Review Oceania Vista

[Waltershipman]

13 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Interesting that you found the cruisers on SB, friendly.  The first time we cruised on Seabourn we were concerned that fellow passengers might be somewhat snobby and entitled.  What we found was completely the opposite and have found fellow passengers on all of our SB cruises to be very friendly, sociable and outgoing.  Even in the restaurants we found SB passengers often wanting to share and enjoy mealtime conversations.  One fellow cruiser told us she compared Seabourn to being in a country club with that type of social atmosphere.  It's like a club where the price of admission is simply being on the ship.

 

SB also has a lot of interaction/socialization between some of the staff (senior officers, entertainers, etc).  On one long SB cruise, where we were in a lower category suite, we dined with the Captain, Staff Captain, Chief Engineer, the Cruise Director and most of the entertainers.  Some of those folks would also regularly join us in the various lounges.  After COVID, some of this socialization was reduced as the Senior Officers reduced their possible exposure to COVID..but things now appear to be returning to pre-covid norms.  One Senior Bridge Officer told us the company actually encouraged them to dine with passengers at least twice a week.

 

We are looking forward to our upcoming Vista cruise as it will finally give us an opportunity to see how O compares to other lines.

 

Hank

Agree we too are interested in a comparison. We have found fellow passengers on both SB and SS that were lovely and we have remained friendly and in contact. I hope we are able to find that on Vista too

[Vallesan]

Hlitner and Waltershipman

 

I’ve not sailed on the Vista but have sailed ‘R’ and ‘O’ class Oceania ships.  We’ve also sailed Seabourn and Silversea.

 

I agree with you both that SB passengers tend to be friendly, the staff go above and beyond and being ‘invited’ to dinner with crew members can be quite enjoyable. 

 

We loved Silversea as well but it was maybe slightly more ‘stuffy’, only a smidgeon, but we loved the butler and  champagne and caviar on tap.

 

Oceania is different. Firstly, Vista has double the number of passengers. The crew don’t interact in the same way as they do on SB. The general atmosphere is more relaxed.

 

We’ve  enjoyed all our Oceania cruises but they are ‘different’ to Silversea and Seabourn. Please go with an open mind and expect the experience to be ‘different’ but enjoyable, hopefully!

 

 

[Waltershipman]

26 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

Hlitner and Waltershipman

 

I’ve not sailed on the Vista but have sailed ‘R’ and ‘O’ class Oceania ships.  We’ve also sailed Seabourn and Silversea.

 

I agree with you both that SB passengers tend to be friendly, the staff go above and beyond and being ‘invited’ to dinner with crew members can be quite enjoyable. 

 

We loved Silversea as well but it was maybe slightly more ‘stuffy’, only a smidgeon, but we loved the butler and  champagne and caviar on tap.

 

Oceania is different. Firstly, Vista has double the number of passengers. The crew don’t interact in the same way as they do on SB. The general atmosphere is more relaxed.

 

We’ve  enjoyed all our Oceania cruises but they are ‘different’ to Silversea and Seabourn. Please go with an open mind and expect the experience to be ‘different’ but enjoyable, hopefully!

 

 

Absolutely agree  plus cruising  is the absolute BEST

[psbhappy]

We took our first Oceania Cruise on the Vista in December. The ship is stunning and we had several excellent meals. Just posting to add that it's not an exaggeration that the walls are surprisingly thin. We could hear our neighbors just from their louder speaking voices or when they got a little animated or were laughing. You could almost make out what they were saying if you tried hard enough. 

It wasn't just a loud TV issue. I would think they'd do something different with insulation before the next build. It was really surprising.  

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, psbhappy said:

We took our first Oceania Cruise on the Vista in December. The ship is stunning and we had several excellent meals. Just posting to add that it's not an exaggeration that the walls are surprisingly thin. We could hear our neighbors just from their louder speaking voices or when they got a little animated or were laughing. You could almost make out what they were saying if you tried hard enough. 

It wasn't just a loud TV issue. I would think they'd do something different with insulation before the next build. It was really surprising.  

Not having yet been on the Vista, we do not have a first hand opinion about the sound insulation.  But we have cruised on more than 75 different cruise ships (16 cruise lines) and have had varying degrees of sound insulation.  There is no mystery to insulation on cruise ships and its just a matter of a line spending the extra money for extra insulation (and perhaps move space between the bulkheads.  So, if it is true that the Vista has awful soundproofing, than its on O and its architect.  Kind of sad for a "premium line."

 

Hank

[Waltershipman]

1 minute ago, Hlitner said:

Not having yet been on the Vista, we do not have a first hand opinion about the sound insulation.  But we have cruised on more than 75 different cruise ships (16 cruise lines) and have had varying degrees of sound insulation.  There is no mystery to insulation on cruise ships and its just a matter of a line spending the extra money for extra insulation (and perhaps move space between the bulkheads.  So, if it is true that the Vista has awful soundproofing, than its on O and its architect.  Kind of sad for a "premium line."

 

Hank

I am bringing some ear plugs but hope they are not needed. Will know soon enough. Will keep you posted Hank

 

Be well

[tigerfan75]

2 hours ago, psbhappy said:

We took our first Oceania Cruise on the Vista in December. The ship is stunning and we had several excellent meals. Just posting to add that it's not an exaggeration that the walls are surprisingly thin. We could hear our neighbors just from their louder speaking voices or when they got a little animated or were laughing. You could almost make out what they were saying if you tried hard enough. 

It wasn't just a loud TV issue. I would think they'd do something different with insulation before the next build. It was really surprising.  

Having sailed on Vista, I agree that there is a noise problem.  Could hear our neighbors talk on both sides of us, the toilets around us flush, and the TV until late into the night.  However, I personally believe it is not “an insulation” problem, but rather a “white noise” problem.

 

The fan noise for the HVAC (ventilation system) in the Vista is very quiet.  The fan noise on both the O class ships, and the two R class we have sailed is much higher.  On the Insignia now in an A2, and it seems to roar.  But guess what…I don’t hear my neighbors or a toilet flush.  
 

So perhaps the issue is that a more efficient ventilation system is the noise culprit?  YMMV

[edgee]

1 hour ago, tigerfan75 said:

 fan noise for the HVAC (ventilation system) in the Vista is very quiet.  The fan noise on both the O class ships, and the two R class we have sailed is much higher.  On the Insignia now in an A2, and it seems to roar.  But guess what…I don’t hear my neighbors or a toilet flush.  
 

So perhaps the issue is that a more efficient ventilation system is the noise culprit?  YMMV

I have thought that to be true since I first experienced the noise problem. Also, the fact that flat screen TV's have speakers pointed out the back so that noise is aimed at neighbor's wall is a factor.  Understanding the cause makes for interesting discussion, but better insulation because of such factors should have been considered by competent engineers. It remains a problem, whatever the cause.

[MarkWiltonM]

On 1/23/2024 at 6:55 AM, Gracie115 said:

We were on Vista in December never heard a sound from either of our neighbors.

 

Ditto. We were on Vista in December as well and our stateroom was so quiet we didn't think the rooms on either side of us were occupied. We only realized late in the 10-day cruise that there were guests in those rooms. 

 

This review comparing Oceania, an "upper-premium" line at a lower price point compared to luxury lines Seabourn and Silversea, comes out quite favorably on the side of Oceania, in my opinion. Especially since I don't drink champagne and caviar is something I can take or leave but am not inclined toward. Those seemed to be among the reviewer's favorite things about the luxury lines.

[Vallesan]

50 minutes ago, MarkWiltonM said:

 

Ditto. We were on Vista in December as well and our stateroom was so quiet we didn't think the rooms on either side of us were occupied. We only realized late in the 10-day cruise that there were guests in those rooms. 

 

This review comparing Oceania, an "upper-premium" line at a lower price point compared to luxury lines Seabourn and Silversea, comes out quite favorably on the side of Oceania, in my opinion. Especially since I don't drink champagne and caviar is something I can take or leave but am not inclined toward. Those seemed to be among the reviewer's favorite things about the luxury lines.

Actually the service on Seabourn ships goes above and beyond. Your wishes are granted even before you realised that was what you wanted! Well not quite but that’s how it feels.

 

[oskidunker]

11 hours ago, edgee said:

I have thought that to be true since I first experienced the noise problem. Also, the fact that flat screen TV's have speakers pointed out the back so that noise is aimed at neighbor's wall is a factor.  Understanding the cause makes for interesting discussion, but better insulation because of such factors should have been considered by competent engineers. It remains a problem, whatever the cause.

Sometimes they put governors to limit volume.  An easy fix along with allowing captions. 

[edgee]

5 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

Sometimes they put governors to limit volume.  An easy fix along with allowing captions. 

Yes, but the thin wall problem remains even when TVs are tuned to a fairly moderate volume. Average volume conversations between guests in the room can even be heard (although IME words usually not distinguishable).

Edited January 25 by edgee

[oskidunker]

I use ear plugs at night.  Works great. 

[Psoque]

We are surprised to hear (even though we haven’t been on Vista, so we can’t disagree with you) that you found the storage in your cabin to be inadequate.  We wonder Oceania skimped on drawer space when they built Vista.  We were on Riviera late last year and thought there were almost too many drawers in the room, specially in the bathroom.

[edgee]

5 hours ago, Psoque said:

We are surprised to hear (even though we haven’t been on Vista, so we can’t disagree with you) that you found the storage in your cabin to be inadequate.  We wonder Oceania skimped on drawer space when they built Vista.  We were on Riviera late last year and thought there were almost too many drawers in the room, specially in the bathroom.

Vista has aa number of drawers, but they are not very big. Also several are in the bathroom. Not always the most convenient place and in the case of handicapped cabins, where the bathroom drawers are eliminated, there really really is a shortage of storage.

[ak1004]

On 1/25/2024 at 8:55 AM, MarkWiltonM said:

 

Ditto. We were on Vista in December as well and our stateroom was so quiet we didn't think the rooms on either side of us were occupied. We only realized late in the 10-day cruise that there were guests in those rooms. 

 

This review comparing Oceania, an "upper-premium" line at a lower price point compared to luxury lines Seabourn and Silversea, comes out quite favorably on the side of Oceania, in my opinion. Especially since I don't drink champagne and caviar is something I can take or leave but am not inclined toward. Those seemed to be among the reviewer's favorite things about the luxury lines.

 

"we thought the Seabourn were the marginal winners of our affection due to some small details where we felt more cared for"

 

We came to similar conclusions after 4 O cruise and 2 SS cruises. To me, SS was a very small step up compared to O, definitely not a different league that justifies different league prices. We will be on our 3d SS cruise in May which was an excellent deal, but with current SS prices, I find a hard time to justify sailing with them again. 

Edited January 26 by ak1004

[Wheelhouse]

We spent 15 days on Vista in 9095 and had no problem whatsoever with noise from the adjacent rooms

[Iamthesea]

On 1/25/2024 at 8:55 AM, MarkWiltonM said:

 

Ditto. We were on Vista in December as well and our stateroom was so quiet we didn't think the rooms on either side of us were occupied. We only realized late in the 10-day cruise that there were guests in those rooms. 

 

What cabin class and deck were you on?

[BEEZLEE]

Never a problem with TV noise on Riviera or Vista…if there was, why not try to kindly speak to your neighbour to address…pretty sure it would be resolved.

[edgee]

54 minutes ago, BEEZLEE said:

Never a problem with TV noise on Riviera or Vista…if there was, why not try to kindly speak to your neighbour to address…pretty sure it would be resolved.

Not necessarily. Huge problem for us and many others on Vista because, even at a normally moderate volume level, the tv noise was such that we had difficulty sleeping. Could be difficult to resolve unless you can ask the other party not to turn on their TV at all. And, the cruise line should have designed the ship so guests are not put in that position. This is not cheap college dorm or fraternity house situation, although unfortunately it resembles one.

Edited January 27 by edgee

[Hambagahle]

On 1/23/2024 at 2:27 PM, Croooser said:

+1 . Never experienced on 4 cruises on Riviera, but on our Vista cruise had to wear noise cancelling headphones because our neighbors had their TV on whenever they were in the room. The other obvious solution was to turn our TV on. We resorted to turning on the NAV channel just to have the Music drown out the TV from the room next door. Not ideal. The problem was not that it was on very loud. It could be heard through the wall even when it seemed like they had the volume at a reasonable level.

 

Our room was arranged so that the TV was back to back with our neighbors TV and our headboard back to back with the room on the other side. We never heard any noise from the headboard side.

 

If your neighbors don't use the TV much, you are good to go. 

 

No more Vista for us.

 

YMMV

 

 

The we will be the ideal neighbours because we don't watch the TV !

[cruisingxpert]

19 minutes ago, Hambagahle said:

The we will be the ideal neighbours because we don't watch the TV !

I was in PH 10035 on Vista in September.  I didn't hear the TV(maybe they didn't turn it on) but I did hear them talking every day.  As Edgee said, I couldn't make out what they were saying but I could hear them and tell which one was speaking.

 

On 1/26/2024 at 5:06 PM, Iamthesea said:

What cabin class and deck were you on?

In May I was in 7024, an aft ph and didn't hear anyone in the next cabin but there was no cabin to back onto our TV.

[shepherd really]

2 hours ago, cruisingxpert said:

I was in PH 10035 on Vista in September.  I didn't hear the TV(maybe they didn't turn it on) but I did hear them talking every day.  As Edgee said, I couldn't make out what they were saying but I could hear them and tell which one was speaking.

 

In May I was in 7024, an aft ph and didn't hear anyone in the next cabin but there was no cabin to back onto our TV.

7024 is forward, not aft.

[cruisingxpert]

1 hour ago, shepherd really said:

7024 is forward, not aft.

7124. Typo

[noelmarie]

7124 on Vista?  We have it on Allura in 2025.  So excited!