Marina sets new standards

//Marina sets new standards

Look out for a round-up of new cruise ships being launched in 2010 which will be published in the Daily Mirror on Saturday.
Once I have pulled that together, it will be time to start thinking about 2011, and I’m already getting excited about Oceania’s much-delayed Marina, which should have been among this year’s new launches, but which is now scheduled to debut in about 12 months’ time.
The 1,258-passenger ship will join the three smaller sisters, Regatta, Insignia and Nautica, which Oceania took over when the Renaissance cruise line folded in 2001.
These three boutique ships can carry a maximum of 824 passengers, but suffer from having relatively small cabins given the degree of luxury offered in the public rooms.
The Marina will not be similarly disadvantaged, and the company is claiming the cabins – sorry, staterooms – will set new standards for cruise ships.
The three largest suites are each more than 2,000 sq ft in size, and will be furnished and decorated entirely from the Ralph Lauren Home Collection.
Verandas attached to the smaller Oceania Suites will have their own hot tubs, and even the standard veranda staterooms, with 282 square feet of space, are bigger than other standard cabins at sea, and each has a bathroom with shower AND tub.
Oceania are claiming another first, by providing a laptop computer (with wi-fi access, of course) in every cabin. The ship will have 10 restaurants, and a spa operated by Canyon Ranch, whose only other spa at sea is on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2.
Details of Marina’s inaugural voyages will be announced later this week.
Meanwhile, I’m flying to New York tomorrow for an announcement about Norwegian Epic, which will feature in Saturday’s new ship round-up. Not sure what to expect, but I’ve been promised it will be worth the trip.

By | 2010-01-11T15:41:42+00:00 11 January 2010|Cruise News|0 Comments

About the Author:

John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.

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