beechwood

I’m currently in Vietnam for three weeks on an independently arranged holiday and, out of interest, asked whether “Saigon” is widely used. The answer was that those who were old enough to remember “Saigon” still referred to the city as that but younger people used “Ho Chi Minh”. So I guess that if you you don’t want to appear old in Vietnam (difficult as everyone looks under 30) use Ho Chi Minh!

This isn’t the first time that Oceania have cancelled a peak season July cruise to substitute it with an Atlantis Cruises cruise. My 11 day cruise on Vista was scheduled for departure on 5th July 2023 but notification of cancellation was issued in June 2022 citing a charter which turned out to be Atlantis. As Vista was brand new, I’ve no doubt that many other loyal Oceania clients received the same news. I would say think twice before you book a July cruise with Oceania, particularly if it’s a special occasion when the cruise date is important.

Perfectly valid comment by Wheelhouse. We were on Vista in August and there was far less shaded seating on Vista compared with Riviera and Marina. The shaded seating that was available was quickly “reserved” each morning which shows that shade is important to many people (although I don’t agree with reserving a shaded seat and then being absent for significant periods).

We were on Vista (deck 9, non-connecting cabin) in August and also, for the first time on a Oceania ship, heard voices in the adjacent cabin. It was of no consequence during the day but was very irritating late evening when the woman made a daily long phone call with a raised voice and we were trying to sleep (around 10.30pm). It was a European cruise, she was American, so the reason for the late calls was presumably the time difference.

Yes, we used the Concierge lounge (for coffee as actually preferred the machine coffee to, in our opinion, the relatively tasteless coffee in Vista’s “Barista’s”. We thoroughly enjoyed Barista’s coffee on previous Riviera cruises and we were disappointed that, even after a replacement coffee was made, there was no comparison with Riviera’s. My husband had no symptoms on the ship but felt tired and headachy whilst walking around Barcelona on the morning of disembarkation. He definitely caught it during the cruise and, as we didn’t take any tours and used the stairs every time, we think that the most likely source was the shuttle buses. These tended to look older than the excursion buses, ventilation was not great and we would cite the Marseilles shuttle bus as the most likely culprit ( a long slow journey to and from the ship coupled with a 20 minute wait onboard in the city centre whilst the coach filled up to capacity, plus much coughing all around).

Oh, and I forgot to mention that my husband tested positive for Covid this morning!

Many thanks to the OP for a such a comprehensive review. Myself and husband ( mid 60’s and from the UK) were on the same cruise and reading and discussing the comments kept us nicely occupied at Barcelona airport yesterday. Whilst not attempting such a thorough review, these are our main thoughts of our 9th cruise with Oceania and first on Vista. We had a concierge level cabin and found the cabin’s lighter and more contemporary decor much preferable to the dark wood and clashing paintings of previous trips. The cabin did seem less soundproof than previously experienced, we could hear people talking in one adjoining cabin which was irritating when trying to sleep in the late evening. We missed the bath but the bathroom was done very well, the closet light was very irritating as it would turn on and off at random times whilst trying to find clothes, and for some strange reason the height of the desk/ dressing table and wall mirror was far too high (and I am 5’7”). We found the food to be generally good in the MDR although the choice seemed more limited, particularly with the vegetable sides which were “assorted vegetables” (always too soft and looked like they had been boiled from frozen) and an alternative of thin asparagus. The stand out for us was Red Ginger, the food seemed to come in slightly smaller portions than we recalled but the whole operation there was like a well oiled machine and the service the most attentive we received. The absolute worst dining experience was in Toscana where the service and food was far below par compared to previous cruises with Oceania. The terrace was great for breakfast and, unlike the past, orange juice was automatically served as “fresh” rather than having to specify this. Turning to the deck experience, we can make little comment as we only walked across it to reach somewhere else. We did hear a number of conversations on the deck at around 9am on sea day regarding why there were no loungers in the shade available and, yes, there were far too few seating options in the shade. Speaking as someone who has experienced the worst form of skin cancer, it is difficult to comprehend why Oceania would launch a new ship with a reduced amount of shade over predecessors. We enjoyed all the ports, although Livorno (as always) was a struggle as we have had both hotel stays and day trips to Florence in the past. We actually ended up having an interesting and cheap day out, we travelled to Montenero Sanctuary by bus and funicular (buses are free on Sunday) and then travelled by train to Lucca. The whole trip cost us 26 euros! It was rather annoying that the cruise itinerary showed both St Tropez and Monte Carlo as docking ports, I even questioned this with my TA as I’d never known St Tropez to be anything other than a tender port, and both ports ended up being tenders. With regards ship excursions, we can make no comment on these as we never use them. We always just do our own thing, we walked at least ten miles at each destination as we love the exercise and consider walking to be the best way to get to know somewhere. Hopefully, we can carry on in this manner and appreciate that we are blessed to be able to do this. Overall, we had a great cruise and a lovely time. The only downside is that it is likely to be our last time on Oceania because of the introduction of “Simply More” with its inclusive excursions and alcohol with lunch and dinner, neither of which we would use.

Thanks for the reply but my possibly confusing question was will you still get speciality dining included “for free” if you do not change over to the Simply More fare?

We have a 10 day Vista cruise in August and a 23 day Riviera cruise in 2024, both booked before July 1st with the O Life choice of OBC ($600 for the former and $1200 for the latter). These will be our 9th and 10th Oceania Cruises and to date we’ve never been on an excursion, neither ship or private, as we always do our own thing via local public transport and extensive walking. We may have a glass of wine at dinner but that is all. With regards a second wi-fi connection, we’re happy to supplement this with our very cheap mobile data roaming service. In view of the above, it is evident that it is not financially or otherwise worthwhile to change to the Simply More fare. The one question we can’t find the answer to is what happens about the “free speciality dining” as highlighted in the list of Simply More benefits. We’ve already made reservations for the Vista cruise but what happens with the 2024 Riviera cruise, by not paying the Simply More fare do we lose the ability to use the speciality restaurants without additional charge? As a general comment, we recognise that Oceania needs to operate at a profit and clearly this is behind the change to Simply More. As very independent travellers, however, it is evident that we do not fit the model customer profile that Oceania is seeking. Going forward, therefore, it is unlikely we will sail with them after the 2024 cruise and even this maybe cancelled. As for cruising in general, we’ve previously been on Silversea and Seabourn but will probably now move even more towards our independently arranged trekking holidays and city breaks throughout Europe (which to be honest we do find much more memorable) and leave the cruising to our later years.

Many thanks for the link, cabin looks very relaxing with the muted tones.

Would love to see your concierge cabin photos as in the same category on our Vista cruise in July but can’t see how to access them. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

As it happens, we’ve just returned from a walking holiday in Lanzarote. We stayed in a villa in the interior but had a good view in the distance of where the cruise ships docked. We never saw more than one ship docked and only rarely was there a second ship and this anchored just off land. On the one day we were in Arrecife, we walked up to the port end of the city where there was a cruise ship docked and can say that this was location very walkable to a nice part of town and then on into the centre.

Thanks for the recommendations for trips to take from Southampton. As I have lived in the Cotswolds for 35 years I am very familiar with all the locations you mention. I’m sure anyone from overseas, or even outside of southern England, will enjoy most of the suggested destinations. For myself and husband, the whole point of a cruise is to independently explore both new and previous destinations outside of the UK. I wouldn’t even consider purchasing a cruise with a UK port of call. The cost of this cruise works out at around £700 per day so this is what I am paying for the opportunity to spend a day in Southampton or it’s surroundings, albeit recognising that this sum includes food and perhaps the use of a sun lounger if the British weather co-operates. At least I can be happy in the knowledge that Oceania is able to carry out its maintenance obligations without losing any revenue earning time…..

Yes, a cancellation fee of £200 pp is payable 180-91 days prior to the cruise. I would also forfeit the £200 paid for air travel. In addition, £1500 future cruise credit had been applied to the cruise from the cancelled Vista cruise. This credit had to be used on a cruise booked by 24th May 2023 for a cruise starting before 23rd May 2024 and Oceania have told my travel agent that this still stands. As the whole point of this cruise was to be in August in the Mediterranean on Vista and there is only one cruise matching this (the one I’m on) there is nothing else suiting my requirements. I only go on Oceania cruises in the summer school holidays as they give a respite from school aged children! The rest of the year I book my holidays independently in Europe. I would add that this would have been my 9th Oceania cruise and, maybe I have been lucky, but there has never been a cancelled port or changed itinerary beforehand over the past 8 years. It does seem that Oceania are now using a variety of excuses (covid excepting) to suit themselves.

Must say, I have just about had enough with Oceania. First of all they cancelled my June 2023 Vista cruise when, instead of valuing the guests who had already committed to them, they decided to charter the ship to a group. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I received a notification that the end port on my August 2024 cruise on Riviera would no longer be Venice (a big attraction of Venice was that we wanted to add on a few days there independently). Also, the final week’s itinerary had been changed significantly to accommodate the omission of Venice and Civitavecchia was now the disembarkation port. Now, only several days later, I receive notification that St Malo has been substituted with Southampton on my forthcoming August 2023 cruise. As a UK citizen living only a couple of hours from Southampton, I have no interest in spending a full day here particularly given that I would be paying Oceania handsomely for this and also helping them to carry out their maintenance work.