1985rz1

We thoroughly enjoyed the Canadian Discovery cruise, and it sold us on the Expedition ships. The food gave Oceania a run for its money. We have the South America cruise booked for this coming October and we have a Great Lakes cruise booked for 2025. We're fans of Oceania and tend towards them if the itinerary is what we want, but for these itineraries Viking wins.

Yes, I agree, but I was responding to the statement that Viking Ocean has only one included excursion per port, and that Viking Expeditions usually has more than one. I wasn’t trying to comment on $$.

Actually, I was thinking more of the Viking Expedition cruises on the Great Lakes and its Canadian Discovery cruises from Toronto to NYC. These are port focused and there is very little use for the expedition toys. We had some great included tours on the Discovery cruise, and had several options. O doesn’t do the Great Lakes but does similar Canadian cruises with the same ports.. Viking Expeditions also does South American, non-Antartica, cruises that have a mixture of ports and expedition type options, But the itineraries are similar to O's, just more options in the fjords. We're booked on one of these and selected some interesting included port options out of several that were available. So this comparison may be more like Gala apples to Honey Crisps.

Viking Ocean ships,. It's different on Viking Expedition ships.

Yes, as many bottles as you want but for consumption only in your stateroom or pay a $25 per bottle corkage fee if you wish to take any to a dining venue. No taking glasses with you to dinner or any other public venue. The official rule says there is a limit of 6 bottle per person, but Oceania chooses not to enforce the limit if folks play nice and obey the rules.

Typos galore: I meant we haven't sailed on Viking Ocean, only on their Expedition ships.

We have sailed on Viking Ocean, but on Viking Expedition, there were several included excursions at each port, of which we could chose only one.

I ask our TA to email the pdf. It's usually available 12 months out.

Gary- Are you referring to the flexibility that OLife's cruise only provided, letting the pax decide whether or not to use Oceania's excursions? I ask because with SimplyMore, the fare includes an amount of SBC that can only be used for excursions, so it's use it or lose it. In that way Oceania does include a certain number of excursions and that cost is built into the cruise fare, not so different from Viking or Regent.

With WiFi calling the recipient doesn't need any app to receive either calls or texts. They come through as a regular cell calls/texts. Whatsapp requires both caller and receiver to use the app.

It's really not part of SM, like it was not part of OLife. It's their bring-wine-aboard policy: drink in the room or take to a dining venue for a corkage fee,

Sirena, along with Regatta, Insignia and Nautica, are R-class. Marina and Riviera are O-class. Vista and Allura are A-class.

And folks who book during the hurricane season show know this risk when they book. Since in any season, hurricanes can be few or many, mild or strong, it's impossible for cruise lines to second guess Mother Nature. Still, their frequency and intensity appear to be increasing.

A recent post about music on the Insignia, but it's likely to be the same on the Regatta:

I agree.

Are the air or water jets? I think @chengkp75 made the distinction.

If you decide to post political messages, or attack and disparage other posters, or get into personal arguments with other posters, the moderator might shut it down 😉

Once started, it has a life of its own.

Not necessarily. Our TA is a cruise specialist who books only the cruise. We do our own pre- and post-cruise arrangements and book our own flights. She doesn't make a fortune on our bookings but is very responsive and generous with PPG (through her consortium) and with SBC or rebates from her commissions. And she has our back when issues appear.

A $200 discount on the cruise, if you've cruise within the past year; $100. if you've cruised between 1 and 2 years ago.

Not quite: The size of a PH stateroom on an O-Ship is 114 sq ft larger than a Concierge Veranda stateroom, and the balcony is 34 sq ft larger. On an R-ship. the PH stateroom is 99 sq ft larger than a Concierge Veranda and the balcony is 7 sq ft Larger. (actual difference may vary by 1 or 2 sq ft, depending on the source.) The PH on an O-ship gets one more advance restaurant reservation at each specialty than a Concierge Veranda on an 18-day or longer cruise. They are the same on an R-ship. On both ships, a PH can make dinner reservations 75 days in advance, while the Concierge Veranda 60 days in advance. Course-by-course dining from the GDR and the specialties can be served in a PH stateroom, and not in Concierge level staterooms. So if any of these differences are important to the guest, there is more to a PH than just a Butler.

It is so much easier to second guess decisions when you don’t know all the facts or have any idea what facts go into the decision making.

Good point. Double meanings, such as TA . 🤔

Some folks see only Black and White, and some folks think that TA perks can only be gotten if one books very expensive staterooms frequently, in spite of others' experiences to the contrary, based on one interaction with one or two duds of a TA who refused to book the stripped down fare. There are good ones out there who care about their clients, regardless on how much they spend, even if they may be limited on their perks they can offer. They still get a commission. If some one does not see the value in using a good TA, then, he/she can chose not to use one, but he/she should stop trying to argue that there is no value to others unless they pay thousands and thousands of dollars annually for their booking . It is simply not true. And it's not one or the other. We benefit from doing our own research, booking our own flights, and using a TA for the cruise (which is all she does).

A is the designation for the Concierge Veranda, as in A-1 through A-4.