YoPhilly

On 10/3/2022 at 2:52 PM, Presto2 said:

We are researching a number of cruises for a 'special' birthday and possibly retirement cruise.

We normally sail with P&O or Celebrity (last cruise spoiled us on EDGE in August 2019)

Just wondering how Celebrity compares with Oceania as we have seen some great itineraries that we would love to do.

Presto, we are frequent Celebrity cruisers and have migrated to O for the most part.  O ships are much smaller than X's ships so you won't have as many entertainment options.  The food on O is much better than X.  We especially like that the buffet restaurant on O doesn't allow passengers to scoop out their own food; staff scoop the food onto passengers' plates, which eliminates the gross factor.  Specialty restaurants on O are free - no added charges.  And no charges for specialty coffees.  With all that said, I will say that your comment about loving EDGE should be cautionary: if you like such a huge ship, I'm doubtful that O's ships would satisfy you.

On 10/2/2022 at 4:02 PM, rkacruiser said:

On what ship?   Pack as one would do for a 10-14 day cruise; plan to either do laundry or use the ship's laundry services.  What type of cabin have you booked?  I have never had any "tight quarters" feel to an outside cabin.  If there is a veranda, that makes the cabin experience even better.  

We'll be on Oceania Insignia in a veranda cabin....hoping my husband and I are still friends when we disembark!  🤣

On 10/2/2022 at 5:35 PM, susiesan said:

YoPhilly: are you on the roll call? You can find out some info there about how to get in touch with me.

There is very little activity though, just very few of us planning to do anything together.

 

Susie, I've seen your posts there.  We've been to the Caribbean so many times - and to virtually every island - that we don't do shore excursions anymore.  We just do our own thing.

We're jumping into transocean cruising with both feet!  Our first transocean voyage will be 29 days from Los Angeles to Auckland.  What do we need to know?  Weather in January?  Packing tips?  How did you manage close quarters for such a long time?

4 hours ago, susiesan said:

My Marina cruise Dec. 4, 14 day Carribean, is waitlisted in all categories. I think it will be 100% full as this itinerary is very popular.  I doubt O is holding back cabins for anything if they have an opportunity to sell them.

 

Why would O use deck 7 for quarantining when they quarantine people in their own cabins?  My cabin is on deck 7 so that deck has been sold. They don't move people out of their assigned cabin to quarantine like other cruise lines do. 

Susiesan, we're on that cruise as well.  Maybe we'll get to meet.

1 minute ago, PhD-iva said:

Agree OLife is confusing to (almost) all. We have some posters with advanced degrees in OLife, so the fire hose of good advice is coming shortly.

Also, give the search function here on cc a try. Search olife and you’ll get LOTS of hits.

Agree with the comment that if entertainment is important to you, O might not be your new home. We often hear, and I agree, that the pax are the entertainment. You’ll meet interesting people who have lived interesting lives, and you’ll make new friends.

Since I’m surfing cruisecritic more weeks in a year than I am cruising onboard a ship, I also appreciate the “tone” I find here on the O forum. The Celebrity forum had too many trolls and angry, sharp-sounding posts. You’ll find a little bit of that here as well, but not as much as on the X forum. So, I cruise on O for the virtual community as well.

Perfectly stated!

Hello.  We too are converts.  After many cruises on Princess, we jumped ship to Celebrity, and then tried Oceania.  Although we don't rule out Celebrity completely, we love O's smaller ships - fewer passengers, better service, delicious food.  Our first O cruise was an oceanview on the Regatta - one of the R ships.  Although the cabins are smaller than their larger sisters, we didn't mind it at all.  No matter which category, you're never far from an outside deck.  If entertainment is very important to you, I'd say it's not for you.  Yes, there is usually some musical group in the bar area and generally daytime lectures or something like that.  Regarding specialty restaurants, you're initially allotted a certain number of reservations in each restaurant based on your cabin category - which you can and should book prior to sailing.  Once onboard, you can request additional reservations on an ad hoc basis.

Only you know if it's right for you.  I'd recommend giving it a try.  You might just love it like the rest of us! 😁

14 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Great!  Probably two areas on that itinerary that you will visit are Fjordland National Park and Milford Sound.  I wish for you the same great weather that I have enjoyed each time I have visited those areas.  The Sounds of Fjordland are my favorite, but Milford Sound is lovely in its own way, I think.  

Thank you, rkacruiser.  We have 18 months of excitement until embarkation!

We're new to Viking.  Where on Orion can we get barista-type coffees like cappuccino, etc.?

22 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

You will be stopping at some islands en route to Auckland and that will add more enjoyment for you.  I hope you are planning on staying in Auckland and New Zealand for a few days.  Auckland many attractions and New Zealand is an interesting and beautiful country to visit.  

Yes, we'll do a 15-day cruise around NZ and then Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney.

12 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I am likely to encounter areas with folks dozing in their chairs, doing their knitting, etc. 

Ouch, Hank!!!  You're likely to see me knitting out on deck, but that doesn't mean I'm a sleepy old fart!  🤣🤣🤣. I bring books, knitting and other things to keep me busy on sea days.  If you see me out on O's deck with my knitting, be sure to stop and say hi. 😁

What can we expect in the Pacific in January?  L.A. to Auckland.

We've wanted to do a transatlantic for years and never quite managed to do one.  So what did we choose for our first trans-ocean cruise?  29 days Los Angeles to Auckland!!  Fingers crossed that we'll enjoy it.  I think so, because we mostly love just being out on the water.  Here's hoping!

1 hour ago, mauibabes said:

Yo 

On our segment in 2018, we found people are great on board, you just have to be willing to “share” a table for meals and partake in the activities on board.  Trivia is a great place, all the games for Big OPoints, CC Meet and Greet  and the list goes on. You will have a wonderful time and the number of sea days will add to the opportunities to meet and get to know many of the wonderful O guests. Make sure you are participating in your cruises Roll Call and you will have many new friends as soon as you set foot on the ship. 
Ciao, Mauibabes 

Thanks, Mauibabes!

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

For those that think they can just travel with carry-on....well maybe yes and maybe no.  There is an online story (today) about a women who was traveling on Lufthansa with only carry-on.  The airline made her check her carry-on because there was no more overhead space.  When she reached Frankfurt she was unable to get her luggage.  Lufthansa said it was piled with about 20,000 other pieces and they would get it to her within the next two weeks!  That is reality.  

With all the air travel craziness this summer, I booked biz class.  I'm assuming they'll have overhead space for my carry-on.  Fingers crossed!

On 7/9/2022 at 11:31 AM, Ski Mom 2 said:

We have wanted to go to Australia and New Zealand for several years. If we weren't booked on Oceania's South America cruise in January 2023 we would have gone on Windstar's Australia and New Zealand cruises instead (we are fans of both Oceania and Windstar). Windstar has not released their 2024 cruises yet (except for a few but I'm hopeful they too might repeat those same cruises in 2024) so for now, I'm looking at other options for January/February 2024 for Australia and New Zealand.

 

I see Insignia will be sailing on her AWC and has 2 cruises in February 2024 that go exactly where I'd like to go: Jewels of New Zealand and Australia's Embrace.

 

My questions are: What are your thoughts on being onboard the AWC but not being a part of the AWC? How many of the cabins are typically filled for the AWC? 25%? 50%? 75% Many cabins already say "waitlisted" and I'm not ready to pull the trigger on this yet. Is it awkward being on board but not being a part of the AWC? We make friends easily but just wonder if it's hard not being part of the AWC and all the activities that go along with being on the AWC.

 

Thanks for any insights!

We just booked the Los Angeles to Auckland segment, and I have similar questions.  I'm hoping my husband and I aren't "outcasts" for 29 days! 😁

16 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

One thing we are considering is using Luggage Free or similar service to ship our bags to Miami, $95 for Checked bags size and less for Carry On size. Our bags will be in our room when we arrive on board, Guaranteed 🙏🤞. A bit of a cost but peace of mind and reduced anxiety is worth $100 IMHO. 

Well that's interesting.  I usually travel with just a carry-on but I'm surprised that the luggage shipping service is that reasonable!

On 7/9/2022 at 2:58 PM, Mpc524 said:

And, don’t cough into your hand then handle the utensils at the buffet! 🤮🤮🤮

We generally believe buffet areas are gross, with hundreds of people breathing on food and touching the utensils.  This is one reason we like to cruise with Oceania.  Passengers don't serve themselves at the buffet; staff ladle/serve the food onto our plates.  I wish all cruise lines did this.

54 minutes ago, MomC said:

Thank you so much!  I knew I would get an answer from people on Cruise Critic!  Best resource for anyone going on a cruise!

As Smokey Robinson said, "I second that emotion!" 😁

17 hours ago, zoncom said:

Oceania cabins going solo are Es, not D.

Oops, you’re right!

On 3/13/2022 at 12:58 PM, di T said:

Also have travelled many many times with Celebrity but this year just one b2b with them and next year we will try O after the last two years I decided we deserve to try some of the more up market cruises! Food is our favourite pastime😂

Yes, it’s interesting to see how we’ve progressed.  We went from Princess to Celebrity to Oceania.  We love it.

On 3/11/2022 at 3:56 PM, ORV said:

You might want to enjoy pizza at home, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed with what Oceania serves. I'm sure some will disagree with me. They do a lot of food great, pizza is not one of them, at least as for what I like. 

I prefer thin crust pizza so it works for me but honestly, why eat pizza when there’s so many other good things to eat!

Oceania Cruises just announced last week that they're allocating 14 Category D cabins on each of their 4 smaller ships (R-class) to become solo cabins.  Anyone interested should look at sailings on Insignia, Sirena, Regatta and Nautica.  Oceania will announce solo pricing for these cabins on April 11.

I've traveled solo quite often during my 20+ year marriage.  My husband doesn't enjoy international travel as I do, so I've done almost all of that alone.  That said, he loves cruising so I can usually count on him joining me onboard.  This year, he isn't ready to travel (COVID-wise) so I'm taking my first solo cruise, combined with 2 weeks island hopping in Greece.  I can't wait!!!

Although it sounds kind of crass to comment on the horrors of this war in terms of a cruise vacation, I'm hoping the Black Sea and port of Istanbul don't become mired in the conflict.