PatrickZJD

My absolute pleasure, Sea42 and pinotlover! As I said, I did want to gear it more towards the first-time Oceania cruiser, like my wife and I were, so each of your thanks means a lot to me. :D

Can't find your review this morning!

Yes, I am surprised that it doesn’t seem to be as easy to click on as I thought it would be! Here’s the link:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=627424&et_cid=3110946&et_rid=17398767&et_referrer=NULL

We were on the July 1 - 15 "Caribbean Palette" cruise on the Insignia. We enjoyed the cruise - food was very good as usual. The cruise was memorable because the itinerary was changed to get us out of the way from Hurricane Beryl. Instead of going to St. Lucia and Dominica, the ship went to Trinidad, then we had 3 sea days going to Bermuda instead of the 2 days we would have had from Dominica. We felt that communication onboard about the change in itinerary was handled well. There were a couple of sea days with lots of motion to the ocean, but nothing that Oceania could do about that.

Well, I just saw that my review of this same cruise is posted on the Insignia review page, so this might provide a fuller or at least different perspective from you, lj. Hope people would find this helpful!

Well, as this is our first O cruise, it will be tough to say anything about the value of the perks, but at least for us on Insignia, one intangible benefit of a Concierge cabin is being able to have an aft-facing balcony without the expense of a suite. Yes, my wife and I are proud aft snobs. :evilsmile:

If you are talking about the West Side of Manhattan, then virtually everything that you say is untrue.

That neighborhood is still fairly industrial, i.e. not very safe, particularly at night.

The hotel selections are sparse and expensive.

Walking to the port is inadvisable with luggage as there is a twelve lane highway separating the piers from the rest of Manhattan.

Aside from the safety factor — it’s really not as bad as it used to be — I do confirm this. There’s not many hotels, and you really don’t want to cross Twelfth Avenue with a lot of luggage on a muggy summer day!

Thanks for the information and guidance, everyone! It does seem strange to bring cash along on a cruise merely for gambling, but given the apparent smaller size of the Oceania casino, it makes sense here. I guess it’s time for a cash donation to the cruise line, LOL.

Can someone please explain how the casino works in terms of money? Do we use cash or do we charge the amount we would like to play with to our on board accounts? Having been on several cruises prior, we have experienced both methods. Although, I will say I am partial to the latter.

Columbia was indeed the initial stop...on July 4th, no less! My wife and I were ecstatic when we learned of the substitution for Havana though — now we can finally compare our experience to that of our dear Canadian friends!

If you are talking about an app with the initials S-M, I told them about their error a while back, but they still haven’t fixed it, sigh...

Although the Vista is a very attractive ship, I sadly must report that it is the worst for cigarette smoke of any ship I've ever sailed. Smoking is permitted in the casino (deck 4) which opens into an atrium decks 3-5. I have a deck 6 forward cabin and can smell smoke every night. It permeates the entire ship like no other.

Sigh, that is actually very sad news. And here I thought that the smoking in the casino was going to be contained! Ah, well, thanks for the warning.

Wow, that is not good at all...I am surprised that Carnival took a step backwards with this! I wonder if there was some kind of problem with Elemis licensing the Thalassotherapy Pool out this time around? Or maybe because, given my experience on a lot of cruises, a lot of times the T-pool had to be closed off given the rockiness of the ship on particularly rough sea days? All idle speculation, and in the end irrelevant, but that is a HUGE disappointment, since I usually liked to take extended spa passes out during my cruises. Oh, well!

Only thing I can think of off the top of my hat is a good set of photos of the Cloud 9 Spa Thermal Suites, as that doesn't really seem to be covered by anyone on CC so far. Thanks!

The ice cream flavor does change daily in the steakhouse.

 

 

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It does and they have some very good ones. Unique as well. We were dining there last cruise and my daughter ordered the cheesecake which is huge and my son in law order the ice cream which comes as two small scoops (smaller than the ones served in the MDR). After placed he looked at her cheese cake and his ice cream size diff and said HEY

Oh, man, I had that exact same experience during my honeymoon...and that was back when the ice cream was limited to just the MDR flavors! My DW and I still laugh at that memory...such sad little cups of ice cream!

No the Vista does not have any adult only pools. John Heald conformed this during one of the live broadcasts this week. The only adult-only exclusive area is serenity.

 

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Thanks!

Thanks for the Havana photos at night. Maybe there's still hope that it won't be too loud for the aft extended Havana balconies.

Amen to that, LOL!

I'm just wondering now, is there any adults-only pool on the Vista? I've not really seen any information on the Tides Pool anywhere, for example. Of course I know that there is the Serenity area, but that generally does not have pools save for where it's been retrofitted like the Spirit-class. Since the Havana cabins are for ages 12 and up, I presume that especially in August, the Havana pool and hot tubs will have (more than?) its fair share of junior cruisers. This will likely not shatter my Havana experience, or even my upcoming B2B in general, but it would be interesting to know...and to prepare for!

We don't do the shows anyway, so in no way, would that be a deciding factor on booking a particular ship.

 

NOW, let's move the comedy show to a bigger venue!:D:D

AMEN to both of your comments! I'd never let entertainment stand in the way of booking a ship or itinerary. Next, on the Pride last month, near the end of the cruise it was SRO forty-five minutes prior to a simple standup comedy show...isn't there something wrong with that? Indeed, most times the comedians were far better-attended than the main lounge shows, of which I only went to about half at most. I can understand Carnival wanting to experiment with their entertainment venues, but it seems to me that from the sea day brunch on down to the cramped showrooms, the whole George Lopez Punchliner tack has been a big bust. I will still reserve judgment on the Vista, as far as this goes, but it doesn't sound like a resounding success all-around for Carnival so far.

I absolutely second the original poster. Aside from changing from a supper club to a steakhouse (thereby divesting itself of the ambiance of both live entertainment and a dress code) and an increase in price, things have not changed in the steakhouse since I first went there with my DW TEN YEARS AGO. We've also seen subtle changes in the quality of the food, too: this past April, we found the cowboy steak, usually my wife's favorite, to be rather fatty, and the past couple of cruises, we found the mushrooms to be really, really overcooked. Don't get me wrong, we always love the steakhouse experience, and it is great value for the price -- and in fact, I think aside from my wife's homemade version, you won't find a better French onion soup anywhere. Still, I thoroughly believe that you can have a daily special, and there is absolutely no question that the dessert menu, especially the Chocolate Sampler, needs to be 86ed and completely revamped. I'd never recommend anyone not to go to the steakhouse, especially if you're on a ship with otherwise limited additional dining options, but really, Carnival, take a good look at the menu and see what you can do about freshening it up!

My DW and I just came back from the Pride staying in aft balcony 5297, and aside from a little bit of wear and tear, as usual we found it a very clean and nice cabin, right on par with our previous aft balconies on the Legend and Miracle. You're lucky that you got two adjacent balconies, riatees, that's pretty nice! You can definitely open the dividers to share the space, so you can have a pretty roomy balcony indeed. In ten years of being an aft devotee, I've never encountered much problem with vibration, soot, or debris, and we certainly didn't encounter any on this past cruise. The biggest thing we found one time on the Splendor was hearing the lounge chairs being dragged right above us on the Lido deck, but even then that wasn't too bad, and being on the sixth deck, you'll have plenty of buffer from that. We're hoping we get the same relative level of quiet next August in our Havana afts aboard the Vista, but since we've got two decks between us and the Havana area, this will hopefully be a good thing. I hope you enjoy the cabin and wish you a fantastic cruise!

My DW and I just cruised out of Baltimore for the first time last month, and I will echo the recommendation for the Best Western. The rooms are not the prettiest; they are stuck in the 1990s and the whole place could use a nice renovation, but overall the hotel grounds are clean and certainly convenient. The parking really is quite safe to leave your car in, and the shuttle is very opportune. A nice bonus is your proximity to drive to Chaps Pit Beef, a really fantastic hole-in-the-wall fast food joint that for once actually is worth all the accolades it gets on Food Network and the Travel Channel. As far as the port, it certainly is nice, too, but one thing that took us both by surprise is the ramp up onto the Pride: a sloping and long four-level affair that presented quite a few senior citizens and handicapped travellers with the daunting task of getting to the ship. Cruising out of the Chesapeake Bay was quite nice, too, especially having to go under TWO bridges, but it seemed to me that the water was quite choppy -- that might have been a time-of-year deal, however. Overall, while I still prefer the convenience of NYC or Bayonne for us, I can't say I would never cruise out of Charm City again: it was a pleasant change!

Wasn't there a video on YouTube from a few years ago that showed a stoner dude with his friend walking along the halls of a Carnival ship at night eating the leftovers off of trays? I kid you not! If nothing else, it would make you think that this could be a potential liability for Carnival in case a fool like that or a toddler choked on such leftovers, but I guess that's something they've already considered.

Also, it's been my experience that room stewards never clear dishes from the cabin. There have been numerous times when my DW and I have received the platinum crudite/hors d'oeuvres/whatever and left them untouched for days without our steward ever removing the remains, or the plate. Once we put them outside our cabin, though, they're gone quickly.

This whole debate almost sounds like it could be a complaint about food waste and lack of culinary manners or courtesy onboard, in general, but Lord knows I don't want to go there!

Thanks for the kind words, Ed! As I wasn't really in the main pool much, I didn't really pay much attention to the DJs, but you're right, that can get kind of old really fast. You also happen to be absolutely right, in my family's and my opinion, about the timing of the shows. It seemed as if we were always just a little off kilter trying to make those seatings.

Yes, DR, I thought you were very nice and always interesting on the roll call. I think we saw your partner and you once in the Deck 7 hallway when visiting the in-laws! It was also very nice when you suggested my SIL take the empty cabin next to my FIL your friends couldn't make it to, but again, she'd've lost all their 123Go! perks had they moved. I feel bad that we didn't hit the roll call party, but like I said there, it's difficult with family. All the in-laws absolutely loved your room steward too. My SIL dealt with the Select maître d' too to help with her gluten-free diet, and overall we really never had much of a wait at all. Indeed, Blu seemed to have far longer waits! We're all very happy to hear that you enjoyed this trip and wish you great cruising in the future.

Thanks, MW! I enjoy reading your posts and replies as well, very informative. My FIL's cousin and his wife sailed with friends on your recent cruise too. In fact, they brought home all of the dailies for us so we'd know what to expect! I'm very happy you enjoyed 1140 and wish you (and for that matter everyone!) happy sailings in the future.

Thanks so much, everyone, for the kind words and warm appreciation! My wife actually corrected me last night after I posted, in that for this cruise, Aqua Class was the exact same price as Concierge was...which I guess makes the cost of the cruise even more of a factor if that's what a Concierge package costs. Guess they really wanted to fill 1133! I certainly don't want to put anyone off of Aqua, especially if the upcoming drydock will take care of any (mostly aesthetic) appearance issues. Still, where price is a consideration for anyone, just think long and hard before you book an A1, especially if it's 1133.

I also realize I didn't address something I alluded to in my original text: I am very much a late riser on a cruise, generally thanks to Bonine, and I was pretty surprised to learn that breakfast ended so quickly on the Lido deck. I literally never made one breakfast up there, and I got up at most around 10 some days. Yeah, there was the "late breakfast" area, but it always looked relatively very crowded with little choices. Hence, I am not the only late riser, either, and the ship definitely wasn't dead after midnight. I just wish Celebrity offered a little later omelette services in their buffet, maybe?

As to the decor, IAC, you are correct, it was the newer AQ1 we were in, but I guess they just added the exact same cabin styles as previously to make the ship more consistent-looking. Maybe all the cabins need freshening up, LOL.

Lois, it's funny, you said almost exactly what my sister said! I think we generally don't like to be very pushy to room stewards, as it can be a thankless job in the real world, let alone on a cruise. For us, towel animals is 1) just a nice extra thing to see at the end of a day, as well as 2) a source for more towels. ;) Perhaps it's just an Aqua thing? Yeah, we should've said something about the fruit and the wood lacquer called wine we got, too, but so it goes. I think what got me with the animals was our family quite truly sometimes getting two per day in their cabins! Consistency in service should be a hallmark of a hospitality provider. Most likely, next time we will just ask politely but firmly for better service. And as far as the cleanliness went, again, we only found out on Saturday night that the carpet wasn't well vacuumed (Nicci only had a few beads on that dress, and the rest were intact).

Finally, Phil, all I can say is that the worst cruise is still better than schlepping to work every day, LOL! So, at least as far as vacations go, I've learned that life is too short to consider the glass half-empty, and you should just be glad you've got a glass to begin with. Could've been so much worse: my family or I could've needed that O-neg blood ourselves, right? :D