Hanoj

The itinerary we are pursuing (I contacted our TA late yesterday to book a DV5) sails in less than 10 months and has cabins available in every category except OS, DV1 and V2. We usually use a PV2 but want to try a DV this time for comparison (we recently sailed on Oceania Vista in a cabin that was 291 square feet including verandah that was adequate). There are 50 of 74 DV4 cabins midship on deck 4 available. There are 22 of 24 PV2 available on Deck 5 if the schematics of the Price & Build are accurate. Other categories have a plethora of cabins available. Does this appear undersold? My questions arise because I recall reading on this forum that once you book and there is a subsequent price decrease, the new offer is not available without canceling and doing a new booking that may entail some forfeiture of money. Can one still transfer bookings without forfeiture? Or perhaps things change once PIF is made, which since we don't have an existing booking will be almost immediate for us. I've read the Terms & Conditions and the Passenger Ticket Contract. From observation, it appears Viking may at times (when it suits their objectives) relax their requirements. I don't quibble over what I consider a modest dollar amount (e.g., saving $200 wouldn't affect my expectations if I missed out - I accept my decisions which I make based on the best available information - but a $1,000 or over 12% difference may). If I wait might the discounts be deeper, enough to close the $1,400 gap between a DV5 and a PV3? I realize this is speculative, but I've not kept current with Viking and was quite surprised that this DV5 for a 10 night Caribbean itinerary is only $740 per night after returning guest discount. We are US customers.

We're considering a VO West Indies Explorer cruise in Nov 2024 (last cruised with Viking in 2019, since cruised with Oceania in Aug 2023 - had 2020 and 2021 VO cruises cancelled, one by Viking the other by us) and I didn't see, though may have overlooked, anything in TC or Ticket Contract addressing my question, which is: Can I go through the online Price & Build process and place a 72 hour hold and then cancel and do a new booking if the price drops Feb 1 without adverse consequence? Does a hold lock in the booking at the price held assuming I complete it and pay the required deposit when due (in case prices go up)? Would I be able to cancel and make a new booking under February offers (assuming they will have a sale and that terms are more favorable) without loosing anything? I recognize the risks of waiting may mean I won't be able to get a cruise or cabin I want.

We are in the process of booking this cruise for a November 2024 sailing. We previously used Viking Air Plus for our 2017 - 2020 cruises. We paid for the business class upgrade each time. Things went smooth but for the last trip in May 2020 (which of course ended up being cancelled). Since we had another cruise booked when we added the May 2020 cruise our PIF date wasn't until 6 months out. We were having a difficult time with Viking Air to get the flights we wanted (and yes, they wanted to send us on a route that included an additional flight) and it wasn't until one day before PIF that our TA told Viking we would cancel the cruise if they didn't give us the requested flights. This was not a bluff. Viking acquiesced. YMMV, but we don't like haggling, so now we just book flights separate from the cruise line through our TA. If you use Viking Air, I recommend paying extra for Plus assuming they still offer this.

@stephenandrew, which cruise lines do you feel would provide greater value for a similar itinerary? We are considering this Viking cruise in December 2024 or 2025. We have only cruised with Viking (pre-shutdowns) and Oceania (August 2023). This Viking itinerary is appealing since we desire to reconnoiter the Caribbean Islands (I've never been) to get a feel for ones we may want to do extended resort stays in the future (most likely St. Kitts and or St. Thomas). This cruise is scheduled to call on 9 ports over 10 nights and appears to suit our interests more closely than itineraries with other premium/luxury lines we would consider (Oceania, Seabourn, Regent, and Windstar). We won't cruise Oceania's R class ships (due to small cabins though the smaller guest capacity is enticing) and their larger ships (we sailed Vista) at 1200 - 1250 guest capacity are at the upper limit of ships we are willing to sail. These Viking West Indies Explorer cruises are scheduled for the Viking Sea (their second ship launched in 2016) and represent a lower cost pp/pd than other Viking itineraries on their newer ships. Our last Viking cruise in 2019 was on the Sea. Another thing we find appealing about this San Juan to San Juan itinerary is our flights will be domestic since we will depart from Portland, Oregon.

This may be fraudulent, though if factually accurate it would be difficult to prove. Appears there’s sufficient confusion it could be due to incompetence.

Us too, particularly land tours as after disembarking Vista yesterday (for our first Oceania cruise and first with any line since June 2019) we now realize our travel preferences have changed. With these new policies adversely affecting us, it’s easier contemplating various types of land tours. We met a couple from our cruise at a bakery in Waterford, Ireland who have an e-bike based tour in Europe booked next year that has some appeal to us.

In fairness, perhaps “the ball” was not fully in play. This is a plausible explanation for smaller, less traveled ports especially after the shutdowns. Oceania may not have been able to contract with a provider (sounds like they may have gotten creative with the school bus excursion you described) until very late. We had a similar situation for Waterford, Ireland last week. The Waterford On Your Own was never offered until on the ship and there were three large coaches used. I was happy this was offered since getting to Waterford since a long time coach service serving Dunmore East (where Vista anchored) and Waterford ceased business in October 2022 has become increasingly challenging as taxi services are not consistently available. Cruise itineraries are scheduled well in advance and when operators are not available once the ships visit certain ports, this has to cause havoc for Destination Services. I would like more transparency in communications from cruise lines about this. From what I read, this is not a challenge unique to Oceania.

Yes I knew about the dining times before booking. All other things equal (and they never are), if a different cruise line we would be willing to sail with offered earlier dinner dining options, this would be a decision factor for us.

Yes, this was my meaning. On a couple of days we had either a late lunch at Waves Grill (ordered before 4 pm) or foraged in Horizon’s for Afternoon Tea (with petite sandwiches and delicious sweets) and or at the Baristas/The Bakery (late in day there were nuts, meats, cheeses, chips, small sandwiches, pastries and mini quiches). Though there was no shortage of food available between 4 to 6:30 pm, these offerings were not as satisfying as restaurant or even Terrace Cafe meals. Because of this we opted primarily for 6:30 dinner meals.

Hi John. We were very satisfied with our veranda stateroom (8015 - a B3). Although a bit smaller than we would have preferred (we booked in early June) we found a place for everything we packed (more than needed as I had hoped for warmer weather). The bathroom is very nice and comfortably spacious. The primary reason we are not excited to cruise soon is there’s much hurry up and waiting. Few things were as smooth and seamless as we remembered from our Viking cruises. Tendering (4 made and 1 missed ports) was beset with delays, some of which were exacerbated by guests with mobility challenges. We did four O excursions (3 with O Life credit and one to get to Waterford) and have no interest in O excursions in future. So if sail with O I will be paying for excursions I don’t want and for alcohol I won’t consume. This is not a deal killer, it just means I will look more carefully at itineraries, especially since O is not always providing free shuttles to the featured port (e.g., Glasgow docking at Greenock) and durations were shortened. Bottom line for us is we like doing things on our own schedule. This is more constrained on a cruise. Evening dining across all venues was later (6:30 pm) than we prefer with no service (except room service) from 4 pm to 6:30. I’m happy to answer specific questions. Our flight is scheduled for boarding in about an hour. Steve

Done too soon. We disembarked Vista this morning. We enjoyed our cruise and liked some things (especially the sports deck) better than on previous sailings with Viking, some things we were indifferent about, a few things we didn’t like. The primary realization for us is our travel preferences have changed since our previous cruise June 2019. Although we like having our hotel room float with us, we don’t anticipate cruising with Oceania or any line anytime soon. For example, Alaska is a destination we want to visit, but I will look into land (via air) based options before booking a cruise as our former default preference.

I’ve heard Oceania employees and officers pronounce it either way. No wonder communication challenges exist with this cruise line. 🧐

Onboard Vista now and we missed Stornoway August 22 due to “sea swells and worsening weather making tendering unsafe.” Yesterday we had delays tendering at Dun Laoghaire for Dublin due to high winds. As a result, our Oceania excursion was cut short by an hour. Autumn is considered to begin August 1 in these parts. We’ve had high winds and “crumbled silk” seas nearly every day.

Mostly due to security arrangements. But also due to what I felt were inaccurate representations on the visitliverpool.com website. We made the lengthy trek to Red Brick Market, believing it was a venue featuring products from local artists/artisans. Although there were a few such vendors, this was primarily an indoor flea market in a converted warehouse bordering an industrial area. I also had previously returned to our stateroom to retrieve my phone (had all my Google maps and websites bookmarked) and had to go through the security gauntlet almost immediately after getting out the terminal after leaving the ship as first guests off. Took 15 extra minutes, mostly due to the security requirements. So, I wasn’t interested in a third security experience so we didn’t go back out. We prefer the small ports like Kirkwall where all we had to do was show our Oceania World Card.

The cruise terminal(D1)/Oceania provided a complimentary shuttle to and from downtown - Donegal Square West. This is a very convenient location for walking the downtown area. The first shuttle was scheduled to leave the terminal at 9:00 am but we wanted to get to town sooner, either by walking (3.4 miles which was permissible) or by taxi (8-10 GBP), but as we conversed with another couple before getting off the ship shortly after 8:00 am, they offered to drop us off near downtown on their way to Giant’s Causeway with their privately arranged tour. This was a serendipitous start to a great day. After getting coffee and a pastry (Established Coffee which had a steady flow of local patrons and we enjoyed it) we shopped for about 90 minutes before taking the Hop On Hop Off tour (Belfast City Sightseeing https://belfastcitysightseeing.com/tour-prices/ ) around the city. Ours was live narrated by a tour guide and very informative. Cost was 20 GBP per person. The HOHO tour ended where we could catch the shuttle back to the ship for a quick lunch before our Oceania Aards Peninsula and Grey Abbey tour in the afternoon. However, after the shuttle was full we sat there while the driver awaited his replacement. We didn’t want to risk missing our tour so we walked one block ahead and caught a taxi to the ship. Fare was 8.6 GBP. We also had time for lunch in the Terrace Cafe before our excursion. The afternoon tour was by a large coach with a total of 26 guests. There were two other buses doing the same tour. We drove in a counterclockwise direction across the peninsula en route to Grey Abbey where we stopped and toured the remains of the Cistercian Abbey for about 45 minutes. Afterwards we drove along the coastline to Donaghadee for a stop at Pier 36, a quayside pub where the tour included an Irish Coffee. We decided not to wait since we spied a quaint looking coffee shop we decided to try called The Stormy Cup. As we were ordering the owner asked where we were from (Salem, Oregon) and he said he had lived in the Portland area for three years. We had a wonderful sponge cake/cream dessert and while we were waiting for our coffees a couple of pre-teenaged boys ordered tea. The owner was so impressed with these boys he didn’t charge them. We greatly enjoy these type of small world experiences. It’s a primary reason we like cruising and why making port calls and their durations are important to us. We had about an hour in Donaghadee, a quaint seaside village before returning to the ship along the northern coast of Aards Peninsula. This was a 4 hour O Life excursion we enjoyed.

Sea swells and weather (forecasted to worsen) making tendering unsafe.

We have called on three of four ports in Scotland (Edinburgh, Kirkwall, and Greenock/Glasgow but missed Stornoway) and Belfast, which we have greatly enjoyed, especially Kirkwall. Today we docked in Liverpool and have spent more time on the ship than ashore. We purposely didn’t book any ship or private excursions favoring exploring the city by foot (why do we use this idiom - gratefully my wife and I each used both our feet 🧐). We spent about 4 hours in the city but since we didn’t find somewhere we wanted to eat (I have food allergies which are easier to deal with on the ship) we headed back to the ship for a bite to eat planning to go back out but we (and dozens of other guests) were prevented from returning to the ship by the port authority for over 45 minutes as they gave priority to unloading a ferry. Why a cruise terminal would process a ferry sharing the facility with a cruise ship is beyond me (perhaps a strike or other interruption?). I mean ships have been docking here for centuries and this is the best they can do in modern times? Then the cruise terminal security had all Oceania guests remove belts, watches, etc. (everything metal) before going through the metal detector. This after we all showed our O World Cards that were carefully scrutinized (at least mine and my wife’s were). They even patted down an older man who was using two walking canes. This caused a backlog for which the young woman worker yelled to the rest of us to keep moving forward, oblivious to her coworker causing the disruption. It was chaos and the actions of port authority workers put pax at some risk of injury if their uncoordinated orders were heeded. Of course, it’s all about safety. Needless to say we weren’t ready to run through that gauntlet again. Great for local commerce, eh.

I think cruising is not what it used to be. We’re on Vista now for our first Oceania sailing and first cruise since 2019. We have enjoyed the cruise, especially the Scotland (3 made, 1 missed ports) and Belfast ports. Liverpool not so much.

We had a table for two at front and it was quieter in Ember than Red Ginger, mostly due to RG having more 6:30 guests.

On Vista now. Surface is the plastic/rubber grating like mat/tiles. There are many “dead” spots where the trajectory of the bounce is greatly affected. Enough so that you can’t consistently anticipate your return. Lines painted/dyed (not taped) with the extended paddle tennis area in a lighter color. Net is definitely higher (feels like 2 - 3 inches). I don’t know if the court dimensions are proper. Net is close enough to sides of court to impede swing. Balls and pickeball paddles are provided - glad I didn’t pack our equipment. Since the court is outside on deck 16 forward the wind greatly affects playability. My wife and I have used the court many times, but we are not scoring or competing. But we have had some great laughs.

The TVs in the staterooms are part of the ship’s emergency notification system. It appears Bluetooth and other system features have been disabled - I saw no way to access set up from the remote nor did I readily see any USB or other ports. Is there a work around? Probably, there always (think of those with skills to access residential electricity without a meter showing usage) is, but you may want to see what your ticket contract about damages for such use. Can you imagine the headache for staff to have to regularly reconfigure tv settings in the staterooms for guest change overs? I was finally able to speak to the IT Manager. The TVs in the LYNC Digital Center apparently can be used for video games, etc. This is our 8th day aboard Vista and we’ve yet to see a minor. Suppose the Digital Center be used by kids if they we aboard.

We’re presently onboard Vista for our first cruise with Oceania and are aware of the incentives to booking future cruises before disembarking (two days ago my wife won the $250 OBC raffle while attending the future voyages presentation), especially since our cruise ends August 30. But although the ability to avoid a $300 admin fee by booking a future cruise now seems a riskless decision, I’m not willing to invest in all emotion and anticipation booking a cruise entails. We’re not sure we’ll cruise again with Oceania (nor are we ready to rule it out), nor are we certain we’ll cruise again with any line as there are enough differences compared to our experiences prior to the shutdowns that give us pause which now favor other types of travel. With regards to future cruising with Oceania, there are several factors we’ll be monitoring, especially apparent trends towards missing ports for dubious reasons and shortening port durations compared to published itineraries at time of booking.

Red Ginger: we ate there tonight for the first time. I’m not a Pan Asian enthusiast since avoiding soy allergens is more challenging with this cuisine type. But I submitted my request ahead of time as directed and had quite possibly our best ever meal at sea. I preselected items from the menu least likely to require adaptations by the chefs: caramelized tiger prawns, Asian greens with peanut dressing, and ribeye steak with a side of organic brown rice. The ribeye was cooked perfectly medium as I ordered and tasted delectable, if a bit thinly cut (supply or cost cutting issue?).

Which to me makes simply MORE, simply less value.

So Oceania will soon be charging a nonrefundable booking fee.