MEFIowa

I would consider more than just Vista! Or Allura. There are 6 other ships. We've sailed on Riviera for 30 nights since 12/2021's 10 nights & 20 more nights 10-11/2023 and 10 nights on Sirena (11/2022). I was just 58 on the first cruise. I'll be almost 61 when we do 22 more nights on Sirena 8-9/2024. My wife is 2 1/2 years younger. YES, you will get a less hectic experience on all of O's ships, but the least hectic on the 4 small Rs (e.g., Sirena). The two O-class ships (Marina & Riviera) and now Vista (later Allura) have twice the passenger capacity. We had just 719 passengers and 780 crew on Riviera 12/2021, during COVID and we were treated like royalty. BUT we had over 1230 passengers on Riviera on our 20-night B2B in 2023 and we still felt like we were treated outstandingly. And we felt the same on Sirena, when she had about 635 passengers. Just do NOT expect a lot of nightlife. Things are pretty quiet in the evenings. But we like that as we cruise on port-intensive cruises, getting up 1st thing to be off as early as we can to spend the entire day ashore where possible.

Though that has me thinking of... - Kotor & the St. John's Fortress. Trust me, climbing those 10,000 steps up is a lot easier going up at 0900 in the shade and then coming down at 1100 in the sun. Watching all those poor people climb up in the heat. They didn't even realize how far they still had to go. - Athens and the Acropolis. Hardly a line at 0900. But when we came back down & out at 1100... OMG. I swear it was 30 people wide and 3/8s a mile long! Early birds get no lines and race horses get their first.

We have NO desire to do a slow sit-down in the GDR. We do do the specialty restaurants. I do periodically try Waves in the afternoon. And always for breakfast. Did Riviera's pizza station by Waves once, too. We cruise for excursions and are off the boat first thing daily. Our upcoming 22 nights on Sirena as a B2B has 2 sea days. We'll do specialty restaurants on those. But we much prefer eating under the stars in the TC when we can. Great food we can eat in under and hour. Then some of our own alcohol in our cabin as a nightcap before retiring around 10 pm. Then up to be off as early as we can be. At every port.

Whether for lunch or dinner, we thoroughly enjoy the TC! So much that in 40 nights on Riviera and Sirena since 12/2021, we have never eaten at the GDR. TC is the perfect combination of ease of access and speed as well as food choice and quality. And we're about 60. I'm one of the last Baby Boomers, born '63.

I'd suggest "cruise only" with purchase impulse control. - Liquor: You can bring as much beer, hard liquor and wine on board at embarkation and in ports. I can enjoy them in my cabin. Haven't spent a penny on O's alcohol. And we get to drink for free on the Repeater Party and Captain's Party. Two nights each cruise. - Casino: Just don't go. (But then gambling isn't included in SM either.) - Spa: What a waste of money given their horrific mark ups. Get one before the cruise or after the cruise back home. You'll probably pay less for two back home than one on ship. We've done 40 nights off "cruise only" cruises on Riviera & Sirena since 12/2021 and have 12- nights on a SM cruise followed by 10-nights on a "cruise only" cruise on Sirena as a B2B starting 8/28/24. The SM cruise is "simply more expensive" on a per-day basis, with the add ons being worth pennies on the dollar (a beer at lunch I can't have when I'm off in port during that time is of no value). And for the most important excursions to the most fascinating places, we book our own (e.g., Ephesus & Rome) or use dirt cheap public transportation (Athens, Barcelona, Istanbul & Venice).

We're at a pier farther away. The one the farthest away if memory serves me. I'm thinking we're actually overnight in Stockholm.

Our B2B on Sirena in the Baltic in Aug-Sep 2024 is half SM and half cruise only. Booked the cruise only in 2022 when the itinerary came out. Added the additional part under the SM sale in the summer of 2023. Will be interesting to see how many lunches we get to have beer or wine at since this is a highly port-intensive cruise, which we wanted, and we're off the ship every day we can, first thing. Of course, we booked some O excursions to use up the credit. Mostly unimpressive choices. But then in Stockholm I want to see the Vasa ship museum and my wife the ABBA museum. 😉

It wasn't hard to see that SM was a general price increase disguised to look like something else when it came out in the summer of 2023. The cruises I was looking at rose in price by $800 PP when it came out. People wrongly seem to think that there was some inherent value in SM when the fare increases that came along with it dwarfed the monetary "value" of the purported benefit. So, for example, you can have a beer and wine at lunch or dinner (hardly a big deal), but if you were off the ship at lunch doing an excursion, guess what, no benefit at lunch that day. And the excursions were tied to O, at their control, so obviously they were going to do it in a way that made them money. This was always about O increasing its profit. Does one try to take solace in their attempt to raise fares in a rather devious manner? It isn't as if generalized inflation hasn't hit the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, etc. So, the fare was going to increase one way or another. They chose the more hidden route.

Though having been on Riviera pre- (12/2021) and post-update (10-11/2023) we actually preferred the PRE- better. Not a fan of Scandinavian minimalism. I'll take say dark or cherry wood to white paint or aluminum. And so much was form over function. Dumb chairs too small to sit in comfortably where the string quartet plays, for example. And my wife prefers a bathtub, too. 😉

If thru no fault of ours the excursion is cancelled due to what the Cruise Line and ship do, then YES, it is covered under our policy. Of course, we make sure to contact the excursion provider the moment we learn about the change. Do our due diligence. And in the case I mentioned, the excursion provider refunded the money. As others have said, they often seem to know about such things before we do and know that it isn't the passengers' fault.

Off that B2B we did major private tours for Ephesus and Rome, and had one scheduled for Pisa from Livorno. But we missed it due to change in port to La Spezia and a transportation strike that Friday morning. Wife contacted the private tour group and they refunded us the payment, no questions asked. They knew what was going on. And we knew the night before. We contacted them immediately. BUT we also had travel insurance, just in case.

I was on Riviera on Southern Gary's leg of what was our 20-nigh B2B on Riviera. We did Triest to Athens and then Athens to Barcelons. Very port intensive. Thinking we had just 2 sea days total. And we MISSED just one port due to high seas, Livorno, from which we diverted to La Spezia. One port exchanged for another So, we did hit port after port. We missed the private island in the Bahamas in 12/2021 off Riviera due to high seas, but made all the other ports. (Had to stop briefly off Key West to allow an elderly man to be medically evaucated from the ship to a small USCG patrol boat.) We missed St. Kitts off Sirena 11/2021 due to having to stop in the Dominican Republic on the way down for a passenger medical emergency. Had to stop and use our tender. Took them too long.

Though you might start today by looking at the recent Cabin Upgrade Sale to see if any cruise on the list is one you're interested in. TAs don't get you the sale price, for that comes from O. You can always book the sale and then transfer the booking to a TA. But you might lock in a great price on a nice cabin to start: "For a limited time, receive more luxury for less with up to a 4 Category Upgrade* on select sailings" Cruise Stateroom Deals | Oceania Cruises

You're being too modest. You might remind people who don't know HOW you got your Vista Suite. IIRC, quite the fascinating story. And who on board Riviera might've known it before you boarded or the day you boarded? And one suspects that the restaurant staff, esp. those in charge, know who is in the three (3) Oceania Suites and eight (8) Vista Suites on Riviera.

Though I'm not sure you're giving an adequate presentation for others to make sense of your specific situation on that cruise. You HAD A VERY HIGH-LEVEL cabin, far above PH. Weren't you the Vista Suite (VS) 12001? You were kind enough to give me a tour of your VS. And how you got it was out of the norm. I wonder how many know that story? And weren't you eating with the other couple, so tables for 4 most nights? How many of your 9 were tables for just 2? AND what times were you eating at? We could get the early times for our A3 cabin, but not for our B3. For sadly, as we learned at the B versus A levels on our B2B that included your 10-night cruise, O wouldn't allow us to book from the B cabin at times we wanted in advance. And once they changed our 9 pm reservation to 8:30, which seemed to be the actual last time for any couples to arrive. The places emptying out by 9 pm. All but deserted by 9:30. So begs the question, HOW did you keep getting reservations when we were denied them in advance? And none available the day of. WE tried to go to the desk to get better times. Nothing was available for us on the 4 nights we had our reservations. All crummy late times.

They were on Riviera in the Med (Oct-Nov 2023). They seemingly lived in the smoking lounge by Horizons. I thought Graham would've died of some lung disease by the end of the cruise. He was very approachable and it was a joy to see his work in progress during the cruise, with the final unveiling. One of his paintings was quite cheeky. Showed the derriere of a beautiful woman. Thinking it was titled something like "Full Moon". 😉 Died laughing discussing it with him.

Though on all four of our cruises since 12/2021, if you wanted to spend time with the senior officers and senior crew...just hang out in the inside smoking lounge by Horizons. I don't smoke but my wife does. Pretty much met all of the high mucky mucks there on all the cruises. Only exceptions seemingly being the CDs. None of whom I've sailed with were smoking there. Three of the 4 captains we've had (we had a captain changeover on Riviera on our B2B) were heavy smokers. Oddly the new Italian captain wasn't, but a senior officer smoking told me he'd quit rather recently! Enjoyed talking to the Russian captain who was in the Soviet Army back in the day. I was USAF in the Cold War. We had some fun discussions. And the Norwegian captain smoked like a chimney. Was nice to be able to compliment specific staff to their supervisors or supervisor's supervisor in the smoking lounge. Since, say, head of housekeeping and the hotel manager are smoking there.

So true! For two of our cruises it was medical issues by passengers. We had to divert to the Dominican Republic off Sirena 11/2022 to anchor and use our tender boat to send the ill passenger to a hospital there. Cost us one of the Caribbean Islands, St. Kitts, where I had been hoping to go see the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Brimstone Fortress. We had to make a stop off Key West on Riviera 12/2021 to have the USCG pick up a seriously ill passenger and high seas/waves cost us our day on the private island in the Bahamas. Off our 20 nights on Riviera in the Med 10-11/2023 we only had to cancel Livorno due to high seas/waves but substituted La Spezia. Did cost us our excursion to Pisa, though I did get to "join" the Italian Communist Party in the transportation workers' strike marching down the street that day, a Friday morning. Their hammer and sickle flag reminded me why I joined the USAF during the Cold War, that we won. Of course, the strike ended at noon and the city had a massive street sale that afternoon which we enjoyed.

We did a B2B on Riviera 10-11/2023. First in an A3 cabin and then in a B3 cabin. We LEARNED first-hand the "class feeling", a particular reality, when it came to making the reservations. We had the early times we wanted from our A3. We were S.O.O.L. for the B3. We could only get the latest times. Was funny how O actually asked us to change a 9 pm reservation to an 8:30 on one night. But we had learned why. Only a few couples came at or after 8:30. The restaurants emptying out by 9 pm. And we were left with just a few, with workers obviously wanting to leave, by 9:30. The 2nd time we ate late, we told the server up front: "No wine or alcohol. No bread or dessert courses for us. We know what we want and we're ready to order right now." So we were done well under an hour. Fortunately, we don't really want 2-hour meals and prefer the Terrace Cafe most nights.

And do keep in mind that Riviera--unlike Marina and the 4 smaller R-class ships--has the larger therapy spa "pool". Having been on both Sirena and Riviera, the spa pool on the later is not an ordinary circular spa pool/tub, but a T-shaped therapy pool. I found it perfect between 5-7 pm on days we'd walked a lot (e.g., climbed 10,000 steps to get to the top of the St. John's Fortress in Kotor, Montenengro!). Spend an hour or so there, esp. if wife was getting dressed, doing her thing to get ready for dinner at say 7:30 or 8 pm. Weirdly, seemed I was the only one there at that time those days. Suspect it was crowded on a sea day, esp. in the sunny afternoon.

IIRC, thinking it was $39 per day, where you'd pay in the Spa on any day you wanted to use it. So day by day. (Though I'd guess you could pay up front on the first day for every day if you were so inclined? But why would you. There might be a rainy day. Or a cloudy one. And you just don't want to use it those days.)

Though that reminds me that on Sirena 11/2022 our Room Steward was from Goa and our Room Attendant was a Filipina. (I lived in the RP at Clark AB in 1990-91. My son, born in the RP in 1990 and now 15 years in the Navy, met and married a Filipina while stationed in N. Japan at Misawa AB. Cosmic karma?) I've found that Security was seemingly dominated by Filipinos on all 4 of our cruises since 12/2021. Lots of Filipinas in housekeeping and in the restaurants. That was true on our recent 20-night B2B on Riviera in the Med (Oct-Nov 2023).

We've spent 40 nights on two O ships (30 on Riviera and 10 on Sirena) since 12/2021. In B2 (Sirena) and B3, A4 & A3 (Riviera). There isn't much class system other than for making the specialty restaurant reservations and the locked Concierge and Executive lounges and the locked therapy spa pool forward. We'll be in an F and a C for our upcoming 22 nights on Sirena in the Baltic. That's what we were willing to pay. And there is maybe 1 sea day! Two at most. It is weird how those extolling the virtues of the higher-level cabins rarely say how much they PAID to be in it. And how, if a lower-level cabin were chosen instead, that money could be used for excursions or airfare or something else. I've never been able to justify the serious increase in price, given that we cruise for ports and excursions, not sea days or the ships. On these boards you may run into the "Vista cheerleaders" and the "Allura cheerleaders", who make a big deal about sailing on the newest ships. That's bunk, too. All of O's ships are quite nice. We preferred Riviera in 12/2021 PRIOR to her renovation than afterward. Just not a fan of what I call "Scandinavian minimalism". To each their own and YMMV.

So, for our upcoming 22 nights B2Bon Sirena in the Baltic (starting with 3 nights in London and finishing with 3 nights in Copenhagen), our F and C1 (the big one on deck 7) are perfect for us. I think we'll have 1 sea day. So, we'll be doing and seeing and seeing and doing every day we can. So many excursions and sights to see. I even had to agree to the ABBA Musuem for my wife so I could see the preserved Swedish ship, the Vasa. 😉

I don't think we necessarily disagree at all. It is up to each person to decide which cruise line, which cruise ship, which cruise itinerary, and which cruise cabin they'll want to pay for. That suits their needs and budget. So full agreement there. BUT no one should be encouraged to feel like "PH or above is automatically better" or that "If you're not in a PH or above, you've settled for less." That's bunk. Our B3 and A3 were both perfect for us on that Riviera B2B in the Med. Would've been a complete waste of money for us to be PH or above. We spend so little time in our cabin. And we're in bed by 2200 to be off the boat the next day at 0800 for a full day of...whatever (off the ship). Forget if we had just 2 sea days out of our 20 nights B2B. Or was it just one? Just think about OUR recent cruise on Riviera. You and I were both on it. Talked to you. Gina and I did so much more in ports and excursions than you did. That was our choice and your choice. Each choice right for each of us. We were active in the extreme. Off the boat as early as we could each day in port and hopefully back at the last minute. We came to see things and do things. And if that meant taking the #38 bus in Istanbul out 4 miles to the old walls of Constantinople and a walk back, then that's what we did. So, saving money meant we could spend it on amazing excursions in places like Ephesus & Rome. AND spend 3 nights in Venice before hand and 3 nights in Barcelona after. Worth it for us. To go B3 and A3.