MEFIowa

I would consider more than just Vista! Or Allura. There are 6 other ships. We've sailed on Riviera for 30 nights since 12/2021's 10 nights & 20 more nights 10-11/2023 and 10 nights on Sirena (11/2022). I was just 58 on the first cruise. I'll be almost 61 when we do 22 more nights on Sirena 8-9/2024. My wife is 2 1/2 years younger. YES, you will get a less hectic experience on all of O's ships, but the least hectic on the 4 small Rs (e.g., Sirena). The two O-class ships (Marina & Riviera) and now Vista (later Allura) have twice the passenger capacity. We had just 719 passengers and 780 crew on Riviera 12/2021, during COVID and we were treated like royalty. BUT we had over 1230 passengers on Riviera on our 20-night B2B in 2023 and we still felt like we were treated outstandingly. And we felt the same on Sirena, when she had about 635 passengers. Just do NOT expect a lot of nightlife. Things are pretty quiet in the evenings. But we like that as we cruise on port-intensive cruises, getting up 1st thing to be off as early as we can to spend the entire day ashore where possible.

Though that has me thinking of... - Kotor & the St. John's Fortress. Trust me, climbing those 10,000 steps up is a lot easier going up at 0900 in the shade and then coming down at 1100 in the sun. Watching all those poor people climb up in the heat. They didn't even realize how far they still had to go. - Athens and the Acropolis. Hardly a line at 0900. But when we came back down & out at 1100... OMG. I swear it was 30 people wide and 3/8s a mile long! Early birds get no lines and race horses get their first.

We have NO desire to do a slow sit-down in the GDR. We do do the specialty restaurants. I do periodically try Waves in the afternoon. And always for breakfast. Did Riviera's pizza station by Waves once, too. We cruise for excursions and are off the boat first thing daily. Our upcoming 22 nights on Sirena as a B2B has 2 sea days. We'll do specialty restaurants on those. But we much prefer eating under the stars in the TC when we can. Great food we can eat in under and hour. Then some of our own alcohol in our cabin as a nightcap before retiring around 10 pm. Then up to be off as early as we can be. At every port.

Whether for lunch or dinner, we thoroughly enjoy the TC! So much that in 40 nights on Riviera and Sirena since 12/2021, we have never eaten at the GDR. TC is the perfect combination of ease of access and speed as well as food choice and quality. And we're about 60. I'm one of the last Baby Boomers, born '63.

I'd suggest "cruise only" with purchase impulse control. - Liquor: You can bring as much beer, hard liquor and wine on board at embarkation and in ports. I can enjoy them in my cabin. Haven't spent a penny on O's alcohol. And we get to drink for free on the Repeater Party and Captain's Party. Two nights each cruise. - Casino: Just don't go. (But then gambling isn't included in SM either.) - Spa: What a waste of money given their horrific mark ups. Get one before the cruise or after the cruise back home. You'll probably pay less for two back home than one on ship. We've done 40 nights off "cruise only" cruises on Riviera & Sirena since 12/2021 and have 12- nights on a SM cruise followed by 10-nights on a "cruise only" cruise on Sirena as a B2B starting 8/28/24. The SM cruise is "simply more expensive" on a per-day basis, with the add ons being worth pennies on the dollar (a beer at lunch I can't have when I'm off in port during that time is of no value). And for the most important excursions to the most fascinating places, we book our own (e.g., Ephesus & Rome) or use dirt cheap public transportation (Athens, Barcelona, Istanbul & Venice).

We're at a pier farther away. The one the farthest away if memory serves me. I'm thinking we're actually overnight in Stockholm.

Our B2B on Sirena in the Baltic in Aug-Sep 2024 is half SM and half cruise only. Booked the cruise only in 2022 when the itinerary came out. Added the additional part under the SM sale in the summer of 2023. Will be interesting to see how many lunches we get to have beer or wine at since this is a highly port-intensive cruise, which we wanted, and we're off the ship every day we can, first thing. Of course, we booked some O excursions to use up the credit. Mostly unimpressive choices. But then in Stockholm I want to see the Vasa ship museum and my wife the ABBA museum. 😉

It wasn't hard to see that SM was a general price increase disguised to look like something else when it came out in the summer of 2023. The cruises I was looking at rose in price by $800 PP when it came out. People wrongly seem to think that there was some inherent value in SM when the fare increases that came along with it dwarfed the monetary "value" of the purported benefit. So, for example, you can have a beer and wine at lunch or dinner (hardly a big deal), but if you were off the ship at lunch doing an excursion, guess what, no benefit at lunch that day. And the excursions were tied to O, at their control, so obviously they were going to do it in a way that made them money. This was always about O increasing its profit. Does one try to take solace in their attempt to raise fares in a rather devious manner? It isn't as if generalized inflation hasn't hit the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, etc. So, the fare was going to increase one way or another. They chose the more hidden route.

Though having been on Riviera pre- (12/2021) and post-update (10-11/2023) we actually preferred the PRE- better. Not a fan of Scandinavian minimalism. I'll take say dark or cherry wood to white paint or aluminum. And so much was form over function. Dumb chairs too small to sit in comfortably where the string quartet plays, for example. And my wife prefers a bathtub, too. 😉

If thru no fault of ours the excursion is cancelled due to what the Cruise Line and ship do, then YES, it is covered under our policy. Of course, we make sure to contact the excursion provider the moment we learn about the change. Do our due diligence. And in the case I mentioned, the excursion provider refunded the money. As others have said, they often seem to know about such things before we do and know that it isn't the passengers' fault.

Off that B2B we did major private tours for Ephesus and Rome, and had one scheduled for Pisa from Livorno. But we missed it due to change in port to La Spezia and a transportation strike that Friday morning. Wife contacted the private tour group and they refunded us the payment, no questions asked. They knew what was going on. And we knew the night before. We contacted them immediately. BUT we also had travel insurance, just in case.

I was on Riviera on Southern Gary's leg of what was our 20-nigh B2B on Riviera. We did Triest to Athens and then Athens to Barcelons. Very port intensive. Thinking we had just 2 sea days total. And we MISSED just one port due to high seas, Livorno, from which we diverted to La Spezia. One port exchanged for another So, we did hit port after port. We missed the private island in the Bahamas in 12/2021 off Riviera due to high seas, but made all the other ports. (Had to stop briefly off Key West to allow an elderly man to be medically evaucated from the ship to a small USCG patrol boat.) We missed St. Kitts off Sirena 11/2021 due to having to stop in the Dominican Republic on the way down for a passenger medical emergency. Had to stop and use our tender. Took them too long.

Though you might start today by looking at the recent Cabin Upgrade Sale to see if any cruise on the list is one you're interested in. TAs don't get you the sale price, for that comes from O. You can always book the sale and then transfer the booking to a TA. But you might lock in a great price on a nice cabin to start: "For a limited time, receive more luxury for less with up to a 4 Category Upgrade* on select sailings" Cruise Stateroom Deals | Oceania Cruises

You're being too modest. You might remind people who don't know HOW you got your Vista Suite. IIRC, quite the fascinating story. And who on board Riviera might've known it before you boarded or the day you boarded? And one suspects that the restaurant staff, esp. those in charge, know who is in the three (3) Oceania Suites and eight (8) Vista Suites on Riviera.

Though I'm not sure you're giving an adequate presentation for others to make sense of your specific situation on that cruise. You HAD A VERY HIGH-LEVEL cabin, far above PH. Weren't you the Vista Suite (VS) 12001? You were kind enough to give me a tour of your VS. And how you got it was out of the norm. I wonder how many know that story? And weren't you eating with the other couple, so tables for 4 most nights? How many of your 9 were tables for just 2? AND what times were you eating at? We could get the early times for our A3 cabin, but not for our B3. For sadly, as we learned at the B versus A levels on our B2B that included your 10-night cruise, O wouldn't allow us to book from the B cabin at times we wanted in advance. And once they changed our 9 pm reservation to 8:30, which seemed to be the actual last time for any couples to arrive. The places emptying out by 9 pm. All but deserted by 9:30. So begs the question, HOW did you keep getting reservations when we were denied them in advance? And none available the day of. WE tried to go to the desk to get better times. Nothing was available for us on the 4 nights we had our reservations. All crummy late times.