sweetsailing

How did you preorder this water? I definitely need to do this.

Greetings fellow cruisers! I am considering a cruise that visits both Australia and New Zealand. I have a choice of starting in Sydney or Auckland. Is the water rougher going in one direction versus the other? I have cruised between California and Mexico quite a bit and know that the current is much easier going south than north. Is there a similar situation in this area of the world? Also, what is the best month for this type of cruise? Is there a rainy season that should be avoided?

I just spoke to my TA about this as I was scheduled on a May 2024 cruise. In my particular case, they have split the journey into two separate legs with some minor modifications to add a few days and additional ports. All existing journeys after April 2024 are indeed cancelled but everyone will receive either a 30% credit towards a future cruise or a full refund. You must determine which option you want within the next 30 days. According to the TA, they are making this change because they’ve realized that the demographic they are trying to attract does not have as much schedule flexibility as they expected and want shorter journeys. So, we are likely to see more 7 to 10 day cruises with the ability to book back-to-backs if you want a longer cruise.

My cruise is not until December. My TA was not able to get any info. So maybe it is the same as dinner reservations (60 days out)?

Is there a list of the culinary classes that will be offered onboard and can you sign up ahead of time?

Thank you! Very helpful.

Regarding dining options, is there no way to get a salad or burger while at the pool? I saw that Sakura offers bento boxes poolside, but I’m not so crazy about that option. I’d prefer not to have to get dressed to go to one of the restaurants while I’m in the middle of sunbathing. On other ships, they allow you to order room service and have it delivered to the pool. Is this an option?

I’m surprised they are doing the drydock in May 2024 versus November 2023. Didn’t they already push it back once? I would think May would be a better month for bookings, so more lost revenue. But, maybe May 2024 allows them to push the cost into a new fiscal year?

Thank you for such a detailed, honest review. I agree with almost everything you posted. I was on the first 2 sailings of Vista and have also cruised on other Oceania ships. I had high expectations. Some were met, but others weren’t. I also agree 100% with the person who noted that satisfaction is generally dependent on your past experiences. It’s always hard with a new ship because there is an expectation that everything will be perfect, which is almost impossible to achieve. I second all of your comments re: the culinary experience. I would also add that the dramatic Toscana and Red Ginger productions re: olive oil and chopsticks seem dated. Once you’ve heard that speech, you don’t need to hear it every time you dine there. I have recently learned that Oceania lost a lot of its culinary leadership, including the most senior person, to the new Explora cruise line. This might explain why things have slipped. The food quality is still way above most cruise food, but when you advertise “the finest cuisine at sea”, people expect everything to be excellent. Regarding technology, it amazes me that Oceania is always talking about their environmental efforts yet they kill multiple trees every day with all of the paper flyers, daily programs, reservation cards, “newspapers”, etc, that they leave on your bed. They should have an app that contains all of this info and there should be an option at embarkation to opt out of all of the paper. I have mentioned this in numerous post-cruise reviews and they continue to say that their target guest does not want an app. But this doesn’t make sense to me. Their target guest probably also didn’t want Vero water or many other changes they have made yet that did not stop them from introducing those items.