Our concierge verandah stateroom on deck 7 was compact but clean & functional - everything worked & there was a surprising amount of storage space. Many other people have complained about the minuscule bathroom & shower & I fully agree with those comments.

We took the 1/2 day "Highlights of Taormina" excursion offered by Oceania.  Taormina is a beautiful city and we enjoyed both the guided portion of our excursion, in the Greek Theatre, and the free time we had to walk around the city ourselves.  The weather did not cooperate so the views in some instances were limited but that also meant very few people out & about, which was nice. We thought Taormina was charming and we would like to see more of Sicily when we have a chance.

Kotor is very easy to visit on your own.  The ship docked directly in port, just a very short walk to the main gate into the walled city.  Downloaded Tom's port guide for Kotor and did our own self-guided walking tour.  It was a beautiful place that we had the good fortune of visiting on a beautiful day.  The sail-in to the Bay of Kotor at dawn was a feast for the eyes and the sailaway at night with the town and the surrounding mountain all lit up was spectacular as well .

Kotor

This was a 3-in-one excursion.  It included a short walking tour of Trogir, with some free time there, a visit for a snack & some Dalmatian folk music to the Pantan old mill and a short walking tour of the Diocletian Palace in Split.  Walking around Trogir on a beautiful, late Fall, sunny day admiring the architecture, narrow streets and walkways, the St. Lawrence cathedral & village square, the promenade by the water & the citadel, was wonderful.  Somewhat to our surprise we enjoyed the stop at the mill as well.  The Diocletian Palace in Split is extremely impressive.  Our only criticism is that we would have needed more time there - the walking tour of the Palace was somewhat too short for us.  Will hopefully go back one day & explore more on our own.

Trip included a boat ride through parts of Venice in a water taxi, followed by a walking tour of "secret corners".  The water taxi ride was a write-off.  Ten of us were crammed into a water taxi.  It was raining outside and the windows of the water taxi kept fogging up so you couldn't see much at all.  When we finished the water taxi ride we were given some free time in the Rialto bridge area, followed by a short walking tour from there to the Piazza San Marco.  Afterwards we were given more free time by the guide.  I certainly didn't see any "secret corners" or anything special that we couldn't have easily seen by ourselves.  We spent the afternoon visiting Venice on our own and that was much more enjoyable.

We took the Highlights of Kefalonia excursion given by Avalon Tours but booked through Shore Excursions.  Excursion gave us a chance to see and experience different parts of this lovely island.  Had a great time.  Would highly recommend this excursion.

Argostoli (Kefalonia)

- overall the ship was immaculately maintained even if the decor is dated & the ship is due for a major reno

- the High Teas at 4 pm each day were very enjoyable & the string quartet was very good

- we had excellent meals at Toscana, the Italian specialty restaurant

- the presentation of dishes in general was excellent and the quality of the dinners in the Grand Dining Room was generally very good; we had a couple of exceptional/memorable dishes during the cruise but a few disappointments as well

- eating al fresco on the terrace of the Terrace Café at lunch time on sunny days when we were in port was lovely - I can't think of a nicer setting

- salads and hamburgers at Waves Grill were great

- specialty coffees from Baristas Bar (in front of the Grand Dining Room) were excellent.- one of the 3 excursions we took with Oceania (Secret Corners of Venice) was a complete waste of time

- entertainment choices are limited and geared to a much older crowd

- we had a poor dining experience in the Polo Grill, the steakhouse specialty restaurant, which was very disappointing 

- servers in the Grand Dining Room (GDR) seemed under pressure at dinner time, were having difficulty dealing with the large number of guests at peak times

- even though we were "concierge", our friends and us were given less-than-desirable tables at dinner in the GDR on a number of occasions (e.

Nautica Review

Nice Late Fall Mediterranean Cruise But with Some Hiccups

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Cabin Review

Concierge Level Veranda Stateroom

Port Reviews

Kotor

Argostoli (Kefalonia)

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