Clutj

I think I’ve usually seen cooking classes every sea day at two times. So I’d say it’s odd for sea days without classes. Maybe have your TA ask what’s up.

What port did they cut? I did this trip in 2022 and almost did it again this year.

I have always enjoyed the classes. Sea days usually have a morning and an afternoon class. Port days just an afternoon one. Sadly, they do not add more classes in my experience. If you talk to the chef and emphasize that you will respond promptly to a call off the waitlist (I’ve seen people cancel 10 minutes before class and the chef making phone calls to people’s rooms), perhaps you’ll get priority. Or ask if you can just show 15 minutes before class and ask. There is usually an open house on the first day.

That is a dramatically shorter Waves BTG wine list. Disappointing. I am used to that list maybe dropping 2-3 of the wines from each category vs GDR list. It shouldn’t be this way, but the other 6-8 wines of each color are probably available for the asking and maybe a 5 minute wait. If you have problems, I’d ask to talk to the manager (I forget all the titles on various cruise lines) and there should be a head Somm/beverage person for the ship. You should have easy access to all BTG wines. (BTW, they are the same for the basic and upgraded package; no new included wines, you just get them outside meals, plus alcohol drinks…)

Most cooking classes have a waitlist and the chef can get a sub to take the spot with a quick phone call, so I’m guessing most cancellations get a refund.

We just did a 15 day cruise on the Endeavour from St. George, Antartica (flying from Punta Arenas over the Drake Passahe) to South Georgia to Falklands to Punta Arenas, and can recommend it without reservation. It obviously costs more, but including South Georgia was a huge plus, and the Falklands added a couple key things as well. The ship was amazing, the expedition teams were top notch, loading and unloading zodiacs (including along ice-clogged shores) was awe-inspiring, the expedition leader (Marika, sp?) was a true force of nature, the bays we visited were stunning, the settings and wildlife mind-blowing to experience. The clothing they provided, the room layout, size of shower, bedding, butler and room attendant, dining staff, food, a tour of the bridge … everything was 5 stars. If you just do the shorter 7 days with fly over the Drake both ways, be aware that bad weather could lose you some days. If you do the longer combined flyover just one way with a Chile port on one end, I’d recommend sailing from Chile with Antarctica and the flight back at the end, so if there are weather flight delays, your trip runs longer rather than shorter. We were delayed flying into Antarctica and lost a couple days there; SS can make up 1 day, but there is only so much flexibility. They did take us by the awesomely huge A23a iceberg half way to South Georgia, a very rare sail-by that few will ever experience. If you sail in and out of Chile, you risk bad seas but you are unlikely to lose any days. Just be aware that you are taking risk and have little basis to complain because you aren’t an expert in flying in bad weather!!!

Can you get room service from La Dame or Il Terrazzo? Or is it just Restaurant and/or Grill? Or is it a smaller room service menu? Thanks.

For future reference, your travel agent can put a hold on a RSS room for 3 days or something. That gets you online access to check excursions. I spent a fair amount of time determining that 75% of my preferred excursions on an Australia to Singapore cruise were sold out, many without a waitlist but there were a couple of those, and one island stop only had 6 of the same excursion sold out, all apparently in a national park and no real ability to do anything else on the island. We were very disappointed in RSS that they didn’t plan better, and unwilling to risk waitlists or other things opening up. Also, RSS told our travel agent “almost all excursions have room.” Shame on them. (I know, I know, “buyer beware”, blah blah blah, but I still consider it an ethical failure and will criticize them for it). So we booked Antarctica with SS instead!

We really liked these two cocktails on the Splendor in 2022 and hope they are still there! The Bonne Soirée is pictured. The big ice sphere in a martini glass is a good look, I think.

We are taking an Antarctic cruise in January that starts with the flight over the Drake Passage to St George. SS says their baggage limits are strict: 55lb checked bag and 17lb carryon. They also say an SS parka, waterproof pants, and rubber boots will be waiting for us at the hotel before the flight. So my question is, do we have to leave some room (10lbs?) in the luggage for this new gear? I guess I could wear the parka on the plane, and the pants are possibly light and easy to squeeze into the luggage. But surely I don’t want to wear the boots on the plane? Any word on prior experience from Antarctic Bridge veterans would be appreciated. Thanks.

We just got off Vista. There was never a mention of a survey, which I would have noticed because I recall frequent reminders on other cruises. There was a paper version of the early/mid cruise comment process. Was surprised at the lack of an end of cruise survey.

I complained in the onboard midway cruise comment form about a sommelier service issue. I got a call the next day from the Beverage Manager on the ship the next day.

I hate to say it because I really feel for the young performers trying to make it in a tough, tough field, but of the singers on our Vista cruise I’d give their voices 3 C grades and 1 B. I’ve only done 5 Oceania cruises but they’re was usually an A- and a couple Bs. This group just didn’t have strong voices. The female guest singer at 60 years old blew them out of the water.

Yes, it’s listed at $18.

A small PH perk is if both of you also have Prestige Bev package, then your butler will stock beers in your fridge. Maybe cabin steward in lower rooms will do that as well, but I don’t know. The room service from Polo and Toscana can be a big perk for those who like to dine in their room. We definitely prefer the bigger PH on the larger Oceania ships but found the size was okay (even the shower) on the R class, and I am a big 260 lb guy.

For the very few who are interested, the Heidseck Monopole Blue Top has replaced the Germain as the house champagne on Vista as of the current Panama Canal Eastbound cruise Nov 2023. Some menus are still catching up, but below is the Horizons proof. While not up to Montaudon quality from several years ago, it is (to me) an improvement, less sweet… I have noticed a couple other ships getting this upgrade as well. My thanks to management! (PS, the cookies are still terrible to my taste…)

Oddly, the specialty in-room dining perk is not listed on Grandeur and Splendor. Actually, no room service is listed for the top 3 suites. I know that’s just a website error, but it makes “shopping” harder when you can’t rely on what is shown.

Many thanks. I now see it listed under thenamenities for those suites. We are doing Mariner and there are only 4 total Master and Grand suites and it doesn’t seem to extend down to the 6 Mariner suites. So it’s an exclusive perk indeed that seems to mesh with the guaranteed specialty reservation for each night of the cruise.

Thanks! Indeed it is quite the perk. In addition, I’ve always appreciated the butlers who, if we were drinking BTG wine from the package, were able to exercise judgment and just bring us the bottle when they poured our main course wine. Sometimes even our appetizer wines. It’s ridiculous to ask them to come back in 10 minutes to bring and pour more wine, and they knew the cost of giving us “extra” wine was insignificant and greatly improved the in-room experience. We usually gave notice — or asked really — on the day before if specialty in-room was doable for the butler.

Like on Oceania… Thanks in advance. I didn’t see this on RSS website. It’s rather hidden away on O’s, which seems odd since it’s a pretty luxurious perk for upping to a PH.

Does Oceania still provide this? I didn’t see it described on the O website like I recall from before, and CC search function didn’t help me find any prior topics covering this. Thanks.

We are a couple months away from a possible January 2024 cruise out of Australia. Our TA says at this point, we have to pay the full amount in making a booking ($60k) first, and only then can we pay the $79 diversion consult fee to see what flights Regent Air would put us on. It looks like getting our own airfare is prohibitively expensive, like another $22k beyond the air credit. So as I understand it, we have to trust that Regent will do us right on the flights, since at this date we can only get 25% of our full payment back, and that drops to 0% soon at 75 days out. Any advice on this? (Besides “book earlier”!). The ship seems to have “Available” in almost all categories, so I am puzzled how Regent has any shot at filling the rest of the rooms with these flight risks. Also, there are lots of full excursions, many without a waitlist option, so any prior experience with what that mean would be helpful; we’ve had good luck on other lines getting off the excursion waitlists.

When I have had the Premier package, the butler has always been willing to keep stocking a few of my favorite beers in the in-room refrigerator. If you don’t have a Butler, maybe the room attendant will do that.

Current FAQ says 2nd guest not required to upgrade: https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022271234-Do-both-guests-need-to-upgrade-the-beverage-package-

We have often loved the piano playing and singing in Martini’s. We prefer the more subtle performers, individual note playing over loud chords, a good amount of jazz, some Sara Bareilles pop mixed in and not just Billy Joel and Elton John. Has someone caught the name of the musician on Vista, male or female, style?