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Any feedback about changes in public areas of the ship...carpets, Grand Dining Room, etc would be appreciated.

I am on Marina for 25 nights starting in July. Have been following multiple FB groups and CC. Sounds like cabins other than PH may have gotten new curtains and that's about it. Also there are indications that public areas were refurbished, but would love to hear more about the extent that was done in addition to changes in Waves and addition to Aquamor.

We asked for one after arriving on the ship. Delivered to our F2 suite same day.

I object to SM because it provides a finite amount of funds that is advertised as "yours" but limitations on its use make the message disingenuous. You have a point re: Regent, but we may differ from others in that we do not mind taking included tours on Regent. We find the selection of ship tours far more extensive than those offered for a fee on Oceania and tour groups smaller and better run. Also, we are at the point where we compare O PH pricing to Regent, so that makes it closer in the price comparison we do. Also, the degree of individual service, and quality, especially in non specialty dining and in most every way on Regent exceeds Oceania in our opinion. We do find that on O Waves menu and efficiency of service exceeds comparable venue on Regent and we do like the informal Terrace dining option some evenings for which there is currently nothing comparable on Regent.

Celebrity has restored butlers to all suites. I embarked in Sky Suite on Ascent in February on the first day they began phasing them back in...started with Ascent, now back on all ships AFAIK.

You can. For example if you are on Riviera, you get one advance reservation in each of the four specialties. However, if, for example you are thinking..."I love Italian and not French, so can I get two reservations in Toscana if I do not make one in Jacque?"...the answer is no. One in each restaurant in terms of advance reservations. On board you can check if they have openings for more reservations to book during the cruise.

True, but there are honest, straight forward ways to do business and there are tough, borderline deceptive, hidden agenda/hide the ball ways of doing business. Oceania tends to lean toward the latter. I will still cruise O if the itinerary and ship is right (no small ships or "noisy thin walls" Vista), but am gradually moving toward more cruises on other lines.

IME Celebrity is an exception and does it well. We recently boarded the Ascent about 11:45 and were instructed to go to our cabin immediately to pick up our room card where it was waiting for us outside the door. We dropped off our carry on luggage and went to lunch. Easy peasy. Not sure how they can do it when other cruise lines cannot.

I am 100 percent sure that was what I was told on Vista last November. Am I absolutely sure it is accurate? Would be interested if others can confirm🤔

I believe there are zero conditions where they provide any additional uses for SM due to excursions being cancelled. My understanding is that one can use SM credit for classes at any point, assuming they are available. Realistically they would need to be booked before the cruise because they are almost always booked full prior to the cruise IME.

Good advice on the seating issue, but likely easily avoidable.

We had a distasteful experience with SM. We made last port on our cruise, but our snorkelng excursion was cancelled. Did not find out til we got off of the tender at Grand Cayman. No opportunity to take another tour. Disembarkation port (Miami) was next stop. Tour cost was paid with Simply More credit. No way to use the $98 pp so $198 of SM credit lost. Reception desk gave us the brush off. Said to talk to Destination Services. Destination said to talk to Reception Desk. Purser confirmed that the SM credit is lost in situations like ours. Could not use for any other purpose on the ship except cooking classes which could not happen since they were full. Have one more booked cruise with O and we might be done. For us Regent is a better and not that much more expensive an option.

If you are booking an IV cabin or regular balcony cabin just book across the hall from an interior cabin. Best to book where interior cabin doors face the other side of the ship and you know your door is facing the back wall of the inside cabin. That pretty much guarantees no crew access or closet.

Thanks. We have cruised on Solstice and Eclipse multiple times. Once on an AQ cabin near rear of ship on Solstice and we asked to be moved forward due to vibration issues. Interestingly, on Eclipse I have never felt similar vibration, but have never had a cabin that far back on the ship.

Want to cruise on Eclipse in Sky Suite. Do not want to be in cabin under pool deck, nor cabin with connecting door. Looks like there is one cabin on the entire ship that meets my criteria and it us a deck 11 sunset sky suite. We normally like to cruise forward on a ship due to less engine vibration. Any opinions on if vibration is an issue for S class rear facing cabins? Thanks.

I learned on a recent Canal cruise that cruise ships pay for high priority due to a need to keep on schedule so shortages of fresh water to use in locks has, at least up to now, not had any effect on them. Improvement in water supply will benefit freighters which cruise through with lower priority, ...will not have to wait as long.

LATAM airlines flies NS from Santiago to LAX. They are a partner of Delta. Delta will sell you a ticket on Delta from California to Buenos Aires connecting through Atlanta then Nonstop back to CA on LATAM from Santiago.

Yup, I'm the accused "Regentfile" pointing out that Oceania has no fewer outbreaks than other cruise lines. I spent nearly 30 days over the past few months on Oceania Vista. I like both Regent and Oceania and will be on Oceania Marina for a three week plus cruise soon and have three future cruises booked on RSSC Splendor. The crowding in the buffet is a disadvantage of O which I am sorry they did not make efforts to correct when they designed Allura class.

Thanks for correcting the specifics. However, assuming you are correct, O is certainly not blameless for how this all happened. First they announced that the refurb would be equal to what was done on Riviera and be done in 2023. They even informed passengers about changes planned so that most regular cabins would lose their tubs. Next they announced postponement of refurb until 2024. Then they announced they would not be doing major work on regular cabins due to lack of time. Seems with proper planning they could have avoided this supposed time problem or at least announced the lesser refurb sooner. In any case, a bit of good news did come out with change in plans...they decided to add Aquamor to the Marina!

I am sure it will be beautiful. IMHO big question is what kind of shape A and below cabins will be in post drydock since Oceania has announced they will not be completely renovated as was done on Riviera. Supposedly they only have time to do some soft good work on those cabins. Yet AFAIK Marina's current drydock has same amount of time allotted to it as Riviera had. Probably all about the money involved.

Arriving on Splendor in Barcelona on a Friday and disembarking following day. Cannot do self carry off of luggage. We want to catch mid morning flight. Can we get off super early (6:30 a.m.) since ship will already be in port from day before, or since we need bags out night before with crew delivery to terminal, should we plan on the normal departure time with earliest possible about 8 a.m?

Following is a description of Baristas..the coffee bar I found on the web: "Baristas The cruise ship’s coffee shop, Baristas, is on deck 14 aft. Your cruise fare includes all the espresso-based drinks at this location. In addition, during the morning and afternoon, the venue features snacks that are also complimentary." I do not recall if expressos are available from lounge coffee machines.Perhaps someone else can comment on that.

Reason I posted the original question was concern that it is often a practice of ship entertainers to lock the theatre after the evening's performance and conduct rehearsals late into the night. However the cabins on deck 7 forward do not quite go forward enough or are well enough sound insulated such that any noise problems do not occur according to the previous poster. If you look at a deckplan you can see the larger balconies the previous poster is talking about. That seems to be the reason Oceania has designated them as Concierge class cabins and therefore charges more for them, unlike similarly located cabins on their other classes of ships.

Considering another cruise on Vista next year. We know about noise issues between cabins on Vista and are prepared to live with that. Wondered if anyone has experience on Deck 7 forward with any noise issues from music/sound system in theatre below? Thanks.

Vista has and Allura will have a much nicer forward spa area which includes a T pool plus two additional whirlpools. One of the more gorgeous and inviting areas of the ship.