GeorgiaPeach Gives the Vista a Try

[GeorgiaPeach51]

This will be much abbreviated from my usual blog.  I debated doing this, but I know some people are curious about Vista, so I thought I’d take the time in case it helps anyone.

 

This was a getaway trip, so certainly not based so much on itinerary rather than the ship.  I guess we all like bright, shiny, new things!  Miami, Stirrup Cay, Norfolk, Charleston, Bermuda, Nassau, Port Canaveral, not in order.
 

We very rarely come in on the day the ship leaves, but decided to risk it this time, cause, you know, what can go wrong?  It’s just Atlanta to Miami, right?  Well, of course, multiple delays, 2 hours late taking off, and me in the back of the plane wriggling and squirming and wearing my watch out trying to make time stop going so fast.  By the time we hastened into the check in place, we were the only ones there, along with about six agents.  So, that was easy.  One strange thing….the man who checked us in mentioned that two older gentlemen got into a fight over something and had to be separated before it became fisticuffs.  Good grief.  I’m not sure why he shared that with us, but I do have to say that there was a small contingent onboard that seemed feisty.  More on that later.

 

The ship is really lovely.  We took this cruise because it was a good price and a good way to check out O’s newest offering.  It is hard to imagine anyone not enjoying the ship decor.  Except in one notable venue, if you are like me.  One thing we didn’t like is that there is only one elevator for the whole ship on Deck 5, aft, and it is right outside the  theater.  You can imagine the long waits and crowds.  The alternative was to sit in the theater and wait it out or walk up the long curved staircase.  There were A LOT of walkers and scooters and wheelchairs so things got pretty jammed up.  Poor design, IMO.

 

Last time, on our first O cruise on the Marina, we had a PH.  This time we had a regular veranda.  It’s sufficient, but with some quirks.  The closet is the most difficult to handle.  It is at the walkway into the cabin, so anyone standing there is blocking the way.  But the most annoying thing was the motion light for the closet, which had a diabolical mind of its’ own.  On, on, off, off, off, on, nope, off.  Drove me up the wall.  You have to resign yourself to having one arm waving around in the closet at all times.  It invariably went off just as you spied the garment you sought.  I was glad to see the end of that closet.  If I had to do a very long cruise with that closet it might get pretty dicey.

 

We were in 10073.  We did not hear the tvs or conversation on either side, nor did we hear hallway noise.  However, every night the passenger behind our heads in the adjacent cabin coughed and coughed all night long, or at least, much of it, and we heard that loud and clear even with earplugs.  Not good.  The storage space was good everywhere except the closet.  The chair provided for the vanity is ridiculously low.  I am 5’8” and my chin just barely cleared the bottom of the mirror.  These kinds of design errors are so preventable and unnecessary.  If you are small in stature you will be looking at your forehead.

 

we thought the staff was uniformly wonderful.  Eager to please, smiling.  We really enjoyed our cabin attendant.  But had a very unusual experience on the last night.  When we came back to the cabin ALL of my makeup and toiletries had been removed from the long vanity drawer and just dumped on the vanity top, all over the place.  In 37 cruises, this is a first.  I expressed that to her, and told her there should not be instances where a passenger’s belongings are touched without prior approval, like moving from one cabin to a new one.  She was apologetic and kept explaining why she did it…..to place brochures for the new passengers the next day.  I understand her reasoning but it is a big no.  I did not put this on any kind of comment card, preferring to deal with it in person, politely and quietly.  So, that was a first!  I guess she has done this all along.  No idea.

 

The jacuzzi area at the back of the ship was very nice and where we spent time, rather than the pool, so cannot comment on availability of loungers.

 

We loved Aquamar.  Ate lunch there every day, almost.  My favorite was the Buddha salad.  My husband liked the avocado toast with shrimp.  We tried a lot of the menu and it was all good.  One day the squash soup was yummy.  The next day it was somewhat watery with much less flavor.  Very erratic.  Most days we split a Matador hamburger, and Rolf liked the surf and turf burger.  Aquamar is a definite thumbs up.

 

we enjoyed the sushi in Terraces, and ate dinner there one evening when we just didn’t want to bother.  We also ate in Waves three times at night, enjoying the flatbread and pizza.  You can ask for extra burrata on your pizzas, and for arugula on the side if you are a fan.  Definitely much better than the lunchtime pizza.  Nice staff in Waves.

 

The Slocumbe ice cream was inconsistent.  Some flavors were fabulous.  But more than a few were kind of watery in flavor.  The pistachio, for instance, was just watered down with bare taste of pistachios.  So didn’t enjoy it as much as last time.  Ended up throwing out much more ice cream than the last cruise.

 

We had good luck getting additional reservations for the specialties.  We ate in Toscana twice, with mixed results, but enjoyed the range of choices.  Ate once in Polo, the steak house, and for me, it was disappointing. Cold baked potato again, steak was pretty flavorless, as was the lobster.  But the French onion soup was very good.  Red Ginger was good.  I tried the watermelon and duck salad and it was great, as was the miso cod.  We ate there twice, and the first time I got the curry and enjoyed it.  This brings us to Ember.

 

We wanted to like it.  We tried to like it.  But it’s just really inconsistent. My husband tried the pork chop and it was so tough that you’d be reduced to picking it up and gnawing on it rather than trying to cut it.  I tried the scallops, which were just okay.  Not exciting, just bland.  One friend got a steak and liked it.  I tried the steak our second time and found it tough.  For me, the best steaks on R are found in Sette Mare…the filet is just yummy.  The second time we went to Ember we all got the fried shrimp appetizer and it was a winner.  I have seen comments about the noise in Ember but didn’t find it any louder than any of the other restaurants. 
 

The Vista Lounge. Not a fan visually or structurally. For starters, and keep in mind that this is my very subjective opinion only, the garish grapey/mauve material chosen for the seating is spectacularly awful.  And it is made even more egregious for the fact that it is like crushed velvet.  And then on the floor is a grey toned tweedy carpet.  The wooden sides of the seats are an orangey brown.  The whole thing just clangs and jangles and fights with itself.  In addition, the seating is terraced too low and is not effectively staggered so you are peering around people’s heads, from mid lounge all the way to the back. Terrible design, IMO.

 

We enjoyed the CD, Peter.  Thought he was funny and quick and kept things moving at just the right pace.  We enjoyed the male guest singer and the comedian, who was a hoot.  I’m sorry I don’t have their names in my head.  They hold Trivia in the Vista lounge, which has teams either sitting in long rows, or in two rows and having to turn around awkwardly to communicate with team members.  Not a good venue for Trivia.
 

O seems to have some communication issues.  Especially with Destination Services.  Prior to the trip we had signed up for an all day trip to Williamsburg, from Norfolk.  The week we were due to leave someone posted on the roll call that all the Williamsburg tours were cancelled.  Not a word from O about it at any time.  Just money refunded with zero communication. In the end it didn’t matter because we didn’t stop in Norfolk, but O has a long way to go with me to convince me that they give a hoot about honest communication with passengers.

 

There was some aggression with the elevators, with one contingent refusing to move back, and another contingent pushing their way onto the elevator.  This wasn’t widespread but I saw it at least once every day.  I would tie this to the logjam on Deck 5.  I did find that during busy times you could easily wait ten minutes for an elevator.  My suggestion to you is to just give up, get in the first one going down, if you want to go up, and ride it till it finishes its circuit.  One evening, before I learned this lesson, I counted ten full elevators that stopped as I waited.

 

the awful bar snacks, tiny little olives, dry crusty phyllo dough appetizers and cheese cubes remain unscathed, and uneaten.  But they do offer chips, nuts and pretzels earlier, so that is a help.

 

So, bottom line, I still prefer Regent.  By far.  Love the many choices in the MDR.  Love the lack of hassle with drink cards and paying for excursions.  Love the beautiful regular cabins.  Love the Specialties on Regent.  I’ve only done two Oceania cruises, but I think they erred in judgement when they installed Ember in place of Jacques.  Would love to see R do something like Aquamar.  Perhaps they can tweak the Ember menu or preparation before too long so they can win more passengers over.
 

would I do Vista again?  Yes.  For the right price.  But the cabin noise is an issue.  We had a nice time.  We had fun.  We got to see friends we enjoy so much.  So I’m glad we went.  But I’ll take R any day!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 30 by GeorgiaPeach51

[frantic36]

20 minutes ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

ALL of my makeup and toiletries had been removed from the long vanity drawer and just dumped on the vanity top, all over the place.  In 37 cruises, this is a first.  I expressed that to her, and told her there should not be instances where a passenger’s belongings are touched without prior approval, like moving from one cabin to a new one.  She was apologetic and kept explaining why she did it…..to place brochures for the new passengers the next day.

 

I understand the cabin attendants reasoning was to make life quicker and easier for herself the next day. That reasoning is never acceptable and I would be sure she understood this in a firm but polite manner.

 

Thank you for your wonderful and detailed report. It confirms why I have chosen not to sail on Oceania. For all the pluses the negatives outweigh them.

Edited March 30 by frantic36

[Chateaunole-du-pape]

Thanks for your report... I actually happened to stumble on some Vista videos yesterday and they certainly piqued my interest, so I was very glad to read a full report from someone with extensive Regent experience. The first video I saw found me equally confounded by the closet situation - the cabin actually looked pretty nice, with a good shower, but after being spoiled by Regent's walk-in closets, I think my wife and I would find a closet in the form on a cupboard in the hallway an annoyance, though admittedly very much a first-world one. Otherwise I must confess that the ship looked very appealing, so much so that I started looking at rates, though I fear that once I factor in excursions and better-quality drinks, I'm probably not going to be far off from Regent pricing,

 

I always enjoy your posts! Any Regent plans on the books? We will be sailing on Navigator in June.

 

Best regards from down the road on Marietta Square!

Edited March 30 by Chateaunole-du-pape

[GeorgiaPeach51]

@Chateaunole-du-pape  Hi, you really are down the road!  Our next Regent is, fingers crossed, the 61 day Explorer, Auckland to Tokyo in 2026.  Our longest ever.  I’m hoping we might get to squeeze one in before that.  You know, I agree with you.  By the time you add in tips, excursions, drink packages, air, our experience has been that Oceania is sneaky expensive…you really need to compare carefully.  That’s why this one involved only a cheap RT ATL to MIA.

 

i hope you’ll report back on your Navigator thoughts.  It’s fun to try new ships.  There is a lot to like about Vista.

[PhD-iva]

Thx! I enjoyed your review. I’ve sailed on Marina, Riviera and Sirena, and also on Mariner and Voyager. My 4th O cruise is on Sirena again this August. I agree that I like R better than O. But I might be moving (slowly) away from cruising.

[Dwtlion]

1 hour ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

One thing we didn’t like is that there is only one elevator for the whole ship on Deck 5, aft, and it is right outside the  theater.  You can imagine the long waits and crowds

I believe the Vista lounge/theater is in the front of the ship where there are 4 elevators. There are 2 elevators aft that only go as low as deck 6.

[Chateaunole-du-pape]

@GeorgiaPeach51 Thanks! We will definitely report on Navigator. We were slightly  hesitant to book on the older ship after falling hard for Splendor last summer. (It was our first cruise ever - boy, were we spoiled, and hilariously, we really had no idea what Regent was when we booked it - it was basically, "Hey, this looks pretty nice, this last minute price is good, let's try it.")

 

But again, these are first-world problems, big time - Navigator may be older and less glamorous than Splendor, but it's still Regent - I'm sure it'll be great, and the itinerary is what really drew us in. We are serious francophiles - wife is a French teacher, French was one of my majors and we met in college French class - and haven't been since before COVID, which is just crazy seeing that we used to go 2-3x a year for work and pleasure. This cruise starts in Monte Carlo, so we'll get a few days in Nice and its environs beforehand. Can't wait! And we've convinced some dear friends and neighbors to join us. We are absolutely counting down the days!

 

Auckland to Tokyo sounds fantastic! I'm sorry that we'll have to wait so long to see you post about it! Hopefully you will indeed squeeze another one in between now and then!

 

Thanks again for your great review. I'm going to watch those videos of Vista again and refer back to your comments as I do so.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

10 hours ago, Dwtlion said:

I believe the Vista lounge/theater is in the front of the ship where there are 4 elevators. There are 2 elevators aft that only go as low as deck 6.

Sorry to be confusing.  There are 4 elevators in the forward section on every deck.  There are two elevators aft on every deck except 5.  One bank of forward elevators only on deck 5, which leads to the logjam.  As you say, the theater is in the forward section, and this leads to the long waits.  Thanks for responding so I could hopefully clarify.

[Tsunami74]

Thanks Georgia Peach,

We had just cancelled a 2025 Vista cruise because we just couldn't risk being in a cabin and having it be too noisy to sleep!

Good to have you confirm that we made the right decision.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

1 hour ago, Tsunami74 said:

Thanks Georgia Peach,

We had just cancelled a 2025 Vista cruise because we just couldn't risk being in a cabin and having it be too noisy to sleep!

Good to have you confirm that we made the right decision.

We were traveling with friends who said their cabin experienced zero noise issues, so it is definitely a roll of the dice.  The ship is beautiful and has so many positives.  As I said, if the price is right….  
 

In our experience on our three R cruises, we had zero noise filter into the room.  I think Grandeur passengers so far can’t say the same, at least some of them.  Maybe it’s a case of “they just don’t make things like they used to”.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

One thing I forgot to mention was the new Whitney Houston entertainment offering.  It is basically a hologram of her in the middle of the back of the stage, singing songs that she did in a concert or several concerts.  The band was there, and they used two of the ship’s singers live on the forward portion of the stage.  We saw their first attempt at it, so there are some wrinkles to get out of it.  Our general consensus between the four of us, is that her projection was too small and sometimes blurry.  And there were times the band outplayed her voice, and they said they had some technology issues. 

 

People we talked to had lots of varied opinions, as to be expected.  One woman said she felt it was ghoulish, profiting from her tragic death.  She said she walked out.  I was personally lukewarm about it.  Overall, it made me sad.  She was such a talent and it’s such a waste of that magnificent voice.

 

My further reaction is that this is a way to cut costs, and may affect the future of shipboard entertainment and the singers and dancers.  This is not a big loss for us, because we don’t generally love the production shows.  But for others, this may be an ominous trend.  Time will tell.

[SusieQft]

5 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

Sorry to be confusing.  There are 4 elevators in the forward section on every deck.  There are two elevators aft on every deck except 5.  One bank of forward elevators only on deck 5, which leads to the logjam.  As you say, the theater is in the forward section, and this leads to the long waits.  Thanks for responding so I could hopefully clarify.

I presume you are talking about Vista.  Splendor (and I presume also Explorer and Grandeur) have the same issue.  The aft elevators do not go to Deck 4, so unless you sit in the balcony on Deck 5, you have to go up one flight of steps to avoid the congested forward elevators after any event in the Constellation Theater.

[2SailingNomads]

Or do as we do and use the stairs.  We usually avoid the elevators except for embarking / disembarking when we have carry-ons with us.

[edgee]

On 3/29/2024 at 8:54 PM, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

The Vista Lounge. Not a fan visually or structurally. For starters, and keep in mind that this is my very subjective opinion only, the garish grapey/mauve material chosen for the seating is spectacularly awful.  And it is made even more egregious for the fact that it is like crushed velvet.  And then on the floor is a grey toned tweedy carpet.  The wooden sides of the seats are an orangey brown.  The whole thing just clangs and jangles and fights with itself.  In addition, the seating is terraced too low and is not effectively staggered so you are peering around people’s heads, 

Spent 27 total nights on the Vista..two cruises in last 5 months. I second everything you are saying about the Vista Theatre. My second biggest problem with Vista...of course the first being the paper thin walls! Otherwise lovely ship, but the noise issue will likely prevent us from sailng on her again. 

[labonnevie]

19 hours ago, 2SailingNomads said:

Or do as we do and use the stairs.  We usually avoid the elevators except for embarking / disembarking when we have carry-ons with us.

Some of us are mobility impaired. 
Perhaps with my new knee that’ll be an option. 😊

[2SailingNomads]

1 hour ago, labonnevie said:

Some of us are mobility impaired. 
Perhaps with my new knee that’ll be an option. 😊

Totally understand and did not mean to imply everyone should / can take the stairs.  😉 We will also take the elevators if with others who need to.

Edited March 31 by 2SailingNomads

[martyinmpls]

On 3/30/2024 at 10:22 AM, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

One thing I forgot to mention was the new Whitney Houston entertainment offering.  It is basically a hologram of her in the middle of the back of the stage, singing songs that she did in a concert or several concerts.  The band was there, and they used two of the ship’s singers live on the forward portion of the stage.  We saw their first attempt at it, so there are some wrinkles to get out of it.  Our general consensus between the four of us, is that her projection was too small and sometimes blurry.  And there were times the band outplayed her voice, and they said they had some technology issues. 

 

People we talked to had lots of varied opinions, as to be expected.  One woman said she felt it was ghoulish, profiting from her tragic death.  She said she walked out.  I was personally lukewarm about it.  Overall, it made me sad.  She was such a talent and it’s such a waste of that magnificent voice.

 

My further reaction is that this is a way to cut costs, and may affect the future of shipboard entertainment and the singers and dancers.  This is not a big loss for us, because we don’t generally love the production shows.  But for others, this may be an ominous trend.  Time will tell.

Thanks for your post.

were cruising in June on Vista with a group of 9.  I can’t seem to make any dining for a group over 8 people.  I spoke to Oceania on the phone, and they said that I had to wait until we were on the ship . ☹️  Dining room pictures, at least in the Grand Dining, and private dining, seem to show tables for 10.  Any thoughts???

thanks…

[GeorgiaPeach51]

1 hour ago, martyinmpls said:

Thanks for your post.

were cruising in June on Vista with a group of 9.  I can’t seem to make any dining for a group over 8 people.  I spoke to Oceania on the phone, and they said that I had to wait until we were on the ship . ☹️  Dining room pictures, at least in the Grand Dining, and private dining, seem to show tables for 10.  Any thoughts???

thanks…

I did see what looked like tables of 8.  Not sure of 10….or 9, but I can’t see that as a problem for you.  We found them to be very accommodating in trying to fit people in and gladly adjusting their schedules to changes.  In the specialties what we observed is that if you come at 6:30 when they open, not all tables will have passengers seated.  If we got there at 6:45 or 7 for our reservation not every table was filled the whole time we were there.  So it seems that they do not attempt to turn the tables over….I am assuming this is a staffing issue, and may not be the same on every cruise.  I think this is exacerbated by the fact that more people like earlier dining than later.  Just be sure to make a beeline to the dining reservations folks the minute you board the ship!