On Board Vista, July 23 - August 2, Turkish Ovation

[ORV]

7 hours ago, lorimay said:

I tried to buy a pair of shoes from one of the many shops, but apparently I offended the shopkeeper because I didn't know my European shoe size and she couldn't convert it. After telling me they didn't have a pair in my size, she didn't want to sell me anything and turned her back on me

Ain't that crazy, we've ran into this attitude a couple of times in Europe, you'd think if they have a store they'd want to do business. I've also ran into price of water or soda being jacked up for tourists in some stores. 

 

Thanks for your reports, been enjoying it. 

[Harters]

31 minutes ago, ORV said:

you'd think if they have a store they'd want to do business

But why would you expect them to know the sizes of shoes in a country on the other side of the world? Beats me. 

[ORV]

1 minute ago, Harters said:

But why would you expect them to know the sizes of shoes in a country on the other side of the world? Beats me. 

Here in the USA most shoe stores list the sizes in European and American. 

 

I think my wife wears a size 8.5 & 39. She's bought more than a few shoes on cruises. 

 

But that seems to be beside the point, it's more about their surly non customer friendly attitude. If you don't want to deal with the public then don't work that type of job, or own a business that does. 

[EJL2023]

2 minutes ago, Harters said:

But why would you expect them to know the sizes of shoes in a country on the other side of the world? Beats me. 

Just in a department store here last week. Nearly half the mens shirts in the store were marked in European size. Store had signs all over showing the size conversion to US sizing. So if you want to sell you better find a way. Assuming this store indicated by poster in a tourist area so should expect some questions on it. If off the beaten path I could understand. 

[SATaxman]

5 minutes ago, Harters said:

But why would you expect them to know the sizes of shoes in a country on the other side of the world? Beats me. 

So many brands I purchase here, are sized in European sizes. Most websites show both. Google is helpful if it is not on the shoe box.

 

[Poppie55]

When we were in a little town in Europe last year, I walked into a shop looking for a Christmas ornament I like to collect when we travel. The young woman who did not know what I wanted, pulled out her cell phone and with a big smile on her face pointed at the phone. I knew at that point she would convert my request into her language. We both laughed and she immediately took me to find an ornament. That was great service!

[Vallesan]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Ain't that crazy, we've ran into this attitude a couple of times in Europe, you'd think if they have a store they'd want to do business. I've also ran into price of water or soda being jacked up for tourists in some stores. 

 

Thanks for your reports, been enjoying it. 

You know it would be quite easy to ‘google’ shoes sizes etc. in Europe before travelling! Travel comes with some ‘compromises’!

 

Sorry didn’t read the rest of the thread before I posted!

Edited July 26 by Vallesan

[Harters]

58 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

You know it would be quite easy to ‘google’ shoes sizes etc. in Europe before travelling!

It's what I would do if I was visiting the States and was thinking of buying shoes (although I now know from posts upthread that I would need to). I can't recall ever seeing a shoe shop in the UK with a conversion chart to other than UK sizes. Or a shop in other European countries that had a conversion from Euro sizes.  

[dock]

Interesting that you had that experience.

In Santorini, I was looking at sandals for my grandaughter. I needed an 11 US but was unsure what the European size would be.

The owner kindly googled it for me to make sure.
 

Maybe your salesperson was just having a bad day. 

Edited July 26 by dock

[tarhoosier]

Clothing sizes are bizarre. Here in the U. S. I have a shirt collar size 16 and head (hat) size 7 1/2. It would seem that I could button my top collar button and then remove my shirt over my head without removing my cap.

 

[EJL2023]

7 minutes ago, tarhoosier said:

Clothing sizes are bizarre. Here in the U. S. I have a shirt collar size 16 and head (hat) size 7 1/2. It would seem that I could button my top collar button and then remove my shirt over my head without removing my cap.

 

Well…..have you tried?? 😉

[lorimay]

I can't believe this has turned into an entitled American story either. I can assure you I am NOT an "ugly American". I am always polite and respectful and open to other cultures.

 

This was an impulse purchase -  I'm not a big shopper and never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be attempting to buy a pair of shoes in Heraklion, Crete. But there's more to the story that was a little embarrassing so I didn't add it to the original post. I have big feet - I wear a US size 10. She said "what size". I said US size 10 - thinking she might have a conversion chart. She kept asking what size and I kept saying "big" and making universal hand gestures for big. She said "40, 41" and I said yes - and even pulled off my sneaker, which had a label with the US, UK and international sizes in it(41.5). I did nothing wrong and was not rude in any way. They did not have that shoe in my size. No problem. But when I picked up another shoe and asked, she refused to even look. She just said "we don't have", grabbed the shoe and put it back on the display and walked away. I don't care what country you are from or what language you speak - she was just down right rude. Maybe having a bad day. But the street was full of tourists, many of them American, and I can guarantee you that most of those American tourists have no idea what European size shoe they wear. I didn't expect her to know what a size 10 was. But she could have brought out a couple of the bigger sizes for me to try on. Maybe she sized me up and just didn't think I was really going to buy anything because I wasn't wearing fancy clothes. No clue. And maybe the poster who jumped all over this assuming that we "expected them to know" was looking to pick a fight. 

[lorimay]

Getting back to my daily report, today we were in Bodrum. Ate breakfast in the dining room and then went to the AquaMar terrace. There wasn't much shade but it was beautiful. Lots of comfortable seating and a really nice area to relax. We had the gulet boat tour that was supposed to start at 12:25, so we headed to the room to get ready after 11. There was a message on the phone that the excursion had been canceled. Two days in a row - very frustrating. There were high wind warnings and it was very windy so I understand. My complaint is that on both days the cancellations came so late we had no alternative. We ended up walking into the town and then walking back. It seems like a nice beach town.

 

Had a leisurely afternoon. Lunch in the Terrace was a little hit or miss. The had Indian food but not much else looked appealing. They were carving a large ham and I asked for slice. Clearly the staff member didn't have much experience with ham, because he cut several tiny slices and then piled them and a lot of fat onto my plate. Almost more fat than meat. I'm very impressed with the quality of the fruits, berries and vegetables. 

 

Went to trivia and there was quite a crowd today. And it was harder. We stayed a little while in Martinis and heard Justine Jones playing the piano. She is fabulous.

 

Dinner was at Embers. I loved the look and feel of the place. It does feel like an upscale American restaurant, bare tables and all. I know some people have compared it to Applebees or Cheddars - and since I have eaten at those restaurants believe me it's not even close. Although the spinach and artichoke appetizer I had could have been served at one of those restaurants, the quality was much higher. The highlight of the meal was the burrata and lemon carrot salad. Incredible - the mix of flavors and textures was amazing. I had the porcini crusted ribeye. It was huge and very flavorful, but I ordered medium and it was overdone. I now think their medium is my medium well, so I will order medium rare from now on.  I tried to order the summer berry sundae for dessert but the waiter steered me away so I had the delicious, but huge and rich brownie. Also those rolls are to die for. I thought the food was very good and would like to try it again, but then I always felt Jacques was a little pretentious and it wasn't my favorite.

 

As we were leaving the restaurant, two children came running out. This was the first bad behavior I have seen from any children so far. The boy was in a t-shirt and shorts, not appropriate for the restaurant (and I'm not that picky about what people wear) but worse he was barefood. I said something to the maitre'd about how I love kids but he really needed to be wearing shoes in a restaurant and he just looked sheepish. The boy and girl kept running in and out of the restaurant and then all around deck 5. I have no idea where the parents were.

 

The show tonight was a very funny and likeable comedian. It was a very good show.

 

Tomorrow we are in Marmaris, Turkey. We don't have an excursion booked so that can't cancel it. We plan to just explore.

[ronrick1943]

9 hours ago, lorimay said:

I can't believe this has turned into an entitled American story either. I can assure you I am NOT an "ugly American". I am always polite and respectful and open to other cultures.

 

This was an impulse purchase -  I'm not a big shopper and never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be attempting to buy a pair of shoes in Heraklion, Crete. But there's more to the story that was a little embarrassing so I didn't add it to the original post. I have big feet - I wear a US size 10. She said "what size". I said US size 10 - thinking she might have a conversion chart. She kept asking what size and I kept saying "big" and making universal hand gestures for big. She said "40, 41" and I said yes - and even pulled off my sneaker, which had a label with the US, UK and international sizes in it(41.5). I did nothing wrong and was not rude in any way. They did not have that shoe in my size. No problem. But when I picked up another shoe and asked, she refused to even look. She just said "we don't have", grabbed the shoe and put it back on the display and walked away. I don't care what country you are from or what language you speak - she was just down right rude. Maybe having a bad day. But the street was full of tourists, many of them American, and I can guarantee you that most of those American tourists have no idea what European size shoe they wear. I didn't expect her to know what a size 10 was. But she could have brought out a couple of the bigger sizes for me to try on. Maybe she sized me up and just didn't think I was really going to buy anything because I wasn't wearing fancy clothes. No clue. And maybe the poster who jumped all over this assuming that we "expected them to know" was looking to pick a fight. 

You really don't have any reason to have to explain yourself.  I don't think anyone would have done it differently.  Forget it and enjoy your cruise.

[Tranquility Base]

On 7/26/2024 at 11:21 PM, lorimay said:

It will be interesting to see how the money works out. We had $300 in simply more credits. Took a sixth excursion so got the discount for all of them. Now we are below the threshold for the discount. 

Thanks @lorimay

When you have time please report back whether the discount remained.

 

On 7/27/2024 at 12:48 AM, Queen of DaNile said:

I believe they'll still honor the discount. I used some non-refundable(different from the SM excursion credit) to get the discount and when that excursion was cancelled, they put it back on my account and the other excursions still reflected the discounted amount. 

Thanks.

That makes sense and seems fair.

[WildWanderers]

Hi All, 

 

Wonderful day today on Turkish Ovation.

 

We walked on our own from the ship through Marmaris to where we did a tour of the castle.  The stores, restaurants and grocery store were interesting on the way but there were not many people around, perhaps as we took off around 9 a.m. to avoid the max 38 degree heat.

 

Interesting exchange in GDR at dinner where we mentioned to a British (perhaps Scottish?) couple who were extremely loudly videoconferencing on their tablet, disturbing more than us, that we would appreciate it if they could be so kind as to lower the volume as it was not possible to enjoy our dinner.  The wife of the couple sort of agreed, and they did nothing.  The volume remained the same, so I turned toward them to see if they were making any effort to be respectful.  We would happily have moved elsewhere in mid-meal to be able to talk to one another without competing with someone else's conversation.  They wrapped up their chat, so we went back to enjoying our dinner.  The husband however immediately came up from behind me and shouted a bunch of stuff that I did not understand and stormed off.  As the wife passed me I told her that her husband had angrily yelled at me, out of control, but that I was sorry, I didn't understand a word.  Whatever she said to her husband had him return and from a table's distance shout a bunch more at both of us, that we also did not understand.  WildWanderer #2 with a big smile just said, Have a great evening.  Our waiter who had seen the whole exchange said that she could not believe or understand their behaviour, but that video conferencing and telephone calls too close to others are happening more and more, as well as the angry response when anyone intervenes.

 

Loud phone calls have been the norm in Horizons and the Terrace Café, so add the Grand Dining Room to the list.

 

A weird cruise indeed.

 

Cheers!

[AMHuntFerry]

4 minutes ago, WildWanderers said:

Loud phone calls have been the norm in Horizons and the Terrace Café, so add the Grand Dining Room to the list.

Ugh! Your observations had me looking through my Currents from May/June. On day 3 (and I believe 1 or 2 times later) there was a blurb on page 2, "Cell Phone Use. For the comfort of your fellow guests, all guests should refrain from using cell phones in restaurants and the main lounge. Should you need to make or receive a cell phone call, do so from any of the other public areas throughout the vessel."

For individual prolonged instances, a discrete word to the maitre d might help. If it's rampant, let the higher ups know (e.g., the GM, hotel head). It may not make a difference, but maybe it will...

[Vertygo]

14 minutes ago, WildWanderers said:

 

Loud phone calls have been the norm in Horizons and the Terrace Café, so add the Grand Dining Room to the list.

 

Unfortunately that’s not uncommon here at home. People unconsciously speak louder on any phone & more so if on speaker, which means the other side of conversation is also very audible.

Wonder if related to people forgetting how to behave in public following pandemic isolation.

[lorimay]

Yesterday we were in Marmaris. It was hot and a long walk to town (40 c) so we got a taxi. The taxi driver phoned ahead to a friend who met the taxi at the Grand Bazaar. He escorted us to his shop. It was an experience- I’ve never seen so many fakes in my life. I bought a few things and settled on a fair price. The shopkeepers were very nice. We then wandered around town a bit. It’s a lovely little town with a beautiful harbor full of yachts but not many people. We went back to the shop to get our things and they called the same cab driver for us. On the way back he said they only get about one cruise ship a month since Covid and most of them stop in Rhodes instead. I think instead it’s a beach holiday town. 
 

Back  on the ship, we had an interesting conversation with our room attendant (by the way, best room attendant EVER). We asked him if he thought the passengers on this cruise seemed different than the usual Oceania cruise. He said yes, and it’s causing problems for the crew. He told us the family groups are a problem because there is nothing for the kids to do and they get bored. Last cruise there was a family that let their two small children have free range of the ship. They were running the halls and ringing doorbells. One of the children got into a restricted area and couldn’t get out. The crew searched and found the child in an area with dangerous equipment. The family was apparently packed up and removed from the ship. 
He also told us it strains the crew when there are four or five people in the cabin and it’s difficult to maintain standards. 
 

I hate to mention this for fear of being called anti anyone who is not American, but he volunteered (we didn’t ask) that we are the only Americans he has this cruise. 
 

He also said that in general on the Vista they see younger (relatively) passengers who would like more activities on board. I made that comment in a post earlier, but he said it independently. 
 

We went up to AquaMar Terrace and used the therapy pool. The water was warm and cool would have been more refreshing on the hot day, but it’s a great quiet area. Unfortunately there’s little to no shade. I burned my feet on the deck. The metal railings were also too hot to touch. 
 

Lunch in the Terrace was Mexican theme and very good. Tacos, burritos, ceviche, nachos, birrua, shrimp etc. 

 

Our dinner last night was in Toscana. My food was excellent. I had the lemon spaghetti as an appetizer. It was good but I don’t think I could eat it as a main. But my dover sole was fantastic. Service again was excellent. My husband didn’t care for his food. He doesn’t eat veal so he wanted to sub chicken in the scallopini. The waiter didn’t say know but strongly suggested he get the baked chicken dish instead saying it was the same. It wasn’t. I’m not sure if we should have insisted. 
 

The show last night was Anchor Inn by the production cast bit was very cleverly staged. They are very good. 
 

A couple of Vista observations. 
 

1. I love being served in Terrace. Every buffet should do that. I’m glad Oceania continues this and hasn’t gone to self serve. 
 

2.  Everyone complains about the noise between cabins on Vista. But no one has mentioned the bathroom noise. I can’t hear flushing from my neighbors which is great, but you can hear everything inside the cabin. Worse than I have experienced on any other ship. 
 

Also, we did keep our discount on the shore excursions even though the cancellations took us below the discount threshold. I was very happy they did that. 
 

Today is Cyprus and hopefully the excursion won’t get canceled. 

 

 

[Vallesan]

10 hours ago, WildWanderers said:

Loud phone calls have been the norm in Horizons and the Terrace Café, so add the Grand Dining Room to the list.

 

A weird cruise indeed.

 

A very unpleasant experience!

 

You reminded me of a similar thing happening in the Terrace cafe one breakfast time on the Marina back in May. There were a family of 5 of 6 adults who were calling home, Australia, and all enjoying the ‘conference’ call which lasted some 15 or 20 minutes, in fact virtually our whole breakfast. I was shocked. We usually have breakfast in the GDR so I just put it down to the casual nature of the restaurant. Definitely shouldn’t be allowed in the GDR or in fact any dining room or indeed any of the public spaces. People have cabins they should use them for prolonged calls.
 

Times are changing!

 

[cruiseaholic78]

On 7/23/2024 at 10:33 PM, lorimay said:

Another minor complaint - the hangers in the closet do not have grooves to hold shirts on them. All of my stretchy shirts keep sliding off. I know, first world complaint, but I just can't understand why no one thought about that.

If you have some elastic bands wind them around the hangers, this should keep them on.

Happy cruising

[WildWanderers]

13 hours ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Ugh! Your observations had me looking through my Currents from May/June. On day 3 (and I believe 1 or 2 times later) there was a blurb on page 2, "Cell Phone Use. For the comfort of your fellow guests, all guests should refrain from using cell phones in restaurants and the main lounge. Should you need to make or receive a cell phone call, do so from any of the other public areas throughout the vessel."

For individual prolonged instances, a discrete word to the maitre d might help. If it's rampant, let the higher ups know (e.g., the GM, hotel head). It may not make a difference, but maybe it will...

 

Hi @AMHuntFerry,

 

Good point about the maître d'.  

 

I naïvely thought my request was innocent, nothing that could be blown out of proportion.

 

I wrote a précis of my experience in my feedback survey, perhaps in hopes that they move closer to zero-tolerance for loud phones or computers or games in dining rooms (and likely other areas).  Or they could just dust off the gangplank as a deterrent.

 

People pay a lot of money to take a cruise and can feel that they should be able to do (to a large degree) whatever they want.  But it is not a private yacht.  If you are prepared to harm someone else's cruise, are you equally as open to others harming yours?  Or, should we all recognize that in this unusual travelling community, respect for one another does not get parked at embarkation.

 

Off my soapbox now, a bit singed, but still wandering around wildly,

Greg from the WildWanderers

Edited July 28 by WildWanderers
added a bit

[Harters]

5 hours ago, lorimay said:

Today is Cyprus and hopefully the excursion won’t get canceled

It's a lovely island which we've visited several times over the years and will be back for two weeks in the autumn. My wife spent several years of her childhood there. They lived in the north of the island which can now be visited again from the south (albeit not entirely straightforward due to the continued Turkish occupation). 

[Pachmast]

Just wondering since it hasn't been mentioned, is the boat pretty stable¿ Thank you for your input.

[jonthomas]

9 hours ago, lorimay said:

Yesterday we were in Marmaris. It was hot and a long walk to town (40 c) so we got a taxi. The taxi driver phoned ahead to a friend who met the taxi at the Grand Bazaar. He escorted us to his shop. It was an experience- I’ve never seen so many fakes in my life. I bought a few things and settled on a fair price. The shopkeepers were very nice. We then wandered around town a bit. It’s a lovely little town with a beautiful harbor full of yachts but not many people. We went back to the shop to get our things and they called the same cab driver for us. On the way back he said they only get about one cruise ship a month since Covid and most of them stop in Rhodes instead. I think instead it’s a beach holiday town. 
 

Back  on the ship, we had an interesting conversation with our room attendant (by the way, best room attendant EVER). We asked him if he thought the passengers on this cruise seemed different than the usual Oceania cruise. He said yes, and it’s causing problems for the crew. He told us the family groups are a problem because there is nothing for the kids to do and they get bored. Last cruise there was a family that let their two small children have free range of the ship. They were running the halls and ringing doorbells. One of the children got into a restricted area and couldn’t get out. The crew searched and found the child in an area with dangerous equipment. The family was apparently packed up and removed from the ship. 
He also told us it strains the crew when there are four or five people in the cabin and it’s difficult to maintain standards. 
 

I hate to mention this for fear of being called anti anyone who is not American, but he volunteered (we didn’t ask) that we are the only Americans he has this cruise. 
 

He also said that in general on the Vista they see younger (relatively) passengers who would like more activities on board. I made that comment in a post earlier, but he said it independently. 
 

We went up to AquaMar Terrace and used the therapy pool. The water was warm and cool would have been more refreshing on the hot day, but it’s a great quiet area. Unfortunately there’s little to no shade. I burned my feet on the deck. The metal railings were also too hot to touch. 
 

Lunch in the Terrace was Mexican theme and very good. Tacos, burritos, ceviche, nachos, birrua, shrimp etc. 

 

Our dinner last night was in Toscana. My food was excellent. I had the lemon spaghetti as an appetizer. It was good but I don’t think I could eat it as a main. But my dover sole was fantastic. Service again was excellent. My husband didn’t care for his food. He doesn’t eat veal so he wanted to sub chicken in the scallopini. The waiter didn’t say know but strongly suggested he get the baked chicken dish instead saying it was the same. It wasn’t. I’m not sure if we should have insisted. 
 

The show last night was Anchor Inn by the production cast bit was very cleverly staged. They are very good. 
 

A couple of Vista observations. 
 

1. I love being served in Terrace. Every buffet should do that. I’m glad Oceania continues this and hasn’t gone to self serve. 
 

2.  Everyone complains about the noise between cabins on Vista. But no one has mentioned the bathroom noise. I can’t hear flushing from my neighbors which is great, but you can hear everything inside the cabin. Worse than I have experienced on any other ship. 
 

Also, we did keep our discount on the shore excursions even though the cancellations took us below the discount threshold. I was very happy they did that. 
 

Today is Cyprus and hopefully the excursion won’t get canceled. 

 

 

 

Very disturbing to hear that about unruly kids, we have had very bad experiences on other lines with kids and were hoping that we have escaped that on O, but it doesnt seem like it.