Live from the Vista - March 27 (Miami) to May 1 (Trieste)

[Lastdance]

1 hour ago, Harters said:

No mention of the strike by taxi drivers trying to drum up business outside the port terminal. We were there for about 30 minutes waiting for our transfer to Rome airport (arranged by our TA). In the event it didnt turn up. We'd rung the company and spoken to the driver, three times. First time he said the was there. Second, that he'd be there in 5 minutes. Lying *****. Third told us to get a taxi. So we had to get the cab - cost around €200 on the meter. My partner is currently drafting the email to the TA demanding a refund. 

 

By the by, just back from the supermarket, where we were able to change our leftover dollars for sterling. No need to change the euros, they'll keep for the next two holidays (Cyprus in October and Spain in January).

I also keep all my extra currency for the next trip, not ever worrying about exchanging it.  Maybe it’s because I know I’ll use it, coupled with the fact that I always have a cruise or two or three, on the books.  This year, I do not have any due to my DH and his skiing accident.  However, he is doing great and I most likely did not have to cancel either cruise!  He always responds well when injured and gets back to normal faster than any doctor thinks he will.  now, I am going through withdrawal, but next year is(I hope)going to be great!

 

Very sorry to hear about the strike, as we have also had that happen to us; hope all works out well for you!  I find that customer service is lacking everywhere.

Edited April 12 by Lastdance

[jazznruby]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 We were only planning on going into Rome for lunch at a restaurant in Trastevere,

Would love to know the name of the restaurant you were planning on for lunch. Will be on Vista with a stop in Civitavecchia in November, and hoping for a few hours in Rome. Enjoying your comments. Despite a few hiccups and knowing you're an O first timer, I appreciate your positive outlook. Thanks so much.

[Hambagahle]

On 4/1/2024 at 3:22 AM, Waltershipman said:

When we are at Polo Grill in February we were told the whole Maine lobster had been frozen.  While  surprised as I dont recall ever eating frozen whole Maine lobster it was nevertheless enjoyed. The foie gras was spectacular 

You can also freeze foie gras....

[Hambagahle]

On 4/9/2024 at 10:15 AM, Techno123 said:

I suppose it's each to his/her/their own.

We were on the Regent Explorer last November so had a Sunday at sea with the glorious Sunday brunch - a cornucopia of fresh, culinary delights was on offer and the gentleman 2 tables down asked for a burger and fries 😜😂

 

 

[Hambagahle]

Just now, Hambagahle said:

And the Sunday Brunch on sea days was brought from Oceania (where it had been done for years) to Regent when Frank del Rio bought Regent.   We had cruised - many times - on Regent before the purchase.  No Sunday brunches.   Then we went to Oceania.  Sundays that are sea days. = brunches.  (A carbon copy exists on Regent now.).  Loved the Sunday brunches and thank you! FDR !!

 

[Hambagahle]

On 4/11/2024 at 9:04 AM, Kay S said:

Strikes in Europe are very common, but O certainly should have warned you.

They might not have known.  In Italy most strikes are announced ahead of time - but far from all.  And even when there are strikes - some trains run.  If you are willing to show up and go with whatever is running.  Fine.  Problem is coming back to a ship and discovering the train you planned to take from Termini is not running...   Taxis are expensive and take a little longer  - from Termini - than a train...

[Hambagahle]

On 4/11/2024 at 1:29 PM, Techno123 said:

I used to hate beef wellington made with liver pate as the fillet just ended up tasting of liver (which I really don't like) and I wouldn't use foie gras for ethical reasons so I, for one, am very happy with the mushroom duxelle 😁

Duxelles normally has foie gras in it too...

[grmmybtty]

1 hour ago, Hambagahle said:

They might not have known.  In Italy most strikes are announced ahead of time - but far from all.  And even when there are strikes - some trains run.  If you are willing to show up and go with whatever is running.  Fine.  Problem is coming back to a ship and discovering the train you planned to take from Termini is not running...   Taxis are expensive and take a little longer  - from Termini - than a train...

We were in Rome Termini waiting for the train to take us to Trieste for our cruise, the agents were not aware of an impending strike until an hour before the strike was called. We struggled to find another way from Rome to Trieste. We ended up renting a car and making the long drive through Italy.

[Techno123]

2 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

Duxelles normally has foie gras in it too...

Not the duxelles I eat 😁

[Harters]

2 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

Duxelles normally has foie gras in it too.

Not in my experience. 

[clo]

7 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

Duxelles normally has foie gras in it too...

As far as I can research duxelles aren't made with foie but can be a layer with the duxelles.

 

And https://www.seriouseats.com/foie-gras-new-fire-for-an-old-debate

[Hambagahle]

Julia Child has a recipe for Duxelles in her Vol. 1 (Along with the recipe for Beef Wellington).  Finely chopped mushrooms, onions and then sautéed - and yes - some foie gras added.  But not much.

[CurlerRob]

On 4/11/2024 at 3:47 PM, Hlitner said:

 

Another RANT, this time about Destination Services (also known as the tour desk).  Last evening they delivered our excursion tickets for this segment.  DW quickly realized that we were missing tour tickets for our Barcelona Culinary excursion.  A careful look at the latest tour printout showed that our previously confirmed excursion is no longer on the list.  Our assumption is that it has been cancelled, but since NOBODY from O ever informed us of a cancellation, how are we to know?  That excursion was booked online and twice confirmed by O (we still have the e-mails).  Apparently, O has their own definition of "Confirmed."  In fairness to O, we have found that the Excursion operations on most cruise lines leave a lot to be desired.p

 

On 4/11/2024 at 3:47 PM, Hlitner said:

 

I’d be curious to know if there was any info in the shorex brochure in the cabin (it just looks like every other sales brochure you’re ever seen, not an important reference doc). 
 

On our first O cruise, there were significant changes made to multiple excursions and the only place they were documented was in that flyer. Nothing from DS, no letter advising a close read of the brochure. Lots of very unhappy pax who were blindsided. 
🍺🥌

[tigerfan75]

Yes, O does not communicate detailed shore excursions changes except through the ticket/info packet in your room.  Soon after arrival to the stateroom, one should review the envelope of tickets and the listing of available shore excursions to compare times and tour descriptions to prior expectations.  ALWAYS changes…

[clo]

8 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

Julia Child has a recipe for Duxelles in her Vol. 1 (Along with the recipe for Beef Wellington).  Finely chopped mushrooms, onions and then sautéed - and yes - some foie gras added.  But not much.

She really remains a she-gawd.

[Hambagahle]

Hank - thanks SO much for all the info on this thread.  I "followed" your adventures around Japan on HAL last spring and sense that you are enjoying this cruise a little more.  Looking forward to reading what you have to say as the next 2+ weeks of the cruise rolls on.

[Hambagahle]

19 hours ago, grmmybtty said:

We were in Rome Termini waiting for the train to take us to Trieste for our cruise, the agents were not aware of an impending strike until an hour before the strike was called. We struggled to find another way from Rome to Trieste. We ended up renting a car and making the long drive through Italy.

Something similar happened to me some years ago.  Got to Genova from Venezia OK by train but then there was a strike Genova/Ventimilgia (I was headed for Cannes on a business trip).  Ended up by hiring a limo to drive me to the border and drop me in Menthon from where I got the train to Cannes.  Cost a fortune but at least I could work in the car.

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

 

I’d be curious to know if there was any info in the shorex brochure in the cabin (it just looks like every other sales brochure you’re ever seen, not an important reference doc). 
 

On our first O cruise, there were significant changes made to multiple excursions and the only place they were documented was in that flyer. Nothing from DS, no letter advising a close read of the brochure. Lots of very unhappy pax who were blindsided. 
🍺🥌

There was no reference.  However, 2 days after I posted my comment, we did receive a letter from the shore excursion folks explaining that the excursion was cancelled for "operational" reasons.  At this point we have had 3 cancelled excursions (all by the Vista) and have over $370 pp shore excursion credit.  An excursion that we might have considered for this segment is no longer available and we are not permitted to book anything for the following segment until last day of this cruise.  In fact, we cannot even find out what, if anything, is available on the next segment since the onboard Destination Office folks tell us they cannot access any info on the next segment until the last day of this segment. 

 

Hank

[Vineyard View]

5 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

There was no reference.  However, 2 days after I posted my comment, we did receive a letter from the shore excursion folks explaining that the excursion was cancelled for "operational" reasons.  At this point we have had 3 cancelled excursions (all by the Vista) and have over $370 pp shore excursion credit.  An excursion that we might have considered for this segment is no longer available and we are not permitted to book anything for the following segment until last day of this cruise.  In fact, we cannot even find out what, if anything, is available on the next segment since the onboard Destination Office folks tell us they cannot access any info on the next segment until the last day of this segment. 

 

Hank

Wow. That is not impressive at all. Like you, we are not shore excursion people, but if a perk is pulled by the cruise line, and we have used up that financial part of the offered product that can not be used in any other manner prior to sailing, it seems as if it should be transferred into OBC rather than totally lost. I have read of this occurring on more than one thread since Simply More. It’s truly not okay. I hope Oceania acknowledges this soon, and hopefully before you disembark, but I wouldn’t count on it based on reading multiple occurrences on different sailings. 

[Vineyard View]

4 hours ago, tigerfan75 said:

Yes, O does not communicate detailed shore excursions changes except through the ticket/info packet in your room.  Soon after arrival to the stateroom, one should review the envelope of tickets and the listing of available shore excursions to compare times and tour descriptions to prior expectations.  ALWAYS changes…

Why?  I can understand occasional, but why always?  I have not experienced this on other lines, but maybe I  just did t pay close enough attention. 

[Hlitner]

Moving on with our live from the Vista reports.  Yesterday we were in Livorno with absolutely gorgeous weather with temps in around 70f.  Livorno is a port with many terrific options (for both DIY and excursions) and opted for a very pricy wine tasting/gourmet lunch excursion.  We thought the excursion was quite good (and we normally dislike excursions) and we enjoyed our small group of fellow passengers.  The only negative was that the excursion cost about $300 per person which we (and some others) thought was a bit steep.   

 

Last evening it was dinner in the GDR (DW and I both had an excellent strip steak au poivre).  My NY Cheesecake was somewhat disappointing because it lacked enough cream cheese.  

 

Today was another gorgeous day and we were docked in La Spezia.  This port is most convenient for visiting the villages of Cinque Terre, so DW and I decided to visit a few villages DIY.  We have been to this part of Italy, many times, but we usually access Cinque Terre with a rental car.  Today we took the train (an all day Cinque Terre Pass was about 27 Euros).  This pass gives unlimited use of the regional train, access to the hiking trails etc.

 

Folks that have often visited this over touristed destination generally have their favorite village.  For us, it is Vernazza, which is where we got off the train as for our first village.  I should mention that this port has a free shuttle to the port terminal building, and from that location it is a 1 mile walk to the La Spezia Centrale train station.   At Vernazza we did a lot of walking and eventually had an excellent lunch at an outdoor restaurant with a decent view of the crowds and water.  Cinque Terre is a popular place, so crowds are the norm.

 

After lunch we took another train over to Corniglia.  This is probably the least visited of the 5 villages because it is somewhat difficult to access (you need a bus from the train) and the village is full of slopes and steps.  After spending 1 1/2 hours in Corniglia (and having some terrific local gelato) we decided to make our way back to La Spezia and the ship.  The trains were running late (not unusual) and it actually took us about 2 hours until we were back aboard.

 

A word about our cabin (a normal veranda).  The Vista has a night light (which can be operated from either side of the bed).  It is a blue bulb located on the ceiling near the bathroom.  There is also a white light under the sink in the bathroom.  The problem is that the night light is a little bright for our taste (and others with whom we chatted).  We found a great solution is to simply leave on the light that surrounds the bathroom mirror.  With the bathroom door closed, enough light bleeds under the door to give us a nearly perfect night light 🙂

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

7 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Wow. That is not impressive at all. Like you, we are not shore excursion people, but if a perk is pulled by the cruise line, and we have used up that financial part of the offered product that can not be used in any other manner prior to sailing, it seems as if it should be transferred into OBC rather than totally lost. I have read of this occurring on more than one thread since Simply More. It’s truly not okay. I hope Oceania acknowledges this soon, and hopefully before you disembark, but I wouldn’t count on it based on reading multiple occurrences on different sailings. 

We are thinking about booking one of the Santorini wine excursions, but have no clue if it will even be available.  That would use up most of our remaining credit.   Our visit to Santorini, on the next segment, will be along with 3 or 4 other ships and over 6000 cruise passengers.  Dealing with the cable car, when you have that many cruisers, can be a royal pain so an excursion might be helpful (at least in the morning).  Getting down, from Fira, in the afternoon will not be fun.

 

Hank

[Waltershipman]

12 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Moving on with our live from the Vista reports.  Yesterday we were in Livorno with absolutely gorgeous weather with temps in around 70f.  Livorno is a port with many terrific options (for both DIY and excursions) and opted for a very pricy wine tasting/gourmet lunch excursion.  We thought the excursion was quite good (and we normally dislike excursions) and we enjoyed our small group of fellow passengers.  The only negative was that the excursion cost about $300 per person which we (and some others) thought was a bit steep.   

 

Last evening it was dinner in the GDR (DW and I both had an excellent strip steak au poivre).  My NY Cheesecake was somewhat disappointing because it lacked enough cream cheese.  

 

Today was another gorgeous day and we were docked in La Spezia.  This port is most convenient for visiting the villages of Cinque Terre, so DW and I decided to visit a few villages DIY.  We have been to this part of Italy, many times, but we usually access Cinque Terre with a rental car.  Today we took the train (an all day Cinque Terre Pass was about 27 Euros).  This pass gives unlimited use of the regional train, access to the hiking trails etc.

 

Folks that have often visited this over touristed destination generally have their favorite village.  For us, it is Vernazza, which is where we got off the train as for our first village.  I should mention that this port has a free shuttle to the port terminal building, and from that location it is a 1 mile walk to the La Spezia Centrale train station.   At Vernazza we did a lot of walking and eventually had an excellent lunch at an outdoor restaurant with a decent view of the crowds and water.  Cinque Terre is a popular place, so crowds are the norm.

 

After lunch we took another train over to Corniglia.  This is probably the least visited of the 5 villages because it is somewhat difficult to access (you need a bus from the train) and the village is full of slopes and steps.  After spending 1 1/2 hours in Corniglia (and having some terrific local gelato) we decided to make our way back to La Spezia and the ship.  The trains were running late (not unusual) and it actually took us about 2 hours until we were back aboard.

 

A word about our cabin (a normal veranda).  The Vista has a night light (which can be operated from either side of the bed).  It is a blue bulb located on the ceiling near the bathroom.  There is also a white light under the sink in the bathroom.  The problem is that the night light is a little bright for our taste (and others with whom we chatted).  We found a great solution is to simply leave on the light that surrounds the bathroom mirror.  With the bathroom door closed, enough light bleeds under the door to give us a nearly perfect night light 🙂

 

Hank

Hank I noted in one of my posts from our Vista cruise in February  is the ability to adjust the brightness of the round bathroom  mirror by simply pressing and holding the visible dot near the bottom of the mirror which both dims and brightens the mirror.  We used this feature in lieu of the blue light and light under sink 

 

Enjoy

[Vineyard View]

9 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We are thinking about booking one of the Santorini wine excursions, but have no clue if it will even be available.  That would use up most of our remaining credit.   Our visit to Santorini, on the next segment, will be along with 3 or 4 other ships and over 6000 cruise passengers.  Dealing with the cable car, when you have that many cruisers, can be a royal pain so an excursion might be helpful (at least in the morning).  Getting down, from Fira, in the afternoon will not be fun.

 

Hank

I hope that works out for you. It probably makes the most sense to do an excursion in Santorini with the over crowding of ship passengers. 
 

Thank you for your review of Cinque Terre. We have not been, have wanted to though - it sounds like it is always pretty crowded. 
 

So glad that you are enjoying your trip!. It’s great to read along with you. I trust your even and balanced feedback. 

[Harters]

59 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Vista has a night light (which can be operated from either side of the bed)

I liked this. Part of the excellent cabin design, IMO. No problem with the blue light for either of us.