DENIE

Thank you for a wonderful review! We really enjoyed Vista in January (out of Miami) and have a November 2025 transatlantic (Barcelona to Miami) booked on her. Looking forward to the sea days!

DoulaAnn - we had an added "challenge" that my sister-in-law was traveling with us as well. I had a chance to go to the room and happened to meet him in the hall. I told him which suitcases were ours, and which suitcases were my SIL's. He had a very logical, organized manner in which he unpacked, and I think we only moved a couple things. One side of the closet was for my wife and I, and the other side was SIL's. Shoes were divided evenly as well. T-shirts, daily wear, undergarments, etc were also divided between the available drawers, with nothing mixed together. He did a great job. We ended up packing ourselves before disembarking since we already had to pack our evening bag. We will have them unpack on our next cruise too, I think! 🙂

We did Concierge on Riviera in June 2022 (Mediterranean), and PH on Vista in January 2024 (Caribbean). We loved having the butler, but perhaps didn't make full use of their services. We had him unpack for us (very nice!). We also had him bring fresh coffee each morning to our room at a designated time (15 minute or so window), and probably had about 4 breakfasts brough to us. This was much better than standard room service, in that he set our table, and our breakfasts were in individual plates and not just thrown together). One night we did specialty dining after a long, exhausting shore excursion. It was amazing. He also served us our sparkling from embarkation day, which we had been saving. A great experience overall! 🙂

We usually book specialties for 6:30, when they open, and tend to be at the check-in stand about 5 minutes before, even if the door isn't open yet Never later than that. Even if our reservation is a bit later, we usually check in around 5 minutes prior. More times than not, we are taken right to our seats. We do not believe in waiting 10-15 minutes past our designated time. It's interesting that on Vista in January, we secured an embarkation day "extra" reservation for 6:30 at Red Ginger. The reservation desk reminded us 3 times to not be late. Wonder if that has been a problem in the past. They did not have to worry about us being late. 🙂

Our TA found "The Cadillac" (Marriott Collection, kind of boutique) in Miami Beach. It was wonderful, and not as pricey as some other places we checked out. Our Bonvoy got us an upgrade to Ocean Front, from an Ocean View. I don't recall the Uber ride to the port being too pricey, and the driver got us there in maybe 20 minutes.

Always love the strings and try to catch a few of their sets in the Grand Lounge as well.

We were in 7017 (Penthouse) aft in January 2024. We didn't hear any one next to us or any televisions.

Love your posts, Gary! Also wanted to let you know that I borrowed your butler letter idea on our January 2024 Vista cruise, and our butler really liked it. In fact, a couple times when we ran into him in the hall, he pulled it out of his coat pocket to get clarification. 🙂 We too booked a 11/2025 cruise and a FCC for what we hope will be a 2026 itinerary that hasn't been released yet. It is too far away, so we also dream. As for our dream: the 2025 cruise is the transatlantic on Vista from Barcelona to Miami. We loved the PH so much that we booked one that has the wide balcony (deck 7, rear). With 14 days and lots of sea days, we "dream" of staying "in" at least a couple days, enjoy the veranda, and having specialty dining brought to us by the butler. 🙂

On Vista in January. It's correct that you can't use magnets on the walls where the bed is. We did find the door and the exterior of the bathroom walls were metal, so that is where we posted our schedules, etc.

Agree! Nothing is perfect. But I always say a day aboard a cruise ship is better than just about anything else. 🙂

On both of our Oceania cruises, we got an extra reservation in Red Ginger on embarkation day at our preferred time of 6:30 p.m. (right at opening). This was for a table of 3 (me, my wife, and her sister). On the Riviera cruise in June 2022, we were in a concierge room, and on the Riviera cruise in January 2024 we were in a PH suite. Not sure if either of those had any effect on the availability.

We were just on Vista in January 2024. Was everything perfect? No. There were a couple meals that weren't as good as we thought they could be. But we didn't feel the need to complain to the maitre' de. Most everything in every venue was excellent. We had been on a larger mass-market line (friends chose that cruise) a year before and the food was not nearly as good. Just our experience....no more, no less.

We were on a January sailing in that unusual PH3 on Deck 7 (#7107). We did pay attention to what was below us (the entry to the Grand Dining Room) and of course above us were just more staterooms. I have to say we were not bothered by any noise on either side of us, or out in the hallway. My SIL (our 3rd passenger) had a white noise app playing crickets at night, but if there were TV noise I doubt that would have stopped it. Maybe we were lucky?

We stayed in 7107 (next door, with the short balcony). Yes, I understand that it does get a bit more breeze because it sticks out. I can tell when we were on our 7107 balcony, you would have a fantastic view looking forward.

We booked this room for the 2025 Vista transatlantic in November. In January we were on Vista in #7107, which is the narrow balcony next to the #7109, which definitely had loungers.