jenny wren

We too were on this cruise and would agree the Cruise Director is well past his sell by date.... When he cancelled all the dancing and activity things in Carmen's during the rough weather why was no other entertainment laid on like a nice film perhaps!... There was nothing extra inside for when we couldn't go outside. 

I think the Captain was out of order for not making any announcements during the rough weather.... 

I thought food was average, I struggled to find things I liked most nights.  Entertainment good but they need to change the shows as we've seen them umpteen times. 

We look forward to comparing Arcadia at Christmas!!! 

One little gem we visited on Adonia,  was Monemvasia....in the Pelaponese area of Greece.....we had never heard of it before but it was such a wonderful surprise, a lovely little walled town set in the side of a cliff, only visible from the sea until you walk through the wall and this little town appears before you.

Our last, but not final, cruise was the last cruise Oceana nearly did!!! Cut short when Spain closed her ports....however we did have a lovely 10 day cruise .....extremely well looked after by P and O, as usual we met some lovely people, had good food, good entertainment, good weather and, as far as we know, no sickness on board!!

We arrived home on 18 March and have been in lockdown ever since!!

We do have more cruises booked so will carry on cruising as soon as we can.....

I have lung cancer and have good reasonably priced insurance with World First....I got their recommendation via Macmillan website.

It won't be 'freezing' PeteM3!!! Forecast 11 degs with a moderate breeze for the day we leave Southampton so not too bad at all !! Think positive !!

This will be our fourth Xmas/new year cruise in the Canaries and it has always been warm and sunny.....so much so I swam in the sea at La Gomera and Gran Canaria two years ago!

I will be taking summer clothes for a week and warmer clothes for a week....even Lisbon is mid teens at the moment ! Layers are probably a good idea and a cagoule or light raincoat also ! I also have a micro fleece for days at sea and a gilet all useful to have with you.

You will need sun protection!  Forecast temperatures for December in Tenerife range from 16 to 19 on BBC Weather.....Gran Canaria 22 the week before Christmas! So go prepared and don't forget your swim things !!!!!!!

On 10/14/2019 at 8:57 AM, gillhalfpint said:

We had no problem at Southampton departing 26 Sept although we did arrive early as we stayed overnight locally. Taxi dropped us off and we were straight into departure hall, welcomed and given a ticket and sat for a short time before getting called up to be registered.  Went through the cordoned area quite quickly, and the folks from the rear that were being shown through before us were, I believe, premium passengers who  think paid extra for this privilege.  Didn't take long, then security was ok too, and we were in the Market Place around 12 noon.  Maybe we were just lucky with the time we got there, but it was a similar experience as far as I remember when we travelled down on the day so arrived at the port after lunchtime.

We were also on that sailing and had a different experience.....didn't you have to go and queue for your luggage labels?  We couldnt go anywhere until that was done...about half an hour....then the wait for actual check in...another 20 mins or so..then the worse bit was security.....just one door open with one lady letting two passengers in at a time! (there are 3 doors usually all open with other cruise lines) and just two X-ray machines working......with P and O usually all manned and working!  This led to huge queues at security with nowhere to sit, we were there for at least half an hour probably longer....we arrived at the port at 1215 and didn't make it to the buffet until after 2.00 pm. It could all have beeh so much better organised starting with issuing luggage labels/cabin numbers by post or email before the cruise.

hi Kruzseeka…..yes we hope of course that we may see the lights but I'm sure we will enjoy the cruise anyway....thanks for the info.

Funnily enough I was thinking of you this morning as I read you are on Oceana in March....so are we on E006N ….so we may yet meet again!  we also  booked the Christmas and New Year on her so really pushing the boat out so to speak!

Best wishes to you both

Hello RR..... We won't be on her next year (as far as we know!) But we have booked two weeks to Norway at the end of this month!! We thought we'd give her a try as she's going from Southampton!    We thoroughly enjoyed Discovery 2 last year!

Hope you and Mrs RR are keeping well X

Propriano is a pleasant small town and there is a nice beach very close to the ships berth.  We wandered town in the morning then sat on the beach in the afternoon!! Haven't been to other ports but I'm sure someone else will help you!

I sent a messenger message via Facebook and received the calendar within two days...they reply very promptly via that method ! 

We have in the past cancelled our cruise , losing the deposit, and rebooking at the cheaper price and still been several hundred pounds better off!!   You do need to do the sums carefully though!!

I do occasionally have sweet things but just once in a day, for instance a mini mince pie with my afternoon cuppa! It doesn't usually make much difference to my sugar levels.....when we were in Corfu recently I asked for a piece of apple pie in a cafe and when it came it was about four inches deep with cream and ice cream....I ate it because I was hungry but we walked the mile or so back to the ship instead of catching the bus!   My sugar levels were fine when I tested later! 

I'm a diabetic and have never asked for a special menu....I just use my common sense and avoid the sweet puddings, I usually have one scoop of ice cream at dinner and a sugar free pudding from the buffet at lunch.....savoury things are OK usually but even half a glass of wine sends my sugar levels sky high so I usually have diet coke to drink! 

What do you do when you go out for a meal? 

Having spent five weeks on Ventura earlier this year we would probably not cruise on her again!  Compared to Oriana she seems very crowded and noisy, we struggled to find somewhere to sit on the open decks....we found cleanliness to be an issue in some of the public areas especially the indoor pool area.

It was also a long walk from one end of the ship to the other so best to get a mid ship cabin should you decide to go on her! We were forward so had to walk the length of the ship for the buffet and dining...then after dinner again had to walk the length of the ship for the theatre!!! I did not gain any weight!!

We much prefer the adults only Oriana and will be spending Christmas on her....you get what you pay for I suppose but keep an eye on prices as we paid the same for Christmas as we did two years ago and we only bought it a month ago!

Oh that is sad.....so how long before Celebration goes the same way I wonder....

Yes we have good memories of our cruises on this ship......I wonder what will happen to her now??? Anybody know?

Interestingly Oriana returned to Southampton to disembark a poorly passenger when she was just off Bembridge the other night......so perhaps the helicopter evacuations are getting a bit pricey!!!

I think you are correct artemis10.....it would be interesting if someone affected by the Oriana cancellations could see what P &O have to say about it.

I read elsewhere that someone had rebooked a similar cruise but a couple of days shorter than the original Oriana one , and had to pay more than the original one cost. In my opinion that is totally out of order and it would seem under the ABTA rules that P & O should have offered it for the same price as the original one.

It is P & O who have cancelled the cruises yet the passengers are expected to pay more for the replacement.......something is not right !!!

There were lots of speakers on Ventura USA and Caribbean in February for all our sea days so didn't notice any cost-cutting. However they do seem geared towards crime detection and technology / transport so not generally my cup of tea. I'd prefer more ladies magazine type speakers - celebs, fashion, music, tv/ radio/films etc

We were on this cruise too and none of the talks interested us,. We did enjoy Diana Moran the Green Goddess, on one cruise, Anne Widdicombe on another, and a BBC reporter ?Philip Hayton, two Olympic female hockey players, and there are a few others I can't remember at the moment.

What we are fed up with are the 'murder' , Concorde, history type talks which seem to be more the norm these days....probably cheaper!

We had Anne Widdicombe a couple of years ago who was absolutely brilliant and filled the theatre on four occasions. She was very funny and was not afraid to answer any questions put to her, we thoroughly enjoyed her talks.

I wonder if anyone else has ever seen this. We were on our way down the coast after Oporto, having breakfast outside the Conservatory on Oriana. I looked up and there was an owl flying behind the ship. Quite close and at least 6 of us saw it. I have no idea what sort of owl and why it was so far from land. Amazing.

Well strangely we saw an owl flying alongside the ship mid Atlantic a couple of years ago!!

We wondered if it belonged to a crew member or if it had just hitched a ride from Madeira!

Because they are Marella, they do things their way ,and their ways are tried and tested as well, when was the last time you got cabin no tags through the post from them ?, when was the last time you downloaded copies of tags to print off from them ? its not their way.

But Marella don't normally sail from Southampton do they?? So it will be interesting to see what their set up will be.....I would have thought that reps finding individual luggage tags for maybe two cases each passenger X 1800 before they enter the terminal might be a bit chaotic!!!! The luggage 'hole in the wall' is outside the terminal! Anyway as I said previously, time will tell !!:)

Doubt that, more likely to be a thoms rep there asking names and putting the tags on your cases.

Why would Marella do it different to all the other cruise lines that sail from Southampton? Wouldn't it be better to use the tried and tested method??? Time will tell !!

I'm sure you will have been given your luggage labels beforehand, either in the post or to print off yourself and fold fo make a strong label (as other cruise lines do) ....then it's just a case of dropping off to the porters at the terminal....with labels attached of course.....and the next time you see them will be outside your cabin!