pinotlover

I understand your position. I just prefer to allow the standard of service play itself out and be self demonstrating.

Sometimes Sales are very regional specific as they attempt to draw in new cruisers from around the world. I’ve seen very nice sales in German publications directed to German, Austrian, and the Swiss. Same goes for the Aussies and Chinese. Oceania will run very attractive sales in those regions that aren’t available in the U.S. Sometimes, it’s just the opposite, and we get the offers.

I never chase down a wine steward. If I was so compelled to do so I would rate it as exceedingly bad/poor service. I check out the menu, decide what I want to eat, and which wine I want with it. I then sit and wait for the wine steward to make their rounds. The overall level of service reported is directly related to the amount of time I have to wait. 1-5 minutes = very good; 10-15 minutes = mediocre to poor; 20 minutes or longer = horrible. This sometimes upsets the regular waitstaff in the Terrace, watching me sit there and not getting food, however I’m never hungry while aboard, and choose to allow the issue play out on its own merits. There has been times, in the Terrace that’s been 1-2 minutes; and times exceeding 30. I wait. Sometimes a manager may even appear.

For us, they didn’t board the ship. Everyone had to leave the ship and go through the terminal and immigration. This nearly caused mayhem. We were scheduled to depart port at 5:00 and at 4:30 ( all aboard time) several still hadn’t left the ship and gone through immigration. This after postings in Currents and all day CD announcements instructing people to do so. Finally, the Captain came on the PA system and ordered the Misfits, by name, to report to Deck 5. They were escorted by ship Security to Immigration. Butler told us later that Japanese immigration had told the Captain they were closing at 17:00. If everyone hadn’t cleared,the ship would remain at dock until the next day and they cleared when immigration reopened. Our Butler said had we spent the night, all those Misfts would be left on the dock the next morning, kicked off the ship. This was almost surreal. The Ship’s Captain came on the system, read out all the names for everyone to hear, and ordered ( not requested) them to proceed to Deck 5 and the gang plank! Hopefully all goes well with your stops there. Some are merely arrogant and don’t believe the rules apply to them.

To address a couple points. 1. Everyone during the course of the day, must exit the ship and go through immigration even if they have no tour set up. 2. Everyone will be fingerprinted digitally and have passports checked and cleared. This process can take awhile, so if planning on an early tour, exit the ship early and get in line. The amount of time required depends upon when and how you hit the process.

What FDR did say is : There will be no more major upgrades or refurbishments done to the R ships. How long each of the ships can individually sail without one is yet to be determined. So indeed no current plan may exist. Of course things could change.

In that the vast majority of we seasoned cruisers fly in at least a day, or more, pre cruise, whether 30 minutes or an hour isn’t a big deal. I can get really inexpensive nonstop flights , from my home airport , directly into Orlando. Easy to burn a day or two there or in Tampa on either/both ends of a cruise.

Don’t forget that small 😂 airport nearby in a town called Orlando!! How many flights/day does Air Canada make there? Cruisers already fly into there by the drives for cruises out of Cape Canaveral .

Consider all we O passengers that live North of Florida and South of the Mason Dixie Line. Going out of Tampa changes the economics of flying to Miami, takes multiple hours out of the driving and traffic issues, and opens up multiple lower costs hotels for pre cruise overnights. My brother worked at NASA and retired there in Titusville. Have you for even an instance considered how convenient, for all those Orlando, Titusville, and even N. Florida retirees, Tampa is? That doesn’t include those of us living farther north. His area is full of Canadian Snowbirds. Tampa is sweetness compared to going to Miami and back!

This provides another perfect example on why a cruise line shouldn’t publish and set its schedule to far out in advance. All those with posted cruises through 26&27 will now miss out on these new possibilities . Probably already too late for Oceania to adjust for 2026, but 2027 may bring different adventures.

To put it in perspective, you need to read many of the posts saying their cruise(s) didn’t make Bermuda for a variety of reasons. I would likewise recommend to anyone that truly wanted to visit the Falklands to do so by air. While some, possibly such as yourself, may talk about the delightful relaxing cruise out to the Falklands, most don’t make it. Some places and/or islands are more practically visited by cruise ship. Bermuda can be easily reached by air . They have great resorts and wonderful restaurants ashore. Ship accommodations aren’t required. Therefore, I still believe that if visiting Bermuda is a goal, doing so by air is the best choice. If you’re mostly after the cruise, then take your chances on getting there.

Bermuda is such a delightful place to visit. Easy to fly into from the Ststes without the vulgarities of any cruise line. The only reason to take a ( maybe) cruise there is because you really just want to sit on a ship, and Bermuda really doesn’t interest you.

Nothing derogatory at all. Purely a matter of taste and preferences. A significant portion of Oceania’s customers want their dishes with No onions, no garlic, no basil, no thyme, no oregano, no paprika, no curries, no peppers, and no rubs on their meats. No, No, No, No-Nos. They prefer their foods what many of the rest of us consider bland and mostly tasteless. So the challenge for the kitchen is how do they satisfy both groups with the same dish? A Margherita pizza, for example, comes naturally with fresh basil , and one has an expectation that is does. Should you be served one with out, because the NoNos prefers it that way, or should they have to pick them out? A dilemma.

These two new “A” ships different from earlier O ships in one important category. As opposed to being “stick “ built aboard, all the cabins are prebuilt modules which are lifted aboard, slid into place, and then utilities are connected up. Adding insulation to those not yet installed modules shouldn’t be a problem, only costs. If any of those cabins are already installed, then that’s a different issue. In that production delays are common, much like the Vista, we chose not to book a cruise aboard the Allura until 3 months after its original scheduled launch.

I had earlier ( during the Pandemic) heard a report that the Nautica hadn’t been in U.S. waters for years. Interesting that the US Coast Guard would have jurisdiction as it isn’t a U.S. flagged vessel. Perhaps since it’s a U.S. flagged territory??

Authentic foods, from regions of origin, with fresh ingredients including appropriate herbs and spices, is extremely difficult for ship food to surpass. When preparing food for the masses ( including the NoNos) aboard ship has to compete against those only concerned with excellence, the judged winner ( except by those NoNos) is easily predicted.

Perhaps I’m confused on location, but I thought that the staff for GSC was locally sourced. The bartenders, cooks, waitstaff, etc, were all local hires and it isn’t primarily ship staff. If this is correct, why would a quality and taste of a hamburger be different depending upon the ship?

The challenge is the potentially cancelled cruise through the Suez and Red Sea must be of equal length to the time the African sail around takes. If not, they messed up more than one cruise. Unfortunately, booked during Covid and then cancelled, I had Istanbul-Dubai booked twice. I’m not sure O could schedule that today because of alternative cruising times. I did read that some lines are considering round trip cruises through the Suez Canal and going no further than Jordan port for Petra and the Egyptian port . Avoid going further South towards the Straits.

Meanwhile, we have people clamoring for Oceania to declare a segmented 2026-27 schedule with multiple ports and routes either on or off the schedule. Patience is still a virtue.

Let me add that every cruise schedule they lock in early, means other ports are locked out. Two years out do they schedule a ship, or ships, through the Suez Canal? What if they do and nothing improves. People complain bitterly about the changes. How about Israel? China? If another line offered St. Petersburg Russia in 26, are you going to sign up for it? Perhaps waiting another six months could give them a far better view of the world in 26 than today.

While this is indeed marginally true, the reality is Oceania just did a new release of cruises barely four (4) months ago. They literally currently have hundreds of current release cruises with thousands of unsold cabins. I’m currently booked on a Nov-Dec 25 Singapore -Sydney cruise that has availability in every cabin class. What possibly could be their motivation to release the 26 schedule with the exact same cruise? They still need to sell the 25 cruise. I’m on a Jan 25 Vista cruise that except for the upper cabins is wide open. They need to sell 25 cruises before worrying about 27. I’m willing to bet many of we regulars can tell you precisely where in the world the Riveria, Marina, and A ships will be Fall 2026. Can pretty well tell you where most will be Spring 27. The only question is when the R ships start disappearing from the fleet. I still don’t believe we’ll see a Fall26- Spring 27 release until after the ATW 27 Release. Until then, book 2024, 2025, and early 26 cruises!! Lots of availability.

For business class, I always get two bags included at 70 lbs max each. I’ve never needed the second bag, but 140 lbs of stuff is a lot of stuff. Perhaps an assessment of what’s being taken is in order.

The question was “ how do you handle or respond to loud neighbors “. It was not whether you have personally had loud neighbors. Do you deny that loud neighbors may exist on any of the ships?

I believe the original question asked revolves around the assumption that on occasion noisy neighbors do in fact exist. Whether any existed next to you on any given cruise is not relevant. At times they do exist, and it’s not totally related to the Vista. Hopefully no one is trying to deny the oblivious. To answer the OP’s question, I call the main desk and don’t start a personal confrontation. A perfect example of this, we had friends cruising with UN in 19 to Papeete. Their cabin neighbors played the tv LOUDLY every night and went to sleep with it that way. Security would come, and knocking/pounding on the door only resulting in bothering even more guests. Security had to physically enter the cabin to deal with the issue. Repeatedly. After about three nights it finally got stopped, but my friends, standing in his night robe pounding on that door, would have had no response. Best to just call the front desk and have them deal with it.

All correct. My point is people, playing coy, post here with profound statements yet refuse to give very pertinent facts that may explain a situation. Absolutely, one’s butler can help them get additional reservations others can’t get. Absolutely being able to book Specialties 75 days out instead of 45 days gives more flexibility. We all know this. Why then purposely refuse to disclose your cabin level when it’s hugely pertinent?