nvgal

On 12/25/2019 at 8:54 AM, irisbax3 said:

I am currently on Oceania Nautica and I’m very disappointed with the food. Unlike the Marina, where we loved the food, now it is hit or miss even in the two speciality restaurants. No seasoning just blah tasting. While food is certainly subjective, this is just my humble opinion.

I agree. Food on Marina was very bland. Those trained chef should know that salt and pepper DO enhance the flavor in dishes. 

On 12/5/2019 at 5:59 PM, clo said:

We have one sea day so, if necessary, we can get meds then. Although our "what-if" bag has something(s).

Clo - following your posts on your cruise and wondering how the health is aboard the ship. Boarding on the 19th. Thanks

Glad to read your posts Cleo. I get on the 19th in BA, also. Happy to hear all is going well. Getting very excited.

I recently noticed that the country of origin has been removed from the name tags and replaced with area of work. I really enjoyed looking where the crew was from and talking to them about this. 

I, too, am on this cruise. I booked my own room at the Grand for 2 nights. I made this booking in Dec. 2018. No deposit required and free cancelation. 

I'm boarding Marina, July 23 in Oslo, maybe I can catch up with Churchill then.

Arrive 8am, claim your bags and be out of Customs 8:30/45, have breakfast, there's one cafe outside of arrivals and several upstairs on the public side of departures. Get a cab about 9:30, you're after rush hour so you'd be at the pier about 10:15. Drop the bags and stroll the old town shops half a block across the park promenade for an hour and a half. Find a 1700's building to have coffee in. It'll make a leisurely start to your cruise.

 

Bill

Bill, I am going to the train (Amtrak) station when I get off the ship in Montreal. How far is it? I'm sure cabs will be available outside the pier. Thanks

I have had the best time aboard O for the holidays. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Get a cabin on deck 10 instead. The overhang on 11 blocks a lot of the light that would normally come into the cabin. Better view on 10 and no noise.

Go meet Randall Abrhams, Concierge. He is very helpful and fun.

I have done this in Dec. and in May and both times the weather was warm and sunny. A bit more humid in May, but still nice.

What can I say about Santorini? It's beautiful, rugged, sun kissed, full of history. Did I say beautiful. Yes? Well I will say it again. Beautiful.

 

This tender just dropped us off at the ship...

 

 

 

 

 

And so it ends.. an amazing 20 days on Nautica. Tomorrow we arrive Athens and say so long for now... We booked our next trip on Nautica today, an 18 nighter from Singapore to Dubai....

 

 

Review will follow....

 

Joe & Jeff

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums[/quote

Joe and Jeff - have had fun reading about your adventure on Insignia. Travel safely. We will be on Sirena in 2 weeks.

We had the Owners Suite on Regatta for our sail from San Francisco to Vancouver in 2015. You have made the right choice. It's great to sit "out back" and watch where we have come. Enjoy.

Just wondering if the window washer on either side obstructs any view of the rear PH3's on Sirena? Thanks

I was in an OS for an Alaska cruise on Regatta and I say yes. The room was spacious and lovely.

This would make a great question for a job interview.... i.e.: What sort of cake are you - and why?

 

Your anticipated answer from somebody from the younger generation is: "I'm a cupcake because i'm entitled." What answer would you provide?

• I'm an Angel Cake because...
  
• I'm a Butterfly cake because...
  
• I'm a Cheesecake because...
  
• I'm a Financier because...
  
• I'm a Mille-Feuille because...
  
• I'm a Muffin because...
  

PS: It is very insightful to look at the generalisations and/or stereotypes somebody chooses to through into a discussion....The OP didn't indicate that the guests treating staff horribly were from the "cupcake" generation.

 

:D

The OP seemed bolstered by the spirit of the oldsters, is all I mean. Yes, it has been noted that Gen X, Gen Y, Millennials and now the "entitled ones" will never be what the oldsters are.JMO

We just got back from the Riviera cruise in the Caribbean. Here is a collection of random thoughts about that cruise. We had a great time although the seas were a little rough for the first half of our cruise.

 

 

 

In no particular order…

 

 

Embarkation and debarkation were simply amazing. No waiting on either end. No more than 15 minutes for either operation. With “only” 1250 people to contend with they really breeze you right thru.

 

 

We found the bed to be magnificent. Enough so that my wife is considering purchasing one for our home. Oceania offers details on purchasing these… they are not cheap.

 

 

It’s nice to have a bathtub, so much easier to have the extra room when showering.

 

 

I just have to say this: I mentioned the seas were a little rough the first part of the cruise.

I can’t tell you how impressed I am with “older” guests we had on this cruise. As you may know, the average age of guests on Oceania probably is significantly higher than most other cruise lines, and we certainly had our share on this cruise. I’ll bet that many guests on this cruise are somewhat “mobility challenged” on shore. Please, I’m not knocking anyone here. My point is: These “mobility challenged” cruisers are WARRIORS! These folks must be hard core cruise addicts. They just never missed a beat. I bow to your passion and skill!

 

 

The food is so subjective it’s hardly worth mentioning here but we found the vast majority of our meals to be far better than the only other cruise food we have enjoyed… RCI. There were lots of “hits” and few “misses”.

 

 

The time it takes to get thru a meal in the main dining room, for dinner, is way too long, in our estimation. We tried 3 times and each time it took 2 to 2 ½ hours. (We had no such trouble for breakfast and lunch.) We got to the dining room 6:30 each time, we got our appetizers and soups and salads quickly enough and then waited 45 minutes for the main dish. They told us it’s because “everyone showed up at the same time. Well, I think they’ve been doing this long enough to know when “everyone” shows up and maybe be prepared for it. However… no worries. We ended up going to the Terrace Cafe or the specialty restaurants and had excellent meals with no wait time, except at Toscana.

 

 

At Toscana we got the same excuse, that everyone showed up at the same time, 6:00.

So with this as the background, let me discus the specialty restaurants. When we booked the specialty restaurants online we were only able to get very late times. As we like to eat dinner as early as possible we were very disappointed. As our restaurants were booked for later in the cruise I took a chance and went to the reservation desk (on the second day) and asked if we could possibly get any earlier times for any of the restaurants. To my very pleasant surprise they were able to get us seated, all four of us, at all four restaurants at 6:00! What a great way to treat the customer!

 

 

 

Here’s where it gets a little strange, to me. We noticed that all four restaurants were only 50 to 60 percent filled for most of the time we were there. I guess that explains how they were able to get us in at 6:00. With the amount of talk about making reservations early on the message boards I was under the impression it would be somewhat difficult to get into these restaurants at or near a time you desired.

 

 

So… our last specialty restaurant was on day 7 of our 10 day cruise. We enjoyed Red Ginger the most (HINT… GET THE SEA BASS) I went to the reservation desk to see if we could get into Red Ginger again, knowing the room is only half full at 6:00 I was hoping this could be done. I was told I would have to go on a wait list and they would let me know. I mentioned this should probably be no problem because the room is so empty at 6.00. After a little conversation the man told me the room is only half full because the specialty restaurants use very small galleys. He said they can only serve 30 tables at a time. Anything beyond that and the service slows down to the point that customers complain. That certainly explains the empty tables.

 

 

So the moral of the (dining) story is: If you’re unhappy with the late time you’ll likely get when booking, it is certainly worth asking for an earlier time… you might just get it!

 

 

On to things not dining related.

 

 

The lounge chairs are much like the beds, the best!

 

 

 

The “entertainment” is a little weak. I know that’s subjective but we weren’t impressed.

 

 

Every single employee on the ship, that we had contact with, are extremely pleasant, almost to the extreme. Look, I enjoy good customer service as much as the next guy but sometimes all the smiles and “yes sirs” becomes a little creepy.. just a little. ;) We saw, on more than one occasion, “guests” treating the employees just horribly. I guess some people just like being treated like a king or queen a little too much.

 

 

I’ll stop here (yeah!)

 

 

I’m sure there’s much more to talk about. If anyone has any questions I’ll try to answer on anything we experienced… however we didn’t “do it all” so there will probably be a lot I won’t be able to comment on.

 

 

All in all, a great cruise. We made some new friends, had a blast and can’t wait to cruise with Oceania again!

The ability of the "oldsters" to get around just points to the fact that they are the greatest generation and not the entitled, cupcakes of today.

And Sirena DID use quarters on their first few cruises after the refit. By July when we boarded in Barcelona, they were using tokens.

Thanks, newbie - I sailed on the first sailing out of Barcelona and we most definitely had to use quarters.

I just want to make sure I am clear with this. Sirena now uses tokens instead of quarters? If so, I can leave my quarters at home in May. Thanks.

If you are on a port intensive cruise in a wine area consider going to the local supermarket or wine distributor and purchasing bottles of the local wine. The local wines are usually excellent and priced very well. Pay the $25 corkage fee and you will be in a better wine place than the 7 bottle package.

Jean - remember the stop our guide made in Slovenia to allow me to get some of the "black wine". Wish I could get it here at home.

In 2007, sailing on Regatta from Barcelona to Miami we had 70 knot winds and 30 foot seas. Best thing to do is to stay in your cabin. The crew knows best. It will pass. Captain referred to the trip later, as "a challenging crossing". We were met in Miami by the coroner's van. Very scary, but hasn't stopped me from taking 18 more cruises.

I have booked through Viator, tripadvisor, and this has always worked for me.

I have been vegetarian for 20+ years and have taken 17 O cruises. I have always found plenty of selection whether it is in Terrace, GDR, or one of the specialities. Even on Sirena in Tuscan Steak, where the selection is the most limited, the chef made a wonderful pasta primavera. Chefs have always been great with the food. Heading to Regatta in a few days and I am sure they will not let me down. Looking forward so much.

This is the same Captain who guided us through Alaska last year. Now he will safely guide us through the Panama Canal.:)

I'm on Regatta now. The captain is Meinhardt Hansen, GM is Claudio Melli and the CD is Ray from Seattle.

Thanks, classiccruiser.