cruisingxpert

57 minutes ago, IDL said:

Thanks for the insights; did you use the gym or  do anything on the sports deck?  Booked on the British Isles cruise in August and the ship looks beautiful. 

I looked at the gym and it looked well equipped.  The sports deck has the mini golf put courses and an area for the latest craze- pickleball  I did book a free( being the operative word) appointment to discuss back and knee pain.  Of course I ended up with some orthotic inserts for my shoes - which I took out after the first walking on all the uneven cobblestones in Mykonos 😁

13 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

Is the elevator issue a mechanical one that is being fixed or a design problem?  IOW is there an elevator bank on deck six aft that is just temporarily taped off?

Not a mechanical issue.  They enlarged the seating area in Ember, blocking that back hallway to the aft Deck 5 elevator and stairway to Deck 6.  I guess they thought more tables in Ember was better than letting people in back half the ship access all the Deck 5 services whose nearest elevator would be the Aft elevators.  On another note, don't listen to the mechanical elevator lady that says the elevator is going down when it is going up and vice versa. 

Just got back from Athens and still on their time - can't stop getting up at 4am😕

We had my favourite penthouse cabin at the back of Deck 7 with the large wraparound balcony.  Cabin is beautiful and the closet space was decent and drawer space plentiful.  I was concerned that there was now no walk in closet but you can create one by opening the closet doors on both sides lol

I thought the new Aquamar in the old La Reserve space was a good addition- loved the Poke Bowl.

Waves turning into a pizzeria at night was a nice idea- you can also order the pizza and have it brought to the Terrace.

Red Ginger doesn't look like an Asian restaurant anymore but maybe some will like the well lit space now,

Only went to Ember once but I liked the decor and enjoyed the food.  We normally take 2-2.5 hours in a specialty but were out of Ember in 1hr 45 min.  

For those people booked in an extended Concierge veranda, they are not allowing you to have a lounger- I know 2 cabins that asked and were refused.  It may be that they don't have enough loungers- just a guess.

We did get 8 people to do the Odyssey La Reserve dinner in Privee.  You have to be very proactive because they don't advertise it anywhere.  They said we have to have a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 8 people.  We got to Privee and the setting was for 10 people- a bit of communication issues.  The amuse bouche was served in the Library.  The chairs were uncomfortable and we were told that someone had fallen out of their chair on one of the previous dinners.  New chairs have been ordered.  The dinner was a lot of fun.  Cost was $150 plus 20% grats

The Spa deck pool and seating is lovely

My biggest complaint is the aft elevator DOES NOT stop on Deck 5.  I mentioned this in another post but will repeat it here.

Having just returned from the Mat 20th Vista cruise, I agree with what the "pointsguy" girl said. It is beautiful and never felt full.

There is one difference that really bothered me, that the pointsguy didn't mention- maybe she was in a cabin towards the front of the ship, The aft elevators DO NOT go to Deck 5 even though the button for 5 is shown on the panel. There is also no staircase when you reach Deck 6 to continue down to Deck 5.  If you are in an aft cabin you have to walk to the front elevators or go to deck 6 and walk forward to the stairs to Deck 5.  What were they thinking??  The Reason?  They added some tables to enlarge the Ember space.  

I mean who cares- deck 5 doesn't have anything of importance- only

Reception, Destinations Concierge Desk, Reservations desk, Shops, Red Ginger, Ember, Vista Theatre, one of main exits from the ship etc etc,

Any questions- happy to answer what I can.

Catherine

18 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

And if things are like they were on Riviera for us you won't be able to have light on the side balcony either.

I think it probably depends on who the captain is.  I have been on Riviera in an Oceania suite on Deck 12 and we had the light on a few times and were never told we couldn't

Having just returned from the Mat 20th Vista cruise, I agree with what the "pointsguy" girl said. It is beautiful and never felt full.

There is one difference that really bothered me, that the pointsguy didn't mention- maybe she was in a cabin towards the front of the ship, The aft elevators DO NOT go to Deck 5 even though the button for 5 is shown on the panel. There is also no staircase when you reach Deck 6 to continue down to Deck 5.  If you are in an aft cabin you have to walk to the front elevators or go to deck 6 and walk forward to the stairs to Deck 5.  What were they thinking??  The Reason?  They added some tables to enlarge the Ember space.  

I mean who cares- deck 5 doesn't have anything of importance- only

Reception, Destinations Concierge Desk, Reservations desk, Shops, Red Ginger, Ember, Vista Theatre, one of main exits from the ship etc etc,

22 minutes ago, Ocean Mouse said:

In the UK all documents are now being sent electronically but unfortunately this does not include printable luggage tags. Was not happy with getting them at the cruise terminal, it could be chaos!  Spoke to my TA and she has arranged for some to be sent in the post.

 

I don't have a problem with printing the tags, I have some very sturdy holders which I have used for other cruise lines.

If they don't arrive "JoePDX"  has created his own and posted an editable Word Doc to put your ship, cabin and name on them.

Check Post # 18 on this

41 minutes ago, MnDAL said:

And those are PLASTIC? 

More like plastic coated paper.  I wouldn't trust them if it was raining. Suggest putting them in a plastic sleeve.  Unless you put two of them back to back, you can only read one side..  Much preferred the old ones to these.  

10 hours ago, slw207693 said:

I stand corrected on internet connection - it is 1 log in per cabin except the Vista, Oceania and Owners suites who get 2 log-ins

Thank you so much for answering all our questions.  Do you know what the cost is if someone wants to pay to have a second login

3 minutes ago, slw207693 said:

anything specific you’d like me to post?

Where is that third pictuer with all the artifacts behind glass?  Also, can you get some pictures of closet in ph with doors open?  Really appreciate what you are doing. How was the Meet and Greet?

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

Does this mean they no longer offer a choice from either Polo or Toscana at no additional cost, other than the Privee room charge?

 

GC

They are not renting the room for Privee dinners.  I and several others had Privee booked and got notice that they were cancelling it and refunding our payment back to our credit card

1 hour ago, slw207693 said:

Polo and Toscana now have a private dining area for 8 near the front of each restaurant.

Thanks for the great description.  Can the private dining area for 8 be booked before getting on ship - similar to the way Privee operated before? 

3 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

In addition, you may remember that O stopped issuing Future Cruise Certificates months ago as part of the overall attempt to get a “fresh start” in 2024.

As per LHT28

If  you do not think you will be spending  that much  I would request it in the form of an FCC  or if you already have another cruise booked see if it can be applied to that   booking

They may have stopped doing FCC but I know of one person who is on one the ESS sailings and was able to apply the credit as payment to another cruise.

9 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

We booked our October 2023 cruise on December 5, 2022. I was told that because it was less than 365 days out, they did not owe us anything for the change from Venice to Trieste.

 

I booked my May 2023 in Sept 21 and at that time it said cruise was leaving from Venice. Maybe yours had changed by the time you booked?  It is also confusing when they put the port followed in brackets where you will really be.  It wasn't until someone on a roll call pointed out that my Barcelona debarkation last year was in Tarragona  i.e. Barcelona[Tarragona]

Has anyone who had their Privee cancelled seen the refund on their credit card?  

29 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

There are 2 chairs and a table and only one chaise lounger?

I guess that's true but I think they can give you an extra if you want.  The problem is that it's a long balcony but not a deep one.  If you have a birthday on board, they will decorate the cabin for you.

Question to @mexicobob  Did you have an in person Muster or have they gone back to Virtual?

11 hours ago, Jancruz said:

Rather than all this speculation, wouldn't it make more sense to just wait until the first (or second, or third) reviews are in, which will be soon, to form opinions about Vista?

Jancruz1

plus 1

 I don't have the luxury of waiting til the reviews are in. I am on the 2nd cruise and I wish I knew more about what O is doing so I could make plans accordingly.

My cruise is very port intensive but I am going to try to post on the cruise unless someone who is good at doing " Live from" will do it.

11 hours ago, mexicobob said:

The Terrace Grill was the most surprising as was not expecting such great food and service in the "buffet" area. Never made it to the main dining room.

I think your reaction is typical of passengers who have sailed on other lines.  I wouldn't eat dinner in the buffets on any other line but I often eat dinner at the Terrace Buffet rather than the GDR.  I will be on my 20th O cruise next month.

2 hours ago, jonthomas said:

We are on this but Nov 13, from bcn to Mia. Only the LIS to Mia is on sale.

Is anyone else on the 20 days and could take advantage of the sale?

Our TA, said we have the better deal and that's that.

 

I looked at a site that shows the sale price.  For example a B2 BCN to MIA is USD $5199pp and if you break the 2 cruises up it is 2699and 2239 for a total of $4938.  That's a $161 savings.  Whether you would get a 5% discount for booking 2 back to back cuises, I don't know.  The categories have to be available and right now they are.

I loved the Privee bookings - I'm beginning to miss Marina and Riviera already. 

56 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

” Subject: Vista - Privee updated

What cruise date was your Privee for?

I got the same email for my May 28th Privee booking but I wasn't even a valued guest🤥

Mine was addressed

"Dear Value Guest,

26 minutes ago, Tarwood3 said:

Have you ever questioned them on it?  It’s so unethical to say you are saving X amount of dollars but when you actually book it, they raise the base fare, so you’re not really getting a discount or much less of a discount than you thought.  Discounts are often incentive for people to book, but if they are raising the price and you’re not actually getting the price you thought, that’s very deceptive.   We should be able to understand and see where each number is coming from…. 

No, I've never questioned the fairytale pricing on the invoice.  I look for the total price to verify it is what I expected.  Having said that you made me look a little closer.  It is still a fairytale but the numbers did work out. If you add the first 2 numbers(which they must pull from somewhere I can't mention🤥) and then subtract the rest, you end up with the price I could see when I went to pricing on the O website.

Cruise Fare 19,298.00 CAD
Single Supplement 7,624.00
Savings
Early Booking (9,649.00)
Bonus Discount (1,650.00)
Onboard Booking Savings (375.00)
Air Allowance (1,050.00)
Cruise Fare Total 14,198.00

Their invoices are a fancy modern miracle.

I have a booking for me - only me and I am paying double the pp rate but invoice has a supposed SS discount.

Cruise Fare 19,298.00 CAD
Single Supplement 7,624.00
Savings
Early Booking (9,649.00)
Bonus Discount (1,650.00)

None of it makes sense so the only thing I go by is am I paying what I can see on the O site pp fare.

If I upgrade, is the difference between the category I had originally and the one I upgraded to the same difference pp that I see on the O site 

We were in 8044 last summer on Insignia.  Never heard any noise and very close to elevator.  Great room.