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Having Seen Alaska and specifically Glacier Bay on both the Pacific Princess (in the 80`s) and Hal`s Amsterdam then more recently other Alaska areas including twice on Seabourn I feel Glacier Bay 'could` be overrated as there are so many other wonderful vistas that I would be hard pressed to choose a mainstream line over say a luxury line such Silverseas, Seabourn or Regent just for the privilege of seeing Glacier Bay! Here are some examples:

Thanks everyone for the information actually we are on the 11/18 cruise from Bridgetown to Fort Lauderdale, so I guess that I only need to bring a Jacket for the one formal night. It is going to be interesting to see how A & K and Manfredi have evolved Crystal to what appears to be a less formal Silverseas of old.

Does anyone know if Frank Sansone is still working for Silverseas? and if not who is the current Guest Relations Manager/Director? Rumor has it that Frank has left the Company and am wondering if he has gone to Crystal as has some other old Silversea persons?

For those familiar with Silverseas is the dress code comparable with casual,informal and formal nights or is it closer to Regent with mostly elegantly casual. We are booked on the Serenity in November and are wondering how to pack.Appreciate advise from those who have been on board recently.

Since no one really knows who Nina Compton is here is some more background to Nina Compton. She is the daughter of (now deceased) Sir John Compton, past Prime Minister of St. Lucía and Lady Janice Compton. Reportedly Sir John was very instrumental in not just St. Lucía but the Caribbean as a whole in preparing and welcoming the Cruise Ship Industry in the 70`s and 80`s when the industry was still in its infancy and there was much apprehension in the Hotel and traditional Tourism industry in the Islands that Cruise Ships with its hordes of passengers would be detrimental to the Industry. Presumably this may have partly been what influenced Silverseas to choose her for the christening of the Silver Nova?https://archive.stlucia.gov.lc/primeminister/former_prime_ministers/john_g_m_compton/biography.htm

We were on this same Cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it....We were in a Mariner Suite on deck 9 and found this suite to be one of the best located, most roomy and quiet suite that we have had on any ship. This was our fourth cruise on the Mariner and did not find the ship showing her age in fact quite the opposite..... we would cruise on her any time that the itinerary was suitable. In fact, we had cruised on the Mariner from Florida to Los Angeles when the ship was brand new and frankly, we much preferred her now!

Creaking on a New Ship! .....8091 is a Veranda Suite in the stern .Is there anyone midships that also has the creaking and or noisy cabin ? We just got off the Regent Mariner and were in a Mariner suite midship deck 9 and what made for a very good cruise despite, some very rough weather, was the quiet and smoothness that we experienced, and she is an `old ship' by todays standards.

Good morning all. Pleased to hear that generally everyone is enjoying themselves on board but while the conversation has mostly resolved around the food on board there has been no mention of the Sea conditions how well the ship is running in these conditions, how quiet is the ship and is there anyone in the Aft suites who can comment on them ?

Yes we too have very much enjoyed your postings and your photos have been outstanding. We actually even feel as if we have been enjoying the food on board. Hopefully when we board on Sunday everything will be as good as your have experienced...Safe Travels wherever you are heading to next. D & D.

We have been following your excellent posting with much interest as we are booked to board the Mariner in New York on the 17th.September and especially with Hurricane Lee lurking in the background. Looking at the Marine traffic website it seems as if the Mariner is now heading towards New York and maybe bypassing Bermuda ?...Has anything been announced on board if in fact this is what has been decided in order to arrive in NY before the Hurricane reaches close to Bermuda?

We have been following your excellent posting with much interest as we are booked to board the Mariner in New York on the 17th.September and especially with Hurricane Lee lurking in the background. Looking at the Marine traffic website it seems as if the Mariner is now heading towards New York and maybe bypassing Bermuda ?...Has anything been announced on board if in fact this is what has been decided in order to arrive in NY before the Hurricane reaches close to Bermuda?

I omitted to discuss how we felt that the CD was trying to 'nickel and dime` the passengers. Many times during the day Dottie would come on the Loudspeaker and discuss everything from Spa Treatments to Wine tasting,Cocktail tasting in the various bars,Excursions in various ports.All very in-noxious until you realized that there was a cost to everything for example there were... wine tastings from various regions nearly every day at $95.00 per person. We later found out from one of the Sommeliers that very few persons had purchased the O drink packages...Martinis was always empty and they were trying to encourage more buying of drinks on board! also few people were using the Spa and apparently she was trying to drum up support for that as well. We used the gym almost everyday and even that area was always empty... I hope that answers the question as to why we felt a possible pocket intrusion every day!!

Thank you all for your comments both positive and negative.Now to answer some of your questions. Firstly my review was to describe what we found not to complain!....We were well aware of the vibration issue as well as the Non all inclusive feature of Oceania but the itinerary suited us to go from St.Lucia to our home in Florida so we accepted the differences from the lines we normally cruise on. 1. We were in OS 6088 and yes the vibration at times was very bad but generally was always present to some degree.....We expected that there would be some vibration from other reviews on CC. 2. We have been embarking and disembarking in St.Lucia on Silverseas,Seabourn,Regent and even Princess for years and yes they have all been prorated.....The previous Sirena cruise was apparently fairly empty when we applied (after it had sailed) and surely it would benefit the cruise line to take on additional passengers and make the added revenue when possible.We were talking of embarking for the last three days and this was approved but what was not was prorating for those three days not insisting on payment for a 10 day cruise that was already almost finished. 3. Regarding the drinks and all inclusive feature. I think that my comments may have been misunderstood by some... For those who have cruised on both all and non will appreciate that there is a different vibe on board for example we found that most of the tables in the GD were for two with just a few tables for four .....We are not big drinkers but have found that people are more inclined to socialize and share tables when drinks are on the house and not individually purchased. In fact we did not even drink all the 6 bottles assigned to our OS suite. 4. It is not a condemnation of Oceania as quite obviously there are many passengers who prefer to not have drinks included and not subsidize those who do .....these were simply our observations and yes we were perfectly aware of all that before we boarded as we do substantial research before we board any ship or proceed on any vacation. For that reason we set out to enjoy any cruise or trip that we make despite the pros and cons which are always present in life today. I hope that this answers some of your questions and possibly provides some insight for those considering Oceania for a future cruise.

Just Off Sirena 12 day Barbados to Miami Dec 30th to Jan 11th. We were in an OS suite on deck 6 which we loved except for the constant sound of the propeller and the harsh suite vibration particularly when the ships speed was over 17 knots. The early morning Port arrivals was another matter when one is quite literally shaken out of bed. The higher deck OS suites appear to be less affected by the vibration but it was the only O.S. choice that we had when booking in mid-2022. A brief synopsis of the Cruise so far……Boarding in Barbados we felt was very badly handled by the local ships agents Foster & Ince. After a long wait at the building entrance everyone was bused to the ship then lumped together in a long line on the dock including disabled passengers in wheel chairs. It was a surreal experience with passenger buses weaving dangerously close by going to other ships and the ever fear of heavy rain….strangely there were no ship’s crew present to help? and everyone had to struggle up the gangway with their hand luggage to the ship. Once on board again no one to help with carry-on bags as we were directed to the Sirena Lounge where we were checked in by again Foster& Ince local staff! Dinner the first evening was for us in The Grand Dining Room and a very poor first meal at that with barely recognizable dishes so much so that after mentioning to our Butler we had calls from the MaîtreD who promised that he would personally see that our orders were properly handled in the future. Unfortunately this was only one of many meals which frankly did not live up to the Billings of ‘Best Cuisine at Sea` In general we found in all but one Restaurant namely Tuscan that the food had very little flavor, generally poorly seasoned and even the soups appeared watered down. As for Room service the dishes were somewhat tasteless! and one was left to wonder if all the food service was a deliberate attempt by the Chef or Corporate to make the food go further….very disappointing as we had been looking forward to the choices and quality that Oceania bragged about we would find on board. It was not only our experience as everyone we spoke to including long time Oceania passengers were also complaining the food was just not up to Oceania standards. Our Butler turned out to be the Head Butler on board Mishra is his name and he was excellent and always managed to anticipate our very needs. The Ship while Old is in excellent condition with nary a squeak or groan ( other than previously mentioned ) and obviously The R. class ships were well built to be still in service after so many years and with many other Cruise Lines. We have some 500+ hours on various Luxury Cruise Lines including Silversea, Seabourn and Regent and are used to things being mostly all inclusive so finding that nearly everything on Sirena comes with a price frankly come with the feeling that everywhere you turn someone from the Cruise Director Dottie down is trying to get into your pocket….it was all a bit unsettling to find that we were being ‘Nickel and Dimed` at every turn. This was especially true with the Spa which quoted one price to entice then tacked on additional charges such as a hot pillow $19.00 and hot oil another $19.00 plus a 20% gratuity with the end result that a 50 minute message ended up costing $340.00. Needless to say we never went back to the Spa although we made use of the gym which we found very good with virtually new TechnoGym equipment and empty for the most part. We were not expecting much in the Entertainment area so were not surprised that this section could only be described as weak. Dottie’s husband Tom Drake as the comedian and a magician called Jeff More plus the ships young entertainment staff who were trying their best but were frankly not very good. Nearly all the passengers on board were of an advanced age and looking out over the crowd in the Sirena Lounge on specialty nights was a seas of white and grey hair. These are apparently the Clientele that Oceania attracts and younger persons would definitely not be happy on these ships especially the R class anyway. Initially we tried to board the ship on the 27th December when it was in Port Castries. There was plenty of availability showing on the Oceania website and this would have been for the last three days of the previous cruise but Miami was insisting that we pay for the whole 10 day cruise rather than prorating for the last three days. In the end Oceania missed out on about $6+ Grand and we missed out on another three days on board. Are there things that Oceania can do to improve the experience and perhaps one of my suggestions would be to include and price all drinks and alcohol as inclusive perhaps using their sister company Regent Cruise Line as an example but still leave the excursion/destination charges as an extra. How much really would this actually cost Oceania if you compute the cost of the bureaucracy and overheads?... Most passengers end up paying for it anyway at the end including all the hassle and paperwork that is involved! In summation was there anything that we found really bad on this cruise and the answer is NO. Were they things that could have been better undoubtedly Yes but we enjoyed the Cruise nonetheless and the weather cooperated.

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We are presently in the Port OS suite deck 6 on Sirena on route from Port Antonio Jamaica to Bahamas. The location has been alternately delightful and uncomfortable depending on the ships speed and the Sea conditions. We are doing 17.8 Knots through the water but with a headwind of 24kts which is probably akin to 19 knots ships speed and are shaking and vibrating quite a bit. Its going to be an uncomfortable night. From Aruba to Jamaica with calm seas and 15.8 Knots we were very comfortable with virtually no vibration. No doubt deck 6 OS suites which are closer to the Props is the worst for vibration and noise especially when we are docking in the early hours of the mornings. Were we to rebook especially for an Alaska Cruise where the outside deck of the Terrace Restaurant will probably hardly be used we would chose deck 8 OS suites. On an aside the food on this 12 day cruise has not lived up to the billings as 'the best at sea` I will have more to say about that and our cruise in general when we have a better connection but it has been our first time on Oceania coming from Silversea/Seabourn and Regent and could be our last.

On a Beautiful sunny day the Ovation and Royal Clipper can be seen anchored in Rodney Bay,St.Lucia. The weather in the Islands has been very unusual with a cool wind out of the North and large rollers coming ashore on the beaches but instead of being on the Eastern or Atlantic side of the Island which is normal the surf is beating on the Caribbean coast. This is most unusual weather for the Caribbean in December but does provide unusually clear and sunny conditions. The photos were taken from the verandah of 'The Landings Resort and Spa`. Hope you enjoy and maybe someone on the Ovation can chip in and tell us how their cruise is going.

Many Thanks to everyone who answered our noise question regarding deck 8 under the Pool deck. We now know which suites to avoid. The reason Orv that we had issues with Silver Suite 729 on the Whisper was the staff moving chairs and cleaning the decks at 5 am or earlier in the mornings and sometimes late at nights.

Anyone with knowledge of the PH suites on deck 8 please advise if there are any suites to avoid or should we avoid deck 8 altogether?...We normally avoid been in a suite under the Pool deck after a Transoceanic on Silver Whisper back a good few years ago, when we were in 729 right under the Pool deck and suffered through the whole crossing from Barbados to Barcelona. Any advise would be much appreciated as this is our first cruise on Oceania the route Barbados to Miami in December 2022

Thank you to all who responded and yes we obtained the last Owners Suite before they became wait listed. Once we are on board we will be happy to answer this question and any others that CC cruisers might have.