Redtravel

You will be quite a distance from the city.  Take a ship excursion. 

Usually more people eat in the GDR on the first few nights.  You may find a line. It moves quickly.  Why doesn’t it continue?  It may take some guests a few nights to discoverer the Terrace Grill at night.  I usually hate ship buffets.  Oceania buffet is unlike most cruise lines.  It is very good. Not only do they serve everything on the GDR menu, they have freshly made sushi and grilled to order items. Grill can cook lamb chops, steak, chicken, salmon, lobster tail, shrimp, etc.  it is excellent.  Tables are set with white linen clothes.  On nice evenings, you can sit outside.  We recently were on Vista. waves at night has table service with delicious Italian items.  
pizza is excellent.  We ordered pizza and had it delivered to our table inside.  Supposedly other ships will open waves at night.  
Try all the dining venues.  You won’t be disappointed. 

I am surprised that Oceania waited so long to pull ships out of the Suez.  Sadly, sailing in that area is not safe.  I am surprised that they are sailing  Riviera around Africa rather than staying in Asia.  

I like the idea of putting the creperie in the empty space on deck 5.  Deck 5 atrium has lots of dead space.  I often thought it would be nice if the atrium had a bar or coffee station with cookies or small sandwiches.   When you return from an excursion or a day ashore, being able to get a nice drink when you board would be fantastic.  

Got email from my travel agent that Oceania is going to make a big announcement next week. I will bet it includes making B3 extended balcony cabins a more expensive category. I love B3 cabins aft.  They get booked up very quickly.  

Yes, they are looking for younger cruisers who take shorter trips.  I used to really like 2 week or longer winter Caribbean cruises.  Sadly X gave them up. I don’t like b2b on X.  I found that other cruise lines do longer cruises.  

  Supposedly all ships in a line should have same food offerings. What makes one ship better than another?   If the workers are properly trained, all ships of a cruise line will be equal.  If they don’t do same training, some ships may get sloppy.  A table near the kitchen often has hotter food and quicker service.  
Celebrity has been serving the same dishes for years.  It is what it is.  If you find it lacking, maybe the reason isn’t the food.  It can get boring.  Try a new dish. If you are unhappy with the food, maybe it’s time to try something new.  

446 is not over the galley.  The galley is aft.  I have stayed on all 3 decks. Never had a noise issue.

Viking often offers discounts as you get closer to the cruise date.  If you don’t want a specific cruise on a specific date, you might get a big break.  There are discount codes that can significantly drop the fare.  

16 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

That is a bit sad to hear.  Cruise lines operating under the rules imposed on them have to charge high prices. We looked at a few options a number of years ago and quite honestly didn’t see the value proposition.  If I am spending that kind of money, I don’t see the value in where they sail. 
we also looked at Viking Great Lakes expedition cruises. While I feel there may be more value in where they visit, for us, not enough to justify the price point. That said, others may not view it the same through their lenses, and that is just as valid as my opinion. 

Not a good move. People plan, buy air, and look forward to a vacation.  Canceling is always disappointing. Just giving people a refund cuts wrong.

15 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

There are 'mystery' river cruises, which make a little more sense to me because all excursions are always included on cruises [most lines, including the one I'm thinking of].  Scrambling to decide what to do at the last minute is not my cup of tea.

I agree.  My spouse sits back and lets me do all the work.  I plan. Often book with private tour companies just for the 2 of us.  I also print maps, get directions, learn about the local transportation, and ask questions on location forums. That cannot be done overnight. Using WS WiFi is expensive.  WS wants to sell their excursions.  I have taken many WS excursions.  They are usually good. However, we have slowed down and tend to avoid group tours if possible.  The shore excursion person often is unfamiliar with the ports.  We got taken in Malaga. We asked the excursion person how can we get to the Picasso museum. He told us that it was far from where we were docking. He sold us a tour that included the museum.  The tour went to many venues and mad a brief stop at the museum. Not knowing the lay of the land, we continued on the tour.  It ended at a church close to the museum. Guide told us how to walk back to the ship.  We walked back. Took us about 10 minutes.  We passed the museum on our way.  We were had. After that experience, I now research each port and expect no info from WS. They don’t even provide decent maps.  You are your own best tour guide.  

I have sailed to Bermuda many times. I have also flown in and stayed on land.  Bermuda is beautiful.  Given a choice, fly in and stay. Cruise is a good option.  Being docked in Hamilton and St. George is the best.  Insignia is small and can fit.  Holland America used to sail Veendam into Hamilton.  Not sure if it still goes there. Celebrity and the other big ships cannot get into Hamilton and St. George.  To accommodate them Dockyard was built. It has no charm.  It’s not where you want to be. If you go to dockyards, you will spend lots of time on the ferries and buses.  

Find a cruise that has 4 available cabins that you can book now.  While waitlisted cabin categories may open up, trying to get 4 in specific categories is too risky.  When I travel with family or friends, we pick a cruise and book cabins… no gty or waitlist!  Waiting could leave you with nothing.

Be comfortable and casual.  June is hot. Dress during the day in lightweight pants and tees.  A sundress might work. A hat is a must.  Don’t forget the sunscreen, sunglasses,  and bathing suit.  I like shorts or crops if the weather is warm.  For cooler climates, jeans or sweats with tees work well.  Evening is still casual . I don’t wear shorts or jeans in GDR or specialty restaurants. They are ok in the Terrace Buffet or Waves at night.  My usual evening attire is black slacks or capris with a nice blouse.  Chicos is my go to place for cruise clothes. Be sure to try Terrace buffet and Waves for dinner.  The choices include everything on GDR menu plus sushi, grilled fish and meat, Italian food from Waves. Pizza at night is very good. Enjoy. 

I miss prime rib at Polo. We were on Vista in January.  Got prime rib in GDR.  Food choices are very good. Best dinner was at Ember.  Ribeye steak was excellent.  Also liked the potato soup.  I enjoyed trying all the dining venues.  I usually skip buffets. However, Terrace Grill is. Really good especially at dinner. 

If verandas are sold out, I book concierge.  The cabins are same size. Concierge has some perks that may or may not interest you.

I am elite plus on Celebrity.  Each time we sailed on X, there were changes.  Most were not good.  They kept cutting services and increasing cabins.  The crowding was the big reason that we stopped sailing on X.  Oceania ships are spacious. It’s unusual to find anything crowded.  Oceania has great service, excellent food with no extra charge for specialty restaurants, and can visit ports that the big ships cannot.  Insignia can sail into Hamilton and St. George in Bermuda.  We have stayed in the standard and concierge cabins.  They are compact, but comfortable.  The penthouse suites are bigger.  With penthouse, you get priority restaurant reservations over other cabin categories . Concierge gets priority over standard balcony.  Only you can decide if you want to get a suite.  Enjoy your cruise. Bermuda is beautiful.

Windstar announced that Star Legend will do a mystery cruise in April 2025 RT Athens

Would you take a cruise not knowing where it will stop?  My spouse says book it. When you book a cruise, the cruise is the major destination.  I am not sold. 

People are different.  Asking the question may get you more mixed up. Relax. I have met singles on many cruise lines.  They are looking for the same thing as couples.  Everyone wants great food, good service, and a pleasant voyage.  Some lines have more activities and entertainment.  If you want big entertainment , the big mass market lines may be more attractive. If you prefer more relaxing atmosphere with no lines or crowds, smaller ships are for you.  Some lines don’t have kids. Some lines can access ports not open to big ships.  Longer cruises often have older people. They have more time.  If you are trying a new line, you might try a week cruise.  
The first time we took a 2 week cruise, I was 50.  When we took the cruise line transfer, we were much younger than the other people on the bus. We wondered if we had made a mistake.  Once onboard, we found other people like us.  Had a great time.  
we have sailed on many cruise lines. We find Oceania is usually a good fit for us.  

Table service at Waves should be better than waiting in line. We were on Vista in January.  Waves was often crowded. People standing in line, people walking through to the pool, and too many tables on the deck passage area made Waves often very congested.  If you sat at tables next to the passageway , people often bumped into your table.  If Waves put tables out further onto the pool deck like Roviera/Marina, they could widen the passageway.  On the opposite side of the deck, Aquamar  has table service.  Never saw people crowding to get in or through.  The passage way through Aquamar was wide.  It was a better choice going to the pool deck.  
 

We usually do our own air.  However, sometimes there may be good reason to book Oceania air.  Yes, we got seats together on all the planes. Last year, we booked late. We couldn’t find any air at an acceptable price. We chose O air.  We flew from Philadelphia to London to catch a cruise out of Southampton.  There are several non stops daily. We couldn’t get on them. O flew us from Phl to Fra on Eurowings discovery.  Seats weren’t assigned until online checkin.  We got seats across the aisle from each other.  However when we got to the airport, our seats had changed to next to each other in the middle of group of 4.  From Fra, we flew to LGW and took bus to Southampton. We arrived at 3 pm. Ship sailed at 5 pm.  We made it. Never would fly in that close to sailing. Going home, we flew from Oslo to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Minneapolis, and Minneapolis to Philadelphia.  It was crazy.  We got home.  
if you don’t mind living on the edge, O air can be exciting.  

We got a brochure from Seabourn that sparked our interest. Wondering if Seabourn is for us. We are in our 70s. We have traveled extensively for many years. Our travels have been both on land and sea. We have taken many land tours and ship excursions.  Now that we are retired, we have slowed down.  We still enjoy traveling, but not taking group tours.  Sometimes we prefer private tours tuned to our pace and interests.  Sometimes just cruising is enough. Taking a winter Caribbean cruise has become our time to relax and enjoy warm weather.  We love meeting interesting people, dining in a variety of restaurants, and are happiest relaxing in style.  We are looking for a cruise that fits our style:  less than 1500 guests, excellent food with a variety of dining venues, spacious cabins, good service, some entertainment, offers tours without including them in the fare, and doesn’t have formal nights.  Years ago we used to enjoy dressing up. Now, we would rather do club casual.  Do you think Seabourn is a fit for us.  

I was recently on Vista. Pool is deep. I am 5’3”. I couldn’t touch the bottom.  I would prefer a shallower pool that I can walk in.  There is a set of stairs to enter the pool.  Shorter people seemed to stay by those steps.  

We were confused before the trip.  We don’t live near anyplace that we could get the visa easily. We opted to buy the visa on the ship using OBC. It wasn’t expensive, less than $10.  Vietnam is beautiful. Be sure to bring American dollars.  We had Dong. However, everyone asked for US dollars. Shopping is great. Wish that I bought more.  

If you get to ship and don’t like your cabin, ask for a change. We have done it. Upgrade at a small cost compared to booking upgrade before sailing.