Waltershipman

While on the Vista in February i attempted to book EJ for January of next year. When I had my TA call EJ he was told that the discount had just been reduced to 15% off and even though I was a repeat passenger they would not offer the larger discount. I was disappointed but did not book it as I was one day late. Seems like a poor business plan. Otherwise EJ is great

EJ at 400 pp is great

High tea is lovely and the strings played very peaceful and beautiful

Thanks Hank i always appreciate your thoughtful comments and your years of extensive cruising. I totally understand what you are saying particularly given both of our recent cruises on EJ and Vista. I have been hopeful that you will love everything about O and Vista. I am not sure exactly what it was but we found something slightly missing on Vista that I still cant quite pin point. It may have been more crowded than I prefer but its possible that as I digest your comments I will be able to het mire clarity. If course it did not help that we got Covid when we got off the ship. Im looking at our next cruise experience which is as yet unknown Enjoying your posts and the gift that we were able to cruise on the same ships and meet each other All the best David aka Waltershipman

When we are at Polo Grill in February we were told the whole Maine lobster had been frozen. While surprised as I dont recall ever eating frozen whole Maine lobster it was nevertheless enjoyed. The foie gras was spectacular

Call O directly which should be sufficient Happy sailing

We found in February in Carribean full ship that GDR with excellent service and no issues getting 2 tops we specifically requested to dine in a quiet part of restaurant. It made a differnce for while the room is beautiful it can get noisy and a bit crowded. Dinner at Terrace was crowded obtaining the grilled dishes.The main pool area felt crowded. I think it might be difficult to get the same waiter every night however you can request the same area to dine and will likeky have the same servers. We did love that and became very fond of several including Jimmy. I reccomend if you want a two top to ask for the small booths which seem to be in quiet areas. Overall I thought the ship felt a bit crowded A reccomended approach i found on CC was to ho and book a specialty restaurant the 1st night. Even servers agree as 1st night in GDR will be busy busy busy. Enjoy

Hank forgot to mention the lobster salad at Red Ginger was an unexpected treat and very unique Be well enjoy

We enjoyed the lobster at Polo Grill

Absolutely great to hear

Great info particularly in comparison to SS and SB thanks

I got it 4 days later not particularly a good experience even though fully vaccinated. I noticed on Vista when entering or leaving the forward elevators one is in a very narrow area that usually results in face to face contact Be well heal ENJOY

My DW tested positive the day we disembarked Feb 11

Wow great to hear yiu love it. Enjoy

When we cruised in February on Vista we were not aware that excursions could be booked way far in advance and long before we booked. As a result manynif the excursions we wanted were unavailable They do need to fix and either refund ir find more room on excursions

Great to have your observations Remember the little mark on mirror in barhroom will dim or brighten the light which is good for nights Our cabin steward did not know that until we told him Enjoy have fun

My only issue from our 11 night cruise in February was that the dinner buffet at Terrace was unorganized with a hap hazard delivery of grilled food. People were reaching over each other to grab the chef's attention. Service was great

Thanks Paul good info

We found the specialty restaurants to be overall very good. The Terrace Cafe at dinner was very busy and abit unorganized in food service. At other meals Terrace was fine. Waves was very good and i ate lobster sandwiches many days and they delivered my food to the back of the Ship at Terrace. Embers good and enjoyable. Polo Grill excellent Red Ginger superb. GDR beautiful and service great. Food good but specialty restaurants better. Enjoy your cruise I look forward to your observations

We were fortunate enough to have sailed on EJ when multiple Steinway virtuoso piano artists were on board performing. It was truly fantastic and entertaining. They combined artistry wit and humor

While having Covid was less than pleasant we are vaxed to the max and got through ok we layed low. It was our 1st covid experience We too are searching for our next favorite cruise line. Explora Journeys is very high on list even with their back of house issues Happy cruise and hope to see you again

Wishing you a great cruise look forward to your observations we sailed in February

We enjoyed Embers while on board

Thanks Hank We sailed on the 1st group of R ships with Renaissance early in its existance. There were problems with their execution of business plan as we flew to And back from the cruise to Europe on charter flights with all passengers. It was very interesting as on the way to the cruise the fellow passengers were friendly and nice however on the return flight people were absolutely nasty. In addition the beds were terrible. Otherwise enjoyed. Since that time we have sailed on R ships with Azamara and had a fantastic cruise experience and twice on R ships with O. Cabins are indeed small. The most recent cruise on Sirena an R ship we booked a PH and that made a ton of difference to the positive.

Vista specialty dining on line availability does change up until near sailing. We found a 2 top several days before reservation cut off at a great time that had been previously unavailable. We prefer 2 tops however on the 2 occasions we ate with other couples we found the company delightful. In one case while at Embers which we enjoyed we shared a table with a couple and the husband was 90 who still works 3 days a week. We enjoyed so much that we met the next day in Barbados at Lobster Alive for lunch and enjoyed 2 lb lobster in a fun place with live music. In addition the head maitre d at eacj venue will try to grant requests if possible.