Harters

Although it has no such qualms mentioning names itself. As in this article about the various UK travel agencies which are cruise specialists. I found it very helpful for picking one. https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=3850

We live near Stockport, in the south of the Greater Manchester metro area. Not pretty - but it is home. 😀

Thank you, both. That helps things along nicely. By the by, you live in a lovely part of the world, Mackdogmolly. We spent a few days in Burlington as part of a wider New England road trip in 2018. I have fond memories - the lake, the scenery, the restaurants - especially my second best ever tiramisu at Trattoria Delia.

In recent years, we've cruised with Oceania and like the relaxed atmosphere on board, including the ease with which you can get a table for two in the Grand Dining Room. We're currently considering a "last minute" cruise with Azamara and hope regulars on the line can help to clarify the dining arrangements. Apologies - I'm sure it must have been asked before but the search function didnt help too much. Is it easy to get a two-top? TIA John

I could trot out the number of MIchelin starred restaurants I've been to over the years but it would have no relevance to discussing O's food. I do, however, consider that if an O dining venue was a restaurant at home, would we go back to it. And, generally speaking, we wouldnt (except Toscana which is as good as the Italian place we go to regularly).

Yes. We bank with NatWest and used to get free basic travel insurance through them (plus cost for pre-existing issues). Then they pulled the plug and simply declined to insure us any longer (nothing had chnaged about our medical condition). We've had insurance with Staysure before moving to All Clear as a better bet than Staysure, after shopping around with the companies recommended on the Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert website.. This next cruise will, almost certainly, be our last trip involving the States so, when we come to renew, it should be back to a more manageable cost.

Certainly been something of an issue with us with All Clear. It is already expensive for both of us (at around a total of £1300) and the addition of a couple of small new "existing conditions" have added a few quid each time we've phoned. The big surprise was just how much the addition of six days cover for the USA and Caribbean, for a transatlantic cruise, would add. We knew there would be a significant increase but never thought it would double the £1300.

Ages back (maybe 12 - 18 months ago), I asked an open "Viking vs Oceania" question on this forum. I also asked the same question on the Viking forum. Both provided interesting comparisions and the search facility should find them for anyone interested. Our current strategy is to look forward to our forthcoming O cruise and enjoy it. We've then decided to have a very serious reflection. It may be that we decide we don't want to afford cruising in future. But, if we do, then does O continue to be where we want to be or might other lines, like Viking, suit better.

It's what put me off the likes of Silversea. I have no interest in "doing formal" but nor do I want to feel I'm a sort of "out of place" inferior passenger. As such, Oceania is very comfortable for me.

Very possibly. Connected to the different way in which beef is raised here in Europe and how it's raised in the States? Grass or grain fed. And how long its hung after slaughter. I've always found American steak more tender than I'm used to but without the flavour - so I rarely order a steak when visiting the States. Of course, if you were also finding differences with pork, lamb and chicken , then there may be another reason as I would think mass catering products would have been raised in similar fashions both sides of the Atlantic.

Absolutely. One of our regular bistro type places at home has a menu where a decent home cook could probably manage every dish on its own. But try doing six starters, six mains and six desserts so that 20 people can order them night after night and it is a very different thing.

Unfortunately, I have done in the past (and my own). I play on a food and restaurant forum which has an ongoing thread "What's for dinner" where contributors recount what will be (or has been) their dinner.

I doubt there will be many home cooks who, for instance, offer six starters each day (even if a couple of them are always there). But I can prepare some of them better - even though I'm a better eater than cook.

I commented upthread about our Nautica GDR experience last summer. It's difficult to remember details when there's a gap of several years but I have sense that, with our 2017 cruise on Marina, the GDR was better. Maybe not dramatically different but I've checked my personal diary for that trip and didnt make the same adverse comments then.

We had the Heidsieck last summer on Nautica. I don't drink alcohol but my companion in life said it was very drinkable. And when I checked retail prices at home, it was certainly a lot more than we'd usually pay for a bottle of champagne. So, quite an upmarket offering.

We enjoyed the GDR on Nautica last summer. The room has a nice atmosphere that we didnt feel in the other dining spaces. Yes, the service was inconsistent (breakfast service was just weird), the menu a bit repetitive over the ten days (although we always found something to enjoy) and portions a bit small (but ordering a couple of sides solved that issue, or ordering cheese as well as a dessert). We ate well enough, although the "finest cuisine at sea" is surely marketing puffery (although I don't have other lines to compare with)

Although worthy of a note that, as I understand it, "cruise only" was never an option for customers outside North America. Certainly I can't recall it ever being available to me in the UK. But I certainly understand the broader point that SM now includes things that have to be paid for by everyone. I could whinge about that - as someone who doesnt drink alcohol - but don't. It is what it is and there's no point, IMO, in moaning about the loss of what used to be. It's gone.

Indeed. We're actually looking at an upmarket all-inclusive resort in Cyprus for the autumn which would come in at about 50% of an O cruise. It looks as though it will replicate the hotel/restaurant side of a cruise although, of course, it's not sailing anywhere.

That's certainly my plan. We'll see then if it continues to represent value for money for us - it is by far, the most money we have spent on holidays. If not, we may look towards other lines or, indeed, that might be us done with cruising.

I know more about restaurant reviews than cruise food reviews. But you do raise an interesting point. With restaurants, there seems to be a pattern that the higher up the scale you go, the more tolerant folk are of minor errors. Maybe something along the lines of "I've paid all this money so it must be good", whereas in their neighbourhood bistro they are likely to set off on a rant that the soup wasnt hot enough. But that's definitely not what's happening here.Now, I will be the first to agree that O's food quality isnt as good as it likes to portray it, but is isnt bad, bearing in mind this is a mass catering enterprise, not the individual care of your local bistro.

In terms of recentish posts here, I think I can offer a possible explanation. And that's the introduction of Simply More which has not suited a number of established customers who have made unfavourable comparisons between "then" and "now". This will pass with time as "then" fades into the background, and contributions come from cruisers who only know "now".

Folk like to complain. Simples. And, maybe, whilst they are critical of Oceania, they havent really found anywhere else that's better. But I do understand your point.

Thanks for this. I have a few weeks to run before our Vista cruise. I was particularly interested on your comments about the culinary side of things as, from what you wrote, I think you are in the hospitality biz.

Do you feel lucky today, hog.

Very possibly. Many years back, part of my work responsibilities were to deal with small claims made against my employer ( the local council). Unless it was a very blatant attempt at a con, then it was often quicker/cheaper/easier to offer a small settlement rather than get into a long tangle over getting the claimant to actually prove they had suffered loss. Can you actually prove you had that camera, Mr Cruiser, which you claim we removed from your lounger and lost? Even if you can somehow prove that you did have a camera, where is the evidence that it was our crew member who removed and lost it, rather than some thieving passenger who take advantage of your own stupidity leaving it on your lounger.