Vista - Simply Incredible

[edgee]

32 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

 
Thanks for bringing up the floor surfaces. I use crutches and am constantly aware of slippery floors. They won’t be very good for antibody using a cane either. Although I very much fancied the Vista I think I might give it a miss!

Unfortunate that you would miss this great new ship for that reason, but it is a valid concern IMHO.

[Gracie115]

We are on Vista now, our 1st Oceania cruise. What a lovely ship. The service has been amazing everywhere. Our dinner in Toscana was excellent, food and service. Best meal on a ship in many many years. Great way to start our cruise. Red Ginger was good, service excellent, but not as good as expected after so many reviews here about how good it was. MDR last night was a very good experience after reading about slow service there . We did not experience that at all.  We also like Waves, a lot!Great place for lunch.

 

Our butler, Sup, is also excellent. Is taking great care of us. 
 

Several have mentioned the ship being cold, while we have noticed isolated areas like that, we found all dining rooms on the warm side.

 

Our stateroom, a PH1 on deck 11 is beautiful.  We have an “L” shaped balcony with 2 chairs, table and one lounge, very nice.

 

Day 4 and we are happy. Much less entertainment then other ships but that hasn’t bothered us so far.😀😀

[Vallesan]

44 minutes ago, edgee said:

Unfortunate that you would miss this great new ship for that reason, but it is a valid concern IMHO.

Yes it is but really can’t afford to be somewhere were ’able bodied’ passengers are having problems with slippy floors!

[mauibabes]

@Gracie115

If I may, what room number on deck 11? We have been Forward in 11019 and then Aft in 11073 to take advantage of a PH with an Extended Balcony which was quite nice with two lounges and two chairs and table. Bummer was it was right across from a Staff Door thru which they moved all carts and supplies so it could be noisy in the early morning. The Staff were great about trying to be quiet however. 
 

IMHO, Aquamar is an outstanding addition so we all have the opportunity to cut back on the rich food we all get to consume. Healthy meals like those served there are welcomed. Of course, a little stop over after an Aquamar meal in Baristas and the Bakery can satisfy that “sweet” and caffeine craving. Now that is a wonderful addition.

Already booked on two Allura cruises so let’s hope the shipyard keeps on schedule.

Enjoy,

Mauibabes

[Parrot Head1]

This being our first Oceania cruise with Vista we are looking forward to the Aquamar terrace as my wife is a vegetarian.

Our cabin is PH1 on deck 11 suite # 11062.

[ORV]

12 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

Rescues are possible on TA cruises.  I have been on two crossings that involved them.  First was on Cunard (in the 1960s) when a seaman on a ship not that far from us was severely injured.  he was brought to the Queen Mary on a lifeboat and the Cunard medical team took over from then.  The second was when we were on Riviera, on a TA crossing a few years ago.   Around 0600 the ship suddenly slowed.  And a mammoth helicopter appeard above us.  We were about 500km south of the Azores and it was from a Portuguese military base there.  It winched the stretcher up and flew off.  We later heard that it was a passenger who had had a heart attack.  He recovered.  And his wife disembarked in Madeira and flew off to be with him.   Apparently we were just at the limit of the range of the helicopter so he was very lucky.  The ocean is not as lonely as one might think!

On another cruise line we were in a similar situation, but we were past Madeira. They turned the ship around and went back to the point where a helicopter could reach us. They dropped a basket and put the passengers stretcher in it   The helicopter flew right by our balcony. We went faster than they normally would but we made it to Miami on time. 

[Gracie115]

14 hours ago, mauibabes said:

@Gracie115

If I may, what room number on deck 11? We have been Forward in 11019 and then Aft in 11073 to take advantage of a PH with an Extended Balcony which was quite nice with two lounges and two chairs and table. Bummer was it was right across from a Staff Door thru which they moved all carts and supplies so it could be noisy in the early morning. The Staff were great about trying to be quiet however. 
 

IMHO, Aquamar is an outstanding addition so we all have the opportunity to cut back on the rich food we all get to consume. Healthy meals like those served there are welcomed. Of course, a little stop over after an Aquamar meal in Baristas and the Bakery can satisfy that “sweet” and caffeine craving. Now that is a wonderful addition.

Already booked on two Allura cruises so let’s hope the shipyard keeps on schedule.

Enjoy,

Mauibabes

We are in 11071. It is the beginning of the extended balconies on 11. Great set up, we would book every time if possible. The noise from the staff door hasn’t bothered us because we are early risers. 

[Sphynxlady]

Are there loungers available on the pool deck that are in shade? Considering Oceana for next year. Also prefer two tops for meals. Available?

[basor]

1 hour ago, Sphynxlady said:

Are there loungers available on the pool deck that are in shade? Considering Oceana for next year. Also prefer two tops for meals. Available?

yes and yes

[mauibabes]

1 hour ago, Sphynxlady said:

Are there loungers available on the pool deck that are in shade? Considering Oceana for next year. Also prefer two tops for meals. Available?

First of all, book your Oceania cruise and worry about lounges and tables later.  Not only are there lounges around the pool but if you are in a Concierge Veranda and above, you have free access to the Spa Deck area with even more lounges and far fewer people. If on Riviera, Marina or Vista, the Spa Deck is even more appealing. 
As for tables for two, of course there are many and they mostly line the windows in the various restaurants. Our experience on O has been the people are really enjoyable so we always were willing to share a table because there was greater availability. 
Enjoy,

Mauibabes

[DurangoWino]

Have to agree with MB, two of our best meals were tables we shared with other couples.  

[Vallesan]

36 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

First of all, book your Oceania cruise and worry about lounges and tables later.  Not only are there lounges around the pool but if you are in a Concierge Veranda and above, you have free access to the Spa Deck area with even more lounges and far fewer people. If on Riviera, Marina or Vista, the Spa Deck is even more appealing. 
As for tables for two, of course there are many and they mostly line the windows in the various restaurants. Our experience on O has been the people are really enjoyable so we always were willing to share a table because there was greater availability. 
Enjoy,

Mauibabes

We are always happy to share too.

I often wonder why others aren’t that keen to share …. unless maybe they are on their honeymoon!

I’m assuming if not they are just not very sociable, which is fine, horses for courses!

 

[Waltershipman]

16 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

We are always happy to share too.

I often wonder why others aren’t that keen to share …. unless maybe they are on their honeymoon!

I’m assuming if not they are just not very sociable, which is fine, horses for courses!

 

Maybe not

 

Some people travel to meet and interact with people while some travel to experience a deeper bond of intimacy and connection with their traveling partner. Sometimes life dictates couples  having and needing quality alone time.  Both work for me

 

Enjoy

[mauibabes]

We find the “sharing” option the best way to go when there are just the two of us sailing, especially when we are trying to get an additional seating in a Specialty Restaurant. I would much prefer sharing a table with our O family than not dining in RG or T.  When we have been in a PH, our Butler has been able to get that two top when we just needed that quiet night but it can be harder to get due to availability. 
We have only had ONE experience in 15+ years on O when a shared table for 6 was a “bummer”. It seems our table mates considered themselves wine connoisseurs and had to celebrate their knowledge and experiences with the other couple. We happen to live an hour away from the Sonoma and Napa Valley and belonged to a number of fine wine clubs over the years so we let them talk on and finished our meal, sans desert, and departed. Boorish company, yes but our Lasagne was Wonderful. 🤪👍

 

Just enjoy your Oceania experiences,

Mauibabes
 

[Waltershipman]

2 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

We find the “sharing” option the best way to go when there are just the two of us sailing, especially when we are trying to get an additional seating in a Specialty Restaurant. I would much prefer sharing a table with our O family than not dining in RG or T.  When we have been in a PH, our Butler has been able to get that two top when we just needed that quiet night but it can be harder to get due to availability. 
We have only had ONE experience in 15+ years on O when a shared table for 6 was a “bummer”. It seems our table mates considered themselves wine connoisseurs and had to celebrate their knowledge and experiences with the other couple. We happen to live an hour away from the Sonoma and Napa Valley and belonged to a number of fine wine clubs over the years so we let them talk on and finished our meal, sans desert, and departed. Boorish company, yes but our Lasagne was Wonderful. 🤪👍

 

Just enjoy your Oceania experiences,

Mauibabes
 

ABSOLUTELY AGREE

[Vallesan]

11 minutes ago, Waltershipman said:

Maybe not

 

Some people travel to meet and interact with people while some travel to experience a deeper bond of intimacy and connection with their traveling partner. Sometimes life dictates couples  having and needing quality alone time.  Both work for me

 

Enjoy

Yes you are absolutely right. 
Having been married, still happily, for just over 54 years, I understand exactly what you’re saying.

Travel safely and enjoy!

[Waltershipman]

9 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

Yes you are absolutely right. 
Having been married, still happily, for just over 54 years, I understand exactly what you’re saying.

Travel safely and enjoy!

❤️❤️❤️

[Gracie115]

2 hours ago, Waltershipman said:

Maybe not

 

Some people travel to meet and interact with people while some travel to experience a deeper bond of intimacy and connection with their traveling partner. Sometimes life dictates couples  having and needing quality alone time.  Both work for me

 

Enjoy

Agree.

[Gracie115]

6 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

We are in 11071. It is the beginning of the extended balconies on 11. Great set up, we would book every time if possible. The noise from the staff door hasn’t bothered us because we are early risers. 

We are booking same room on Allura in 2025.  Don’t think we will be returning to Celebrity for the foreseeable future.

[ORV]

For breakfast I absolutely want it just the two of us. I don't want to make small talk and chit chat early in the day. Especially if I had a bit of fun the night before. Lunch, I'd probably prefer to not share, but dinner either way works. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by ORV

[rbtan]

Being a gay couple we've had a few issues sharing tables. One, where the couple "figured" us out in the first 5 min. & just clammed up for the rest of the meal.Second where the lady, quite loudly said they would not be seated with us. One would think on a line like Oceania this wouldn't happen, but it does. Sorry to say both couples were from the South.We just now choose dine with alone & just enjoy our own company. Jacques is the one where we did share & had a great time.It was the largest table in the restaurant & we had a ball. A table like that generally will have pax that don't want to embarrass themselves in front of others with ignorance.

[MarkWiltonM]

13 hours ago, rbtan said:

Being a gay couple we've had a few issues sharing tables. One, where the couple "figured" us out in the first 5 min. & just clammed up for the rest of the meal.Second where the lady, quite loudly said they would not be seated with us. One would think on a line like Oceania this wouldn't happen, but it does. Sorry to say both couples were from the South.We just now choose dine with alone & just enjoy our own company. Jacques is the one where we did share & had a great time.It was the largest table in the restaurant & we had a ball. A table like that generally will have pax that don't want to embarrass themselves in front of others with ignorance.

 

I feel like I could have written this myself. We were recently on Vista, and there seem to be many tables for four in the specialty restaurants, and, as usual, not enough tables for two. And, on Vista at least, there are few large tables for six or eight. When we shared a table for eight in Riviera's Jacques earlier this year, we found the experience to be fine if not our first choice. You can pretty much be as sociable as you like, or not, with a larger group. But with tables for four, it's like a blind date. It's more intense when you have only the other couple (usually a couple, or two friends traveling together) to chat with, and if you don't hit it off it's awkward. In both Polo and Toscana, we unfortunately did not hit it off with the people we were seated with. I won't say why, and I have no idea if there was any homophobia toward my husband and myself (certainly nothing overt), but we were just obviously living in different worlds--politically, socially, culturally, etc.

 

We decided we will no longer visit any of Oceania's specialty restaurants in the future because we usually book a B3 veranda and can rarely get a table for two in the early hours when we like to dine. We don't find the food compelling in the specialty restaurants anyway, so it's not a hardship for us.

 

What I don't  understand is why Oceania doesn't make their specialty restaurant seating more modular. Two rectangular tables for two can easily become a four-top, and vice versa. But a round table for four (which is pervasive in Vista's specialty restaurants), cannot by divided so seating a party for two at a round four-top inevitably wastes two seats. Although some people say they enjoy or even prefer sharing their table, there is obviously more demand for two-tops than can be accommodated or it wouldn't be so difficult to book these in advance. By contrast, we were recently on Virgin Voyages, where you also must reserve tables for the (excellent) specialty restaurants, and which like Oceania are included in the fare, and we were able to get reservations for two at the times we prefer in all of the restaurants. The Virgin Voyages restaurants were always busy, but they had also figured out how to accommodate their customers' preferences. 

 

One final thing to note is that when we cruise on ships that charge for specialty restaurants, I have never, ever, had difficulty reserving a table for two. Obviously, if you're only going to pay up if you get the table you prefer, the cruise line is going to figure out how to accommodate you, just as restaurants on land wouldn't dream of requiring you to share a table at the risk of losing business. So Oceania's stubbornness on this issue is borderline insulting. 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by MarkWiltonM

[Waltershipman]

1 hour ago, MarkWiltonM said:

 

I feel like I could have written this myself. We were recently on Vista, and there seem to be many tables for four in the specialty restaurants, and, as usual, not enough tables for two. And, on Vista at least, there are few large tables for six or eight. When we shared a table for eight in Riviera's Jacques earlier this year, we found the experience to be fine if not our first choice. You can pretty much be as sociable as you like, or not, with a larger group. But with tables for four, it's like a blind date. It's more intense when you have only the other couple (usually a couple, or two friends traveling together) to chat with, and if you don't hit it off it's awkward. In both Polo and Toscana, we unfortunately did not hit it off with the people we were seated with. I won't say why, and I have no idea if there was any homophobia toward my husband and myself (certainly nothing overt), but we were just obviously living in different worlds--politically, socially, culturally, etc.

 

We decided we will no longer visit any of Oceania's specialty restaurants in the future because we usually book a B3 veranda and can rarely get a table for two in the early hours when we like to dine. We don't find the food compelling in the specialty restaurants anyway, so it's not a hardship for us.

 

What I don't  understand is why Oceania doesn't make their specialty restaurant seating more modular. Two rectangular tables for two can easily become a four-top, and vice versa. But a round table for four (which is pervasive in Vista's specialty restaurants), cannot by divided so seating a party for two at a round four-top inevitably wastes two seats. Although some people say they enjoy or even prefer sharing their table, there is obviously more demand for two-tops than can be accommodated or it wouldn't be so difficult to book these in advance. By contrast, we were recently on Virgin Voyages, where you also must reserve tables for the (excellent) specialty restaurants, and which like Oceania are included in the fare, and we were able to get reservations for two at the times we prefer in all of the restaurants. The Virgin Voyages restaurants were always busy, but they had also figured out how to accommodate their customers' preferences. 

 

One final thing to note is that when we cruise on ships that charge for specialty restaurants, I have never, ever, had difficulty reserving a table for two. Obviously, if you're only going to pay up if you get the table you prefer, the cruise line is going to figure out how to accommodate you, just as restaurants on land wouldn't dream of requiring you to share a table at the risk of losing business. So Oceania's stubbornness on this issue is borderline insulting. 

 

 

I totally agree. In fact my time to reserve specialty restaurants is tomorrow so i have a feeling that few if any two top tables will be available. My DW prefers as do I generally to dine together. On occassion we have met people on a cruise and chosen to share a table but not very often over 43 years of cruising

 

I understand your issue yet not being a gay couple i probably dont fully understand.  But what you describe that anyone would treat a gay coupleiin that manner is deplorable. . It's for that reason that our daughter and her wife have chosen Olivia cruises.

 

.when we travel we enjoy our time together and while meeting people might be nice obligatory conversations at dinner with strangers is not great.

 

Your point about Oceania providing more 2 tops is right on.

Recently on Explora Journeys we dined by ourselves every meal and loved it. It does seem to be an economic issue for Oceania not to have more tables  for 2.. We sail in January on Vista. Hopefully those closes minded folks you encountered will not be on board

 

All the best 

[Vallesan]

Just a point to add to ‘sharing tables’.

It can also be difficult when sharing especially with people from different  countries/cultures. We have had some great ‘sharing’ tables and some that we really wouldn’t choose to repeat.

One point which might be worth bearing in mind is that we have often had a ‘shared’ table but when we arrive at the restaurant we have had a table to ourselves.

So don’t give up on the speciality restaurants because when the evening arrives you may find that in fact you do have a table for two!

[Pandazoo]

DW and I prefer tables for two as we work with the public and our vacation is time for us to just enjoy each other and recharge.  Why this is considered snobbery is baffling.  We interact with people on the ship but enjoy meals alone.