Jim_Iain - Live - comparison of Oceania Regatta - Vista Suite to Celebrity Millennium Royal Suite

[chemmo]

Jim, continuing to follow on both boards…Make sure you find some time for R &R!

 

Particularly enjoying your food pictures. 
 

How ‘chatty’ are your fellow guests? Much as we have always enjoyed our own company we have always loved on Celebrity that each cruise there would be a few people we would ‘gel’ with and some we are still in contact with. 
 

I think there are probably two levels to my question…Are pre/post dinner lounges conducive to conversation and are fellow guests sociable? I guess this has become far more important to me after loosing my DH last year. I have described myself as cruising ‘semi solo’ next year as I will be with family but feeling the need to ‘learn’ to be solo again…Venues to mix in and people open to conversation will be important. As you are doing a compare and contrast, I guess the venues I am thinking of on Celebrity are the Retreat Lounge and The Sky Lounge when it has its Elite events…

 

Please don’t feel obliged to reply now. However, perhaps as you summarise towards the end of your adventure….

[abbydancer2003]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

It has taken me all day but I think I am caught up on both boards.    I believer I have replied to all questions but If I missed any requests pleas repast.

 

Today was a nice quiet day with limited live TV.    Oceania has about the same selections as for live broadcast.    I personally find CNBC, FOX and MSNBC too polarized  to watch so when I can't stream ABC, CBS and CNN I watch SKY and BBC New. 

 

Now on the recorded on-demand choices... Oceania has Celebrity beat to probably 1,000%

 

I'm unable to count them as there are so many ----Probably 1,000 movies of all Genres. Then they have a selection of 23 TV Series.

 

 

 

Even Princess has Celebrity beat in terms of On Demand TV.  

[bigbeergut]

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I hope I don't have too much expectation.    My problem is that for reading currently I only need a 1x reader but find it difficult to read my watch and my iPhone when out walking.  The doctors seems to think it will work fine for that.    I currently use progressives all the time even thought to top is almost 20/20 prior to surgery so I don't have to take my glasses on and off while out for my 4 hours walking. 

 

The main purpose of the surgery is that I have glaucoma and am allergic to all but 1 drug.  My first eye they did a 2 hours surgery to build a new drainage system and it worked perfect.    This time my left eye isn't as bad and they think they can just use a stint.  

 

 

It sounds like you should be good.  I also had stents put it at the same time as my lenses and so far they are working very well.

 

Good luck

[abbydancer2003]

disregard.  Posted in error.  Sorry

Edited 14 hours ago by abbydancer2003

[OceanCruise]

Jim,

Are small Perrier, San Pellegrino, Evian and/or regular water bottles available? One of my traveling companions is immune compromised and using the personal resusable water bottles for multiple days is not optimal as they cannot really be sanitized properly.

[Covepointcruiser]

We are currently on the Seabourn Venture on an expedition voyage to Greenland and Arctic Canada.   Have you ever thought of trying a smaller expedition ship such as Silver Seas or Seabourn?   The food is great, typical Seabourn, everything included except for kayaking and submarine.   We have 228 passengers on board so staff ratio is better than 1-1.    Zodiac landings are the norm but all passengers have coped, but no wet landing yet.   They will even assist those with severe mobility problems in the first or last Zodiac so they don’t feel rushed.   Looking forward to your QM2 review in October.    We took Oceania for years until we had taken all their itineraries.    We especially loved the Buenos Aires to Manaus Amazon cruise.

[Joker54]

@Jim_Iain

 

Greetings Jim and Iain!! We are following this thread with great interest as always. We wish you both the best as you try out new cruise lines. We are looking for new horizons ourselves and hope that our paths will cross once again on a future cruise somewhere.

 

We certainly enjoyed the last cruise that we were all on together

 

Cheers

[Jim_Iain]

Thursday -  Klawock

 

I'm up way too early today.   Got a call from my Son at 7:00 AM.   My ex-wife's husband had to be rushed to the hospital last night.   My Son has been living with her husband, taking care of him after she passed last year.   They live in a small town of Hollister, about 1 hour south of San Jose.    They transported him to the major trauma center overnight.   The hospital just called  to advise if he wanted to see his step-father he should get to the hospital ASAP.  Doesn't look good for him.  

 

I feel so sad for him as so much is crashing down on him.   My gradaugher had a seizure 2 weeks ago and they believe she has encephalitis.   She has lost the ability to talk and been on meds for the past two weeks.    Coincidentally she had an appointment at the same hospital today.

 

Don't mind me, I'm just rambling because I don't know what else I can do to help him out except send virtual hugs. 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, canderson said:

Ouch.  Wishing you the best possible outcome.  My wife had the same issue of only short term relief from the lasered 'drain holes', and also has issues with all but one compounded eye drop. 

 

Those eye drops can really be weird.    One my lips swelled up and they took me off it immediately.     The next one really left me with no energy and then on one of my walks I passed out on the trail.   The next one caused sun sensitivity and my hands and neck looked like a battery acid burn.    The last one  worked pretty well but then I got severely dehydrated and then sun sensitive causing burns on the back of my hands and neck. 

 

Good news is my numbers are perfect in the eye they did the surgery on.

[chemmo]

14 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thursday -  Klawock

 

I'm up way too early today.   Got a call from my Son at 7:00 AM.   My ex-wife's husband had to be rushed to the hospital last night.   My Son has been living with her husband, taking care of him after she passed last year.   They live in a small town of Hollister, about 1 hour south of San Jose.    They transported him to the major trauma center overnight.   The hospital just called  to advise if he wanted to see his step-father he should get to the hospital ASAP.  Doesn't look good for him.  

 

I feel so sad for him as so much is crashing down on him.   My gradaugher had a seizure 2 weeks ago and they believe she has encephalitis.   She has lost the ability to talk and been on meds for the past two weeks.    Coincidentally she had an appointment at the same hospital today.

 

Don't mind me, I'm just rambling because I don't know what else I can do to help him out except send virtual hugs. 

 

 

Sending virtual hugs to you too. Hard not to be with your loved ones at times like this…

[Jim_Iain]

12 hours ago, chemmo said:

Jim, continuing to follow on both boards…Make sure you find some time for R &R!

 

Particularly enjoying your food pictures. 
 

How ‘chatty’ are your fellow guests? Much as we have always enjoyed our own company we have always loved on Celebrity that each cruise there would be a few people we would ‘gel’ with and some we are still in contact with. 
 

I think there are probably two levels to my question…Are pre/post dinner lounges conducive to conversation and are fellow guests sociable? I guess this has become far more important to me after loosing my DH last year. I have described myself as cruising ‘semi solo’ next year as I will be with family but feeling the need to ‘learn’ to be solo again…Venues to mix in and people open to conversation will be important. As you are doing a compare and contrast, I guess the venues I am thinking of on Celebrity are the Retreat Lounge and The Sky Lounge when it has its Elite events…

 

Please don’t feel obliged to reply now. However, perhaps as you summarise towards the end of your adventure….

 

So far I've found the other passengers really down to earth and engaging.  The lounges vary with activity.   We love to dine alone and chat while we have coctails.    We generally go to the Horizon but since we are late diners are usually the only one at the bar.    A couple people come it near dinner time for evening Trivia.   Even on the trivia side maybe 10-12 people in varying team sizes. 

 

The Martini bar is very active and when we pass it it is pretty full and people seem to be engaging with one another.

 

We had an excursion yesterday with on 4 of us.   Really sweet couple.     We saw them around 5:30 at the Martini bar when we were going down for a coffee and stopped by and chatted with them for awhile.

 

One advantage of Ponant in the MDR is that the majority of the room are larger tales and there may be a wait for a 2 top.    Most people choose the shared table option and people seem to enjoy meeting people that way.   Even the Specialties two tops are hard to book but shared tables are generally more available.

 

I also noticed a sign in the martini bar area that on the first night they had a singles meet and greet scheduled. 

 

We have a good friend, Jennifer, who travels Solo extensively on Silversea, Oceania and other lines.   She loves it. 

 

One thing I noticed is the way they lay out tables in MDR and even Specialties the table are separated.  Unlike on Celebrity where your tables are so close you are almost sitting at the same table.

Edited 5 hours ago by Jim_Iain

[JackE]

On 9/16/2024 at 9:34 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I’ve looked at them -  what I like about my Fitbit is it charges in 20 minutes and last 72 hours.  That goes for quite a premium for the Ultra 2. 
 

The Series 9 might be an option.   How long does your wife’s take to charge. 
 

 

Hi Jim, loving your comparison post!

 

I just got an Apple Watch 9, after using a Fitbit for many years. I wear it overnight as I use it as an alarm so I don't wake up my better half. I charge it while I take a shower in the morning, and it's fully charged when I'm ready to wear it for the day. I'm enjoying the additional health extras (sleep, heart rate, etc.). I recommend! 

[Jim_Iain]

10 hours ago, bigbeergut said:

It sounds like you should be good.  I also had stents put it at the same time as my lenses and so far they are working very well.

 

Good luck

 

That's good to hear -  my doctor says he believe the stints should do the job and we could still always go back and do the other type surgery if needed.

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, OceanCruise said:

Jim,

Are small Perrier, San Pellegrino, Evian and/or regular water bottles available? One of my traveling companions is immune compromised and using the personal resusable water bottles for multiple days is not optimal as they cannot really be sanitized properly.

 

I've seen small bottles of I believer Perrier but have not seen any large ones.    The bottles of water that are delivered to your room are glass bottles that are sterilized (probably as good as bottled water) and are replaced daily.    On Ponant they would actually have a date on the top and a metal peel off cap.   No preservatives.   I was told the machines are tested daily to assure sanitation. 

 

I'm sure she could also bring her own aboard and replenish in each port.

[Jim_Iain]

@oceancruiser just reminded me of another BIG difference.

 

On Oceania you can bring 6 bottles of wine aboard and possibly booze.    You can also replenish at each port.    Must be consumed in room or subject to a corkage fee.

[Jim_Iain]

9 minutes ago, JackE said:

Hi Jim, loving your comparison post!

 

I just got an Apple Watch 9, after using a Fitbit for many years. I wear it overnight as I use it as an alarm so I don't wake up my better half. I charge it while I take a shower in the morning, and it's fully charged when I'm ready to wear it for the day. I'm enjoying the additional health extras (sleep, heart rate, etc.). I recommend! 

 

Thanks... definitely a contender.

[Jim_Iain]

Last night we went to Polo Grill -  WOW --- I don't want to tear down Celebrity but Murano is like McDonald's compared to Polo Grill

 

 

 

 

 

[hcat]

39 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thursday -  Klawock

 

I'm up way too early today.   Got a call from my Son at 7:00 AM.   My ex-wife's husband had to be rushed to the hospital last night.   My Son has been living with her husband, taking care of him after she passed last year.   They live in a small town of Hollister, about 1 hour south of San Jose.    They transported him to the major trauma center overnight.   The hospital just called  to advise if he wanted to see his step-father he should get to the hospital ASAP.  Doesn't look good for him.  

 

I feel so sad for him as so much is crashing down on him.   My gradaugher had a seizure 2 weeks ago and they believe she has encephalitis.   She has lost the ability to talk and been on meds for the past two weeks.    Coincidentally she had an appointment at the same hospital today.

 

Don't mind me, I'm just rambling because I don't know what else I can do to help him out except send virtual hugs. 

 

 

Jim..

My thoughts and prayers are with you  and your family.  .Hope the Angels watch over you!

HCAT

[Ciaranaman]

Thinking of you and your family.  And wishing you some good news to offset the sadness and worry.

~Bernadette

[hcat]

19 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

That's good to hear -  my doctor says he believe the stints should do the job and we could still always go back and do the other type surgery if needed.

I just went for the basic surgery..less of a chance something can go wrong.. I will still use my glaucoma drops for optimal eye pressure and I  hope to get nice glasses for both  distance and reading..progressives.

Distance is imprived very much but not yet perfect.  I will never submit to a puff test again.. no.one is coming near my eyes!

 

Ran into a former colleague....her dr installed lens with wrong measures.  Cannot be reversed but for some reason would not be a worthwhile lawsuit ...

 

So it can always be worse!   

[Justpackingmybags]

54 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thursday -  Klawock

 

I'm up way too early today.   Got a call from my Son at 7:00 AM.   My ex-wife's husband had to be rushed to the hospital last night.   My Son has been living with her husband, taking care of him after she passed last year.   They live in a small town of Hollister, about 1 hour south of San Jose.    They transported him to the major trauma center overnight.   The hospital just called  to advise if he wanted to see his step-father he should get to the hospital ASAP.  Doesn't look good for him.  

 

I feel so sad for him as so much is crashing down on him.   My gradaugher had a seizure 2 weeks ago and they believe she has encephalitis.   She has lost the ability to talk and been on meds for the past two weeks.    Coincidentally she had an appointment at the same hospital today.

 

Don't mind me, I'm just rambling because I don't know what else I can do to help him out except send virtual hugs. 

 

 

And I’m sending you virtual hugs too. It’s hard not being there with your family when they’re having a tough time 🫂

[Jim_Iain]

Full description will be on Oceania board

 

I had the whole New England Lobster steamed

 

 

Iain had the veal with lobster

 

 

 

 

 

[portofrome]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thursday -  Klawock

 

I'm up way too early today.   Got a call from my Son at 7:00 AM.   My ex-wife's husband had to be rushed to the hospital last night.   My Son has been living with her husband, taking care of him after she passed last year.   They live in a small town of Hollister, about 1 hour south of San Jose.    They transported him to the major trauma center overnight.   The hospital just called  to advise if he wanted to see his step-father he should get to the hospital ASAP.  Doesn't look good for him.  

 

I feel so sad for him as so much is crashing down on him.   My gradaugher had a seizure 2 weeks ago and they believe she has encephalitis.   She has lost the ability to talk and been on meds for the past two weeks.    Coincidentally she had an appointment at the same hospital today.

 

Don't mind me, I'm just rambling because I don't know what else I can do to help him out except send virtual hugs. 

 

 

Sending my virtual hugs too!!

[canderson]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

Ran into a former colleague....her dr installed lens with wrong measures.  Cannot be reversed but for some reason would not be a worthwhile lawsuit ...

 

So it can always be worse!   

No idea about the specifics of your friend's case, but while not a trivial operation, an IOL can typically be replaced.  Hope she has obtained a 2nd opinion.

[JazzyV]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thursday -  Klawock

 

I'm up way too early today.   Got a call from my Son at 7:00 AM.   My ex-wife's husband had to be rushed to the hospital last night.   My Son has been living with her husband, taking care of him after she passed last year.   They live in a small town of Hollister, about 1 hour south of San Jose.    They transported him to the major trauma center overnight.   The hospital just called  to advise if he wanted to see his step-father he should get to the hospital ASAP.  Doesn't look good for him.  

 

I feel so sad for him as so much is crashing down on him.   My gradaugher had a seizure 2 weeks ago and they believe she has encephalitis.   She has lost the ability to talk and been on meds for the past two weeks.    Coincidentally she had an appointment at the same hospital today.

 

Don't mind me, I'm just rambling because I don't know what else I can do to help him out except send virtual hugs. 

 

Prayers for your family at this difficult time.