Vineyard View

I asked our TA to see if she could find out when the new rescheduled dry dock is for Marina. Originally first sailing after was early November. Then I read next that it was early Spring. She checked today. Sometime April-June. Our booked cruise is May. I sincerely hope there is a definitive date before final payment.

We have sailed multiple times on Viking. Not post C, but none of what you experienced was remotely close to what we experienced. It sounds as if yours must have been the ‘perfect storm’ because in spite of the always present cheer leaders of each line, Viking just wouldn’t be sailing at the continued capacity that they do if that was a pattern. That said, we are not booking Viking in the near future for very different reasons - not because of our experiences on board them with services, food, ship layout, crew - we are booking elsewhere due to prepayment, overall price, and recent higher value (for us) on another line. Food is subjective. Most enjoy it as did we. Dining room layout can be subjective as well - we weren’t fans. But overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our days on Viking. You clearly, through your much repeated slams of Viking, tell us they were not a good fit for you. The overall perception and reviews are not however in line with what you experienced. Full ships of happy passengers say something else. we all choose whom we sail with for different reasons, but your many, many, many reviews of completely atrocious experiences on Viking with their food, etc. just seem a bit extreme compared to most. So surely, you and all your fellow passengers must have been on the itinerary from where on one wants to be. If the retractable roof is closed, as was a big issue for you on top of the food, there is always the outdoor aft pool and hot tub, as well as the lasotherapy pool available to all for free in the spa area.

But would you do that if the new Oceania pricing was $4k less for the same timeframe (almost $5k less if you didn’t upgrade to prestige drink package which makes no sense) of 14 days? I know O food is considered excellent, but our recent SB food experience was as well. SB =smaller ship/smaller ports.

Are they letting you choose any excursion in any category to use the OBC for?

Thank you

Sorry. I wasn’t trying to complicate things. On V you get one of each, maybe a rose thrown in (although they will try to find another option of that offered plain doesn’t work). On SB you have multiple options. Having not sailed on O I did not know how that works

So on the basic, not prestige package, you have multiple wine options that are included daily with your meals to choose from?

Thank you for posting this. I would want to bring wine on board based on these offerings. With the basic package I think it works like only “one red, one white offering’ ’ per day? Of which would likely not be these?

We always try to book private tours when we do not DIY in a port. In the past, pre-c, it wasn’t all that difficult to find a tour company/guide. If the price for just the two of us was more than we wanted to spend (at times it was less for just us than ship - ie Istanbul, various ports in Turkey,Ephesus, etc). At times we gathered a few other couples in our roll call (ie St Petersburg 8 people total) and it worked out great. Every time we have done this, except Cairo (long story), it’s has been a far superior experience over ship excursions. The current problem though seems to be finding independent tour guides post C. Hopefully that changes over the next year or so.

We did the same. Switched our booking we made on 6/30 in anticipation of price increases. Yesterday we rebooked under SM no air and saved a good deal of money on that same cruise. We don’t do ship excursions but we still came out ahead by a lot!

We booked on 6/30 A3, 14 day Barcelona to Rome 5/18/23. No special deals. We used Olife for drink package. No air. Simply More pricing no air on Saturday was lower. Worked with our TA yesterday and saved $2,200 over the 6/30 pricing. I told her to book it quickly before it changed as it just doesn’t make sense with what I am reading here. So for us it was a win-win even if we don’t do shore excursions.

Our TA rebooked ours with Simply more no air. We received a credit for the air. We chose not to use that as we fly business class, using miles to upgrade.

I thought Marina was still dry dock scheduled. Originally by early November, then pushed out to next Spring? The renderings of the cabins and bathrooms that I viewed online were impressive

Thank you for sharing that SLSD. Mar-May is our timeframe to travel now. We used to go both shoulder seasons, but with all the wildfires here we no longer travel in the Fall. I have heard good reports about O for the most part. I have to also know they aren’t SB…..I just don’t know how far off the mark they are in concierge level vs V3. Even if I add in their gratuities and expensive upgrade to the now included beverage package (to be more in line with SB inclusive, the price difference on this cruise is over $4,200 for 14 days. But they do not have caviar and Champagne! And the ship is 1200 pax.

Seabourn 14 days Treasures of the Adriatic on 4/21 Oceania 14 days Barcelona-Rome on 5/18 I am shocked to find that the Oceania new pricing format that rolled out on Saturday reduced the price on this itinerary with more included. It appears their new package is all over the board in pricing with almost all being higher, some significantly than the previous pricing. I know what I am getting with SB, but have not sailed O. The price difference now when all is added in is rather significant. I did not expect that. And yes, I know it’s a bigger ship. And I know it won’t have the same luxury. But we are really attracted to the itinerary.

Of course nothing is perfect. But with all the issues being reported on Marina that need to be fixed, it was a fair statement that there is a choice make to travel on a ship in need of major upgrades or not. Options are out there. I am not one who would choose to do that for that amount of money. It it works for you to make lemonade, then I think that’s a fair choice to make as well. Sounds like you might need a fair amount of lemons though under the current reported conditions.

I hear you. Those days of formal tux nights are long gone for us as I said, there was a lot of flexibility when we sailed on Quest last month with dress, and there were options where you could stay casual on that evening. Other than that night, dress by both men and women pretty much mirrored Viking

It’s is only in MDR that they call out “formal”. Other venues to choose from that are not on that night

On our recent trip, DH took a jacket. He wore it on formal night. He also enjoyed wearing it in TK Grill, but that wasn’t required either. Not everyone did wear a jacket on formal night though in MDR. Many did , and most wore long sleeves from my limited view. I did not see any tuxes but maybe there were some. I did not see any sequined gowns. Most people stepped it up for sure, and jackets were not uncommon, but I wouldn’t call it formal in the old cruising terms of formal where tuxes and gowns were predominant by any means. On all other nights I would say most dressed like they do on V. That said, there were some jeans worn by a very few that were in the category of Saturday working outside (anomaly), and then there were some finer cut jeans that looked nice with a nice shirt. I didn’t feel there was a snobbish air about it all, but the few who wore baggy everyday jeans did stand out, and not in a positive way.

There was that!

I believe Seabourn just sold one ship.

It sure sounds like dry dock is needed. Sorry to hear that for your sake. Does anyone have the new dates? We have a sailing booked in May.

Pretty sure all the itineraries that are going to be next Spring are out there. I’ve scrubbed them pretty thoroughly between a few lines. It’s down to looking port by port at those we haven’t been to, and those we have been to on each. Seabourn and another line are the final two. It’s the itinerary vs the preferred line (SB) at this point. That or a land trip. Which isn’t our first choice.

We were on Quest last month. She was quite lovely. We looked prior to booking and she was in dry dock in 2021. We did not feel like there were areas of wear and tear visible.

Why would one need to do this? I honestly do not understand the concept around needing to bring bungee cords on a trip with me to remedy theses issues. IMHO they shouldn’t be issues to begin with. I read yesterday an article about Marina being scheduled for a complete dry dock. It sounds like that is a good idea based on a couple comments on this thread and the other. I viewed conceptual pictures showing concierge room and bath updates. They were impressive and supposed to roll out this November.