johnwelch62

29 minutes ago, mancunian said:

We have had calm seas yet often in midship cabin, horizons and Terrace but particularly in Horizonsthere is an odd movement a bit like stabilisers but sharper.

I felt a "shudder" once or twice, but overall I must say that this was the smoothest cruise I have ever been on. Much of that may be due to sailing on the Adriatic vs the Carribbean or the Pacific, but still, amazingly smooth. One crew member made the observation that this is also a side effect of being a new ship, very little growth (barnacles, etc) on the hull. That seems to me like a small factor, but I'm not a hydrodynamics expert. 🙂

43 minutes ago, johnwelch62 said:

We offered to come back for the later seating, but the sommelier insisted that we stay. I've not sailed Oceania previously, so I don't know if this is the same as before, but there were three small tasting plates, not really a "dinner". When I get  a chance I'll update with photos of the dishes.

The three tasting plates were a ceviche (I'll have to ask my wife what the seafood was), a fois gras with lime jelly, and a carpacio. If I recall correctly, the ceviche was paired with the 2013 Grand Vintage, the fois gras was paired with the Nectar Imperial Demi Sec, and the carpacio was paired with the Rose Imperial.

47 minutes ago, cruisingxpert said:

I'm surprised they allowed the dinner to go ahead with only 2 people.  We were told anything less than 8 for Odyssey would be cancelled.  I did the Champagne pairing in the past and loved the Moet Rose but wasn't crazy about the other 2.  I wouldn't do it again at the current price.

 

I love Champagne but I really hope that O will ditch the Germain like Regent did.  We used to have Montaudon and Perrier Jouet.  Even the Monopole they put in your cabin is better than the Germain at $18 a glass

 

We offered to come back for the later seating, but the sommelier insisted that we stay. I've not sailed Oceania previously, so I don't know if this is the same as before, but there were three small tasting plates, not really a "dinner". When I get  a chance I'll update with photos of the dishes.

10 minutes ago, cruisingxpert said:

Maybe things will change but there was no advertisement on board for the Odyssey or Champagne wine pairing meals.  We were the only dinner that happened because I found 8 people to agree to go. However 10 seats were set up when we arrived.  Only reason I knew it existed was from reading about what they planned for Privee before the cruise.

The person working the desk for extra specialties is the one who books the La Reserve.

 

  When you board, outside Terrace, where they are selling wine packages, they had someone asking if you wanted to go to the food and wine pairing lunch.  By the time they advertised that lunch in currents it was sold out.

My wife only heard about the champagne pairing during the wine lunch, which we only discovered because we stopped at the table outside Terrace on embarkation day.

In the early champagne pairing my wife and I were the only two attendees. 😮 I'm generally not a Moet fan, but the pairing was very good, IMO.

2 minutes ago, avalong said:

Did you have to make any arrangements with Verizon ahead of time?

No, I have enabled WiFi calling on my phone and there was no need to notify Verizon.

I used WiFI calling on Verizon on our recent cruise on the Vista. And I did get a few spam calls. 🙂

3 minutes ago, JRIH said:

I've always uploaded a passport photo.  That has always done the trick.  But chances are they are going to take another photo of you at embarkation.

Thanks for that info. On DCL they require a photo that is different from your passport. 

I did a search on "security photo" but found nothing that answers my questions. When checking in do we just need to upload a photo (headshot)? Are there any requirements for the photo? 

21 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

They may stock it  already 

fingers crossed for you

Thanks. It's not a big deal for me. It's not an allergy, so if they don't have it I'll be fine. 

Just to close this out. I heard back from Oceania. Basically, sorry, too late. I will add that 90 days out seems like a long time, given my experience with other cruise lines.

Now I know for next time. 🙂

Oat milk in Barista's on VISTA is not a standard item, needs a special request to make 90 days prior to sailing.

Today, 3/30/2023 we are 51 days prior to sailing.

4 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Not sure if they have it there but request it  ahead of time  & it may be available

I know they have almond milk

Thanks for the info, I will reach out to Oceania. 

This will be our first cruise with Oceania (Vista 5/20). Baristas sounds like the place for my early mornings (Cappuccino and the NYT crossword is a ritual). Does anyone know if Oatmilk is available at Baristas? 

20 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Probably if you have 3 glasses of wine  PP PD you would be ahead of the game  $14 per glass plus 20 % grats approx $17  x 3  = $51

House select  if purchasing $39.95 PP PD

Bottles usually $50 & up

 It is all about the math & what works best  for you  😉

 

Thanks for the price point for wine by the bottle.

I think the decision will come down to more than financial considerations. But, the engineer in me likes to plan. 

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

If you drink  wine beer.champagne with lunch & dinner ONLY 

drink  2 each at both meals  then the House select will work for you

 People have to do the math

check the prices on the menu add 20% gratuity to each drink  then determine if you will drink  $40 PP PD  to make the package worth it for you

Thanks.

Yes, I guess I shoud have specified "at dinner". That was my base assumption.

And with that assumption all it takes is one additional glass of wine with a meal to make it "worth it". 

I haven't seen a price list for wine by the bottle. That could make a big difference. 

Seems to me that if my wife and I have two glasses of red wine per day we are nearing breakeven for the house package. 2*2*14*1.2 = $67.50. Package is basically $40 pp, or $80. 

Am I doing the math correctly? 

Can anyone let me know how on-board charges are settled? On the line we've previously sailed our card on record would be charged at some predefined level, e.g. once your on-board charges hits $500 your CC is charged. 

Not very important, just curios as to how it works.

Thanks

John

On 1/13/2023 at 5:23 PM, Greyhound Crazy said:

LOVE Clamato juice. 

I would think that if they do have chai tea lattes, they would be complimentary but I have no idea if they have them. 

We just booked our first Oceania Cruise last week; I'm enjoying this thread immensely. It's very helpful. Hopefully someone will know the answer about the Clamato juice question..

Can't make a michelada without Clamato!