ToxM

I will be interested to see what you think of the need for an app after/during your trip.

I think I am just lucky that I enjoy rough seas. I book the forward forward PH on the R class for transatlantics 🙂 I am also the one laughing at turbulence on a plane though…

They do this with speciality nights in The Terrace so that guests who have speciality restaurant bookings have a chance to go to the buffet so they don’t miss out.

As I said earlier i am sorry you are having an unfortunate time with the food. I hope you have or will mention something on the midcruise comment card.

Is it just about tenders and stuff? I suppose this means the old game of running to open the cabin door to hear the announcement is no longer - I wonder what they have changed with the door/wa;;s to make the sound more bearable.

I don’t think anyone is being negative about your comments, I was was merely wondering if everything else was ok 🙂

Good to hear :)

My TA once told me they had booked a “disabled” transfer for me and my mum (a wheelchair user). We arrived at Monte Carlo to see a full sized coach. A 90euro taxi transfer was refunded to me from my TA as clearly it wasn’t in any way mobility friendly. On disembarkation I just sorted the cab myself as it was Barcelona and very easy. I filled out the disability form prior to embarlkation and requested roll bars for my mums bed. The roll bars weren’t fitted correctly in the cabin, my mum fell out of bed got trapped under the mattress which also fell on her, we were in medical bay at 3am and security wanted to do a breathalyser test on her to see if she had been drinking. They got a bit of an education that night, as well as probably learning a few choice new words. We were given an extra cabin so my mum could have a double bed. My mum got extensive medical treatment - which we declined to pay for, and a small amount of OBC. I no longer use that TA (one more cruise to go booked through them, and we are done). I double check everything myself and understand that on disembarkation/off the ship the line wash their hands of you. Harsh but true. On another note a well placed and intelligently worded complaint on Social Media can do wonders - the reputation damage of a solid complaint to a brand in the eyes of current and future customers can be very expensive (I work in risk analysis and intelligence analysis currently and have done for 20 years). Writing in bold to emphasise your words is grating beyond belief.

I am sorry you are having issues with the food. Toscana has never been my favourite venue. Are you enjoying any part of your cruise?

There’s also usually a couple of the GDR options in the Terrace as well. We usually end up there unless there is something especially tempting on the GDR. It’s the Queen of Buffets at sea.

Marital unit wants no part of planning for travel, and is a terrible grump until he is in situ on the ship. I print every stage of the trip so that he understands the process when he takes a begrudging interest at about the month to go mark. I also give him a list of clothing suggestions. He gets one reminder and then I leave him to his own awful packing. He’s a terrible packer, but he is a grown up so his appearance is down to him. He generally doesn’t even bother to know what ship he is going on til about 2 weeks out. I on the other hand enjoy every second of the planning process. I suppose this is why we have a good marriage.

I’d be overjoyed to do it in a PH on an R, but the price of that coupled with UK airfare to that area in a comfortable class of air travel would be prohibitive. I can budget for balcony and premium airfare 🙂 Let’s just hope they are doing a westerly route so we can hopefully hop on from a west coast flight from the UK.

I left my lawn chair out ready. This is actually great as it means that possibly a South Pacific segment is available to us in a larger class ship so I don’t have the R class <PH bathroom issue.

The staff are on the lookout and are not afraid to challenge. I was sat at the smoking area by the pool and had taken a can of my O issued special order for my fridge Root Beer with me to enjoy. A waiter told me I wasn’t allowed to drink my own alcohol outside my cabin. I politely explained the situation and we had a chuckle about it.

Happy Anniversary! I am sure you will have a great time - reviews about food are subjective, people like to complain 🙂 Nothing is perfect, Oceania try very hard, if you have a problem tell someone and they will do their best to get it fixed. I haven’t cruised on O since January, but it was pretty close to precovid then. Riviera is beautiful after her refit.

Not sure I would agree on the accessibility of R class ships, whilst they are smaller and easier to navigate the doors to open decks for those in a wheelchair or a walker would be difficult. O class access to open decks is much easier. Both classes are small enough to be relatively easy. I speak from experience of pushing my mum around on Marina for a week and also spending time with able bodied Marital Unit on Sirena. As for OP’s question about which ship - if you want to have the optimum experience, I would say start with Riviera, then you will start with the full experience, and you can decide if you want to go full on niche O experience on an R class. You will also benefit from talking to other guests onboard who will give you face to face benefit of their experience on the R class. My 02c: I like O class - I look forward to Marina being given the Riviera upgrade - she will be spectacular. My first O experience was on Marina so she will always hold a special place in my heart, but I loved Riviera at Christmas. My heart however belongs to Sirena - I loved the very small ship experience, but I can understand it’s not for everyone. Sirena in a PH on a transatlantic was one of the favourite times in my life. Start big, if you fall in love, go smaller.

Not huge casinos but a good selection of slots, with good VP and keno. Poker tourneys are good as long as you get the players of course. I enjoyed the Three Card Poker as well.

If you don’t think of that whenever you enter an airport there is something wrong with you 😄

Currents - Might be nice to have this in an app - or you can take pics on your phone, or stick the physical copy in your pocket or bag. Menus - Might be nice to have Speciality Restaurants - Book before you leave Culinary Class - Book before you leave Spa - Book before you leave or see currents for daily specials - might be nice Excursions - Book before you leave Crafting sessions - I think the rugby scrum these are, are best to leave it til the day Prive/Special menus - Book before you leave Ordering drinks via the app - Not needed Ordering food on the app - Not needed Did I miss anything? It’s worth bearing in mind that apps evolved in their present format for larger ships to control numbers in venues during the first restart from covid. Due to social distancing big ships didn’t want people queuing at peak times for dinner, or to control numbers in theatres etc. Whilst we are in the middle of a new covid kerfuffle we certainly aren’t back to the point of 2021 in terms of Covid procedures. The only time I have seen a queue at a dining venue on O was for Christmas Dinner in the GDR, we turned around and went to The Terrace. If anyone can come up with a good reason for anything I haven’t marked ‘nice to have’ who has direct experience on O (apart from “everyone else has one” - this is not a good reason) please let me know - I am very willing to have my mind changed! Apps cost lots of money, terrible apps cost lot of money, apps that don’t do a lot cost lots of money. I would rather O spend that money in a more sensible way - or even just not spend the money at all and use it to get to a more steady financial footing. Not trying to stir the pot - trying to lay out the facts.

It’s not lowering expectations if it’s not needed. I don’t need an unocorn and my life isn’t adversely affected by the lack of it. megaships have climbing walls and I don’t need them either. if there were 17 dining venues onboard an app might be useful especially if there were 5000 guests also trying to book their spot. There is neither of these things. I am not against an app. I don’t think it needs the bells and whistles people seem to think it needs.

But what can you do about it? Not cruise on O in case it happened, as they have a reputation for it? Or if you are onboard let it ruin a perfectly good trip? In January I am cruising on another line, on a specific itinerary for a port that I would absolutely love to go to - in fact it’s number one my bucket list - I have been trying to get to this place for the last 15 or so years. It’s a tender stop, it has a history of not being possible. I’m taking the chance that we will get on land - if we don’t then even me seeing the place from a ship through binoculars will be enough. If O had offered this port I would have been on that itinerary in a flash, I like the line and it feels like home when I am aboard. I would take the chance with O as I really like the product. Maybe growing up managing my expectations has stood me in good stead. I have a very good mental lemonade machine for those days when things don’t go right.

This question also popped up on the R board. While writing a reply over there, it occurred to me that apps are like self service checkouts in supermarkets. There are really no lines on O ships, and we don’t want to give O an excuse to cut staff, which I would imagine is a key reason to have what is essentially DIY option to an extent. I like the staffing level on O - the staff and the level of service is optimum, why are we talking about applying mass market cruiseline ways of working to products that clearly aren’t mass market? Would love the menus online and the daily mag, but still want paper versions 🙂

There is an ongoing (rather prickly) discussion on the Oceania board about this topic. I am unable to give my 2c on this board. as I haven’t yet cruised on Regent, so wouldn’t presume to know the line, unlike a few over there who have never been on O but are emailing execs demanding an app! However on O I am an old hand, so have been running my mouth freely(!). On a smaller ship like the O R class (Sirena, Nautica et al) or even their O or A classes the ships are small enough and have more than enough staff that you don’t need to order a drink from your app to get service, you don’t need to order food from an app. Everything that needs a booking is pretty much booked beforehand. Apps are the cruise equivalent of a self service checkout - a reason to reduce staffing numbers. Something I can’t see happening on O (or R). I would acquiesce to have menus on an app, but I love a good graze on a menu even when not on a cruise.

As we haven’t gained total control of the weather yet we can’t guarantee that any ship can dock in any port. A missed port is an extra sea day - for me thats a good thing. This could be the reason I like O - it gives me extra sea days LOL Don’t nook a cruise on the strength of one particular stop, just in case Mother Nature decides to change your plans. As for nefarious decisions by O/the Captain - I am sure there are little white lies told all over the place. I am on holiday, I keep my expectations in check, my diligence dued and my glass full. This actually works really well for me, I wish others would try it.

Let’s not forget to take taxes into the picture if we are including tips - as tax changes dependant on port/country rules. This would change the upper ceiling on what could and couldn’t be ordered. This could run and run 🙂