FeliciaLee

18 hours ago, Kay S said:

This PH or better talk could be discouraging to new O cruisers, such as myself, who are booked down in steerage.

Don't sweat it, Kay. We have had steerage on all three of our Oceania cruises so far, and no one seems to care. In fact, our 'best friends' on our last cruise had the owner's suite for their 60th anniversary and even gave us their cabin number so that we could 'call them anytime.' They were the best!

My husband and I were on the Bermuda March 16th, 2024 cruise. It was awesome. Maybe not as great as our other two Oceania cruises, but no  complaints.

This was our first time on one of the newer ships. We liked Vista, thin walls and all. But we also love the small ships. Probably we love the small ships even more, due to the overwhelming, cozy feel of community.

Aquamar as an eating venue worked out pretty well. While some of the dishes weren't a big hit with us, others were totally awesome. For example, Waves no longer has my second fave: the tuna sandwich, but Aquamar has something very similar. They also have the best smoothie if you are suffering from the dreaded cruise crud:  Immunity. Sometimes they are pretty heavy handed on the cayenne, so watch that carefully if you can't have spicy, spicy spices ;)

My husband still favors Purple Rain.

There have been a lot of comments with regards to Waves changing their menu. Well, the surf and turf is still wonderful, but my husband definitely preferred the filet. I thought the burger was better. Unfortunately, the burgers on the rest of the menu have changed for the worse. They are much thinner and very dry, no matter how you ask them to be cooked. On the plus side: Waves is still fantastic and the best outdoor grill experience on any cruise line we've ever tried. Just a matter of opinion, of course.

A huge, unexpected treat for us was the buffet. We are not buffet people and never thought it on the small ships was anything special at all. So imagine our surprise at the excellent buffet on Vista! While it wasn't always 100%, it was much improved and we ate dinner there twice. The first time, lobster tails were excellent. The second time, well, just say that they were as bad as on the R ships.

The new Baristas was very nice. The space is much improved. In general, perhaps we like the old location better. No complaints, just a coffee addiction that made the old location good for us. But as far as the space and the bakery, wow. We loved it, and we also loved the daily quiches and beignets.

My husband likes to get the lamb lollypops. He orders them every morning at breakfast and has lamb often in the restaurants. What an Oceania exclusive that works for him in most situations! Just one of the many reasons we love Oceania.

We also thought Ember was great. So put us in that smaller category of people who love it. The scallop main was totally awesome.

Toscano on Vista was miles better than our last experience on Insignia. Maybe Insignia was just a one-off. Everything was great, plus we had a front row to the Space X launch in Canaveral. The ship started moving, and we thought we might miss it, but amazingly it launched right in front of the window where we were sitting!

As far as dining in general, on this cruise we had no real misses. Part of that, however, may be due to the fact that this time around we were more used to Oceania, their menus and their stand-out entrees. So we were perhaps able to navigate our meals better.

Although Vista is a much bigger ship, with lots more passengers, they had less trivia than the small ships. What a bummer for us and for our trivia team (we were super into it and very competitive). Two men on our team had never been on Oceania before, and were totally hyped when I told them how much trivia they could expect, only to be disappointed when it didn't seem to pan out the way it does on the small ships.

Overall, once again we had a great cruise. Not as great as our previous two, but it is completely a matter of subjectivity. Vista couldn't be any more beautiful. The crew was warm and friendly and we saw lots of familiar faces. The passengers were friendly and awesome as well. We just missed that small ship warm and cozy feeling. 

Our next cruise is also on Vista, but maybe we'll be able to sneak in a small ship cruise here and there in the future. No matter which ship we sail, it seems like we are always pleased with Oceania and haven't had that feeling since we were on Crystal back in 2019.

13 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

After reading more about O vs V vs SB,  I would like to experience the SB product.  Have looked a little, but fares do seem to be quite high.  Will have to do a thorough side by side cost analysis of inclusions, to see how each compares to the others.

We have only taken one Seabourn cruise. One of those great deals online. It was 11 nights in Nov/Dec 2022.

The things we loved were: friendliness and warmth of crew and passengers. Prizes for games. Gelato. Cabin. Price per night for value. Buffet.

The things that weren't so great: lack of activities. Start of dining time at 7pm. So-so quality and service in MDR. Espresso was never hot enough no matter how much we begged.

We really had a great cruise on Seabourn, but the late dining time just isn't for us. Keep in mind that although it includes more than Oceania, you still have to pay the port fees & taxes additionally. So that ups the price per night. Also, shore excursions aren't included, either.

But for the price per night? Yes, it was an excellent product and an excellent cruise!

On 2/12/2024 at 9:56 AM, ToxM said:

I was very disappointed with Regent, and really can’t justify trying them again to see if it was a blip.

 

The Regent cruise has actually made us reconsider whether we want to cancel our November TA on Sirena - I don’t want to be stuck on a ship again with poor food choices if we have another “blip” cruise.

It probably was a blip cruise. While we absolutely love Oceania more than Regent, it is solely due to subjective reasons. Regent is an excellent product and you got very unlucky.

Sirena is a great ship that has Red Ginger and a combo Polo/Toscano. You are in for a real treat! Both were excellent on our trip.

Also, Dottie will be your cruise director and she is a treasure.

My second favorite was the ahi tuna. Oh well. The new additions look great.

1 hour ago, Vallesan said:

Really looking forward to the Quest although, when we booked it, I hadn’t realised its size, capacity and age compared with the ‘R’ class ships. Thinking this might just be our ‘go to’ ship in the future!

The only place we really felt the difference in space per passenger was in the cabin. Since you know you already love Seabourn, certainly you'll have an awesome time!

It's a great ship and you will have a fabulous time. Red Ginger is awesome.

On Insignia last month, there were several announcements and even a drawing for $200 obc.

9 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Well done.

Which cruise was the first one please....ie: the one without any SM benefits attached ?

It was a Christmas cruise on Insignia. But as Basor pointed out, perhaps I was able to get a bare bones cruise due to the fact that Oceania hadn't rolled out SM across the board.

This was my review, if you are interested:

We bought two of these. On the first one it truly was with nothing included. The second one has SM and we have checked on Oceania's website to make sure of that. Both were bargains at well under $200 pp/pd.

On another note, we met some couples on our Christmas Insignia cruise. Two of them, at different times of the cruise made mention that they had gotten significant discounts due to not wanting SM. One of them said that he and his wife don't drink, so they didn't understand why they were forced into SM. The other couple said that they don't like shore excursions, so were able to get that credit as a discount to their overall fare.

If Oceania truly is allowing this kind of opt-out, surely it won't last long!

47 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

It turns out I love being in the bowels of the ship, and I will miss that if I ever go on one of the A-ships.

 

So after I pare down cruises based on itinerary, I will choose based on ship. For me, I would probably choose Marina over Vista/Allura based on my preferences. Are there enough people like me to keep Marina filled? I don't know, but I'm guessing there are.

I'm right there with you.

Although I only have limited experience (two cruises with Oceania so far), it seems like the servers will try to downplay the always available options. They will say things like: "These will always be listed for a time you might not see anything else you want."  As in, this is an inferior choice.

So for the first cruise, and most of the second cruise, my husband and I never tried the always available options. But finally one day I did and it was absolutely fabulous.

My husband wasn't as crazy about the sirloin, but the chicken was falling off the bone and extremely tasty.

Give it a try, even if only as an appetizer portion!

1 minute ago, AMHuntFerry said:

I don't think there is any one special evening in the GDR as other people might consider the Global Cuisine menu featuring Thailand as their can't-miss dinner. The only dinners that I recall being "advertised" as anything special were the ones mentioned earlier in Terrace (also the wine pairing dinners if applicable). There has been a "Chef's Special" dinner  in Terrace for two consecutive nights (so no one misses out?) that features dishes from the region where the cruise is visiting. The "advertising" is in Currents, and there is even a sign near the GDR posted menu.

Oooooh yeah! That lobster pad thai!!! Do they get the recipe from Red Ginger? It is super delish.

If I recall correctly, on the Sirena the penultimate night offered chateaubriand (excellent). Then last month on Insignia the penultimate night offered beef wellington (also excellent, but not quite as excellent as the chateaubriand).

So maybe in the main dining room, there will be special offers on not only holidays, but on the penultimate night of the cruise?

26 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Is that the spring 2024 cruise that transits the Suez Canal? I'm guessing there have been a few cancellations.

You got it! When I showed my husband, he was like:  ummm

As always, great info.

With regards to the older ships, yeah that is where we mostly find the best deals. But not always. For our March Bermuda cruise, Vista was cheaper than any other ship!

Also, I just found a cruise on Riviera for only $99 pp/pd 🙂

10 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

We cruise steerage and check in early; if we want to explore a port, we've already done it and I want my Baristas canele! Our recent embarkation experiences has been exceptions to the early check-in equals long lines rule. Between September 2022 and September 2023, there were no/minimal lines between 11 and noon in LA (San Pedro - minimal line of a few cabins), Seattle (zero line!), and Vancouver (almost zero line - no wait).

As much as I love Baristas, on this last cruise we ran to Waves. 

Waves has to be the best outdoor grill restaurant on the seas! Prior to last month, I kind of thought maybe I had oversold it, but no. My goodness, it is so good.

We did manage a few converts to Illy Crema, too (well, I think they call it something else now, but it's pretty much the same thing....that lovely frozen coffee drink).

3 minutes ago, basor said:

Yes - I think the issue is that some people think it means you have 2 logins under 1 account and so can have 2 devices on at the same time or 2 people can be online at the same time.   It isn't explained very well that you need to actually set up 2 separate accounts - one for each person in the cabin.  Then each signs in under their account.  The IT support crew was busy the first few days of our last cruise assisting  people to get both accounts set up and explainging how to utilize.

Thanks, everyone, for the correction. We will definitely get it figured out better next time. It really didn't negatively impact our cruise at all 🙂

6 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Did you get the wine/beer with meals  or you just did not imbibe?

We didn't ask, but as far as I know, we booked before the SM became a thing and got nothing.

27 minutes ago, Cruisedreamer1 said:

Did the ship put out Christmas cookies around the gingerbread cookie village? We were on the previous voyage and thought the holiday decorations were simply beautiful!

They sure did, and it was so nice. Hope you weren't too seasick on that cruise!

4 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Thanks for that info

So other reports by some were incorrect  then 

the speculation that  everyone even if they did not switch to SM got 2 accounts  was incorrect

Maybe we just missed it due to not asking for help. They weren't necessarily wrong, we were just not interested enough to find out for sure.

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

Did you not have  2  wifi accounts on this cruise??

Nope. I think we booked before that was universal. No perks whatsoever. If we were allowed two accounts, no one told us and when we tried to connect under each name, it knocked the other one off like it did back in January. NBD, at times we did use tethering.

Cruise reviews are so subjective that it can be impossible to know which cruise line is the best one for you until you experience the one that fits best for your needs. So many of us on this board loved @Sthrngary 's review, not only because it was thorough, but because his family truly enjoyed their first cruise on Oceania and their joy shined through in every sentence.

My husband and I really enjoyed our second Oceania cruise. Our first was in January on Sirena. Usually the second cruise on the same line suffers by comparison. But not this one. Not at all. It was awesome.

Unfortunately, this is the point where I might start sounding like an Oceania cheerleader and I apologize in advance for that, but once again, cruising is so subjective!

Our Christmas cruise aboard Insignia from December 17-29th was even better than our cruise on Sirena in January. Oddly, we thought it was getting off to a bad start due to the late arrival of the previous cruise and waiting in the terminal for many hours. But in some ways, this was a great opportunity. We found a couple of cruisers from our Sirena cruise. We met new cruisers. We had some great conversations and were just happy that we weren't on that previous cruise that went through such horrible weather.

This was a relatively last minute cruise that we managed to get for only $1699. Of course at that price we were in an inside cabin, at the very front of the ship, on the seventh floor. The cabin wouldn't be our first choice, for sure, but it was fine. We had great room stewards. Nothing was overlooked.

If we thought that the passengers and crew were awesome on Sirena, this cruise proved to be even more of a great social connection. Virtually everyone we met were absolutely fabulous. We also lucked out with Dottie as the CD and her husband Tom was the comedian. We would gladly have that duo on every future cruise.

Pretty much all of the meals were great, too. One night the MDR wasn't so great, but it wasn't horrible, either. We only ate in the buffet for dinner twice. We are definitely MDR people.

One day we went on a little tour of the ship and ran into a familiar face. He was Norman, our previous room steward. And not only did he remember us, but even remembered our names! What a nice guy.

Several times we went to the front desk to lodge compliments. It was such an incredible cruise for us that we couldn't help but continually let our pleasure be known to the staff.

Games, activities and trivia were awesome, as before. 

Nothing is perfect, so yes, there were a few things that could be made better:

• Why wouldn't they allow us to upgrade to a more midship cabin, when there were clearly some available? Couldn't be done even for a fee. Weird, that. Sometimes our meals were so slow that we eventually gave up on dessert (not my jam anyway, but my husband loves dessert).
• In the buffet, the made to order lobster isn't great.
• We will be glad that all future cruise have two wifi connections.
• The little ships have that painfully small bathroom.

But besides these things that pretty much everyone here already knows about, everything was as close to perfect as a cruise can get.

Our next cruise will be on Vista, in March. Can't wait!

6 hours ago, Vallesan said:

We are sailing on the Quest in April!

Yes hopefully will be the best of both worlds!

6 hours ago, ak1004 said:

We will be on the Quest in September. I believe this is what would be considered one of the smaller ships? Only 32,000 ton, so pretty close to R ships, but only 450 guests, compared to 700 on the R ships. Should be the best of both worlds.

We were on the Sojourn. Definitely felt much more spacious than the R ships. Have a great time!

Ditto on the buffet opinion!

That being said, our one and only cruise on Seabourn was Sojourn, Nov/Dec 2022. The buffet was the best we've ever had on a cruise line. The wait staff was phenomenal and the manager was formerly the TK manager, but filling in for someone on vacation. So maybe that made a huge difference? Hopefully, he has gotten a huge promo, because he was the best of the best.