Pizzasteve

Hi. I noticed the amazing prices for the full trip. Wondered if anyone knows why the price per day is about half if you leave from Italy, vs where we join in Madeira. Our deal is still good, but for a decent balcony room it was about $35 per day (though i think this one may be obstructed) vs $78 per day (basic not obstructed balcony). Those were basic cruise without any perks.

Apology if I took thread off topic. We are new to MSC this fall and I will want an IPA category beer or two onboard, so interested in ongoing advice. It suprised me to read that none are commonly available.

Try it? Did you even read my post where I said I’ve drunk it many times, including at Lagunitas Brewery where it is clearly called an IPA. I also helpfully provided a link to a detailed description. You are the only person I’ve ever ‘met’ who didn’t consider it in that category, at least for a casual beer drinker. And in the context of this thread, someone wanting a hopped IPA like beer on a cruise ship, your comment saying it isn’t an IPA was quite misleading. For the record I really like this beer, assuming it is fresh and not incorrectly stored. It is very odd that you feel the need to comment in a way that is distracting and not constructive to the discussion. At worst you should have said it is not ‘technically’ an IPA but drinks like one. The OP title clearly says ’or other high IBU ales.’

What do you consider it then? Beer advocate calls it an IPA, and having visited the brewery many times and also bought it frequently, I would agree. I guess technically since it isnt brewed in India specifically? I might try contacting MSC and requesting that an IPA style be available prior to the cruise. It might help. https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/220/49789/

What about on a ship that doesn’t offer taught club. Is there a equivalent?

Ironically the first 3 days there was a door issue where door wasn’t closing fully and it was soft. They ‘fixed it’ and it started slamming (saw the engineers working). For me it is not a big deal if the non concierge class folks come get coffee, so we preferred the soft closing door. Hopefully it’s an adjustment they get perfect.

Sorry if that came off as aimed at you. The early am doors closing wake up’s are still fresh. Some insomnia sufferers decide to hang out there at 2-3am. Sometimes it was ship staff sneaking a coffee late night shift.

Well remember that someone may be sleeping immediately next to the door if you visit at 3am and let the door close on its own. Many people are not hard of hearing and enjoy sleeping. It’s a lovely room and super convenient for coffee if you are a heavy sleeper and don’t mind the door. We actually changed rooms due to the stabilizer vibration (it is forward and I think right at stabilizer (or at least waves hit us a particular way on our north western Mediterranean angle toward Italy.

I guess we were onboard together. Agree. It is a bit of a ‘feature’ that thinner Italian style pizzas cool faster, so highly recommend sitting by the pizza ovens and eating there vs relying on staff to bring it too your table, where delays hurt the end product.

Aquamar was also really nice for some lighter fare with good quality ingredients. Smoothies, poke bowl, avocado toast variants for breakfast. Very nice. Main dining and new casual specialty were disappointing, with a few exceptions.

Just stayed in 9020. May want to avoid it and the cabin immediately opposite if sensitive to noise. The concierge lounge entry is directly across the door (not sure why they aligned them) and there is some strong vibration when certain wave angles are hit. People tend to enter lounge at all hours and slam the door with their hands full off coffee at 5 am and talk loudly outside the door despite posted hours.

Off topic, but spoke with pizza chefs last night hon Vista and they have reformulated the dough recipe and also new ovens with ceramic decks. As a certified Pizzaiolo in classic Italian, I can say that the Pizza at night in Waves is dramatically improved. The chef said that the equipment and chefs are being trained in other ships (Marina and Riviera) by an Italian expert as well. Really good top level results. So there is commitment to improving baking ongoing. My photos aren’t great but I did take a few and will try to get better ones in.

Sadly our party of 8 pre booked La Prive reservations were ‘moved for a private party and would we care to reschedule for another night’ (one that conflicts with our other plans) so sadly we won’t be sharing photos and a review. Very disappointing that a milestone anniversary celebration was ‘bumped’ for someone or a group considered more important than us. If you book in advance with the shore staff I highly recommend that you ask for and receive a confirmation in writing for the exact date and party size, as I was told onboard staff get the information only a few days ahead and currently they don’t tell you when you board if they’ve moved or changed your reservation ’for you’. So confirm when you board as well with the resv desk. They don’t proactively contact you (or they didn’t with us, though it’s day 3 in).

Excellent lunch of salmon on quinoa and poke bowl at Aquamar today has renewed my hope for culinary pleasure onboard. Highly recommend replacing the cookie with these healthy lunch options.

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On Vista now if there are specific requests I can track down. Parents are in a suite and we are in 9th floor a concierge level veranda balcony room. I will say about the drawers next to the bed that they are very shallow, so I am finding not much stacked clothing fits. Not a game wrecker, but I wish they were deeper as it doesn’t take much for them not to close all the way. Pretty limited for clothes there.

Just boarded Vista and have to agree. Cookies not worth eating. Also learned that there is no Jacques, one of the reasons I preferred Oceania. Loving the new ship, but the differentiator of Oceania as the finest food at sea seems hard to support. Good solid food, but similar to our recent Azamara.

Great post. Shared with my family.

I think we are on the same cruise. We booked a private set of tours for about the Oceania price for the group tour (for the three days in Isreal). Will be really unhappy if a port time change limits our excursion or delays our departure disembarking. Trying not to be negative though a lot of $ tied up already on this booking.

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Had really good value recently. Staff are amazingly kind. Effort to support diversity in food and Ive been told 'ethnic groups' amkng are passengers treated with equal respect, whereas on some other lines I have heard complaints otherwise.

We may be on the same cruise. Hope we can share a glass of Pinot. Has anyone sent a link to this thread to Oceana mgmt? On my Regent cruise last year i sat in the hot tub with a guy who was scheduled for a lunch with a Board member of the parent and he got a poor paswenger experience escallated when we discussed it while soaking. We should share the brand damage message, but i will personally wait until our Vista cruise. Lots of changes and I am done with NCL.

Just to be clear we’ve very much enjoyed our recent Oceana and Regent cruises, though they were Transatlantic ones and more for food and seas days than ports.

Just to throw a counter story into the mix, we were on a recent Azamara transatlantic and due to bad seas, the captain received permission to go south instead of north, and during a talk he explained it would cost almost $200-300k in additional fuel to keep us warm and in calm seas. The ship had only 300ish passengers, so they spent almost half of what we paid for the cruise extra (we got an amazing deal) to keep us comfortable $1000pp (though he said crew safety and comfort was also a factor). The food was also very good, though a bit below Oceana. Will be rating our very expensive summer cruise in June on Oceana's newest ship vs this pretty great Azamara experience. That said, the prices we got arent there anymore either. I guess it can even out, but I hung out with the captains wife and it helped that a new management team with some flexibility wanting to build the brand was approving the expense. NCL should not be resting on laurels of loyalty...we will see. Makes me wonder who is calling the shots.

Hope Oceana management reads this thread and stops. My family are spending like $50k for an upcoming holy land cruise this summer. If the stops are reduced Oceana which was becoming my preferred line will lose our business and I will cancel our later booked Regent cruise.