tiller

I'm most concerned about the comments on the food. For what Oceania costs, I want to be wowed and it sounds like there are a lot of cutbacks on Sirena. I feel like my first Oceania cruise should have been on a real Oceania ship, not a refurbishment. We'll see if there's any improvement by December but I'm starting to get very worried. :(

Also, I've been on plenty of mass-market cruises and have never had water cannons shot at me. If that happens, I'm marching straight down to reception and giving them a piece of my mind. This cruise costs too much to put up with that crap.

I live in San Diego, so some people wear sandals year-round (for me, it's mostly April through October). And I agree that pictures would be great. That is, picture of actual passengers, not Oceania brochure models.

When they mean sandals aren't allowed, do they mean flip-flops or sandals you'd wear by the pool? What about wedge sandals?

I hope everything is in "shipshape" by the time I'm on Sirena in December! It sounds like Princess didn't bother doing refurbishments once they knew the ship would be sold, which is a shame.

Is the bistro also open on port days?

Thank you for the info! I agree that people shouldn't be placing arms or hands underneath the glass guards, but pointing may be necessary to clarify a request if there's noise or other communication problems, or if similar items are available (e.g., two types of beans or cherry tomatoes and diced tomatoes).

My mom and I are going to be sailing on the Sirena out of Los Angeles in December, and I have a couple questions about lunch in the dining room and the buffet. This will be our first time on Oceania.

1. In the dining room, is the lunch menu exclusively what's on the Jacques Bistro menu, or are there other items besides? Much of what I've seen on the JB menu is heavier than my normal lunch.

2. My understanding of Oceania's buffet is that it's cafeteria-style, in that you don't serve yourself. Is this also the case for the salad bar--do you just point at the vegetables you want?

Thank you!

Hi, was just on it. Still the Passport Bar and no World Bar either.

Thank you! That makes things easier.

What is the currency used for onboard purchases on the Solstice? Is it Australian dollars for cruises that leave from Sydney? What about onboard credit--is that in Australian dollars or in the passenger's currency?

Thank you so much for posting this review. My mom and I will be on the Solstice on February 2, and this is the most detailed writeup I've seen.

Slightly disappointing that there's a charge for the yogurt sundaes at the Aqua Spa. Would you happen to know if the smoothies and juices there are covered under the Classic drink package?

Lobster is only off the menu for the short her cruises. The scallop appetizer was very good on the Inspiration. The ravioli entree was also good if you like vodka sauce.

On the five-day Triumph cruise I was just on, we didn't have the ravioli or scallops. I don't know why it was a different Elegant night menu.

I was on the Carnival Triumph on the New Year's Eve cruise with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law. While I enjoyed the cruise overall, there was definitely elements that could use some improving.

First, the embarkation was the worst I've experienced. I understand that the cruise prior to ours came in late and that may have exacerbated the issue, but by and large the port employees were very unhelpful and didn't make it clear what lines to be in. When my mom and I were called up to the registration desk to check in, the clerk wasn't ready for us yet as there were people in front of us. Then another employee yelled at us to move, even though I was waiting for my mom and had both our Sail and Sign cards.

Things were better once we got on the ship, with our cabins being ready as soon as we got there. We had Guy's Burgers for lunch. My first time, as the Carnival ships I've been on prior did not have them. Really liked them, had them a second time.

Overall, I thought the food was very good. I especially liked Blue Iguana's breakfast offerings. However, both the breakfast and lunch buffets need an upgrade. The lunch buffet does not offer enough cold options--too much hot and heavy food, while the breakfast buffet needs more variety of pastries. I think we had danishes, plain croissants, and banana bread each day.

I enjoyed most of the food in the dining room. We had Your Time dining and only had to wait 1 night to be seated, when we wanted to eat at 7. It was closer to 7:30 by the time we got our table and unfortunately that meal was rushed because we wanted to see the 9 p.m. show. I really enjoyed the warm date and fig pudding, the ox tongue appetizer, the Indian vegetarian, and the iced lychee soup, among other dishes. We had one waiter three of the five nights, Elmer, who was very good.

Also had the Sea Day brunch. I liked the Honey Nut Cheerios-crusted French toast but it was too much to finish.

The entertainment was pretty good. The Big Easy show was cancelled due to weather but the Wonderful World show had some of the best dancing I've ever seen on a cruise. Tommy Drake was very funny, both in the family show we saw the last night and on Liar's Club. However, Mark Binnick the illusionist was very disappointing. I liked the tricks he did with audience members, but all the half-dressed dancers added nothing and he was also somewhat tasteless during Liar's Club. We went to the piano bar the first night but the acoustics weren't very good. Piano bars should not be that loud.

Oddly, there was very little evening entertainment on December 30. I guess Carnival was prepping for New Year's Eve.

Now the two major complaints: trivia and dinner dress. Putting trivia in a lobby bar outside the casino, when there are so many available lounges, is a horrible idea. My sister-in-law has asthma and could not bear the smoke. Plus, it was noisy and the foot traffic made it hard to hear the questions.

As for dinner, most people looked nice on Elegant night, but a lot of people couldn't even meet Carnival's very lax Cruise Casual dress code. It's disrespectful to the hard work by the kitchen and wait staff.

Debarkation was the opposite of embarkation. It was a very smooth process, and my mom and I were at Hobby by 10 a.m. for our 1:30 p.m. flight. That flight wound up leaving an hour late because of the world's slowest baggage loaders, but we made our connection through Vegas and got home on time.

Lastly, I thought the Triumph was in good shape. Our cabins's A/C worked fine, and even though we were above the nightclub, we never heard anything at night.

Like I said, it was a good cruise overall but there are definitely things Carnival should fix.

How did embarkation go for y'all? Were you allowed in the terminal close to your assigned times?

 

Embarkation was a mess. We had the pre-cruise transfer from the airport but didn't arrive at the port until 12:30. We had an assigned time of 12:00 to 12:30 but it was not made clear what line we should be in. Eventually a port employee let us get in front of some people. I don't know if it was because of the debarkation problems before our cruise, but it was the worst embarkation process I have gone through.

I was also on the Triumph cruise that just got back today, with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law. Was wondering why there were so many people waiting outside the port when we embarked on Monday, now we know why there was a delay.

FWIW, my mom and I were in cabin 6376 and had no problem with our A/C. If anything, it was too cold at times. Agree that the ocean on Friday was the roughest we've experienced in a long time.

Looking at what's offered in the Standard package, I'd rather purchase the Classic Non-Alcoholic for $27 less per day and use the savings on 2 to 3 cocktails/glasses of wine of my choice.

I'll be on the Solstice in February with the Classic Alcohol perk. We'll have to see what that actually includes by then.

I saw Fondues advertised on the Star 11/25 cruise. Hadn't heard of it before. Had I been on a cruise longer than 4 nights, I would have liked to try it. But 4 days isn't enough time to eat everything!

Will be trying this new setup for the December 28 Triumph cruise. Hope the signage is better by then, since unclear/inadequate signs are a pet peeve of mine.

My mom and I are taking the Star Princess Thanksgiving cruise, and we'll need 2 bags each. Granted, they're smaller bags--the ones I plan are using are each carry-on size. But even for 4 days, there are clothes for dinner, and all the toiletries, and shoes. I admire people who can take one bag for cruises, but that'll never be me.

Funny. I was on my way to work one day and to my horror, I had grabbed the wrong suit jacket. Mismatched sox are bad enough. Mismatched suits are intolerable.:p In today's world many would not notice the discrepancy, but I returned home quickly and made the change.

 

Actually, tuxes are not properly worn prior to 6PM. At least that's what I was told way back when. It also explains the tux brand After Six

I can't resist. From 30 Rock:

Liz Lemon: Why are you wearing a tux?

Jack: It's after six. What am I, a farmer?

I was able to log in this morning. Fingers crossed it stays that way. My mom has also been able to recently, so perhaps it will get better for everyone.

Now my reservation isn't even appearing when I sign in--my mom tried as well and the same result. Can't even add the reservation back in.

Celebrity is giving me a horrible first impression. If they're too stupid to operate a website, how can I trust that they will provide a safe cruise? What exactly are we paying for?

Thanks! Lots of helpful info.

My mom and I will be on the Solstice in February and wanted to explore Melbourne and Dunedin on our own. Does Celebrity operate any shuttles, or sell tickets to shuttles, that would take us from the pier to downtown?

I'm booked on the February 2 cruise, and my current work around for viewing the itinerary is by going to the Vacations to Go website. Even though the cruise is sold out, it still shows up in my search results.