ohmark

On 9/1/2024 at 11:20 PM, Sailnsurf said:

I meant to ask, before posting above, whether anyone knows if any of the ice cream selection is usually gluten free?

A couple of months ago on Marina, there were gluten free ice cream choices. Can't remember if it was every night or just some nights.

8 hours ago, HilsTas said:

(bit my tongue)

me too

1 hour ago, Huib said:

Waiting fo an hour?? Aren’t there stairs?

There are; but then some folks can't use them.

1 hour ago, Vallesan said:

We are due to sail October 2nd and although we are mid-ships I can’t use the stairs. Hope  we have considerate fellow passengers!

Being mid-ship, you will avoid most aft elevator problems by using the forward elevators to access the restaurants on 5, 6, 12, and 14, keeping in mind you will have a brief outdoor jaunt on 12 and 14.

18 hours ago, Clutj said:

Cruise director’s first announcement today in Reykjavik was that the aft elevators have a broken motor and are shut down.  He had a very long explanation about the motor needs to be custom ordered, then they need a port with a big crane to get it onboard because it will weigh 3000 pounds or something… No timing mentioned but it sounded to me like he was saying it will be months… not days and weeks seemed unlikely.  Pure speculation on my part but I didn’t hear anything optimistic in his report.

Your's is not the first Marina cruise with this significant inconvenience, resulting in extreme waits for an aft elevator at various times of the day. We had the same issue 7/26/24 to 8/5/24, Copenhagen to Tromso. 

12 hours ago, taiwan_girl said:

Another poster (cant find that post or thread) indicated that Vista was built in a modular style...

 

Thanks

44 minutes ago, edgee said:

As I u derstand it,Vista and Regent's new Regent Grandeur were recently built in the same shipyard...different than Marina and Riviera..different design and 10 plus years later. Both Vista and Grandeur have reports of poor sound proofing between cabins. I have cruised on Riviera and Marina multiple times with no sound issues between cabins. Two long cruises on Vista in two different cabins and experienced the issue in a problematic way. Was told by staff on Vista that the problem is pervasive on that ship..no matter what deck and cabin you are in. Was considering cruising on Regent Grandeur but will change my plans based on reports from that new ship. NCLH has a problem they are supposedly addressing...not sure how they will do it.

Thanks for the reply.

We sailed on Vista for 15 days September 2023 (in a Deck 7 towards aft PH) and heard no noise from neighbors, just as we heard no neighbor noise on our cruises on Marina and Riviera. We did experience an unusual vibration or engine noise on Vista but assumed this was simply a problem with a new ship which would be worked out. But as to neighboring cabin noise being "pervasive" on Vista, not saying it's not happening, but we didn't experience that problem. Maybe we just had quieter neighbors or maybe not pervasive?

10 hours ago, edgee said:

Vista is far from a sweet spot for me. TV and conversation noise from adjacent cabins disturbed my sleep for a total of 27 nights on two separate cruises. It is a major design issue I hope they fix on Allura.

How do you believe the design of Vista, as opposed to the design of Marina and Riviera, would cause excessive noise from adjacent cabins?

12 hours ago, DoulaAnn said:

Looking at the Allura Deck Plan on O's site, Baristas and Horizons are on the same deck. I wonder if they are taking out the Conference Center or maybe merging it with the LYNC room.

Indeed, the Allura deck plan on O's site shows the same arrangement of the Library, Barista's, and The Bakery as on Vista. Allura Cruise Ship Deck Plans Details | Oceania Cruises

3 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

Was any of this changed during the Riviera refit?? Not that I’m aware of so would make sense if not that it would not be changed on Marina, especially with the short down time. 

Assuming the various info provided in this thread is accurate, as a Marina veteran it looks like Vista will be our sweet spot. (No bakery on Marina, reduced library on Allura.)

20 minutes ago, LuAnn said:

Just off Marina this AM and the chief barista told me that the area will not be changed and he was happy about that.He had worked on Vista and while a beautiful ship he did not like the way his work area was laid out. 

Thanks for the update.  ☹️

2 hours ago, CruisingIGo said:

Marina’s general manager is Susanna Cahyadi.  She told me today that Marina will NOT get “The Bakery” (like Vista) during the May 2024 dry dock.

Thanks for the info. On Vista, the library/Barista's/Bakery area has been extremely popular--at least on the cruise I was on. Deciding not to include The Bakery in the Marina refurb is a bad decision IMO. 

Any info on whether the Marina refurb will bring a library comparable to Vista?

On 2/20/2024 at 8:55 PM, CruisingIGo said:

On Allura, the new Creperie will be located near Baristas on the port side (same location as library on Vista).  Allura’s library will be moved upstairs near Horizons.

Would be a truly horrendous decision to move (and downsize?) the gorgeous library that is such an asset on Vista.  Library/Barrista's/bakery arrangement is perfect.

42 minutes ago, CruisingIGo said:

On Marina now.  Definitely LaReserve is being replaced by Aquamarine Kitchen.  Not sure if Bakery is being added…. Will ask and report back.

Thanks. Will look for you additional report.

The Bakery/Barista's/Library area on Vista is a highlight and significant upgrade from that area on the (pre-upgrade) Marina.

Question as to The Bakery/Barista's/Library. As you probably know, the Vista has a very nice are devoted to "The Bakery", Barista's, and a re-imagined library. Assume this will be the same in Allura. Question as to whether this area will be included in the renovated-to-be Marina or included in the already renovated Riviera.

Thanks in advance.

Mark

September 2022, our Marina cruise docked one day in Ashdod, and then 2-days in Haifa. We booked the same private guide for all three days through Tours By Locals. The guide only guided, but provided the driver. We paid via Tours by Locals for the guide and paid the driver directly each day.

Looking at a map of Israel, it was clear that spending the first night at a hotel in Jerusalem would save us hours of driving. So, the guide picked us up at Ashdod port. Toured the desert, Masada mountain, and the Dead Sea, and then dropped us at a hotel in the Old City of Jerusalem. Guide picked us up the next morning and gave us a walking tour of the Old City. In late afternoon the guide had his driver take us back to the ship in Haifa, where it had sailed to. The third day, the guide picked us up at Haifa port, and took us through Galilee, including Nazareth, and a kibbutz. The guide and driver were both fine and we enjoyed every minute.

There is no question in my mind that the private guide was significantly better than a cruise excursion. In fact, I got aboard one of the excursion buses for a few minutes as it returned to Haifa port, and observed what appeared to be a bus full of exhausted and unhappy travelers.

But, in our case, the expense was divided among three travelers. Dividing the expense this way made the cost for each of us in the neighborhood of the ship's price for its large bus excursions. If you can find a couple of people to go with, there is no question that a private guide would be a far better choice. Good luck.

Thanks for all the replies.

22 hours ago, MarkWiltonM said:

I'm pretty sure they no longer give you a credit for the $250 administrative fee.

 

See this link: 

https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005306234-What-is-your-cancellation-and-refund-policy-

 

 

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

There used to be a footnote  for  the +  & it no longer  has anything

 

Like many things Oceania  they make changes to policies   but do not send out  a passenger wide notice 🙂

True, and they probably prefer to deal with the situation on an individual basis.

B/T/W, I looked at the post you linked to earlier, and it does say what you say. But it cites no Oceania, cruise agent, or other source for the information.

39 minutes ago, MarkWiltonM said:

I'm pretty sure they no longer give you a credit for the $250 administrative fee.

 

See this link: 

https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005306234-What-is-your-cancellation-and-refund-policy-

 

 

Thanks for replying, Mark.

I looked at the link you provided, but it still contains the asterisk for the administrative fee, and does not say that O no longer allows the credit for the administrative fee.  (I say asterisk, but it looks like a "+".)

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

The  fee is no longer  applied to another cruise

Your TA  may or may not  be able to work out something to have the Admin fee transfered but  do not count on it now

Thanks.

Is there some official policy Oceania has posted somewhere or is this an unofficial change?

I notice that the official undated Oceania policy still contains the asterisk for the administrative fee, but does not explain what the asterisk means.

As I understand it, if booking is cancelled during the time this fee applies, the $250 fee is usable by the customer to apply to another booking.

Question for our experts or those with experience doing this:

In addition to using this fee towards a new booking, can this fee be applied to a current booking which has not yet reached final payment?

Thanks in advance.

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

I did the search  but it routes me to the Canadian site so maybe that makes a difference

Using FF on a computer

As of now, it appears to be fixed on USA website.

17 minutes ago, ohmark said:

Cleaned cache and cookies twice on Chrome and Vista. Didn't help.

Are you going right to your reserved cruise or are you searching like I am (starting with find a cruise, highlighting September 2023 and New England/Canada)? All four appear at first, but only the two Insignia cruises come up when they are clicked on.

I meant, of course, "...on Chrome and Bing." Must have Vista on my mind.

Cleaned cache and cookies twice on Chrome and Vista. Didn't help.

Are you going right to your reserved cruise or are you searching like I am (starting with find a cruise, highlighting September 2023 and New England/Canada)? All four appear at first, but only the two Insignia cruises come up when they are clicked on.