Marina

The Oceania-class was the first class of newbuilds for Oceania Cruises. The class was to be two ships with an option on a thirth, but this option wasn't materialized. The order was placed at the Fincantieri Yards at Sestri-Ponente, Italy. At the 10th of march 2009, the keel of the first ship was laid and, as a tradition, a US silver dollar coin was welded in the keel, together with a Cuban peso-coin that, of course, was pre-Castro. This is a tradition that will bring the ship good luck, as is said. At the 4th of april 2010 the ship was launched with the name Marina, the name that was originally meant for the fourth ex-Renaissance ship to have said to join the Oceania fleet.  

On february 5th 2011, the ship was named in Miami by her godmother Mary Hart, a TV personality known as presenter of Entertainment Tonight. She is also known for her shapely legs, insured for $1 million each because of her other carreer and that is working as a model for a pantyhose-brand. That aside, the new Marina had the honour to be named by her and set sail into the Caribbean. Her first cruise, however, had started in Barcelona to Miami from the 22nd of january onwards. The ship sailed the Caribbean for some time, before returning to Barcelona for a European season.

The ship has a tonnage of 66.084 and she has a lenght of 238,35 meters, a width of 32 meters and a draft of 7,32 meters. Her 626 staterooms, ranging from a few inside cabins (the ship has 90% cabins with veranda) to three owners suites can accomodate 1252 passengers in double occupancy and these people will be served by 780 crewmembers. It is a diesel-electric powered ship, propelled by two controllable pitch propellers, so no novelties as Azipods or Mermaids. Her normal service speed is around 20 knots. Her interiours are, as with her other former Renaissance fleetmates, very classic looking, with much use of rich woods, Italian marble, leather and granites. She offers her passenger at least nine dine-options, from The Grand Dining Room and several outside terraces, that are charge-free, to four specialized restaurants ranging from the Polo Grill, the line's signature dining option, to French, Asian or Italian cuisine. Furthermore, the ship offeres, besides the normal entertainment spots, the Artist Loft, that is a place where you can learn skills like painting and sculpting, a Grand Staircase as seen on the old liners and Martini's, a gentleman's club style lounge that serves several kinds of, well, Martini's. By the way, the ship has no deck 13, this could bring bad luck and then the coins in her keel would be of no use.

In looks, it can be seen that the ship was based on the design of the R-class ships, although from some angles, especially on the second picture, you see the superstructure looks kinda odd. On top of the bridge, two decks are added, housing the Horizon's lounge and bar, with floor to ceiling windows offering spectacular views. On top, a sports and sun deck are present. Deck 14 is overhanging the sides and balconies so it somehow looks as the ship lost some of its sides. What was nice to see is that the name of the ship is not spelled entirely in capital letters, just like the Costa Marina. What's in a name?

The pictures were shot at IJmuiden, just after Marina had left the locks at the 30th of july 2011.