Vista Replacing Insignia on 2026 ATW Cruise

[bob brown]

Heard from an ‘O’ insider that for the 2026 ATW cruise, it will be on the Vista.

 

I suppose it had to happen sooner or later.  I am not sure how that will impact itineraries or ports used.

[shepherd really]

3 minutes ago, bob brown said:

Heard from an ‘O’ insider that for the 2026 ATW cruise, it will be on the Vista.

 

I suppose it had to happen sooner or later.  I am not sure how that will impact itineraries or ports used.

I would be willing to place a modest wager against that happening.  They can't even fill an R ship for an Around the World Cruise.

[halfapair]

That would be great! We were on the Insignia at the start of ATW 2023, and went through the Panama Canal, but disembarked in San Diego, CA. 
 

I would prefer a larger ship, such as Vista, if I were doing ATW. 
 

Now I need to gotta start saving my pennies….

[mauibabes]

Bob, since I believe you are aboard Insignia now, I would never bet against your “Insider” info. As for not filling an R ship, I have heard about release day sell outs of ATW’s in the past but perhaps that was only for the Allocated ATW rooms for that year.  We did a wonderful segment of the 2018 ATW, Beijing to Sydney, and I would definitely consider a 2026 segment on Vista. Remember, Allura will be joining the fleet in 2025 and she will assume some some of the many Oceania itineraries.
Bob, thanks for providing the “stuff that dreams are made of”, oh yes, and maybe the numbers for a winning Lottery ticket 😇🙏💰🛳️🤞

Mauibabes

[bob brown]

46 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

I would be willing to place a modest wager against that happening.  They can't even fill an R ship for an Around the World Cruise.

I won’t take your bet, as nothing is ever for certain, and lots could happen…😉

 

As for filling the ship, other cruise lines have been doing that for years, with much larger ships, albeit usually on somewhat shorter ATW itineraries…

[PhD-iva]

1 hour ago, shepherd really said:

I would be willing to place a modest wager against that happening.  They can't even fill an R ship for an Around the World Cruise.

But they don’t have to sell out every state room to the around the world cruisers. Don’t they also sell many segments and Grand Voyages on the ATW ship?

[LHT28]

I think they would get more takers  for  the larger ship & cabins & w/c

 Could be a good move

Time will tell

[ToxM]

HAL used to fill 1250 ish sized ships for their ATW’s. Then they sold two of them to Fred Olsen, who are now filling one of them for their world cruise. 

 

if would certainly make ATW more accessible for those who are put off by the R class bathroom size and who can’t quite cough up PH and above prices. 

 

Allure (is that what it is called?) class are slightly smaller passenger number than O class aren’t they? 

[LHT28]

2 minutes ago, ToxM said:

HAL used to fill 1250 ish sized ships for their ATW’s. Then they sold two of them to Fred Olsen, who are now filling one of them for their world cruise. 

 

if would certainly make ATW more accessible for those who are put off by the R class bathroom size and who can’t quite cough up PH and above prices. 

 

Allure (is that what it is called?) class are slightly smaller passenger number than O class aren’t they? 

1200  vs 1250

[shepherd really]

45 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

But they don’t have to sell out every state room to the around the world cruisers. Don’t they also sell many segments and Grand Voyages on the ATW ship?

They do, but it seems an odd change given they could have made this shift any time since they launched either of the O class ships but didn't.

[ToxM]

5 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

1200  vs 1250

 Not much difference then. I don’t think it is a bad idea, I wonder what the price differential will be. No inside cabins on Vista either I believe..

[pinotlover]

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.

[PhD-iva]

29 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

 

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.

With this information, now the speculation that perhaps O and Regent might be merged someday seems more plausible.

Just a WAG…..

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 hours ago, shepherd really said:

I would be willing to place a modest wager against that happening.  They can't even fill an R ship for an Around the World Cruise.

While I agree that Vista will never do an ATW in this lifetime, I do need to remind you that ATW cabins on Insignia (or any O ship) are purposefully limited because segment passengers produce significantly more revenue. An R ship could possibly fill if with ATW passengers if the population was not limited. But, that would mean an increase in the fares to make up for the loss of the segment fares. 

[shepherd really]

20 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

While I agree that Vista will never do an ATW in this lifetime, I do need to remind you that ATW cabins on Insignia (or any O ship) are purposefully limited because segment passengers produce significantly more revenue. An R ship could possibly fill if with ATW passengers if the population was not limited. But, that would mean an increase in the fares to make up for the loss of the segment fares. 

Makes sense, although a fully booked ATW is a nice chunk of cash for a debt load like O is carrying.  I'm going to mark my calendar, because I think we just agreed on something.  

 

Happy 4th of July.  

[pinotlover]

19 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

Makes sense, although a fully booked ATW is a nice chunk of cash for a debt load like O is carrying.  I'm going to mark my calendar, because I think we just agreed on something.  

 

Happy 4th of July.  

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! 🥂

[Flatbush Flyer]

7 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

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! 🥂

The R ships aren’t going anywhere for a long time. In fact, I’d keep an eye on Azamara. When Sycamore Partners gets tired of its “plaything,” there’ll be several available for a figure far less than the bargain price they paid. 
Fortunately, those ships were very well made and there useful life is easily extended by major refits like the NEXT project. 
 

[osandomir]

I don’t have any base to speculate but it needs to be mentioned that R-ships are often more suitable for some exotic one of a kind itineraries that we prefer to book with Oceania. They can get to the ports with low infrastructure that aren’t accessible for the bigger vessels. And some destinations aren’t ready to handle any significant passenger loads above the small ship’s capacity.

[bob brown]

3 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

With this information, now the speculation that perhaps O and Regent might be merged someday seems more plausible.

Just a WAG…..

I don’t think so…why would they want to give up a niche in the cruise market?  Would they elevate Oceania to Regent’s level, drop Regent to Oceania’s level, or bring them to somewhere between the two?

[Hambagahle]

15 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

But they don’t have to sell out every state room to the around the world cruisers. Don’t they also sell many segments and Grand Voyages on the ATW ship?

Absolutely they do.   However I would not want to join a ship for a segment of a RTW cruise unless it were the first one.  From what I read the RTW passengers get very "tight knit" and it can be awkward

for "short timers" on board.  But then maybe this is a smaller ship thing ?  

[Tranquility Base]

1 hour ago, Hambagahle said:

Absolutely they do.   However I would not want to join a ship for a segment of a RTW cruise unless it were the first one.  From what I read the RTW passengers get very "tight knit" and it can be awkward

for "short timers" on board.  But then maybe this is a smaller ship thing ?  

A few years back we joined an ATW for 40 days at the half way point of the ATW.

We had a great time.

The roll call was active.

We joined a couple of tours organised by ATWers.

I organised a tour on which all who joined were ATWers.

We joined a trivia team of ATWers.

( perhaps the different nationality from most onboard helped)

My wife went to a popular activity group and fitted in with well the ATWers.

( they gave her lots of ‘O points’ to use before we got off )

Had pleasant conversations at the bar with many ATWers without any awkwardness.

Would happily do it again, but the itinerary / time of year hasn’t suited.

 

[tigerfan75]

1 hour ago, Hambagahle said:

Absolutely they do.   However I would not want to join a ship for a segment of a RTW cruise unless it were the first one.  From what I read the RTW passengers get very "tight knit" and it can be awkward

for "short timers" on board.  But then maybe this is a smaller ship thing ?  

We have joined two different ATW cruises.  Enjoyed both immensely.  As a “segmenter” there were zero issues with fellow guests…

[PhD-iva]

Thank you to the last two posters, who are helping me to keep my dream alive. While I do not aspire to going on a six month or longer cruise, doing a segment of multiple weeks is hopefully an attainable dream.

[Cruise Junky]

Man, I was hoping for Marina or Riviera, Vista would be amazing.  We would look at that very seriously. 

[Tranquility Base]

1 hour ago, Cruise Junky said:

Man, I was hoping for Marina or Riviera, Vista would be amazing.  We would look at that very seriously. 

As would we.

Although we have sailed on 6 ‘R’ ships on 3 different lines, and enjoyed them all, I have outgrown the ‘ hull cutout ‘ balconies.