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

[edgee]

19 hours ago, Hlitner said:

morning, we had the "Country Fair" which is a major activity (on the pool deck) where there are various games, prizes, etc.  It was well attended and kept the pool deck busy from around 10:30 until noon.  With all the constant banter (from Peter, our Cruise Director) it almost reminded me of a Carnival cruise.  As a rule, we find the higher-class lines have fewer announcements.  Peter usually has a longish daily update around 9:30, more to say around noon, and will usually have another schedule update around 4.  I prefer the attitude on Seabourn where there are very few announcements, and it is assumed that passengers are capable of reading the daily schedule.

After 10 Oceania cruises, I can tell you that too many long announcements is a pet peeve of mine. I sometimes complain in the mid cruise survey with exactly your point about guest's ability to read the schedule in Currents themselves. Sometimes I will get a voice mail from the CD saying "Miami office makes me do it." In the post cruise survey, I object to this "Carnivalization" of Oceania. Good news is that some Oceania CD's are more into the long frequent announcement thing than others, so how big a deal this over announcing thing is depends on the CD.

 

 

[WNcruiser]

19 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Afternoon from the middle of the Atlantic,

 

This morning we were notified that the Vista has cancelled its visit to Horta (Azores) which is the 2nd port (in a row) cancelled.  This is due to bad weather forecasts for the Azores.  The Captain has changed our course to a more southerly course and we are, instead, heading to Funchal (Madeira).  This change has also put us into better weather and today was a gorgeous sea day with seas in the 1-2 meter range, blue skies, and temps in the 70s.  We also had a following wind so it was a near perfect day to be outside.  

 

This morning, we had the "Country Fair" which is a major activity (on the pool deck) where there are various games, prizes, etc.  It was well attended and kept the pool deck busy from around 10:30 until noon.  With all the constant banter (from Peter, our Cruise Director) it almost reminded me of a Carnival cruise.  As a rule, we find the higher-class lines have fewer announcements.  Peter usually has a longish daily update around 9:30, more to say around noon, and will usually have another schedule update around 4.  I prefer the attitude on Seabourn where there are very few announcements, and it is assumed that passengers are capable of reading the daily schedule.

 

A couple of nights ago we went to our first Production Show and thought it was generally awful!  Sorry to say it was more like a bad high school musical production than what we expect on ships. 

 

Hank

Hank I am on this sailing as well. I spoke with Peter at the “country fair” about his early and long announcements. In fact he woke me up that morning as we are moving one hour forward each night I told him it was really 7:25 AM. I told him it was too early and all the information we was giving could be found in the currents. He wasn’t very receptive unfortunately. 

 

I do agree about the shows but I knew Oceania is not known for their quality entertainment. Coming from Regent and Seabourn I find a big difference in service and crew on board. We have had many service issues that would never occur on those two lines. 
 

[ak1004]

29 minutes ago, WNcruiser said:

Hank I am on this sailing as well. I spoke with Peter at the “country fair” about his early and long announcements. In fact he woke me up that morning as we are moving one hour forward each night I told him it was really 7:25 AM. I told him it was too early and all the information we was giving could be found in the currents. He wasn’t very receptive unfortunately. 

 

I do agree about the shows but I knew Oceania is not known for their quality entertainment. Coming from Regent and Seabourn I find a big difference in service and crew on board. We have had many service issues that would never occur on those two lines. 
 

 

Do you mind sharing the service issues you had?

[WNcruiser]

2 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

Do you mind sharing the service issues you had?

Of course not. Sitting at a table in Waves or Terrace and not having anyone come by with water asking if you would like coffee or tea in the AM. Dirty dishes sitting for extended periods with staff walking by ignoring them.
 

During lunch at Waves yesterday we had no silverware on the table. We asked three different staff members for silverware which never came. We finally took it from another table. Twice in Aquamar no one came to take our order, we had to flag someone down. 
 

In Ember our steaks came out completely overcooked. No one came to check to make sure they were cooked properly. Again we had to flag down our waiter to let him know. 
 

In my opinion the majority of the crew just do the bare minimum and are not overly friendly. We have found a couple that are better and try and stick with them. No where near Regent or Seabourn service. 

[grmmybtty]

2 hours ago, koolforkatz said:

We are also on this cruise and yes, Founders bar drinks are included in prestige package. We are a group of six and between us have tried most of them 😁

Thank you. I’m looking forward to trying the new offerings too.

[Vallesan]

33 minutes ago, WNcruiser said:
 

In my opinion the majority of the crew just do the bare minimum and are not overly friendly. We have found a couple that are better and try and stick with them. No where near Regent or Seabourn service. 

I think you will always be disappointed with service if you compare it to Seabourn service.

 

It’s over 5 years since we sailed with Regent and we did only sail once with them. I won’t go into details but at that time the service on Oceania was much, much better.

 

Seabourn service is as they advertise ‘intuitive’. I still can’t get over how Seabourn staff seem to know each individuals needs/wants almost immediately.
 

I really enjoy Seabourn but I enjoy Oceania equally my expectations are different on each line.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[cruisemom42]

On 3/21/2024 at 11:13 AM, Waltershipman said:

Yes i am concerned due to new ownership When we sailed in 2019 it was great

 

They were great in October 2023 when I was on BTB cruises on Onward. Having just been on O's Insignia just a couple of months prior, I thought the 2 lines very similar, especially since I was on the same-sized ships. Might be different on a larger O ship.

 

While I liked Oceania's food and some decor better, I found the entertainment and passenger mix more to my liking on Azamara. Just in general I also like Azamara's itineraries more. 

 

[ak1004]

10 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

I think you will always be disappointed with service if you compare it to Seabourn service.

 

It’s over 5 years since we sailed with Regent and we did only sail once with them. I won’t go into details but at that time the service on Oceania was much, much better.

 

Seabourn service is as they advertise ‘intuitive’. I still can’t get over how Seabourn staff seem to know each individuals needs/wants almost immediately.
 

I really enjoy Seabourn but I enjoy Oceania equally my expectations are different on each line.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

Have you sailed on SS? After 2 cruises on SS, I didn't see much difference in service compared to O. Overall I found both between very good and excellent, but we experienced some of the issues mentioned by @WNcruiser on SS as well. 

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Vallesan said:

I think you will always be disappointed with service if you compare it to Seabourn service.

 

It’s over 5 years since we sailed with Regent and we did only sail once with them. I won’t go into details but at that time the service on Oceania was much, much better.

 

Seabourn service is as they advertise ‘intuitive’. I still can’t get over how Seabourn staff seem to know each individuals needs/wants almost immediately.
 

I really enjoy Seabourn but I enjoy Oceania equally my expectations are different on each line.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

I would agree with what you say about Seabourn service.  The only other line that we have found comparable is MSC's Yacht Club (essentially a luxury ship within a mass market ship).  

 

We continue to find the service here on the Vista "uneven" ranging from outstanding to something much less.  We do think all the cruise lines (even Seabourn) have had staff issues related to large number of new hires post COVID.   I should mention that our cabin steward falls into the "outstanding" group and is good as any steward we have had on luxury lines.

 

Hank

[kozycz]

19 hours ago, grmmybtty said:

Does anyone know if the drinks in the Founders Bar are included with the Prestige drink package?

We cruised on Vista last November and yes the Founder’s Bar drinks were included on the Prestige package! And those cocktails were so interesting, fun and delicious! It’s a small space, and we were a group of six, but we always found seating and found the space to be inviting, even though it feels a bit like a hallway pass through! The bartenders were excellent and very sociable. Loved the Founder’s Bar! 

[Vallesan]

4 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

Have you sailed on SS? After 2 cruises on SS, I didn't see much difference in service compared to O. Overall I found both between very good and excellent, but we experienced some of the issues mentioned by @WNcruiser on SS as well. 

 
Yes we sailed Silversea last June and then Seabourn in September. The service on both was really good but … different. 
 

We sailed on the Dawn and the Encore so very similar ships  but I preferred the service on the Encore. I just find the Seabourn service better than any other line but that’s just my feeling. 
 

Oceania has never been a disappointment for me but Seabourn just has the edge.

 

As I’ve said before I have different expectations  on different cruise lines and I’m never disappointed … they all live up to my expectations!

[EJL2023]

23 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

 
Yes we sailed Silversea last June and then Seabourn in September. The service on both was really good but … different. 
 

We sailed on the Dawn and the Encore so very similar ships  but I preferred the service on the Encore. I just find the Seabourn service better than any other line but that’s just my feeling. 
 

Oceania has never been a disappointment for me but Seabourn just has the edge.

 

As I’ve said before I have different expectations  on different cruise lines and I’m never disappointed … they all live up to my expectations!

And as you noted, expectations going in is the key. A positive outlook also helps and unfortunately I see so many that just seem to latch upon any negative and focus totally on the negative. We’ve also seen them onboard and pray we never get a sharing table with them…or….part of reason we never request sharing. 

[Hlitner]

We continue on our easterly course headed towards a Friday morning arrival at Funchal.  Today marks a week since we embarked from Ft Lauderdale.  Since DW and I did not bother to get off at our only stop (Great Stirrup Cay) we have not set foot on land in more than a week.  For us. it is all good since we love our lazy sea days.  The weather is OK with blue skies and seas with swells about 4 meters.  While the ship does move around in these seas, it is not enough motion to bother most folks.

 

Last evening, DW and I returned to Red Ginger and shared a table with a delightful couple.  Dinner was quite good (DW and I both had the sea bass) and the table conversation enjoyable...so we did not leave Red Ginger until after 9:30.  No reason to hurry since there has been a major schedule change aboard the Vista.  Last evening (and tonight) the usual 9:30 show has been changed to 5:45 with a movie showing after dinner.  We skipped last evenings Production Show (did not want to watch another high school musical).

 

As usual, I was among those who closed down the ship around 11:30.  I think it is safe to say that no more than 10% of the passengers are out and about after 10:15. Several have told us that they head to bed by 8:30!  

 

Had lunch at Waves today and discovered that the ship has run out of Perrier and Pelligrino.  Our table service was somewhat comical.  DW and I sat at a table for 4 (all the 2 tops were occupied) and about half way through lunch a waiter stopped at our table and cleared away the two extra place settings.  About 5 minutes later another waiter decided to set a third place setting at our table.  Less than 5 minutes later another waiter raided that 3rd place setting and took away the water glass.  

 

I mentioned in an earlier post that there is no Prime Rib on the menu of any of the reservation-only restaurants.  But I noticed on our TV menus, that in the GDR (tonight) one of the mains is "grilled Prime Rib."  We shall see what that is all about :).  Speaking of food/drink, yesterday I decided to order a glass of Orange Juice in the Terrace Grill.  The juice was semi-awful and tasted like cheap stuff out of a can.  One might compare this to Seabourn where they have a large self-service juice machine (the type where they dump dozens of whole oranges in a hopper) in their Lido restaurant.  

 

Vista now has a Bundled Laundry deal.  20 items for $24.95 (wash, dry, folded...but not ironed).  What I find interesting is that this is offered only on select dates (April 3, 4, 6, and 9).  I guess there is some logic to this offer 

 

Also noticed a "Top California Cabs" wine tasting is on today's activity agenda.  Only $95 + 20%.  $228 a couple for wine tasting is a bit rich for my blood.

 

Hank

[Vineyard View]

Thank you for your continued review of your first Oceania sailing. Your descriptions of lunch at Waves had me chuckling! 
If you and your DW ever find yourselves visiting Sonoma County, lmk! DH and I would be happy to provide a much better wine tasting experience at a more favorable price point! 😉 

I look forward to your continued review! 

[Vallesan]

Thank you Hank
 

It really is so good to have a ‘live’ review. So often ‘recollections vary’!

 

Enjoy!

[kozycz]

Thank so much for your live review! I have really enjoyed reading this. We sailed on the Vista last November and are booked for the Riviera this October. We really liked so much about O; we have sailed several lines with Azamara being our favorite! We found the food on O to have a slight edge on Azamara, with mostly hits but some misses. But those misses were pretty bad. But on the whole we enjoyed the food, enough to book another O cruise. Your description of the service in Waves, reminds me of some moments on our Vista cruise. What we found odd, and almost annoying, was at just about every venue, GDR or specialities, the waiter would want to take our food order but we expected and wanted to order drinks or wine first. My experience in dining out has been that that is the usual format. I mentioned this in the mid cruise survey and was surprised to receive a call from the Food & Beverage Manager. After that some nights service flowed that way, other nights it didn’t. Our work around was to just ask to order wine and drinks first. Not a big deal, not a deal breaker, just a head scratcher! But despite that we found the service to be pretty good, but with Azamara having a slight edge in that department. We are looking forward to our October cruise on O and I hope you enjoy the rest of your time on O. Keep your reviews coming, they are awesome! Thank you!

[Waltershipman]

8 minutes ago, kozycz said:

Thank so much for your live review! I have really enjoyed reading this. We sailed on the Vista last November and are booked for the Riviera this October. We really liked so much about O; we have sailed several lines with Azamara being our favorite! We found the food on O to have a slight edge on Azamara, with mostly hits but some misses. But those misses were pretty bad. But on the whole we enjoyed the food, enough to book another O cruise. Your description of the service in Waves, reminds me of some moments on our Vista cruise. What we found odd, and almost annoying, was at just about every venue, GDR or specialities, the waiter would want to take our food order but we expected and wanted to order drinks or wine first. My experience in dining out has been that that is the usual format. I mentioned this in the mid cruise survey and was surprised to receive a call from the Food & Beverage Manager. After that some nights service flowed that way, other nights it didn’t. Our work around was to just ask to order wine and drinks first. Not a big deal, not a deal breaker, just a head scratcher! But despite that we found the service to be pretty good, but with Azamara having a slight edge in that department. We are looking forward to our October cruise on O and I hope you enjoy the rest of your time on O. Keep your reviews coming, they are awesome! Thank you!

Excellent points and appreciated.  I have been trying to pin point what I felt was missing on Vista. While we enjoyed the trip we found that dinner In GDR felt less than relaxing. There was no time for a glass of wine before the food order was taken 

While service was good the room while lovely did not feel intimate and service was rushed and the venue was loud and crowded

 

We were on Azamara years ago we might revisit the ships again

 

All the best

 

Waltershipman 

 

Thank you

[Acrusa]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We continue on our easterly course headed towards a Friday morning arrival at Funchal.  Today marks a week since we embarked from Ft Lauderdale.  Since DW and I did not bother to get off at our only stop (Great Stirrup Cay) we have not set foot on land in more than a week.  For us. it is all good since we love our lazy sea days.  The weather is OK with blue skies and seas with swells about 4 meters.  While the ship does move around in these seas, it is not enough motion to bother most folks.

 

Last evening, DW and I returned to Red Ginger and shared a table with a delightful couple.  Dinner was quite good (DW and I both had the sea bass) and the table conversation enjoyable...so we did not leave Red Ginger until after 9:30.  No reason to hurry since there has been a major schedule change aboard the Vista.  Last evening (and tonight) the usual 9:30 show has been changed to 5:45 with a movie showing after dinner.  We skipped last evenings Production Show (did not want to watch another high school musical).

 

As usual, I was among those who closed down the ship around 11:30.  I think it is safe to say that no more than 10% of the passengers are out and about after 10:15. Several have told us that they head to bed by 8:30!  

 

Had lunch at Waves today and discovered that the ship has run out of Perrier and Pelligrino.  Our table service was somewhat comical.  DW and I sat at a table for 4 (all the 2 tops were occupied) and about half way through lunch a waiter stopped at our table and cleared away the two extra place settings.  About 5 minutes later another waiter decided to set a third place setting at our table.  Less than 5 minutes later another waiter raided that 3rd place setting and took away the water glass.  

 

I mentioned in an earlier post that there is no Prime Rib on the menu of any of the reservation-only restaurants.  But I noticed on our TV menus, that in the GDR (tonight) one of the mains is "grilled Prime Rib."  We shall see what that is all about :).  Speaking of food/drink, yesterday I decided to order a glass of Orange Juice in the Terrace Grill.  The juice was semi-awful and tasted like cheap stuff out of a can.  One might compare this to Seabourn where they have a large self-service juice machine (the type where they dump dozens of whole oranges in a hopper) in their Lido restaurant.  

 

Vista now has a Bundled Laundry deal.  20 items for $24.95 (wash, dry, folded...but not ironed).  What I find interesting is that this is offered only on select dates (April 3, 4, 6, and 9).  I guess there is some logic to this offer 

 

Also noticed a "Top California Cabs" wine tasting is on today's activity agenda.  Only $95 + 20%.  $228 a couple for wine tasting is a bit rich for my blood.

 

Hank

Just to let you know ask someone behind the middle counter in the terrace cafe to pour from the fresh squeezed oj  that's in the fridge under the counter 

[Acrusa]

42 minutes ago, Waltershipman said:

Excellent points and appreciated.  I have been trying to pin point what I felt was missing on Vista. While we enjoyed the trip we found that dinner In GDR felt less than relaxing. There was no time for a glass of wine before the food order was taken 

While service was good the room while lovely did not feel intimate and service was rushed and the venue was loud and crowded

 

We were on Azamara years ago we might revisit the ships again

 

All the best

 

Waltershipman 

 

Thank you

I think that's partly your fault On Vista in February  in the GDR we spread our dinner out for about an hour or more always told the waiter to spread out the meal.

one evening in Toscana our main dish came as soon as they removed our appetizers told them to take it back  and ordered different main course 

[Techno123]

10 minutes ago, Acrusa said:

I think that's partly your fault 

I don't think I would use the word fault 😁 but I think letting the server know what sort of gap you like between courses when you order is important as what you don't want is your food 'sitting' and going cold. on a Seabourn cruise we took last July, we were sat in the same section as a group of 2 American couples - same waiter - they complained bitterly that the service was too slow and we had to ask the waiter to slow it down as we felt it was too fast 😂😂

[proton-excitement]

21 minutes ago, Acrusa said:

one evening in Toscana our main dish came as soon as they removed our appetizers told them to take it back  and ordered different main course 

I must be misunderstanding: So you ordered an appetizer and a main, and once you finished your appetizer they brought the main, but you refused what you originally ordered?

Edited April 3 by proton-excitement

[Waltershipman]

35 minutes ago, Acrusa said:

I think that's partly your fault On Vista in February  in the GDR we spread our dinner out for about an hour or more always told the waiter to spread out the meal.

one evening in Toscana our main dish came as soon as they removed our appetizers told them to take it back  and ordered different main course 

Ouch sorry not my fault 

 

Enjoy

[Waltershipman]

38 minutes ago, Acrusa said:

I think that's partly your fault On Vista in February  in the GDR we spread our dinner out for about an hour or more always told the waiter to spread out the meal.

one evening in Toscana our main dish came as soon as they removed our appetizers told them to take it back  and ordered different main course 

Often times great service is intuitive 

[osandomir]

1 hour ago, Acrusa said:

I think that's partly your fault On Vista in February  in the GDR we spread our dinner out for about an hour or more always told the waiter to spread out the meal.

one evening in Toscana our main dish came as soon as they removed our appetizers told them to take it back  and ordered different main course 

While I understand your disappointment I personally wouldn’t think it would warrant a complete waste of the food that had been ordered. We always try to be very particular when ordering in any restaurant to avoid the situation like that.

Edited April 3 by osandomir

[rim2rimhiker]

3 hours ago, kozycz said:

What we found odd, and almost annoying, was at just about every venue, GDR or specialities, the waiter would want to take our food order but we expected and wanted to order drinks or wine first.

 

A couple years ago, my wife and I decided we aren't going to order any food until we have our first order of drinks delivered.  Too many times the food comes before your drink.  We try order one course at a time.  Ever since we started doing this, our dinners have been much more enjoyable.  On the ship they will want us to order all courses at once, but we still wait for the first round of drinks.  We started doing this after our Friday night dinner at our local restaurant served us two rounds of drinks, appetizers, entrees, and desert in 36 minutes.