emd138

I can see where the world cruisers would have a lot of things, but for shorter cruises, I don't see any issues, although I haven't been on Vista. We have been on the R class ships, in the lower staterooms, and never had any issue with 10 days, and would have been fine with at least double that.

I have been using the same person for years, and they don't charge an initial fee, but they do if I change the booking....it is still much less than what you mentioned, though. I just had to change one because my husband's employer approved his vacation, and then took it back. Unreal, and my anger is with his employer. They do provide perks. I book lower end cabins, and shorter (7-10 day) cruises, for perspective.

Yes, it is key to get there as soon as you can. I am a heavy woman but not super out of shape, and while running through the airport there were LOTS of comments made, but hey, I got on the flight! Of course it was one end to the other of Chicago O'Hare. The flight attendant was awesome and gave me some water, haha!

I bring dress shoes that I normally wear, but also remember to keep in mind ocean conditions. We only do R ships, and a lot of time, they are rocking and rolling. I wear black sneakers in those conditions, with a nice outfit, and it has always been fine. When you can't walk straight because you are bouncing off the walls, you have to do what you have to do.

I have had that happen once. There were a large number of passengers that were delayed, and they held the flight for a bit. They didn't hold it for everybody, though, because I know some on my prior flight that did not make it. I ran like crazy through the airport, and was the last one that made it. The plane was still half empty when we took off, but quite a few had boarded right before me, and the next plane was ready for the spot.

Do you sleep with earplugs? I wear them at work every day, but that would not help me sleep, and is NOT what I expect or will deal with on a vacation. You are missing the point of this entire thread, that the walls/sound insulation are thinner, and things are louder. Oh, and it is 2:40am here, and I am not asleep. Would you want to hear my TV? (I would not have it on it, to be clear, but many don't think of their neighbors.)

Yes, and Snaefell3, I have also learned to make sure that when we have all day excursions, they include or at least give time for something to eat, INCLUDING the time to get off of the ship, haha! We did a very small boat whale watching tour in Alaska, and the times didn't really work out for us to get lunch first. It took much longer than I expected to get off of the ship for how small it is. The whale activity was fantastic, though, and the excursion went WAY over time, so we got back to the ship at 11pm. (To be fair, they did ask everyone if they were okay going over on time if we were seeing a lot of neat stuff, and we were.) I am guessing a lot of other people had excursions through both lunch and dinner, so room service took 3 hours. I was not starving by any means, but OMG, my husband would definitely say I was pretty hangry by the time we got our food, haha!

That is a really good question, we are booked on a cruise for our anniversary this year.

Yay, CT Cruiser76, I hope you enjoy it! I am a bit late to offer my 2 cents, but we are in our 40's, and have our 3rd Bermuda trip booked for this summer on Insignia, and 5th on a smaller Oceania ship. We have limitations on vacation, so New York is a local-ish port to us, and a 7 day is our limit as well. We love meeting the people on the cruises, and spend most of our socializing. Most are older than us, but have a lot of neat experiences that we enjoy hearing. We love Bermuda, and love the extended port times where we don't have to rush. We do spend some time reading and watching movies relaxing in the room since we both have high stress jobs, but we book an Oceanview. I am not a small woman, and the shower is PAINFULLY tiny, but tolerable for 7 days. Just don't drop the soap, haha! The food and service is worth it to us, and we love not having to deal with the crowds. We always do a bunch of the daily activities, like mini golf and shuffleboard for example, but on most cruises the night entertainment has been a major miss for us. We had a great entertainment crew on our last sailing on the Regatta, but that was the only one that we enjoyed the shows. I suggest sitting at the back for your first one or 2 if you choose to go to them for an easy exit, because some have been really bad. We just go to the piano bar and enjoy the music and company there, so don't really care, but some do look forward to the nightly shows.

There is no reason, other than if you want that category and it isn't available - you are at least guaranteed to get on the ship for that price in that cabin level or higher. I booked that once, and didn't have a room number until a couple days before we left. What I saw in that experience, they will call the people already booked in that category and offer them an upgrade for a reduced but still significant price. They did give us that "offer," but the cost was only a VERY slight discount from if we booked the next level up. (We booked a C1 guarantee on an R class ship.) We talked to one party that said nope, they should be upgraded for free, and they were. I did the same, and I was told no, only if they couldn't find anyone to pay. Apparently they found somebody that took what they were offered. I got what I paid for, so I have no complaints, but do not book it expecting extra.

Thanks for your review! I usually lose weight on an Oceania cruise because I am more active and there are so many healthy options to eat. Have fun!

The showers on balcony and below are terribly small. If you have calm seas, I have found it tolerable as a not so small person, but we have had a lot of rough seas on our trips, and I can't stand banging into the sides while I am trying to wash. Don't drop the soap, either, hahaha! The 2 specialty restaurants versus 4 was also a downside since our last 2 7 day cruises repeated the menu in the MDR and terrace the last 2 days and did not have anything I really cared for. With that said, I had a fantastic time, and I know I am super picky and have no complaints overall, so I am only telling you the downsides that I saw.

We have taken a bottle or 2 of liquor on all 4 of our cruises after reading on here that they tell you that you can't, but don't stop you. We only drink it in the room for our nightcap. We took no efforts to hide it, just wrapped it up and put it in one of our checked bags.

Classes have already been posted for our November 2024 cruise, so I would start checking periodically now. I can't find the date I booked one, but I think it was over a month ago.

That is correct. I get double lobster, no steak, no roll. They customize however you want.

I have said before that I think a lot depends on your expectations and I got some pretty disagreeable comments. All brands make their product to look better than it is, and I think Oceania doesn't do themselves a favor by claiming the best food at sea. I haven't been on every cruise line, so I can't judge, but I have had some excellent meals on board, and some that I didn't care for at all. I know it is definitely better than the mass market cruises that I have been on. Some of what they are able to do is limited by the audience. Such as spice/heat. We ate in the MDR for lunch one day and were telling the server we love hot spicy food as we were conversing. My curry dish almost made my eyes water with the heat level, it was so unexpected, but was perfect once I adjusted my expectation from bland. I had gotten it before, and it was just okay. I am not new to O, but in the mid-40's age bracket, so not their typical audience. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the new program yet. I went to O for the options to pick and choose what I wanted included.

I had an interesting experience on my June cruise. I got an e-mail from my (non-ship) tour operator a good month before my cruise saying that my itinerary had been changed due to a change in my ship's itinerary. It was 1 hour later in start time. Okay, whatever, the times worked out either way, but more of a rush back to the ship. The Currents showed no change even the night before, but yet we were delayed an hour due to rough seas, according to the announcement the next day. It was a very short travel distance, so 1 hour was pretty significant. It did make me wonder.

I second checking with the reservations desk once you get on board. I'm not sure what was up with our last cruise, but we could only get 9pm bookings, and that included shared. Anyway, one conflicted with an excursion I booked after I made the reservations online, so when I went to change the day onboard, I got a 6:30 2-top on a different day, which was a sea day. I have also gotten improved times or dates checking back periodically.

I already have mine booked for my November 2024 cruise, so it must vary. I booked it at least 2 or 3 months ago when I saw it show up. This was on Riviera.

We had the same great, but warmer than expected weather, despite the forecast. With that said, we did a whale-watching tour on an open boat, and were FREEZING! (It was a speed boat.) So, I definitely second the advice to be prepared for anything!

We just got back from Regatta, and I was surprised that one of the curry dishes was a bit spicy. Any that I have gotten before had very little flavor. This one was a nice improvement, although still nowhere near as spicy as I like. On the hot spicy side, I am 99% it was a mistake and not sure where it came from, but there was a pepper in my Philippine mango salad that had my nose running like crazy, and we eat very hot spicy food at home all of the time. It was not a spicy dish, and it was VERY unexpected! 🙂

I know if I am paying $20k for a cruise, I have much higher expectations than if I am paying $3k if I don't already know the product and have base expectations. Our cruises vary from inside cabins to veranda, and all of the cabins are the exact same size, just some have a window and some have a veranda. I have the same expectations on all of them, regardless of price, because I have already been on several Oceania cruises and know what to expect.

Our last cruise on Insignia in July 2022 was great, but compared to earlier cruises on the same ship, definitely not as good. For reference on how bad it was for us, we are booked for Alaska in June and Europe in 2024. I am a very nitpicky person, but I don't let it ruin my time, but some do, so I can see why they would get some bad reviews. Some are also paying much higher prices with higher room categories. Some examples of my irritations: I love creme brulee, but it was just the custard without the sugar on top in all venues. When I asked about it, apparently somebody started a fire and they were not allowed to use kitchen torches. Service was a bit more hit and miss than before. Lots of new employees. Our meal in Polo wasn't good at all, my husband's steak was not the usual quality, but he is very picky, too. We went to the Terrace and had a great lobster dinner, so it was fine. How much you worry about the poor reviews depends on how much you paid and how much you can adjust, I think. With the current supply issues and labor shortages, you have to be able to make the best of it, but we really did have a great time on our last cruise on Insignia. The only issue that bothered me was the creme brulee, hahahahaha!

We have done the inside stateroom on Sirena. It was fine for us, but the showers are TINY! I am not a small person and still managed, but it is something to be aware of. I had to turn off the water to shave to keep the shaving cream from rinsing right off, so an electric razor might be good. The room itself was roomy enough for us, since we spend very little time in the room. Our cruise was supposed to be port intensive, but it was right as COVID hit and things shut down, so all of the ports were cancelled, and we spent more time than we planned in the cabin watching movies. As long as you can get past the shower, I think you would be okay with the inside.

The showers on R class are the biggest issue to me, as I am not at an age and wealth level where I can get a room with a bigger one. I am a large person, and have figured out how to make it work after a few cruises, but if you are somebody that plans to book those levels of rooms and loves a nice relaxing showing, I would avoid the R class. Calm seas are fine, but when the seas are rocking, it is another story.