. He and his sidekick ass’t CD can’t spell communications, no less practice it.

 

Food - I found the food on this cruise to be overall significantly better than on the Sirena in October. Significant inconsistency still exists with several delightful meals and a few very poor ones.

 

Both La Reserve dinners, the Dom P and Bourgeoisie, were excellent.

 

PG and RG seems to get overall good reviews from passengers. Toscana struggled and Jacques disappointed many. Remember that A/C temperature problem on Deck 5 above. Jacques was an icebox. Result was cold soups and cold dishes being served to the tables along with often overcooked dishes. Expectations were definitely not met.

 

GDR did fine most evenings. The Terrace was good if one stuck to the cold bar. Whatever the meal, the warmers in the supposed hot line was serving cold dishes. This lead to long lines at the grill.

 

Enrichment- two different speakers did an excellent job.

 

Entertainment - Very good contract entertainment. Oceania crew still doing Peggy Lee and unfortunately brought back the Brill Bldg show that should have died in 2019 when I first saw it. The team did a “Fav Night” with each performer singing their favorite songs. I thought it would be good. They didn’t add the songs would be from the 40s and 50s. Some I didn’t recognize they were so old.

 

I’ll omit comments about our 3 missed ports. One, Pisco, of which we were told about upon boarding.

 

Iguazu Falls, on the Oceania pre cruise, was excellently done. Oceania cancelled Manchu Picchu. Some were able to book it privately. We waited and couldn’t find an operator with passes for the site.

 

I’ll take comments or questions.

Sorry to head about Peter—I know there are people who like him. Figured the entertainment was still “old.” Machu Picchu was probably canceled due to civil unrest. Not long ago the railroad closed and tourists were stuck walking mikes along the tracks. Also sorry to hear about the AC and cold food. Will see for myself when I board Thursday and go TA Miami to Rome…

[Ibis]

Wondering if there is anyone currently on board who could give an update on the presence of Covid on board  at the moment. Several weeks ago it was posted here there were quite a few cases. Can anyone update? Boarding on Thursday in Miami and appreciate hearing news. Thanks in advance!

[schmerl]

Just now, Ibis said:

Wondering if there is anyone currently on board who could give an update on the presence of Covid on board  at the moment. Several weeks ago it was posted here there were quite a few cases. Can anyone update? Boarding on Thursday in Miami and appreciate hearing news. Thanks in advance!

 

People on board may not even be aware of covid cases. We had no idea there were cases on our cruise a few weeks ago until we got home and read about it on line. 

[seaventuregal]

24 minutes ago, schmerl said:

 

People on board may not even be aware of covid cases. We had no idea there were cases on our cruise a few weeks ago until we got home and read about it on line. 

We are currently onboard the Marina and have not heard of any Covid cases during our cruise from Lima to Miami.   Everything seems normal and have not noticed anything out of the ordinary.   No coughing and only a very, very few masks worn by anyone whether passengers or crew.  We are enjoying our cruise and have been going ashore on most of the ports with no problems.

[jonthomas]

Disappointing to hear about the food...food is our number one reason for sailing O.

[pinotlover]

13 hours ago, seaventuregal said:

We are currently onboard the Marina and have not heard of any Covid cases during our cruise from Lima to Miami.   Everything seems normal and have not noticed anything out of the ordinary.   No coughing and only a very, very few masks worn by anyone whether passengers or crew.  We are enjoying our cruise and have been going ashore on most of the ports with no problems.

When we got off the ship in Lima, the full staff were still required to be masked all the time. They had been for about half the cruise. Perhaps enough disembarked the Captain felt comfortable lifting the masking order. 
 

As JPR implied, the ship ran out of lots of simple staples. Not sure how much restocking was done in Lima. 

[cruisinsusin]

On 3/22/2023 at 4:56 PM, YoPhilly said:

From a passenger perspective, this sounds great.  From a business perspective, why would the cruise line take a financial hit for a passenger's illness?

This would encourage more

to report and be willing to be isolated. That is Celebrity’s Covid policy, at least for now and has been their policy for Noro and flu for quite some time.

[SueMo]

21 hours ago, Ibis said:

Wondering if there is anyone currently on board who could give an update on the presence of Covid on board  at the moment. Several weeks ago it was posted here there were quite a few cases. Can anyone update? Boarding on Thursday in Miami and appreciate hearing news. Thanks in advance!

There is definitely Covid onboard right now (I know one person who tested positive yesterday) but how many cases, I couldn’t know.  When I sit on my balcony, I hear coughing and hacking from the left, the right, above, and below.  

[ak1004]

Are people aware that not every coughing is Covid?

 

You know that people were coughing long before Covid, right?

[pinotlover]

7 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Are people aware that not every coughing is Covid?

 

You know that people were coughing long before Covid, right?

Absolutely people understand that.

 

You also understand that people don’t disappear into quarantine for a common cold, and a 100% mask mandate for the crew isn’t issued because of just coughing.

 

If one wants to know what’s happening aboard, try politely talking to your room steward instead of the front desk. Other good sources, for those of us that have sailed frequently, is talking with the waiters and bartenders that you know from previous cruises.

[Ibis]

Thanks to everyone who responded to our concern about the current situation on board. And yes, as pinotlover said, we realize coughing isn’t necessarily Covid. However, also agree, the common cold wouldn’t necessitate a mask mandate. Hoping to hear more from those currently on board. Based on what we have heard, we will definitely be among those few wearing masks in public areas.

[JPR]

On 4/1/2023 at 3:58 PM, Furball83 said:

Sorry to head about Peter—I know there are people who like him. Figured the entertainment was still “old.” Machu Picchu was probably canceled due to civil unrest. Not long ago the railroad closed and tourists were stuck walking mikes along the tracks. Also sorry to hear about the AC and cold food. Will see for myself when I board Thursday and go TA Miami to Rome…

The civil unrest was long over by the time we got to Peru. We went to Lima for the day and then straight to Cusco and Machu Picchu, and had a fantastic time. No problems whatsoever. Oceania way overreacted and those who booked through them (and didn’t rebook privately) lost out big time…

[Furball83]

1 hour ago, JPR said:

The civil unrest was long over by the time we got to Peru. We went to Lima for the day and then straight to Cusco and Machu Picchu, and had a fantastic time. No problems whatsoever. Oceania way overreacted and those who booked through them (and didn’t rebook privately) lost out big time…

Sorry to hear that. Maybe looking way in advance they didn’t want to take a chance, with that many people, on something happening again. Glad you were able to book privately and enjoy!

[JeffElizabeth]

On 4/2/2023 at 7:12 PM, pinotlover said:

Absolutely people understand that.

 

You also understand that people don’t disappear into quarantine for a common cold, and a 100% mask mandate for the crew isn’t issued because of just coughing.

 

If one wants to know what’s happening aboard, try politely talking to your room steward instead of the front desk. Other good sources, for those of us that have sailed frequently, is talking with the waiters and bartenders that you know from previous cruises.

Actually my BIL got quarantined on an Asian cruise for a bad cold. This was a few years before Covid-19.  He spent 75% of the trip in quarantine.  He hasn't cruised since. 

[Aloha 1]

We were on the previous cruise from Santiago to BA by way of Antarctica . South America was experiencing an early fall in terms of weather. Yes, the ship was cold at times but when the outside temp is at best only in the upper 50's... As to Covid, there were a few, and I emphasize few, cases but no crew wore masks and we were not aware of anyone with covid having serious issues ( we knew 2 people who had it and twiddled their thumbs in their suites for 5 days before being released) We thought the food was fine in all venues except for POLO where the service  was atrociously slow as usual. Terrace, Jacques, Red Ginger were superb. I agree about the CD, very annoying.

 

The weather caused us to miss two stops. Puerto Chacabuco, Chile, due to thunderstorms ,high seas, and 40 mph winds and Elephant Island, Antarctica due to ice fog and ice flows ( no desire to reenact Titanic. ) In both cases the Captain clearly explained the reasons why we were avoiding those stops. We also thought Marina was in GREAT shape and all in all we had a great cruise.