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Considering Uniworld. Reviewing on line videos and deck plans. Unlike many other river cruise lines Uniworld top decks do not appear to have a running/ walking track. Is it possible to do exercise walking on the ship, or does no marked walking oval mean that chairs are often in the way?

Lots of larger lines have huge differences between their different ships..Celebrity comes to mind.

Glad you enjoyed your time on Vista. After 27 nights on her in two different cabins the TV sound between cabins issue is a deal breaker for us. Kudos to you for having a plan to deal with the issue. Inability to use SM shore excursion credits after our excursions were cancelled near the end of the cruise is a distant second. We have a 25 night cruise on Marina coming in July and are very much looking forward to it, but due to our disappointment with Vista and the way SM is being handled by the company, we will be very selective about the kind of Oceania cruise we book in the future and it certainly will not be on Vista.

Oceania never ever does Glacier Bay. Only a couple of cruise lines have the needed federal approvals. AFAIK no NCLH cruise lines have the approvals. They, of course do visit other Glaciers, however.

Call tripinsurancestore.com. Owner Steve Dasseos is truly a guru of trip insurance. They handle several different policies including img and give great advice. Difference is they will intervene on your behalf if you are getting an inappropriate runaround when you file a claim.

Not sure what you mean by "most" reviews, but IME, Regent's Compass Rose main dining room far exceeds Oceania's Grand Dining Room in terms of both service and its much much more diverse menu options. Specialty dining on Regent is equal to Oceania. O's Terrace Cafe "buffet" is probably a little better than Regent's equivalent venue known as La Veranda. I do like Oceania's Wave's (Sandwich, Burger bar area) better than equivalent area on Regent, but not by much. One advantage of Oceania is that they offer a very good buffet area with Lobster/steak grill each evening. It is wonderful for a casual evening meal after a hard day of touring, for example. Regent has no such equivalent evening dining option, since their buffet turns into a sit down Italian restaurant in the evening. Regent has promised a casual dining option on their two upcoming new builds which will debut in 3 and 5 years.

I normally purchase 3rd party insurance when I travel, but because Tauck coverage is not age rated for anyone 65 or older it is a great value. Taking my first Tauck river cruise and the travel insurance agency I use recommended the following strategy: Purchase the Tauck policy which insures the cost of the Tauck cruise and then purchase another policy with a very low coverage threshold to cover medical costs and air travel expenses not purchased through Tauck. By keeping the max payout of the 3rd party policy really low, you will save a lot in terms of the premium, yet still combined with the Tauck policy you will have great coverage to meet your needs.

We are coming off of a European river cruise on day our transatlantic cruise leaves from Southampton. Good news is (since river boat spends the last day and night at final port in Amsterdam) we can get off our river boat that morning & fly nonstop for just an hour from AMS to the local Southampton Airport. However, only flight is super early...arrives in Southampton at 7:30 a.m. So worth it to avoid Heathrow and the long transfer but we would be stuck with two big suitcases plus hand luggage for at least 4 hours until we can board our ship. Any suggestions on what we can do in terms of activities or even hang out and store our luggage?

This move really moves Oceania closer to the "cruise air" model used by most of the rest of the industry. "We will sell you a cruise and we also offer air to go along with it. Contact our air department to find out the price"

Thank you. Sounds like the Seine will be a good possible choice for us. Scenic's ship is small enough to go to Honfleur...not sure what others can. We toured the D day sites a few years ago from an ocean cruise.

I believe the cruise director when he says that NCLH legal department has spoken. The reason they gave to senior management and passed down through the ranks is what it is. Agree that it is a crock, but believe he is passing down the message accurately and that is the way the company will operate regarding this matter. Yet they continue to pass on printed policies that say they will take action regarding chair hoggers' stuff, even though they won't.

No, the hotel director is Oceania's most senior hotel director, moving on from Vista to open up Allura. He knows exactly what the message is from corporate. Your international waters argument makes sense, but does not stop a few Miami based lawyers who make a living suing cruise lines and getting settlements.

My TA is a big booker of Oceania and Regent. They routinely send me a rebate check for 8 to 10 % of the cruise cost about 3 weeks before embarkation. This is in addition to prepaid gratuities when and if their consortium offers it on a specific cruise. They also arrange for the Amex Platinum shipboard credit if prepaid grats are not available on a specific cruise, as Amex benefit can not be combined with prepaid gratuities.

I just received my blue folder/kit or whatever you call it for July cruise. The damn things don't even have a copy of the itinerary...just luggage tags and a brief pre printed listing of the date and number of days of our cruise as part of a welcome letter.. That's it in terms of personalization to go along with the pretty brochure about the ship and pre printed info about policies/services available on the cruise.

Agree, but would not be the first time Oceania has sent mixed signals to guests! 🙄

We have taken 2 fairly long Vista cruises. Noise between cabins is indeed a big issue. Bothered us a great deal. However, if it does not bother you or if you are lucky enough to have quiet neighbors, you will be fine most anywhere. We had cabins pretty far forward and had zero excessive motion issues.

Your point has little merit considering we are on a U.S.based cruise line catering to mainly a North American market.

I was on the March/April transatlantic on Splendor. I previously posted that installers putting in Starlink joined the ship in Miami and installed the wiring and antennae during the crossing. We were told everything is in place hardware wise. Apparently due to contractual issues Regent is treating its guests to unnecessarily crappy internet for an extended period of time.. sticking with the old provider until contract runs out. I received varying guesses from IT staff and officers about when Starlink would be activated..ranged from August to November, but consensus was it will happen this year.

Yes, the most dangerous place on the ship is between her mouth and a microphone😁

No enforcement sadly. From the highest level of NCLH the word has come down, apparently from the legal department, that guests' stuff on chairs cannot be touched by crew members. So, for now, the pool anti chair hogging "rules" are really just a request. Has to do with a guest legal action against NCLH for crew damaging valuables left too long on a pool lounger. Was told this by a hotel manager on my last O cruise earlier this year.

American has rescinded that proposed policy to only allow miles to be earned on direct and preferred travel agency bookings and fired the executive who proposed it. They have said, however, that they may consider implementing such a policy at some time in the future.

According to her husband Tom Drake's website, they get off of Serena on August 10 for vacation.

Disagree strongly. Just completed a wonderful cruise on Regent Splendor. We like Oceania, but found guests on Regent super friendly and zero surly crew members. On Oceania we have always found most of the crew and guests friendly, except reception and shore excursion staff and some officers. Unlike Oceania consistently friendly and customer service focused on Regent.

We were able to get NS Business Class flight back to U.S. on points from Lisbon on day of disembarkation. Not sure how we will deal with logistics of getting off ship with our luggage at 9 a.m. with a 4:40 flight home. We are flying TAP Air Portugal so I have heard advice that ideally we should be checking in at the airport about 1:30 p.m. Should we just go right to the airport and camp out for the 6 plus hours prior to our flight? Would they let us check our bags very early and wait in the Business Class Lounge, or would we run against "can't check bags too early" rules? Should we hire a guide and do a couple of hours of touring with our luggage in the car? Any advice appreciated. Thanks.