We chose this cruise because it called at islands not previously visited and we could fly direct to Barbados from our local airport. We have cruised on Princess on two previous occasions. Flight and embarkation procedures went like clockwork. We upgraded our flight and had a mini-suite. Room could not be faulted - plenty of space, but perhaps the wardrobe area was rather small for a two-week cruise; good bathroom and an excellent shower. Our room steward was brilliant, as was the room service steward. Food was the biggest disappointment. The lunchtime buffets were monotonous and unimaginative, often with a distinct feeking of "eating up the leftovers". The Bistro and Horizon Grill were very good, the Ligurian less so - apart from formal nights it was a bland British menu. There did not seem to be enough waiters on duty - they were always rushed. All ship's staff excellent, and senior officers were in evidence around the ship. Stadium Theatre group good, but hampered by small stage and inadequate lighting in the Starlights lounge. There was a lot of selfish behaviour from some passengers - reserving sunbeds, refusing to give up a bus seat for a disabled passenger and saving whole rows of seats in the theatre spaces. We enjoyed most of the trips we took, particularly the Aerial Tram on St Lucia and the helicopter over St Lucia. P and O have to get their smoking policy sorted - some public areas were most unpleasant. It really is no use hiding behind the Maritime Act - it's your ship - you make the rules!

This was our first cruise and most of it lived upto our expectations one thing they don't tell you in the brochure is that your luggage takes approximately 4 hours to arrive at your cabin this wasn't too much of a problem but had we known in advance we could have packed a few extras in our hand luggage. My husband was bothered because there were children onboard but this wasn't a problem as were hardly ever saw them this maybe different in the school holidays. I have been seasick in the past but people told us, "you wont even feel it move", I sorry but we did. I wasn't sick and once I had found my sealegs I was fine. The staff were very friendly and the cabin stewardess couldn't do enough, my husband said the food was excellent, I was on a special diet and the choose was very limited, the brochure gives the impression that all dietary needs are catered for but that is not what I found, even so the Head Waiter did his upmost to accomdate. The drinks onboard were very reasonable priced. We had an outside cabin but we wished we had gone for one with a balcony (we will next time) The entertainment wasn't best ever but it was passable, although the Cruise Director was excellent. Sunbeds were a bit of a problem but mainly because of selfish people putting their towels on at 6.30am and then going out for the day, I thought it was just the Germans that did that. We would cruise again and we would go back on the Oceana but we would like to try other P & O ships as well.

We have cruised eight times before with other companies and having heard so much about this cruise line we were really looking forward to our first cruise with them. However on arrival at the ship we were told our cabin was not ready and that we must go into one of the public areas and await an announcement over the PA and then be ready to make our own way to our cabin. Once we had found the cabin we prepared ourselves for the start of the cruise expecting a sailaway from the port of Bridgetown in Barbados. To our surprise there was no party. Still things we thought could only improve on the entertainment front. HOW WRONG WE WERE!!! The entertainments team instead of being the advertised West End class were of an average high school standard and the comedian could sing a bit but his jokes were older than the ten commandents. On a Caribbean cruise we had one deck party a tropical night with a disco and a weak effort from the entertainments team while the resident steel band played way down on deck five We could go on about the poor entertainment but we do not want to become as boring as they were.

The ports of call were superb and we enjoyed them all. The trips we chose to go were excellent value for money. The food and cleanliness of the ship was top notch and we met some really nice people especially our fellow diners in the Adriatic Restaraunt.

Would we sail with P&O again? Only if the entertainment was vastly improved. As it is we could not recommend this cruise line to anyone.

This was our first P&O cruise, previously we went cruising cheap and cheerful so we were expecting big things from P&O's Oceana. It is a magnificent ship, cleanliness is obviously uppermost on P&O's list of priorities. If at any stage when entering any of their restaurants a passenger fails to wash their hands in the alcohol based cleansing agents provided at the entry point they are politely asked to do so by a member of the staff. We thought this was a 10/10 idea and essential to prevent possible outbreaks of the dreaded Noravirus. The food itself was top class -remember the chefs are catering for almost 2000 passengers, so no complaints in this regard.

We only paid for two shore excursions as we found these to be overpriced, particularly when you can engage the services of a local taxi driver for a fraction of the ship's excursion charges. A visit to Noel Coward's house "Firefly" in Jamaica was well worth the visit, it was a bit expensive but it was our fortieth wedding anniversary and it was a beautiful location to spend a couple of hours on our special day. No wonder royalty and the cream of Hollywood's greats visited this place, the views are to die for.

We had an inside cabin with twin beds. It was comfortable and perfunctory. Our cabin steward was excellent and nothing was too much trouble for him - well done Neval!

The downside: Well that's easy, as the previous poster has already mentioned - the evening entertainment was truly awful. The Oceana's troupe of dancers and singers, who one usually expects to provide an end to a perfect day, were little more than a bunch of amateurs. One of them could dance a little but his singing was so awful he'd have been lucky to have got through the first round of the X Factor. As for the cabaret artists, there were two mediocre vocalists, a male and female who sang separately. I've seen better karaoke performers. But by far the worst of the performers was the comedian, who must have been well into his sixties. He was advertised as having done three successful tours of the UK. Three! At his age he should have done forty plus. The standard of his jokes were so old I can only imagine that he performs to geriatrics in old people's homes. Probably where he did his three tours. P&O, I'm sure can do far better than this. We are already booked on a Caribbean cruise for next year on board the Ventura. We shall be something like 6/7 days at sea so I hope the nightly entertainment will be far better than this, otherwise they might find one or two folks wanting to jump ship, and there won't be any chance of that, half the way across the Atlantic.

I would firstly like to begin by advising people not to listen to David Hanman and Francis as they come across as individuals who enjoy faulting everything. Either that, or they sailed on a completely different ship to me! Personally, if someone’s holiday is ruined by the fact that the ships atrium sells items which may not appeal to every passenger, then this person cant have a lot going on in their life.

Embarkation at the Mayflower Cruise Terminal in Southampton was extremely fast, and was no hassle at all. Fine food was already laid out, before we were permitted to proceed to our suite! Judging the food overall, very good, and I would go to the extent of saying that the food served at the Horizon Grill in the evening was superb! Okay you have to pay an additional £9 at the Horizon Grill, but the food was of such high quality, I would of happily paid £30!

I found that the service on the whole was also very good. I thought that all members of the staff that I encountered were friendly, polite and efficient. However it was slightly annoying when we discovered a £112 service charge on our ship account invoice. Without being notified, the reception staff were adding £8 a day to cover service. We were originally furious, however the reception were more than happy to remove the charge. If this happens to anyone, please don't think that it is compulsory, as it is simply advised that each passenger pays £4 a day to cover cabin steward and waiter staff service.

The onboard entertainment was excellent, especially the dancers named www.westend, who performed several times during out cruise around the med! I loved Oceana's public rooms, I thought that every room's decor looked reasonably modern, and the Yacht and Compass was decorated authentically, to make it look like a British Pub. Our suite was considerably smaller than we thought it was going to be, however it was homely and cosy, so overall we were more than happy with our room. The balcony was of a good size!

I have been used to sailing with Fred Olsen Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Lines, however I now feel that I will stick with P&O Cruises for a while. Oceana is a big ship, it did take me quite a while to find my way round, but because of its size, it had a lot facilities, most of which targeted at younger ages. As P&O continually boast, Oceana is a family friendly ship; therefore a majority of its facilities are more suitable for young - middle aged passengers.

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I loved Oceana as a ship, because she’s modern, big and British, and I was very proud to be aboard her. Because of Oceana and P&O Cruises, we have already booked another cruise, however on the latest Ventura, which will be taking us to 12 islands in the Caribbean during November of this year. Because Ventura is larger and is said to be more family friendly, I am very excited.

For those considering to book a cruise aboard Oceana, don't hesitate and listen to people like David and Francis......Go for it!

Just came back today from two week cruise round the med.
Had a superb time and if your single and you cruise alone and it seems a bit daunting dont worry made loads of friends on the cruise.
Superb ship clean great food great staff entertainment not top notch but still enjoyed the cruise.
My first cruise and will definately be doing another very soon.

just returned from a 14 night cruise around the med and had a fantastic time. My two children aged 6 and 4 had a great time in the kids club the youth staff are fantastic with the children. The food was fab and we had two wonderful waiters in the resturant who could not have been more helpful and they just loved the children. The shows were great, weather fab and i would recommend this type of holiday to all.

My 1st cruise- wife had been on the Sea Princess only a few weeks previously and discovered this was the sister ship. She knew it all, layout-wise, wouldn't you know. I was knocked out by the whole experience and we have accordingly booked the same dates next summer, different intinerary.
No flying was a real bonus as we drove up to the dockside at Southampton and the next thing we knew we were in our cabin with all our bags- no scary British Airways baggage losses here. I can see cruises generally getting a boost for this reason alone.
The trips off boat can be pricey and we chose carefully and only did those "with a difference" where we knew it would save undue hassle in port. Most places you can access from each port with a bit of confidence in yourself- got to beware of getting back on board before the sail time- several people were really lucky we didn't leave them.
The Ents people were very good, the male singers and some of the shows were top drawer.Our man doing quizes was a witty chap. Good variety of shows and though one of the comedians in the 1st week was well received, the others were pretty hopeless. The final show of our hols was a famous for 5 minutes job of guests who sang danced or whatever- only about 10 "turns". We were privileged to see that highlight as they were all wonderful and one young lad (teenager) had the voice of a superstar in the making. We were lucky. Also saw some professional dancers from Strictly Come Dancing and Tessa Sanderson who came on board in the second week and met lots of us as she wandered around and did a chat-show.P+O are lucky with the quality of their Ents Director and senior staff.
They limit the number of kids on the ship to around 400 because of the staffing needs but most parents found they had a great time because their kids were off doing something- tears all over the place amongst the teens at the end as they left their new-found lifelong friends. Happy kids =happy parents!
Staff were outstanding in all respects and I agree with the idea of freedom dining as you don't get stuck for 2 weeks with people on the same people who you don't gel with.
By the way they look after dietary needs extremely well.
Big Gold Star to P+O for this memorable holiday in the Med. If I had a quibble it would be about the inconsiderate people who park their towels on the decks to reserve their sunspots- some apparently did it then went ashore! I wasn't personally that fussed as I am not into sunburn but there were moans about that and P+O should really put a stop to it more proactively than they do at the moment.

This was my mine and my mother's first cruise travelling with my son and his partner who had been on two previous one's aboard the Oeceana and Oriana. They enjoyed them so much we decided to accompany them on one this year 2007, and I can honestly say we were not disappointed. We dined each night at 6pm so we had our set table and waiters. The food was superb and the service excellent. The overall cleanliness was spotless and we would certainly cruise again with this company

I have travelled on P&O cruises twice. First was on Aroura and second Oceana. They were both brilliant!
The ships were both very clean and the food, well it was just amazing!!
The entertainment on Aurora was Fab! On the other hand the entertainment in Oceana was very good but the same show was on two nights. I think that you should perform a different show every night.
I would definately sail again on p&o ships, not sure when but i will!!