Techno123

In Tromso you can walk over the Bridge to the cathedral and if you keep going up, there is a fabulous walk in the hills behind with lovely views of your ship if she is docked in the same place as the Ovation was last July 😁

Norovirus elimination requires frequent handwashing with hot water and soap - sanitiser is not as effective. Seabourn Ovation actually had sinks outside the main public areas as well as sanitiser. It is no good washing your hands in your suite/cabin/room prior to dining either if you then go on to touch handrails/door handle/elevator buttons etc on your way to meals as you can guarantee these have been touched by those who don't believe in hand washing or who cough or sneeze into their hands rather than elbows.
 

Perhaps as well as a muster drill we should all be given a hygiene drill at the beginning of each cruise 😂😜

23 hours ago, Harters said:

Here's an idea for folks. Pick a restaurant in your own home area. One that you consider to be only OK. Mediocre, if you will. Or "average". Then check it out on Tripadvisor. My bet is the vast majority of reviews will have given it an "excellent", followed by "very good". And you know it's neither. 

That's the problem with ratings. I worked in an independent school which had a behaviour scale of 1 (the perfect child) to 5 (a little ratbag 😜). We were not allowed to give a 5 under any circumstances and could only give a 4 if it had been discussed with everyone (including the Pope and it wasn't even a Catholic school 😜😜). So 3 which should have been average - sometimes good, sometimes not so good - was given to said little ratbags, 2 was average and 1 was given to mummy's little darlings 😜 (why has my darling child only been given a 2?)

It is now the same on trip advisor where people see a 3 as poor not average.

1 hour ago, daydreamer62 said:

We have 3 nights in London . Very brief ..a taster for our friends. Both my husband and I lived in the UK in the early 80s and we have visited since as well.  Though I'd love to spend more time, especially to trace more of my family history in Cornwall and in Scotland.. it might have to wait to be a driving trip ( I also have extensive family history in Derbyshire and Yorkshire that I researched on our last trip

We are on the Vista in August - Montecarlo to Athens and surprisingly, visiting quite a few places we haven't been. Have only sailed O on Insignia so looking forward to enjoying a newer ship and reading what you think. I started a thread called finest cuisine at sea so if there are any standout meals (or anything truly bad) would you mind adding your thoughts there please? Keeps all the food stuff together

At least you have an opportunity to get out of the big smoke - Windsor is lovely (even if you don't want to visit the castle 😁) No Welsh roots then 😜

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Are you going to spend a little of your time in the UK or is it fly straight home from London?

58 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

Just to be clear, you paid £1000 more than your final payment price?  Did you spend that, or later, request a refund for the balance?

No - Seabourn's final payment had passed so I couldn't use that unfortunately but Regents final payment was due so both the husband and I paid £1000 each on our American Express cards directly to Regent and each got £100 cash back.

On 5/10/2024 at 4:51 PM, Vallesan said:

Unfortunately we don’t get ‘cruise’ offers with Amex in the UK!

I got one for Seabourn and one for Regent last year - had already made final payment for Seabourn but both hubby and I paid £1000 each to Regent and got £100 cash back .

@BioInfoLib thank you so much- this is exactlythe info that helps us with choosing 👍👍

Have you also stressed with O that you are coeliac and not just gluten intolerant? If there are specific ingredients that you use in your cooking it might be worth you letting them know so they can have them onboard.

I haven't sailed O for a while but sailed Regent ( same 'family') last November. The people with particular dietary requirements were given the next days menu to choose some options they would enjoy and the chefs adjusted the ingredients so it was suitable. In fact the chef would come out to discuss with the guest if they were unsure. I would think O have the same set up.

Have a look at this thread post number 32

 In fact, if you put Coeliac into the Oceania board search there are quite a few that come up.

1 hour ago, Kay S said:

Can we get back to people's favorites now?  I'm making a list for my next cruise.

Me too 😁

We have a cruise with a competitor (SS) next February from Singapore to Hong Kong.

First we have a group tour of the Golden Triangle for 12 nights so flying to New Delhi and visiting Agra (Taj Mahal), Jaipur, Ranthambore, Jaipur, Shimla and hiking in the Himalayas. We are travelling between by bus and train then fly to Singapore for 2 nights prior to boarding the Nova. The bit I'm really not looking forward to is the packing and unpacking

I thinking packing cubes will be my friends 😂

18 minutes ago, Kay S said:

Okay, Lamb Lollipops going on my to-eat list.  This thread is so helpful for us newbies!

I just thought it would be a useful thread as people post in all sorts of places but I know to come back here before we go and @machotspur glad you are finding it useful and not utter bollocks 😂😂😂

@Harters - I was trying to be kind about our friends on the other side of the Chunnel 😜😜). Also t don't want to make out that the UK has unblemished animal welfare. There are still some areas (like battery farmed chickens) which we cannot be proud of 😢

@clo I'm still not convinced 😢 it is possible to produce ethical foie gras where the geese 'gorge' themselves rather than the use of gavage.
 

I do eat meat (though less and higher quality) The lamb I eat I watch grazing on the hill behind my house, similar with the beef cattle (local small farmer) and chicken is free range (well barn range of late because of avian flu). I also have a bit of an issue with milk fed, crated veal. In the UK (and I assume other countries) we produce rose veal which is killed young but allowed to live a more 'normal' life.
 

Anyway, I digress - back to the best things to eat onboard 😁

Thank you everyone - this is exactly what I was hoping for 👍👍👍
Its 10 years since we last sailed with O so I'm hoping the menu has changed 😂😜

@AMHuntFerry is the lack of spice to please the Nonos 😂

@AMHuntFerry I bet you are right 😂

As I have been reading through the boards, some people have specified particular dishes which they thought Oceania produced to almost perfection but others that didn't hit the mark. I know food is subjective (I don't eat shell fish, don't really like caviar and won't eat Foie Gras on principle) but as I didn't note down the great and not so great (apart from the miso sea bass), would fellow O board members be willing to list (in their opinion) the don't miss and don't bother options (and the restaurant), please?

I am sure it would be so useful to those of us who either haven't sailed O for a while, or for those who are joining O for the first time and would make it easier to find for those searching. Thank you in advance to those who participate. 😁

@AMHuntFerry (or if someone else knows the answer, please chip in 😁)

Similar question to @machotspur's If one purchases the upgrade to the Prestige drinks package, and decides to take advantage of the 15% discount on bottles of wine, is there a 20% gratuity added ( as there would be if you bought the wine without the package) or is that included as part of the drinks Prestige package 'included' gratuities. Many thanks.

We had a fortnight in a lovely hotel in Cyprus. As part of the checkin process we were told that we would have 2 sun beds allocated to us for the duration of the holiday and did we have a preference. As previous land based holidays had groups of people from a certain European nation who liked to get their towels out at 6am 😁 this was luxury and we asked for two as far away from the children's pool as possible 😜😜 and we had a lovely position at the cliff edge, facing the sea and a decent distance away from the pool where the families tended to be allocated. It was lovely being able to go out for the day and know we would have somewhere to sit when we got back.

Not possible on a cruise ship, I know, so I do like @Daniel A's suggestion.

For our August cruise on Vista.

sorrento 1/2 day £635 full day £793

santorini 1/2 day £714 full day £952

Venice has now implemented a €5 euro day tripper charge with significant fines if you are found in the city without having paid it.
If you are staying overnight you don't pay it but still have to register. The local mayor has said that knowing how many people will be there will help with service planning.

Whether that will make any difference whatsoever who knows.

@Hlitner and others onboard - Dubrovnik is more lovely in the evening when all the cruise ship passengers have left 😜 Hopefully, you will all be enjoying a relaxed evening stroll without being jostled by thousands of other tourists - every cloud and all that 😁