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On 10/21/2023 at 1:03 PM, florisdekort said:

The current list of included/complimentary wine on Explora 1. You can ask for any of these, anywhere. 
 

Fairly pedestrian list, but much better than the Yacht Club offerings. 

Well done Doc! Looking forward to the epilogue.

We're in the final days (hopefully) of the mucky season here in SoFL and boy has it been mucky!

We're booked on the Vista for the1/31 sailing, our second on O after the Regatta trip this past July.

Agree with the Toscana review - that was some dinner! The bottle of Luce didn't hurt either. We had a great table looking out center aft. Other meals were very good as well.

We thought our voyage on Viking O surpassed the Regatta experience but it wasn't a fair comparison due to the itinerary and length of the cruise. The Vista trip will be a better barometer.

We're long-time Princess cruisers (since '92) but as Bono sings, we still haven't quite found what we're looking for yet. We do not claim to be "loyal" to any service or product we pay for - isn't that supposed to be the other way around?

Different strokes for different folks, right? Hope it went well and safe trip home!

Looking forward to following along, Ken!

We're booked on the Emerald next June - same itinerary, northbound with the 5-day tour to Toronto as well. Have a great cruise!

Very thorough recap, much appreciated.

We're trying MSC next month, but in the YC - I doubt very much we would try MSC otherwise, just too many people!

I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding your upcoming Viking River cruise - we've been on 5 on them. 

Happy cruising!

Apparently, according to several reports - including said cruise attorney on Social Media sites - there was an altercation between a couple (M&F) on a 12th deck balcony which resulted in the female (reported as 47 y/o) either jumping or forced off the balcony where she landed on a 9th deck balcony and suffered a fatal injury.

The male was taken away by authorities upon docking and the local (Miami) police and FBI are investigating the incident. 

Interesting and thank you for taking the time to post all of this.

We're on the 10/22 sailing also in the YC. Apparently there is more to come with your review and hopefully it will be a little more favorable going forward. It's only seven days we keep saying - how bad can it be? So far it looks like a one and done, but we'll shall see.

15 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

We're booked on Discovery for next April and were very disappointed to find that Vines was not on the ship. Who needs the Salty Dog Gastropub? Certainly not us. On the other hand, we are looking forward to checking out Take Five. (Obviously not as a Vines replacement.) Hopefully it won't disappoint.

I'll never forget former Princess honcho Jan Schwartz's interview reply as to what was her favorite space on a Princess ship: you guessed it - The Vines!! Inexplicably, after that, all the new ships eliminated the Vines from the plans. Sad, because it was really a terrific point of differentiation for the line and the only place to get a reasonably good glass of vino, properly served.

As for Take Six, we're jazz fans so we liked the venue and found the music there much to our liking. The problem with the space, as I recall, is the way it's set up. The musicians set up against the inner wall next to the bar, while the seating is across Main Street on the outside wall side. Main Street is the much trodden aisle that everyone uses to traverse from the theatre to the Piazza area. So if the band is on and the theatre lets out, it becomes a passing parade between the musicians and audience as it did each evening we were there.

Only one O cruise so far, but our impression was that it's not worth bringing your own onboard when the ship offers such a good wine list as well as the by-the-glass menu.

Tack on the $25 corkage for DR service and it only makes sense for the most expensive of vintages - and those, I prefer to enjoy at home.

Cheers!

We only cruised once on O, but have another booked for Feb, on the Vista in a PS. 

The first thing I liked upon boarding was the decor - very classic, almost a Titanic vibe (without the horror). Lots of wood paneling and tastefully decorated - a minimum of glitz. We were on the Regatta.

We loved the cuisine - all the meals in the MDR and specialty restaurants were superb. Didn't eat from the buffet but the Terrace Grill was very nice as well. Best part for us: no cooking and no clean-up!

Loved the wine service. Excellent selection of by-the-glass wines for packages, along with a fantastic bottle list (25% off w/ a package). The wine stewards were very knowledgeable about the wines - a nice touch!

Loved the small ship feel. My spouse thought it a little confined, but I liked the flow and the lack of logjams (except at the disembarkation!).

We will still cruise on the larger lines depending on the itinerary, dates, etc., but will continue to try new (for us) cruise lines for a fairer comparison. Let's face it, with the right cabin class and package, on an itinerary and ship that you want to cruise on - it's all good, some better than others!

20 hours ago, Kevinb1176 said:

We just booked a YCP which is the deluxe grand suite. It’s around $100 more pp than the deluxe not grand. Keep an eye out there are 6 of the wider grand ones that are huge compared to the rest. Only 3 cabins total were available the other night. I check 3x a day because I’m nuts. Around 7:00 at night a ton of cabins showed available including 3 or 4 of the wide ones. I was able to get my agent to rebook me as I only had a hold at that point. They all were off the site again by early morning. Also get a voyagers club membership which they match to other companies. The membership will get you 5-15% off. IMG_7822.avifIMG_7822.avifIMG_7822.avif

Good tips - thanks! We noticed that when we were booking this cruise and weren't quite sure of the differences - we have a YC1 which should be fine for the "try me" cruise - thanks again!

4 hours ago, lcpagejr said:

You will love the Yacht Club. The beauty of the "ship within ship" concept is that you really could stay in YC for whole cruise and have an enjoyable time without dealing with the craziness and large crowds of rest of ship.  Your butler will escort you to any show you reserve..so again expedited service. You have prority and butler escort for excursion or leaving ship on port calls. I would recommend you do visit other areasand stroll the whole ship as MSC ships are gorgeous. If crowds concern you....use a prt day to explore the ship and try venues outside YC. The bang for the buck can't be matched on any other line for YC sailings.  

Thank you! We plan on staying onboard for at least a couple of ports that we have been to several times already in order to enjoy the ship. I appreciate your suggestions!

Looking at a Seascape YC cabin as well.

We're mostly Princess cruisers but have migrated recently to smaller ships. Now the Seascape may be the largest ship we were ever on, but the YC experience seems to get rave reviews. We also tried the Retreat class on X, right after the cruise lines started up after the COVID shutdown. The ship was only 50% capacity and we thought that the Retreat class was fantastic. This has apparently changed not for the better with full capacity according to friends - not to mention that the cruise fare for Retreat has greatly increased. So for a short 1 week cruise with no flying, we figured why not give MSC's YC a try.

Whatever, how bad can it be?! It's fun trying new cruise lines anyway! I doubt we would cruise on a ship this size in a class other than in Yacht Club though.

Any experienced YC cruisers out there with an opinion?

We live in So FL and usually use MCO (Orlando) for our direct UK flights - better selection, better times.

We do use MIA for all other transatlantic flights as applicable.

42 days may be a bit too long for us, but FTL to FTL is a winner! No flights!

We normally book Plus on Princess but we're getting tired of the big ships in general - and we haven't exactly embraced the new ships on Princess. That said, we still like the heft when crossing the ocean - and we love the TA's, but for everything else we prefer the small ship experience. Been with PCL since '92 and have seem lots and lots of changes, At this point we prefer an truly all-inclusive experience with a good wine selection and fine dining, but there's always going to be "more of that and less of this" on any line. No casino and no kids are also a draw for us. 

As for the latest big change on PCL, I continue to be dismayed by the inability of PCL marketing to hit the target. I'm pretty sure PCL really doesn't know what the target is. It's really become a shotgun approach to see what sticks. In the process, they are letting their long-term guests know that they really don't care if we stay or not. Many are migrating, like us, to the more exclusive smaller-ship lines while PCL seems to want to settle into the mass-market family-friendly crowd - and that's fine; it's just not for us.

16 hours ago, Twiga said:

We have been on the Regatta (and other Oceania R ships) in rough waters and they did very "well."   I would like to know where you got your understanding from that "the Regatta doesn't do rough waters well"?  

From here, on this site. This is from the site review:

Cons

5 minutes ago, Smokeyham said:

Thanks for your very thorough review.  You said "Viking Ocean (which we both agreed is a better line overall)."  Can you provide a bit more information about why this is so? 

 

We are thinking of trying them out but were a bit put off by how much higher the prices are.  For comparison our Oceania Insignia 24-day trip was $342/day per person while a comparable cabin for a Viking 2-week trip is $696/day per person.

 

Subjective opinion of course. VO is more expensive for sure and their booking policy demands payment far in advance of the cruise date. We thought that a similar category room (Deluxe Veranda = Concierge Veranda) offered a larger room with a much larger bathroom. Amenities were similar. The price difference you stated would be a no-brainer for me - I'd take Oceania for that reason, VO isn't that much better!

Overall, the cuisine was close, but the VO's regular DR fare was a step up. On the other hand, the Regatta's two specialty restaurants (Polo & Toscana) slightly surpassed the offerings from the Chef's table and Manfredi's on VO. Oceania also takes the gold for their wine list and by-the-glass wine selections. We don't usually use the buffet, but the World Cafe on VO was a better option than the Terrace Cafe - and the Terrace Cafe was nothing to sneeze at either!

VO offered a little better entertainment, including a robust lecturer lineup. 

Overall, close, but imo just a little better - maybe on the strength on the room & bath.

We're booked on the Vista in a Penthouse Suite in Feb. - bigger room and bath; that may change my opinion as it stands now.

15 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Hi, Thanks for doing a wonderful, thorough review. I think a lot of people will find it informative.

I noticed a couple of nitpicky corrections in addition to the already mentioned edits (you ate at Waves Grill and browsed Terrace Cafe)...not sure if you can edit or not.

Your cabin review is listed as Deluxe Ocean View (this is C1 or C2); you were in Concierge Veranda (A-category) according to your main review

The HOHO bus in Victoria covers only the southern tip of Vancouver Island. The full island is massive!

Like I said, nitpicky stuff. I'm glad you had calm seas; on our June cruise we had 2 nights where susceptible people turned green. If you have the option, we always take the last disembarkation time available; the crush seems to be mostly gone by then (I've seen the massive crowding while going from a Terrace breakfast to Baristas...ugh!), or if there are lines, people don't seem as anxious. Enjoy your next cruise on Vista!

Thanks. Can't edit once it has been posted. I have no idea why they listed us as 20 something years old, or in a Ocean View stateroom, but I'll take the former - probably hit the wrong button. We were in a Concierge room as indicated. 

The Terrace Grill thing was from a staffer who referred to the outside grill as noted, it stuck -potato/potatto.

Ah yes - it's Vancouver Island, Victoria is the city. Good tour though.

Thankful for the calm seas, I understand the Regatta doesn't do rough waters well.

We had the pre-July bookings "O-Life" package on our recent Regatta cruise and thought it was just right for us. Cruises booked after July 1 have two levels of drink packages available.

To answer your question, yes they do top off your glass - liberally. As stated in this thread the package covers lunch and dinner. There's a very nice by-the-glass selection, including Champagne.

Bottles, from the extensive listings, are available for a 15% discount with the package - which nearly offsets the 20% gratuity.

For pre and post dinner cocktails, they have a "Happy Hour" twice daily with 2 for 1's. You will probably have onboard credits to offset anything else. If you receive a credit from your TA, it is refundable (you will see this on your statement onboard) and the ship will pay you in cash. 

5 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

"we only accessed the Terrace twice during our 7-day cruise and only perused the adjacent inside buffet a couple of times."

 

I am confused  did you eat in the Terrace or WAVES  which is sort of outside ?

We ate at the outside terrace grill twice, but only window shopped inside.

Below is the link for my recent Regatta review.

http://click.email.cruisecritic.com/?qs=aab11bc73e83527ed33c7d7501ac965edbabe2c6dc7b225c21bba26f94013b1579623a5c7e0780ac694cf56774bbe5ccb86beb66289cfd378889c258de08e30b

I have just posted the complete review of our Jul 14th cruise on the Regatta in the Review (select the ship in the pulldown menu) section of this site. It may take a day or so before the site actually posts it. It's neither a rave or a pan, but I think you'll find a fair appraisal of our first experience on Oceania...and yes, I do recommend this line overall and we are booked for a another in February aboard the Vista - no flying!!

Happy cruising, folks!

Just off the Regatta. I agree with most of the posts here - if you really are interested in what people think about your product/service, then you make it as easy as possible for people to get you that information. Never heard of filling out a survey during a cruise, let alone jumping through a few hoops to do so. This platform (CC) is the best place to share that evaluation. 

Just off the Regatta, also our first Oceania voyage with a fairly similar view as yours. I will post a recap shortly, as soon as we recover from the horrendous air trip home - nothing to do with the cruise, but if this were a Delta Airline board my post would R- rated!

Nice that they are posting the World Marketplace menus for the whole cruise - a welcome addition!