DrHemlock

It's a simple typo, probably caused by auto-fill, but I can't resist: Brood Coffee is just the thing when you're having a bad day -- the more bitter, the better -- though perhaps less appreciated when it accompanies room service breakfast before the day has even begun. Oh well...as Joe E. Brown said at the end of Some Like It Hot, "Nobody's perfect!"

Here's a different link than the one posted by KS&JW on previous page: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/tropics-and-exotics-cruises?sfmc=EM_56805559. It arrived as an email from Oceania on Wednesday morning, and it features a rather significant and frustrating editorial error. Clicking on the link takes one to the page titled: "New 2025-2026 Tropics & Exotics Collection." Scroll about halfway down the page to the section labeled: "New & Boutique Ports." Click on the box within that section labeled: "Featured Ports." An assortment of ten interesting photos and descriptions of ports (mostly new to us) is then revealed, beginning with Dravuni Island, Fiji. Looks great, but here's the thing: Every second port description is the same text verbatim as the one preceding it. Thus, the description for Haikou, China, is exactly the same as for Dravuni Island, Fiji. Photos are different but text is the same. Ditto the descriptions for Alofi, Nieu and Kanazawa, Japan. Ditto for Ko Kood, Thailand, and Toamasina, Madagascar.....and so forth right down the line. When this email first arrived as a preview on April 10th, I immediately notified my well-connected TA (whom many of you know) that she needed to alert Oceania regarding this rather blatant slip-up so it could be corrected before the finalized brochure was released. I never heard a word back from her other than that she had received my message. As you can see, the erroneous copy was never corrected. Either Oceania's editorial eyes don't recognize the problem, or they just don't care. Pretty poor marketing, IMO.

I stand doubly-corrected. Wrong about nonexistence of signature drinks for individual ships and wrong about the apparently now-discontinued Drink of the Day. That's what I get for always sitting at the bar and ordering the standard stuff I like without benefit of having checked the drinks menu. Mea culpa! That said, all the Signature drinks on the menu above (including Big O) would be too fruity for my taste (not to mention too expensive if 2-4-1 does not apply), so no great loss. YMMV, of course. Signature or non-Signature.....Happy Happy Hour to all! It's worth the price of admission.

Do you mean "signature" as in unique to that specific ship? Not to our knowledge, and we've sailed all but the newest A-class ships. That said, there is usually a "cocktail of the day" with a slightly reduced price listed in Currents and available in all bars. Sometimes it's good, sometimes less so, depending upon one's taste. There's always the Big O Martini available in all bars on all ships all the time. Never tried one myself because I like my martini with specific gin, dryness, etc., but Big O must be at least okay because it's been around since we started cruising with O, meaning somebody's ordering 'em!

There is no wait staff for drinks in the library because...well...it's a library: a contemplative place filled with books for browsing or reading (or sometimes napping) in a quiet environment. Of course, you can grab drinks at one of the bars (e.g., Martinis) and take them to the library for pre-dinner socializing, and no one is likely to make an issue of it. However, you likely will not be appreciated by your fellow passengers who might be visiting the library for the traditional reasons. Anyway, there's no need to go "all the way up to the lounge" when Martinis is positioned on a lower deck towards the rear of the ship.

Well, shiver me timbers! I'd have noted the same thing as WESTEAST above since Rouen is definitely inland and basically a river-cruise port. But CruiseMapper's schedule for October (https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/rouen-port-3937?month=2024-10#schedule) shows Sirena docking in Rouen as the OP posted. Still, as others have written, a day trip from there to Paris is risky. Besides, Rouen's a beautiful, atmospheric city with a cathedral as spectacular as you'll find anywhere. I can even recommend a great place for lunch if you're so inclined.

Take a look at https://gowithguide.com/s?country=japan&t=tours&page=3. We were on Insignia and had good luck with them. Better than "Tours by Locals" (usually good but always expensive) in our opinion.

We always choose 7000 or 7001 when available, though we have also sailed in 6001 when the deck 7 cabins were already taken. As you surmise, the "Captain's view" from the forward-facing cabins is worth the price of admission, regardless whether on deck 6 or deck 7. Yes, there's more motion of the ocean than amidships and there can be some (or many) "kabooms" in vigorous seas. But we're not bothered by that so, if you're not either, then you needn't worry. After all, a lot of pax pay big bucks for the Vista suites immediately adjacent, so how bad can it be? The theater is a different matter. In 6001, we could definitely hear show rehearsals from below on afternoons in port or during calm sea days (i.e., nap time), as well as the shows themselves on relatively calm nights at sea. OTOH, if the seas are rockin', then that drowns out (so to speak) the show noise from below. On balance, it's not that big a deal and we'll still take 6000 or 6001 any time we can't get the cabins directly above. Either deck, you're in a Concierge cabin so the window to make specialty reservations opens for you earlier than for most folks: a boon if you prefer two-top dining at specific times.

Actually, yes. Some of us not only have a 2-top reserved at 6:30, but we want to sit in a particular out-of-the-mainstream location (e.g., all the way aft and around the corner on R ships). We're not the only ones who prefer not to be in the middle of foot traffic, etc., so we like to be among the very first in the door. Also, happy hour ends at 6:00 so we're finished with our drinks by 6:15. Not gonna go back to the room, so why not head over to the specialty and join the starving souls outside the door? We've been sitting -- and we're gonna be sitting some more -- so standing up for a few minutes gets the blood flowing again and lets some of the alcohol process before ordering a nice bottle of wine. Besides, some of those souls are kinda nice to talk to.

Gee, we're just off of Insignia where both the king's and queen's cut of prime rib were on the Polo menu as they have been for years. In fact, I had the queen's on two occasions (rare, of course, as prime rib should be) and was a happy camper. Is it maybe missing only on Vista as they seem to be taking O in new culinary directions?

It's not enough to have a dress; you must, in fact, be wearing it. 😎

Yes, and doesn't "Simply More" make them ever so much more desirable? (Ugh....) 🤨

Don't know. I meant simply that we've cruised on all of O's ships except Vista so I couldn't comment on their shopping. But you're right; it was not exactly clear.

Regional products? Decidedly no. Basically the same over-priced O-branded clothing, jewelry and watches on every one of our cruises aboard all ships except Vista. I suspect it's because there already are "regional products" for sale on the dock or in the terminal of every stop along the way. OTOH, assuming you may be referring to the more artistic, less touristy types of regional products: that would require an O marketing specialist or department to seek them out, bring them aboard, price them accordingly and try to get them sold before hitting the next port. Not likely in our lifetimes.

Firsthand experience multiple times aboard different R & O ships: Told by reception that it can be refunded the afternoon or evening before disembarkation. It always worked as stated. Could it have happened earlier? Can't say; I had no reason to ask as the given answer was reasonable and convenient (for us). I'd be wary of trying it on the morning of disembarkation because your shipboard account will have already been closed, IIRC.