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

[clo]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

and I was disappointed in their lobster main, which came with a tomato-based sauce that has no business being put on lobster.

Actually there are plenty of lobster dishes made with tomato sauces. Probably famously fra diavola. But it's too bad you didn't enjoy it. I've found, on our few O cruises, that they are quick to change preparations to suit you better. Maybe try it again.

[clo]

On 3/28/2024 at 1:35 PM, Hlitner said:

victuals

After dinner, you ate more??? LOL. What kinds of things were offered?

 

[AMHuntFerry]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Oh, I did forget something quite negative.  It is the tissues and toilet paper!  :).  Digging deep to go negative on such important items.  The tissues are made in China where they should stay!  As to the toilet paper, it is a bit thin and not like what most of us have at home.  The marine engineers would probably tell us that the toilet paper is selected because it easily breaks-down in the onboard sewer system.  But no such excuse to justify Chinese tissues. 

Here's a little experiment if you need to fill some idle time 😉 

I thought I noticed that the TP in the public bathrooms was a better quality than in our cabin (which was not quite as bad as Brazilian crepe paper), but I didn't take the time to do a thorough side-by-side analysis. I've also wondered if the TP is better in the high-level suites.

[ORV]

Not to hijack the thread, but I've noticed at times there are off brands I've never heard of before, and other times they've stocked up and we see stuff like Northern or Charmin. 

[Wheelhouse]

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Oh, I did forget something quite negative.  It is the tissues and toilet paper!  :).  Digging deep to go negative on such important items.  The tissues are made in China where they should stay!  As to the toilet paper, it is a bit thin and not like what most of us have at home.  The marine engineers would probably tell us that the toilet paper is selected because it easily breaks-down in the onboard sewer system.  But no such excuse to justify Chinese tissues.  

 

 

 

 

We were on the Vista in October and I noticed the very poor quality of the toilet paper.  I mentioned in the ongoing thread that next time I would bring my own.  Expectedly, I was hit with a deluge of comments explaining that the single ply was necessary to satisfy the ships plumbing requirements.  This was debunked by the Chief who claims that the primary reason the paper is so cheap is exactly that.  The line is saving a few pennies. 

[alcpa1]

Love your posts!!! Hank, keep it up and we will book Vista asap.

I just finished my last load of laundry after returning from the Sirena. I missed a tissue in a pocket but no fear it came out exactly as it went in - stiff and without a loss of a single fiber.

[clo]

1 hour ago, Wheelhouse said:

We were on the Vista in October and I noticed the very poor quality of the toilet paper.  I mentioned in the ongoing thread that next time I would bring my own.  Expectedly, I was hit with a deluge of comments explaining that the single ply was necessary to satisfy the ships plumbing requirements.  This was debunked by the Chief who claims that the primary reason the paper is so cheap is exactly that.  The line is saving a few pennies. 

We have a motor home and we use single ply toilet paper because it was strongly recommended. It breaks down super quickly and therefore minimizes clogs. It seems like that would be a huge benefit on a cruise ship.

 

[JakeDeFake]

Hank, appreciate your posts. We are considering Vista and you have been more than helpful. Keep’em coming.

[Techno123]

@clo I was going to make exactly the same point. The thick quilted stuff is a nightmare for non-conventional plumbing 😜

[Hlitner]

16 hours ago, clo said:

Actually there are plenty of lobster dishes made with tomato sauces. Probably famously fra diavola. But it's too bad you didn't enjoy it. I've found, on our few O cruises, that they are quick to change preparations to suit you better. Maybe try it again.

Tablemates liked the lobster in Polo so, perhaps we will give that a try.

[Hlitner]

Somebody posted a question about using a computer at the digital center.  I confirmed that there are no computers for guest use.  Apparently the digital center is to teach guests how to use their phones in place of a PC.  
 

Hank

[jondfk]

On 3/29/2024 at 2:23 PM, ak1004 said:

…..

 

Does Vista feel more crowded than SB or EJ, and how does the food compare to those two lines, in MDR and specialty restaurants?

I’ll weigh in on question two comparing food to SB.

 

We sailed thrice on O in 2022 and twice with SB in 2023.  We strongly prefer being served so most of my food comments will apply to the MDR.  Our thoughts:

 

O is the clear winner at breakfast.  The vastness of their menu (compared to SB) is apparent at first glance.  All hot food was clearly prepared to order whereas on SB it was quite obvious that things like pancakes and French toast had been prepared hours in advance and kept warmish.  The only sure way to get freshly prepared hot food was to order a custom omelette or deviation such as eggs Benedict with American bacon.  Clear winner O.

 

Lunch is a tougher call.  I truly love the Taste the World offerings on O, basically a tapas menu which is reliably spectacular.  Elsewhere we found the O lunch menu a bit lacking.  SB lunch offerings seemed a bit more varied and generally more satisfying.  It’s a toss up, a good TTW menu gives O the win, if ordering al a carte we probably favor SB.

 

Dinner.  Here the vast O menu outs them in the lead for most nights.  One exception, the steak on the SB everyday menu was spectacular, exceeded Polo Grill standards, starved on a blazing hot plate with excellent bearnaise I’ve rarely had a better steak, but one can’t live on steak alone so we give the nod to O overall.

 

Service was essentially equal across the two.  We had an easy time getting a regular service team on SB (meaning the same server night after night) something we’ve never managed on O.  We will be tryin again for this when we sail on the 20th.  Should any of our impressions change after our upcoming sailing I’ll post an update.

 

[ak1004]

39 minutes ago, jondfk said:

I’ll weigh in on question two comparing food to SB.

 

We sailed thrice on O in 2022 and twice with SB in 2023.  We strongly prefer being served so most of my food comments will apply to the MDR.  Our thoughts:

 

O is the clear winner at breakfast.  The vastness of their menu (compared to SB) is apparent at first glance.  All hot food was clearly prepared to order whereas on SB it was quite obvious that things like pancakes and French toast had been prepared hours in advance and kept warmish.  The only sure way to get freshly prepared hot food was to order a custom omelette or deviation such as eggs Benedict with American bacon.  Clear winner O.

 

Lunch is a tougher call.  I truly love the Taste the World offerings on O, basically a tapas menu which is reliably spectacular.  Elsewhere we found the O lunch menu a bit lacking.  SB lunch offerings seemed a bit more varied and generally more satisfying.  It’s a toss up, a good TTW menu gives O the win, if ordering al a carte we probably favor SB.

 

Dinner.  Here the vast O menu outs them in the lead for most nights.  One exception, the steak on the SB everyday menu was spectacular, exceeded Polo Grill standards, starved on a blazing hot plate with excellent bearnaise I’ve rarely had a better steak, but one can’t live on steak alone so we give the nod to O overall.

 

Service was essentially equal across the two.  We had an easy time getting a regular service team on SB (meaning the same server night after night) something we’ve never managed on O.  We will be tryin again for this when we sail on the 20th.  Should any of our impressions change after our upcoming sailing I’ll post an update.

 

 

Thanks a lot!

 

I believe it is possible to request the same server every night on O if there is someone you liked.

 

How crowded did you find O compared to SB and which ships?

[Redtravel]

With many dining venues on Vista, you usually don’t get the same table or server. If you ask in GDR, they will reserve a table.  On longer cruises, we ask for a specific table.  On shorter cruises, we don’t.

[Waltershipman]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Tablemates liked the lobster in Polo so, perhaps we will give that a try.

We enjoyed the lobster at Polo Grill 

[Waltershipman]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Tablemates liked the lobster in Polo so, perhaps we will give that a try.

Hank forgot to mention the lobster salad at Red Ginger was an unexpected treat and very unique

 

Be well enjoy

[jondfk]

2 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

Thanks a lot!

 

I believe it is possible to request the same server every night on O if there is someone you liked.

 

How crowded did you find O compared to SB and which ships?

We shall try the request for same server when we sail in three week.  Previously such request was shrugged off.

 

As for crowding all of our experiences have been on full 90%+ sailings on both O and SB.  We felt crowded around the pool on both Regatta and SB Odyssey, rarely crowded elsewhere.  On SB Ovation we booked “the Retreat” which is an extra cost cabana venue which is very provocative on the SB board we enjoyed knowing we could come and go never wondering whether we’d find a seat, was it worth $100/day, perhaps not.  As for crowing in the restaurant SB smaller ships all can seat the entire ship concurrently meaning waits for a table basically never happen, on their larger ships they actively recruit guests to “officers” (mostly junior) tables to help manage table demands this is usually effective, but not always.  We’ve only sailed Regatta on O and rarely waited for a table though we’ve seen waits at turnover time around 7:00.  As to other venues we found Martinis difficult to access on our trans pacific voyage, 9 sea days had folks turning up well before 5:00 to stake out space, we gave up and focused towards Horizons for pre dinner drinks, this was less a factor on our other more port intensive sailings O sailings.

 

 

Edited March 31 by jondfk

[Waltershipman]

4 minutes ago, jondfk said:

We shall try the request for same server when we sail in three week.  Previously such request was shrugged off.

 

As for crowding all of our experiences have been on full 90%+ sailings on both O and SB.  We felt crowded around the pool on both Regatta and SB Odyssey, rarely crowded elsewhere.  On SB Ovation we booked “the Retreat” which is an extra cost cabana venue which is very provocative on the SB board we enjoyed knowing we could come and go never wondering whether we’d find a seat, was it worth $100/day, perhaps not.  As for crowing in the restaurant SB smaller ships all can seat the entire ship concurrently meaning waits for a table basically never happen, on their larger ships they actively recruit guests to “officers” (mostly junior) tables to help manage table demands this is usually effective, but not always.  We’ve only sailed Regatta on O and rarely waited for a table though we’ve seen waits at turnover time around 7:00.  As to other venues we found Martinis difficult to access on our trans pacific voyage, 9 sea days had folks turning up well before 5:00 to stake out space, we gave up and focused towards Horizons for pre dinner drinks, this was less a factor on our other more port intensive sailings O sailings.

 

 

We found in February in Carribean full ship that GDR with excellent service and no issues getting 2 tops we specifically requested to dine in a quiet part of restaurant. It made a differnce for while the room is beautiful it can get noisy and a bit crowded.  Dinner at Terrace was crowded obtaining the grilled dishes.The main pool area felt crowded. I think it might be difficult to get the  same waiter every night however you can request the same area to dine and will likeky have the same servers.  We did love that and became very fond of several including Jimmy.

 

I reccomend if you want a two top to ask for  the small booths which seem to be in quiet areas.

 

Overall I thought the ship felt a bit crowded 

 

A reccomended approach i found on CC was to ho and book a specialty restaurant the 1st night. Even servers agree as 1st night in GDR will be busy busy busy.

 

Enjoy

 

 

[njhorseman]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Tablemates liked the lobster in Polo so, perhaps we will give that a try.

It could have been a one-off but both my wife and I had absolutely the  worst...they were totally inedible...lobsters we've ever been served in Polo on Insignia.

[vipro]

4 hours ago, jondfk said:

I’ll weigh in on question two comparing food to SB.

 

We sailed thrice on O in 2022 and twice with SB in 2023.  We strongly prefer being served so most of my food comments will apply to the MDR.  Our thoughts:

 

O is the clear winner at breakfast.  The vastness of their menu (compared to SB) is apparent at first glance.  All hot food was clearly prepared to order whereas on SB it was quite obvious that things like pancakes and French toast had been prepared hours in advance and kept warmish.  The only sure way to get freshly prepared hot food was to order a custom omelette or deviation such as eggs Benedict with American bacon.  Clear winner O.

 

Lunch is a tougher call.  I truly love the Taste the World offerings on O, basically a tapas menu which is reliably spectacular.  Elsewhere we found the O lunch menu a bit lacking.  SB lunch offerings seemed a bit more varied and generally more satisfying.  It’s a toss up, a good TTW menu gives O the win, if ordering al a carte we probably favor SB.

 

Dinner.  Here the vast O menu outs them in the lead for most nights.  One exception, the steak on the SB everyday menu was spectacular, exceeded Polo Grill standards, starved on a blazing hot plate with excellent bearnaise I’ve rarely had a better steak, but one can’t live on steak alone so we give the nod to O overall.

 

Service was essentially equal across the two.  We had an easy time getting a regular service team on SB (meaning the same server night after night) something we’ve never managed on O.  We will be tryin again for this when we sail on the 20th.  Should any of our impressions change after our upcoming sailing I’ll post an update.

 

What are the taste of the world offerings in O? And where can u find them? GDR?

[jondfk]

8 minutes ago, vipro said:

What are the taste of the world offerings in O? And where can u find them? GDR?

The taste the world menu is on the lower right of the lunch menu in the MDR.  It’s a collection of regional bites (6 or so).  My favorite is Lebanon which has hummus, lamb, some pita, etc.  Many of the items also appear at Terrace cafe but the presentation in the GDR is just lovely.  A great starter for two too.

[vipro]

2 minutes ago, jondfk said:

The taste the world menu is on the lower right of the lunch menu in the MDR.  It’s a collection of regional bites (6 or so).  My favorite is Lebanon which has hummus, lamb, some pita, etc.  Many of the items also appear at Terrace cafe but the presentation in the GDR is just lovely.  A great starter for two too.

Ic. Thanks. So I guess they rotate every day but why are they there just for lunches and not for dinners? So that means we have to stick to GDR for lunches everyday if we want to try them all, lol. 

[Lastdance]

Thank you so much for doing this review; I know that it will be full of information that will help with our first O cruise and TA to Lisbon next spring.  Could you please share information on demographics, along with the gym, as to size and crowds?  No hurry on any of this, but without a gym my DH(me too)would not want to be onboard too long.  Thanking you in advance, I totally appreciate the fact that you are sharing all of this with us; being newbies, our quest for information is quite high!

[sunlover12]

4 hours ago, Redtravel said:

With many dining venues on Vista, you usually don’t get the same table or server. If you ask in GDR, they will reserve a table.  On longer cruises, we ask for a specific table.  On shorter cruises, we don’t.

Interesting. I was told that we could not reserve a specific table in GDR.  You get what you get when you walk up to check in. Maybe Vista is different from the other ships. 

[osandomir]

1 minute ago, sunlover12 said:

Interesting. I was told that we could not reserve a specific table in GDR.  You get what you get when you walk up to check in. Maybe Vista is different from the other ships. 

It’s not like requesting a specific table. But we often asked to be seated with the particular server and almost always it was granted.