Woofa

I have been very hesitant to post in this thread but finally... I hope that this post will not ignite anyone and that they would first read prior posts of mine and realize I try to have common sense and feelings for others. First let me say that I feel horrible that you had such an experience latitude 22. Everyone should be treated with courtesy and respect regardless of whether they have a disability. Second let me say that after 125 posts I can tell you I honestly don't know the Oceania policy regarding special cabins for those with a disability requiring a wheelchair or other similar. This is certainly Oceania's fault as they are not very good at communicating with all of us. What I seem to believe is that Oceania does provide cabins, at least on some levels which afford greater access for those in need. I also believe, at least in the OP's case that the particular cabin they reserved (through no knowledge of their own) was the last unreserved cabin in that class. Here is where I don't follow the logic of some of these posts. Certainly if you are uncomfortable staying in a Handicap Accessible cabin you can cancel. Almost certainly as well this will not ensure the cabin goes to someone with a handicap but rather to the first person on the waiting list. Here is my main question. Why does anyone feel that Oceania, or any other business should not sell a cabin, when it is the last one available in its class, and someone is ready to rent it? They have held the cabin as long as is reasonable. If a non handicap person has to make a reservation within one hour to get a cabin in a particular class on a particular cruise which is highly in demand then why should not a handicap person be required to do the same? Does everyone feel that by virtue of having a handicap you should be able to reserve this room weeks later if no other handicap person decides to reserve it first? Even while numerous non handicap people join the waitlist? And if no one needing the cabin applies should they hold it until final payment? Even leave it empty if no interest at sailing? I have to tell you that over my life of knowing people with a wide variety of handicaps, both friends and family, I don't believe that is the treatment they want or expect. What I believe I have learned they want is to even the playing field as much as possible so that they can have similar experiences to those without handicaps. Of course I believe that if someone requiring a special cabin called to reserve a room when there were multiple open rooms they should be assigned to that cabin. I would go even further and say that if a person became handicapped after making the reservation I would like to see the cruise line check and if such a cabin was reserved by someone without a verified need then they should ask if the person would switch cabins. (This deal could be sweetened by some OBC or other perk.) I don't believe that they could or should force someone to give up that cabin if they booked it in such a way as I described above. However I also believe that while a small percentage of people out there might try and get a handicap cabin because it is roomier, I honestly believe that percentage is small. It has not been my intention to prolong this thread or get people angry against me for what I consider to be a reasonable take on this situation. I hope most of you will find it so and that until we get more specific information from Oceania (maybe never,) we can each decide for ourselves if we want that cabin but not ridicule or ostracize those that disagree with us.

Glad you had a great cruise. But next time why not think of skipping olife completely. If you don't take the excursions and don't plan to drink, shipboard credit has nothing to offer as it is just you giving O your money to hold onto and if by chance you don't use it all, you lose the remainder. Remember, O confuses the issue but Olife has nothing to do with flights or the internet. Cruise only and you can keep the flights or remove that as well and lower your fare by DIY air. See what works better for you and each cruise can change what makes the most sense.

I certainly don't know the details but I wonder if the following comes into play. 1. Seems like air travel is at a extreme premium; 2. Vista and sister ship to come, pulling some bookings from older ships (expanding total cabins at sea); 3. Covid still an issue especially for O's demographic; 4. World events making some people hesitant to cruise; And at least for me I do not know exactly how many cabins this sale involved. Don't forget CC is a vocal but small minority of all cruisers. Most people probably did not know about sale/ that sale could affect what they already booked. Understanding that basically all cruise lines are having financial issues after Covid down time, I have yet to see any evidence that Oceania is cutting back on anything to save money. If anything, the fact that Vista is now about here and they are still planning to build another and redo Marina next year and add Starlink indicates to me that these sales may not be indicative of any serious financial issues. But I have no inside knowledge and could be wrong.

I just went back and checked the currents from our trip. MDR open for lunch only on sea days 12:00 to 1:30. This was Riviera in January.

Happy birthday @LHT28!!!

While we were often at the pool so just hopped in to waves, we really enjoyed lunch in the MDR. Get a window table. Try the club sandwich. Its a beautiful room during the day with the sun coming in.

Also if you don't have one already, worth looking into finding a TA. Most on these boards would agree it can be worth your time and money. We are not allowed to suggest TA's on these forums but as you were also looking at a luxury cruise, that is how we started looking for our TA. To be clear, Oceania is not always easy for all TA's to grasp but if you are able to find one of their preferred ones it can save you money. We took our first cruise in January, on the Riviera and got free gratuities and a check back for 5% of the fare. Not huge dollars on our B3 cabin but every bit helps and if you start cruising often or moving up to lengthier cruises in suites this could be some real dollars. If you can't find a good O TA before your first cruise the consensus seems to be to ask around when cruising on O and find out the good TA's for any future cruises. If you go and enjoy do sign up on board for a future cruise (which can be moved to a TA within 30 days.) Finally, big O sale right now as you will see on these boards. If you can snag one of these for sale cruises (hard to know how many are left,). You could score a big savings.

I think you may be on the wrong board if you are looking for Wind star info. Now I have heard that Oceania is very good about gluten free and food allergies. Our daughter is gluten free and while she may not cruise with us we always check it out. Plenty here will chime in for Oceania but you may need to post another thread for Windstar. Good luck.

I have read on these boards that Oceania will be installing Star Link fleet wide over the next year or so. While we obviously don't yet know how this will affect service, I think it sounds like a positive step and I can imagine the chance that it might allow for a change in the one device policy. May be worth checking back as it rolls out if internet is an important factor for you.

We met a nice couple on our January Riviera cruise. Had some meals together, met up here and there on the ship. Had breakfast with them the last day and we were discussing what a great time we had and that we had purchased a future cruise credit onboard. They let us know that while they also had a great cruise, they were probably one and done with Oceania. There just was not enough action for them. I am guessing they were slightly older than us but we at 46 and 53 are certainly in the younger demographic. We understood. Truth be told most of the people we know would probably not choose Oceania at the price. For us, the laid back, luxurious vibe was a perfect fit. I had no problems sleeping late and spending hours by the pool reading a book. My wife loved going to tea most every afternoon even mostly by herself. The key is to find what makes you happy. And we know that can change over time as well. If everyone loved Oceania, how would we ever get the cruises we want? As my father used to say "Everyone likes a different horse, that's what makes horse racing."

Thank you for your review. Sorry Oceania was not for you at this time but I think you did the right thing giving it a try. luckily there are plenty of great choices to fit everyone. I wish you luck on your other cruise lines.

Apologies, what I meant was that the Terrace Buffet does not offer the made to order grille on some nights. You can get steak, lamb chops, shrimp, lobster tail, salmon, veggies etc when it is running and we found it to be the best part of Terrace. On Terrace Buffet specialty nights like Caribbean night we did not see the grille and while the buffet is still good, we felt those nights were better spent at a different venue.

Alas, probably only on Riviera and Marina. On the plus side both those ships are wonderful.

Brooklyn born, lived on Bay Parkway until I was eight and we moved out to the Island. I can still remember the view of the Verrazano from our apartment.

Honestly that GDR menu looks great to me. More options than we saw on Riviera in January. But we also did have Jacques selections and the chicken was wonderful.

Best Fish and chips I ever had was at Redfish, Bluefish. Shack on waterfront in Victoria. Halibut > Salmon > Cod.

Apologies I tried to delete my thread but could not figure out how. I was going to say that here in the DFW area we have Del Frisco's Grilles. These are a more casual version of their Steakhouses. When I first saw the pics and menu for Ember I had the feeling this is more like the vibe Oceania might be going for. I apologize that I cannot seem to paste in their menu but you could easily google. We like both restaurants and are not always in the mood to spend over $100 per person at the steakhouse. Grille is still upscale but much cheaper (generally,) with a more airy, modern vibe. And this is an example where serving hamburgers is not comparable to McDonalds and Ember Mac and cheese has lobster in it and the Fish and chips is using Chilean sea bass. We very much enjoyed Jacques on Riviera and lament its removal on the new ships but knowing Oceanias commitment to food, I think this can be a nice venue just a different taste than Jacques.

Unfortunately not yet. Our next cruise is November 2024 on Marina but we should get plenty of feedback from those that are.

Wondering if the music will change on Vista. If my guess is right and these new ships are being groomed for the next generation of Oceania passengers I think you might see a change. We will know soon enough.

@Robroy has good advice. We do not have a Sticky type thread to use so this forum requires a bit more work. Having said that, plenty of great threads and helpful posters to help with specifics. Welcome to Oceania.

I thought I read on the Regent thread they were about to start charging a fee (comes off the overall fee if you use their air,) just to speak to them. This has not yet been mentioned on the Oceania thread. Maybe I misunderstood?

So I know that NCLH owns and operates Regent and Norwegian in addition to Oceania. What I am wondering is how much this affects how each of the three are run. Intuitively I would think that one of the benefits of having all three cruise lines under its wing would be to combine buying power, etc. Recently we have seen a number of issues (allowing service dogs onboard, green initiatives, missed ports, reduced port times, poolside chairhogs, supply issues,) on the Oceania board. Now I understand that each line is different and that they are basically geared towards different audiences but I wonder if anyone knows how much they are similar. I would think that food mainly came from the same vendors. I would also think that if Oceania is cutting ports and diminishing port times that regent would also be (especially if the reason was because of the sustainability concept Oceania has employed.) It is my understanding that all three will be getting upgraded internet. Just trying to understand it all a little better and get some perspective on whether the same issues would affect all three.

Just meaning that I stopped into one of the specialties itself. They are generally not open during the day but another possibility for an extra specialty reservation.