Sthrngary

I will be cruising the Vista next. I just got off the Riviera. My favorite Specialty Restaurant was Red Ginger. Second was indeed Jacque's. If the reviews continue to be average and folks say they want Jacque's back, maybe Oceania MIGHT listen. I hope the do. The experience at Jacque was lovely. Just my two cents. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@jklc123 Attached is the sea day Currents per your request. Cruise well and enjoy every moment. Oceania_Currents_11132023.pdf

I will look later today and if I have it, I will post it. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@ak1004 Wow, thank you so much. I had fun doing it. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Attached is the Oceania Currents for 11/09/2023 and 11/10/2023. I have more however since they change every week, I thought providing two would give most folks the information they usually need. Hope it helps. Cruise well and enjoy every moment. Oceania_Currents_11092023.pdfOceania_Currents_11102023.pdf

After reading lots of post about cancelled posts and in this case entire itineraries, it seems communication is often delayed. The thread then has updates a week or two later with a resolutions sometimes good and sometimes bad. If you are upset about the loss of benefits because you booked the cruise while onboard, something tells me that will be resolved. Please keep us up to speed on the resolution if and when it happens. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@WillCruiseForMoney The best butler I had ever had was on Crystal Cruises. I also had some good butler on NCL in the Haven but also some not-so-good butlers. The key to my butler experience and improvement over the years is my Butler Letter. Before doing this document, all butlers were just OK. After, there was a significant improvement. It does not surprise me that your experience was different then mine. The good news is, we both had a very nice time on the cruise. Different from the Haven but designed to be so. My favorite part of the cruise was my friends reactions since they had never cruised before. So much fun to see. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Extremely well done and balanced. I also enjoyed some of the brand you have taken in the past. Although some of my experience were a different then yours (we got off when you got on), much of it had to do with the friends that joined us. Thank you for your honest and fairness. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@FetaCheese First, thank you for asking. I will provide the link below. This post maybe deleted by the moderator because it focuses on another Board on CruiseCritic.com. I want anyone that sees this post to understand, I am simply providing a source of information per my good friend @FetaCheese . Below was revised in 2022 from the original topic done in 2019. The first post is the meat. Enjoy. Here you go.

@MEFIowa All great points, I will include below the NEW version #2 with pages #s. That was 100% my mistake. Your comments are excellent and those reading this stream will see your comments and make necessary's adjustment. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Cruise well and enjoy every moment. The Secrets of Elevating your Cruise Experience with Oceania Cruises_VER2.pdf

@miscstuff1 I cannot talk about Oceania Shore Excursions. We choose to do all our excursions on our own. Sorry. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Tsunami74 This might help you. It is from the Journey Document I made for our group. If you want clarification, feel free to ask. HOW TO UTILIZE YOUR BUTLER: • MENUS: Your “Grand Dining Room” menu is on your TV information area. The Specialty Restaurants Menus are in the suite, on the TV and you can download them off the Oceania Website. You MAY want to attempt to change your specialty restaurant booking that evening in the Specialty Restaurant based on “Grand Dining Room” menu. Make sure you can replace that reservation for another time that suits you before you cancel it. • COFFEE: Bring your morning coffee and pastries if you like, even from the illy™ Barista Coffee Bar. Always give your butler good instructions, a head up, and time to prepare. • RESERVATIONS: Assist in making or changing Specialty Restaurant reservations. Remember, “NO” guarantees especially on a sold-out cruise and that is why making those reservations pre-cruise as soon as you can, is important. NOTE: When I upgraded to a “Vista Suite”, I got eight (8) guaranteed specialty restaurant reservations. I will attempt to have the butler add Winkler’s on the second four (4) reservations. • IN-SUITE DINING: Serve you in-suite dining from ANY restaurant. The butler will do this course-by-course. Please give your butler a fair head up and only order from one restaurant to avoid confusion. • SWEET DREAMS™ PILLOW MENU: Gain the pillow you want from the Sweet Dreams™ Pillow menu and exchange it for the pillow on the bed. • AFTERNOON TEA IN YOUR SUITE: Oceania has Afternoon Tea daily in the Horizons Observation Lounge at 04:00 PM. You may choose to have a personalized Afternoon Tea in your suite. As with all uniquely special services, give the Butler a fair head-up. • AFTERNOON CANAPES: Provide you with your afternoon canapes based on your selections provided to them in the morning. It is a nice document you put on your door for your butler. NOTE: This seems great for a day or two then it can affect enjoyment of our dinner. You can tell the butler to skip it. • BUBBLE BATH: Draw you a bubble bath at a specific time. • ESCORT: Escort you to the main theatre shows, restaurants and events upon request. NOTE: A Butler is NOT your date. They take you to the location and drop you off. • LAUNDRY: Take care of your complementary laundry of three (3) bags of 20 items each or less. There is a three-day turnaround time for return. • SHOESHINE: Have a scuff on your shoes, give them to your butler. • PRESSING: You have up to three (3) days after embarkment to provide four (4) items per cabin for pressing. • PORT RESERVATIONS: Gains reservations even for port restaurants. • LUGGAGE: Unpack and pack your luggage. This is NOT something I have ever had done. Those that have had it done seem to enjoy it. NOTE: I do what is called a Butlers letter. It gives information to the butler on minor requests, so they don’t have to read our minds. I hope this give you what you asked for in your post. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Tsunami74 Download the document and look for Butlers. I have some bullet points I can post if you want more information. Just let me know. Learning about what a butler can and can not do is fun. Good butlers are hard to find. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@tobique33040 Cruising is an evolution of developing needs. I as well as many other read some of the negative reviews you read. My goal thought my planning process for over a year was to find out every downside I could, have a plan for it and make my first cruise with Oceania my best cruise with any brand. Control the controllable is only possible if you know some issues. This allows for "Realistic Expectations". When we are new to a brand, everything is exciting and new. The second cruise we are hopping more of the same but reality is, some things, some thing we really liked might change. Now multiply that by going on the same brand for 4-10 times. When a few things are different, you become disappointed. Please take that into consideration with your past experience on Viking as I do with my Past Experience on NCL Haven Cruises. Also, this gives you some of the reasons for past Oceania Faithful providing some tough love reviews. Human nature when you find something your really like and it changes. For my future, I booked another cruise for 10-days in the Mediterranean this time on the Oceania Vista. I choose a stateroom below both the staterooms I booked. Instead of attempting for the specialty restaurants for as many nights as I can get, I will be much more open to every dining venue. We will do more Afternoon Teas, get our coffee at the Barista every morning, and utilize the Executive or Concierge Lounge more often. Lots of other things that we will do differently. That is what cruising a brand does for you. Oceania is worthy of a try based my my experience. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@mantadiver Yes, I can't believe how long it has lasted. I did love my Oceania Cruise also and it also deserved similar attention. Thank you for the kind words. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Remember, when you leave your room, everyone is treated the same. The friends we went with Warren a penthouse. They were treated the same as we were. Cruise well, and enjoy every moment

Hello All: Years ago I got frustrated at what it took to learn about true details about some luxury purchases I was considering. The harder I looked, it became clear there was NO real resource and it frustrated me. All that was available was the marketing material which was never very clear. Why would anyone consider making a big purchase without know all you could know about the aspects of the product or service. This began my journey to drill down on the products I purchased. Whether it is a luxury car, VIP entrance to four day music festivals, high-end coffee machines or yes Cruise Brands. For each and other topics did a "Secrets" document. Now I will share this Oceania Cruise document with you. On CruiseCritic.com, I did my first "Secrets" document for the NCL board. I originally wrote it in 2019 and revised it in 2022. This topic was so popular that is as active as much today, as it was back in 2019. It is called, "The Secrets of the NCL Haven VIP Experience". The difference is with the NCL Haven thread I cut and pasted the HUGE document. In this thread I will approach this differently. I am giving you a download for a 38 page PDF document. It has a "Table of Contents" with page numbers in the beginning so you can pick and choose what you want to read. For those that want bullet point summary, here is, "What I Concluded About Oceania Cruises From My First Cruise On the Brand": • The best approach for me on a port intensive cruise when an All-Inclusive Cruise is NOT financially an option. • Much more reserved than a larger mega mainstream ship which is refreshing. • Fairly priced when you take the extra amenities into consideration. • No real nickel and diming or upsell which was a relief. • Food and dining are better than Mainstream cruise brands but not the best at sea. That I reserve for Crystal Cruises. Also, the Haven Dining Room is much better than the Grand Dining Room. Just my opinion and yes, it is subjective. • The staff are much better trained at anticipating guest needs. They also do well with a smile and positive reinforcement. • Butlers are REAL butlers who are very well trained, but you must know how to utilize them. • The amenities provided from Real Champagne, soft drinks in the suite complimentary are small things but make a huge different to me. • With a good strategy, getting on and off the ship was a breeze. This includes the last day. All you must do is let the first wave do their thing. • Main Theatre Entertainment is NOT great which was expected. Pick and choose your type of show with a positive emphasis on the guest artist. The small venues suited my group and I best. • Not that many bars/lounges, however, they were always well staffed, and rarely crowded where you could not find a seat. My favorite was Martini’s. • There are still folks that hold seats in the Theatre, Pool Lounge Chairs, and other venues. There are still folks that have no manners on a buffet or at a bar. There are still folks that don’t understand what Country Club Casual means. However, far less than I have experience in the past and did not affect our enjoyment at all. • The final point is, we as a group booked another 10-day cruise with the blessing of my wife who had a GREAT Time. That says it all for me. When a new guest books another cruise, it is the conclusion most folks want to hear to support a good time was had by all. If you have a question, ask it and I will do my best to get back with you. "Cruise well and enjoy every moment." The Secrets of Elevating your Cruise Experience with Oceania Cruises.pdf

@tobique33040 Hello. I have taken 30+ cruises. My last many on NCL in the Haven or Celebrity in the Retreat. I just got off the Oceania Riviera for a 10 day Mediterranean Cruise with my lovely wife and best friends. It was our first Oceania Cruise ever. I did a live blog and a review that was just published under reviews. That said, ask me anything you like that you are concerned about and as a brand new Oceania Guest, I will answer transparently. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@FetaCheese I don't know about the quiet sales. All I know about and asked about are the sales that happen from time to time. Like the four category upgrade or the sale last year, the Extraordinary sales event. That is all I am hoping for. I just wanted to know, if those happened, would be fare be reduced or would I receive an upgrade. The answer was yes, so that is ok with me. Thanks for asking and how we cruise together soon. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

The haven is a thread on the NCL board on cruise critic. It’s called the secrets of the NCL haven VIP experience. There are two versions. It was updated a year and a half ago. I did another document which has not been posted and I will post as a PDF next week. That will not be about the NCL haven it will be about the secrets of the Oceana cruising VIP experience. Where with the haven I put all the words and details in the post, for Oceana I will put the PDF because it’s such a large document. I hope that clarifies and thank you for asking. Cruise well and enjoy every moment

Thank you everyone for your kind words and responses to my reviews both live and after the fact. If you have any specific question, feel free to ask them. I will respond if you put @Sthrngary at the being of your question. I am finalizing a posting similar to the one I did the the NCL Haven. Instead of cutting and pasting it, I will put an attachment on the new topic with the PDF for download. It is Long, really long and the PDF has a Table of Contents to go to the spot that would suit the reader best. I call it, "The Secrets of Cruising Oceania Cruises" Similar in name and content to what I did for the NCL Haven 5 years ago. The stream is as active today as when it was posted. I hope everyone likes it. It is based on what I want to know if I am considering Oceania. I will make some mistakes but I know the Oceania Faithful will correct me which is important to keep accuracy. Thanks to everyone again, signing off this topic for now. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Because I did book a future cruise last week onboard, I saved the document. I will Attach it to this posting. I choose a cruise in October of 2025. For that cruise, there was a early booking savings of 5% which everyone had access to online. In addition, I booked a Concierge Stateroom which gave me $400.00 more dollars off. The bonus was $250.00 of OBC for the cruise I was on or the cruise I booked. I took the cruise in the future because if I cancel the cruise completely, I would owe $250 back if I spend it now. As I understand it, I can change the sailing, date and ship once at no charge. I can get better pricing if it becomes available from sails based on the best price Guarantee with no penalty. The deposit was $250 a person for a total of $500.00 per stateroom. If I upgrade to a Penthouse, my extra discount as it shows on the document goes from $400, to $600. HOWEVER, if you cancel, even five minutes after you paid your deposit, you have a $150.00 fee. When it was being finalized, they used my travel agent which also gave me complementary gratuities through her agency. HOWEVER, you could not ALSO get the American Express Platinum Perk of $300 OBC with the gratuities. The Gratuities was the better deal so that is what I took. I stated that wrong on a previous post so I am correcting myself. The game now is catch a sale if it shows up. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Twiga Thank you for your kind words. My goal was to give insight for those in the future to enhance their cruise experience. I know it is not "Word Salad". More like "Cesar Salad" made table side. Thanks again, I enjoyed the process. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@edgee You maybe right. My agent was on a Virgin Cruise when she got my paper work so i will confirm on Monday. If they are not combinable, it would seem the gratuities would be the way to go. Thanks for pointing that out. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@MEFIowa Well hello friend. I enjoyed meeting you and your lovely bride on the sailing. Love our conversations also. So sorry about the covid-19 your bride caught. Please keep us updated on her recovery. You sir taught me a lot. Every port I would buy my wife a bottle of two of wine for the stateroom. I, like you find this fun and yes even a "Sport" of sorts. Thanks for the idea and approach. It made a difference. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.