DoulaAnn

The airfare could be a good deal -- look at the cost of your airline and if it's over $2000, the Ultimate would be worth it.

I haven't looked up your point of departure and I don't know where you live, but if Ultitmate included airfare (ignoring the other items) it would seem to be a good deal at $2000.

Correction -- with those 7 day cruises, you would earn 3 credits and with 21 days, you would earn 1.

Credits are not issued strictly by the number of days. The website says 1 credit is issued for cruises up to 24 days. 25-34 day cruise earns 2 credits, 35-44 day cruise earns 3 credits, etc. (the numbers change after 64 days -- 65 - 179 day cruises earn 7 credits and 180+ day cruises earn 8 credits. So it's actually the shortest and longest cruises that earn fewer credits per cruise.

One thing that will impact your decision is how early is early. Waves opens earlier than Terrace Buffet. So if it's really early (and we've had one of those) your only choice would be Waves. They have good breakfasts, though.

We were told to get new ones from the porters.

I've heard of Social Hostesses who eventually do achieve assistant CD. And I've known entertainment staff who've become ACD's without being social hostesses.

He was hysterical! And some of the pianists were quite entertaining as well as talented.

The shows aren't all just the entertainment team. We've had some incredible performers brought in over the years we've been cruising. For me the hardest part is when you are on b2b cruises and it's the same shows both cruises. Some are worth seeing again, and some aren't.

Ooo, there's hope yet! Maybe they heard from those who were showing up at 9:30, having missed 1/3 of the show, because dinner couldn't be fast enough even if they didn't socialize too much.

Are you scheduled on any of the early Vista voyages? I'm interested to hear about the shows, the rooms, the food (especially the new Embers), and everything else.

It's interesting to hear all these comments. There was a show on Marina called The Brill Factory earlier this year that featured music from the 50's and 60. It seemed to really connect with the audience and their applause was truly genuine. Just because one doesn't live through an era of the music doesn't mean they don't know it or like it. And I agree with the comments that we "oldsters" can appreciate/like some of the music that our children and grandchildren like -- but nailing the ones we do like (and avoiding the stuff we don't like) is a tricky issue. Some of us love certain artists and others can't stand those same artists. O does its best to try to present what they think most of those who attend shows want. Even the times of the show are subject to different opinions. Some people love the fact that the shows have been moved up to 9:15 and others are frustrated because they feel that they have to rush through their dinners if all they've been able to get in specialty restaurants are 7:30 or later.

We've had 7000 before and were warned that traffic to the bridge might be noisy, but we had no issues. Fortunately, we weren't in rough seas, as I hear that being toward the front can accentuate the motion others feel. We really enjoyed the room and had fun waving at the crew in the bridge.

Ember sounds like a great option for people who are wanting something a little lower than a 5-star restaurant, which is what we've always considered the specialties and even GDR to be, but not as crazy as Terrace Cafe. We've tried TC a couple of times and the buffet thing plus scrounging to find a table wasn't our cup of tea for a nice/not fancy dinner. I'm giving Ember a try for sure, and looking at the menu, I think I'm going to like it. (Yes, I may not order the cheeseburger or fish and chips, but I rarely eat those anywhere, even in Waves).

We were on over Christmas this past year and the CD (I think it was) led a Christmas service. They did Christmas very well for several days -- Gingerbread house display, Christmas tree in the Atrium, staff leading a Christmas carol sing-along on Christmas Eve, etc. And Dominick the Italian Christmas donkey every day for a week in the evening in the lounge. We were on Marina so not sure what the other ships did.

Was Bourgeoisie Dinner the $150 it was for us? If so, was it worth the extra $60 over what it had been last year? I know food costs have gone up, but not 66%.

Concur completely. The Dover Sole is great in there, but I find little else appealing (oh, other than Crepes Suzette).

Everyone has different favorites. You will find people who LOVE Polo, Toscana, Red Ginger, and Jacques. And those who either dislike or find one as their least favorite. There are those who love GDR and Terrace Cafe for dinner, and there are those who don't. I guess Oceania had to make a choice somewhere. Did they lose Jacque Pepin as their executive chef, I wonder?

I hadn't noticed La Reserve being missing. Of course, on Marina last month, they had boosted the pricing up on even the two non-champagne dinners so high that we, who love La Reserve, didn't find the value in it. Price was $150 for each of the two dinners. Had been $90.

You have a point there.

Free excursions are typically limited to those with a regular price of $199 or less. If you only get one O-life perk, look at your free excursions and their cost compared with the OBC that is offered. Many times the OBC is significantly higher that the excursion costs, so you would get more bang for your buck with it.

I think I remember an oval table in the GDR that sat 10 (may have only been 8, but I think it was 10). The problem with an oval table is it makes talking to anyone except next to you or perhaps a person across from you. I echo the sentiment above -- go with 6 and 4 and rotate. And change the person you sit next to every time (we even split up as a couple in order to get to talk to others at the table. Confuses those you don't know, but if you're traveling together, would work great.) And, of course, on Marina and Riviera, there's Privee which seats 10 but involves an extra cost.

We were in 7128 on Marina earlier this year. Yes, there was vibration, but that happens aft no matter what deck you are on. We had no real issues with it -- yes, it woke us, but many times we were able to get back to sleep after the docking portion was over. Keeping the pillows away from the headboard seemed to decrease the feel of the vibration some. It was so acceptable to us that we have booked the very back cabin (with the balcony on two sides of the room) for our next cruise.

That's something I would like to know, as we are booked during that time as well.

I can see how you might think a string quartet is playing classical music. We've been on cruises recently where they've played show tunes, 50's & 60's music, and one group even did an evening performance in the lounge with heavy metal hits (I'm not heavy metal, so wasn't my favorite). Yes, there are no vocals when they are playing in the atrium, Martini's, or Horizons at tea, but they are still quite enjoyable.