emd138

I can see where the world cruisers would have a lot of things, but for shorter cruises, I don't see any issues, although I haven't been on Vista. We have been on the R class ships, in the lower staterooms, and never had any issue with 10 days, and would have been fine with at least double that.

I have been using the same person for years, and they don't charge an initial fee, but they do if I change the booking....it is still much less than what you mentioned, though. I just had to change one because my husband's employer approved his vacation, and then took it back. Unreal, and my anger is with his employer. They do provide perks. I book lower end cabins, and shorter (7-10 day) cruises, for perspective.

Yes, it is key to get there as soon as you can. I am a heavy woman but not super out of shape, and while running through the airport there were LOTS of comments made, but hey, I got on the flight! Of course it was one end to the other of Chicago O'Hare. The flight attendant was awesome and gave me some water, haha!

I bring dress shoes that I normally wear, but also remember to keep in mind ocean conditions. We only do R ships, and a lot of time, they are rocking and rolling. I wear black sneakers in those conditions, with a nice outfit, and it has always been fine. When you can't walk straight because you are bouncing off the walls, you have to do what you have to do.

I have had that happen once. There were a large number of passengers that were delayed, and they held the flight for a bit. They didn't hold it for everybody, though, because I know some on my prior flight that did not make it. I ran like crazy through the airport, and was the last one that made it. The plane was still half empty when we took off, but quite a few had boarded right before me, and the next plane was ready for the spot.

Do you sleep with earplugs? I wear them at work every day, but that would not help me sleep, and is NOT what I expect or will deal with on a vacation. You are missing the point of this entire thread, that the walls/sound insulation are thinner, and things are louder. Oh, and it is 2:40am here, and I am not asleep. Would you want to hear my TV? (I would not have it on it, to be clear, but many don't think of their neighbors.)

Yes, and Snaefell3, I have also learned to make sure that when we have all day excursions, they include or at least give time for something to eat, INCLUDING the time to get off of the ship, haha! We did a very small boat whale watching tour in Alaska, and the times didn't really work out for us to get lunch first. It took much longer than I expected to get off of the ship for how small it is. The whale activity was fantastic, though, and the excursion went WAY over time, so we got back to the ship at 11pm. (To be fair, they did ask everyone if they were okay going over on time if we were seeing a lot of neat stuff, and we were.) I am guessing a lot of other people had excursions through both lunch and dinner, so room service took 3 hours. I was not starving by any means, but OMG, my husband would definitely say I was pretty hangry by the time we got our food, haha!

That is a really good question, we are booked on a cruise for our anniversary this year.

Yay, CT Cruiser76, I hope you enjoy it! I am a bit late to offer my 2 cents, but we are in our 40's, and have our 3rd Bermuda trip booked for this summer on Insignia, and 5th on a smaller Oceania ship. We have limitations on vacation, so New York is a local-ish port to us, and a 7 day is our limit as well. We love meeting the people on the cruises, and spend most of our socializing. Most are older than us, but have a lot of neat experiences that we enjoy hearing. We love Bermuda, and love the extended port times where we don't have to rush. We do spend some time reading and watching movies relaxing in the room since we both have high stress jobs, but we book an Oceanview. I am not a small woman, and the shower is PAINFULLY tiny, but tolerable for 7 days. Just don't drop the soap, haha! The food and service is worth it to us, and we love not having to deal with the crowds. We always do a bunch of the daily activities, like mini golf and shuffleboard for example, but on most cruises the night entertainment has been a major miss for us. We had a great entertainment crew on our last sailing on the Regatta, but that was the only one that we enjoyed the shows. I suggest sitting at the back for your first one or 2 if you choose to go to them for an easy exit, because some have been really bad. We just go to the piano bar and enjoy the music and company there, so don't really care, but some do look forward to the nightly shows.

There is no reason, other than if you want that category and it isn't available - you are at least guaranteed to get on the ship for that price in that cabin level or higher. I booked that once, and didn't have a room number until a couple days before we left. What I saw in that experience, they will call the people already booked in that category and offer them an upgrade for a reduced but still significant price. They did give us that "offer," but the cost was only a VERY slight discount from if we booked the next level up. (We booked a C1 guarantee on an R class ship.) We talked to one party that said nope, they should be upgraded for free, and they were. I did the same, and I was told no, only if they couldn't find anyone to pay. Apparently they found somebody that took what they were offered. I got what I paid for, so I have no complaints, but do not book it expecting extra.

Thanks for your review! I usually lose weight on an Oceania cruise because I am more active and there are so many healthy options to eat. Have fun!

The showers on balcony and below are terribly small. If you have calm seas, I have found it tolerable as a not so small person, but we have had a lot of rough seas on our trips, and I can't stand banging into the sides while I am trying to wash. Don't drop the soap, either, hahaha! The 2 specialty restaurants versus 4 was also a downside since our last 2 7 day cruises repeated the menu in the MDR and terrace the last 2 days and did not have anything I really cared for. With that said, I had a fantastic time, and I know I am super picky and have no complaints overall, so I am only telling you the downsides that I saw.

We have taken a bottle or 2 of liquor on all 4 of our cruises after reading on here that they tell you that you can't, but don't stop you. We only drink it in the room for our nightcap. We took no efforts to hide it, just wrapped it up and put it in one of our checked bags.

Classes have already been posted for our November 2024 cruise, so I would start checking periodically now. I can't find the date I booked one, but I think it was over a month ago.

That is correct. I get double lobster, no steak, no roll. They customize however you want.