Oceania Cruises are renowned for their sense of intimacy, luxury and elegance. Sophisticated & stylish, their ships are still small enough to slip into more remote ports of call, and provide their guests with an intimate cruise experience whilst offering superb cuisine, outstanding facilities, thoughtfully designed accommodations and extraordinary levels of personalised service.

OVERVIEW

Marina was the first new ship built by Oceania Cruises, which launched in 2002 and has a fleet of three sister vessels acquired from Renaissance Cruises, which collapsed in 2001. The new ship is twice the size of the three sisters, which has given Oceania room for many new features.

Key among these, given Oceania prides itself on its cuisine, are two new speciality restaurants – Jacques for French dishes and Red Ginger for Asian fare. Privee is a new private dining room for up to 10 passengers.

Other new features include a Culinary Centre offering hands-on cookery lessons, La Reserve for wine tasting and food pairing menus and Artist Loft, where there are painting and photography lessons.

No expense has been spared in building Marina – not just the hardware but the elegant interior design, including a stylish and hugely expensive Lalique staircase in the lobby. Cleverly, they have retained some of the design features of the smaller ships in the hope that past passengers will feel at home on the new vessel despite its larger size.

Suitability

This is a ship for couples aged 55-plus who appreciate good food and service and are prepared to pay for it. The majority of Marina’s passengers will be wealthy Americans but numbers from the UK and Europe are increasing.

Children aren’t banned, but it is not suitable for families with kids under 15 years.

Hints & Tips

There are no formal nights. Elegant casual resort wear is fine for evenings. Gratuities are automatically added to passengers’ on-board accounts each day. They can be removed or reduced on request. A mandatory 18% gratuity is added automatically to all bar bills.

There is no charge for dining in the speciality restaurants. All passengers are guaranteed a table in each restaurant for one meal, but they can dine in them as often as they wish provided there is space.

Review

Deck Area 

Marina has 10 full-size public decks, numbered five to 14 (there is no deck 13). There are also two small segments of deck on top of the ship housing the observation lounge, a fitness track and a golf putting green. The spa is on deck 14 forward. Moving aft there is Baristas coffee shop, the library, the internet cafe and speciality restaurants Toscana and Polo Grill. Privee, the private dining area, is between Toscana and Polo. The Bon Appetit Culinary Centre, offering a range of cookery classes for up to 24 people a time, is on deck 12, as are the Artist Loft and La Reserve for wine-and-food pairing. There’s a pool mid-ships. The self-service Terrace Cafe is aft. Decks 11, 10, 9, eight and seven are devoted to cabins and suites. The main dining room is on deck six, along with the casino, Martinis lounge, and the more intimate casino bar. Deck five houses the show lounge, new speciality restaurants Jacques and Red Ginger, the reception deck and shops. The Lalique staircase provides the centre piece of the deck, curving up to deck six.

Cabins 

Marina has 625 cabins and suites, of which 14 are inside, 20 have an oceanview and 591 have a balcony. There are 147 suites divided into 124 penthouses, 12 Oceania Suites (a new category on Marina), eight Vista Suites and three Owner’s Suites. Cabins measure from 174 square feet for the inside cabins to more than 2,000 square feet for the Owner’s Suites, which they claim is the only ship-board accommodation spanning the width of the ship. Penthouses measure 420 square feet, Oceania Suites are 1,030 square feet, while Vista Suites range in size from 1,200 to 1,500 square feet. All cabins are equipped with flat-screen TVs, mini bars, safes, hairdryers, bathrobes and slippers and French-Milled toiletries in the bathroom. Passengers in suites also receive a bottle of Champagne to welcome them on board and have butler service. They have bigger TVs and Bulgari and L’Occitane toiletries in the bathrooms. Passengers in the Oceania, Vista and Owner’s Suites can order meals to be served in their suite from any of the ship’s restaurants. Complimentary 24-hour room service is available for all passengers.

Entertainment 

On Oceania, the food is the entertainment as meals are sociable events that can take up to three hours. The on-board singers and dancers perform nightly in the show lounge, but it’s a small venue and the performances are second rate. Passengers will have more fun taking painting lessons in the Artist Loft, learning to make pasta in the Culinary Centre or tasting expensive wines in La Reserve.

Dining

The Grand Dining Room is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. An open-dining system operates, allowing passengers to eat when and with whom they want. The Terrace Cafe self-service, which has seating inside and outside, is also open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Waves, on the pool deck serves al-fresco breakfasts and lunches. There are four speciality restaurants – Jacques for French cuisine, Red Ginger for Asian fare, Polo for steaks and Toscana for Italian dishes. All are open for dinner only. Passengers are guaranteed a table in each restaurant once on their cruise, but they can dine in them as often as they like if they can get a reservation. There is no charge at any time. Privee is a private dining room for up to 10 passengers that can be hired for a very high charge. For that, passengers get to decide the menu in consultation with the executive chef. La Reserve offers food-and-wine pairing menus or wine-tastings for an extra charge.  Baristas serves speciality coffees and cakes at no charge.

Ship Info

Year Entered Service: 2011

Onboard Currency: US$

Nationality of Crew: International.

No. of Crew: 800

No. of Passengers: 1,250

Tonnage: 66,000

Passenger/space ratio: 52.8

Interested?

For more information on this cruise line, call us today on (028) 3832 3618, arrange a callback or email us.

Alternatively, if you would prefer we are very happy to see you in person at our new Travel Lounge, Lurgan. Visitors are advised to make an appointment with one of our specialist consultants.

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