pinotlover

You weren’t on her cruise and her ship. You haven’t a clue of the quality of food that was presented to her on that cruise. You haven’t a clue of who the chef was on her ship. Here’s a clue for you. On Oceania food quality can very tremendously depending upon the head chef.

Great through review! 🙏

Do we need a 5th thread on SM? Maybe this should be merged with one of the other 4 threads on Simply More!

I’m concerned about FF’s lifetime! 😳 Either it’s short, or he didn’t believe what FDR said. Or he believes an even larger O ship will take on the ATW duties? The Era of the R ships is coming to an end. If you enjoy them, do so while you can! 🥂

Surprisingly, on the Vista, we had some decent offerings on the by the glass menu. On the Chardonnay side was a quite quaffable Macon Village that went fine with several of the dishes. When the dish would take a bit of oak and butter, the Raymond Chardonnay was acceptable. The Raymond had been listed on both our previous cruises but was always out of stock. It was available, perhaps as a treat, on Vista. The Chianti did fine with the pizza and the valo was OK. The Riesling selection is typically good. The surprising treats, from off the list, were a decent Sauternes and two different tawny ports as dessert wines. I carried a nice port from dinner directly to the Lounge and show on a couple occasions! 😜 Wines vary significantly by cruise. Catch as catch can. Only the Germain sucks consistently.

Let me add another benefit for Oceania. In those applicable countries with VAT , these beers and wines would no longer be sold, so this eliminates that additional headache of keeping up with that. Wouldn’t affect hard liquor and HH sales , but eliminates some of the accounting pain.

Most all of the wines (bubbly is a wine) being served are probably being sourced directly from the winery in cargo container size quantities at $3-$4/ bottle. One can move them around the world at $1/ bottle or less. An example of less would be picking up the European wines in Med ports, but max $1/ btl to the ship. 25 Oz/ bottle @5 Oz pours = 5 pours per bottle. Some pours are closer to 4 Oz. So to answer: cost is about $1/glass of wine plus labor. A bottle of Perrier is far more expensive.

My TA believes that by mid winter, everyone will be converted to SM. Those on OLife plans may not have to pay for it, and some with the tours option might get additional OBC to compensate for the difference in programs. O’s incompetent IT department is readily recognized and running two programs is probably beyond their capacity. It will be easier to just give everyone free wine and beer than trying to maintain it in Billings. Running the tour credits will be no problem.

$25/ bottle regardless of bottle size.

Can’t speculate either way. This I can say. We had dinner one evening on Vista with a couple that was on their 5th segment. They had started on the freebie pre Founders Cruise and had stayed on since. They had dinner one night with FDR on that Founders Cruise. FDR told them “ the day of the R ships is nearing an end. There we be no more facelifts, overhauls, or any expensive retrofits. Allure is coming in 25, and one more is planned after that. The plan is to gradually remove the R ships from the fleet, before any major expenses are required. They are no longer sufficiently profitable to staff and maintain.” 2026 is two and a half years. However, I believe they start selling the 26 ATW in September. From FDR’s comments, I’m guessing if the Insigna is not doing the ATW, it’s gone from the fleet. However, with its issues, Regatta may well have those honors and Insignia replace her for the short term before facing the same outcome. I can’t remember exactly now, but I believe it was by 28 or 29 all R ships are expected to be gone from O.

Very few of the ship offered wines would be found off ship. For those that are, routinely very few people would buy them.

I believe most all of the current analysis is mostly junk. On board discounts, continuing special sales, waitlist prices. Far too many variables. Which brings up a question. If one is waitlisted, and the waitlist doesn’t clear until 10/1, I’m guessing the only choice is SM. It will be interesting to see how many waitlists miraculously clear after that date! 😂 My gut level tells me the only true indicator of price increases, brought on by SM, will only occur in September/October upon the release of the new cruises. Then a comparison of how :Previous cruise release price x 1.1 inflation adjustments compare to identical new cruise release prices. Then we’ll know.

We did the Oceania Angkor Wat post cruise as a freebie extension in 2017. I will say that most everything was very well done on O’s part. The flights, hotel, tours, and the included folk show/dinner at the hotel. We immensely enjoyed taking the tuk tuks through the evening streets in Siem Reap to eat at a couple fabulous Cambodian restaurants. Those only wanting Merican food were happy with the hotel food. The major negative was fellow guests. Quite a number was far past any ability of reading comprehension. We were there in February, thankfully pre Monsoon. It’s a jungle, it’s hot, it’s not smooth paved paths. It was exactly as clearly spelled out in the tour description. We had far too many companions that couldn’t walk 100 meters without a long stop to rest in Equatorial weather. We spent more time standing around than actually seeing the sights. Very glad we went and enjoyed it immensely. Wishing we had more time to explore versus standing around doing nothing. We further extended about 3 days and had a great time in Bangkok.

I believe the point is one’s expectations when staying at a Grand Hyatt maybe different than when staying at a Motel 8. People don’t pack and drag their furniture repair kits around the world when they pay Premium Cruise Line prices. Or should I say most people. 🙄

You’d have to go back and read Post #1. They had a Thread going going entitled “ Onboard Marina Now” that got entirely trash with multiple posts completely off subject. So they start a new post entitled as above to redirect the conversation to what’s happening aboard ship Now!

😂 It happens regularly! People with a $200 bill plus $20 in taxes will tip on the taxes. Here’s an extra $5 tip for charging me tax! 😂🥂🥂

Excellent point! Most sophisticated diners at fine dining establishments tip a certain amount on the food price ( excluding taxes) and then a set amount per bottle of wine regardless of cost. While the food service might garnish a 20% tip, both a $100 bottle of wine or a $750 bottle will bring an additional $20-$25. Only the Whales tip $20-25% on the total bill amount! 😂. The well greased even tip on the tax amount! 🤪

To me it’s an obsession! Which Islamic Airlines are you flying so you don’t pay for anyone’s alcohol? I flew Turkish Airlines BC on my recent Vista cruise. They were tremendous and served great adult beverages! Teatotallers didn’t get a no alcohol discount. They just didn’t imbibe. It’s part of the fare. Starting 7/1 with SM , it’s all part of the O fare. OLife is gone. Moving on may take people on different paths, but we’ll all be moving on regardless.

Yes! A $1B in new debt talks, and that doesn’t include the new A ships coming online. The debt has to be paid. Old programs will soon disappear. The debt has to be paid. Dreaming of a White Christmas in Miami won’t get you far. I never heard a Perry Como song once over the PA on the Vista!Time marches on!

Same as Benita. Adding the “ free” land package would have cost us more than our original booking paying for the land package.

#2 has been addressed ad naseum. O is going more all inclusive because a much greater audience than us wants them to. Vegans don’t get discounts because they don’t eat lobster and filet. I don’t get a discount because I prefer not to rush back to the ship for lunch and lunch wines. Cruisers going to bed pre 21:30 still pay proportionally for the evening entertainment. On and on. If you’re obsessed with this drinks issue, you’ll just have to do your own calculations for future voyages. I avoid Oceania shorex, but it’s soon to be in the price. I have to weigh my options.

I have cruises booked through next April with OLife. Definitely not converting any of those to SM. Hopefully by September/ October and the next new cruise release, when anll cruises will be under SM, all these questions will be answered/addressed! 🙄 Until that time, I’m simply not booking any more O cruises. Now that makes it all simple. Misinformation appears to be rampant on this Thread. Time will sort it out.

Agreed. Also guessing a different term than Cheerleaders.

This is correct!! Bookings for Privee on Vista can only be done once aboard. Consult the Dining Reservations Desk on Deck 5 to learn your options and availability during your cruise segment. This is the same for the private rooms in PG and Toscana.

After 14 days aboard Vista, it’s still confusing. We weren’t allowed to book in advanced. You have to book Privee once aboard. Some nights are reserved for specific La Reserve wine dinners. Some for senior staff dinners. They advertise it for eight (8) , but may have ten at the dinner. If they don’t get eight to sign up, they cancel event. I believe this Privee on Vista is a work in progress. Currents says to talk to the Reservation Desk for information. I did, and still left with questions. In the PG and Toscana they run special wine dinners. See Currents for dates and details. On other nights the room can be booked for groups of 10, but not the wine dinners as explained to me. They only are staffed to do wine dinners on nights advertised. Good Luck. If interested in anything, my recommendation is to sit down with the dinner reservation person on Deck 5 as soon as possible to explore options. Sadly, all these options appear after initial Specialty reservations are made ! 🙄.