I got well behind in wrapping up my blog from this amazing cruise….and for good reason. For one, after our long day excursion to Paris we were pretty tired….we also had to go back to Jacques for dinner, start packing, explore Copenhagen in a day, go back to Red Ginger for dinner, finish packing and leave the ship!

But first, Copenhagen. It was another trip down memory lane for my husband and I, and the weather was definitely in our favour if a bit cool. We saw pretty much all of the best sights including the mermaid, the architecture, the downtown area and most of the impressive palaces. And of course we made time for a beer or three along the way, including doing what the locals do which is BYO to the Nyhavn!

Next day we left the ship early – and somewhat reluctantly, to head to Brussels for a few days of R&R before embarking on the long schlep home. It gave us plenty of time for reflection, both in terms of the destinations, and the Oceania cruise experience itself.

The itinerary was amazing, diverse and everything it had promised to be. It was super busy, however, with almost every day in port, and one or two overnight stops such as in Lisbon would have been fun. The weather played ball mostly, and the only disappointment was missing Biarritz due to the tenders not being able to tackle the swell.

As for Marina, she is a pretty ship for sure. She has plenty of style, space, and outside deck areas if her pool is a bit on the small side, and the overall setup reminds me of the luxury end of cruising in the days before the operators went all-inclusive. Where Marina excels, however, is in her cuisine, and that’s across the board. We tried it all, from room service breakfast and dinner to the specialty restaurants at night and the buffet for lunch and dinner, and she is a hard act to follow.

Also a mention should be given to Marina’s crew, who were superb. They hail from many places across the globe including Europe, the Philippines, Indonesia, India…..all delightful people who work really, really hard. Special mentions for the two baristas in Baristas….who quickly got to know our finicky desire for coffee, also our stateroom stewardess and steward, the concierge, and Ben from the Blue Mountains on reception.

All in all it was an amazing trip and experience. What would be interesting to know is what Oceania’s existing clientele thing of this new ship…..she’s twice the size of her siblings, and has all those fabulous restaurants, all included in the fare (except for two). As for me, I think I escaped without extra kilos, but certainly all the walking we did in all those ports of calls helped a lot. Until next week, happy cruising!