JDincalif

Viking Ocean ships: serene design; spacious public areas that still manage to provide uncrowded intimate spaces; the indoor spa (open to all at no additional charge) with pool, snow room, sauna and more, with plenty of lounge chairs and a "fireplace"; outdoor pool deck with retractable roof; infinity pool at the aft; and oh so much more...

Ingredients representing the four basic food groups: Salt, sugar, fat and alcohol 😉

We found the HS ice cream quality equivalent to other O ice cream offerings. Whether these are surpassed by other brands or cruise line offerings could be a separate (contentious) discussion 😉

Other cheeky tasty flavors include "Secret Breakfast" (bourbon with cornflake cookie bits) and "After School Special" (chocolate-covered potato chip bits with caramel swirl). It was fun to try something different

In May 2022 Viking Ocean (Mars) did not carry Paxlovid. In July 2022 Oceania (Regatta) carried Paxlovid. Travel insurance covered the $800 charge for this medication.

Agreed; the question was intended for the Cruise Critic administrator whose original post was quoted to indicate that intention

Will Cruise Critic provide a summary of Mr. Del Rio's responses to these questions following the event?

Will Cruise Critic provide a summary of CEO responses to these questions following the event?

Please clarify how the recently announced reductions in port time stays provide significant environmental benefit.

For Mr. Del Rio: Please explain what benefits to the environment are gained from the recently announced reductions in Oceania port stay times.

Additionally, have observed some reading in library with (covered) cups of coffee/tea; haven't seen any express prohibition of these in the library

On Regatta now - library has several shelves dedicated to book swap - mostly popular fiction paperbacks

J was on a two week Renaissance voyage in (she believes) January 2001 between Istanbul and Barcelona. This cruise was announced on short notice due to cancellation of a different itinerary, and what a bargain it was: two weeks, $599/pp for an ocean view. (Not included in signature as this was before J met D; signature represents "the happy shared adventures of J and D"☺️)

Won a 'fanny pack' in a Renaissance trivia competition. The cruise director presented it with the (humorous?) remark (warning?): "This is the perfect item to identify yourself as a tourist anywhere in the world"

Responding more directly to your question: Apart from the occasional dinner/tender/shore excursion queue, we haven't experienced crowds and lines on Oceania ships, even when the ships were at full capacity. Our only voyage on a 'larger' ship (not a mega) was on one with a maximum passenger capacity around 3000 with a passenger/space ratio close to the Oceania O and R class ships; definitely felt more crowded.

Here's some more great information from njhorseman that helps to explain how the passenger/space ratio isn't sufficient to predict the feeling of being crowded: Also two ships of identical GT, and let's say even identical non-passenger interior space and carrying an identical number of passengers could have substantially different amount of public space simply by varying the size of the cabins. A ship with larger cabins will have less public space for dining rooms, entertainment venues, etc. than an otherwise identical GT ship carrying the same number of passengers but in smaller cabins .

Elsewhere on the Oceania board, njhorseman provided an excellent discussion of the passenger/space ratio and the perception of 'crowding': The ratios used in the cruisemapper website's calculation are not true measures of how spacious a ship will seem to its passengers. Gross Tonnage is calculated from the volume of all enclosed spaces of a ship so it includes a substantial amount of space not accessible to or used by passengers such as engine rooms, crew living quarters, galleys and storerooms. Two ships of equal passenger capacity and equal Gross Tonnage can have differences in the amount of space occupied by facilities not used by passengers. As an example I know that when Marina and Riviera were built there was mention of how large the galleys were relative to the passenger capacity of the ships, so that raises the question of whether actual accessible passenger space per passenger on the "O" ships is in reality more than that on the "R" ships .

On our most recent Viking cruise, we learned from the staff at Mamsen's that the "Success Cake" is gluten free.

A quick web search indicates that such regulations in NZ were initiated in 2014, with detailed guidance available for significant changes that became effective in May 2018. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00390/full Of course, a lot has happened since then...

Details of the NCL program and a link to contact NCL directly with your comments, questions and concerns can be found here

Today we received the same letter for our January 30 Regatta voyage between Auckland and Sydney. Several arrival times were revised half an hour to an hour later; several departure times revised to half an hour to an hour earlier.

Using mobile devices, we've noticed recently that Search function no longer offers "member search," just "content search".

Here's a link to help you find your current assigned cruise terminal and the 2023 tentative cruise/port schedule. https://www.portseattle.org/cruise-ships

This works for NCL/Oceania cruises. Pier 91, serving other cruise lines, is 2 miles from the Edgewater.