Hlitner

Driving through parts of Europe now. Our T-Mobile works everywhere (in Slovenia at the moment) and we also use it as our GPS guide when driving. Hank

That HAL cruise was a 42 day Westerdam voyage around Japan, over to Alaska, and ended in Seattle. While we enjoyed that cruise (like all of our cruises) there was a lot wrong about HAL. As 5* Mariners with over 550 days on HAL, many would say we are loyal HAL cruises. But by the end of that Westy cruise, DW said to me, "do not book anymore HAL cruises! We were tired of the understaffing, logistic issues, poor or no entertainment, constant onboard accounting issues (we were overcharged 11 times during a single cruise), etc. We have no problem on larger ships (although we do prefer the smaller luxury vessels) but we have lots of problems with HAL. That being said, we would quickly book HAL if we had reason to believe that they were correcting some of our issues. Most recently, it has been posted that HAL is gradually bringing back Production Shows and that is a start. Interesting that there are no new builds on the agenda for HAL. By the way, we did enjoy the Japan/AK cruise so much that we booked something similar for 2025. But this time it will be on Seabourn :). Hank

Am really appreciating the info from a few of you about what you enjoyed in Slovenia. The rain finally arrived, tonight, during dinner. Since we managed to explore the Lake area today, while the sun still shined, we now thinking we must deal with a rain day...tomorrow, The cave info is appreciated, and we are now having some fun looking at the options. We are thinking about heading out to the Postojna Caves and nearby castle in the morning. This brings up another reason why we love independent travel. When the weather does not cooperate, you simply change your activities to work with the weather. Being in a cave on a rainy day is not much different on a sunny day 🙂. But when you are on a tour/excursion where you have paid for an specific itinerary, you will likely get what you booked, rain or shine. This happened to us, recently, when in Taiwan on a HAL cruise where we had booked a tour of a gorge. We were walking up and down slippery metal ladders and hiking over slippery trails as we all had to use our umbrellas. It was fun, but absolutely nutz. As an independent traveler would probably have changed their plans, but with pre-paid tours that is not going to happen. Getting back to O, I am not a fan of their Simply More program. It forces us to book overpriced excursions that we would never consider...otherwise. We talked to a few O fans who also do not like excursions and told us they will continue to cruise on O and just eat the SM cost. Like us, they are not fans of cruise ship excursions. My goodness, in Rovinji, we tagged along (for a few minutes) at the rear of a walking tour (about $100 pp). These folks were walking on the same streets as us (we paid zero) and the few minutes of guide-talk we heard was just boring. While I do understand that some folks like excursions, many others see them as boring. Trying to force us to pay for excursions we do not want is not the way to build loyalty It just reinforces our desire to be on our current favorite line (Seabourn) that does not include any excursions in their pricing. Hank Hank

Our first, "no longer live from the Vista" post :). The Vista docked at Trieste (the only cruise ship in the port) early this morning and debarked the shippabout 8:30am, after a last cappuccino and croissant in Baristas. Because O ended our cruise on a national holiday (Mayday or Labor Day) many normal functions in Trieste were closed. This included the local rental car agencies. In order for us to get a car we needed to drive nearly 25 miles to Triest's own airport. O did offer bus transport, but at $69 Euros per person, it made no sense. We simply got a local taxi (about a 3 min wait in the queue) and our talkative driver got us to the airport in about 35 minutes at a cost of 65 Euros (total cost for two). Disembarkation, in Trieste went very smoothly with a majority of passengers heading about 100 miles to Venice's Marco Polo Airport or Venice. We are already suffering "Vista withdrawal" since we must now fend for ourselves :). At the Trieste Airport we picked up our rental car from Europcar, and were soon on our way to Lake Bled, Slovenia. It is our first visit to Slovenia, and we found it interesting that our taxi drive (from Trieste to the airport) told us he often drives to Slovenia for dinner since "everything is much cheaper in Slovenia." The weatherman was wrong (it was supposed to rain) and we had nice day (with partly sunny skies). We reached our Lake Bled hotel around noon, and after some lunch we walked part of the way around the picturesque Lake Bled. This part of Slovenia is beautiful and is growing as a major tourist destination. During our drive, I pulled in to a gas station (in Italy) in order to purchase the needed Slovenian Vignette. This is required for anyone driving in this country and a 7 day Vignette cost us 17.50 Euros. These days it is a digital Vignette and your car's license plate is registered. Failure to have a vignette can get folks a nasty fine. In some European countries (including Slovenia), a Vignette replaces most road tolls. One nice thing about being in Slovenia is that English is widely spoken. It is a mandatory language, in their public schools, and most of the younger folks speak multiple languages including English, German, many Slavic dialects, Spanish, etc. While we are already missing the Vista and the easy life on a cruise ship, DW and I are always happy to be on our own in Europe with a rental car. The freedom of being able to go where we want, when we want, with who we want, is what I 5ave loved about travel for the past 57 years of extensive world travel. And the one thing I do not miss from the Vista is the too often and too long announcements from Peter (the CD). Life is good :). Hank

Thanks for responding as we always appreciate your expertise. Since it was the middle of the night, we cannot be certain if it was a total blackout. In our aft cabin, any blackout was short lived. Forward cabins had longer outages with emergency lighting activating in their cabins. According to the Captain, power was quickly rerouted with cabins and passenger corridors getting priority. From the passenger perspective there was very little disruption. We do know that once the Fincantieri technical team boarded in Croatia, repairs were completed in less then 1 day and all power was returned to normal status. The only detailed info we received was that it was a failure in a forward electric control panel. We did not hear any alarm or rumor of a fire situation and passengers were basically told to go back to sleep. Hank

We really enjoyed dinner at Osteria Della tres Panche, in Florence. It is a restaurant that specializes in dishes with truffles (white and black). Since our last visit it has moved to a larger venue and we are not sure if this has impacted quality. Hank

Fair question. When we first started dining in the GDR we were all over the place. One evening we happened to be seated in Kadek’s section and were very pleased. The following evening, DW simply asked the hostess (Marina) if we could be seated in his section. After a few days, she and her boss managed to always find us an empty table in that section. My personal observation, after 50 years of cruising is to show the staff lots of respect, interact, and let them know your preference. And a few smiles as well as thank you’s can work miracles. The staff on the Vista is terrific and goes out of their way to please passengers if it is within their power. One other hint. A few times we did make it clear that we would share a table in that section. Sometimes, just making it known that you appreciate somebody’s efforts can work miracles. I am often appalled at how some passengers treat the crew. Hank

DW tells me that when you get the ratio of pasta water to parmesan just right, the result does seem creamy. She has heard of using some butter, but that seems to vary depending on the recipe and chef. Hank

Afternoon readers, We are in our last port (before debarkation) on this 35 day adventure. From my perspective, O saved the best for last :). Today we are tendering in the Rovinj, Croatia and both DW and I are absolutely blown away by this charming place. It is like the hidden gem of Croatia, as it has not yet been discovered by the masses, although we suspect that within a few short years it will be a packed place just like Santorini, Dubrovnik, etc. We have been in many ports on this voyage, with only two (Chania and Rovinj) we have visited for the first time. Rovinj has a really nice old town area, and nearly any view could grace the cover of a guidebook. Plenty of cafes, restaurants, art galleries, the usual church, streets paved with stone (which can be slippery). This is not a port for folks with mobility issues, although they could enjoy part of the town along the various harbors (there is more than one). I suspect it is not a popular cruise port because there is no pier adequate for cruise ships, and its proximity to other popular ports (i.e. Dubrovnik, Split, Kotor, etc) keeps it off of most itineraries. What a shame. DW and I will plan to revisit this town when we are on one of our driving trips. Not much more to add to this live blog. DW and I had a good feeling as soon as we boarded the Vista, and nothing in the last month has taken the glow off our first O voyage. Some readers might be aware I am a student of the cruise/travel industry and always have an interest in some of the inside info. Many may not be aware that a majority of the crew on Oceania, do not work directly for O, This company is a major user of the Apollo Group, who has been involved with the cruise industry for eons. Much of the crew that interacts with passengers, are actually employed by Apollo as are the regular entertainers (singers/dancers). That is not a negative thing, but simply a fact. These days, a cruise line can contract with third party companies for just about anything and O obviously prefers to use contractors rather than deal with the complications of taking most jobs in-house. This will likely be our last "live from the Vista" post as we disembark in about 18 hours. DW and I are staying in Europe for 12 days, and if all goes well will pick-up a rental car and be on our way to parts of Slovenia, Austria and Italy. We have long suggested, here on CC, that we find the ideal trip to be a combination of cruising and independent land travel. But we are not looking forward to having to "forage" for our own food/drink :). Hank

Just chatted with my “personal chef” and she dies not even use olive oil. She says the oil would cause the cheese to slide off the pasta. Just a little of the pasta water to melt the parmigiana and lots of black pepper. Cream sounds like a major faux pas as it becomes something akin to an Alfredo sauce. Hank

Sorry we missed you as I did not see your post and we skipped the show. And agree that caccio e Pepe should not have cream. I love the dish, but have not had it on the Vista. Hank

Perhaps, in terms of the restaurants. More meals means sampling more options, both good and bad. As to the Vista, we would like this ship on a 14 day, 35 day, or even 90 day cruise. Hank

Afternoon from the Dalmation Coast, As I write this post, we are slowly moving out of the port of Dubrovnik. There has been no official announcement, but it does appear that the Vista has recovered some of all of its normal functions. The bow thrusters are wroking, no tug boats needed, and our TV service has been restrored. Today was another perfect weather day with blue skies, gentle breeze, and temps in the mid-70s. DW and I took a 6 hour excursion to a small family run olive oil operation, later drove to a winery co-op for a tasting (and some food), and then we visited the small village of Ston where we got a quick tour of the quaint town before enjoying a nice lunch. As far as excursions go, this one was a winner. Why? We only had 9 passengers (in a bus that could hold about 50) and a terrific guide. Last evening we paid our third visit to Toscana, and our dinner was somewhat disappointing. Not bad...just disappointing. Toscana has a terrific menu, but it seems to be hit/miss on whether it delivers on each dish. DW had a daily special pumpkin filled ravioli that was advertised to be in a brown butter sauce. However, what she got was the ravioli in a beurre blanc sauce with almost no flavor. Her dish also lacked any decent seasoning (when she makes this at home, she uses sage). I had the Veal Marsala, and the marsala sauce lacked the taste of marsala wine. It was a near-bland brown sauce. Despite the shortcomings, our meal was quite good...just not as good as it should have been. We continue to accept some other posts that with the O restaurants, it is helpful to have a good idea of what to order. In the GDR, where we have a reliable waiter who gives us great advice, things are mostly terrific. In the alternate restaurants, one does not generally know the waiters and advice is not always reliable. For our remaining 2 nights on Vista, we will be dining in the GDR which has been consistently good, Hank

That one is a banana ice cream with pieces of peanut brittle. Pretty good. Hank

Wow! I do think that attitude has been somewhat different here on the Vista. It can take some time for the engineers to fully understand what has happened and what options exist for re-routing or restoring power. We do know that cruise ship electrical systems are terribly complex. There are a few ship engineers active on CC and we would hope that at least one of them joins in on this thread. I do think that our crew has been pretty transparent about the power issue. Once they identified the extent of the damage, the Captain made an announcement and followed-up with a detailed letter (sent to each cabin). Nobody is happy about missing Kotor, but we have heard very little whining other than some folks expressing disappointment about the missed port.. As far as those with wheelchairs. scooters and walkers, the power to our elevators was quickly restored (not many using them at 3:30am). Hank

Just to update, we did make it to Dubrovnik and docked at 1:30pm with the assistance of two tugs. The Captain had advised us to expect tugs since the bow thrusters are inoperative due to the power situation. Fincantiari is supposed to have a technical team ready to board and deal with the blown electrical panel. This morning we decided to do some laundry. There are 15 machines (3 each on decks 7,8,9,10 and 11). That laundry rooms open at 7am and by 7:05 (when I looked) all the machines were already taken. Like, with any cruise line/ship, there are various strategies to deal with these small problems. In my case, I simply headed to the laundry room on deck 11 using the logic that the PHs and Suites mean fewer souls on that deck. And folks in those categories often get free laundry. Sure enough, by 10am there were empty machines on 11 :). Last evening, DW and I had our third dinner in Polo and it was all good. I again opted for their French Onion Soup (excellent), tried the BLT salad (very nice), and had the whole Maine Lobster (a bit mushy...probably due to freezing). We shared the 4 item tasting dessert tray. Although we had an 8pm reservation, we walked-in at 7:40 and were quickly seated. I will repeat something i mentioned a few weeks ago. The "by the glass" wine selection here on the Vista is very satisfying. O provides better everyday wines than nearly all the luxury lines. The wine stewards are always generous with their pours and getting refills is generally quite easy. That being said, we follow our normal procedure (on any cruise line) of not ordering dinner until after we have received our wine. The only exception to that personal rule is if we are sharing a table and do not want to hold up our tablemates. As usual, we were among the last standing in Horizons and did not leave until about 11:45. I know I sound like a broken record but ending the live entertainment at 11:15 drives me (and many others) nutz. Last night there again was a pretty big crowd (over 100) and packed dance floor up until the minute the band stopped. Hank

We are just completing a long cruise (including TA) where our first port was Madeira. The Portuguese (a Schengen country) want no part of stamping Passports, Customs, etc. The cruise line just gives the authorities the manifest and they clear the ship. Not sure if Spain is following the same protocol, but it is more likely than not. By the way, the way Portugal handles TAs can cause later issues. Since they refuse to stamp Passports with an EU Entry stamp, there is no record (in the Passport) of your day of entry into the Schengen (which now has a 90 day, every 6 month limitation). Some authorities such as the German's can get upset when you later fly-out of their country and they cannot find that entry stamp. About 2 years ago we had a real hassle at Munich because of this problem. The Purser on our ship said there is nothing they can do since the Portuguese have refused to stamp Passports on TAs. Go figure. Hank

Just in Mykonos 2 days ago and tendered to the old port (downtown). All the tenders were shore-based and that is where they go. The new port can dock two cruise ships. Hank

I like the ball cap suggestion. As to pins, DW used to toss all the pins, medallions, certificates, etc. into a basement storage drawer. One day she was doing a major cleaning and all that stuff went into the trash. After 18 cruise lines we had a nice collection, but always found that stuff too tacky for wearing. Hank

We had a friend who used to work (part time) as a HAL ship physician. That ended when HAL decided not to use North American doctors. Our doctor friend once entertained our large dinner tables with tales of Transdermal Scop side effects. The most amusing tale involved an elderly women found wandering a corridor, stark naked and hallucinating. Our friend told us that cruise ship docs would not prescribe that drug and it is seldom stocked on any cruise ship. DW used to use the patch until she found it difficult read a book because of blurred vision. We are currently on Oceania Vista, where we have noticed a few using the patch, so it’s still available …somewhere. Hank

We were back in Santorini a few days ago (Vista) and our excursion dropped us in Fira around 3. The queue for the cable cars was about an hour, so DW and I decided to walk down (donkey poo and all). We took our time and managed to avoid the poo. Not a difficult walk for folks in decent shape and with OK knees. And we are seniors. Keep in mind the walk involves over 600 steps. Hank

Talked to a couple of crew/friends who told me it was interesting on the crew deck. Quite a few crew were quickly dressed and out of their cabins into the corridor waiting for further instructions. We know of one crew member who somehow slept through the entire thing (that seems almost impossible given the loudness of the alarm signal). Cruise ships have complex electrical bussing (routing) and its interesting to see the obvious impact. For example, in Horizons they had BINGO at 1:30. They normally use a screen, which electrically drops from the stage ceiling along with a built-in projector system. Today they set-up large portable speakers, put a portable projector on a table, and put up an old-fashioned manual screen. We also noticed that we do not have our news stations on the cabin TVs. Peter (the CD) also mentioned that they were having problems with some lost power in the Vista Theater and this might impact tonight's Production show (still a question). But other than a few of these little things, everything onboard was back to normal by the time we awoke in the morning. By the way, DW and I went to the Terrace Cafe to look at lunch (Italian Buffet). Nothing struck our fancy so it was out to Waves for another good sandwich. However, I spotted the daily special which was Country Fried Chicken and it looked good. It was :). Being an O ship with O passengers, I suspect nobody would panic as long as the galleys are functioning :). Hank

Good Morning from the Med, Last night was real drama. About 3:30am, we were awakened by the general alarm! The initial alarm was not the full 7 blasts, but only 3 or 4. Within a few minutes there were several more alarm blasts (including the ships horn). At this point I looked out our balcony door and the ship was moving, normally, through the moon lit seas. A few minutes later the cruise director made an announcement that there had been a short-term power failure and the cause was being investigated. At that point there was no emergency action required by the passengers. About thirty minutes later, Peter (CD) woke us again with another announcement that power was restored. We went back to sleep, although we heard this morning of some others who actually had put in their life jackets. This morning at 10am, the Captain explained that there had been a failure in a forward electric panel and the Chief Engineer had been able to restore 90% of our power. But the panel must be repaired by shore based technicians. We have cancelled tomorrow’s port call at Kotor and are heading directly to Dubrovnik where we will arrive at 2pm tomorrow. A technical team will come aboard to make repairs. That should give us 1 1/2 days in Dubrovnik. Kotor is now the third cancelled port since we embarked in Miami. Hank

If the goal is to see Italy, then go to Italy and explore the country by car, train, or on a decent land tour. While we live to cruise, it is not the best way to see a country. Hank

Greetings from Pireaus, Sometimes the best laid plans become ever better. A few weeks ago, while looking at our itinerary, DW and I talked about staying aboard, while docked in Pireaus. We figured it would be a good day to relax, do some laundry, and renew our energy. But alas, this morning we arrived to a positively gorgeous day (temps got up to about 70). The Sahara sand storm was gone, the breeze blew away most of the pollution (Athens can be very polluted) and the icing on the cake was that we docked at the coveted Terminal A (which we are sharing with the Seven Seas Voyager). I went up to Barristas about 7 where Vincenzio quickly prepared my usual double cappuccino. DW joined me about 8 and we both enjoyed the excellent croissants. My comment was something like, "it is such a perfect day outside, so how can we justify staying aboard? About 9:30 we walked off the ship and strolled the easy 1 mile over to the Pireaus Metro station. After buying our tickets (3.20 Euros for round trip) we hopped on the Green Line to Monastiraki Station where we changed to the Blue line for the one stop to Syntagma Square. We gradually worked our way downhill through the major shopping area and Plaka until we reached the Agora. At that point we sat at a cafe, people watched, and enjoyed coffee/tea. We than continued to walk through the Monastiraki neighborhood browsing in the shops,stalls, and reading menus. A little after noon we stopped at a bar/cafe where we ordered two draught beers and gyros. The gyros turned out to be huge and quite good. After lunch, we walked through more of the flea market area (the big flea market is only on Sundays) until we reached the Monastiraki Station where we hopped the Green Line back to Pireaus. Since the Metro/bus tickets are valid for 90 minutes, we could have simply hopped on the #843 bus to get us back close to the port. But the weather was so gorgeous, we decided to stroll the 1 mile back to the Vista. What was supposed to be a quiet onboard day turned out to be a perfect easy outing into Athens. Total cost for the round trip transportation and lunch was about $50 (for 2) which is just one more reason why we enjoy DIY travel. For those wondering why we did so little in Athens (a city with much to offer tourists) it is simply because we have been to Athens many times (we could probably guide tours). Today would have been a perfect day to walk up to the Acropolis, but neither of us wanted to expend that kind of energy to visit a place we have seen more than a few times. We did give it some consideration until we looked up and said, "no way." Dinner, last evening, was in the GDR with our favorite waiter. At this point, just about every menu item is a repeat and I opted for the decent Oysters Rockefeller and pork chop covered in BBQ sauce. DW, had a salad and the pasta dish. I do wonder if O varies their menu on the 180 day World Cruise, or simply keeps repeating the same items every couple of weeks. Hank