GeorgiaPeach51

Wow!  Wonderful photos!

Bonnie!  Looking forward to reading about your adventures!  I hate that you were stressed and barely made your flight.  Definitely not the way any of us want to start a vacation.

Joanie

2 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

Thank you @flossie009 for such a great blog. Safe travels home!

 

Are you looking at a leg of the WC? Perhaps we will meet!

We are booked on Explorer, Auckland to Tokyo, January 12-March 14, 2026.  Would love to meet if you are on that one!

Loved reading about your trip.  Thanks for taking the time and for all the great photos.  I have made notes to help with a cruise we want to take in 2026, and your report was very helpful!

Joanie

Enjoying your report!  Thanks for taking the time to post.  Wonderful photos!

Joanie

Really enjoyed your trip report.  I looked forward to updates every morning.  Thanks for taking the time to entertain us!

Joanie

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Tablemates liked the lobster in Polo so, perhaps we will give that a try.

FWIW we just got off Vista on the 27th.  My husband, a big lobster fan, was disappointed in what Polo offered.  He always cautions them to please not cook it till it is rubberized.  This time, it was “tasteless and watery”.  He didn’t eat it and the waiter discussed the following with him…the lobsters are frozen which will never give you the best results no matter who cooks it.  My husband asked him why he didn’t “warn” him, but the waiter responded that if a passenger requests a particular dish it is not his place to dissuade him.  Understandable.  He said the key is to ask questions.  If my husband had asked if he recommended the lobster the waiter would have said no, and he would have suggested the giant prawns instead.  So, fair warning and good luck!

Joanie

1 hour ago, martyinmpls said:

Thanks for your post.

were cruising in June on Vista with a group of 9.  I can’t seem to make any dining for a group over 8 people.  I spoke to Oceania on the phone, and they said that I had to wait until we were on the ship . ☹️  Dining room pictures, at least in the Grand Dining, and private dining, seem to show tables for 10.  Any thoughts???

thanks…

I did see what looked like tables of 8.  Not sure of 10….or 9, but I can’t see that as a problem for you.  We found them to be very accommodating in trying to fit people in and gladly adjusting their schedules to changes.  In the specialties what we observed is that if you come at 6:30 when they open, not all tables will have passengers seated.  If we got there at 6:45 or 7 for our reservation not every table was filled the whole time we were there.  So it seems that they do not attempt to turn the tables over….I am assuming this is a staffing issue, and may not be the same on every cruise.  I think this is exacerbated by the fact that more people like earlier dining than later.  Just be sure to make a beeline to the dining reservations folks the minute you board the ship!

One thing I forgot to mention was the new Whitney Houston entertainment offering.  It is basically a hologram of her in the middle of the back of the stage, singing songs that she did in a concert or several concerts.  The band was there, and they used two of the ship’s singers live on the forward portion of the stage.  We saw their first attempt at it, so there are some wrinkles to get out of it.  Our general consensus between the four of us, is that her projection was too small and sometimes blurry.  And there were times the band outplayed her voice, and they said they had some technology issues. 

People we talked to had lots of varied opinions, as to be expected.  One woman said she felt it was ghoulish, profiting from her tragic death.  She said she walked out.  I was personally lukewarm about it.  Overall, it made me sad.  She was such a talent and it’s such a waste of that magnificent voice.

My further reaction is that this is a way to cut costs, and may affect the future of shipboard entertainment and the singers and dancers.  This is not a big loss for us, because we don’t generally love the production shows.  But for others, this may be an ominous trend.  Time will tell.

1 hour ago, Tsunami74 said:

Thanks Georgia Peach,

We had just cancelled a 2025 Vista cruise because we just couldn't risk being in a cabin and having it be too noisy to sleep!

Good to have you confirm that we made the right decision.

We were traveling with friends who said their cabin experienced zero noise issues, so it is definitely a roll of the dice.  The ship is beautiful and has so many positives.  As I said, if the price is right….  
 

In our experience on our three R cruises, we had zero noise filter into the room.  I think Grandeur passengers so far can’t say the same, at least some of them.  Maybe it’s a case of “they just don’t make things like they used to”.

What a great trip blog!   Really enjoying your adventures.  Thanks for taking the time so the rest of us can live vicariously through your reports!

Joanie

10 hours ago, Dwtlion said:

I believe the Vista lounge/theater is in the front of the ship where there are 4 elevators. There are 2 elevators aft that only go as low as deck 6.

Sorry to be confusing.  There are 4 elevators in the forward section on every deck.  There are two elevators aft on every deck except 5.  One bank of forward elevators only on deck 5, which leads to the logjam.  As you say, the theater is in the forward section, and this leads to the long waits.  Thanks for responding so I could hopefully clarify.

@Chateaunole-du-pape  Hi, you really are down the road!  Our next Regent is, fingers crossed, the 61 day Explorer, Auckland to Tokyo in 2026.  Our longest ever.  I’m hoping we might get to squeeze one in before that.  You know, I agree with you.  By the time you add in tips, excursions, drink packages, air, our experience has been that Oceania is sneaky expensive…you really need to compare carefully.  That’s why this one involved only a cheap RT ATL to MIA.

i hope you’ll report back on your Navigator thoughts.  It’s fun to try new ships.  There is a lot to like about Vista.

This will be much abbreviated from my usual blog.  I debated doing this, but I know some people are curious about Vista, so I thought I’d take the time in case it helps anyone.

This was a getaway trip, so certainly not based so much on itinerary rather than the ship.  I guess we all like bright, shiny, new things!  Miami, Stirrup Cay, Norfolk, Charleston, Bermuda, Nassau, Port Canaveral, not in order.
 

We very rarely come in on the day the ship leaves, but decided to risk it this time, cause, you know, what can go wrong?  It’s just Atlanta to Miami, right?  Well, of course, multiple delays, 2 hours late taking off, and me in the back of the plane wriggling and squirming and wearing my watch out trying to make time stop going so fast.  By the time we hastened into the check in place, we were the only ones there, along with about six agents.  So, that was easy.  One strange thing….the man who checked us in mentioned that two older gentlemen got into a fight over something and had to be separated before it became fisticuffs.  Good grief.  I’m not sure why he shared that with us, but I do have to say that there was a small contingent onboard that seemed feisty.  More on that later.

The ship is really lovely.  We took this cruise because it was a good price and a good way to check out O’s newest offering.  It is hard to imagine anyone not enjoying the ship decor.  Except in one notable venue, if you are like me.  One thing we didn’t like is that there is only one elevator for the whole ship on Deck 5, aft, and it is right outside the  theater.  You can imagine the long waits and crowds.  The alternative was to sit in the theater and wait it out or walk up the long curved staircase.  There were A LOT of walkers and scooters and wheelchairs so things got pretty jammed up.  Poor design, IMO.

Last time, on our first O cruise on the Marina, we had a PH.  This time we had a regular veranda.  It’s sufficient, but with some quirks.  The closet is the most difficult to handle.  It is at the walkway into the cabin, so anyone standing there is blocking the way.  But the most annoying thing was the motion light for the closet, which had a diabolical mind of its’ own.  On, on, off, off, off, on, nope, off.  Drove me up the wall.  You have to resign yourself to having one arm waving around in the closet at all times.  It invariably went off just as you spied the garment you sought.  I was glad to see the end of that closet.  If I had to do a very long cruise with that closet it might get pretty dicey.

We were in 10073.  We did not hear the tvs or conversation on either side, nor did we hear hallway noise.  However, every night the passenger behind our heads in the adjacent cabin coughed and coughed all night long, or at least, much of it, and we heard that loud and clear even with earplugs.  Not good.  The storage space was good everywhere except the closet.  The chair provided for the vanity is ridiculously low.  I am 5’8” and my chin just barely cleared the bottom of the mirror.  These kinds of design errors are so preventable and unnecessary.  If you are small in stature you will be looking at your forehead.

we thought the staff was uniformly wonderful.  Eager to please, smiling.  We really enjoyed our cabin attendant.  But had a very unusual experience on the last night.  When we came back to the cabin ALL of my makeup and toiletries had been removed from the long vanity drawer and just dumped on the vanity top, all over the place.  In 37 cruises, this is a first.  I expressed that to her, and told her there should not be instances where a passenger’s belongings are touched without prior approval, like moving from one cabin to a new one.  She was apologetic and kept explaining why she did it…..to place brochures for the new passengers the next day.  I understand her reasoning but it is a big no.  I did not put this on any kind of comment card, preferring to deal with it in person, politely and quietly.  So, that was a first!  I guess she has done this all along.  No idea.

The jacuzzi area at the back of the ship was very nice and where we spent time, rather than the pool, so cannot comment on availability of loungers.

We loved Aquamar.  Ate lunch there every day, almost.  My favorite was the Buddha salad.  My husband liked the avocado toast with shrimp.  We tried a lot of the menu and it was all good.  One day the squash soup was yummy.  The next day it was somewhat watery with much less flavor.  Very erratic.  Most days we split a Matador hamburger, and Rolf liked the surf and turf burger.  Aquamar is a definite thumbs up.

we enjoyed the sushi in Terraces, and ate dinner there one evening when we just didn’t want to bother.  We also ate in Waves three times at night, enjoying the flatbread and pizza.  You can ask for extra burrata on your pizzas, and for arugula on the side if you are a fan.  Definitely much better than the lunchtime pizza.  Nice staff in Waves.

The Slocumbe ice cream was inconsistent.  Some flavors were fabulous.  But more than a few were kind of watery in flavor.  The pistachio, for instance, was just watered down with bare taste of pistachios.  So didn’t enjoy it as much as last time.  Ended up throwing out much more ice cream than the last cruise.

We had good luck getting additional reservations for the specialties.  We ate in Toscana twice, with mixed results, but enjoyed the range of choices.  Ate once in Polo, the steak house, and for me, it was disappointing. Cold baked potato again, steak was pretty flavorless, as was the lobster.  But the French onion soup was very good.  Red Ginger was good.  I tried the watermelon and duck salad and it was great, as was the miso cod.  We ate there twice, and the first time I got the curry and enjoyed it.  This brings us to Ember.

We wanted to like it.  We tried to like it.  But it’s just really inconsistent. My husband tried the pork chop and it was so tough that you’d be reduced to picking it up and gnawing on it rather than trying to cut it.  I tried the scallops, which were just okay.  Not exciting, just bland.  One friend got a steak and liked it.  I tried the steak our second time and found it tough.  For me, the best steaks on R are found in Sette Mare…the filet is just yummy.  The second time we went to Ember we all got the fried shrimp appetizer and it was a winner.  I have seen comments about the noise in Ember but didn’t find it any louder than any of the other restaurants. 
 

The Vista Lounge. Not a fan visually or structurally. For starters, and keep in mind that this is my very subjective opinion only, the garish grapey/mauve material chosen for the seating is spectacularly awful.  And it is made even more egregious for the fact that it is like crushed velvet.  And then on the floor is a grey toned tweedy carpet.  The wooden sides of the seats are an orangey brown.  The whole thing just clangs and jangles and fights with itself.  In addition, the seating is terraced too low and is not effectively staggered so you are peering around people’s heads, from mid lounge all the way to the back. Terrible design, IMO.

We enjoyed the CD, Peter.  Thought he was funny and quick and kept things moving at just the right pace.  We enjoyed the male guest singer and the comedian, who was a hoot.  I’m sorry I don’t have their names in my head.  They hold Trivia in the Vista lounge, which has teams either sitting in long rows, or in two rows and having to turn around awkwardly to communicate with team members.  Not a good venue for Trivia.
 

O seems to have some communication issues.  Especially with Destination Services.  Prior to the trip we had signed up for an all day trip to Williamsburg, from Norfolk.  The week we were due to leave someone posted on the roll call that all the Williamsburg tours were cancelled.  Not a word from O about it at any time.  Just money refunded with zero communication. In the end it didn’t matter because we didn’t stop in Norfolk, but O has a long way to go with me to convince me that they give a hoot about honest communication with passengers.

There was some aggression with the elevators, with one contingent refusing to move back, and another contingent pushing their way onto the elevator.  This wasn’t widespread but I saw it at least once every day.  I would tie this to the logjam on Deck 5.  I did find that during busy times you could easily wait ten minutes for an elevator.  My suggestion to you is to just give up, get in the first one going down, if you want to go up, and ride it till it finishes its circuit.  One evening, before I learned this lesson, I counted ten full elevators that stopped as I waited.

the awful bar snacks, tiny little olives, dry crusty phyllo dough appetizers and cheese cubes remain unscathed, and uneaten.  But they do offer chips, nuts and pretzels earlier, so that is a help.

So, bottom line, I still prefer Regent.  By far.  Love the many choices in the MDR.  Love the lack of hassle with drink cards and paying for excursions.  Love the beautiful regular cabins.  Love the Specialties on Regent.  I’ve only done two Oceania cruises, but I think they erred in judgement when they installed Ember in place of Jacques.  Would love to see R do something like Aquamar.  Perhaps they can tweak the Ember menu or preparation before too long so they can win more passengers over.
 

would I do Vista again?  Yes.  For the right price.  But the cabin noise is an issue.  We had a nice time.  We had fun.  We got to see friends we enjoy so much.  So I’m glad we went.  But I’ll take R any day!

Great review!  Really enjoyed reading it.  Thanks for taking the time to do it on your vacation.

Joanie

Love seeing the wonderful photos!  

We fled Celebrity to try Regent.  Fell in love with the cruise line.  It is our firm favorite.  We have done three R cruises.  We did one Oceania cruise and I would concur with @eroller  I would say that the biggest difference in food is found in Compass Rose on R.  It is hard to beat the extensive menu offered every single night in CR.  There are pluses and minuses in other dining venues…we loved the Slocumb ice cream on O but love the cronuts on R.  Lots of personal preferences.  We missed the tablecloths in the veranda when on O.  To us, R is a touch more elegant, more choice-friendly, more immediately responsive to passenger concerns.

One experience of note….we were on the Marina and multiple people we met on tours commented that after very lengthy waits for their entrees, 30-45 minutes, they got up and walked out.  In these multiple instances, the dining room staff just watched them go.  No questions, no comments, no attempt to find out why.  Based on our experience, I find it hard to imagine that in the same scenario on R you would not be chased by staff almost wringing their hands to find out why you were leaving and what could they do to fix things for you.

O can say they have the finest food at sea, but I think R could say the same if they chose to do so.  Based on our current impressions I would always choose R over O, but I enjoyed our one O cruise enough to go on O again if the ship and itinerary were both right for us.

Joanie

Really enjoying reading all the comments and looking at the great photos.  Takes a lot of time to do it, and I appreciate all your efforts to entertain and inform us!

Joanie

@cruisevirgin24  I’m so glad you liked them!  They are addicting, for sure, and I miss them when we leave the ship.  I believe they are similar to custard type tarts they have in Portugal….but, you might be interested in this article.  Apparently, according to the article, there is a bakery in London that makes them, and one in Tokyo!? 😃

Joanie

https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-05-09/the-complete-history-of-the-cronut

@taxman1  Next time you go to Sette Mari try their filet mignon, offered with different sauces night to night.  We found those steaks to be one of the best things offered on Splendor, and Explorer and Navigator.  Perfection every time.

One of the things we most loved on Explorer and Splendor was the absolute quiet within the suite….just a regular suite.  It was like being in a bubble and we never even heard a door slam, let alone adjacent noise or hallway conversations. I would be perturbed to hear my neighbors, their conversations or their tv.  
 

Joanie

Oh, my.  What a full plate of life you are dealing with.  I’m so very sorry for so much devastating news, but touched to see that even with the devastating cancer news, a potential disastrous health issue was resolved.  And on top of all this, to lose the cruise you were anticipating is just one more shove when you are already down,  Sending you best wishes for skillful and compassionate medical personnel, and a good outcome for you both.

Joanie

1 hour ago, NCCruzQueen said:

Hi Joanie,

 

We had a similar experience in our 2018 Barcelona post cruise.  Apparently when the city turns off the air conditioning, it’s good for the season.  I remember the heat at night and we left the window open.  Not sure if it is still happening but Barcelona was working on their metro which they worked on at night.  
 

Between the heat and metro noise, it was a very unpleasant night.  I guess we were fortunate to only spend one night.

 

Beth

 

Beth!  So happy to see you here!  I hate that you had an even worse experience with the noise.  To me, the fact that the ac was left on in the breakfast room seemed an admission that it was too hot with no ac.  
 

I did post about it on Trip Advisor and on the Spain ports board, so hopefully that will save someone else the aggravation we experienced. 

10 hours ago, Yankeeclipper1 said:

Joanie,  Enjoyed your review of Marina - you confirmed what I have (IMO) been experiencing - a notch down across the entire cruise industry - with lots of excuses and only higher fares.  Oceania was one of our favorites (6 times) and your descriptions (which I trust since we think alike) are not what we previously experienced.  I love the comments about the onion soup and the balance of onion caramelization and bouillon.  Sounds exactly like something I would have said. 😄   

 

FWIW - Crystal cancelled/changed our Panama cruise - replaced it with something not even remotely the same BUT did refund our full fare and offered people future credits or longer cruise for same price - all fair IMO.

 

PS - I sent you guys an email 10/26 - let me know if you got it - I still use wonky Hotmail that does strange things.  Ray

Ray!  So happy to see your post!  We did get your mail, which arrived shortly before we left on this trip, on the 27th, so I apologize for not replying, but will do so shortly.  Now, there you go…Crystal responded appropriately, while O just put their hands over their ears.  Shows that it is possible. 
 

two follow up notes…my sister and her husband, who had been told they would get their $11,000 in airfare applied to their next cruise, are still fighting with O over that issue.

Regarding the El Avenida Palace hotel…we were there three nights post-cruise.  The weather was unseasonably hot, up to 78-80.  We had specifically checked that they had ac, having had a few miserably hot experiences before we learned that lesson.  Turns out that they hav ac…until they don’t.  They refused to turn it on, and there were no fans.  However, there WAS ac in the breakfast room.  Hmmm.  We had a corner room with no hope of a breeze and boy, it was really uncomfortable.  Every day we would leave the room with the windows open and come back to it locked up tight and sweltering even after leaving requests to the contrary at the front desk.

So, we had to sleep with the windows open at night.  The first night I ended up with FOUR mosquito bites on my face!  After that I tried to sleep with the sheet over my head.  So, be warned!  We will not stay there again.