Live from Vista—Montreal to Miami

[zteamtwo]

Dr Koob--great reports. If you remember I was asking about the sound from the tv's and I started another thread about that and "amazing", someone showed how  to get closed caption on the TV. I stated that I was ordering 2 different "sound diverters" from Amazon. Can you answer:

1. Do the Vista TV's move very much out of the wall and do they turn slightly so you can watch from the couch--we will have Concierge Cabin?

2.  Can you look at the TV and tell me, are the speakers facing down or backward and what is the approximate length of the speakers?   Thanks.

[basor]

Just now, zteamtwo said:

Dr Koob--great reports. If you remember I was asking about the sound from the tv's and I started another thread about that and "amazing", someone showed how  to get closed caption on the TV. I stated that I was ordering 2 different "sound diverters" from Amazon. Can you answer:

1. Do the Vista TV's move very much out of the wall and do they turn slightly so you can watch from the couch--we will have Concierge Cabin?

2.  Can you look at the TV and tell me, are the speakers facing down or backward and what is the approximate length of the speakers?   Thanks.

The TVs do not move or turn....you can sit on the couch and watch the TV from the side....I can't answer your question about the speakers

[zteamtwo]

Thanks for that answer.  Do you think there is room to get to the back of the TV and attach (double sided tape) a very thin plastic device that would divert the sound to the front?

[basor]

45 minutes ago, zteamtwo said:

Thanks for that answer.  Do you think there is room to get to the back of the TV and attach (double sided tape) a very thin plastic device that would divert the sound to the front?

I don't think so , it is tight to the wall but not in our room right now to check

[LHT28]

48 minutes ago, zteamtwo said:

Thanks for that answer.  Do you think there is room to get to the back of the TV and attach (double sided tape) a very thin plastic device that would divert the sound to the front?

there is not much room behind the TV 

[Wheelhouse]

52 minutes ago, zteamtwo said:

Thanks for that answer.  Do you think there is room to get to the back of the TV and attach (double sided tape) a very thin plastic device that would divert the sound to the front?

There is definitely more than an inch of space between the tv back and the wall. 

[Wheelhouse]

There are two approximately 1in by 1ft speakers that fire down. 

[Elbig]

On 10/7/2023 at 4:59 PM, DrKoob said:

Considered them (and Seabourn, WIndstar, etc.) but not interested for a couple of reasons. The biggest being price but also the size of their ships. Much prefer 900-1000. More choices. 

Not sure what your exact concerns are about size of ship but I was on Regent Splendor which holds about 750 pax and it was a great experience and seemed a very reasonable size. I can’t imagine that 900 pax experience would be that different. I strongly suggest you give it try if you can find the right itinerary especially considering you are looking around. 

[DrKoob]

34 minutes ago, Elbig said:

Not sure what your exact concerns are about size of ship but I was on Regent Splendor which holds about 750 pax and it was a great experience and seemed a very reasonable size. I can’t imagine that 900 pax experience would be that different. I strongly suggest you give it try if you can find the right itinerary especially considering you are looking around. 

Thanks for the recommendation. I will have to take a look. I was thinking they were under 300. 

[zteamtwo]

Thanks wheelhouse.  From your answer of 1 inch of space between TV and the wall, I am pretty sure I can attach these very thin plastic devices, using double sided tape that comes with it.  The plastic devices will deflect the sound to the front.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TQ23FKC?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

[zteamtwo]

And of course, in case everyone does not know, you can get closed caption by pressing the diamond button on the remote.  The diamond button is to the left of 0.

[Wheelhouse]

10 minutes ago, zteamtwo said:

Thanks wheelhouse.  From your answer of 1 inch of space between TV and the wall, I am pretty sure I can attach these very thin plastic devices, using double sided tape that comes with it.  The plastic devices will deflect the sound to the front.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TQ23FKC?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

Those devices will attach just fine to these TVs.  

[Myrtle Ave. Mayhem]

@DrKoob - Just found your thread & blog & am reading(devouring) every word. Huge Viking fan who's looking for another line to give a whirl. Originally was interested in Oceania after seeing renderings of Vista until I saw actual interiors from her maiden voyage. 

 

Here's the dilemma I'm seeing as a frequent Viking cruiser who has yet to try Oceania. Oceania clearly seems to win for dining in every way. Viking food can be very good, rarely excellent. Viking Ocean's cookie cutter ship design is perfect in every way(IMHO). LOVE the glorious light filled public rooms chock-a-full of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to sea! All the quiet nooks & crannies with varried seating. As you mentioned, the full wrap around promenade deck is most enjoyable for daily walks. The Scandinavian Modern design of Viking vrs. Country Club of Oceania. Viking big win. It seems that Vista, having many more dining options has less lounge/bar space. Aboard Viking, The Living Room & Explorers Lounge are my daily & hangouts. Somehow Vista looks cold in comparison. 

Edited October 10, 2023 by Myrtle Ave. Mayhem

[kjbacon]

11 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Thanks for the recommendation. I will have to take a look. I was thinking they were under 300. 

Regent’s 3 older ships are smaller than their 3 newer ships, which hold about 750 passengers. Regent is our favorite line and our first choice. We love the all inclusive pricing structure and the top quality of everything throughout. As for food, Regent’s specialty restaurants are almost as good as O and their MDR is better with more flexibility. Oceania’s newer and larger ships are a solid second choice for us.

[LHT28]

16 hours ago, Myrtle Ave. Mayhem said:

It seems that Vista, having many more dining options has less lounge/bar space. Aboard Viking, The Living Room & Explorers Lounge are my daily & hangouts. Somehow Vista looks cold in comparison. 

Not sure  what VO has in the way of lounges   but Vista as well as the O class ships have several places  to hang out

Horizons, Grand bar (hallway) martinis, Founders Bar, pool deck

But  just depends on your personal choice

[DrKoob]

Whew! NYC wore me out...but it was GREAT!

 

So much to tell you. I hope I get this done before I have to go upstairs to do laundry (If I'm not the first person there on a sea day, I will never get it done.)

So, to go back what is now three days, there will be no report on Martha's Vineyard. After a fairly bumpy ride on Saturday night, the Captain made the decision that the seas were too rough and the swells too high to use the tenders safely, so we skipped the Vineyard and floated around out at sea for most of a day. But that worked out as early Monday morning, we sailed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge into New York Harbor. We got incredibly lucky with the weather for both of our days in NYC. From the sail-in until the sail-away, we had either sunny or partly cloudy skies. Temps in the 50s and 60s, so I was loving it.

 

Day 1—we sail in

My day started at 4:45 a.m. when I headed up to the Horizons lounge at the front of the ship to watch the city get closer. Then, around 5:45, we sailed under the aforementioned VN Bridge, past Lady Liberty and all the way up the Hudson to Pier 88. We arrived at around 8:00 a.m., and the captain made what I thought was a miracle turn into our berth... I came back in from shooting photos to warm up. Even though the temps weren't that bad, the wind on the deck made it feel a whole lot colder. But I got some great pics, but if you want to see them you will need to go over to my blog at www.jimbellomo.com. 

 

Day 1–The Whitney and a High Line walk back

After a quick breakfast, the entire group (minus one who was still not fully recovered) set out to the Whitney Museum of American Art. We had pre-purchased tickets to see their collection. We had planned this because we were on the East Side of Manhattan, and the gigantic Columbus Day parade was on the West Side. We would head that way tomorrow. The main reason I wanted to go to The Whitney was that they have the largest collection of paintings by my favorite American artist, Edward Hopper. Sadly, not a lot of them are displayed (BOOH!). But we still enjoyed our two-hour visit. Then we walked across the street to see The Little Island up close and personal.

 

 

The Little Island. Taken from the outdoor viewing area of The Whitney Museum[/caption]

The Little Island is one of the newest parts of the waterfront. It is entirely man-made and very reminiscent of the Gaudi architecture in Barcelona. The entire island sits on what looks like flowers coming out of the water, but once on the island, you would never know it. We walked all over the island. There's an amphitheater, food stands and some incredible views up and down the Hudson. You will see them if you head over to my blog.

 

After our visit to the Little Island, we grabbed a quick bite of pizza in front of the Whitney, and Kathleen, Mike and Cathy took an Uber back to the ship while Steve and Jamie did a little shopping, and I set off to walk back to the ship via the High Line. If you are not familiar with the High Line, it is an elevated platform that runs from just outside the doors of the Whitney up Manhattan's west side to just about where Vista was berthed. It used to be an old elevated railway but is now a beautiful pedestrian walkway.

 

I had previously walked the High Line on our last trip to NYC in 2018, but that was before sunrise when it was empty. This time was midday, and it was jam-packed with people out for a holiday (Columbus Day—which is still celebrated in NYC) stroll. 

 

Our evening—sorry, no pics

After I got back and gave my legs a rest, we all met up at 4:15 to go to dinner at Kellari Taverna. Kathleen and I had eaten there on our honeymoon in 1999. We loved it then, but not so much now. Their menu had gone from traditional Greek to pretty much seafood, and we had all come with dreams of a great Greek feast. The only truly Greek dish on their menu was mousaka, but it was a vegan dish (are you kidding me???). They did have a tasty octopus that I liked and a nice Greek salad. At least their baklava was excellent.

 

Almost forgot to explain why we were going to dinner so early—we had tickets to a Broadway show! Come on, you can't come to NYC without seeing a Broadway show. When we booked the cruise, one of the highlights was this overnight stay in New York. But one big problem—most Broadway shows are dark on Monday nights, and we were there...on Monday night. But thankfully, a few still run, and we were lucky enough to snag tickets to Six. If you have not heard of Six, it is the story of the six wives of Henry the Eighth. I know, sounds boring, right? But what a high-powered, amazing musical that turned out to be all about feminine empowerment. Each of the wives sang in the style of two of our current pop stars—for instance, Catherine of Aragon sang in the style of Beyonce and Shakira. And she and the rest of the Six could sing. Grab the cast album from your favorite streaming site and have a listen—an uplifting and energizing show. It is on a national tour currently, so if you get a chance, go see it. You won't be sorry—we weren't. By the time we were done with Six, we were exhausted, and it was back to the ship and bed. I needed to be up for Day 2's predawn photo walk. More about that in my next post.

 

[DrKoob]

On 10/9/2023 at 6:45 PM, Myrtle Ave. Mayhem said:

@DrKoob - Just found your thread & blog & am reading(devouring) every word. Huge Viking fan who's looking for another line to give a whirl. Originally was interested in Oceania after seeing renderings of Vista until I saw actual interiors from her maiden voyage. 

 

Here's the dilemma I'm seeing as a frequent Viking cruiser who has yet to try Oceania. Oceania clearly seems to win for dining in every way. Viking food can be very good, rarely excellent. Viking Ocean's cookie cutter ship design is perfect in every way(IMHO). LOVE the glorious light filled public rooms chock-a-full of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to sea! All the quiet nooks & crannies with varried seating. As you mentioned, the full wrap around promenade deck is most enjoyable for daily walks. The Scandinavian Modern design of Viking vrs. Country Club of Oceania. Viking big win. It seems that Vista, having many more dining options has less lounge/bar space. Aboard Viking, The Living Room & Explorers Lounge are my daily & hangouts. Somehow Vista looks cold in comparison. 

 

First, once the cruise is done, I will come back with a full review and parts of it will be an extensive number of interior photos on my blog. In the meantime here are my thoughts on the lounges. They are fine but, what we would really love is someplace quiet where we can have a nice cocktail and talk. The first day we tried Martinis. A great lounge but, after we had been there for 15 minutes, a piano player sat down and played some great music. The only problem was, we wanted to talk. There are seven of us and that's why we came together from all over the country...to socialize. After he started playing, we couldn't hear a word we said to each other. 

 

Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with background music...but that's where it belongs, in the background. But we thought that night, "No problem...we will move to the Grand Bar (which is a very nice long hallway with lots of seats) tomorrow night." But just about the same time as the night before, a string quartet (who are VERY good) set up and started to play. Again, we were expected to stop talking (got shushed a bunch of times) and listen. I get that. So the next night we said, let's go up to The Horizons Lounge. 

 

Same thing—talked for five minutes and the ship's band started playing. Loudly, for dancing. Great. People love to dance. We just wanted a place to have a pre-dinner drink and talk. I need to mention here that the Founders Bar has only tables for two so that wouldn't work for us. 

 

So my biggest problem with Oceania's lounges is that there are really only three indoor lounges. And not one of them is conducive to having a drink and talking. We cruise to either be with friends or to make new ones. If we want to listen to music, we will put our Airpods in our ears and listen. We just want to have a discussion without having to yell over music or ruin other's musical enjoyment. Can't there be one place where there is true background music? You won't find one before dinner on this ship. 

[DrKoob]

16 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Not sure  what VO has in the way of lounges   but Vista as well as the O class ships have several places  to hang out

Horizons, Grand bar (hallway) martinis, Founders Bar, pool deck

But  just depends on your personal choice

Hope you will meet us for a drink in one of them. Maybe tonight? I look exactly like my avatar. Will probably be on the port side of Horizons as far from the band as we can get.

[kibutzer]

54 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

 

First, once the cruise is done, I will come back with a full review and parts of it will be an extensive number of interior photos on my blog. In the meantime here are my thoughts on the lounges. They are fine but, what we would really love is someplace quiet where we can have a nice cocktail and talk. The first day we tried Martinis. A great lounge but, after we had been there for 15 minutes, a piano player sat down and played some great music. The only problem was, we wanted to talk. There are seven of us and that's why we came together from all over the country...to socialize. After he started playing, we couldn't hear a word we said to each other. 

 

Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with background music...but that's where it belongs, in the background. But we thought that night, "No problem...we will move to the Grand Bar (which is a very nice long hallway with lots of seats) tomorrow night." But just about the same time as the night before, a string quartet (who are VERY good) set up and started to play. Again, we were expected to stop talking (got shushed a bunch of times) and listen. I get that. So the next night we said, let's go up to The Horizons Lounge. 

 

Same thing—talked for five minutes and the ship's band started playing. Loudly, for dancing. Great. People love to dance. We just wanted a place to have a pre-dinner drink and talk. I need to mention here that the Founders Bar has only tables for two so that wouldn't work for us. 

 

So my biggest problem with Oceania's lounges is that there are really only three indoor lounges. And not one of them is conducive to having a drink and talking. We cruise to either be with friends or to make new ones. If we want to listen to music, we will put our Airpods in our ears and listen. We just want to have a discussion without having to yell over music or ruin other's musical enjoyment. Can't there be one place where there is true background music? You won't find one before dinner on this ship. 

Go to Barristas after 6, go on back deck in Terrace. Lots of places to meet up and ta.k.

[FLConnie]

Artist Loft Question for anyone currently onboard Vista.  Curious if anyone has attended a class and what the project has been, instructor, sign-up, when they are offered, etc.  And is the same instructor continuing on from Miami to LA? 

[mauibabes]

@FLConnie

currently it is Noel Suarez and DW has taken classes on a couple of trips with him. We board Monday, Miami to LA so we will know for sure then.  In May we had a different pair of artists and DW enjoyed her (non-brush) painting projects.  
the excitement builds 🙏😇

Mauibabes

[DrKoob]

5 hours ago, kibutzer said:

Go to Barristas after 6, go on back deck in Terrace. Lots of places to meet up and ta.k.

I haven't thought about Baristas. Didn't even know they did cocktails, but you can't get the 2-for-1 cocktails there. It has been a bit too cold to be out on the back deck. Today at lunch was the first time we saw anyone out there, and then only a hardy few. 

 

Just went up to Baristas. I was right, that you can't get the 2-for-1 Happy Hour there and they don't have any place to sit that we can fit the seven of us. But if you don't do those two things, that could work.

 

Edited October 11, 2023 by DrKoob

[LHT28]

6 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Hope you will meet us for a drink in one of them. Maybe tonight? I look exactly like my avatar. Will probably be on the port side of Horizons as far from the band as we can get.

we will pass on the offer

Thanks

[DrKoob]

4 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

we will pass on the offer

Thanks

Sorry to hear that. We were looking forward to meeting you. Maybe on our next O cruise. Going on Riviera in Japan in 2025. 

[golfguyhhi]

19 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

we will pass on the offer

Thanks

BRRRRRRR!!!!!  That's cold!