Marina Review

4.5 / 5.0
811 reviews

Beautiful Ship, Poorly Managed

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Marina
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shar44
6-10 Cruises • Age 80s

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Sail Date: Jun 2016

We had heard positive things about Oceania and the Marina in particular so when we saw a cruise to a number of locations that we liked we booked a concierge level stateroom for a special occasion. The ship is lovely but we were astounded at the number of things that just didn't work. On boarding we found that a drawer in one of the nightstands was uncleaned with used Q-tips still in it, the refrigerator was warm and it took 5 calls and one full day for someone to find that it needed to be plugged in. When we asked questions or made requests, no one either knew the answer or would take responsibility for finding something out. To be fair when we spoke with passengers who had take other trips with Oceania, they said that this trip was particularly poorly managed.

We found the specialty restaurants to be reasonably good but, with the exception of Red Ginger, which was excellent, none lived up to the reputations. The Grand Dining Room was particularly pretentious and not very good at all. The Terrace Café was surprisingly good with a large and appetizing selection. I have celiac disease and one very disappointment aspect was the fact that only once was I able to get anything other than a mediocre sliced bread.

The itinerary was exceptional and we enjoyed the ports but, with the exception of the outing to Mont Saint-Michel where the guide was both knowledgeable and helpful, the guides seemed self-absorbed and often clueless. This was surprising since the prices were significantly higher than private excursions that we could book ourselves.

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