Overthewaves

Vaccination should be an absolute requirement. It is a reasonable demand that can be met even by slow countries like Canada where everyone will have at least one dose by 1 July of this year - except those who refuse to be vaccinated. One dose should be the minimum standard as it ensures that everyone can meet it except those who refuse vaccination for bizare political reasons. And would you want to be at a table with a yahoo who has refused to be vaccinated.?

• That would be great. I believe that Insignia has just come out of a major refit and has new equipment and redesigned staterooms with the flatscreen TVs flat against the wall.  In any case I can only give you the situation that existed this past month in my stateroom on Insignia as stated above. You were wise to consult Oceania, as they are in the middle of a renovation of their fleet and it is possible/probable that there are significant differences of this nature between ships. Have a good cruise.

LHT28 Thanks for the kind reply. Indeed the equipment for "on demand " films exists, only Oceania has not yet created a useful inventory of films. My warning to cruisers is more than taste in films. I advise that their TV cannot be used, as on their previous cruises, to review their camcorder videos, photos, watch films they brought with them, nor can they pick up a list of American and international films on DVD, from Reception,  that they can play in their Stateroom. This is not a complaint, but rather a warning that they should bring the right kit to work around this problem (put their selected Netflix films on DVDs or in Flash memory) and a laptop to play them. Happy Cruising!

Ropomo asks "Do they not have Movies on demand  on the  new  TV system ?" The correct answer is "Not on the Insignia cruise I just finished in February of this year". The new TV system had two sorts of films. ON DEMAND had a selection of 15 to 20 films that did not change in the 22 days of our cruise and could be played at any time. They were mostly children's cartoons, horror films, science fiction and a few soap opera series. None of this was suited to Oceania clientel. It was impossible to select the language, as on a DVD. One was in French, none were in Spanish, the remainder were only in English. The other system was, as in the past years, scheduled films played on the three or four TV channels reserved for films. Some of these were good films; unfortunately the TV was not programmed to show the schedule nor was the schedule distributed. A kind reception staff employee made arrangements for us to receive on our bed the weekly schedule of movies, printed out and delivered by hand. It does not take a genius to adapt this new technology to Oceania requirements, but my point - in describing the electronic gadgets in our stateroom - is that cruisers who expect the film fare which used to be available  will be disappointed unless they make their own arrangements to replace the previously available sytem of DVDs and request as I did a private copy of the schedule. 

On Insignia (recently renovated) the rule is that all devices must be unplugged when you leave the cabin. But my unplugged gadgets were left in full view and I never had a problem.  On the renovated Insignia, there are a limited number of USA and European outlets - they all have a third hole for plugs with a "ground". They also include USB slots. These outlets are insufficient if you have your own lap top, chargers for two telephones, and tablets, chargers for hearing aids, hair drier etc. I always bring an adapter to multiply my outlets. I use one that plugs into a single wall outlet. Adapters that require two wall outlets often don't fit the space available. I used these during the night and when we were in our cabin and we never had any concern from the staff.

In regard to electrical gadgets, the renovated Oceania ships now have flat screen TVs that don't have a HDMI  slot, nor do they have a USB slot for flash memory gadgets, nor do they have a DVD player . Obviously, they also no longer provide film DVDs at the Reception desk.  So you must watch video clips and films on your laptop screen.