Rumpledbumskin

We were on Vista last August for an overnight stay. We docked right in town, along with a couple much larger ships. We walked to meet our private tour group in about 15 minutes, but it’s really only five minutes into the city. Jim

My wife and I were in 70something, forward port side I think, for 21 days last summer. We could hear the next door tv faintly, and sometimes the odd word of conversation. It was not enough to be bothersome, just a bit of background noise like you would have in almost any city hotel room.

Just off the Vista last week. The new lounge is very nice with lots of high tech theatre type things (you know, lights, sound, etc). The rows are well spaced to allow people to pass. Even tall folks like me will be comfortable. The raking of the seats seems to be less at the back so that you might have a problem seeing over the person in front. Seems to be better in the front half. It is cold. On every occasion over a 24 day cruise, I wished I had a sweater. My wife wore a shawl. I found the sound to be too loud on many of the performances and often saw people with their fingers in their ears. But this was only an occasional problem through the shows so I only saw one couple actually leave. I didn’t make any suggestions to the crew about sound levels, but they have a very high tech sound room so they could probably adjust it. The shows are definitely improved over my past couple cruises. I enjoyed all but one of them (won’t say which cause tastes differ). They also brought in a couple good comedians and singers, most were very good, only one was not to my taste - which is quite eclectic (but doesn’t include country music which they did not have anyway). Now, the guy in Martini’s bar, singing and playing the piano and guitar, was the ****. Sorry for that blunt comment. Young fellow. I don’t know his name. Jim

Too early to say I think. After all, the experiment is only a few months old. Jim

We stayed there last fall. The cab fare from the airport was about 40 euro’s but it may be a set fee to the centre of Barcelona. I don’t recall for sure. The cab to the cruise port was 15 or so. It’s a short ride. You can see the cruise ships from the port end of the Ramblas. We had no problems with cabs in Barcelona. They are clearly marked and use a meter. But, be sure to mention to the driver that you are at the Palacete not the Continental Ramblas which is a few blocks along the Ramblas. The Palacete is north of the Placa de Catalunya and the Ramblas south. Our driver did not know that and took us to the wrong one initially. JIm

My wife and I dined in Ember a week ago. I think the decor is quite nice. There are some very nice design features with lots of hardwood. I can’t complain about the noise level because it was not very busy when we were there, just moderately so. But, I could see that it would be noisy because of all the hard surfaces. The food was good, we had no complaints. I can’t understand the American obsession with mac and cheese (even with lobster on top), but it clearly made the point that this venue was geared to American cuisine. I have no problem with that, I can make my own choices. That’s why they have a menu. We also found the portions to be very large. A bit of a waste, but again, I can decide how much I want to eat. I had read on the boards that at Ember they are trying to have a faster pace and that is true in spades. Our appetizer arrived and within two minutes, our salads arrived. There wasn’t room on the table for all the plates. And they were barely finished when the mains arrived. When the maitre’d stopped to ask how things were going, we commented that it was just too fast. We had a discussion in which he said they were trying to get a couple in and out in an hour, a foursome in one hour fifteen minutes. We tried to make the point that while some people like a quicker meal, serving two courses at once was not sensible. He was very nice about it and said he’d ask our servers to slow it down for us a bit, but he was clear, the intent was speed. But this was after the fact, and we’d already wolfed down our meals with hardly any time to taste them. So, our take on it was nice decor, good food, but too much food, served way too fast. As an after thought, we took the opportunity a couple days ago to cancel our second reservation at Ember and got one at Toscana. That’s what my dad used to call voting with your feet. For those of you who want a very quick meal, enjoy. Jim

Breakfast on the Terrace in Monte Carlo.

And Bingo, about 4 hours after I submitted it by email, the credit is in my account. They also sent an updated set of contracts… the whole 9 yards. Jim

I submitted the form by email this morning and within 20 minutes I received an acknowledgement that it was received and would be processed. I sent a pdf of my proxy card as well as an account statement. Our cruise is in mid July. I’ve never done this before so I have no idea how long it takes, but I’ll keep you posted.

Let’s lower the temperature here a bit if we can. Many years ago I was looking to buy a car. I went to see a neighbour who was a car salesman at a dealership. When we found one I liked, we talked price and he eventually offered me some money off, out of his commission. I said I don’t want to eat into your commission, after all, you are a friend. He said,”Then why did you come to me, and not just any salesman?”. He said he made the offer and he would still be making money. My point is that he understood that if you treat a customer well they will likely come back. I don’t expect anything from a sales person but I expect that they are the best judge of what they are making on a sale. If they feel they can make an offer to me and still make the money they want, then everyone is a happy camper. I’d probably go back. As a long time consultant, I know that it’s best not to try to make all the money on one contract. Make a good deal for both sides and you make more in the long run. And I don’t think it is rude to ask a sales person if there is anything else you can do for me on this deal. That’s just part of the process of negotiating a price. Just my opinion Jim

Hank: I thought I’d add my two cents (They are Canadian cents, so about 1.5 US). I cruise for the croissants. I dream about the croissants on Oceania. Best I’ve ever had. Having said that, I’ve never had a bad meal on Oceania but I’ve only had two cruises with them. All meals were good and I include all the venues. Some were outstanding. I recall a pasta Cacio e Pepe on Riviera last summer that was a religious experience. Just a little dish, but perfect. But, as several have said, food is subjective. I think you’ll enjoy it. I took the time to read your thread on a recent HAL cruise and one theme stood out: entertainment. You often commented that the ship closed down at 10:30 and that no venues were open much later. I think you might find a similar vibe on Oceania although perhaps not that bad. I recall things getting pretty quiet after the shows. And the shows were decent, nothing earth shattering or stand up ovation worthy. One thing about Oceania is that a lot of the cruisers are port oriented and get to bed early so they can get up early and off to their excursions. So, my recommendation is that you look at the boards to see comments on the entertainment and how lively the bars are. I think the rest of the amenities on Oceania will fulfill your expectations Jim

It’s unfortunate that you didn’t have a good experience. I understand completely that you didn’t complain. I hate complaining too. I usually just hope that things will improve. I am fortunate that my partner feels comfortable speaking up. Some on here seem to want to blame the victim. I won’t. Maybe things would have improved if you’d spoken up. Maybe they wouldn’t have. But it is a perhaps a good lesson to us all to speak to someone who can make things change. I hope you get a chance to try Oceania again. I’ve had nothing but good experiences sailing with them. Good luck on your next cruise, whoever you sail with. Jim

I tracked down an article summarizing Mr. del Rio’s comments and it concerns me somewhat. My wife and I like the niche that Oceania has carved out, allowing us to customize our cruise. We don’t like the all inclusive lines such as Regent because we end up paying for things we don’t want. We don’t drink enough alcohol, we don’t take enough cruise company excursions, and we usually enjoy booking our own air because we like to go early and stay late. The O Life program allows us to pick and pay for what we want. I get that others may like the all inclusive package, but I hope Oceania doesn’t remove all the choices for the rest of us. Jim

For our cruise last summer we received a FedEx envelope with an empty Oceania folder - except for one set of luggage tags. The FedEx envelope looked like it had been dragged to Calgary by the Pony Express. FedEx was no help nor was there time for Oceania to do anything. Too bad, we looked forward to that document as a memento. And I suppose that it was too small an issue for Oceania to demand their money back. If it had been me, I would have enjoyed the prospect of taking on FedEx for the postage. Jim