Vallesan

@mark46 a ‘ship within a ship’ is great if you can manage the overall ‘size’ of the ship. If you have mobility issues then only ‘small’ ships fit the bill so it no longer becomes an issue of ‘choice’! Fortunately all the smaller ships, from all the lines, work well for us because they are ‘small’!

Yes but on port intensive cruises some parents want their children to experience ‘life’.

We are sailing on the Marina in October and could only get a ‘B’ cabin. I realise from reading CC that our cabin is unlikely to be ready before 3pm. Certainly thinking about lunch ashore before we board. Maybe Aquamar could be an answer but then maybe not!

Oceania isn’t actually an ‘adult only’ line so whilst the ships may not be designed for children they also don’t ‘ban’ them!

Personally I can’t understand how anybody would want to order a 32oz streak for one person. Ok even if you take the bone out it’s still far too much meat especially on a cruise, when you’ve probably had breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and possibly bar nibbles or canapés or both! I understand some people feel they have ‘paid’ so they need to get their ‘money’s worth’ but IMHO it’s just ‘greed’. Fine if you order a steak and eat it but to take a few bites and then waste the rest is just hideous.

“Our grandkids are learning history, geography, social skills and how to interact with others, manners and patience waiting for others, new culinary tastes (big thanks to Sr. Exec Chef Justin and his team 💝)” @slw207693 So much better to learn ‘in the flesh’ than from dusty dry books. Enjoy!

@Sthrngary thank you so much! From what you’re saying Explora sounds very similar in many ways to Oceania and cabin size wise to Seabourn and Silversea. I can’t do a ‘ship within a ship’ because the overall size of these ships is physically way too big for me. I’m finding it difficult to find a Med cruise on Oceania in autumn 2025 so I may just keep an eye open for Explora sales. Again thank you you’ve been very helpful.

Thank you! As usual a comprehensive review and very interesting. Oceania is our line of choice although we also love Seabourn, like Silversea but their prices are now unrealistic, and might even try Regent again, only at a push! I’m looking at Explora Med cruises for mid 2025. Don’t really like the 7 or 9 day itineraries and when you look at back to back they become quite expensive. Can you tell me why I should consider Explora v the others, price for price, value for value? Service for service, food for food etc.?

I’ve never sailed Celebrity but am aware of Walmart. The suggestion is that Oceania is way more upmarket! From what I’ve read, Celebrity and Oceania are different but each has its merits. Don’t be put off by some of the posts here. We’ve sailed over 150 days on Oceania but the passengers we’ve met haven’t been either ‘snobby’ or ‘stuffy’. Oceania isn’t an ‘adult only’ line for that you would need to go to Viking or Virgin. So yes there are sometimes children on board but usually only a few. Having 50 + children (and I hope somebody has been around and done a head count!) on a cruise seems unusual. As you rightly say on Celebrity length of cruise, month and itinerary all affect the number of children onboard. I think the same is true of Oceania. If you travel on a port intensive itinerary in late June/July/August in the Med there will be more children than usual. The same apparently is true of Alaska. Don’t be concerned make up your own mind!

Let’s be honest here any large/huge/humungous airport anywhere in the world could prove problematic. And there are so many of them now! We have assistance and some airports are great, Scandinavian airports are wonderful, but some others are not so great. Even Singapore has left us less than happy on occasion. I guess that the secret might be not to choose connections that are too short. Even if you can physically make it think about your bags. I have to say we’ve been travelling for longer than I care to remember but can literally count on one hand the number of times a bag hasn’t turned up or luggage was damaged. I count that as a win. As you say @ORV “it will be alright” you’re on holiday!

Certainly not ‘dull’ that’s for sure!

A very unpleasant experience! You reminded me of a similar thing happening in the Terrace cafe one breakfast time on the Marina back in May. There were a family of 5 of 6 adults who were calling home, Australia, and all enjoying the ‘conference’ call which lasted some 15 or 20 minutes, in fact virtually our whole breakfast. I was shocked. We usually have breakfast in the GDR so I just put it down to the casual nature of the restaurant. Definitely shouldn’t be allowed in the GDR or in fact any dining room or indeed any of the public spaces. People have cabins they should use them for prolonged calls. Times are changing!

You know it would be quite easy to ‘google’ shoes sizes etc. in Europe before travelling! Travel comes with some ‘compromises’! Sorry didn’t read the rest of the thread before I posted!

I recently cancelled a BA flight and the miles went back into my account but they did charge a £1 fee!

Intercontinental might fit the bill.

Ahhh …. a rose by any other name!

You are exactly right ….The World will never be the way it ‘was’ . We have to accept this. We have to re-evaluate each line. We have to pick what suits us in the ‘here and now’. What was, was! No longer relevant. We still enjoy cruising despite the differences.

Just wondering if anyone has experienced the accessible tours that Oceania now offer. If so maybe you could tell me a little about the experience such as vehicles, itinerary, ease/difficulty of the actual tours. Some of the ‘easy’ ‘one walker’ tours are actually not that easy if you use a cane or rollator.

Q3. Cabin size. We’ve travelled Silversea and Seabourn and their entry balcony cabins are bigger than the Riviera balcony. However I didn’t feel that the Seabourn cabin was as roomy as the Oceania balcony because it was narrower and darker. I would guess that you would be happy with the regular balcony but for such a long trip the PH would definitely be a bonus. PH are 50% larger than the balcony cabins and personally, if I could, I would upgrade. In saying that ‘is it worth it’? Only you can decide!

Just guessing ‘casual jeans’ could be ‘ripped’ whereas non-casual are just ordinary jeans without holes!!

Our insurance in the UK covers each person £150 per missed port. We missed two last year and were reimbursed by £600. Don’t know about tour costs on top of that.

I’m sure Oceania will send you proof. When we’ve missed a port we go to reception as it happens and they send a personalised letter to the cabin. I know this doesn’t help now but it may for the future.

In the UK we got nothing, nada, in 2022/3 it was all e-tickets. I complained on my three cruises during that period and even said I would be happy to pay extra to have the documentation back! So May this year we had the ‘new’ version and I really have to say it was better than nothing. I agree not up to the same standard as the old one but still had that bit of a ‘thrill’ when the envelope arrived in the mail. MEFlowa I have to say given how you complain about pricing you should be glad they are sending out a ‘revised’ version which will cost them … and… you…. less!!!

I’ll be interested to hear how your trip goes. We have just returned from a 5* land based trip to Portugal but unfortunately the ‘hotel services’, or more particularly the restaurant, were not comparable to a cruise. Just wish they had been!

At one point I do think Oceania did have the ‘Finest Cuisine at Sea’. Since 2020 as cruising has resumed I think the food on lots of lines has deteriorated. I doubt a new slogan ‘We used to have the Finest Cuisine at Sea’ would attract quite so many new passengers! Personally I have had very few meals on Oceania that I would say afterwards ‘that was maaa!’ Yes there has been the odd one but overall I find the food good, not excellent, but good. Well good is good enough for me anyway!