P&O Cruses was our choice of Cruise line for our first ever cruise holiday. You can read about Day 1 here if you haven’t already. Sea Days on board Oceana are as much a part of a cruise holiday as Port days visiting new destinations. These days are still packed with things to do.
As I have many fabulous aspects of the holiday to review I decided to break down the whole review into days of the cruise and Ports visited.
Day 2 – sea day
Waking up on Day 2 we were refreshed after our early start and travel the day before. As we had a balcony cabin I was able to open the curtains and look straight out at the view of the sea. I also enjoyed my morning cups of tea on our own personal piece of deck. I say cups of tea as I am a huge tea drinker and need about 3 cups in the morning before I can face the world. A big shout out to P&O for providing proper sized mugs in cabins for a decent drink!
Praise Be to P&O for a full size mug for my morning brew
Having the balcony door open and feeling the warm sea breeze around the cabin whilst we got ready was lovely. Once ready we went for breakfast in the Ligurian restaurant which was designated for our flexible dining options. There is no dress code during the daytime, and we enjoyed a full English Breakfast with silver service in our shorts. The food and service was impeccable. Staff are friendly and attentive without being cloying and formal.
For the rest of the morning and afternoon we strolled around the ship discovering more of the fabulous activities and facilities to enjoy during Sea Days aboard Oceana. There is an exercise deck which fellow guests can walk around at a brisk pace. A marker on the wall telling you that 3.2 times around the deck equals 1 mile.
Mr Fitz and I enjoyed the walk daily and loved stopping at the stern to watch the wake flowing behind us. There is also a gym on board and we both used that regularly to counteract the excess calories consumed. I discussed this in an earlier post about how to avoid piling on excess pounds whilst cruising. Of course we took time to sunbathe on deck with another cocktail of course! The weather was stunning. Dare I say it was actually too hot at times for me – there are plenty of areas in the shade to sit and stay comfortable on deck during Sea Days aboard Oceana
It would be rude not to!
The evening of the sea days (Day 2 and 6) is Black Tie dress code. Day 2 is The Captains dinner. Prior to cruising Mr Fitz was initially reluctant to participate in this. I think it’s a grumpy old man thing as it’s something he has done in the past. To ease us into this type of holiday we bought dinner suit trousers and our friend loaned him the use of his Dinner Jacket, luckily they are the same size. Mr Fitz didn’t want to commit to the full expense of the whole suit in case he didn’t enjoy this first P&O cruise holiday and wasn’t something he wanted to do again. For more on this please come back for our final evaluation to come in a future post. I on the other hand had plenty of suitable clothes in my wardrobe!
Mr Fitz scrubbed up very well and looked very handsome – well in my opinion anyway! I chose a knee length royal blue dress with silver accessories. Many ladies wear cocktail dresses, it is not obligatory to wear a long gown.
Mr Fitz looking dapper
Full length obligatory selfie in the ladies
Cocktail dresses are OK for Black Tie Captains Dinner – Ball gowns not necessary
Prior to dining everyone participating in the Black Tie dinner gathered in the Atrium for complimentary fizz and the opportunity to have a photograph taken by a member of the ships Photography team. These are available to purchase during your cruise if you like them.
Our official Captains Dinner Photo proudly on display at home
The Captain arrives to applause and addresses the gathered diners, there is then an opportunity to have a photograph taken with him too.
On the flexible dining option we had hoped to have a table for 2 for dinner but again we were given a shared table. Again an enjoyable experience. As the cruise progressed we realised that you could request a table for 2 but there could be a delay until one was available.
Again food and service was delicious. Reviews always extol the virtues of the food on cruise ships. P&O proudly advertise this. You may have read in earlier posts that we are both foodies and the food promised was a big feature of choosing a cruise holiday with P&O. We were not disappointed at all.
After dinner we had seen that there was a comedian performing in The Starlight Theatre that night so still in our finery that was our next stop.
We both spent a really enjoyable evening. The interior of this theatre is very like a cabaret club. Comfortable seating with tables for your drinks. There is water service throughout the show. To top it off the Comedian Jeff Stevenson was fabulous – a good old traditional comic.
A big thumbs up from us. We were really enjoying our first P&O Cruise aboard Oceana.
Sea Days aboard Oceana
I cannot review not just the sea days but all of this cruise without mentioning the fabulous timetable of activities. There is a vast array of sessions from learning to dance, yoga, talks about Gemstones from the on-board jewellers, to literary sessions. There are many fun things too. Each night when you return to your cabin a copy of The Horizon the onboard newspaper is laid on your bed as part of the turn down service. This lists all the activities for the next day, details about going ashore and food options. It is a fabulous thing to receive and invaluable.
Day 3 was our first Port Day and we were sailing to Piraeus in Greece ideal for a trip to Athens, The Parthenon and the Acropolis. If you liked this post and my review of Day 1 please come back to read my review of Day 3 in a future post. All follows and comments are always welcome I love to hear from you. Tell me if you’ve ever had a cruise holiday, what did you like or dislike, are you planning one?
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