taiwan_girl

😅 LOL @Opinica. (Tried rotating the picture upside down on my computer and it was still upside down on this thread. So, I will agree and say that it is for the benefit of those south of the equator. LOL)

Agree. We did the Journey to Antiquities this past Christmas/New Year. Weather was good (windbreaker type weather) and crowds were not bad all. We spent an extra three days in Rome at the end of the cruise, and it was pretty crowded but we were told that crowds are normal in Rome in and around Christmas. Below were the crowds at the Acropolis in late December

Second the recommendation of the Taj. Staying in the old wing is a treat. Oberoi is another very nice hotel in Mumbai.

We were on the same cruise a year ago. First (and so far only 😞 ) Oceania cruise. Really liked it. We were before Simply More so did not do any Oceania excursions - any excursions we did on our own. We had ocean view rooms. Verandah would have been nice, but had 4 cabins among the family, so was a stretch for even those. LOL Weather was fantastic, which I am sure helped with the enjoyment of the cruise. Bartistas was the morning meeting place for us and the kids. All in all, I think you will really enjoy it!!

My analogy is that the mass market cruise lines are like flying economy. Premium cruise lines (e.g. Oceania) is like flying business class Luxury cruise lines are like flying first class To me, a significant jump going from economy to business but a much smaller jump to go from business to first class. On the airline side, the difference between economy/business can be worth the price. Not so much to go from business --> first. Similar to cruise lines. (I should note that I have quite a bit of experience in flying the different classes of airline seats, but have never cruised with a luxury cruise line LOL))

Another poster (cant find that post or thread) indicated that Vista was built in a modular style, with each cabin built off ship and then "plopped" into place. For the older ships, cabins were build on site, which made it easier to increase/control the soundproofing between cabins.

My opinion (for what its worth) is that if this a bucket list trip, and you can afford it by getting a penthouse room and will not have to scrimp in another area of your life, I would go for that. (Please note that my comment is coming from someone who has never stayed in a penthouse room! LOL)

Having lived in BKK, the Thai massages are something that I really really liked - still about $10 in town, surprisingly no increase from pre-COVID times.

I agree. Our one (so far) cruise on Oceania was on Regatta to Alaska and we (3 generation family of 8 ) absolutely loved it. Took a cruise this past Christmas/New Year on Viking with the same group, and while it also was very nice, we all thought Oceania was just a bit better.

We took a recent Viking cruise over the holidays - 4 YA kids (late teens to early 20's) 2 middle age, and 2 seniors. Every body had a good time. As others mentioned, excursions were variable, but we enjoyed the vast majority of them that were provided by Viking, with the seniors taking more the leisurely ones most of the time. There isn't a whole lot of late night activities, but Torshaven always had a fairly good crowd and it was where the Star Theater performers would end up and continue entertaining there on most nights. Would definitely take another cruise with Viking.

Just curious. Who (or what) would charter such a large boat? Would it be something like a corporate cruise or one for travel agents?

We did the Journey to Antiquities at the end of this past Dec. Weather was great. Generally 50's during the day. Night were in the 40's. Fortunately, did not have any rain. T-shirt, long sleeve sport shirt and a windbreaker was sufficient for us.

Pretty quiet as others have said. The house band moves over to Torshavn after the show in the Star Theater, and often, some of the singers perform there as well. Our four young adult kids had fun, as did we, but a Viking ship is definitely not a place for late night carousing. I thought the shows were good, but we had pretty clear expectations before getting aboard.

But why book guarantee vs. available. It seems there is no price incentive, and you are not able to pick a cabin.

So what is the purpose of booking a room via GUARANTEE? Is it just the hope that you will be upgraded to a better category?

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated!! Another quick question. What does "GUARANTEE" mean? I see that listed, and categories below that level are still available, and the GUARANTEE cabin level does not seem to be a bargain on the money side. Is booking as a GUARANTEE save money somehow?

We are looking at an upcoming cruise that would be our four young adult kids, husband and me, plus two seniors, So looking at 4 cabins. The only way we could make this work money wise is to have at least 2 inside cabins. Currently all inside cabins and oceanview are showing up as waitlisted, Not quite sure how waitlisting works. What happens if only one or none of the waitlisted cabins clears? We obviously would not leave anyone behind on the trip, and also would not want to pay the additional $'s for a higher level cabin. How soon before there would be an answer on the waitlisted cabins? I would hate to be beyond the refund date for cabins that we paid for, and then find out waitlisted cabins did not clear. Kind of all or nothing. LOL Need four cabins or zero. If the only way to make this a sure thing is to purchase 4 cabins that are available (currently veranda and above), then it probably won't work for us. The cruise we are looking at is Dec/Jan of this coming year. We have done one previous Oceania cruise (on the Regatta) with the same family grouping and absolutely 100% loved everything about it (except for the small bathroom LOL), so would like to do another one if possible. One other question - there is a possiblitily one of the kids may not be able to go, so what is the solo passenger charge? 2x individual charge or less than that? (There are no solo cabins on the Riviera, which the cruise we are looking at.) (I know I should talk to Oceania also, but this is quite a good forum board, so any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!!)

We were told it could be done, but only while in port. While the ship was moving, the "door" between balconies had to be closed.

We recently got off in Rome (on a Viking cruise). I had looked ahead of time for transport into the city, but was not able to book anything. Maybe just pure luck, but we talked to the people inside the "terminal" and they immediately called someone to come and take us. They said that there are certain companies that are allowed inside the port gates and they called one of them. We had 8 people + luggage and they came in a mid Mercedes van. Didn't have to wait long at all. We were staying very close to Vatican City, and on a Friday morning, it only took between 60-90 minutes. Did not seem like traffic was very bad at all.

That is too bad. We were on Regatta and they had two Concept 2 machines, both in good shape. I assumed (I know what happens when you assume. LOL) that since this was their smallest ship, others would at least be equivalent.

I am pretty sure that all the Oceania ships have at least two Concept 2 rowing machines in their fitness centers.

Close to there is the statue of Hachiko, which was the dog that went to the train station everyday to wait for his master, even though the owner had passed away. Made into a US movie starting Richard Gere.

I will give my comparison of the two companies, as we have now done a cruise on each. Some background, the Oceania cruise was about 1.5 years ago, and the Viking cruise we just finished. Both cruises were the same party of 8: 4 "kids" (late teens to mid 20's, 2 middle age adults and 2 seniors. So, we had 4 cabins each time. Pre- Cruise: Oceania did a better job of treating our 4 cabins as a single booking. Viking seemed to treat it as 4 separate bookings. We had flights done by the cruise lines, and Oceania made sure that from the beginning, we were all on the same flights etc. With Viking, it was a bit more of a hassle. Eventually worked out, but took a bit more work. Same situation for dining at the specialty restaurants. Precruise, we could not reserve a table of 8 in either restaurant. Talked with our Viking agent and he tried but was unsuccessful and told us to check once we boarded. We did that, and was told that there were no reservations available at one of the restaurants for a party of eight or even 2x4 people. We eventually were able to get the private dining room at both restaurants so it worked out, but still a bit of a hassle. No issues with either cruise company regarding Flights and airport transfer to ship. Staff: Great on both ships. Both were high quality and once we found our "favorites" at the various locations, they remembered us and our preferences. Rooms: We were on the smaller Oceanic ship (Regatta) and in one of the lower level rooms, so it was a big difference in quality of the bathroom. Viking was much better. Seem to remember that the room size was about the same in both ships, and were big enough for our needs. Food: Thought that Oceania was better overall. Had pretty high expectations of Viking, and while it was not bad, advantage to Oceania. We thought that the hours of operation on Viking were pretty short at restaurants like the buffet, etc. Wished they would have been open longer. Excursions: We were on Oceania prior the "Simply More", and booked excursions on our own at every port so no experience with Oceania excursions. With Viking, took included and also paid for one, and did one on our own. Because the ports are so different, hard to make a comparison, but the ones were took on Viking were pretty good, so no complaints. Spa: Definitely Viking is much better. The Nordic spa was a lot fun. First time ever doing the hot-cold-hot etc Entertainment: Equal. For the size of the ship, I though that the quality was quite good on both, whether it was shows in the theater, the classic duos, pianist, lectures, etc.. Definitely met expectations. Overall, would give a slight advantage to Oceania, but would definitely be willing to travel on either one again, and hopefully will be able to soon. LOL

Just got off the Viking Venus, and yes, there is a table up on the sport deck. Never saw it being used, and I think it would be difficult to play if the ship was in motion.

We recently finished the Viking Venus Athens to Rome, and had a chance to speak with the captain. Our four kids were with us (late teens to mid 20's) and the captain commented that there were quite a few younger demographic on the cruise. I agreed, as it was more than I had anticipated. Did not see any really problems with the dress code, though I did notice that the staff at the main dining room did make one gentleman remove his baseball hat before entering. (Also, Viking did enforce the no drinking unless 21 or older. LOL. Even though in European waters the whole cruise. Not a big deal for my daughter as she really doesn't drink, but it was funny that they knew who she was when we first sat down and that she was underage.)