Jim_Iain

Thanks -- please feel free to ask questions. If I don't know I'm sure someone here will be able to jump in and help out.

We will be taking our first Oceania cruise in about 1 month. As such most of the information I'm gathering is from details I've accumulated and some of which I've read on CruiseCritics and FB groups. First of all I wanted to say I understand that Oceania and Celebrity are totally different but that is the main reason we have booked this cruise. We also understand that Regatta is the smallest and oldest ships in the Oceania fleet. We actually booked Vista in an Owner's Suite for next year but wanted to try out Oceania - For those that don't know us, we are Jim and Iain (Scottish version of Ian). We are a male couple from the heart of Silicon Valley, CA. We have been together for 38 years and are addicted to cruising. For the past 24 years we have sailed exclusively in Upper Suites on Celebrity. Times have changed and we have decided to explore other cruise lines. This year we have booked 2 Oceania, 1 SilverSea, 1 Regent Silver Seas and 2 Cunard cruises. The purpose of this tread is share my per-cruise knowledge of Oceania. Of course, my perception could be totally off base and opened to correction and advice.

They do sell swimsuits on the ship but may be expensive. Another option would to pick one up at one of your first stops.

I'm sure it may be different in a suite, but we decided to have a Pizza and movie night. Our butler said no problem --- He asked what we wanted on it and returned 25 minutes later with a perfect made to order pizza. It is of course the same pizza the make in the OVC but was enjoyable.

I'm sure your butler would be able to get a Yoga Mat. You can either have your butler swap your Bubbly for wine or have it sent to Luminae and they will give you a trade in value for it against a bottle of your choice. There really isn't a wine list in the suites.

Enjoying your Live post... I have to say... I enjoyed your video preview of your room also.

A quick solution would be to take a screen shot of your boarding pass and save it in Photos. If you want a hard copy... just e-mail it to yourself and print or print directly from your phone to printer if you printer has the capability

As others advised. There must be at least one cabin available in order to price match. Check on a daily basis in case one opens... if possible you can also put it on a 24 hour hold.

Unfortunately not. After the number of Asia cruises last year we are holding off on those LONG flights for awhile In just about a month we will be taking our first Oceania cruise. It is kinda a B2B but Oceania sell them as a single cruise Vancouver to Alaska and Vancouver California Coastal ending in LA.

I'm rather miffed that Guest Relations didn't handle it immediately and take care of requiring a guest to figure out who to speak / complain to. At the least they should have dispatched security to check the room out and make sure they felt safe and comfortable. Totally unacceptable that a door should ever be left open when the housekeeping staff isn't actively working in the room

Thanks much for your well written review. I've learned a lot by following along. At this point I'm still soaking up all the information possible.

There is a very nice feature on CruiseCritic. It's called the Ignore List -- I use it when I see a particular rude CC member that always spew vitriol. Just click you picture icon top right corner and you will never see their posts again. I'm also a new and really enjoy hearing from both new cruisers as well as seasoned members. Remember the perspective of a new cruiser can be totally different than a cheerleader.

We usually don't ask our butler for much. A good butler will pick up on your habit and will drop things off to make your trip more enjoyable. Example: I was on a cruise and had become extremely dehydrated mountain climbing in Indonesia. I had picked up a couple Vita Waters in Retreat - Next day the bar was stocked with 8 bottles. Recently on a on month set of cruises we weren't in the mood for dinner. Our butler suggested a Pizza Party in our room... Sounded perfect. He took the order and delivered the Pizza along with Cesar Salads and Beer. Was nice to have TV Night in.

Enjoying your live post. We will be in Alaska in about a months so helping me get in the mood.

Looked on another site and it's showing all cabins sold out.

Try some of the Travel sites and see if they show up there. Normally even when a cruise is sold out it shows up but shows all classifications sold out.

I'm wondering if there were a bunch of Grumpy Ol Gits also.

What I do is use the App and select CheckIn time only. That is really they only thing you need. After that you can come back at any time and complete or just go to the terminal and they will complete checkin for you. You can also select the time in the web app but requires you to drill down while the app it is just a couple clicks.

It really varies all over the place. I've seen them open upgrade bidding at 90 days and have seen less than 30. No rhyme or reason. When they open up really has no bearing on whether you will be awarded an upgrade. When they have lots of cabins available they often start awarding early so they can re-market the lower priced cabins.

We also renewed but back in June - They both were approved and received in less than 2 weeks. Iain also renewed his UK passport and took a bit longer. They rejected his picture 4 times... even though their app said Good Photo. The one they finally accepted said Fair.

Looking forward to following along on you Live Post.

To the left of the main entrance there is a banner that says Suites and Zenith. You go through that door and are directed up to the Suites Lounge if using Terminal 25. They do all the check in there. All other ports just follow the same banner adjacent to the door.

I agree that RCL, Celebrity and many lines are booking solid and I'm happy for those that are enjoying these lines with Big Ships. I've been a long time investor in RCL and love the return I've made on their stock. They have to be doing something right. It is a personal opinion and I'm sure a perfect selection for a particular demographics. I guess we are no longer that demographics. We still have 2 bookings with them but no new bookings for 2025 and 2026. If we are wrong with our decision I'll honestly admit to it.

That is kind of you Terry. Reality is I believe that we have just grown apart. Even as a Double Zenith I just no longer see the benefits of continuing to sail with Celebrity. We are looking for changes in Food, Activities but more than anything else new destinations. Over the past couple years Celebrity has moved away from many of their exotic cruises to things like their private Island. We absolutely would never do that cruise and after 26 years the Caribbean just isn't something we enjoy doing.