OCEANIA CRUISES WINS CRUISE CRITIC AWARDS FOR BEST CUISINE AND BEST SUITES

The 2012 Cruise Critic Editors’ Picks were recently announced, and if you’ve ever been onboard an Oceania Cruises ship, you won’t be surprised to learn that Oceania Cruises was chosen for Best Cuisine and Best Suites.

Upon hearing this exciting news, I took a moment to go through the many photos I have taken over the years as Blogger-at-Large for Oceania Cruises and select a few of my favorites of the beautiful suites and incredible meals I’ve enjoyed during my adventures onboard the ships. If you’re wondering what inspired the Cruise Critic editors to select Oceania Cruises, here are just a few of the reasons why these awards are so richly deserved.

BEST CUISINE 

The men behind the menus: Senior Executive Chef Christophe Belin and Fleet Corporate Chef Franck Garanger (pictured with Pancake, Blogger-at-Large)

GRAND DINING ROOM

One of the sure signs that Oceania Cruises is perfect for foodies is that the Grand Dining Room is just as wonderful as the specialty restaurants. In fact, I’ve spoken with several guests who say it’s their favorite restaurant onboard. The menus change daily, but you will always find European-inspired continental cuisine as well as delicious Canyon Ranch SpaClub® dishes. Here are some photos of a few of my favorite dishes.

Grilled Turbot with Zucchini and Tomato

Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto

 

Lobster Thermidor 

TOSCANA

As exquisite as The Grand Dining Room is, I highly recommend pulling yourself away for a taste of Tuscan-inspired Italian cuisine at the wonderful Toscana. The simple but elegant ambiance elicits the romance of the Italian countryside, and quite a few of the recipes are inspired by mothers and grandmothers of Oceania Cruises culinary staff. Also, many of the sommeliers are from long lines of wine-producing families, further enhancing the Italian experience.

Italian food is comfort food for me, and Toscana is definitely one of my favorite restaurants – onboard or ashore. I’ve had the privilege of celebrating two birthdays in Toscana, and if I had my choice, I’d celebrate all of them here! Just look at some of the incredible dishes I have enjoyed at Toscana.

 

Carpaccio di Polpo con Patate al Vapore e Vinaigrette allo Champagne (Octopus Carpaccio with Champagne Vinaigrette and Warm Potato Salad)

Involtini di Melanzane alla Ghiotta (Sliced Eggplant rolled and sautéed with Roasted Minced Veal Stuffing and Basil, baked in Fresh Tomato Sauce)

Sformatino di Carciofi in Salsa Tartufata e Olio Aromatizzato all’Arugula (Artichoke and Parmesan Cheese Timbale with Black Truffle Sauce and Arugula Infused Oil)

Linguine Cioppino (Linguini Pasta with Little Neck Clams, Black Mussels, Calamari, Shrimp, and Monk Fish sautéed in a Light Pinot Grigio and Cherry Tomato Sauce)

POLO GRILL

I admit, when writing about my dining experiences, it is almost impossible not to claim that each restaurant is my favorite. If you have dined with Oceania Cruises, I think you know what I mean, and you’ll understand when I say Polo Grill is another one of my favorites. Polo Grill offers the classic steak house experience with time-honored favorites done the way only Oceania Cruises can, perfectly. The steaks are USDA Prime and dry-aged for at least 28 days.

On a recent cruise, we had reservations at Polo Grill for the last night of the voyage, and my friend spent the entire trip in anticipation of devouring the signature 32-ounce prime rib. Some people claim that a steak this size couldn’t possibly be eaten in one sitting, but I have found the person for whom this cut of beef was designed. He savored every bite, and he was the first one to finish his entrée!

For those of us with daintier appetites, there are plenty of options as well. I find the 7-ounce filet mignon is more my size. And if you prefer seafood, Polo Grill has plenty of excellent options. How does Maine lobster with drawn butter, grilled mahi mahi or jumbo shrimp cocktail sound?

Colossal Chilled Shrimp Trio with Spicy Cocktail Sauce

King’s Cut 32 oz Prime Rib – Bone-in, Seasoned to Perfection, Slow Roasted and Served Medium Rare

TERRACE CAFÉ

If you’re looking for something slightly more casual, or if you just can’t decide what type of cuisine you’re in the mood for, Terrace Café offers a whole array of international selections in a buffet-style setting. The food is just as spectacular, and you can try a little bit of everything! You will find things like Marinated Fennel Salad, Cold Poached Salmon with Herbed Mayonnaise, Breaded Pork Parmigiana and Creamy Carrot and Pumpkin Soup. Onboard Marina and Riviera, there is even a sushi bar, which I try to visit daily. And good luck trying to decide on just one dessert! Whether you choose to dine indoors or alfresco on deck, the views are stunning in every direction.

Dessert Selection

Outside Seating

JACQUES

If you haven’t had a chance to take a voyage onboard Marina or Riviera, I highly recommend you do so. In addition to all of the amazing offerings onboard Regatta and Nautica, you will find two new restaurants, including Master Chef Jacques Pépin’s namesake restaurant. I recently had the pleasure of dining here and can’t say enough about the whole experience. Everything was just perfect, from the classic French cuisine to the charming French bistro ambiance.

Here are some photos of the amazing dishes my husband and I enjoyed on a recent trip:

Moules Marinières (Fresh Mussels with Shallots, White Wine and Parsley)

Gratiné à l’Oignon (Baked Onion Soup with Gruyère Cheese Crust)

Poulet Fermier Rôti aux Herbes (Herb-crusted Black Foot Free Range Chicken au Jus with Gratin Dauphinois and Haricots Verts)

RED GINGER

The other new restaurant onboard Marina and Riviera is the Asian-inspired Red Ginger. The restaurant itself is beautifully decorated, the centerpiece being three gorgeous busts of Buddha, each carved from a single piece of glass and lit from within.

Complimenting the stunning décor is an equally creative menu with contemporary interpretations of Asian classics. Rich, bold flavors are perfectly balanced with delicate subtleties. This is one of the most distinctive and delicious restaurants I have ever experienced, and the moment I finish a meal here I am already hoping for the opportunity to return as soon as possible.

Tuna Tataki (Seared Tuna Filet, Shiso Sesame Crust, Wasabi Cream)

Lobster Pad Thai (Rice Noodles, Bean Sprouts, Lime, Tamarind, Peanuts)

Seafood Stir-fried (Scallops, Squid, Tiger Prawns, Mussels, Spring Onions, Ginger)

LA RESERVE

One of my favorite indulgences is dining at La Reserve by Wine Spectator. The restaurant seats only 24 and has an elite spot high atop deck 12. Each course is meticulously created, often before your very eyes, and great care has gone into pairing each dish with the perfect premium wine.

Dining at La Reserve is much more than a meal; it is a special event. When you finish an evening here, you feel like one of the most important and well cared for people on the planet.

72-Hour Slow Braised Short Rib with Gnocchi au Jus

Paired with Gordon Brothers Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, Washington, USA

Chef making the Raspberry Caramelized Mille Feuille with Madagascan Vanilla Cream

Paired with Château la Varière, Les Melleresses Bonnezeaux, Loire Valley, France 

BEST SUITES

After a fabulous dinner onboard – and maybe a little dancing at Horizons lounge – there is nothing more perfect than retiring to what Cruise Critic editors called “the most sumptuous suites at sea.”

OWNER’S SUITE

The Owners’ Suites were designed by Susan Bednar Long of New York-based, award-winning Tocar Interior Design and are completely furnished with Ralph Lauren Home Collection. Feeling almost as big as my house, the closets are one of my favorite parts!

VISTA SUITES

When Marina first debuted, I had the great privilege of spending time in the suites with a few honored guests, including Dakota Jackson, the renowned American designer who created the Vista Suites.

Dakota Jackson pictured with Pancake, Blogger-at-Large

If you like to know where the ship is heading, you may prefer the view from these suites, which overlook the bow of the ship.

OCEANIA SUITES

Oceania Suites, also designed by Dakota Jackson, are so large you can comfortably host a cocktail party – and they even have the bar for it! Or, if you prefer, make it a quiet night and relax in the whirlpool tub on the veranda.

PENTHOUSE SUITES

Penthouse Suites are the smallest of the suites, but small is a relative term! Walk-in closets, marble and granite bathrooms, spacious and comfortable living quarters – one guest told me these suites were her favorite place onboard Marina.

One of the things I enjoy most onboard Oceania Cruises ships is lounging in the beautiful bathtubs. This is just one of many amenities that distinguishes Oceania Cruises suites, and on Marina and Riviera, bathtubs are also featured in most staterooms. There is a shower wand in the bath tub as well as a completely separate rainfall shower.

With the perfect accommodations and the ultimate cuisine, Oceania Cruises offers an unrivaled cruising experience at an extraordinary value. Some may say that I’m biased, but the editors at Cruise Critic have confirmed what I’ve known for some time: Oceania Cruises truly stands head and shoulders above the rest!

A TRIP TO CORFU AND THE LOCAL MARKET WITH CHEF KELLY

Corfu is an Ionian Island that never ceases to intrigue me. The architecture is Venetian, French, British and Russian, and the influence of those peoples on Corfu's cuisine is profound.
When you wander through the old town toward the church of Saint Spiros, it seems like you are in Italy with laundry hanging from horizontal pulleys strewn across balconies of apartments that are a mere three feet apart. 

For the past few months, the chefs of Marina have been accompanying guests on market tours of Corfu followed by a cooking class in the Bon Appétit Culinary Center. It’s always a fun day and one that we all cherish because of the warm welcome we get from the local farmers. They light up when the chefs from the “beautiful ship with the Big O” arrive.

One of my favorite merchants is a little Greek woman who continues to ask me if I will marry her son! Last week she gave me a watermelon for our class, which we quickly turned into our popular watermelon salad with feta cheese, pine nuts and basil.

The market in Corfu is traditional and open.

We usually start our market tour with the fish aisle. A lot of the fish are small, oily fish like mackerel, sardines and herring. Red mullet is the specialty of Corfu, and there are always many of them to be found.

On our last trip, we almost bought a 40-pound grouper, but between Chef Franck Garanger and me, we could not figure out how to lug the beautiful creature back to the ship. 

Right next to the fish aisle are the olives. There is only one olive native to Corfu, a small black, salty variety. But there are always lots of olives to choose from with different levels of saltiness and bitterness. We always bring back bags for tastings.

We move on to the produce, which this summer has been spectacular. The melons and peaches are so beautifully ripe that you cannot pass by them without smelling their sweet aroma. We make a tyrosalata in class from the peppers we find each visit to the market by combining grilled peppers with Greek yogurt, feta cheese and cayenne pepper. It’s delicious as a spread on pita toast and a real class favorite.

One of the most rewarding parts of my job is the time I get to spend with the young chefs who are assigned to the Bon Appétit Culinary Center. Daniel, who is from India and an incredible cook (he makes killer lentils), accompanied us on this trip.

He really took to inspecting the quality of the produce we wanted to buy and then bargaining with the merchants on the price. Daniel ended up carrying my watermelon back to the ship as well as many other bags full of zucchini flowers, apples, grapes, fresh dill, beets, beans and wild greens. 

Chef Ralph from Germany also helped carry some of the blue produce bags back to the ship, as we gathered in quite a haul from these wonderful markets. 

After shopping, we all wanted to walk through the esplanade to explore the cheese and olive oil shops and buy the fabulous kumquat liqueur that is famous on Corfu. 

 

The kumquat is the miniature orange that came down the spice road and was cultivated on Crete. The brightly colored bottles are enchanting, and the taste of the liqueur is a spicy orange flavor – great served over fresh fruit.

I took the time to stop for lunch at a favorite restaurant, Aegli, with a few guests. We had the requisite Greek salad (which I never tire of) and a deep water tuna with a smoky tomato and caper sauce.

After lunch we all piled back into the bus and returned to the ship for a short siesta and then a four o’clock Modern Greek class. There to greet our students was the culinary center team of Daniel, Ralph, Putu and myself. 

We started the class with a demonstration of spanakopita. My goal is that everyone who fears phyllo coming into the class is a “gladiator of phyllo” when we finish! We make loads of tasty Greek dishes in this class. 

Skordalia (mashed potato with almonds and garlic) and Cretan roasted beets (highly flavored with clove and mace), and figs wrapped in prosciutto with feta and sage are two favorites. Greek food is healthy and flavorful, and everyone loves all the mezze we make and taste in the class.

We took the watermelon from the market and everyone practiced their knife skills, making even-sized cubes of watermelon for their salad in a martini glass. Those nasty seeds – if we could only find a way to make that part go more quickly!

 

After the class, we all went to the Terrace Café to see what the chefs and staff were serving on “Greek Night.” The dishes were all Greek and so varied and delicious. There was stuffed calamari and eggplant salad and shrimp wrapped in cucumber and the earthy rice wrapped in grape leaves.

The food was, as usual, fantastic, but what I especially love about Terrace Café are the smiling faces of the servers.

As a final note, today I bought a basil “tree” at the market so we could have fresh basil. It is a daily reminder of Corfu and the friendly merchants that welcome us with open arms when we arrive with our Oceania Cruises guests. The next tour is right around the corner. Who knows what that excursion will bring? Lots of great produce and fish I imagine!

 

Oceania Cruises' Marina Featured on The Travel Channel

Travel Channel presenter Julie Peasgoode sailed aboard Marina during a 10-day Pearls of the Riviera cruise through the glorious Mediterranean earlier this year.

Why not join her for a virtual voyage and see what Julie has to say about Marina and all of her culinary delights and surprises.

Bon Voyage!

 

MARINA GETS 5-STAR REVIEW from Patti Pietschmann, National Cruise Examiner

        

Travel writer Patti Pietschmann has given rave reviews after cruising onboard Marina during her 18-day Inaugural Passage. Below we've shared some of her glowing remarks, along with some photos captured by our Blogger at Large and one from our onboard Photo Coach, Curtis Hustace.

You can read this and other articles on Marina from Patti at examiner.com/cruise.

Miso Glazed Sea Bass featured in Red Ginger

 

OCEANIA CRUISES' MARINA WHETS THE APPETITE IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

By Patti Pietschmann

The first evening out of Miami set the tone for the maiden voyage of Oceania Cruises’ gunshot-across-the-bow in mid-size luxury cruising.  A woman at the table next to ours in Red Ginger, one of four no-charge alternative dinner restaurants onboard, looked down at her miso-glazed sea bass wrapped in a ti leaf closed with a tiny green clothespin and then up at her dining companion with misty eyes. “I think I could eat here every night,” she said with a note of awe in her voice.

Eavesdropping that first evening aboard the brand new Marina on her 18-day inaugural voyage from Miami through the Panama Canal to San Francisco (via Los Angeles, where we disembarked), may not have been polite. But listening while our fellow passengers praised the food on the fourth vessel and first new build in Oceania Cruises’ four-ship fleet pretty much gave away the headline for the 1,250-passenger ship. We heard the 20-ounce prime porterhouse served in the Polo Grill compared to those found in New York City’s renowned steakhouses, the beef carpaccio in Toscana extolled as exemplary, and the smoked salmon-wrapped salmon tartar in Jacques compared to a dish that might be served at Patina in downtown Los Angeles.

Which of the four was best? That was like asking fraternity guys which of the Victoria’s Secret models they favor.

That’s the food-forward way Marina, whose culinary godfather, after all, is the celebrated French chef Jacques Pepin (he of the eponymous Jacques) means to sail.

A striking chandelier in Terrace Café

Even dinner at the Terrace Café, the ship’s three-meal buffet restaurant—usually an afterthought on other cruise ships—strived for and often achieved a culinary level far loftier than might be expected. Aboard other ships, this restaurant is often an afterthought. Not here. At breakfast one morning, a passenger who had dined there the previous night buttonholed the maitre d ‘ and told him his meal had been “fabulous.” And one of your faithful reporters himself waxed ecstatic over lamb curry that was ideal in every way save for the odd absence of chutney, a touch that one comes to expect aboard Marina.

Frank Del Rio, the Miami-based cruise line’s CEO, quoted in Taste of the World coffee table book given to all inaugural cruise passengers, clearly enunciates Oceania’s battle cry. “We decided to budget more per guest for food than any other cruise company. Some spend that money on stage shows and dancing girls. We put it on the plate. We want the food to be the show, and the dining experience to be the entertainment.”

To that end, fully one-quarter of the ship’s crew work in the galleys, meaning approximately one cook for every ten passengers. It shows.

Just as much attention is paid to dining service, and on the decks too. Sometimes servers swarm to fill coffee cups and water glasses. It all gets a bit frantic at times. Plates are bussed perhaps too eagerly when a dining companion has not yet finished—an overlooked nuance that can get annoying.

What also quickly becomes annoying, or simply mysterious, is the reservation system for the alternative restaurants. Each stateroom gets one crack at each of the four, but then something akin to a free-for-all ensues. Dining slots are then assigned on a daily basis, beginning at eight in the morning, and a call almost always results in a sold-out shrug over the phone and placement  on a waiting list that sometimes results in a coveted reservation and sometimes not. The arcane system is explained nowhere.

This is a cruise ship designed as its own foodie destination, with virtually everything else—entertainment, ports of call—assigned a secondary role. We attended one show and then decided our time was better used for reading books from the elegant library. As for ports, we found it almost extraordinary that a cruise from Florida through the Caribbean didn’t stop at a single island. The Colombian port city of Cartagena was the only stop prior to transiting the Canal—always a highlight for many passengers except those who, like us, had made the transit numerous times.

A Costa Rican sunset captured by Curtis Hustace

After the Canal, we stopped at Puntarenas, Costa Rica, where we bought a kilo of good shade-grown XXXXXX from Coffee John, who for years has set up a stand and sold his Shady Lady coffee whenever a cruise ship docks. We also bought coffee in Puerto Chiapas, the next port, where what later turned out to be a log snagged in the starboard propeller as we sailed away. That forced the captain to shut down propulsion on that side and to bypass Huatulco. At Acapulco, the next scheduled stop, divers freed the propeller. Aside from the skipped port, the glitch was hardly noticed by passengers.

The ship itself is a sharp departure for Oceania, formed in 2003 with repurposed previously owned vessels Insignia, Nautica and Regatta that are half the size of the 65,000 ton Marina and carry half the number of passengers. How roomy is Marina? It took us a week before we ran into Joe and Carol, who live in West Hills and we’ve known for years. Their stateroom was two away from ours.

The living room of one of the extraordinary Vista Suites

The Marina’s extra room is reflected in the number of balcony cabins (95% of the total), their size (standard staterooms measure 282 square feet, hardly spacious but bowling alleys compared 216 square-foot standard staterooms of the other ships), and the sprawling deck space including a huge-for-sea swimming pool whose length we could never learn (much head scratching and helpless shrugging) but pace-estimated at 35 feet.

The increased room also means Marina has those four no-charge alternative restaurants compared to two (Polo Grill, Toscana) on the other ships. Marina also has two specialty restaurants that do carry a surcharge--$75 to cover wine-pairing in La  Reserve, $1,000 for up to eight persons for a multi-course menu degustation in Privée.

 

 

 

 

THE PRESIDENT'S COUNTDOWN: 0 Days to Marina's Maiden Voyage!

    

We are now just hours away from welcoming our guests onboard for Marina's Maiden Voyage. I cannot wait to see all of your reactions when you see Marina for the first time. Of course, if you've been following the blog, you have some idea of what's in store for you, but even the most stunning photos can't do justice to Marina's beauty. You really have to see her for yourself.

I will be onboard welcoming guests and meeting and mingling with as many of you as possible tomorrow. I'll sail with Marina as far as the Canary Islands, when sadly, I will have to depart and attend to other Oceania Cruises business. But with all of my amazing experiences onboard Marina, January 2011 is a month that I will not soon forget.

I still have SO many photos to share. There just doesn't seem to be enough time to post them all. So many of our classic spaces you still haven't seen...

The Grand Staircase

Martinis

Terrace Cafe

And I know at least one of you out there has been waiting ever so patiently for photos of the pool.

Considering how much I've touted all of the new restaurants, it seems appropriate to also share one more menu with you before the Maiden Voyage sets sail.  One of our guests requested a peek at the Red Ginger menu, so I've posted it below.  Also, another guest inquired about the webcam onboard, which unfortunately will not be operational for the Maiden Voyage, but we will get it posted as soon as it's up and running!

Some guests commented that they are in Barcelona awaiting our arrival and feel like children on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa. Perhaps I'm Santa in that scenario, but I certainly feel more like the children, as I can't remember having been so excited for a day to arrive in a long time. Tomorrow promises to be a grand finale to the countdown, and yet it is really just the beginning of the experience onboard Marina for all of our guests. I will do my best to share some photos of the festivities if I can catch my breath!

 

Bob Reveals a Sneak Peak at Marina

I know many of you are anxious for a sneak peak at Marina, so I gathered a few more photos to share. While she is still a work in progress, many of the lovely details that will make her so special are already coming together. And in December and early January, all the finishing touches will be going into place! 

Above is the Grand Bar, which will be a wonderful space to relax and enjoy a pre- or post-dinner drink. In this view, we are looking forward. As you can see, the carpets, wall coverings and ornate millwork are all in place, albeit with protective covers over them to ensure that nothing gets dirty, scratched or marred. The ship is a beehive of hundreds of workmen right now, so we can’t be too careful! 

 

Just to give you an idea of the attention to detail that has gone into Marina, this is one of the inset ceiling lights that is being trimmed out in gold. Even the overheads are rich and lustrous. 

 

Here is the aft, port corner of the Grand Dining Room. You can see the room is already taking on a very elegant feel. The soft, cream-colored paneling is trimmed with gold filigree, and the insets have a wonderful flourish to them. You may also get a sense of the lofty ceiling heights of 14 to 16 feet. 

 

I don’t know who would’ve peeled back the protective covering on the paneling in the Library so that you could take a peek. Certainly not me!

 

While not one of the features we tout to our guests, Marina’s ornate bow crest is a detail that Frank and I especially love.

 

Top Five Tips on What to Pack for an Oceania Cruise

As I'll be boarding Regatta for the Oceania Club reunion cruise in September, can you blame me for already thinking about packing? Others anticipating an Oceania Cruise often ask me for packing tips, so here are my Top Five on what to pack. Five more tips on how to pack will follow soon. I hope you find them helpful, and please feel free to share your own tips here as well!

 

1. Country club casual dress can be tailored to suit your tastes.

For me, an Oceania Cruise is an opportunity to explore my wardrobe. I confess that at home I'm one of those awful women who can often be found in sweatpants. What can I say? It's the uniform of a writer. But when on vacation, I embrace the country club casual lifestyle of an Oceania Cruise and bring out all the fun, stylish and neglected outfits in my closet. During the day I wear casual, comfortable clothes for exploring — khakis and cotton tops or even comfortable skirts and sundresses. Shorts are also fine for excursions. If we're at sea, I may spend the whole day in a swimsuit and cover up. Once the day's adventures have concluded, I usually shower (twice in one day — how decadent!) and dress for dinner. In my "normal" life I rarely dress up, so I love the chance to wear a cocktail dress to dinner every night.

For those of you who feel that ties and gowns have no place on a relaxing vacation, Oceania Cruises really is "Your World. Your Way." If the thought of changing clothes in the middle of the day does not excite you, it's easy to wear day-to-night outfits instead. A sundress or khakis can be dressed up for dinner with evening jewelry and a nice wrap. Gentlemen often need only add a sports jacket to be ready for the Grand Dining Room. And if you prefer to stay in shorts, simply dine at the Terrace Cafe. You can wear dressy shorts and casual shirts even in the evenings. So feel free to pack a wardrobe that suits your tastes, whether that means one cocktail dress for that special night at Polo Grill or a cocktail dress for every night of the week.

2. Pack comfortable shoes for exploring.

Once I've assembled the perfect outfit for an excursion ashore, I'm often tempted to complement it with some strappy sandals. Do not fall into this trap. When exploring a port, if you intend to do much walking, you'll want to wear comfortable, supportive shoes. Many European cities have cobblestone streets, which add to the enchantment but can also take a toll on one's feet. On one trip I decided to wear thongs —cushioned thongs, but thongs nonetheless — to wander about Messina. The next day I found myself hobbling around Rome with a terrible shin splint.

3. Some ports may have a dress code.

While the onboard ambiance is relaxed, be aware that some destinations do have dress codes. For instance, in Turkey there are many places where shoulders and knees must be covered. Women must cover their hair before entering the Blue Mosque, so if you don't want to use the wraps provided, be sure to pack a scarf. Oceania Cruises is very good about alerting you in advance to such dress codes so that you can plan accordingly.

4. Don't skimp on the essentials.

As you'll be traveling at least 12-14 days, ensure you have plenty of sunscreen, facial cleanser, hair products and other toiletries on hand. Travel-sized toiletries may not suffice, even for the men. While you can purchase products overseas, they are often more expensive, and many of us don't want to be trying out a new brand of lotion in the middle of a vacation. The ladies may also want to pack an extra eyeliner. It may be difficult to tell if you're near the end of one, and once I broke off a brand new eyeliner the first day of a cruise, forcing me to cruise the Baltic with undefined eyes. For the men, brand loyalty may not be a concern when it comes to toiletries, so you can rest assured that Oceania Cruises' ships stock many essentials in their boutiques. If you somehow manage to forget and/or lose your shaving kit, as my husband has done on more than one occasion, you won't have to go unshaven your entire vacation. Unless of course that's how you prefer it!

5. Don't forget your passport.

This one seems obvious, but if I don't mention it, someone will point out that I forgot the most important tip of all. Oceania Cruises usually collects all guests' passports when they board and holds them for the duration of the cruise to expedite customs procedures. So the good news is that you don't have to spend every minute of your vacation keeping track of your passport. But you do have to pack it, and while en route to the ship, be sure to keep it in a secure place. 

 
One of the most wonderful things about Oceania Cruises is that they think of everything. If you forget to pack your umbrella, you'll find one waiting for you in your stateroom. And if you then forget to take that umbrella with you on the day that it rains, the ship's staff will ensure you receive a dry welcome home. So enjoy anticipating your cruise as you pack, and don't put too much pressure on yourself.
 

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