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| Member Cruise Review |
it would be fair to say that it probably lies in the lower quarter of our "Top 20" of cruise experiences. The fabric of Oceana, her maintenance, the housekeeping and the overall service level we enjoyed, was excellent. Hi-points: ====== After a cracking thunderstorm, whilst waiting in the departure lounge, our departure down the Southampton Water and into the Solent was bathed in sunlight. After passing the QEII Terminal we pulled up to the railing at starboard, 2 steamer chairs, propped our feet up on the rails and watched the last of England slip by, bathed in late afternoon sunlight, until we reached the Nab Tower. Dinner at the Horizon Grill with a "Grandstand Table" for the 60s/70s party. The best food we had on the ship for the whole cruise. The Show, "Seven". Not one we had seen before, and in fairness I must add that I am not a great fan of musicals and shows, anyway. However, not only were the slick company, excellent in their moves and song delivery, but presentation and choice of material was excellent and apt. Low-points: ======= Dinner in the Restaurants. We were on Freedom Dining. Reservations seem to work well, although it was my impression that you could not book a slot around 19:00 - 19:30 but were limited to 18:00, 18:30, 20: 00 or 20:30. Also they would not take a booking for the "quarter in the hour". Have other recent Ocean'ers found this? However my main gripe is the food itself, and in particular the Main Course (plated). Now I will put my hand up immediately to state that previously on this site I have been a staunch defender of the Plated Meals principle, based on my extensive experience as a diner in many fine land based restaurants. However I do concede that, given the present food delivery offer, Plated simply did not work for us. On the comment forms (because I understand that Plated service needs to remain on Oceana, due to physical galley/waiter interface constraints [remember Oceana was originally a build for the American market]) I have suggested that the vegetables should be plated separately on a "crescent shaped" plate around the main plate. This will prevent the elements that make up the main course, not only merging and starting to look unappetising, but will prevent, what I believe is a considerable amount of time for the plate being spent under a "hot lamp" while the plate is finished, and thus causing sauces to split/ skin and non sauce elements to becomes flaccid, tired and (wait for it) believe it or not, TOO HOT!!!! We went to the main restaurant 3 times. The 1st night, we thought "well maybe it's a one-off". The 2nd night we had the same experience so we then decided to dine "self service style" (Plaza) or at the Horizon. On the last night, because the buffet did not appeal, we had one more go at the main restaurant, but with the same results. In fairness we found the starters and soups to be up to our usual expectations from P&O (good to very good) - of course here the plates aren't crowded and we actually thought that the desserts had improved since our last P&O'er. Lisbon ==== 'Nuff said. In 6 weeks time on Oriana, we shall restrict ourselves to the Open-bus tour instead, to gain a wider appreciation of this city. The medieval, criminal and pathetic, prevalent begging is a disgrace in what is a long standing member of the EU (with the shadow of dictatorship and "old ways of doing things" a thing of the past). General Comments: ============ Much has been written recently about children on cruises. Despite that fact that there were 350+ of the young of the species on board, it has to be said that the majority were well-behaved and well managed by both parents and the P&O youth team. You should not really complain if you book a Family ship in the middle of the Summer holidays. One minor gripe: ALL the pools were available to the children, (plus there were unaccompanied children in the jaccuzis) so neither of us got a swim when we desired one (ie the hottest times of the day). One has to be so careful these days when one could be easily & falsely accused of inappropriate touching of children, given how many there could be in the pool at one time. Other Hi-points: ========== Our dining out experiences in Vigo and La Rochelle. Both very different but memorable. The weather - glorious (La Rochelle excepted - where we dodged the cloudbursts by taxi-ing direct to our destination). |
P&O Cruises Oceana July 2006 by Derek Kane Mediterranean |