cricketlover

8 hours ago, Hlitner said:

A few weeks ago I promised to try and post a live blog, from the Vista.  We are starting a few days prior to embarkation to talk about pre-cruise prep.  We are O virgins, as this will be our first time on any O ship.  As to a background, suffice it to say we have only 50 years of extensive cruise experience with many different cruise lines (budget to luxury) and vessels.  Whether we stick with this blog will depend on the onboard Internet connection and whether we get too lazy.  We will post the facts, and our impressions, and welcome comments, criticism, etc.

 

We made our O reservation with a trusted high volume cruise agency, who did "enhance" our booking with pre-paid gratuities and a generous On Board Credit (OBC).  Learning about how to deal with the O process comes mostly from CC.  Our suite is a low category B category verandah on deck 8.  At the 45 day mark, we went online to O's web site and made our dining reservations.  Since our cruise is 3 segments (35 days) we were allowed to book 3 reservations in each of Vistas four alternative restaurants.  Half our reservations are 2-tops and other half are shared.  At the time we booked, it was not possible to get all 2-tops at our desired times, and DW and I really enjoy sharing tables as a way to meet and socialize with others.  When we booked the reservations (all done online) we immediately received an e-mail confirmation (for each reservations) from O (and they also show in later e-mailed documents from O).  Because we have heard here on CC about some "issues" with dining reservations, we are taking printed copies of all the confirmations.   We have had no problems with our reservations, never needed to call O, and as typical of our own procedures, most of the work is done online with a few clicks of the mouse.  O has already made several changes in our itinerary (which includes 24 ports) the most unfortunate being the elimination of Turkey (substituting some Greek ports).  We have been to nearly all the ports (many times for most ports).

 

Our reservation is with the new Simply More program.  This meant we needed to book at least enough excursions to use our SM shore excursion credit ($1200 per person).  DW and I are generally independent travelers and seldom book cruise line excursions (we prefer doing our own thing).  We booked enough O excursions (mostly done more than 9 months in advance) to use all of our SM credit.  We do not come close to qualifying for the 25% discount and have no desire to add extra excursions to meet the required minimum.  In fact, it will be interesting to see if we even go on all the excursions we have booked since we truly dislike the large group tours.

 

Since our cruise is 35 days (with varying climate) and we plan on spending 11 more days on a driving trip in Europe (Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, and Italy) packing is tricky.  DW and I have just started our normal pre-cruise procedure of "laying out" our clothes (and other stuff) in a separate area.  This gives us a few days to appraise the pile of "stuff" and make adjustments.  Because we are doing post cruise independent travel we will limit ourselves to two large suitcases (each will weigh close to 50 pounds) and 2 heavy carry-on backpacks.  DW and I love using backpacks (as compared to typical carry-on bags) because we can wear them on our back..leaving both our hands free to handle the other bags.  Luggage logistics is always an important part of our independent travel because we assume that nobody is going to help us with our luggage.

 

We are looking forward to this trip, enjoying the "Finest Cuisine at Sea," meeting some of our fellow cruisers, and having lots of lazy sea days.  Our segments have pretty active CC Roll Calls, but we have no plans to sign-up or attend any of the onboard CC Roll Call events.  Those get togethers are just not our norm and we prefer meeting folks elsewhere on ship.

 

Hank

 

Will looking forward to seeing what you think of the ship, we will be getting on in Valetta.

14 hours ago, Harters said:

Lucky you. O's customers in the UK no longer get these. As far as I know, there's never been an explanation why we are treated less well. 

We live in the Uk and received the same package for our cruise on The Vista in April.  It was a lovely surprise as I wasn’t expecting it.

17 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I think Oceania may be a refuge for discontent Celebrity cruisers.

We have done many Celebrity cruises over the years, and I’ve followed your posts on your Celebrity cruises. After our Celebrity cruises last year we decided to try something different and we have booked Vista for April.

Just now, little britain said:

Do you know how much it is extra please

I think it was about $2 plus 20% gratuity. If you can get the upgrade to premium for £6.80 per person per day which we have, it is well worth it. Much better choices of wine.

21 minutes ago, little britain said:

We get the Classic included… is it worth upgrading to Premium? It’s $6.99pppd to upgrade at the mo. 

 

I drink Aperol Spritz, and Pinot Grigio. Perhaps a few frozen margaritas… are they covered by the Classic please?  I know you can pay the difference & tips 

I know Aperol Spritz isn’t included in the classic package. Not sure about the other two

1 hour ago, Hambagahle said:

Why don't you post the question about the Hebridean Sky on the boards for that company?  You are more likely to get an answer...

 

Personally with the current Oceania situation I smell a rat.  Our cruise is no longer going to Turkey.  The Vista will drop us at Trieste, as scheduled, on May 1 and the board passengers - who are going to Turkey.   I fail to understand this logic nor the reason for it.  If Oceania, in its infinite wisdom, doesn't want us to risk going to Turkey (which BTW was lumped with "Holy Land" ports in Ortega's letter) why is the Vista dropping us off, turning around and then going to Turkey.  Something else is afoot...the rat.  But what sort of rat ??

We are also on the cruise departing 21st April and we cannot understand that we can’t go to Turkey but the cruise on May 1st can.  It’s very strange.

3 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

We are sailing on Vista from Malta to Trieste 21 April 2024.  2 weeks ago Oceania cancelled our two ports in Turkey and added ports in Greece and Montenegro.  But so far they have not indicated what excursions will be available and when I go to "Manage my Booking" I cannot book them there either.  My record shows I have one booked (but with the itin. change it is now on the wrong day!).  However it also shows I have no SM credit left.  Which is clearly an error.    

 

So my question - if you are sailing in the Med. in late March/early April and have had ports in Turkey or elsewhere cancelled have you had your account updated and can you now book excursions?  I am just trying to get a fix on the timeline involved!  Thank you very much!

We are on the same cruise as you and excursions are not yet showing. We had originally £600 towards excursions but the £600 has not been credited. Our account shows we have £222 left to spend on excursions.

Also I see the cruise is now approximately £400 per person cheaper than when we originally booked. This is to do with the Black Friday sale.

Thanks so much for the detailed review, especially the menus.

We are loyal Celebrity cruisers but have always wanted to visit Istanbul. Oceania had a cruise with stops  to Istanbul and Kusadasi in April 2024 which was ideal for us. We received an e-mail from Oceania yesterday and they have cancelled the stops in Turkey.

I’ve checked on cruise boards and they have also cancelled Turkey as far as November 2024.

I’ve had this problem, I deleted browsing history and it was fine.

Just received an e-mail from Oceania regarding our cruise on The Vista departing Malta on 21st April 2024.  Our two days in Istanbul and stop in Ephesus have been cancelled and we are now stopping in Heraklion, Santorini and Kotor.

Both.

I am having problems using the Celebrity app to make reservations for my cruise, and when I try to use the website it keeps coming up with “we are having problems it’s not you.” This has been going on for three days. I have tried reinstalling the app.

I’ve had problems all day, even on the app if I try to make a reservation for a tour “reserve now” is in grey.

We were on the ship in September, will enjoy reading your reports. Have a wonderful time.

3 hours ago, LovetoCruisex2 said:

LadyLemonDrop,

Sincerest thanks for your comprehensive and honest sharing.  As avid cruisers and big fans of Celebrity, it was refreshing to hear such honest and unbiased accounts of your experiences. As we all deal with the realizations surrounding the "new normal" for post-pandemic cruising, your assurances about the continued excellence of specialty dining on Solstice class ships is heartening.

We have felt for many years that Murano is one of the finest overall dining experiences literally in the world (land or sea). I have shared with hotel directors on all ships having Murano that if they would open it up to a sea view it would garner Michelin stars!! Have not had a better Dover Sole anywhere.

And so grateful that your husband was able to make the trip. Memories to be cherished indeed.

Safe travels, and bon voyage!!

Your posts have helped make our upcoming Oct 22 TA from Southampton even more exciting to look forward to.

By chance, were the Barricade Boys onboard?

And how was the string duo and/or acoustic duo?

 

Thanks again,

The Barricade Boys told us they will be on the ship until November.

6 hours ago, di T said:

Sorry, but we have just been on the Reflection for 19 nights and found the food in the main dinning room very disappointing, buffet at night had more choice and we paid for specialty restaurants on quite a few occasions.We always do b2b as we like longer cruises, I have 2 of these booked for next year with Celebrity and hope things improve regarding food. Service around the ship was as good as ever,we had a few minor issues with the room attendant ( no towels one day just two face cloths😂) There was no hairdryer in the room and because I didn’t check I washed my wavy hair and dried it outside.Left him a note and he brought one the next day.Room wasn’t serviced until afternoon most days and we are early risers, I wonder if these guys are having to do more rooms than before! Have been trying other lines and will continue to do so.

 

Our room attendant told us he had 19 rooms to do on his own!!

We got off The Silhouette last Friday and the choice in the MDR was much smaller than when we were on the ship in June. Lots of chicken and pork, what we had was fine but as we were on a 13 day cruise it was very repetitive. Choice of appetisers was shocking unless you liked salads or soups.

13 hours ago, pyffii said:

Thanks for the reply….found some menus via the app and choices are somewhat limited but we could all get by I think….next thing is whether the choices as described are up to standard but that’s something that we can handle once onboard…many thanks again 

We just got off the Silhouette and found the menu for MDR very repetitive compared to the menu we had in June, but what we had was of good quality just hope you like pork and chicken.

We are also on this cruise. The menus look very difficult to what we had on the ship in June.

On 4/28/2019 at 12:14 AM, fleckle said:

 

"Showtime" in the dining room, where they would bring out a big tray and show you all the desserts each night before needing to make your decision of which dessert to order.

 

Mints supplied after dinner each night as you were leaving the dining room.

 

Automatically providing a water pitcher and ice bucket for each cabin that got refilled twice each day, without your needing to request them.

 

Some new passengers may not even realize that they are available upon request.

 

Supplying writing paper and pens in each cabin without needing to ask for them.  Especially handy the first day for jotting down reminders of things to ask your butler/stateroom attendant, or even for your own to-do list.  In the past, they were always provided by each telephone so you could jot down notes when you got a phone call.

Lately, this seems to be random hit or miss.

 

When asked why they no longer supply such items, the standard reply has been that not everyone wants them or uses them.

But they could/should at  least provide a list in each cabin of additional items that are available upon request.

 

They used to provide a large jar with cotton balls and q-tips for every cabin bathroom, not only for suites, which still get them.

Those tiny little cardboard boxes where you need to cut the cellophane wrapper off each individual small packet of q-tips are an inconvenient pain, besides being an enormous waste of cardboard.
 

The old piano bar in Michaels' club with the silly guy who put on a show making fun of people who have granite countertops and stainless steel appliances in their homes (don't recall his name).

Some people loved him and some hated him, but he was always a topic of discussion. 

There were other piano bar players as well, but that guy seemed to be the one who drew the most attention.

 

A nice touch that is no more was having a harpist playing during meals and also the string quartet (which was reduced to a string trio, and then to a string duo).

 

Being assisted with your carry-on luggage and escorted to your cabin upon embarkation was especially helpful for new passengers,  instead of the current bedlam on embarkation day with new passengers scurrying around trying to find their cabins.

Those who did not want an escort could simply decline the offer.

 

They also used to have an age restriction on children in the specialty restaurants (which could be a big plus or minus, depending on whether or not you were the one with the small children).

 

I'm glad to learn that they are again providing daily water in aqua class.  It is long overdue.

 

His name was Perry Grant.

Looking forward to your posts, we did this cruise in June, hope you’re as lucky with the weather as we were.

Congratulations on getting the RS, looking forward to your posts.

Thanks for the great review. Can’t wait for the 5th June when we board.

5 hours ago, bnurick said:

Day 11 1/2 Recap ( Cork, Ireland 🇮🇪 )

 

LLLAAANNNDDD!  😱 After six consecutive at sea days we strike land. Vegetation. Dirt.

 

☀️ Weather: Spectacular! 62 degrees with sun. In the sun it’s +10 or 72 degrees “feels like”.

 

🍽️ OVC: Showered up and hit the OVC for the usual fried eggs and sausage links with a double shot cafe americano.

 

Port: Ship 🚢 pulls right up. They have metal bridges from the gangway off Deck 2 to get on and off. (see picture).

 

Cobh, Ireland: It’s Sunday, so most shops are closed. A short walk to the right exiting the ship is a welcome area. I decided to get some walking in. The map showed a park on the water I went to first. Then I made it up the hill to Saint Colman’s Cathedral. Very pretty views.

 

Town Center: The town center had a few coffee shops and pubs open. I decided when in Ireland 🇮🇪 I need a Guinness.  Found The Rob Roy Bar with a “Welcome Celebrity Silhouette” written on their sign.  Dropped in for a 1/2 pint and Irish coffee.

 

Cruise Director Mike Encounter: I am sitting at the bar and this guy (who kinda looks similar to me) orders three pints.  I said “Hey Mike did you know we are doppelgängers?” I proceeded to tell him all the accolades I’ve received this cruise. 😂 He loved the story and said we could do a selfie on the ship. I felt good out of all the pubs to get a Guinness he chose the one I was sitting in.

 

🍭 Candy Store: Found the cutest candy store named Auntie Nellie’s. Wifey is a Disney freak so I bought the three Disney Princess Pez dispensers. Also noticed a sign asking if you “Fancy an Ice Cream?” 😆.

 

🍍Fruit Plate: Fruit plate arrived at 2pm.  I ate it as a late light lunch. Gonna try to get in Tuscan Grille early. Do not think it should be a problem as tonight is lobster 🦞 night.

 

Cheers from the Silhouette!

   

Think you picked the best  pub in Cobh. Have really enjoyed your posts, we are boarding The Silhouette on June 5th