edgee

Plus my TA offers additional value in the form of rebates and cruise credit, sometimes gratuities. By not using a good TA who offers extra value, you are in effect paying ten to twelve percent extra for your cruise. Why would anyone want to do that?

Best way to avoid paying 'list" is to use a good travel agent who offers additional value. This avoids paying ten percent or more for every cruise as some do by booking direct with the cruise line.

Problem seems confined to Vista and also Regent Grandeur, NCLH's other very new ship built just after Vista in same ship yard. We just disembarked 25 night cruise on Oceania Marina. No such issues for us there.

Nope, the problem is absolutely pervasive throughout the ship. Spent 28 nights on her in two different cabins earlier this year. General manager acknowledged to me it does not matter where your cabin is, you will have a problem unless your neighbors are exceptionally quiet and rarely watch tv. We had a UK sports fan in cabin adjacent to us who watched sports channel at all times while in his room. Turned off TV at about 11 pm every night and it was back on at 7:30 p.m. in the morning. That was when I could sleep. He showed me that his volume level was just at 7% and TV still could be heard in our next door cabin. Reception desk offered to move me to another cabin, but said that I would still be dependent on luck of having a "quiet" neighbor. I just disembarked Marina and was told by a crew member that he had experienced a noise issue between cabins in his Vista crew cabin. Said that many crew have trouble sleeping on that ship due to the problem. Popular YouTube reviewer Gary Bembridge has a full video entitled "I test Oceania's New Ship to see Why Cruisers Are So Unhappy," which concludes that the noise between cabins problem is a major issue.

Yes, but not announced in advance. We received a note a couple of days into the cruise announcing that we would be doing it. We had great weather that day and enjoyed it very much, although nothing as remarkable as glaciers on an Alaskan cruise IME.

We dealt with it for 25 nights..Copenhagen to Reykjavik!

All good. Just respectfully explaining. Am currently on Marina in Greenland. Will definitely be easy to "chill out" and have a great day!

I prefaced what I said with IME...meaning in my experience. Further, I put the word "thin" in quotes to indicate it as a euphemism for poor sound shielding. However, after 28 nights in two different locations on Vista combined with extensive conversations with reception team, concierge, and the wonderful Vista GM, I am convinced the problem is pervasive and it is a priority to correct it eventually on Vista and make sure changes are made to Allura to be sure it does not happen there.

Naming cabin you were in is an Irrelevant point IME. All walls on Vista are equally "thin." You just were lucky in that you happened to have quiet neighbors.

Did not make us do it on Marina back to back we are currently on!

We are considering our first river cruise on AMA. Question: Unlike Avalon or Tauck, it appears that AMA does not offer a more casual dining option during dinner hours. Main dining room or fancier Chef's Table..that's it. Do they offer any kind of room service option for dinner or any other way to order and eat a quicker more casual dinner?

Prime Rib is still on the menu at Polo on Marina. I am currently enjoying my meal there very much.

Agree that locking off is a lot easier if very few holdover guests are on the cruise. Obviously on a zero count turnaround, such as I believe happens on any U.S. turnaround, where people have to get off the ship for a period of time, locking off is easier. On a cruise with nearly 300 turnarounds such as one I am currently on, not so much.

Not sure you thought about it when you composed this rant, but it certainly is not practical to block off hallways to keep new guests out. Reason is you cannot deny guests continuing from the previous cruise access to their rooms. We are currently part of 280 guest group continuing on for the next sailing on Marina. Our first cruise ends tomorrow and we need normal access tomorrow...first day of the second cruise. Nice that Oceania has a restricted reservation only lunch seating in the Grand Dining room for continuing passengers so we can escape the embarkation day chaos of new guests in the Terrace.

Fair point. For us stress of embarkation day lunch on our last 3 cruises has disappeared. Addition of Aquamor on Vista and Marina has been most welcome. We have gone right to Aquamor and enjoyed excellent, efficient wait staff served embarkation day lunch.

Agree. We are currently on a 25 night Oceania Marina cruise. After two fairly recent cruises on Vista, we are enjoying this ship more. No noise transfer between cabins, better theatre design, and on Marina they have added one thing we liked a lot on Vista. That is Aquamor restaurant.

I get it. If they don't enforce all rules, no need to adhere to any if them. So those of us who believe O does not enforce all rules have a right to break any one's we deem it convenient to ignore. Glad all guests do not adhere to a "damn the rules, I'll do what I want, philosophy.

The architect who designed the Vista lounge should be thrown out of the profession for malpractice (along with the idiot who set specifications for the (non existent) soundproofing between cabins, the slippery floors in the Terrace and the aft stairway that does not go below deck six.) Theatre site lines are awful and many rows off to the side have only one entrance/exit side, meaning lots of guests must be bothered to stand to let others in and out of rows.

No. The cruise line expects most guests to behave like cooperative adults. Your post is a reminder that, sadly, some act like neither.

Doesn't work that way for many. Folks paid a lot for their cruise and want to get on and get their money's worth. Why pay for lunch off the ship when you have already paid for it on the ship? BTW, Not all of us like the food in Barcelona. We spent two days there following Regent cruise in April..unimpressed.

I am.in suitecurrently on Marina. Just two AFAIK.

No mention to me, but a frequent reviewer posted that he was told Oceania would be addressing the problem. I have seen no specifics about whether it will have to wait until dry dock or can be done during ongoing operations. One very partial, but easy fix IMHO would be to install forward facing sound bars on tvs to eliminate sound from back of tvs pointing directly toward poorly insulated wall. Lots of discussion of that on other threads.

After two cruises totalling 27 nights on Vista, highly unlikely we will cruise on her again. The noise between the cabins issue is pervasive. Those who have not had a problem are lucky. Period. Does not matter location or type of cabin, according to my conversations with the General Manager. One's ability to enjoy the cruise, based on luck of having quiet neighbors is unacceptable. Understand that Regent Grandeur (built in same shipyard shortly after Vista) has the same issue.

Through a combination of sources my wife and I have $400 each in shipboard credit (not to be confused with SM excursion credit) for an upcoming cruise. Is this treated by Oceania as $800 for the cabin,or can each of us only spend our own $400? For example, if she purchases a $550 spa services package for the cruise, can she draw from our $800 combination of credits, or would she be charged on the credit card the $150 difference in excess being spent over her $400. Reason I ask is that I know that SM excursion credit cannot be shared between cabin occupants..wondering if it is the same for "regular" non refundable credit.

IME, for good or bad, Oceania and Regent miss more ports than any other cruise company. In about 15 cruises with the company, I believe in one of them we made every port as originally scheduled. Their manner of decision making is a positive if you believe that they err on the side of caution. I just know that in 30 plus cruises with non NCL owned companies, I can count on one hand the number of times we have missed a port. Occasionally Oceania and Regent do not even give a reason for missing a port or significantly shortening the time in a port. They just say "for operational reasons."