janelledocb

Thank you all for your helpful responses.  Our room is not under the pool deck so I don't think we will hear any deck chairs and it is reassuring to hear that at least some rooms on deck 11 do not have to hear their neighbors conversations.  We haven't tried the white noise app but will see how it works.  We are used to the actual white noise machines and they work well for us so I think we will just haul them across the ocean with us to be safe 🙂 Glad folks are enjoying their time on the ship right now and I love the idea of being able to easily pop into the executive lounge in the morning for a cup of joe.  We are still looking forward to our first Oceania cruise!

On 4/22/2024 at 8:38 PM, AMHuntFerry said:

This post may be of interest to you:

Rumor has it that foam is coming to the rescue this summer.

"Foam to the rescue" 😄  Love it!  I hope so and that is what I asked Oceania to do when I emailed them - spray away!

We ended up on the Vista after our Riviera cruise was cancelled even though we vowed never to risk sailing on Vista due to reports of inadequate soundproofing between rooms.  Wondering if anyone has had noise issues in Vista PH1 11015?  We need to figure out how many white noise machines to bring with us!!!

I would encourage everyone to email Oceania to request they spray foaming insulation between the walls or somehow fix the issue.  We found Oceania contact info via Elliott dot org.  No one sailing on a cruiseline such as Oceania should have to hear their neighbor's conversations or tv.  And I don't wish for my neighbors to hear my conversations either, LOL!.  My goodness, will we have to whisper to each other the whole time 😄???

15 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Purely luck of the draw. Purely.

 

On our Vista cruise our neighbors were like us, rarely turned the tv on. Peacefully silent. Other cruises we had to call the front desk near every night. TV blared 24/7. Large commotion one night with security. They had received multiple complaints and were pounding on the cabin door while the obviously near deaf inhabitants slept away.

 

The smart TVs should have a connection to the central control area where volumes can be adjusted from central control. Most assisted living facilities already have this.  They don’t pound on quarters doors, they drop the volume from the front desk.

 

Good Luck. You don’t get to pick your neighbors!

Yes, this is what really worries me.  The randomness.  I'm sure the crew is tired of this situation as well.  I will email Oceania to recommend they invest in those sound diverters.
Makes me want to book two staterooms so I can sleep in the one that has quiet neighbors! If only, LOL!  

Well, we went ahead took the plunge and booked a PH1 on deck 11 (the only one left!) in the hopes that there will be less chance of hearing our neighbor's TVs or conversations.  We also got lucky with a great price, probably since it is rather last minute.  I will report back after our trip as it seems odd that it is so random and that people can have their tv sounds down low and still be heard!  If I can pack them, I will get the sound diverters so at least WE can watch tv without having worrying about bothering our neighbors!  Will bring every kind of noise cancelling device I can lug across to Europe as well 🙂

Thank you all once more.  We wouldn't have known what to do without your advice! 

Thank you all for your advice and recommendations.  We had our cruise on the Riviera canceled yesterday due to it now going around Africa (understandably) and so we are now having to scramble to find a replacement and can't be too choosy- and DH has a work trip prior so we can't even change dates too much.  At least we won't be spending long lengths of time in our room given the itinerary, but we do want to be comfortable there and to sleep well    And usually we would save stretching our budget on a better room for when we could spend more time on the ship, not just for sleeping better 🙂  We had decided to just avoid the Vista in general to be safe, but it appears to be the best bet at this time even when we consider other cruise lines.  DH has the headband but has not used it yet, so I will have him practice to see if it is comfortable for him.  He does have the portable white noise machine too which he always takes.  Appreciate everyone's input!

We are considering booking a concierge veranda or penthouse suite on the Oceania Vista.  With a port-intensive cruise, we normally wouldn't consider splurging on a penthouse but I have read that thin walls are/can be a big problem on the Vista and we are trying to avoid this as hubby is a light sleeper.  However, it seems pretty random as far as which decks/rooms have this issue although I don't think I have read as many complaints from those who have stayed in Penthouse Suites.  Can those who have stayed in a Concierge Veranda and/or Penthouse on the Vista comment on thin walls/noise from neighbors (or lack thereof if you had a quiet room!).  Thank you!

12 hours ago, TFree said:

I looked at six or eight cruises yesterday online, and then I looked at the same cruises again today. I see either no difference or a negligible difference on those cruises. Most of them are on the sale.

 

My only conclusion is that either they posted the sale prices yesterday without announcing them, or this sale is a big nothing burger. I am going to ask at the future cruise desk on Vista. 
 

Tom & Judy

The cruise we ended booking did go on sale yesterday, at least on some websites, although we waited until today to book (as we were also eyeing another cruise).  Very happy to have saved $3200 ($1600 pp) for an Oceanview room on the Riviera for our Mediterranean 12 day cruise.  Looking forward to our first Oceania cruise!

On 11/11/2023 at 1:43 PM, Hlitner said:

Although we do sometimes stay aboard ships in port days, it is not our norm in Europe.  We do understand the tendency of many cruisers to wear themselves out with long port days, especially those who tend to book lots of excursions/tours which become very tiring.  Rather than staying aboard, we prefer to plan a few "lazy port days" where we simply do our own thing (our norm) and make it a relaxing day ashore.  Instead of running from place to place, spending hours looking at sites, etc. we will usually stay in (or close) to the port city and plan on a nice, long lunch.  A good part of European culture is defined by regional cuisines, and we are happy to test the theory with a good meal.  

 

Post on the appropriate European port boards and there are plenty of folks who can help you plan a relatively simple, relaxing port day (and even recommend cafes/restaurants).

 

Another option, we have often used, is for when we simply do not want to have lunch ashore.  In many of those kind of ports we will walk off the ship around 9:30 or 10, spend about 3 hours exploring the area within walking distance of the port and than head back to the ship for a late lunch and a relaxing afternoon on the ship.

 

Hank

Thanks Hank, your recommendations and your tip to seek advice on the European port boards to get relaxing port city ideas are very helpful.  And it's true that since hubby is visiting Europe for the first time, it might be especially hard for me to convince him to stay on the ship for an entire day. I'll try to select some port city days in between our "big" days like Civitavecchia/Rome.

Thanks everyone.  The Riviera specifically has 12 port days in a row.  Vista has one sea day of 12.  We like Riviera's itinerary better though.  Now that I am typing this, I imagine we might be so exhausted half way through that we might just sleep in late and enjoy a lot of room service for a day 😄
Hmmm, that's a great point about Bridge, I might do some online lessons prior to the trip to learn ahead of time!

10 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

Oh yes, many sea day activities. I generally play bridge and go to bridge lessons, so I’m not the best resource on other options. Trivia comes to mind, and not just on sea days…..

You’ll get some good responses soon! Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you, good to hear that there are activities, even on port days.  The 12 day cruise we are thinking of has a port stop every day but we also want to enjoy the ship 🙂

Greetings all!  We have the wonderful opportunity to visit Europe next May/June and we are likely booking our first Oceania cruise and European cruise (yes, more former Celebrity loyalists here!).  With the updated Mediterranean itineraries, they now have either zero or one sea days and thus, we plan on picking a day or two to stay mostly on the ship.  Question though, will there still be things like activities to earn O points, talks, mahjong and other activities that are typically offered on sea days?  I understand the ship won't be chock full of activities, but are there some?  Thanks in advance and appreciate everyone's comments on CC, they have helped prepare us for what to expect on Oceania (both the good and not so good).

How disappointing, Vista is a brand new, beautiful ship! I hope they will have fixed this issue with Allura.  We understand that we have to expect some noise from neighbors but given how bad it was for Croooser, we will avoid sailing on Vista (and probably Allura). 

If we use a white noise machine, then we won't be able to watch TV ourselves which is what we always do at bedtime to help us get sleepy.  But then again, we would be worried about watching TV at night as it would likely disturb our neighbors. 

But good grief, we want to sail on the new ships, and what a silly reason for us not too! This is not something that should be an issue on a brand new Oceania ship 😞

Thank you for providing the update and information and I am sorry that many were not very nice to you on this thread.  I used to be very active on CC, but I pretty much no longer post here and use it far less than I used to because I don't find it fun or helpful to read the mean comments.  And they certainly don't get me in a cruising mood 🙂

I am glad that Oceania provided you with FCCs and think that is a great gesture on their part.  We haven't sailed on Oceania yet, but are very much looking forward to doing so next year!   

My TA said for her clients who have recently changed cruises on O, she hasn't seen the $150 penalty applied (although according to the terms it should be and she cannot promise that it won't be if we ever switch a sailing).  I don't know if this is just because it's a new policy and O is letting people get used to it before enforcing it or if they will always be lenient when it comes to moving to a different sailing.

Thank you for your comments everyone.  We will discuss this some more and make sure we are okay with sailing during Thanksgiving considering the potential for extra kids on board.  Hubby was thinking that schools aren't out the entire week but it seems they are.  And from what Mrs. Tiki says, the Retreat probably wouldn't help much, if at all.  For our 50th, we will make sure to sail when it is not a holiday so we can truly relax and enjoy the Retreat!

I just got a new supervisor so I was hesitant to ask for time off but may look into doing so to allow us to sail non-peak times OR we will just bring some good noise-cancelling headphones with us if we stick to the Thanksgiving cruise 😆

Dear Cruisers,

Please note that we like kids in general but would like to minimize our exposure to happily screaming kids while on vacation 🙂

I came down with Covid last week so I am not on the Equinox right now 😭 but that's okay as we have booked the Beyond for Thanksgiving Cruise starting Nov.20 in the Caribbean.  Hubby is concerned that since it's a new ship and not our usual S-Class, that it will be full of kids.  We can't go off-season the rest of the year due to work so it's either this or the Reflection and we were thinking we would try the Edge class for the first time since we have only been on S-Class.  

Probably no way to know but I am thinking yes, there will be more kids since it is Beyond and Thanksgiving but we will have plenty of spots to hide on Beyond and more kids will be on a Royal Caribbean cruise.  I wish we could afford a suite to have access to the Retreat but we are saving our funds for that for our 50ths coming up!  What are your thoughts on level of kids we might encounter on the Thanksgiving Beyond cruise?

Thanks!  Janelle and Byron