digtexas

Keith and Anne Marie - we hope you enjoy Silver Spirit as much as we did. We are looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the ship and the overall Silversea experience. Anne Marie, I know how much you like walking the promenade on Crystal. As do I. You will have to make do with walking around the funnel a million times but its a small price to pay for being on this very intimate and friendly ship :). Silver Spirit has a great feel and for us it was the perfect size.

 

Danny, we hope that you and Nancy have a fabulous Antarctica cruise and we are envious you will be with Jeff & Al.

 

Safe travels to all.

 

Ashley

Keith, Sorry to hijack your thread briefly, and I am glad to know that the weather has cleared up.

Ashley, as you can imagine, we are very much looking forward to sailing once again with Jeffery and Albert. Our trivia team is all set! Thanks for your good wishes.

Keith,

Bon voyage to you and Anne Marie. Have a wonderful cruise and we will be thinking of you while on the Symphony from the bottom of the world.

I have never had a really good steak on any cruise ship. The closest I have come is a little filet in the Terrace Grill on Marina and Riviera.

Art, you will no doubt be disappointed, as we were comparing the moribund "piano bar" at Martinis to the Avenue Saloon on Crystal. A guy quietly plays piano as people sit in overstuffed chairs without clear sight lines to the piano, having drinks. It is actually more similar to the Crystal Cove than to a piano bar. The piano player is not an entertainer and there is little to no interaction with the audience and no singing along. Just background music. The Avenue Saloon is something that we really miss when we sail O, but on Serenity we have caught a couple of stiffs in a row in the Avenue, so it is not always perfect either.

We just sailed on the Riviera last week. The entertainment went from the sublime to the ridiculous. We did attend all but one or two 9:45 PM shows and enjoyed most. There was an Elton John/Billy Joel show that was entertaining, an Andrew Lloyd Weber show that was pretty good, a 60's show that we skipped, a farewell show that was good, and a couple of singers. We passed on the female singer but attended a performance by the male singer who sang old material that we did not enjoy at all. The best entertainment on the ship was provided by our cruise director, Nolan Dean, who is extremely funny and also a great singer and performer. He did a one man show and then appeared another night with his fiance, Emannuel, who is also a very talented singer and dancer. Emmanuel also appeared one afternoon in Horizons singing Edith Piaf, and was quite good.

So...was it the best entertainment at sea? No. But it was adequate with some of it being excellent and it gave us something to do after dinner each night. As our cruise had an older demographic there was not much dancing or participation in karaoke late night in Horizons. The casino, however, seemed to be rocking most nights.

We just returned from the Riviera. The day that we anchored near Cayo Levantado was overcast and a bit rainy. My wife and I opted to stay on board. The beach lovers in the group, who went in, enjoyed the place but some were dismayed that they were not allowed in the nearby resort. We were very happy staying on the ship and in places like Nassau, Tortola and Gran Turk, spent very little time off of the ship. San Juan and St. Barts were a pleasure, however.

Back to the original subject, CAG and GRG just stopped by the house on their way to Miami to board Riviera on Friday; one of their stops is Cayo Levantado; apparently Oceania has added a whale watching excursion, as this is the season for it, and that's a great area for it. I would recommend that as well as the speedboat to the national park.

Don,

The available shore excursions shown online do not mention whale watching. Do you have some other information regarding this?

Thanks

I posted the link earlier, on the Cayo Levantado thread. By the time that a bunch of cruise ships are sailing into Cuba, it probably won't be anything like it is today, which makes me want to hurry up and take a cultural trip of some kind there. I used to go to Key West a lot back in the 1980's when only about one cruise ship a week stopped there, and believe me, it is a lot different now that they stop there all the time. Much of its authenticity and quaintness is gone IMO.

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2015/02/05/new-cruise-ceo-awaits-dream-cruise-to-cuba/

Looks like we had better hurry up and get to Cuba before the cruise ships if we want to see it with any remaining authenticity.

We are also on your cruise and this stop frankly sounds like one of several on the

itinerary where we may not disembark. Last time we stopped in St. Maarten, at the end of a TA, there were 7 large ships in port. My wife made a quick journey to the Longchamps shop, but I happily stayed onboard.

I have only sailed on Oceania twice before, once with Nolan Dean and once with Ray Michaels. They were both good, but very different. Nolan has a quick British wit and is also a talented singer. Ray was a little silly, but very warm and outgoing and was very engaging with the passengers. Both were fun at trivia. I don't know how much difference a CD really makes in the end, but they can leave you with a good or a bad feeling about the experience depending on your interaction and your take on them and their attitude.

We are booked on Riviera Miami to Miami on Feb 13 and received our documents today. As cruise director it shows a photo of Nolan Dean but it states his name as Nolan Jenkins. Misprint? Other explanation?

When we were in Iceland a couple of years ago in early to mid-September, it was cold and windy. I took a North Face she'll jacket, which was barely sufficient,maven with layers underneath. I bought a knit ski cap while walking around Rekjavik. Of course you need a swim suit if you are going to The a Blue a Lagoon, which I highly recommend.

I sailed once on Riviera, 10 day Caribbean with 4 sea days: one lecturer.

I sailed once on Marina, 10 day British Isles: one lecturer.

I am happy to learn that there are more lectures on crossings and some other cruises.

Oceania is short on enrichment IMO. While some other lines might have three interesting lectures on a sea day, O typically has one lecturer per cruise.

What are NCL's smoking policies?

I am late to this party, but I consider Frank Del Rio (FDR) the best in the business. He takes a hands on approach to every detail and really cares about quality and customer service. What other CEO posts and answers passengers' concerns on CruiseCritic? He has brought some of the best food at sea to Oceania. We have never sailed on NCL, mostly Crystal and Oceania, but as the only cruise line that sails from Houston is NCL, after Frank takes over, I would like to give it a try.:)

Frank DelRio (FDR) is the best in the business. He even reads and responds to threads on CruiseCritic. Oceania has some of the best food at sea. This can be nothing but a positive for NCL

Husband took his navy blue blazer on our first Oceania cruise (which also was our first-ever cruise) way back in 2008. Never has taken a sports jacket with him on a cruise since. On the other hand, he always wears a long-sleeve dress shirt to dinner, what he says is business casual clothing such as he usually wears now to his office.

Same here. I took a blazer on my first O cruise, which was Caribbean and only wore it once. This past summer on a British Isles cruise on Marina (which, by the way, had a much more nicely dressed crowd than did my Caribbean cruise) I did not take a sports jacket and was never uncomfortable. I wear a nice shirt and slacks at night, with a sweater handy if it is cold, and I am completely comfortable. This is coming from a guy who has taken both a blazer and a tuxedo on several Crystal cruises. However I will not be doing that again. (Crystal has gone to only casual and one or two "formal optional" nights, which still requires a sport coat, which does cause a gent to either drag along a sports jacket or stay out of the main dining venues for the one or two "formal optional" nights.) I prefer Oceania's dress requirements and assume that Crystal will have to drop the "formal optional" evenings altogether in the near future. On our upcoming Caribbean cruise on Riviera I will not be bringing a jacket.

On our first Oceania cruise on Riviera we paid for the concierge cabin. On our second on Marina we did not because:

1. We cared nothing about the spa deck

2. We never order room service breakfast

3. On Marina we booked early and our cabin was in a good location (My wife would rather be near the laundry than the concierge lounge)

4. We found little benefit from access to the concierge lounge. For example the concierge could do nothing to secure additional specialty restaurant reservations for us. If I want coffee in the morning, all that I have to do is ride the elevator up to Horizons and get it there.

Other than the ability to book specialty dining reservations earlier and to get in your cabin 30 minutes earlier, the concierge cabin offers no benefits for the extra money as far as we are concerned.

I am also interested in the "different style of service by design" "as FDR once explained."

Any more details on that conversation?

Thanks !

When I mentioned the style of service of Crystal's deck stewards, memorizing guests' names, making sure that you know their names, always being very familiar and effusive, he said that he prefers a more restrained style of service. That was about it.

Tangiers was one of my favorite ports We did not get one of the drums many men were selling in the streets Next time maybe

I have heard this from others and obviously we all have different experiences, but I thought that it was the nastiest port that I have ever disembarked in and somehow the bus drivers allowed hustlers on our bus, even though we took off from inside the supposedly secure walls of the port, which was not right at all. Then when my wife and I attempted to walk around we were constantly barraged by aggressive, creepy men wanting to be our guides. I realize that they are trying to make a living (by leading us to rug shops) and we tourists must look like quite an appealing opportunity for them, but it was so constant, uncomfortable and annoying, that after sticking it out and walking around about 10 minutes after the rest of our group gave up, we also returned to the bus stop and the ship.

The nice taxi driver who took us to Ephesus wanted to show us his family's hotel on the drive back. We stopped and, of course it had a rug shop attached. He was a nice young man and having more rugs than we have room for, we politely declined to do more than take a quick look. We had him drop us at the bazaar in Kusadasi where the salesmen were a bit more persistent, but polite.

Now to Tangiers....I once wrote a thread about Tangiers called "Crystal's worst stop ever". Our experience of being bombarded by men wanting to be "guides" in this dirty town was so bad that after about 10 minutes, everyone who rode in on our shuttle turned back and headed for the ship. A comedian from the ship and his wife were walking with us and it was so bad that he later wrote and performed a funny song about Tangiers on the ship.

Now for the worst part...we saw groups of passengers on Crystal shore excursions following guides down the street carrying little Crystal signs. It turns out that at least one of these groups was led to a third floor rug shop, and they were promptly abandoned by their guide and forced to listen to a very long rug presentation. The group included elderly people and others who felt trapped in the rug shop with no way out, having to deal with stairs and not knowing where they were.

Needless to say, when these passengers returned to the ship they gave the shore excursion staff Hell, and rightly so.

I am sure that there are plenty of rugs for sale in Tangiers but I suggest doing a little research and finding your way to a reputable dealer.

On our recent British Isles cruise on Marina there was a show at 9:30 every night, including production shows, a magician, a singer and a pianist. The shows that we went to, especially the large production shows, were well attended every night. The singers and dancers are okay, about what one would expect. The magician happened to be excellent and a fun, very good entertainer.

As someone else wrote on another thread, the casino was pretty busy most every night, especially considering that our 10 day cruise was port intensive.

The one or two times that we strolled into Horizons around 10:30, one of them on karaoke night, there were not many late night revelers.

Digtexas, can you amplify on the "service by design" comment? I am asking because I have been on only two cruises. I was on the Marina three years ago and recently the Azamara Journey. I like very much both lines, but found Azamara had a big edge in service.

Reggie,

I am happy to explain what I mean. On Crystal, you dine at the same table every night in the Main Dining Room (when not in one of the specialty restaurants or Tastes on Serenity) and your waiter and assistant waiter become aware of your preferences and you get to know them, as well as your headwaiter. On O, whether you dine in the GDR or Terrace Cafe day or night, you sit at different tables with different waiters. The waiters in all of the dining venues on O are friendly and efficient but do not introduce themselves, ask you where you are from, know whether you like your water with or without ice, etc.

On Crystal, the Filipino deck stewards who we affectionately call "the Lido and Trident guys" because they always work the Lido buffet at breakfast and lunch, and around the pool and Trident deck during the day, have a kind of schtick, where by the second day they know your name, how you like your coffee, say "hook 'em Horns" to me after I wore a University of Texas shirt, tell you their names, remember you from cruise to cruise, and are just a lovely, wonderful bunch of guys, who go out of their way to really make you feel special and to give you personal service. Most Crystal passengers love these guys and their service and feel that their loving presence can really make a cruise. A few have written that they found them a little over the top or annoying, but only a few.

As far as the officers go, I found them to be about the same on both lines. On O, the Cruise Director is much more outgoing and engaged with the passengers than I have ever experienced on Crystal.

So, what I meant, was that O prefers their waiters to be reserved and efficient, while on Crystal, at least with the Filipino deck stewards, the culture is one of effusive friendliness and familiarity, somewhat reminiscent of many of the friendly Cajuns near where you live.