Fantastic cruise for a good taste of what Australia has to offer.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Easy as pie! Well organized and quick!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Excellent food with one exception: Don't order the mahi mahi wrapped in cabbage leaf!!
99.9% of the food was fabulous!
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Enough to keep you busy on sea days. Pool, hot tub, spa, trivia competition, bingo, evening entertainment, fun and silly competitions (bean bag toss, mini golf, shuffleboard, etc)
Entertainment
4 out of 5
String quartet was impressive, as were the show band and the production performers. I'm not much of a fan of magicians and jugglers.
Children's Programs
There were a few children on the ship who were well-behaved and tended by their parents.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Servers and waiters work hard to please. The room steward was less attentive than the waiters, baristas, and bar staff.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Love the small ship. Layout is well-done and it is very pretty. Heard complaints about the size of the bathrooms (particularly the small showers) but the bathroom size is very easy to dismiss when compared to all the ship has to offer in terms of design and layout.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Small size but has plenty of storage space. Bed is very comfortable. The ship will undergo an updating soon.
Ship tip
Don't forget 2-for-1 happy hour from 5PM-6PM and 10PM-11PM in Martini's and the Regatta Lounge!
Small island owned by a winemaker. After being tendered in there is a small bus that will give you a tour of the island. Can see the entire island in 25 minutes. Bus is free.
Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. We did not use an excursion from Oceania but were able to find an independent excursion on the local dock who transported us to Green Island. Trip to the island took about 35 minutes. We were able to snorkel on our own (they provide the gear). There are also glass-bottom boat tours and semi-submarine tours on the island. Excursion was about 4.5 hours and was very well run. (Check Shore Excursions Group on line for trips that are much less expensive than those offered on the ship.)
I believe this was Oceania's first time stopping in this port. Glad we went but you must be prepared to witness life in a third-world country. Didn't do an excursion here but walked from the port to the local trading center (about half a mile). Witnessed poverty and a lot of discarded trash along the walk. The people were extremely friendly and seemed content. We did not feel threatened. People from the western hemisphere should see how these people live and be thankful for all that we have.
This was our second port in PNG. This is a much more populated area than Alotau and gave us the feeling that we were not as safe here as in the previous port. We did an Oceania-sponsored tour which took us to the Kokoda Trail up in the mountains. The tour was not at all as described by Oceania. It is very hot in PNG and the busses we were transported in seated 16 passengers. No air conditioning, just windows open to the heat and humidity. The interior of the busses were in considerable disrepair. The ride up the mountain was on paved and unpaved roads. The tour was also to include a stop at a museum which was closed for a month because of the Christmas holiday. We were particularly disappointed about the museum being closed. The tour ran almost 2 hours longer than expected. We did NOT complain about this tour. However, many passengers did. As a result, Oceania gave us a full credit for the excursion. I worry that Oceania will discontinue PNG as a port. These people need the money tourism can bring but they do not yet have the infrastructure to support tourism at this time.
Overnight here. The hype for Bali is much overdone. I pictured beautiful beaches and natural beauty. I'm sure the resorts are beautiful but what we saw was congested and very commercial.
We happened to arrive on a day when there was a carnival in town which included a craft fair. The town is small with well-kept houses. Many of the homes had beautiful flowering shrubs along the sidewalk.
Quaint, little town. Steep walk up to the business district which is quite small. There is a killer whale museum. Excellent views from an old light house tower,
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