Mareblu

We have likewise enjoyed many Oceania sailings, about seven without checking. We've only sailed Cunard once, a year ago on Queen Elizabeth. She's a marvellous vessel, and we found the cuisine in Queens Grill to be superb, with the exception of only one evening in three weeks. We've never, in all honesty, had a bad meal on Oceania, and it's one of the reasons we keep returning. We will be sailing on Vista next month, followed three weeks later by a two week voyage on Cunard's Queen Anne. We will try to compare two new vessels from two different lines, but some facets will of course be subjective, so therefore problematic for a comparison. We can't comment on Britannia Club Balcony food and service, but the only thing (and it's a biggie) that rankles about Cunard outside of the Grills is the constant need to pay for just about everything. That includes bottled water, coffee, tea, soft drinks, snacks, etc. In other words, everything that is included on Oceania. Internet is a big item. Very expensive on Cunard (I've just purchased a package for our May sailing), whereas internet is included on Oceania. Tea and coffee are included in Grills (there is a Grills Lounge and Bar where these may be taken while relaxing with a book or chatting to fellow Grills guests). Outside of the Lounge, your hand is in your pocket. If the cuisine in Britannia Club is anywhere near the standard of Queens Grill, then it certainly won't disappoint. Service? Can't comment on that either, but in Grills it was superb. Only one way for you to find out..... Happy sailing.

Yes, finally able to log in. It was down all day yesterday here (Australia).

You mirror our tastes perfectly. DH is Italian by birth, and I’m probably even more particular than he when it comes to coffee as it should be enjoyed. We do enjoy a cappuccino or caffelatte in the morning though, but as in Italy, not really any milk after midday. Baristas staff always welcomed us in the same fashion as you describe. I love a stop at Baristas.

I’m sorry to learn that.

Yes, @bazzaw is a very active cc community member. I enjoy reading his posts.

Good point. Oh oh, we’re beginning to sound like the HAL thread😂 i just posted a comment on the “How to Pronounce ‘Cunard’ thread”. That’s a corker.

Depends who's telling you😉. I would always walk anti-clockwise.

Oh oh, here comes the pedant with the English degree. Sorry, but "could care less" means, strictly interpreted, "I care a lot". In Australia, we actually do speak English as it's spoken in the United Kingdom, even if our vowels are more drawn out, and there are very subtle differences between States for the naming of certain items, particularly food, e.g. "potato cake" vs. "potato scallop". The latter bears absolutely no resemblance to the delicious fruit of the sea. If we say, as they do in England "I couldn't care less", it simply means I do not care at all, not even a smidgen, and so emphatic as to imply that I certainly have no need to give it some thought. I do find the whole discussion fascinating, though, which wouldn't surprise my adult children at all. The important thing is to have a civilised discussion, and a humorous one is a bonus.

I’ll be able to try it next month on Vista. So much depends on the machine and the Barista who operates it. If we’re obsessive about anything, it’s the perfect espresso and piccolo latte. Add to that the perfect “al dente” pasta. O has, on all our voyages, delivered both. Fingers crossed…

What’s replacing Illy, Flatbush? Hope it’s Lavazza🤞

Lyle should be back with us after a few more days.

Hi Les Wonderful news. Sounds like a perfect spot. A cruise on the Clyde would be just the ticket.

Truly, our Aus/NZ threads are the most rational of all. There are a couple of Oceania threads with childish sniping, continuing for pages, and some rather obsessive types repeating the same things. Oh well, Leigh, beats TV😂

I found it hysterical.

At the time, no, but it's a good suggestion for any similar future situations.

If you consider 7.00pm “late”, please don’t move to Spain.

That’s awful. It’s a delicate time for him now. If you’re reading this, Lyle, we’re thinking of you and Lynn.

Ours was Sept 2019. Were you on Orion? If so, and your cruise was after ours, then maybe they reduced the salt😂

Yes, we spoke to the CD (who was previously CD on a previous O Nautica cruise), reception, and our butler. Many others had also complained. You can guess the general response: “your concerns will be noted but no-one else has complained”, or as reception said, “there is no record of other complaints”. I think that angered me more than the below-par cuisine.

We have only sailed with Viking once, in 2019, just before Planet Covid. It was, like our Seabourn cruise I mentioned, a b2b, from Vancouver to Hong Kong. Wonderful itinerary, including Alaska, the Russian Far East, which is, sadly, no longer available to cruisers, and an extensive Japanese exploration. The vessel, Orion, was magnificent. We love the simplistic elegance and functionality of Scandinavian design, and the staff were wonderful. Our only problem, and it was a large problem, was the food. The cuisine was constantly over salted, and not at all well presented. I season all our food, so it wasn't that we don't like salt. Sometimes it was so salty, it was inedible. Five weeks of that cuisine was enough for us. We and every fellow passenger we chatted to had swollen feet. The only offerings I really enjoyed were the steak (really delicious) and the Alaskan king crab served every evening in the buffet. We're usually not buffet dwellers, preferring to sit down in the dining venues, but we soon found ourselves heading regularly to the buffet. Unlike Oceania, Seabourn, Cunard, Silversea, etc., the main dining room on Viking is not what I'd describe as elegant, so not especially enticing, even forgetting the food. It's more like a glorified cafe. It's such a shame, because there was so much we did like about Viking, but I can't see us returning.

Hi Julie, When we were last in Cornwall it was “Mohsel” from memory. Let’s not go to some of our local names😕

Colorado Springs?

It does indeed look like sections of the river between Aspen and Vail

I've just responded on another O thread that morphed to this very topic. In a nutshell, without a long-winded repeat of that post, we've missed a few ports with O over the years, all for what we considered valid reasons, and we were happy the Captain made what we considered wise choices in each instance: hurricane, strong storm, and the latest is a change to Turkish stops on our forthcoming Vista med cruise. The reason (reading between O's lines in the email) is unrest in the Middle East. Okay, Turkey is not that close to the awful conflict there, but there have been mass gatherings in Istanbul and the US and its allies (count us as Australians) are not friends of the month. We are happy to cruise for the destination, the experience, the ambience, and the excitement of exploring other cultures. We have fortunately travelled extensively in Turkey, so are happy to sail to wherever (more Greek Islands in this case). I know many fellow passengers on our roll call are not happy, but life goes on. I 'm not a cheerleader for Oceania. We've sailed with Seabourn (probably our favourite), Silversea, Cunard and NCL. But we do return often to O, which, despite not being perfect, offers a relaxing and enjoyable product. The furthest thing from our minds would be demanding a refund of port charges. I'm not even interested in how much they are in value.

It's interesting that of all the lines on which we've sailed, Oceania is the only one that has made itinerary changes over the years. This has never concerned us, as there haven't been many, and there was always, in our view, a valid reason for the Captain's decision. One was a hurricane (we say cyclone in Australia) that was raging in the North Sea after causing havoc in the US (it was widely reported on the news and clearly visible on weather radar), a similar situation (strong storm causing rough seas in the Bay of Biscay) and lately, a switch on our April 24 (next month) Med cruise on Vista. Santorini, Crete and Kotor have been substituted for Kusadasi and an overnight in Istanbul. Oceania has stated this is due to Middle East unrest. We are fortunate in that we have travelled extensively in Turkey, but I know this will be a disappointment for many, including our friends who are travelling with us. They are, however, looking forward to all the Greek Island stops, as they've never been there either. At the end of the day, we know changes may be made at any time, and we're happy to "go with the flow" (pun intended) and simply enjoy our cruising experience.