Harters

23 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

hope they maintain their standards on their larger ships

I'd say they do. We've cruised on Nautica, as well as Marina & Vista. Much as we enjoyed Nautica, I think I prefer the larger ships. The feeling of space, the extra speciality restaurants, etc. 

6 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

My guess is that bookings went down with Simply More. If they didn’t, why would they change?

The response I had from O was that, effectively, they had responded to complaints about SM, rather than a reduction in booking  numbers. Another post a couple of weeks ago confirmed that O was not having trouble selling cruises and that seems to be backed up by the numbers of waitlisted categories on a couple of cruises I've looked at. The actual wording from Guest Services was "Many of our guests found simply MORE to be limiting in how they wished to enjoy their time both on board and ashore".

So, It seems reasonable to think that O has acted on the complaints from existing customers who never liked SM but, on the other hand, has probably not given it sufficient time to have got much positive feedback from the new cruisers that SM was designed to attract. Numbers of that latter group would probably be much smaller - if you've bought a cruise because of the SM benefits then you wouldnt really have much to comment on other than saying "yep, I got what I paid for". The interesting question that might not get an answer for a couple of years is whether those folk who bought a cruise because of the deal with Simply More, will continue to buy cruises under Simply Less. 

52 minutes ago, D&N said:

For Bordeaux I'd be looking to see a majority of reviews coming from French reviewers.

Good tip - which I always use with the likes of Tripadvisor. And thanks for the other helpful comments. Sounds like your planning strategy is similar to ours. Get a long list from a variety of sources and then cut it down. We'd originally planned to do a similar cruise last year and had a Bordeaux place sorted out (and booked) but we had to cancel due to travel insurance problems. Now it's changed its menu and is no longer "French bistro" but more "international tourist" so we're back to square one. 

16 hours ago, shipscat said:

Staying a day or so at a game reserve means you go out early morning and early evening when they are more likely to be roaming.

We've done two land trips to South Africa. And would certainly echo the suggestion of trying to stay a night or so at a game reserve for exactly the reason shipscat mentions. Last time, our two week holiday started with a couple of nights at Rhino Ridge Safari Lodge in the Hluhluwe iMfolozi National Park. It was a good wildlife experience, although we didnt see big cats that time.  Rhino Ridge is about a 90 minute drive north of Richards Bay so doable

This may be entirely the case. Folk who have experienced problems have commented that normal speech levels from an adjacent cabin and very low level TV noise are disruptive. That does suggest that, for those of us who have not experienced a problem, our neighbours must have been surprisingly completely silent. Maybe  they knew of the issue and communicated by sign language. 

1 hour ago, edgee said:

My information comes from personal experience

As I have said before on at least one previous occasion, I do not dismiss  your experience. That there is an issue on the ship (and the Regent sister ship) is not in question. But please don't dismiss my experience or that of others who have not experienced a problem. 

26 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

isn’t this rather a long trip for a day

It's a nearly three hour drive each way - I've driven that route and it's a slow road. To complicate matters further, Google doesnt find a rental company in Greenock itself, so you'd need to build in time to get to wherever the nearest place might be (presumably somewhere nearer to Glasgow).

I just don't think this is going to be a practical proposition for a day trip. 

12 hours ago, edgee said:

they have enjoyed the Vista without any noise issues

I would be one such. We stayed just down the corridor from those of interest to the OP, in 9063. Not the slightest noise from either adjacent cabin, which were definitely occupied. We've booked the same cabin for next years cruise and have our fingers crossed.

It is obviously only a small sample of the total number of Vista's guests but the majority of folk who have commented on the forum, and given their cabin number, did not experience any issues. That was in contributions posted up to 25/8/24. 

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

We have a nice place booked for a couple days in Newcastle on Tyne.   I need to work on what we do on our way to Ayrshire 

I don't really know Newcastle at all. But one of my favourite parts of the UK is the coastal area north of the city towards the Scottish border. Check out the Seahouses/Bamburgh area. I don't know if you have an interest in wildlife but, if so, a boat trip from Seahouses to the Farne Islands is highly recommended. North of there you have Lindisfarne (Holy Island) and then, just short of the border, you have England's most northerly town - Berwick upon Tweed. It's such a beautiful area.

14 minutes ago, Socky Sunshine said:

That's really showing off when he is doing it where anybody could see him.

Yep. That's all about him demonstrating his wealth and largesse towards the "poor folk".  In the UK, we have a word for that sort of person - not repeatable on a forum such as this, of course.

19 hours ago, Ocean Mouse said:

n North West England the highest temperature recorded was 20.1°C and the lowest was -1.2°C.

Definitely those would be extremes for my part of the world in April. Rain  every day would be expected. 

45 minutes ago, John Bull said:

and that includes Ireland - buy frozen fillets, often pre-battered

A few years back, we were driving from Dublin to Kinsale. Stopped in  a little village for some lunch because we'd seen a sign for an open chippy. Ordered the fish & chips. Bloke opens the door of a freezer, pulls out a frozen battered fish and throws it straight in the fryer. It was not a good lunch. 

Between the cruise ports and the land trip, you should get a good feel for our country. Don't over do things though, trying to see everywhere. London will take some time in itself, so my suggestion would be to limit the rest of your 7/10 days to the south of England, so you're not losing days travelling between places.  We're a small country though - a bit smaller than Kansas and all of us live less than 70 miles from the coast. 

27 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

Not much of an offer if you don’t take their flights

Indeed. But our experience with the TA booking flights has been good, so I'm not averse to using them in the future. Although it may not be much benefit for European cruises - we don't live too far Manchester airport so can get to most destinations without going via London. And, in that case, I'd to use our very reliable local taxi firm. Could be a good bet for cruises from Southampton though. 

17 hours ago, Hlitner said:

the best fish/chips we ever had was from a pub

I have standard advice for anyone wanting to eat fish and chips in the UK. Don't eat it in a pub, unless the pub is in sight of the sea and has a reputation for good fish & chips. As ever, research is all, if you are to avoid a truly dismal f & c. 

It may be one of our national dishes but it is much, much easier to find truly awful f & c, than good f & c. Applies not just to pubs but anywhere serving it. My other advice, if buying from a chip shop, is to know which fish is most liked in the area. Some are cod areas, others are haddock. Broadly speaking, that's cod in the south and haddock in the north (although my part of the northwest is a cod area) Know what's liked, then order the other. The popular one will probably have been batch cooked and kept warm on the steamer shelf (so the batter goes soggy). The unpopular one will be cooked to order. 

19 hours ago, Vallesan said:

Personally, booking now in Europe or the UK may give more options than booking after September 30th.

Agreed. Probably.

My TA is currently offering discount on O's price, a price match guarantee (provide written evidence of a cheaper deal and they will match it). And, interestingly, what I think may be a new offer - "Free door to door executive transfers" - presumably home to airport (I assume only if they've arranged flights), or home to port. The latter could potentially save an overnight hotel cost and the cost of parking at the port. Last year, they had an offer of free parking at the port. 

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

doing a 2 weeks road trip in UK

Good to read. So many American visitors never seem to get out of London and see where most of us live. Have a great trip. 

Isn't this just an extension to the cruise port area?  As such, to reply to the OP, there's nothing to do in the immediate area. Each terminal is served by a shuttle bus which will drop you at the sea end of the Ramblas. As the OP has visited the city before, I'm sure they'll have ideas of how to spend the day, either revisiting places or visiting/doing new stuff. We've also been to the city before and visited most of the sights. Last time, we had a day pre-cruise which we spent on the HOHO bus, getting off to visit the Miro museum, followed by a long lunch. Nice day just chilling out. 

Peter was the CD on Vista for our transatlantic earlier in the year. Very hard working , IMO.  Occasionally, he would slip in what I can best describe as an "in joke". Fellow Britons would get the reference but I doubt many other guests would. 

31 minutes ago, JanDom said:

if I book before the 30th of September, simply more will be still included on my cruise - right ?

if I book later, no simply more - and I do not know what will happen with the price … correct ?

Both correct. 

33 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Oceania needs to reduce portion sizes in its Specialties

Portion size in the specialities seems to me in line with what I expect in restaurants here in Europe. Whereas I find main course dishes in the GDR can be a bit meagre and often require an extra side or two. 

I'm never quite sure what's meant by "fine dining" (even though it's a phrase increasingly adopted by British restaurants) but we'll usually order three courses. Occasionally, two if the dessert listing isn't that good. Occasionally four, if their cheese offering looks good. 

57 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

That way we have control of are travel 100%

My experiences relate to two transatlantic cruise. With the first which, in the end, we had to cancel, involved air booked by Oceania. It was very difficult to get the agent to understand that we needed to fly from our local airport to London on Day 1, so that we could guarantee catching the flight to Miami on Day 2. On the return flight, from Rome, O insisted that the flight was to be in two legs, with a several hours stopover in Germany, even though there were flights direct from Rome to my local airport. It involved several phone calls to get that far.

In comparison, when we did the transatlantic this year, we simply asked our TA to achieve what we needed as above. Fifteen minutes later she rang back with the complete package - and at a price that I'd been unable to get close to booking direct with the airlines. 

Our only error with transport, was taking up the TA's suggestion for the transfer from port to Rome airport. It looked like a reputable company but a driver simply failed to turn up at the port. Cost us €200 to get to the airport. Lesson learned - we'd do more research (including on CC) and book directly wit a company better recommended. 

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

Knowing your expertise on WW1 & 11

I only claim some expertise about WW1, although I have researched the WW2 men on my local war memorials but it's scant details in comparison with the WW1 guys. 

There's a plaque at Weymouth harbour noting that American troops boarded there. It's rather small and insignificant unfortunately. 

FWIW, curry sauce with your fish & chips certainly isnt a northwestern thing (where history tells us fish & chips was first recorded in, I think, 1865 in the Greater Manchester town of Mossley). Some places have it, of course, as a chargeable extra. It's an acquired taste, even for those who like South Asian curries. I have yet to acquire it - it's peculiar. 

Bear in mind that this is a booking agency, registered in Spain, rather than an actual UK transfer company. As such, drivers will be contractors, rather than company employees. That's not to suggest there is anything amiss with the company but I'd always prefer to pay my money to folk actually providing the service. 

17 hours ago, john watson said:

not rely on a bank including cover as a customer

For many years, our travel insurance came as a perk with our NatWest current account. There was always a smallish supplement to take account of existing medical conditions. It was a good policy, paying out quickly the time we needed to make a claim. Then, in what must have been a general reassessment of risk by the bank, they declined to renew our policy. Not even an increase in the supplement, simply would not renew, even thought there had been no change in our conditions.