pinotlover

I was once a Segmenter. Never again. However, nothing in this instance has anything to add to the decision. Segmenters need to realize they are exactly that. There will be functions for which they are not invited and only for those on the ATW. I don’t see the problem.

Oceania cruisers pay no attention to their assigned boarding time, why should you expect they don’t ignore the constant announcements to not go to cabins/decks that haven’t been cleared? 🤔 As a previous cruiser told me “ if Oceania didn’t want me in my cabin, they wouldn’t give me a cabin key that works!” 🥺

I have a true food porn question: For those that have been on cruises post the Covid restart, have any of the ships you’ve been on had the special big Sunday Brunch in the GDR ? I will also ask about the extravaganza Tea they once occasionally had. Not the normal tea, but the over the top Tea with 50-60 items. We had a Sunday sea day and I enquired with the hostess that acted as if she’d never even heard of the Sunday brunch.

Foie gras is served fairly regularly in the differing venues . Certainly not every day. Raw oysters are a very rare treat. You have to be in the right restaurant, in the right part of the world, during the right season to get them.

The only difference is location on the ship. The worst are the PH1 under Waves and the pool deck. We prefer the PH2s on deck 10 that don’t have the obstructed view verandas as those on deck 11.

Seems to me to be similar to the situation we encountered on Sirena. The issue wasn’t actually staffing levels, but the mere fact , that for whatever reason, they had overbooked the restaurant. Typically, there are empty tables planned to process the various time slots through in an efficient manner. Overbooking creates problems including slower service. We typically enjoy a nice leisurely dinner with wine and conversation. Two to 2.5 hours isn’t outrageous. If one prefers a rapid meal then perhaps the buffet line is more suited for them. We hate “ Flip that Table “ restaurants!! Each to their own.

If I’m a PH don’t expect your cabin to be released before 13:00. If you board at 11:30 you’ll be hauling it around with you for 1.5 hours. I could go in length how much I hate Boardamania. Baggage piled up in the Terrace while people scramble for seats leads the list. Like Jazzbeau, that free meal, for us, is not worth the crowds and hassles of Boardamania. Relax, enjoy a wonderful local lunch in your ‘Embarkment city and show up at the Ship at 2:30-3:00. Plenty of time to enjoy the ship’s artwork afterwards. Plus more time to shop for local wines or other adult beverages to bring aboard!

I believe there is a huge degree of practicality that goes into it also. Asking for dishes with substantial changes in sauces, herbs, spices, or other ingredients isn’t normally practical for the chef or maybe those you’re sharing a table with. I’ve found dishes I really enjoy and others not so much. I order what I enjoy and don’t ask the kitchen to make huge changes to their recipes for items I don’t like. As far as the bizarre such as the veal picatta Marsala which is neither piccata nor Marsala, I just skip it and move on. Asking for either real picatta or real Marsala would be a waste of time. It’s not what the kitchen does.

Santa doesn’t come for another 16 days! We’ll have to wait! 🎊

Or most people have gone ashore sightseeing and you’re on a near empty ship not competing for bandwidth.

My only question is does this mean our June 11 Vusta cruise might still be a go, or still subject to cancellation due to shipyard/ supply chain issues?

The Sirena has two (2) Specialty Restaurants; the Tuscan Steak, and Red Ginger. Each cruiser is guaranteed one reservation in each restaurant. Additional reservations can be obtained daily either by one’s butler or at the Specialty reservations desk, which is located on Deck 5 on Sirena. I believe booking hours begins at 09:00. The ability to obtain additional reservations vary primarily depending upon: 1. Current passenger count on the ship; 2. Length of cruise; 3. Cabin category . As an example, on a full ship on a seven day cruise; you have every one guaranteed one reservation in each restaurant. Many cruisers will not pre book Embarkment day or the last night in a Specialty. That leaves five nights for reservations. With each restaurant’s capacity being about 20% of the passengers, the number of additional reservations, beyond the guaranteed are highly limited. This is especially the case if not in a PH or above. To say that reservations are likely or even possible every night is ludicrous. Some nights, not even your butler can get you In unless you’re in a very top suite. On the other hand, if one is on a 15 day or so cruise, lots of availability exists for extra ( non guaranteed) reservations. After their singular one guaranteed evening, you’ll find many are more satisfied with the convenience and flexibility of the GDR or Terrace ( buffet) yielding more booking opportunities. Again flexibility with time and table sharing increases the chances for additional nights.

Easier for me to just accept “ it hasn’t been rescheduled yet”, than trying to invent dates in an existing schedule. Maybe in late Spring 2025, after she returns to Europe for the summer. That schedule isn’t out yet.

It’s why I have a Travel Agent.

Sometimes there just isn’t any internet at all. Nothing you can do. In other situations in the past, when my wife needed wifi for work, she’d get up at 4:00 a.m. to get on line. Depending upon time zone, sometimes she’d stay up and be online between 00:00-02:00, if she needed replies with responses. Talk then about being cranky all day! 🥺

For what it’s worth I had asked my TA to enquire on the Marina refit question. Answer from her sources: No new date has yet been established for the Marina refit.

Speaking of wifi, or the lack thereof, during our segmented cruise on Sirena we had virtually no internet on either disembarkment day for people to complete a survey. Actually there was some humor listening to then CD Julie harp continuously, to those departures in Lisbon, about completing the survey, while knowing full well the ship’s system wasn’t working. Same with Dottie in Barcelona. First internet we’d had in days was when we got to our Marriott AC Hotel in Barcelona and off the ship. Does Oceania purposely shut down the wifi so to not get the passenger surveys?

I enjoy Old Town San Juan. Hard to imagine folks just sitting for hours in a terminal instead of visiting the town! Oops, sounds like an Embarkment Day! 😂😂 Some posters have have expressed pride in that they are totally oblivious to everything going on around them including instructions from the staff. Disembarkment is typically made unnecessarily challenging because of this.

I have seen no reason to believe the difference in service and amenities in Concierge and Veranda staterooms, on the Vista, will be any different than those on the rest of the fleet. For those ships, this question has been asked repeatedly. It’s strictly a personal question with no right or wrong.

It will be interesting to see the Marina again in 85 or so days. Food is very subjective. On our recent Sirena cruise, we found it very inconsistent. Some meals were very good, while some were poor. Lots of very bland unseasoned soups and dressings. They served tamarind soup while the staff admitted they were out of tamarind on the ship! Lots of complaints about “ this not being the best cuisine at sea”. Meanwhile, other posters here have said every meal was excellent. The definition of subjective! 😂 We still enjoyed the cruise and was happy to be back. Our best meals, while on a cruise, are rarely aboard ship and that cruise was no exception. With our current S.A. dar trip plans, I sure it will be the same there several meals over. As far as obvious cash flow issues, the financial markets have addressed that issue already because of missed sales projections coupled with massive debt. Until things recover, I project that second A Class ship will slide to at least 2027. The delayed Vista won’t help cash flow either! More debt, no cash flow. We enjoy the cruises and pick them based solely on itinerary. We are looking forward to another Dom Perignon dinner in La Reserve and trying out the new Privee selections. We won’t starve! 😎 After all these years of Veal Marsala Picatta, which is neither Marsala nor picatta, bizarre menu items with undefined components are part of the intrigue. Enjoy the cruise for what it is and don’t let your expectations to get overhyped and I believe you’ll enjoy the O experience.

I have my TA call Oceania to get available nights, then have her book our choice. Current costs are $300 for the evening. We typically additionally tip the wait staff extra with cash. Stated capacity is ten (10). I personally wouldn’t want to have any more than that there.

Julie left the Sirena in Lisbon near the end of October. I think she said her next rotation starts prior to Christmas.

To put this in mathematical perspective. A past Social Director told us that, regardless of ship, they are set up to handle 40% of the passengers nightly in a Specialty restaurant. Therefore, with a full R ship of 680 passengers, that means that up to 272 can dine nightly in a Specialty. With two restaurants that means 136 per night in each. If you take that about half are being served at any one time maximum, that means about 68-70 is the maximum goal they are after. Interesting additional tidbit, she also told that every evening, on average, 1. About 40% in in a Specialty ; 2. 40% in the GDR or Terrace; 3. The remaining eat room service, en-suite, or Afternoon Tea is their evening meal.

ORV; I believe if one has not cleared waitlist by cruise final payment , they get all of their deposit back without penalty.

Seems to me CD Julie scheduled a Vet get together on our last cruise. It was scheduled for 13:00 on a port day! 😳 Attendance, I heard, wasn’t very good. A bit more forethought was needed instead of just going through the motions.