Caribbean And USA With P&O Cruises – Part 1

Image credit: Sergio Ferreira

I have been on Oceana for a few days now, so I thought it was a good time to do my first blog of the cruise.

We sailed from Southampton a little later than planned, thanks to storm Imogen, but before we knew it we were out of the Solent and into the English Channel. We had a lot of movement for the first few days thanks to a high swell and very, very strong winds, but it wasn’t anything that Oceana couldn’t handle. This little ship has been tried and tested and that’s one of the things I love about her. We were hit by a rather large wave at one point and this caused some damage to some of the windows in the restaurant on Deck 6, but it didn’t hinder our sailing progress and the Captain did a superb job in keeping everyone updated on the weather and what we could expect in the coming days.

I’ve spent the last few days relaxing and just enjoying being back aboard Oceana. It has been so incredibly nice to see familiar faces in both passengers and crew – there are a few people onboard that I met during my previous 35-night Caribbean voyage, so we’ve all had a catch up on what’s been going on over the last few years and now we are back on track to enjoy this cruise together.

I have a balcony cabin on Deck 9 and I have to admit that it is nice to have a little extra space and to be able to roll out of bed and enjoy some fresh sea air every morning. I can’t wait until we reach warmer waters and I can really make full use of it. I don’t mind an inside cabin, that’s usually what I go for, but not having to check the webcam to see what the weather is like outside really is making a refreshing change.

I managed to resist the temptation of dining in Café Jardin on the first evening and the second evening, but I was overcome by the need to have prawns by day 3. I had my usual dishes: prawns to start and the buffalo mozzarella pizza for main course. I do eat other things occasionally when I dine in Café Jardin, promise, but the two mentioned above are my favourite! I was so full that I had no space at all for dessert, so I guess I will just have to make another reservation. The Beach House is also screaming my name!

We were in Madeira yesterday and finally we were blessed with warmer air and sunshine, it was a nice change given the weather that we have been faced with since leaving the UK. I didn’t do much, it was one of the only places during this cruise that I didn’t actually have a concrete plan for – sometimes you visit a port several times and simply just enjoy seeing where you end up – but I did enjoy a pizza at a restaurant on the marina and a few drinks before heading back to the ship.

I am so happy to be back onboard Oceana. She may not be to everyone’s liking, but I absolutely adore her and when I stepped aboard in Southampton, I really felt like I was back home. Since I started cruising in 2007, I have spent more time aboard this ship than any other and every cruise is just as enjoyable as the last.

My plan today (we are at sea) is to do a few laps of the Promenade deck, maybe start reading my book and then try my luck in the quiz later at Yacht & Compass. I might even pop my head in Café Jardin and have a steak panini lunch. Delicious!

We have another 4 sea days ahead of us before we reach St Lucia, so I will try and update you all again very soon!

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Trying to explore each and every inch of this wonderful planet via cruise ship.