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Pullmantur Cruises

s/s Oceanic

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Reviewed by:Johan Thibaut
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: July 12, 2004
Itinerary: Mediterranean

This was a cruise on one of the last classic passengers ships, originally built for the Transatlantic route. The SS Oceanic is now sailing for a Spanish company, Pullmantur Cruises, part of a large holiday corporation. A former luxury liner, it is now destined for the Spanish mass holiday market, but is not really downmarket.

The ship is old (obviously - 1965), and hasn't many facilities modern ships have, but it is very well cared for, and has a real ship ambiance, with even a "happy ship" feeling (but this is purely subjective).

If you like cruising on a classic liner, in a spanish ambiance, expecting correct but not luxury or servile service, on historic waters, with interesting ports, this could be for you. Some basic knowledge of spanish seems, however, necessary to me.

The "Oceanic" was refurbished in the '80s after her Home Line career, so the decor is mostly american 80s, some it rather loud of colour and glaring. The names of the lounges etc were not altered after Pullmanturs took over, and are still sign posted in English.

The stairwells on the side are unaltered and have beautiful sixties style bas reliefs of "famous men" on starboard side, and "famous women" on starboard. The dining room was perhaps (together with those stairwells) the most stylish room aboard). The dining room is two decks high (i.e. with a dome), and is over the whole width of the ship. On both sides there are portholes, through which you can see the see, even in the middle of the room. Sometimes however, the curtains are closed.

Most lounges nd public spaces are on lounge deck, this is the deck with the glass-enclosed promenade the full length of the ship.

The broadway show lounge in the forward curve beneath the bridge is mainly used for shows. The colours are rather loud, seats are in rows, individual seats bolted like benches. There is a dance floor, a band stand, and a bar. During the day you can look through the windows to the fore deck, which is otherwise forbidden for the passengers. The biggest room is the Lucky Star Lounge, half of it is the casino, which wasn't very much used, when I saw it (you have to go through it, when you walk this deck apart from the promenade, a quarter of it was the bar, with the Calypso show band, which was rather nice seating, and the aft quarter was a shop.

Then there is the excursion deck office, and then two corridors, one with a games arcade to the side, and one with the photographers' gallery, on the other side, which lead to the Legends and Heroes Pub, and the starlight disco. In this disco the immigration formalities for Tunis were done. Otherwise I didn't really use it.

Lightning in the lounges dining and lobbies is often very '80s, with lightbulbs in the ceiling, or a contraption of steel tubes and bulbs, but rather nice, I thought. The enclosed promenade at both sides of the Lounge Deck, was very pleasant, with loungers, and with ping pong tables at starboard. Most it was rather quiet, with a fabulous view of the sea through the windows, which are at an angle with the ship, and go from ceiling to floor. This is also the place were the lifeboat drills are held.

The open deck aft was the lowest of the terraced after decks, and was completely of teak,with a bar, and a beautiful set of navigation instruments in brass etc. This was the most pleasant outdoor place (but the bar closed at 9PM). However as the Oceanic is a SS, there is a bit of a soot problem, with soot particles flying down on deck and yourself. Clothes which are soiled this way, can be washed by the ship without charge (but this is not advertised).

On Premier deck are mostly cabins, and the children's area, with their own deck.

On Premier deck is also a small walk around promenade in steel besides the Life Boats.

On the lido deck is the social hub of the ship (we were sailing in warm weather) : the pool area midships under the magrodome.

This is just besides the buffet area, and an enclosed buffet eating place with a round curve beneath the bridge. This was a pleasant room, in grey, but there weren't enough proper chairs, so it was a pity, the rest were made up of plastic garden/terrace chairs. As decoration there are classical posters of ships (for example the Cassandre "Normandie")

Around the pool were plastic tables , chairs and umbrellas, and was the place were most people would take breakfast and lunch, it was the place for the Captains' Cocktail, the Tropic Midnight Buffet, and some of the evening entertainment. There is a band stand, and sometimes a dance floor is laid out. Beneath the "jogging track" above and round the Riviera Pools area, there are some alcoves with windows facing the sea, and larger tables.

As there can be no wind, it can be hot and stuffy. With the magrodome closed, the place has a "covered swimming pool hall atmosphere, with the smell and sounds of it). The two pools were rather small, and kidney shaped. After the pool area there is a smaller bar, cabins and on the aft deck the three jacuzzis, which were almost always fully taken.

There is a very small library between the buffet area and the buffet restaurant in front.

The service was good and efficient. It seems that Pullmantur was the European branch or contact of Premier Cruises, and after its demise, i guess Pullmantur took the ship over, with some of her crew and also manners and methods.

There are more than 30 nationalities onboard. the service crew is mostly spanish speaking, and has knowledge of English (but not all of them very good). I didn't think it did matter much.

They were friendly, my waiter and underwaiter, and cabin steward, did their job very well, and were obliging when you asked something.

Menus were normally in Spanish, but I would get a Dutch one (my mother tongue) or an English one. The onboard daily programme sheet was in English for us. The ship is bilingual, but with the emphasis on Spanish.

The food was good. It was of course mass made : a total of ca.1400 passengers.

The breakfast and lunch could be had in buffet at the pool, or in the dining room. We had it always at the buffet. Buffet breakfast : coffee tea hot chocolate, eggs fruit sausages waffles pancakes churros rolls croissants pastry etc Lunch : gzapacho a rice dish a pasta dish (different each day) salads vegetables, warm food chicken a complete roasted piglet fish etc etc

In the afternoon there was "tea time" with cakes and tartlets" Before dinner Tapas were served in the buffet Dinner was in two seatings : 20.00hrs and 22.30 hrs. there was for every course (soup/hors d"oeuvre/entree/dessert) at least three choices, with one of them a spanish specialty, and choice between fish or meat. Often cold soups, like pear soup, strawberry soup or gazpacho. The dinner was every night different, but several "classics" (steak/spaghetti/grilled fish) could be had every day.

The desserts were a bit a disappointment, as in the buffet hte pastries and other desserts were better than in the main dining room.

After a week you knew the "taste" of the ship's food. There was a wine list, with the ship's house wine (spanish wine "Oceanic") for about 10 EUR a bottle. Coffee after dinner was an extra - you could buy a ticket for 12 espressos/capuccinos for the price of 10. this ticket was valid in all the bars etc.

After an hour, an hour and a quart, the dinner was over, which was a bit too efficient to my taste, as I like to linger. But we had the first sitting. Overall, not luxury gourmet dining, but quite good and plentiful.

My cabin was an inside double on Atlantic deck, for my single use. There were two single beds, at an angle with each other. A kind of vanity with a mirror and lights, two cupboards, a TV, a bucket with ice and a chair. The bathroom wasn't big but roomy enough. The former flow in the floor was cemented, so there was always a puddle of water in that corner. I had thought the cabin would have been smaller, certainly for one person.

There was a bit noise from the original italian air conditioning, but the steward showed me how to put it off during the night, so that was all right. The cabin pleased me so that I don't think an outside cabin is really necessary.

The entertainment was spanish. There was every night a show in the broadway lounge (tiwce rendered). The shows where language was important : ventriloquist/magician/comedian I did not attend. IT seemed to me genre variety sow "Noches de Fiesta" on the spanish TV (which is pleasant, but in small doses). The dance show spectacles (4 female dancers and three male dancers) were very pleasant and colourful. The music was on tape, but the "world tour of the oceanic) was really good, with a beautiful tango part, and of course french cancan, and las vegas style dances, and cowboys for the US etc. These shows took 45 minutes.

During the day there was bingo and games, and sometimes around the pools a dance. One night there was a travesty show round the pools, where male passengers were invited to cross dress, and tie up for the title...quite fun. also a tropical night music on the ship was most latin music of all kinds, very festive and holiday like.

The cruise was "Brisas del Mediterraneo", from Barcelona to Barcelona, with a day on sea, Tunis, Naples, Civitavecchia (for Rome), Livorno (for Tuscany) and Villefranche-sur-mer (for Nice).

There was time enough in ports. We never went with an excursion organised by the ship, except in Florence, where you could go in a coach chartered by the ship, but were free in the city (it is about one and a half hour drive from Livorno to Florence)

Tunis : an arab capital, a very old medina, in a colonial and modern city. It is always pleasant to wander in the old souks. The souks of Tunis are more or less authentic and not solely geared to tourists. Don't miss the terrace about the cooperative shop, which has a nice view over the city to the harbour. In Tunis you can visit the remains of Carhtage (extensive = on many places, but historically interesting and moving) and Sidi Bou Said, which is a very touristy "typical village, with white houses and tunisian blue windows and doors. Nice

Naples, as we had visited Capri and Pompeii before, we chose to visit the city (you have a half day). The alarchaeological museum was closed. We visited the San Martino Abbey on a hill top with a marvelous view over the city harbour and vesuvius, and walked down through the small streets to the historical center, with all the old churches and piazzas etc. the main street is small and is built on the roman cardo /decumanus. All interesting, a bit like Rome but more rough and less sanitized and restored. don't forget to drink a graniti di lemone in Gambrinus next to the royal palace, one of those historical italian coffee houses Civitavecchia : as we have visited Rome before, and one day is not quite enough, we decided to hire a car and make a tour of Etruria : Tarquinia, Viterbo and Cerveteri. Viterbo isn't quite as nice as it sounds, but Tarquinia, with the subterranean etruscan graves with the paintings is also a nice small medieval town, and the tombs in Cerveteri are in great field, full of tombs and tumuli, all quite grown over, with cypresses and herbs, quite the atmosphere, and very interesting.

In Livorno we went with the bus of the ship to Florence, where we had a lovely day with family living there. The "Latini" restaurant is very good.

In Villefranche the ship is moored in a bay, and you have to tender to the shore and arrive in a lovely Cote d'Azur town/harbour. this ws the cote d'azur on its best, and relatively unspoilt of the beton onslaught elsewhere on the cote.

It is quite near Nice, where we visited the old town with a very picturesque provencal market (but that quite expensive too), the cathedral, the PAlais LAscaris (how the provencal nobility lived around 1700), and then through the parc to the Promenade des Anglais. The mediterranean has here a wonderful clear blue colour, the beach is pebbles, and the concessions on the beach where you can sunbathe and drink a bit, are very expensive, but it is all quite pleasing and care free. You can go for less than 2 EUR pp by bus from Nice back to Villefranche.

It is difficult to make contact with the other passengers. It seems if Spanish know only spanish, not even a little bit French or English. As there were only a very minimum (10?) non-iberians on board, we were seated on a table alone, so we hadn't much conversation with fellow passengers !