Vista Deck Plans are now viewable:

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/ships/vista/deck-plans

We were on Equinox 8/1, and there were a variety of arts and crafts activities—typically two a day. We did not attend, as they were too “early” (i.e., before noon) for us. Happy sailing!

Some photos of the Retreat sun deck… nice and warm today.

Pasta bar is OPEN

25 minutes ago, VermontsFinest said:

Not the original poster, but looks like a Miami Vice (mix of pina colada and strawberry daiquiri, a great drink to get with or without alcohol)

Exactly right! These are virgin… and you’re right, they are delicious either way!

30 mins garage to room; no test required for vaxxed; surprisingly smooth, certainly no line outside the building at all (a few small lines inside but smooth).

Good morning. A moment ago, received new guidance from Celebrity for today’s (8/1) Equinox sailing: “Pre-cruise testing in the terminal today will be optional for vaccinated guests and required for unvaccinated guests. ”

41 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

@cdcummings I hope you will log on tomorrow and advise how things are going on Equinox.  BTW where  did you get the test so quickly?

Will do. I had some appointments booked *just in case* they did this… we are obviously fully vaccinated, but I had a premonition they would do this at this last minute and figured it wouldn’t hurt to have tests at the ready. Lo and behold…

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

I doubt if those boarding today had time to get tested. My sister said they didn't get the email from Celebrity until they were getting ready to head to the terminal. She had an 11:30 boarding time.

Yes, I agree with you; that makes sense, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Thank you for keeping us posted, Terry!

Hi, we are boarding Equinox tomorrow. Miraculously we were able to get tests on short notice. The email sent by X yesterday explicitly mentioned skipping the testing line if you have results in hand.

Would you please kindly share with us if this is happening? Thank you for generously sharing your eyewitness report with us. Happy cruising.

2 minutes ago, hcat said:

We went through the testing procedures last spring flying home from Florida, west coast.  The  pre flight long test ( PCR?) ... at a walk in  place  next town over.was covered by Medicare but took a few days for results.

 

  The  rapid test  would have cost abt  $85 at another  walk in.. Free gov administered tests were quite a distance away.  CvS would not take us b/c we were not Fla residents

 

Arriving in NY we had to take another test 3 days later,  that was  covered by ins at a pop up  walk in near the airport  but has since closed.

 

Here we go again! It adds another level if stress and planning...wonder if we should  just trust the ship administered test??? Any thoughts?

Here’s my thought: I’m going to need several extra drinks once I get on board Sunday to forget about this.

Equinox 8/1 mandatory testing for all regardless of vax; testing at pier; provide test results at pier to skip test. See attached email rec’d minutes ago

28 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

A word of caution, gentlemen, especially US Americans. 
 

On a several week long trip, PapaFej needed a cut during land time between cruises. We were in Salzburg, visiting our daughter who was studying abroad. 
 

Normally, I clip his hair with a 2 on the sides and a 3 up top. He requested the same from the Austrian  barber, neglecting to consider that the numbers there referred to millimeters, not eighths of an inch. His hair ended up rather shorter than he had intended. 🤣

 

 

This reminds me of an incident a few years ago on Celebrity Eclipse. I was using gym equipment adjacent to another person. He remarked that he seemed to have lost about half his strength, judging from the weight setting on the machine as compared to his usual setting at home. I pointed out the weights (at least at that time on that ship) were in kilos instead of pounds, and we shared a good laugh.

Good afternoon. I am looking forward to my men’s haircut on Celebrity Equinox later next month, which I booked through the cruise planner at a price of $35 plus a $6.30 service charge. My intent, like you, is for a simple haircut using clippers not scissors.

This is the most “basic” men’s hair service I could find; if there is a more inexpensive offering, I did not locate it.

I hope this helps. Happy sailing!

10 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Have they published the actual itinerary dates? I see these will be available for booking on the 24th.

Not seeing anything yet; wish they would put out more detailed info ahead of time as Crystal did. Perhaps they will.

Hello, does the passage below from LLP’s email convey that we MUST book flights through Celebrity and that we will not have the option of booking flights independently?

“Take advantage of special air and sea pricing offering exceptional savings on all Summer 2021 St. Maarten sailings starting at $1,999* per person for a veranda stateroom. The offer applies to new bookings and flights must be booked through Flights By Celebrity and prices include airfare taxes. No promotional code is needed.”

What are your thoughts?

11 minutes ago, Aloha 1 said:

One of the signatures things we love about  the O class ships is coming back to afternoon tea in Horizon's after a day on shore  and listening to the string quartet. A reminder of more civilized times. If tea is moved to Baristas on Vista, that should be one big expansion to handle the crowd. And I hope it doesn't mean the demise of classical music at tea.

This is also our favorite experience, especially with regard to the string quartet. It is especially enjoyable to stop off at the library to borrow a book to peruse during tea time. Yes, it is exceptionally civilized. The loss of of the quartet would be lamentable. While other lines (thinking specifically of Seabourn and Regent) have made live music a mainstay of teatime, I have personally not experienced a string quartet at their teatimes, having to "make do" with only a pianist or other soloist.

We would adapt to, but would not prefer, the ambiance of Cunard afternoon tea in the Queen's Room. It is an enjoyable experience, but it is decidedly more lively and lacks the relaxed understatement of Oceania's offering in this regard.

As I suggested above, they could keep the ambiance of afternoon tea if they were to move it to a wintergarden-like setting; we would also be perfectly happy if afternoon tea were to stay in Horizons if for no other reason than to enjoy the view.

We would settle for tea almost anywhere on the ship if it meant sailing again...

Here are photos from five of our favorite memories; all of these are from a December 2017 Christmas/New Year's sailing on Riviera.

(1) Our traditional virgin Miami Vices at the pool bar upon boarding

(2) the pastry cart at tea time, of course

(3) during a port of call at Barbados, watching the QM2 sail away while sitting out back at the Terrace Cafe enjoying dinner al fresco

(4) my mother and I at the NYE celebration at the pool deck; my hair was much shorter then. That evening was an unscheduled stop at St. Maarten because of a medical emergency. The "pit stop" resulted in a very uncomfortable (but equally memorable) full-speed trip through some particularly rough seas on the last night of the voyage (January 2, 2018) to make back to Miami at the scheduled arrival time. The seas were so rough that my veranda door flung itself open at about 2 o'clock in the morning with the wind howling accompanied by lightning and thunder. Quite a wake-up call.

(5) enjoying a magnum of Moët rosé champagne at tea time

And for an honorable mention: watching Jacques' cooking demonstration on the stateroom television

If that is true, that is a remarkable development, and it would certainly trigger a Form 8-K filing with the SEC. As of now, I do not see any such filing on their investor relations site. Would you mind sharing the source of your information?

Indulging in speculation, the private equity firms are undertaking a dramatic number of deals in travel and other industries right now. It would not surprise me if NCLH were to spin off Oceania in a fashion similar to RCI and Azamara. It would likely be a deal to take Oceania private for a period of years, then to restructure it through so-called value engineering, and then take it public sometime in the future. In that hypothetical case, the shareholder benefit would terminate when your shares are redeemed and the deal closes but would likely not impact discounts already applied to existing bookings.

It is worth nothing that NCLH is still struggling with extraordinary cash burn; just this month, they announced offerings of over 50,000,000 additional shares to satisfy their current operating costs and future debt repayment obligations. With those extraordinary measures underway, I am sure that NCLH is looking at all "strategic" options, including spinning off one or more subsidiaries. Given the synergies and shared resources between Oceania and Regent, I would be shocked if NCLH carved out a sale of Oceania without also including Regent (but it is certainly possible).

The board's fiduciary responsibilities not only make this possibility likely but, in fact, obligate them to at least consider offers to purchase assets made by third-parties in good faith.

If Azamara with its three (soon to be four) ship fleet size is viable as an acquisition target (as evidenced by the transaction with Sycamore, the private equity firm), then Oceania is arguably an even more lucrative target for a potential spin-off. If I had the cash, I would do the deal myself. Sadly, I don't. :-)

Taking Oceania private though a transaction of this type would have myriad benefits and drawbacks. The most obvious drawback would be the efforts to value engineer (i.e. increase prices and decrease onboard product). The benefits are more subtle: NCLH is going to have very significant financial problems for the foreseeable future, even once sailings start again. Chapter 11 is not going out of the question (as is the case for every travel operator who took on tremendous amounts of debt during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic). A transaction to take Oceania private would at least ensure their financial stability, regardless of what happens to the current parent company.

All of that would be addressed by an 8-K filing which, again, does not exist at the moment. Thus, until we see that, we can only speculate.

3 hours ago, mofrances said:

My TA notified us of the cancellation of our June 27 Riviera cruise this morning. So disappointed...

We were booked on this sailing as well but have not heard from our TA yet. Thank you for the heads up. Are you considering booking the nearly identical sailing on 25 June 2022? That is our tentative plan.

23 minutes ago, ORV said:

Hi CD, thanks for posting this. Welcome to Cruise Critic. Do you work for Oceania or NCL? Perhaps Cruise Industry news? Haven't seen you around these parts before. 

 

 

Hi ORV, no, I don't work in in the industry; travel is merely my hobby. I am 28 and take holidays with my mother, often, though not exclusively, on Oceania. I have lurked on CC for many years and only recently made an account to ask a question in the Atlas Ocean Voyages Q&A.

5 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

 

As to the above list and the comments made by the OCA.

 

3. The ship will have a differently themed steak/chophouse. It won’t be the Polo Grill.

 

5.  The ship will have newly themed French restaurant/bistro. It won’t be Jacques.

 

8. Baristas will be significantly expanded, even more than on Riveria, and become more like a French cafe with table clothes and some food service. Maybe even inside and outside seating. Afternoon Tea will be moved from Horizons to this new location.

 

Horizons will have improved acoustics and redesigned to be a more “ high energy “ atmosphere, especially for Happy Hour(s).

This is interesting analysis; we love the ambiance of Polo Grill. I am hopeful that they don't eschew the traditional setting in favor of something too "modern." Do you think they will adopt the Prime 7 "brand" from Regent? Or something more exotic?

The prospect of inside/outside seating for afternoon tea is very appealing! I am hopeful they do not adopt the very heavy and dark decor of the Observation Lounge on RSSC Explorer; would prefer they go in the direction of the wintergarden similar to Viking Ocean.

The computer rendering of the external looks very similar (but not identical) to the existing O Class. The rendering of the Grand Dining Room is impressive. Equally impressive is the inclusion of nine restaurants. More info coming in May; bookings available in September per the above.

Here is a link to the ship's page on Oceania's website; not sure if this was posted before: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/ships/vista

Per Cruise Industry News: