pete_coach

Gosh, that is sad to hear. I am a huge Viator user and supporter. We have used them many many times all over the world. They are not perfect and we have had a few issues with tours booked through Viator and have never had any issues getting refunds. You can request to speak with managers and they are usually in the US. Viator is a Tripadvisor company.

Includes whatever is on the menu and yes, eggs too. 🙂 There are other differences too. Primary difference between concierge and Veranda is perks and location as the cabins are identical.

Really curious about your statements regarding a 12 day and 7 day cruise and that you as well as the cruise consultant had concerns about the "totally different crowd" and dreaded the 7 day cruise crowd? What is the concern and why?

There are many repetitive questions. Dining, dress codes, O Air, make it to the airport after docking, loyalty memberships, waitlists, services on board and on and on. Almost all are not trolling but legitimate questions asking for recent experience from new to CC people. These people hope to get recent and quick answers from long time CC users, not to be called trolls. Sorry for being off topic and prolonging this discussion.

We had a piano player that sang, took requests and was quite a comedian as well. Thing is though, the area is quite small

Sometimes it is the reader, not the writer that deems something mean spirited.

Defining a 'Troll" is difficult. One persons questions can easily be considered trolling by another.

We have done both and like both. Celebrity is, as you know, much larger ships with many more places to lounge around and relax. Normally has great shows and variety of entertainment after dinner. There is a certain amount of nickel and dimeing on Celebrity as in, there are pay extra dining venues onboard and they can be costly, $60 to $75 per person extra. Oceania ships are much smaller. Very much more a "relaxed" pace. Generally much older passengers. Very little in the way of entertainment at any time. The extra dining venues are included and the food, generally, is excellent. There is free laundry on Oceania (3 bags) and a laundry area at the front of each deck (free). Oceania is more expensive. Cabins are pretty well the same size on both. Service is on par with each other. Itineraries will be slightly different as the smaller Oceania can go places the larger ship cannot. Excursions will be different as well, due to the onboard demographics. We would go on either in a heartbeat.

Hey!! I don't want her on my next Celebrity cruise LOL MSC or Costa would fit her better 🙂

The dress code clearly says, no shorts for men. " We request that casual jeans, shorts, t-shirts, baseball caps, sandals, or tennis shoes not be worn in the restaurants after 6 PM" I disagree. It is not a matter of what people want, it is just questioning as to why the code is as it is. As I mentioned earlier, most restaurants on land have done away with dress code. Of course, any establishment can try to refuse entry if the customer is "wearing those items with a washed-out t-shirt with some former garish logo on it, 3 sizes too big, sagging over said shorts. "

Dress code is an ongoing topic on all cruise line forums. Some people dislike a code (regardless of how lenient or strict it is) and others like it. Personally, after spending 35 years in an Air Force uniform and then 10 more in a business suit, I do not wish to dress up.I do not dress down but am very casual in dress at home and on vacation. I live in shorts in the Summer and when on vacation in the Caribbean, wish to live in shorts as well. At home, I can get into 90% of restaurants in shorts. The remaining 10% get my business in the cooler months. To have all but 2 eateries on a ship (not including the lunch bars) have a dress code seems a bit much to me. To have so many people personally offended by some wanting to wear shorts is very peculiar to me. To be OK with a woman wearing capris and a man unable to wear shorts is also odd to me. Anyway, I will abide as I do not want to be identified as a bad example on this forum next dress code discussion. I do wish that this line, and others that have codes, would get in line with the onshore world. Being on a cruise is a vacation for us.

To be fair, there are many O cruisers that still cruise with Celebrity too 🙂 To us, it is not a contest. Personally, on a longer cruise, a larger ship or line like Celebrity has more entertainment and things to do onboard. 🙂

We love Celebrity and have taken only one Oceania cruise before and it was terrific. So, after the pandemic, our first ocean cruise is on Oceania. We like the idea of a much smaller ship. We love the concierge cabins and lounges. Free laundry is also a bonus so we don't have to pack as much. Celebrity certainly has everything but we want to relax and enjoy the less crowded experience and have excellent meals (without paying an extra 60 or 75 dollars each) We realize there is far less entertainment but will be very happy with the piano bar atmosphere. Lastly, the itinerary fits us perfectly.

It has been a number of years since our last O cruise, has this become normal? Sitting at a table with others has always been great experience. New people, possibly new friends.

Not both people in the cabin may be positive so, they would have to move one person to another cabin. I have friends on Regal Princess right now and they texted that one of the group has tested positive and are being moved to a quarantine cabin. So, I think all ships have to keep some cabins for that.

Isn't opening streaming mean getting a greater bandwidth and faster speed?

Wow, did this thread dive off the high board. LOL 5 pages and are there any "things you should never do when booking Ocean"? My things are never to book Oceanias selected hotels (or any other lines hotels), do not take their airfare offer (or any other lines offer), excursions a(or any other lines offer and drink packages (or any other lines offer). On the drink side, we did an experiment. My very good friend and I went on a cruise (Celebrity), he bought a drink package and I did not. In the end, we drank the same amount and types and he did not get his moneys worth and I spent less than he did on drinks. Do take the OBC and then you can do with that what you want. We have only been on Oceania once and are going on our second cruise with them soon, primarily because of the food as we have been to so many ports in the Caribbean we are not much interested in excursions. We will most likely just do walk abouts at port and if we do want to go somewhere, we will get someone at the port. We have done this many times and paid less for, in my opinion, a better tour. We have been on other cruise lines and liked them a lot. The thing is the cruise lines all have to make money and Oceania at least we don't have to pay for "specialty" restaurants. All folks on CC boards defend their brand or favourite line and it can get heated. It is a vacation and why argue if yours is better than mine?? 🙂

Isn't there different levels of internet onboard?? The free internet is spotty but you can upgrade I think. https://fr.oceaniacruises.com/value/internet/

Actually I did but I did not know how to post a picture. CC did not allow links in the past. I thank Robjame for posting the photo I saw. The site that photo was on also showed re-designed cabin photos. cruiseradio dot net / oceania-crusies-major-renovatons-two-ships/ https://cruiseradio.net/oceania-cruises-major-renovations-two-ships/

Enlarge the shower to encompass the area the tub was in.

Perhaps the initial refurbishment announcements were premature and the design was not confirmed. I n my experience, designers are good sales people but they never (rarely) consult with the actual engineers and trades people. the term "looks good on paper" comes to mind with designers. 🙂 Bottom line is that there will be a new shower, considerably bigger than before. That is normally good news except for those that want tubs. Having said that, most ships do not have tubs anyway so, no big deal. This issue is much ado about nothing. I suspect no one will cancel their cruise because of this announcement. 🙂

Are the stateroom fridge drinks free or are you charged for them? If charged, how much for the water and soft drinks?

I got the email form Oceania too. No big deal. The ship is not even in drydock yet and design is flexible at this point in the project. They just discovered some limitations and have to modify the design. No big deal.

We were there one time when there were many ships in port. I believe 2 of them tendered. As for the numbers of people, they schedule the ships so they don't arrive all at one time. Many, if not most, people do not stay on Cozumel but take the ferry over to mainland Play del Carmen and the sites beyond.

Docking all depends on when, how many ships in port and, of course weather.