The staff were fabulous and some very funny especially our cabin stewart he was called Salvador - if you are going try and get him he was amazing
The standards were VERY high and the food - well I put on a stone so be careful
Hal Nolan was one of the comdians and he was really good also a comic/magician was excellent
The only draw back was the price of the organised trips - also the lack of information on going ashore in Jamaica - bad experience there you are best staying on board at this port. We went in an unofficial taxi and was basically taken to his mates shacks and robbed blind by women selling rubbish but they are crafty and separate everyone

We went on the Simply Carribean cruise in January 2009. The ship was very clean, restaurants average but the cabin cleanliness outstanding. Our steward was called Sagar and was most helpful.Getting a sunbed was a free for all and we heard of people keeping 2 beds each 1 in the sun and 1 in the shade
Breakfast had a lot of variety. Lunchtime was very poor unless you liked curry and rice which was in abundance.Evening we opted for the Freedom Dining which at times stuggled to cope with the volume of people, but the food was alot better than lunchtime.The entertainment was excellent alot of variety and very professional.The crew were a miserable bunch and the main reason we wouldnt sail with them again sorry P+O.

im 19 years of age been on lots of cruises with p and o and i will continue to,the survice is amazing the whole p and o fleet of ships are beautiful and classy the staff are intertaining and helpful the food is never a let down and neither is the people that make and surve the food to you and wait on your every needs the intertainment is brill and as iv not long moved on to become an adult i still have grate memories of the youth staff that are grate with the children and the amazing activites and kids club rooms there for the kids and teens always cruise with p and o 10 out of 10 for everythng and every ship ! thanks and happy cruising.

What can I say!!!EXCELLANT,FANTASTIC,SUPERB.We have cruised before with other cruise ships ( Astoria,Emerald),but when we saw the Oceana at Barbados,we all said WOW!! What a ship!!Fantastic Food,Excellant Entertainment and Superb Staff.Staff were a mix of Indian,Filipinos and other nationalities.My friend in UK has just booked for the second time with P&O for the Oceana.Cannot fault anything other than too much food ( diet now lol!!)

Have just arrived home from the best holiday of my life !!! What a ship! This is my first time on a cruise and it certainly wont be the last. Staff are constantly cleaning. The cabins are cleaned daily and towels changed twice daily. The public areas are also as clean as a pin. Nothing is left lying about in the restaurants,and there are disinfectant machines at the entrance to the buffet restaurant and everyone is encouraged to use this before entering. The food is first class. I have never eaten so well. You can eat day and night, the quality is fantastic. Its like taking the Ritz on holiday with you !! The onboard entertainment is also first class. Two different shows every night which is repeate the following night,and then two different shows again. We met so many lovely people. On Oceana you have the option to choose from club dining or freedom dining. We chose the latter and are pleased we did as we dined with different people and made so many good friends. The drinks are a very fair price too. I cant fault this ship at all. The staff are so attantive,and you are treated so well. No wonder people go back to P & O year after year.

Our first cruise and we are now addicted! I know that the Oceana is not the biggest ship, but at over ten storeys, we were still getting lost on our last day! My main concern about a cruise was that I would feel over-crowded with the number of people on board, but we never had problems finding a sunbed/seat during the day or a place in any of the bars during the evening.

Check-in and boarding at Southampton took all of ten minutes - our cases were taken from us at the car and our car was taken away for valet parking, How easy can it be?

Food - amazing, in all restaurants. Always plenty available, always hot, always lots of variety, always available, always easy to find a seat. Eating at the waiter service restaurant was always a special event, especially on formal/gala nights and the waiting staff could not have been more attentive. And the opportunities to try new foods were boundless - ostrich, wild boar, lobster, goose, wood pigeon and all sorts of fish and seafood.

Cabin was kept scrupulously clean and every time we went back to it, the steward seemed to have been in to tidy up/turn down the beds/leave a chocolate on the pillow. To misquote one of the comedians performing on board, "I went to the toilet and when I came out he had been in to make the beds"!

Entertainment was of a consistently high quality - we were lucky to have an Entertainments Director who obviously not only loved his job, but was very good at it too.

We were told that of the 2100 or so passengers, around 400 were 18 or under, but with all the clubs/activities that were provided for them, you rarely saw them and there was no roudiness. On a couple of occasions, my wife and I went to bed around 1 to meet our daughters the next morning who had not got in until 2am! A cruise ship is such a safe place for children that they can be left very much to their own devices.

Our only very, very minor gripe is the cost of organised excursions. They are a little pricy, expcially given that you pay adult prices for children from age 13. However, you don't have to go on an excursion to enjoy the port. We only wnet on excursions where the port was some way from the attraction (Livorno for Pisa/Florence. Civitavecchia for Rome) or where we wanted to get the most out of a half day stop (Gibraltar). Everywhere else, we made or own arrangements and P&O provides free courtesy buses into the town if it is a little way from the port (Lisbon, Barcelona).

So much more to day about this cruise, but suffice to say that on Saturday we are going to book again for next year - on Oceana again.

Our Cruise trip to Norway in August on the Oceana was an excellent affair.

Oceana is a very spacious, beautiful cruise liner, she is very clean and the crew are excellent.

There are various amenities available onboard, which should keep most people entertained.

There are many pools located onboard, but we did notice that during the day many of these were monopolised by young children and families, but we preferred the plunge pool and Jacuzzis located at the stern.

Numerous bars are dotted around the ship with prices the equivalent of the UK.

The food in the main club dinning restaurant Adriatic was of an excellent standard and our waiters were brilliant.

However for those that had selected Freedom dinning, their experience was somewhat different as on the first night the Liguarian restaurant could not cope with demand.

We would highly recommend The Horizon Grill select alfresco dining experience.

The other select dining venue is the Plaza but in our opinion the Horizon Grill is much better.

Onboard entertainment is of a good standard although aimed at families and the older generation, It would have been good to included something for young professional couples such as ourselves.

The theme nights 60's/70's and Caribbean were not as we had hoped for and very poorly attended.

The ports we visited in Norway were Stavanger, Flam, Olden & Bergen and each place offered a different experience which we thoroughly enjoyed.

The optional shore excursions were well organised, although Flam was very busy due to the presence of another cruise liner in port.

The Bergen funicular tour wasn't quite as we had hoped for, with only 35 minutes at the summit, which was then followed by a 1½ hr Coach tour that was very bumpy due to Bergen's city centre being cobbled, but nevertheless very interesting.

Our arrival back at Southampton was rather dysfunctional.
We berthed at the City terminal, and although our disembarkation was good, our experience of baggage reclaim and the collection of car keys did not match up with expectation.
This was due to a lack of port side assistance and long queues.

Well what can I say other than Wow this was my 6th Cruise my mums 7th and my niece 3rd. Oceana is a great ship the Atrium is beautiful.

CHECK IN

We went to terminal by Taxi arriving at cruise terminal at 1.20 luggage unloaded and taken on board. We went and joined what can only be described as a very long queue with about 30 or 40 other couples and families in the line we where there about 10 minutes. Check in was straight forward photo for cruise cards were taken whole process very fast and efficient. Entered the ship and this is kind of where PO let themselves down a little bit we are wondering about looking lost and several members of staff standing about chatting in small groups no one bothered to offer assistance or information. We weren’t even told if our cabins where ready yet or not and we then met a member of staff coming out of lift who offered us assistance and took us and a few other passengers up to the Plaza Buffet for something to eat. While in here an announcement was made that cabins where not ready yet but would be ready at 1.45 so that was good only another 10 minutes or so to wait. That was fine had some lunch very nice and hand gel was used here a waiter was on duty to make sure you used it you weren’t allowed in unless you had. While eating lunch announcement was made to say cabins where ready. So we went and checked it out (got lost but finally found it with assistance) must say was most impressed with the cabin but more about that later.

SAIL AWAY

To be honest with you P&O let themselves down a little bit here as there was no real party atmosphere to speak of only a sounding of the ships whistle when the other P&O ship Arcadia passed us. They where giving out champagne and charging £5.95 a glass for it so I didn’t bother.

KIDS FACILITIES

First day there is a meeting ours was held in the plaza area straight after kids tea to be honest you really need to attend this meeting if your kids are going to attend the clubs as this is how you find out important stuff like what the rules are, what happens in the unlikely event there is an emergency and you have to go to muster station during the time your kids are with the youth staff and most importantly what the plans are for each age group during your cruise.

Firstly I would just like to say that PandO differed slightly here from other kids clubs that I have experienced in that there was an organised activity planned for each time slot of the day but it wasn’t set in stone it was really up to the kids if they didn’t want to do it fine or if half the group wanted to and the other half didn’t they split the group into two and the other half did something else.

PO have three age groups 2-4 year olds known as the Splashers and they are located in the treasure chest.
5-8 years old the suffers located in the Hideout, 9-12 year olds called the Scubas and located in one of the two Buzz Zones and 13-17 located in the other Buzz Zone and known by what I think is a really cool name H20. The kid’s rooms where all well equipped and there was also a video arcade not sure if you had to pay to use these or not.

For the 2-4 year olds there was Painting, soft play, ball pit, pirates splash pool located inside the actual treasure chest plus loads of other activities and games, video time, They did a lot of singing and dancing as well and themed days i.e. pirates and fancy dress, face painting

For 5-8 year olds there was football training with qualified football coach, board games, painting, games up on the sports deck, pj party, treasure hunts around the ship, video time, soft play area, cookery, face painting various other activities around the ship. One evening I found them launching egg filled paper rockets down the stairwells and no the kids weren’t running riot it was an organised event being carefully monitored by the youth team staff and looked great fun Video time and slumber time from 10.30 until midnight

Also for the 8 and under age group they had their own Cocktail party, chocolate party, magic shows, fun house (no idea team games or something) all in yacht and compass. They also had a talent show and fancy dress parade in the Plaza pub area and a circus show held in the hideout.

9-12 year olds Table tennis, swimming pool games fun (this is a sore subject will explain later), basketball, football training again with qualified coach, board games, scavenger hunts and various other activities around the ship.

There was also supposed to be a deck party for those 12 and under and there families but due to bad weather this was moved into the yacht and compass

For the 13-17 year olds there was pool games (another sore subject will explain in a minute), pool parties, football coaching, table tennis, sports such as basket ball up on the sports deck, salon parties for the girls and boys night out parties for the boys couple of times (cant remember what exactly the boys night out was), they also all had dinner together one evening in the plaza buffet, deck parties, they had loads of other activities and they must have been good because I think most of the teenagers on board attended the events that where organised. There was also a stars in their eyes talent show for the 9-17 year olds although I missed this.

All the rooms are fully equipped with age appropriate toys, computers, playstations and other games consoles


There was also a rock band on board for the first part of the cruise who played two different shows and the kids loved them and there was also a special show hosted by the headliners theatre company on the last afternoon of the cruise for the kids on board and there families. There was also Oceana family olympics where all kids from the tiny tots right through to the 17 year olds and some of the parents took part.

There where over 200 kids on this cruise you wouldn’t have known it. My niece absolutely loved the kids clubs on board she was in the 5-8 age group.

ENTERTAINMENT

Daytime

To be honest we didn’t take part in much of the organised daytime activities. However these consisted of quizzes, art auctions (there was one of these at least once every sea day so at least 7), dance classes, exercise classes, deck sports including deck quotes, shuffle board and basket ball. Talents show, guest speakers, port talks, bingo etc. Lots of different music duos and piano players for your enjoyment as well as films on the cinema screens in the show lounges. As well as sail away parties all of these where fantastic a part from the one from Southampton best one was probably sail away from Gibraltar where there was disco and barbeque and there where also adult swimming pool competitions.

Evening

Was a mixture of Comedians, west end type shows by the headliners theatre company and singers doing shows. As well as the casino open jntil late and various types of music being played in different areas of the ship. Quizzes are also done in the evening and a disco that ran late into the night as well as late night adult only comedians. All of the shows where fantastic my only problem was one of the comedians Rudi West I think was his name don’t get me wrong he was very funny and very talented but he was on at what was the family shows times 8.45 and 10.45 and no warning was given either in the horizon newspaper or before he started about how rude he actually is and there where kids including the 7 year old in our party sitting in the audience. The main joke was drunk men and sex and yes ok she didnt understand most of the jokes but that is hardly the point I really think PO need to look more closely at this. I don’t have a problem with this sort of comedian and would have went along but I would have left the child in the kids club as I don’t wish her to be subject to this type of talk until much older. There was also an illusion type show did by a duo called the twins who where identical twin brothers and there was snow storm during this show due to a computer malfunction they where ok nothing special but they where ok well I thought they where but a lot of people didnt like them.


THE SHIP ITSELF

ATRIUM

Well you can’t start a discussion about a Ship like the Oceana and not start with the atrium. It stretches from Deck 5 Mid ship to deck 8 mid ship it’s truly beautiful with glass lifts. The atrium is where the captain’s cocktail party was held. It’s also where the three ship shops are located, the two main restaurants are entered from the atrium and where you will find the Italian restaurant cafe Jardin (this had down been changed to a speciality restaurant). The reception desk and some of the bars are also located here. Live music was played here every evening

THE SWIMMING POOLS SUN DECK AND SUN LOUNGERS

The oceana has three main pools and a splash pool for toddlers. The Riviera Pool and the Crystal pool are the two main pools. The Riviera Pool is the slightly larger of the two and is 5ft deep at the shallow end and 7 foot deep at its deepest point I could barely stand up except on tiptoes in the shallow end. The Crystal pool is 4 ft 4 deep most of the kids five - eight could stand up in this pool all be it on tip toes and the younger ones the toddlers who couldn’t swim parents could stand up in this pool but not in the other one. Here is the problem every day between 3-5 pm or 2-4 (cant remember but the hottest part of the day) the two older groups of kids 9-17 year olds took over this pool for pool games effectively kicking the younger kids many of whom couldn’t swim out of the only swimming pool suitable for them and to be honest they where using the other pool that was really unsuitable for them and was quite frankly an accident waiting to happen. This annoyed me a bit I know they have to give them something to do but it was grossly unfair on the younger kids who where there but this was only a minor niggle but could have been dangerous in my opinion.

The other pool was the terrace pool which was a smaller circular pool and was quieter than the other pools and mostly used by adults and older teenagers we used this once. There where also several Jacuzzi’s

Sun loungers we only had a problem getting one of these on one day of the cruise but this was because it was fairly late in the day after 3 when we went up to the pool and because we wanted a seat near the pool to keep an eye on my niece in the pool we did manage to get a seat at a table next to the pool so that served just as well not a great sun worshipper and too be honest it was too hot to lie about for long periods in the sun.

RESTAURANTS, FREEDOM DINING AND ROOM SERVICE

Plaza Buffet (Breakfast Lunch and Dinner.)

Good selection of hot breakfast items available usual bacon, eggs, sausages, beans, mushrooms but also hash brown, fried potatoes, hot croissants, toast and porridge etc. Large selection of cereals available, bread rolls, cheese and meats, fresh fruit etc. Fruit juices, water, tea and coffee also available free at breakfast.

Lunch consisted of various salad items and pasta salad items, curries with rice, pasta dish, toasted muffins, a roast meat, cold fish platters and various vegetables. Sweets where usually Jelly, trifles, cheesecakes, chocolate cakes, hot custard with hot apple pie or other hot desert.

Dinner was again buffet service and was various themed nights including, British, Indian, Italian and Chinese everyone seemed to enjoy these. We only attended the Plaza buffet in the evening once and it was British night and the food was fantastic, there were prawn cocktails, soups, salads, fish, steak pie, chicken, sausages, black pudding the list is endless, also some really good deserts on offer.

Kids Tea

Kid’s tea is served in the Plaza buffet each evening and is for those aged 12 and under and is based around themes such as Pirates, creepy crawlies, clowns or circus or something. This again was a buffet and there were various things on the menu and it varied everyday depending on the theme but consisted of the usual fish fingers, chicken nuggets, chicken teddies, happy faces burgers, hot dogs, chips but not all of these every night it varied. Also pasta dishes and vegetarian dishes where also on the menu and salad and sandwiches every night and also included soup, different veg, shepherds pie, roast beef, chops on occasions. Desserts consisted of ice creams, jelly, trifles, fresh fruit and fruit salads, cheese cakes chocolates.

Also there was a tea with Mr Bump one evening and Noddy Birthday (he’s five allegedly) during the cruise so they had a special birthday tea with cake.

Linguine Restaurant – Dinner Freedom Dining

This is the Freedom Dining Restaurant for dinner we ate in here most evenings. Never had a problem getting a table but then didn’t mind having to share didn’t always have to share but chose to do so most evenings just turned up and got a table straight away preferred this to the club dining as no rush to get ready for dinner.

Anyway the Menus where always varied with three or four appetisers to chose from every evening. Two different soups, four or five main courses plus a few dishes and options that where available every evening salmon, steak, grilled chicken, Caesar salad, side salads, cold meat, French fries was also an option. Dessert was four of five different options and cheese and biscuits also available. Also kids menu available in the restaurant. There was only one evening where I made a blunder with my order it was an appetiser chicken something or other basically when it came it looked like a pate, it was horrible none of the five people at the table who ordered it ate it and I seen others send there’s back. It tasted like fish and was extremely salty I couldn’t even swallow the first mouthful. It put me off the rest of my dinner to be honest waiter did want to replace it kept apologising offering to get us all something else but apart from this food was beautiful every night. Only one thing I had a problem with and this appeared to be due to lack of communication between the head waiter at the door and the waiters at the tables on two occassions we where sat at tables with other passengers who had already started eating which really isnt on and is not supposed to happen. However this was only a very minor fault and hasnt put us off the idea of anytime dining we thought it was great.

Noddy Breakfast

This was held one morning in Linguine Restaurant for the 8 and under kids and there families Noddy was there and was buffet style with balloons and colouring sheets and things. Good buffet selection kids had a ball was the first time it was ever done on the ship and it was so successful they were talking about doing it on future cruises.


Adriatic Restaurant - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Club Dinning

We didn’t eat here in the evenings as we where freedom dinning but food was the same as in Linguine Restaurant only difference it has first and second sitting allocated at time of booking cruise never heard any complaints so must have been fine.

Lunch we again never ate here for lunch but spoke to a few people who had who all said it was good it was waiter service and had various courses.

Cafe Jardin

Oceana’s Italian Restaurant located on Deck eight off the Atrium its open 24 hours but what it serves depends on time of day. Breakfast served from 7 am and is various cereals, Breakfast Panini’s, cheese and smoked salmon bagels, that sort of thing.

Lunch starts either 11.30 or 12 cant remember which and this is salad items, soups, various baguettes, Pizzas, in the evenings dinner is served from 7 (I think) on the menu is Pastas, Pizzas, and other Italian fare and is available until 10.30 never ate here in the evening but it looked nice. Had lunch and breakfast here once was lovely. From 10.30-7am snacks are server Margarita Pizzas, Nachos and that sort of thing had snacks here twice again Nice.

Horizon Grill (lunch is free, Dinner incurs cover charge)

During the day this a burger bar type place only much nicer they serve snacks such as hamburger, hot dogs, Baked Potatoes, fish and chips and other items. I never ate here but my mum and niece did and both said it was really nice.

At night this became a Select dining venue (incurs charge) never went here didn’t really fancy anything on the menu and I am too miserable to pay the extra anyway lol. It was things like steak they serve and I don’t like steak.

Plaza Bistro (incurs a charge)

Again select dining and again I never ate here and was even less impressed with this menu than the one for the Horizon Grill.

Normally I am led to believe that its difficult to get tables in these venues not on this cruise they kept announcing most evenings that tables where available for that evening and if you wanted to book give them a call.

Room Service

Operated 24 hours a day and many items where free of charge only used this once and only got sandwiches but they where lovely

Magnums

Magnums is the ice cream place it serves ice-cream and ice lollies for a small charge but wasn’t expensive

SHOW LOUNGES

Starlight’s was the smaller of the two show lounges very nice held various evening shows and showed films at other times, the stage lowered into the ground so as to become a dance floor. Bingo was also held here as where dance classes.

Footlights was the larger of the two show lounges and looked like a proper theatre and was also sometimes used to show films and port talks.

BARS, LOUNGES AND CASINO

There were several of them throughout the ship my favourite was the Yacht and compass. Winners was also very nice also both had live music playing through out the evening Winners was where live sporting events where shown on the large screen. Tiffany’s is located in Atrium and had a Piano player. Magnum Champagne bar was an over 18 area and just too me looked like a lounge area in the hallway of any ship nothing special. Le Club was the night club where the disco took place late into the evening was never in here. The Rivera bar was located outside on the Lido deck next to the Riviera pool, Pendants bar was outside again never used this and the terrace bar located near the terrace pool also outside. Prices for spirits was around £2-£2.15 with a small can of mixer at 75p. Small glasses of coke/diet coke where £1.05 and cans of Fanta £1.10 large glass (pint) was around £1.20. Cocktails varied from £2.50 to almost £5 I was charged £4.10 for a Margarita and they never even made it properly I specifically asked for it frozen which means it should look like a slush puppy it just had ice in it thats not a Margarita that tequila with tequila mix!

The Casino was located to the one side of winners bar and had the usual gaming machines, card tables, roulette tables etc. There was a charge for purchasing casino chips think it was 2%.

LIBRARY, CYBER STUDY, PHOTO SHOP AND GYM SPA/SALON

The Library I don’t think I ever found this not that I was particularly looking for it so probably walked past it several times.

The cyber study I only used this once but it was well equipped with several pc all with internet access. There where various workshops held in here for desktop publishing, using the net and that sort of thing these classes as far as I am aware are charged for.

The salon and spa never used this but a few passengers did and seemed really pleased with it I thought it was tad expensive no more so than any other ship but still very expensive.

Photoshop was located on deck 7 right next to starlight’s so you couldn’t help walking through it at night on way to shows think this is probably the plan. To be honest at times the photographers where bordering on being really annoying and intrusive I know people want to catch the memories of there cruise but not every single moment. Also I felt that the photos where really expensive compared with other ships I have been on although we did still buy a few that my niece wanted of herself.

Gym never used this but it seemed really well equipped and was where the exercise and fitness classes where held.

Art Gallery there was a small one of these showing mainly the pictures by the travel artist on board and paintings to be sold at the art auctions

SHOPS

There are three of these bond street, regent street and a small chemist type shop that also sold camera batteries and films and sweets but the name of it completely escapes me at the moment. One sold jewellery, perfume, aftershave and formal clothes the other sold souvenirs, children’s toys, and clothes with the ship logo on and that sort of thing. There was also a celebrations shop where a florist was located and you could order cakes and other things for celebration


CABINS

Was really pleased with this it was just a basic inside cabin located Deck 8. The cabin was a three berth it had a TV with various channels, a fridge, tea and coffee making facilities including biscuits, free to use safe, hairdryer, two dressing tables with 12 large drawers between them a Wardrobe which at first glance seemed small but was actually more than adequate for our clothes and a wire trolley type set of drawers inside wardrobe. Toilet was slightly bigger than what we have experienced on other ships, 2 in 1 shampoo shower gel was provided and replenished as required this is actually the first time I have not been allergic to the ship brand of shower gel it was the spa shower gel. We where also given a spa pack which contained various lotion and potions but where only given one spa back between us. Towels and pool towels where supplied and replaced as required. Only one plug in room which is British style plug I would advise taking an extension plug if you have a few items you need to plug in. Also my niece got a welcome balloon and sweets in cabin.

On the last day I had a look in one of the balcony suites the door was open and I had a nosey (was already vacated) it looked very nice and worth the extra money if you want to spend a lot of time in your cabin or on the balcony

Finally the Ship was spotlessly clean my only comment on cleanliness would be that in the buffet restaurants your given gel to clean your hands but not in the main restaurants cant understand this.

The staff were wonderful our Cabin steward was the best. All staff after embarkation where very helpful and attentive a bit to attentive at times. A little tip give the passengers time to sit on the seats before you rush over to take their drinks orders they will still be there.

was both our first cruise and was gobsmacked with size of the oceania.
the food on the ship was out of this world and was happy to pay only £2.60 pint of stella and my girl £4.00 a cocktail.
the ships staff and crew treated everyone first class and our cabin steward (thomas) looked after us very well.
the onboard entertainment was good aswell and overall i enjoyed the time spent on an amazing ship and would recommend to anyone .

We holidayed as a party of four, flying from Gatwick to Barbados on 14th March. Charter flight with Thomas Cook was not the horror company we had been led to believe but attentive, friendly stewards, regular bar service and acceptable food. Arrival in Barbados was 1 hour late but we were taken directly to the ship and we were on board within 10 minutes of arriving at the ship. Once aboard Oceana our first impressions were good. Cabins were not large but adequate and once our beds had been moved from a kingsize into a single configuration we found this gave us more room. The cabin was kept pristine by our lovely cabin steward, Olindo, who was like the Scarlet Pimpernel. He never intruded while we were in the cabin and if we left it, even for a little while, it had been cleaned and the bins emptied on our return.All areas of the ship, with the exception of Lido Deck were kept spotlessly clean. However on Lido deck the tables near the Riviera Bar were rather neglected and on several occasions we cleaned them off ourselves, after drinks and food had been spilt.(That's the only time we ever saw area's grubby) The food was of a very good standard in The Plaza, where we chose to eat at lunchtime and in the Ligurian Restaurant, where we ate at night. We opted for Freedom Dining and it worked very well for us. The thought of being "stuck" with anyone who either didn't get on with us or us with them for 2 weeks would possibly have spoiled the holiday and we would definately opt for this choice of dining again. All the staff and crew were smiling and friendly. We had a few rough days at sea and some passengers were unwell and I am sure some of the crew must suffer sea-sickness in the same way but they just got on with their jobs and kept smiling. We were all fine and had been advised by our travel agent to select cabins near the centre of the ship on the lower decks as the motion is not felt as much. Whether this helped I don't know but we didn't suffer any sea-sickness. The entertainment was first class and the Stadium Theatre Co. are to be applauded for making the shows go on in the rough weather. We were told the dancers could make their own decision about the risks of falling over but they all performned magnificently, well done, we loved the shows. The talks were very interesting, we saw Chris Walker, an actor, who gave talks on behind the scenes of TV and Film. Gordon Whistance, from Changing Rooms. Phil Thompson, ex Liverpool footballer, who gave a first class talk about football and footballers past and present and of course the Captain, Julian Burgess, who was very amusing and a good sport to allow Hewie, the cruise director, to interview him. We will definately sail with P & O again and with Oceana if she goes to the destinations we would like to see. We had a wonderful holiday, met some lovely, friendly people and we would recommend anyone who hasn't cruised on Oceana to give it a whirl, she's a lovely ship.