P&O, Oceana

Having cruised on several occasions with Princess & Celebrity, we decided to go British and try P&O's Oceana. Travelling as a group of six to celebrate a Ruby Wedding, we were all very disappointed and all agreed that the Princess experience far exceeded anything on this ship.

* Entertainment was pretty poor.

* The adults only pool had lots of children in it.

* Staff on board were not very cheerful (one exception was Sameer)

* Very difficult to find seats together in many of the bars & lounges.

* Signs on board stated Formal Dress only after 6pm beyond this point which

was ignored by people in jeans and football tops.

* No member of staff tried to 'control' booking sunbeds which were then not

used

The redeeming feature was the food in Ligurian Restaurant.

Taken everything into account, our group have all decided NOT to travel P&O again.

Outbreak of sickness on board. I am convinced that a bug was picked up on first night aboard following 9 hour flight. Always a scrabble for tables at buffet and usually not even wiped from last user. I developed sickness within 24 hours and following a request from captain to report illness a doctor called to cabin door after 8 hours handed out a medical questionnaire and i was later charged £40 for this unsolicited call. Told to stay in cabin for 2 days. Later wife became ill and Doctor charged her £50. All in all we spent 5 days in solitary confinement missing ports of call that we came for. P & O said cause was norovirus but I believe this is whitewash to avoid foodpoisoning claims. No medical examinations were made so diagnosis was just P & O guesswork.Ship closed the buffet for 5 days!!! I am trying to claim compensation.

Good value for money and as first time cruises used to high standards we were very impressed. The complete experience of 5* rating compares favourably with most hotels. The sun decks were very busy even in poor weather and this area combined with the "pub" was extremely smoky. The initial impressions on boarding the ship and after the safety talk it was extremely busy and getting a lift was almost impossible. However during the rest of the cruise the number of people seem to dispurse with the exception of dinner and the atrium. I was concerned at how I would feel on a cruise ship regarding sea sickness and was pleasantly surprised to report that I never once felt sick on the whole cruise.

An OK holiday experience but P&O could do an awful lot better. For what should be a luxury experience there seems to be a lot of penny pinching. I believe they need to provide more, better quality entertainment. Provide a cinema and show an up-to-date classy film every night. Provide a good TV in your room and some good films, perhaps even classic films to watch. Follow the example of the Aurora and provide a brilliant presenter for the talks on the countries to be visited. On the plus side staff are very good, tours are well organized and there is tea/coffee and a fridge in your room.

We could not fault our cruise on the P&O Oceana it was perfect. Excellent service, food cleanliness, attentiveness of staff, entertainment, furnishings.