Gracie115

Thank you all!!!!😁

I am helping a friend with a reservation and one of the questions he has is how much the "Ultimate dining package" would cost on an 8 night Symphony of the Seas cruise? I can't find that info on the Royal website anywhere so wondering if anyone here can give me at approximate amount for a 7 or 8 night cruise in the recent months. Thanks for any help provided.

Of course! We're just very excited about being on our 1st Oceania cruise. Actually also very glad that there are no actual "formal" (Princess) or "elegant chic" (Celebrity) or "dress your best" (HAL) evenings, lol.....but, ya know, I've got this outfit I've never worn and what the heck, I figured it would be fun to do for one evening. The rest of the evenings I'll be as casual as is possible (no holey jeans though...😁)

Yes you will... I did several times.... should have had it removed too.

We will. We are celebrating an Anniversary. My husband will not be wearing a tux but a tie and jacket and I will wear something that is more than "country club casual." It never matters to us what someone else wears so hopefully it won't matter to anyone else either.

We board our first Oceania cruise in 10 days. Looking forward to it. We have nothing booked on Celebrity at all. Have looked at a few Royal sailings that have much better suite prices than Celebrity so we may go that way too, their suites are very nice, especially on the newer ships.

Long black skirt and top

I do know there are no formal nights but if we were dress formal on a night or two would we feel out of place and uncomfortable. This would be on Vista.

No you can’t. Luminae is at opposite end of ship from the MDR’s, so the kitchen is too far away.

Smart. We paid the $50 per person when we were there. It was good, but none of the 4 of us were raving about it. Would definitely not pay $85.00 PP ... that's crazy and before any drinks are added. Heading to Oceania'x new Vista in just a few weeks. All Specialty Restaurants are included. We are excited about trying something different.

When we dined in Eden on Apex on the spring TA there was no entertainment at all in the restaurant.

my 2 cents.... Suite class on Apex gives you the "suite deck" up top which has a small pool and bar area that serves drinks & sandwiches on days it isn't raining. They are nice and am sure on warm weather cruises get lots of traffic from suite guests. The suite lounge is just below(unlike S class where it is the old Michael's Club on deck 5). Many prefer the E class lounge, we did not. Found it's atmosphere cold, it's munchies inferior and bar service pretty much nonexistent on our 2 Apex sailings, except the poor bartender. Luminae is far better on the S class. Smaller, more intimate and far more menu choices than the E Class, which does not allow you to pick MDR selections. Eden is a nice area on Apex & the theatre is definitely an improvement over "S" class. Other than that I don't know of anything that I would rate better on E Class. I suppose the technology advances impress some, but that's not what we cruise for.

Totally agree with you about the Solstice class. We've been on 2 cruises on Apex and if we cruise Celebrity again it will be on an S class for all the reasons you state and more.

Oh... you will be amazed at the National Archeological Museum. Our 1st visit to Naples was also to Pompeii and the 2nd one we spent the morning at Herculaneum and the afternoon at the museum. It was a wonderful day. Looking forward to your thoughts on the rest of your cruise. We too are sailing Oceania next month as an alternative to Celebrity.

Xcel....... just can't get past the idea that they named the ship after a spreadsheet...

Yes, very.

We loved the 2 days we spent in Istanbul a few years back. Also hired private excursions. It's a very interesting city with so much to see. The Hagia Sophia was amazing as was the Basilica Cistern. Enjoy!!

That's great it's not bothering you. We had a similar cabin on the Regal Princess, which faced forward and had a large balcony. The staff never moved the furniture so we were able to enjoy it at night. But then that ship is 3 times the size of Riviera so am sure that makes a difference too. Hope the rest of your cruise continues as well as the beginning has!! We board Vista one month from today and can't wait.

That's really too bad. We so enjoy sitting on our balcony at night, watching the stars, listening to the ocean, it's an important part of our cruise, hope it isn't impacting you too much. So far it seems like you are having a great time!!

None on our Apex cruise this past May either.

HI from another ex, X cruiser... pun intended. I'll be following your thread as we are seeking other lines after our last 2 cruises with Celebrity. We also cruised in the Retreat but our last 2 on Apex were disappointing. We really are not fans of the E class. So my question to you is how would you compare the Koningsdam to the S class on Celebrity? That is our favorite class of ship.

Is this something that can be done only once a cruise (7 nighter) or as often as you'd like? Is a day ahead enough notice or should we try to set it up asap (embarkation day?) First time on Oceania next month....so looking forward to it.

I'm glad you made the cruise and sorry this happened to you. When we had something similar happen(not that close to sail date) I have become pretty manic about checking air arrangements very frequently to make sure nothing has happened. Mostly I don't book air with cruiselines, it seems there are too many chances of something going wrong.

Exactly how we feel.

I definitely believe that....beef in Luminae in April was lousy.