Harters

I'll let you know, in a few months, whether I agree with you. The vast majority of our holidays are land based. And, for example, I would never want to forego our annual three week trip in January to Tenerife. And last autumn's return, since Covid, to Mallorca for a couple of weeks was lovely. We have questioned whether cruising represents value for money for us. So, to try and answer that, in October, we're spending a couple of weeks at a 5* resort in Cyprus. We've picked this place because it seems to replicate the "hotel" side of things on a cruise - fully inclusive, with speciality restaurants, entertainment, etc. And, picking up on the value for money issue, it is about half the price of the cruise (UK to UK), on Vista, that we do have booked for next year. So, if it proves to be as good as we hope, then there is very much the value for money discussion to be had. Effectively, we would have to ask ourselves whether the extra money (approx £5k) is worth it when all that it is effectively paying for is the ship moving us between different ports. Key, of course, is how good the resort proves to be.

I suspect the answer is pretty much "nowhere". I'd regard it as pretty much guaranteed that any mass catering operation (land or sea based) is going to dumb down to offer food that is acceptable to the widest group of people. To a significant extent, I sail with O because it generally offers decent food and we can gave a nice dinner together every night of our holiday. But I don't expect it to be as good as the neighbourhood restaurants I regularly go to at home.

Absolutely, pinot. And, in many cases, you cannot add the spices when the dish has been plated and is front of you. You taste and realise that coriander is lacking. You cannot say "please take this away and put more coriander in" as that would be a spice that should have been added at the beginning of the cooking process. From time to time, I go to, say, a South Asian restaurant and am asked how spicy I want the dish. In such circumstances, "spicy" always means chilli heat and never the range of other spices that will be in the dish. The server may ask if I want it mild, medium or spicy. Of course, if I've not been to that restaurant before (or even if I have but havent eaten that dish), then how can I know what they regard as mild/medium/spicy. My stock answer is to say I'd like it prepared as the chef would prefer to prepare it (or how s/he would prefer to eat it). I remember once being in a Thai restaurant near home and was asked the "mild/medium/spicy" question. I replied "spicy". Server asked if I wanted "Thai spicy or English spicy". Thankfully, I replied English as the dish came right at the upper end of my chilli tolerance

Maybe not that bad. Is this the cruise by Oceania's Vista (which I'm taking). If so, I think that it may be too early for the large crowds of French and Spanish tourists to be in the holiday resort ports. And not too many of those ports will be overly popular with North European nationals.

I remembered I'd contributed to this thread last year that indicates both Marina and Vista have docked in the city centre. https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2961960-marina-lisbon-to-amsterdam-where-will-the-ship-dock-for-bordeaux/#comment-66053850

I think Vista should be small enough to dock in the city centre. When I've looked at this previously, it seems that O's ships dock in the centre if it is staying overnight (as Vista is on its 2025 cruise) but if only there for the day, they dock near the river mouth. As you know, I've previously planned for this broad itinerary, including Bordeaux. Last time, I emailed the port authority, in French and English, to ask exactly where the ship would berth. They replied giving me a berth number, which I was able to find on a map. Meant I was able to plan a walk starting at the correct point. I'll no doubt do that again but much nearer the time (maybe a month or so before) and I'll report that back on the roll call.

No - but then I'm not a fizz drinker. I have it in mind that they do have some Lyres products onboard. Can't recall if I had any on the recent trip. I know they didnt have Seedlip which is my preferred product for an alcohol free gin substitute.

Exactly. We want to have dinner together, so it's very rare that we'd send a dish back, preferring to eat what we can of a dish in such circumstances. Last time was about four years back in Spain when I was simply served the wrong dish. The server also took my partner's dish away to be remade - as he said "you want to have dinner together". In this case, the manager didnt come to our table to ask how things had been until we'd finished with the main course and were considering dessert. And, in fact, my partner only mentioned the problem to him, not such much as a complaint, but so he could alert the kitchen that they may have a quality issue with the meat.

Much of the meat was very sinewy - inedible in large part. It should be fork tender. And there was an almost total lack of spicing with minimal use of lemongrass, chilli, galangal, coriander, etc. There was just a sweetness from coconut milk.

We're going to a 5* resort in Cyprus in the autumn where, apparently, they have the same arrangements for sun beds. Obviously, they'll have the space to do that which a ship can't. We're looking forward to seeing how this place compares with the "hotel" side of things on an Oceania ship. It seems to be potentially similar - speciality restaurants, free booze, shows in the evening, etc.

I deffo wouldnt make that assumption. Whilst the awful "veal crates" were banned in the European Union in 2007, veal is still generally factory farmed there, to produce "white veal" rather than the more natural way we have in the UK to produce rose veal.

We’ve done three cruises with O (Marina, Nautica and Vista) but I’ll confine my comments (such as they are) to the Vista cruise last month. Food was generally OK, in the GDR, Ember, Polo and Toscana. Toscana would meet our “”Holiday Restaurant” standard – if it was land based near home, would we become regulars. We were disappointed with Red Ginger when we were on Marina in 2017 and had the same view this time – to the extent that we’ve decided that for next year’s cruise, we’ll not bother making a reservation there. The beef rendang was actively unpleasant and we complained about it to the restaurant manager. He said it was prepared and spiced exactly as it should be. Utter bollocks! As for other particular dishes:- Recommended: Ember – pork chop. Really nice. GDR – lobster risotto GDR (sea day lunch) – croque monsieur GDR – starter of Serrano ham and artichokes (on the menu every day) GDR – prime rib Polo – New York strip steak & béarnaise sauce (excellent sauce) Terrace – “Spanish Market Kitchen” evening Toscana – stuffed artichoke Toscana – veal escalope & marsala sauce And not recommended: Red Ginger generally GDR – Thai vegetable and tofu red curry GDR – apple crumble (too much cinnamon to my taste) GDR – scallops & porcini sauce Ignore the PR puffery of this being the “Finest Cuisine at Sea”. I’ve nothing to judge that against but I bet you it isn’t. But it’s generally fine. Don’t go with very high expectations and you won’t be disappointed. It is pretty good for a mass catering operation.

As well as AirBNB and the like, you'll find the capital has a goodly number of serviced apartments/aparthotels, which will give you the self cater facility. No recommendations I'm afraid, as my trips down south are only ever for a day or so, where a hotel is fine . With a two week stay, you'll hopefully have time to get out of central London and see something of our country.

So, no pecorino for you?

No. There seems to be no pattern to it and, of course, depending on your neighbours, it may not be a problem (or it may be a big problem). We were in 9063 on this cruise and had no issues whatsoever. Not a peep heard from the folk on either side. By the by, in Gary's vlog, he shows a remark by someone who was just down the corridor in 9043 who had significant issues. Whatever is going on, seems it may be very localised I've no idea if we had good soundproofing or very quiet neighbours. We have booked another cruise (same cabin) next year and will keep our fingers crossed. It would have been an absolute deal breaker had we had a problem this time and will be an absolute deal breaker for the future if we have a problem in 2025.

I don't drink alcohol these days but do, very occasionally, drink alcohol free beer or wine with a meal. Most nights, though, I drink sparkling water with dinner - whether at home or in a restaurant. As for sweet drinks, my partner occasionally enjoys a sweet wine with dessert. She'd say that's complementing the food, not masking it's flavour as some drinks might well do.

And my reply to your post has also been deleted. Most odd. Can it really be possible that discussing the drinks that go with food (or don't go) is somehow inappropriate on a "cruise foodies" forum. Most odd if so.

It may be different in the States but, in the UK, Mothers Day would usually be an occasion where the children do "something" for their mother. Not an occasion where Mum celebrates her day on her own (or just with partner). Hence my question about folk travelling with their parent. Back in the distant past when my parents were alive, Mothering Sunday was a religious event. In more recent times, it has morphed into the American Mothers Day.

Although with Americans being such a high percentage of the total, it's possible. I doubt whether O is programmed to deal with other nationalities "important dates" and we'd just have to fend for ourselves. Bearing in mind the generally elderly make-up of O's guests, I wonder how many are travelling with their mothers.

Leaving something on the chair and having a drink on the table is the way to go. We're a couple wanting to have the meal together - which means we'll stake our claim to the table that way, so we can both go and get food at the same time. It's not a guarantee of course. On our recent cruise, we came back to our table in the Terrace, to find it had been cleared and reset. And, on another occasion, the person on the adjacent table said they'd prevented the same happening to our table while we'd been away. Diligent staff, eh? Better that than the alternative.

Needless to say, I entirely respect the forum's rules, however much I might disagree with them. Thankfully, CC's parent company (Tripadvisor) takes a different view with its own directly run forums.

It's probably me being a bit thick but I'm confused. If you were dealing direct with Celebrity through their Chat, how does an agent come into it? Or was it an agent you were dealing with? If the latter, then it's one of those occasions where it would be handy to name the agent so folk can be warned that they may be less than reputable (only refunding because they know you have a copy of the chat). I know we cannot usually name travel agents but perhaps this is an occasion where someone like Host Hattie may be able to let us bend the rules?

Well, yes. And no. Our first cruise was also 1988 (P & O's Canberra). We did a couple more with P & O but became disenchanted with the dress code formality. And the "sittings" for meals. The final straw was being allocated first sitting - to our mind that was still the afternoon, not dinner time. After that, we didnt cruise again for decades (apart from a not very successful week on the short-lived Island Escape) until we discovered O in 2017.

The OP hasnt mentioned if the contact is direct with a cruise line or a travel agent. If the former, then it's not going to be a scam. If the latter, then it may well be. Contacting the credit card company to reverse the payment is a good first step. If it's a scam then they should be able to sort it out. If it's not a scam, then it may well be much trickier - "caveat emptor" will apply - it is the responsibility of the buyer to understand what they are buying. And, in this, the OP has probably already entered into a contract - an offer has been made and that's been accepted by the payment of the deposit. Might also be worth making contact with ABTA, assuming it is a travel agent and they are members.

Good question. During our several meals in the GDR (and previous cruises) we were seated all over the room - maybe the same section only twice.