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I have a great TA who offers a cash rebate in the form of a check I receive about 2 weeks before the cruise. In addition I receive onboard credit and gratuities covered on some cruises. All in all I get an average savings of 10% on each cruise. Agency has a great agent who handles my bookings plus a great customer service department open 7 days a week. Bottom line is I cannot see in effect paying 10% more for my cruise fare for "control" of the booking.

Just as Celebrity does, Regent tries to draw a distinction between between its "suite" class/butler level and "regular" cabins. This is Regent's way of doing it. Of course Regent does not do the "ship within a ship" concept...indeed they are far different products. We cruise in both Celebrity suites and Regent below concierge level cabins. Both meet our needs and we enjoy the contrast in the products.

Completely disagree with your comparison. Not anywhere near the same sort of product.

Yes and my discussion started with my reference to Azamara which has only older ships similar to Oceania's R class ships. Nothing to do with Oceania O and A class ships which are obviously newer.

Speak with the reservations desk the minute you get on the ship. They hold back reservations to be offered in person upon embarkation. And if you are not satisfied check every morning with the person on duty there or call them from your cabin. With a little persistence you should be okay.

Yes, still just an anecdote. The chart currently on website still shows the need to be Gold to get the 4 log ins for cabins below Concierge level.

We are silver. Some time around our cruise in March Silver status folks were granted 4 log ins per cabin regardless of category. We were shocked when thought our F2 cabin only gave us one connection and we signed in prepared to pay for second connection and got it at no charge. IT person told us she had just gotten a memo saying that Silver now gets four connections. We enjoyed it for our 16 night transatlantic. I cannot find anywhere that this granting of four connections for silver is published...can only relate my experience.

Understand your point. I believe there is still a risk of need for evacuation from a ship (which is of course is not a hospital) that would not be covered by Medjet and would not be covered by a local military rescue team because ship is docked. Perhaps a belt and suspenders approach, but I always purchase coverage with high level of med evacuation coverage. Also, it is relatively cheap if purchased with low coverage limits on the cruise cost so pretty much self insure the trip cost...I can handle, but fully insure the cost of an expensive evacuation...a cost which I am not able to handle.

Not sure I understand your point. If you are stuck in a hospital in South Africa or Brisbane, for example, a medically necessary medical transfer/evacuation to a hospital near home in the U.S. still is an expensive cost for which one would need insurance coverage in the $100,000 or more range. Ten years ago Medjet took care of moving my wife in a private medical jet from a hospital in New York to a Washington DC hospital for which the cost would have been $20,000, even for that short inside the country distance.

Will not be Dottie Kulasa. She rejoins Sirena from current vacation time on Nov. 19.

Correction. Second wi fi was introduced about the same time as SM. It was NOT part of SM, though. Beginning Oct. 1 2023 every passenger had the benefit of 2nd wifi including those that had bookings under the old Olife program.

Just applies to NY residents.

IME experience you can only buy CFAR from the cruise line directly, not from any insurance carrier. NYS insurance department claims reason it is not a risk based product, which is what insurance carriers are licensed to sell.

My complaint was that we cannot purchase the big box store coverage which is much lower priced than any other.

Of course NY residents have other alternatives they can purchase from insurance companies (except for "cancel for any reason coverage"). However a travel insurance premium as low as 1.5% of the cost of the trip which big box store offers is incredibly low. Least expensive coverage I have ever found from an insurance company exceeds 6%.

Ah, sounds great except for those of us who live in NY State where policy cannot be sold.😡

More like 30 years useful life for any kind of an upper premium or higher market ship. Crystal is trying for an exception to that rule and results are mixed. Oceania senior leadership has stated that R ships' complete renovation done between 3 and 5 years ago is the last. Perhaps Azamara will make theirs last longer...who knows? I find the ridulously small bathrooms below PH level and fewer specialty restaurants a deal breaker. Others disagree.

And they may be operating with them well into the future. Owners have stated that newer ships will be part of Azamara only when current operations begin to show a profit.

I have spent 28 nights on Vista. It is a quirky ship..not my favorite Oceania ship. Sound barriers between cabins is nearly non existent. If you have quiet neighbors who rarely play their tv, you should be good. In two cruises we were not so lucky. Bring along white noise apps on your phones or earplugs, just in case.

Technically you are correct, then. Design and most construction occurred prior to Jan. 1, 2001 which was when century began, but either way, I stand by my general point. We have been loathe to cruise on them or Oceania's R class ships due to the ridiculously small size of bathrooms below PH level. Also, I enjoy playing in a casino in the evenings and that cannot happen on Azamara.

Hard to get excited about a cruise line that operates with zero ships built in this century.

Fits an unfortunate corporate pattern. We were on Regent Splendor in March. Several workmen boarded in Miami and installed Starlink during our transatlantic. Family member was on the same ship in August. Learned that Starlink will not be operational until at least October....although fully installed, waiting for contract with old internet carrier to expire. Understand same sorts of delays due to contracts are occurring on multiple Oceania and Regent ships.

Your point seems to be that currently when gratuities were included Silver members receive $250 credit. Just because gratuity inclusion will now change from sometimes to all the time Silvers will now get the $250 credit all of the time, so really no big difference. Correct? Many of us do not see it that way. I just came off of a 25 night cruise in PH category. I just gained Silver status and I enjoyed the additional value of gratuities worth about $1000 plus wine and beer with meals plus nearly $2000 in shore excursion credit. All of that goes away under the new program in exchange for $250 and cruise pricing remains the same. Not good.

The above point is candidate for CC poorly timed comment of the decade award, given changes made < 48 hours after it was posted. 😂

Yes. Just disembarked PH on Marina 3 weeks ago. Beautifully redone. However, I have heard there are 8 PH3 cabins on Marina where they kept the old design with a bathtub and small shower. Someone posted on CC a few weeks ago that those cabin numbers are: 9138,9145,10002, 10003, 10005, 10008, 10010, and 10011.