khuselid

On 6/14/2023 at 6:54 AM, midwife said:

We are new to Oceania and are cruising in about 3 weeks. Unfortunately the feather and hypoallergenic pillows do not provide enough support, we can bring ours from home but they are quite heavy. At home we use a foam pillow like the one below. Can anyone tell me if these are available onboard? 
 

Thanks 

Peta

 

 

These are our pillows too! We got some of those compression bags with the hand pumps on amazon. Because they are memory foam the pump compresses them to about an inch thick and they fit nicely in a large suitcase. We have been doing this for several years and it works great! When you open them when you get to your destination they pop right up, good as new!

We did not like Embers at all. The decor is lovely though. The food ho-hum and it was so noisy we couldn't hear anyone. I get the concept but as others have said a poor substitute for Jacques. It's more of a casual lunch type place, me thinks. We loved Aquamar though, but we enjoy that type of food. They are still working our some kinks in the service but overall it was our favorite lunch place if we were on the ship and much quieter than Waves! 

Someone we were dining with did enjoy the steak in Embers though and said it was the best they had had on the ship. 

I know this is a weird question, but please only respond if you can answer it. We don't need advice about eye care or safety etc. There are many qualified opthamologists, world wide, who do these shots. They are routine.

Has anyone had an injection for their AMD while cruising, say, at a larger port of call, for example, Lima? We want to go on a longer cruise and my husband needs an eye shot every 4 weeks. We are putting feelers out everywhere including his doctors and checking online. We'd love to hear from anyone who has done this.

Thank you all!! And sorry if anyone is squeamish about eye shots....(I am!!).

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

are all the offering in the bakery not good  or just the cookies ??

 

DH will be  so upset if the baked goods are not good

I didn't try any of them but the word is they are good. They aren't mixed in the bakery just baked. The cookies don't come from the bakery. You find them in the barristas or in Terraces. 

On 6/4/2023 at 4:48 AM, Woodrowst said:

My wife and I are currently on the Nautica having embarked in Dubai and now entering the Red Sea on our way to Egypt.  We are having a wonderful cruise.  This is our 5th Oceania cruise and we have noticed on all of them that the cookies have no taste whatsoever.  This is clearly the exception since all of the other food is terrific.  So I thought I’d ask if anyone knows why Oceania bakes cookies that have no taste?  Please understand that this is not a complaint.  It would take a lot more than cardboard cookies to ruin our cruise.  I am simply looking for an explanation.

 

i also realize that the question can be read two ways.  The taste I am talking about involves ingredients.  It does not reference a cookie who wears shorts to dinner ☺️

This is my favorite CC post ever!! Just got off Vista and so many people were asking this same question. We were on Sirena twice last year and also asked the same question there. Sawdust, whether they are sugar free or not. It just seems so weird especially with the new 'bakery' on Vista. It is a nice addition to barristas but the offerings are the same every day. Well, part of me is glad they aren't good, one less temptation!!

On 5/25/2023 at 11:09 AM, joseph123 said:

That is what I thought from reviewing the photos. I do love a promenade deck experience. With that, is there a shortage of deck space for 1,200 passengers? Looks like very little outdoor area except for around the only pool. Does it feel crowded? Don't want to to spend the additional money for a premium cruise experience if it will seem very crowded on the decks. Odd that they would dedicate so much space at the aft of the ship to the putting greens? Would be nice to access an area to enjoy the wake other than for dining. These are my only reservations with booking. The decor of the ship looks stunning!

I just got off off of Vista. If it's a sunny day it can be challenging to find a sun spot. That said on cooler days there is plenty of room. The Vista has newer pods for hanging out in with the giant round pool be like things that are very nice. If it's safe crew will move loungers for you on decks 12 and 14 and 15. There is NO lower promenade deck. You can walk on the pool deck on the deck one floor above, or aft on the walking track around the smokestack which is very nice, 10 laps there is a mile.

5 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

I believe there are multiple self service laundry rooms on Vista.  Has anybody checked them out?  How many machines? Thanks.

There are laundry rooms on decks 7-11. 3 washers and dryers in each.

AND I just learned that hand sanitizers don't work on Norovirus. Soap and warm water do. Again, I think I am best off, going forward, on a cruiseline that doesn't allow self service buffets. I don't trust that all those folks will wash their hands between visits to the buffet😉

It was kind of interesting how they downplayed the number of people sick. Ostriches for sure. They told us only a couple of people were sick. We knew of at least 20 and are sure there were more. Like they just didn't want to know so they pretended like it wasn't happening. So weird.

8 hours ago, Coral said:

I was on a ocean ship recently with quite a few people in COVID isolation cabins and a lot of people on the ship were coughing and appeared ill and nothing was said. I stopped going to crowded venues because it seemed like everyone was coughing.

 

There was a note in the cabin when we first started saying "to contact them if we felt ill" but beyond that - nothing was done.

 

I know not a river cruise but I think these lines just want to survive and are willing to look the other way in order to not offend passengers. Our trip was 16 nights.

 

I do find it interesting that previous to COVID, Noro was a big deal. Now it is barely mentioned.

 

I agree they should do what you expected. I was on an ocean cruise with over 6% affected in 2003 or 2004 (those who reported) and it was a huge deal.

It is sad, isn't it, that folks can be so self centered. That happened on our cruise and folks actually said they weren't going to isolate because it would ruin their vacation. On that cruise there were many who did get covid. But, I guess that's why the virus took such hold in this world as people have trouble seeing beyond their own noses. 

I totally understand the idea of accepted risk. What I don’t understand is why Viking didn’t do what they could do to protect any of us. We did go on a Viking ocean cruise last year (where we were being tested daily) and felt good that buffets were not self serve, then half way through that cruise they started lettering folks serve themselves. 
it just seems they aren’t understanding human nature very well at all. Some cruise lines never allow self service on buffets, I think those are better choices for me. 
We get colds while traveling, it’s inevitable. This gastro thing was intense and it seemed some could easily have been protected with a little knowledge. I do get they think it is bad press.
 

The cruise was 15 days.

Hey all,

At the risk of becoming unpopular I wanted to discuss and outbreak of a Noro-type virus on our Viking River cruise. About 6 hours after the Thanksgiving meal many people became ill with gastro symptoms, my husband was one of them. He said it was the worst stomach thing he has ever had, it was bad and lasted about 48 hours. Our first thought was food poisoning as it seem connected to the meal and many got sick late that night or the next day. However it kept going and people kept getting sick. I got sick about 4 days after my husband so we started to sense that maybe it wasn't food related, but a virus. 

There were only 142 folks on the boat and you know how people talk. We met, at least, 20 people who had had the same symptoms and had been miserable. One woman ended up having to get medical attention for severe dehydration. As the days went on more and more people reported being sick. Folks were still getting sick the last day of the cruise and one woman was sick on the long bus ride to her extension trip after the cruise was over. 

What was astounding was Viking's lack of interest in this illness. We talked to several 'senior' crew with the idea that people needed to know so they could take better precautions. We suggested that maybe it was being spread through the self serve breakfast buffet. After I got really sick my husband went to the desk and suggested folks needed to be using hand sanitizer. They did make an announcement about that, but they didn't say why. Removing salt and pepper shakers and using single serving packets is something other cruiselines use to lessen the possibility of transmission. Buffets are notorious for getting anyone sick and Viking could easily have added servers to the buffet line in order to protect folks. 

When we, and others, spoke to staff they said they didn't want to 'ruin' peoples trips by talking about this happening. We said nothing can ruin a trip better than throwing up for 48 hours! It just seemed so odd to us. When people did get sick they were upset that they weren't aware that this was happening and would like to have known. Maybe it is asking too much, but it seems like Viking just wanted to ignore this illness and made no effort to lessen transmission. 

Wonder if you have all encountered this problem before. Please don't defend Viking. We had a great trip and appreciate Viking, but they are a business and may make another choice next time I want to cruise. I certainly will ask questions about what happens if there is a virus escalating among passengers and crew.

Thanks, kh

21 minutes ago, ShopperfiendTO said:

Oh, that's a long cruise.  I guess the question should have also been what date did you board. 

 

Since you said 26 days into the cruise, then you must have sailed before September 3, 2022, when the new policy came into effect.

 

I wonder if passengers on sailings after September 2, 2022 will still be able to get FCCs if they get Covid and have to quarantine given the new policy. 

I don't know but everyone on our cruise had to be vaxed. I wasn't going to ask about FCC"S but then someone here mentioned it so I did and it proved to be an awesome ask!

I do wonder what O will do when unvaxed people get really sick. They seemed to have their hand full with the number of folks on board who were just regular sick.

34 minutes ago, ShopperfiendTO said:

Did you have a negative test for Covid shortly (72/24 hours) before you boarded?  If so, which type?

No we didn't test before the cruise as it wasn't required. He got sick 26 days into the cruise though. I don't know what their criteria are.

Ok folks do make sure you contact customer relations for the FCC if you were quarantined. I wasn't hopeful but contacted them and they did give us a hefty FCC for my husbands recent 5 day quarantine.

Surely didn't hurt to ask. Make sure you give them your booking number.

kh

4 hours ago, roberts2005 said:

What ship were you on

Sirena

9 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

maybe  ask anyway  you never know 😉

 

Will your insurance  refund you for the time spent in quarantine?

Don't know. Haven't started the claim process yet. Going to get reimbursed for the Paxlovid, which was 800 on the ship! Although there were no other medical charges even though he had 2 visits a day and a variety of other meds. He was very well care for by medical and the rest of the crew and so was I!

Pretty sure this isn't a thing anymore since testing is not required before boarding. My husband missed 6 days of the cruise we just returned from last night. Great care while onboard but no reimbursement.

kh

my husband also got Covid on our 32 day Iceland to London cruise. He tested positive 6 days before cruise end. I was moved to another room and was free to roam. He was really taken well care of, 2 visits a day as well as calls from doctor, anything he wanted to eat and housekeeping was awesome as well. He just tested negative this morning in time for us to take the bus to the airport. Sorry you got sick!

Hi all,

The second leg of our BB itinerary started today. When we got back from our daily wandering many of the crew were maskless. They told us they are now given the option of wearing one, or not.  Such a shock to see their smiling faces!!

I hope it goes well for them. There were many positive cases on the last leg, particularly on our floor. One of our trivia members was tested positive and was hospitalized on an island..... She is getting better and hopes to go home tomorrow. So random this virus!!

9 hours ago, mauibabes said:

My DW was a teacher for 30 years and there is no end to her creativity for sticking things on walls. We use the hooks all the time so we will see what works when we are on Marina in January. If the magnets don’t work on the wall due to the wall paper, consider the entry door or bathroom door to post the calendar on. 
Mauibabes

They worked on marina in April. Great idea about the whiteboard! The only thing here we find that works is the ceiling. They did however add some wall hooks which are welcome.

I don’t know why folks seem to have a need to tell us that they don’t need hooks or whatever. Does that make you better? Weird. 

OK here’s a dreadful thing!🤣 Our handy magnets don’t work on Sirenas walls! I’ve had the same bag of magnet hooks for years and apparently the thick wallpaper they installed at the last upgrade makes them unusable. The ceiling is still metal and I could hang some of them there. O has provided 3 hooks across from the bed and 2 next to the bathroom ( this in a veranda cabin).

drat!

Hi all,

We are getting on Sirena tomorrow for 32 days. Reykjavik to London. Happy to answer any questions anyone might have. We have not sailed Sirena before…not looking forward to the tiny shower!😉

Kim

7 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Thanks  for the info on the new tours

The Go Green concept sounds interesting

We like to wander  in  areas where the locals shop  so that would be  interesting to me

 

Too bad about the afternoon tea

It works  for us  but I guess  if you need help to lift the tea pot  Viking is for you  😄

 Does Viking have loose tea  or bags?

 

The tea on Viking is far superior. They offer loose tea and have an excellent decaf black tea which is hard to come by. O uses twinnings teas. Not terrible, but definitely not the best choice.