On board 506 to Canaries

Oceana cruises in 2015

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CaroleF
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Location: Hampshire

On board 506 to Canaries

#1

Post by CaroleF »

A brief note - in Gran Canaria today, temperature 22 degrees and pleasantly hot in the sun. Had good trip to Puerto Morgan a very pretty village in the south - visited Maspalomas and Puerto rico on the way - not so beautiful! On board all is well. Weather iffy the day after we set off and had to resort to some tablets. Cold until we got to Madeira and then things started to warm up. Still gets chilly once it's getting dark. Really enjoying the cruise. We have Captain Chris Bourne. Food is good, plated meals fine. they've had problems with people queueing up for Freedom Dining and have asked people to consider dining later. Think some people are hoping they can go to boath shows, in the theatre and then in Starlights. We're on second sitting, pleasant table. Had some good entertainment, Stephen Clark a flautist, fantastic. Maria Mazumber last night as Dusty Springfield, Starlights packed and very well received, really good voice.

Very good female comedian, can't remember her name at the moment. Performed two shows. We have Tom O'Connor on this evening. Tomorrow off to Lanzarote, then at sea and then Lisbon on the way home. Oceana still looking good. Really enjoying lunch at Cafe Jardin, going to the Horizon grill tonight but don't think we'll be eating outside. More later.

Carole

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GillD46
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Location: Gower Peninsula, South Wales

Re: On board 506 to Canaries

#2

Post by GillD46 »

Sounds as though you're having a good time.
Gill

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Kenmo1
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Re: On board 506 to Canaries

#3

Post by Kenmo1 »

Thanks for the update, Carole. We have been following this on a site called Cruisin as my sister and husband are on Oceana. Pleased to see the weather is now ok. It has been cold, rainy and miserable on the Isle of Wight today.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Maureen.


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CaroleF
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Location: Hampshire

Re: On board 506 to Canaries

#4

Post by CaroleF »

Well we had a very bumpy day yesterday. The wind seemed to increase alarmingly and according to the Captain we had winds of Gale Force 12! It was extremely difficult to move around. We spent most of the afternoon in the cabin reading while we could hear things banging around us. It gradually died down a bit until the evening when it wasn't too bad. Last night was the final formal evening so it was a pity the weather meant that some passengers didn't appear at dinner. We had the usual parade of the chefs. We thought the food has been good this cruise. We got talking to a couple at lunch who, for the first time, were on Freedom Dining and they said they found the food not good at all and the service not good either. They usually go for Club dining but thought they would try Freedom. We said that we'd had no problems, the waiters were their usual good natured selves very keen to see we were enjoying our meal. the couple said that often their plates were so hot that the vegetables had sizzled and had brown edges, they thought that the plates had been kept hot too long. They have another cruise coming up in November so are going to ask to change to Club Dining. They said that they thought the waiters didn't like it that they didn't get to know the passengers as well as they do in Club dining.

They started off asking about the food and what we thought and said that it was the worst they'd had on P&O and had been up to Cafe Jardin for a lot of the nights. We honestly have thought the food was good, on occasions very good and the waiters were lovely.

The cruise has been good, perhaps not quite as sunny as we'd have liked but in Lisbon it was really warm and very pleasant to sit out on the balcony as we were leaving. Most people have been dressed formally on the Formal evenings, some lounge suits but the majority in Dinner Jackets - the men that is! The only bad behaviour we've seen were two fairly young men with beer glasses trying to move a chair from one venue to another, followed very quickly by an officer - I think they had had a little too much to drink but other than that it's been very pleasant. Mostly older people, not many wheelchairs etc, some younger people and a handful of children. We have met some lovely people and have really enjoyed ourselves.

Carole

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oldbluefox
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Location: Cumbria

Re: On board 506 to Canaries

#5

Post by oldbluefox »

Thanks for posting Carole. Interesting what you say about Freedom dining as we felt much the same. I think we prefer Club dining even though Freedom does give you more flexibility. I hope the sea calms down for you.

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