IDL

TV selection is very sad and no music channels as I recall. 

Wish a could check a box where Oceana would agree not to send any more brochures and just provide a discount on the cruise. 

4 hours ago, fenton04 said:

I remember a Rodney Rowdy Piper movie “They Live”.  There were these sunglasses that when worn you could see aliens.  I liked to get a pair and see if there are really people at the pool chairs.  Or aliens!😄

Love that movie!

12 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Our first, hopefully not last, Oceania cruise is next March on the Marina in South America. We are in a Concierge Class cabin, and we have access to the Concierge Lounge. I see that we can get soft drinks, coffee and tea in the lounge, is there a self-serve espresso machine? Are specialty coffees, like espresso drinks, available elsewhere on the ship and are they complimentary?

I found the Concierge Lounge on the Vista ok but a bit underwhelming.  Went sometimes for very early morning coffee but the Concierge had very limited hours could not really address any issues.  Has a TV and they print out Newspapers. 

Is coffee available at the Spa Cafe for breakfast?

1 hour ago, Gilliganluvsmaryann said:

 

As promised in a previous post here is a synopsis of our current sailing. A little background. My wife and I are not 68 years old. This was our fifth cruise. 3 day RCL 2003, 7 day NCL 2018, 5 day Celebrity Constellation 2022, 5 day Caribbean Princess 2023, and this 7 Beyond 2024. I am not going to make any comparisons to other cruises or cruise lines as our sample size is too small. This is going to be our subjective experience of this cruise. I understand what you experienced will be your subjective opinion. Please don’t beat me up if I say something negative but by all means please state you own experience whether it be positive or negative. If you have questions I will do my best to answer them for you.

 Embarkation rated A+, we arrived at the port around 10:15 am proceeded into the terminal. They did not check embarkation times. Sat people in sections by order if arrival. We were at our stateroom door by 11:15 picking up our sea pass cards.

Disembarkation rated F. We walked off with our luggage and were told to meet in Eden by 7:30 am. We arrive in Eden at 6:45 am and they lined up our luggage as we arrive in Eden. I should note we enbarked terminal 25 and disembarked terminal 18 more on that later. It was approximately 7:15 when the line started moving to leave the ship. They had buses lined up to take us to the Palm parking garage at terminal 25. We were on the third bus. The bus driver then proceeded to the Palm parking garage. He stopped behind another bus and waited for that bus to unload. He then pulled up about 10 feet and we got off our bus. We were in our vehicle at 8:15am. A full hour from when the line started walikibg off the ship. This is unacceptable and hence the F rating. There was no other ship arriving or departing Port Everglades using terminal 25 on our arrival day May 12th. I am not placing blame for this on any entity in particular. But just stating our experience.

 

Stateroom 10149 delux inside rating A. I am a very light sleeper so I prefer the darkness of an inside cabin. Also I would rather spend my money on other amenities as really only in the cabin to sleep, change clothes, and the three sss’s.

Storage was adequate albeit a little clunky. The nightstands were doll house size, between the phone and lamp not much room for eyeglasses, drinking glass etc. The closet was right next to the bed so only one person at a time. Also it would have been nice to have a light in the closet. There was only room for one person to walk between the bed and the wall opposite. None of these things are deal breakers. But if you are building a billion dollars ship maybe the architect could design a better layout. The bathroom was excellent nice shower with a bowed out shower door. Plenty of room and storage.
Our stateroom attendant Selveen did an outstanding job. He was so very busy we didn’t have much chance to converse. I rate him an A+.

 

Shows we saw.

Ralph Harris comedian rating A+. Very funny, humble nice gentleman. He also did an adult show which was more pg-13 which was indicative of his character.

Elements A+ Outstanding visuals, music, singing, acrobatics.

Stage Door I would rate a C my wife rated it higher. We sat center stage approximately 12 rows back fro the stage. It seemed to me that they were screeching the songs rather than singing. 
Magician Matt Henson or Hanson(I apologize for forgetting) Rating him a B. Only so much magic you can do in an hour.

Sean O’Shea singer, comedian, impressionist I would rate him a B. I think he needs to tighten up his act and concentrate on the talent he does best.

Celebrity enrichment lecturer Dr. Sperro Lappas rated A++ our favorite thing of the entire cruise. His 5 part lecture was entitled The CSI effect(tv show) our real life forensics. If you are interested in forensics or criminal justice do not miss his lectures.

 

Food. Probably the most subjective thing of all so I am not going into detail. Buffet rating a B. Plenty of options food was tasty but cold. I also thought the layout was quirky. Only had two dinners in MDR one in the Normandie rated A+ food was excellent.  Our waiter Made and assistant waiter Mohammed were excellent rate them both A+. Mohammed had such a great simile and he we thankful and happy to be doing his job.

Other MDR was Cyprus I would also rate A+ void was excellent and our waiter Miguel, and assistant waiter Dennis were good rated them A-. Our first night we had dinner at the Rooftop Garden Grill. There aren’t enough adjectives in the English language for me to tell you how good it was. I will just say you need to eat dinner here. You won’t regret it. Finally Le Petit Chef I w would rate a B+ food was good but I was particularly impressed with the menu. The show was cute, no reason to do it again though. Desserts throughout the ship looked better than they tasted. Desserts were lacking in sweetness. Apparently no buttercream used by the pastry chef. Cakes were very dry. Best desserts were the macaroons and cookies in Cafe Al Baccio.

 

Plenty of areas to sit and relax away from the hustle and commotion of the main pool. As far as pools go I would recommend the plunge pools on deck 15 and the spa pool.

Eden what an amazing space. It truly was “Eden” both in decor and tranquillity.

Port of call Nassau stayed on ship.

 

 

Port of call St Thomas: we went to Magen beach, it was nice. Water was calm, with pure sand bottom. We were supposed to do the sky ride but it was cancelled due to a thunderstorm knocking out power.

Port of call St Thomas we did not have an excursion planned but we did get off the ship to explore the port area. My opinion don’t bother!

 

Maybe this was too long, I apologize. I still may have missed something. I will answer any questions you may have to the best of my ability. I will monitor this pst for a couple of days then I am signing off from cruise critic. No need to ask why because I won’t say anything. Hope you all have safe, happy, and fun cruises in your future.

 

 

 

You state you are not 68; did you mean to state you are 68 or some other age?

As I pack as light as feasible I no longer take a jacket and have not missed it.

18 hours ago, iowananny said:

i think we must remember that O carries many older passengers.  Sometimes they cannot wear the stylish shoes some of you want them to.  An example of this was my mother.  She had a bicycle accident as a young child and broke her ankle.  It was not treated correctly and never healed properly.  She had several surgeries as an adult and while it became better it was always a problem for her.  Finally, she had to resort to orthopedic shoes and a brace.  Because of this she was able to walk the last twenty years of her life, but the shoes were butt ugly and the brace made it even worse.  My mother loved dressing to the nines, and this didn't fit with the look she wanted but she wore lovely pant suits and floor length dresses to formal occasions.  She still wore shorts around the people she loved and cared about her, and she knew wouldn't care about her shoes.

 

I'll admit I don't like to see Crocs and flip-flops in nice restaurants but sometimes the rubber soled shoes are worn for a reason.  I'd rather see people standing on their feet than falling because they feel the need to wear a certain type of shoe.  I think the best advice is to ignore people's shoes.  Once they're at their table you never even have to see them again.

 

 

As Elvis sung: before you abuse, criticize and accuse, Walk a mile in my shoes

23 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Yes I also wonder why Corporate has not already acted to modify this policy.

A logical accommodation would be if the credit can not be applied due to an action of the cruise line and not an action of the passenger than that specific credit amount should be made available to be used against any fee or service above and beyond the basic cruise fare: i.e. gratuities, drink package, casino, etc.  For instance Celebrity allowed me to use a shipboard credit in the gift shops. 

We ate at Fine Cuts on the Beyond in December with a couple we traveled with and all four of us were disappointed.  The steaks themselves tasted “off”, the service was pedestrian and certainly not worth the upcharge.

On 3/25/2024 at 4:39 PM, ORV said:

Most other reports say $100 per excursion, regardless of original price. Of course Olife could only get an excursion up to $200.

We were on the Vista last year and couldn’t dock at a port due to the weather.  As stated, we were credited $100 for the missed excursion which was not the stated price of the excursion but I was satisfied and we had a great cruise. 

1 hour ago, EJL2023 said:

Sooo……what about that pizza on Vista, Waves?

Pizza at Waves is fine and a good change of pace meal when the mood hits you.  

2 hours ago, iowananny said:

I'm glad we're not the only people who feel this way.  Jacques is not that good.  It's old school French food from the 70s.  If you like it that's fine and please enjoy.  We had a few dishes that we enjoyed but not enough to make it a "let's get up at midnight and make sure we have a reservation for Jacques ".  The last couple of cruises we never went to Jacques so those who do enjoy it could have our reservations.  We liked Ember a lot.  Would I want to eat there every night?  No.  But it was a nice difference from some of the fancier foods we'd been eating.  I don't know if you could compare it to Applebee's because it's been years since I've been there but somehow I don't think so..

We were on the Vista with 4 other couples and the majority of us, including myself, enjoyed Ember.  By the way I used to live in Urbandale, next door to West Des Moines.  

7 hours ago, Miznergirl said:

Thank you all for the photos of the toiletries! Exactly what I needed to see.

I found the standard shampoo on the Beyond watered down and therefore underwhelming.  

1 hour ago, MEFIowa said:

So... O apparently wants the world to think there are tablecloths. "Staged publicity photos". Yet there aren't. Why is that? Tells us something. And O knows why. As do we. 

You remind me of Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny trying to determine who stole the strawberries.  Maybe you should write a book once you solve the great tablecloth mystery. 

1 minute ago, MEFIowa said:

Still begs the original question. The O page for Ember shows tablecloths. Reviews and comments by passengers have discussed a lack thereof. So, does it even have tablecloths?

Here is the answer; Who cares?  If you don’t like Embers because you don’t like the menu, the food selection, the chef, the way the table is set, etc. then don’t eat there-problem solved.  Additionally is you don’t like the Vista ship for any or no reason than don’t sail on it.  

On 1/21/2024 at 4:55 PM, SeaWatch12 said:

Since you mentioned the gym onboard, just be aware that it is smaller on the Vista than any Celebrity ship, which I see is your sailing history. The Fitness Center was very busy in the morning of sea days, and even in the afternoon of one of our sea days. Sorry, I don't have a photo to show you, that is one place on the Vista I didn't take a picture of. By the way, we enjoyed Aquamar for lunch and went there for half the days. They also serve breakfast but didn't try it.

I found the Vista gym more than adequate for its size and passenger load; never waited to get on any equipment.  When we sailed it was windy and rained some days so was not able to take advantage of the sports deck. 

Another point of view is that, in all likelihood, Celebrity will now be paid twice for the same cabin and therefore requesting the points for being an already loyal customer is a certainly a fair ask.

 For instance, I had written corporate and got a higher credit than there were willing to give on the ship at the time of my cruise. 

As others have stated, there is no harm in asking.

We were on the Vista last year and missed a port due to bad weather.  Though there was no credit issued for missing the port we did receive a credit for missing the Oceana booked excursion at that port. 

18 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Never seen Bocce Ball on any Celebrity Ship   I've see Crockett on S-Class with the Lawn Club.

I would think you would need some type of a Clay Court in order to play Bocce and even then might be disruptive is someone had a room under a court.

Was played directly on the grass; the game can be played on different surfaces. 

1 hour ago, doghog said:

The Apex didn't have a Lawn Club/deck. Are you sure about the E class ships/Beyond? I know the S class ships have the Lawn Club/deck. Are you talking about the Roof Top Garden area? 

Yes

Do any of the Edge class ships still offer bocce ball on the lawn deck?  When the Edge was first introduced a large section of the lawn deck was dedicated for lawn games.  Went on the Beyond recently and didn’t see any dedicated game space on the lawn outside of an open pickleball court.   

Does the Simply More included Internet for only one device at a time per cabin or two.  Without an Oceana app that has a messaging feature having only one device connected at a time makes sea days communications unnecessarily complicated. 

8 hours ago, georgiaguy said:

Wow…I wasnt looking for a scientific answer. Just curious if people had a favorite. People pick favorites for all kinds of reasons. I mean it drew you in enough to comment…

That’s my rationale as to why I don’t have a favorite. 

On 2/16/2024 at 8:52 PM, georgiaguy said:

Interesting aside. Over 700 people have looked at this but only 23 have actually voted. Doesn’t that seems a little low for a simple question? Granted some likely havent cruised on the E-class, myself included, but still seems low. Just a curious observation on my part.

The vote is basically meaningless since the same exact food can be ordered at any of the four restaurants and they are all fairly similar in design.  The service will be dependent on the wait staff.