pinotlover

Oceania did away with plastic lids, stirring swivels, plastic water bottles, etc, several years before Covid. If you need a walk around mug, you need to bring it.

I’m guessing we’ll continue to present our card keys for well into the foreseeable future. Never been a big deal in the past.

Be aware that none of the dining venues include a full bar. The ingredients for your virgin cocktails would only be at a bar. That means, for example,for an order placed in Toscana , some waitstaff would have to venture to Horizons or Martinis to get your drink. They do it, but don’t expect fast service. Waves, at lunch, is probably your best opportunity for such.

Thank You for your excellent review. As you clearly point out, an important part of enjoying your cruise is to temper your expectations and not believe all the marketing hype. One comment, and it’s a personal peeve, we live in an era of outrageous grade inflation. A (B) grade indicates above average performance. A neutral or average grade would be a C. A”C” is probably a reasonable grade for the entertainment staff. Just average .

A charter?

The OP is unfortunately staying well outside of the main part of town. Be careful! Definitely agree on Iguazu Falls. Not to be missed! We contacted the Concierge of our hotel and they recommended a couple different guides. The lady we chose did a great job. We have likewise contacted the Concierge at our Tokyo and Kyoto hotels for recommendations on tours and guides. Getting great options from them. All of the above were well below Viator prices.

Funny story, on our Marina cruise this past winter we did a big South American wine dinner in Privee. There are no bathrooms in Toscana and one of our group went out to use the bathroom around 9:00ish or shortly thereafter. She came back in and said the restaurant was empty and the lights turned off! Now three hours for such a meal is relatively fast, and sure enough at 10:00ish it was all dark in Toscana, except for a single light so we could find the exit door . Just guessing that anyone choosing to eat later (7:30-8:00) got the ole “ flip that table “ routine.

There is the other option. Not everyone wants to eat dinner at 5:30 or 6:30. Go to most of the Med countries and notice what time the restaurants open. Typically 8-9 before they open for dinner. We’ve had great meals that extend to 11:40-12:00. Even in the U. S, during the summer time, we rarely eat before 7:30-8:00. There are a large group of Oceania clientele that only want to eat early. There are those that prefer later. The OP’s position is that both groups should be afforded the same experience from both the kitchen and the waitstaff. I happen to agree.

I believe the OP was given an accurate assessment from the restaurant staff. Numerous passengers just don’t show up, and don’t take the time to cancel. People come back from their excursions and are tired and don’t want to eat late. People, that don’t eat late, book the restaurant as the reservation system allows and then no show. According to one Oceania Social Hostess, on an any given night ~ 20% of passengers don’t eat dinner in any restaurant . Either afternoon tea becomes dinner, or they do room service often between 16:30-18:00. Some of those may or may not have had a dinner reservation. Some might say it’s rude and/or disrespectful to others to not cancel, but those descriptions just flow with some of the guests. I will sympathize with the OP on one matter. I do hate being the last patron in any restaurant and having the staff give me the “ If you’d just leave, we can go home “ look. It happens in both upscale restaurants and the Greasy Spoons. I believe an 8 o’clock reservation is the latest we’ve ever done on any Oceania ship. We were the only ones there by 21:00 and the staff was definitely doing everything possible to get us finished and out the door asap.

I’ll ditto what Flatbush Flyer said about asking your fellow passengers once aboard. The most important step in finding the best possible match with an Agency or Agent is first determining what you actually want from that Group. No one size fits all here. Some are only interested in getting back the maximum in rebates. Period. I’ve heard people say “ I get a 10% rebate check on every cruise. I rarely get a phone call back for 3-4 days, but that check is all that matters.” Others want far more hand holding and service and are willing to forgo some of the perks for more service. Many of us are in between and seek our own balance of service and financial perks. Some here believe Travel Agents are nothing more than glorified $10-$12/ hour clerks and should be compensated as such. Others see their Agents as professional travel advisors providing important assistance to maximize their vacation experience and that they should be compensated as such. Cruisers get to decide all of this . However, to be satisfied with your Agency/Agent decide you must. Be honest with yourself upfront when making the decisions, and you’ll be happier long term.

Ok! I think we just hit a tied mark. I remember several years back when there were three threads going on “ can I bring wine aboard “ all at once! Should someone start a fourth on this topic and shatter the record? 🙄😂

Yes! They are still doing the old shows on the other ships. The crew production shows on the Vista were new ones. Oceania started doing the “ Brill Building “ show in either 2017 or 18 and is still doing it! Boring and past time to end.

My personal guess is that: If, Oceania could fill its ships without all the never ending sales; Then, it would have happily paid to redo all the bathrooms on the Marina refit. However, they fail to do the first and that mountain of debt accumulated during Covid and building two new A ships has consequences. One should never forget that mountain of debt when considering any action NCLH/Oceania makes.

Yes. Every separate segment will repeat the production shows. The outside entertainment may change, or an entertainer will appear near the end of one segment and the first part of the following segment, although typically with a new show.

We were on the Vista in June. I agree with an earlier poster that commented on the quality of voices on the singers. It was lacking compared to other cruisers. It also seemed like the dancers far outnumbered the singers ion previous teams. The dance routines often looked too canned. There is a point where the the routine no longer really flows with the music but just looks canned. Oceania went well beyond that point. I do come back to one major point. I was so happy to finally be done with the ancient production of the Brill Building, along with the Peggy Lee show, that I gladly overlooked any shortcomings. They were actually doing music all the way up to Queen! I may be old, but it was a relief to finally bust out of the 50s and early 60s exclusively.

I’ll second this. I thought it was the new Hobbit ship for Halflings! Who designed this?

You misunderstood. He stated that Oceania is still charging a premium for the two new A ships, so he can sail less expensively on an O Class ship.

This is not correct!! The wines on the “ by the glass menu “ that are available on either the basic or premium package are identical. Upgrading to the premium package does not get you “ access to premium wines “. The basic package (SM) gets one champagne, wine, and beer, from the by the glass menu at lunch and dinner. It is only available in the dining venues during dining hours.

I understand that, and did when I posted. The issue with most all surveys is they aren’t really random. Only those that choose to participate are heard thus eliminating pure randomness. That’s a major reason political polls can be off. However, organizations still utilize the statistical models in that’s all they have.

I believe the primary issue here is missed. If an O or A Class ship had 1000 cruisers, to get an accurate survey ~ 10% accuracy would require only 90 replies. To increase the review to ~5% accuracy would require 280. It’s statistics. So, does the current system yield a response rate in between those numbers? If so, why would Oceania want to pay someone to read a 1000 surveys when far fewer will give them a fairly accurate overview of how they’re doing? I’m further fairly sure that whoever is reading those surveys is fairly low on the totem pole. How many significant complaints must they see to bounce it up the pole? Oceania is fairly backward technology wise, but survey scanning today, by most companies, is now often done with AI. What do the algorithms directions say to do with various complaints? I know some like to use the survey to emote, and that makes them feel better, but statistically we’re all very small cogs in the wheel. If you really want to emote, they make you work to do it.

Immensely easy to understand and don’t understand the confusion. Perhaps the policy should clearly state those options are from their selected beverages included on the venue by the glass menu. Unless there is a bit of false advertising or a change effective 10-1/23, fwiw I have never seen a vintage champagne included on the by the glass menu. They have all been Non Vintage. For those aboard, did the change to the new champagne alter this?

In the past year on three different cruises with four (4) different CD, it was : (1) announced by each CD a couple of times at both their regular announcements and after the evening shows, and; (2) full instructions and announcements were in Currents. The high level of passengers ignoring both is widely recognized.

I believe the issue revolves around a number of very inconsiderate fellow passenger and the lack of insulation in the walls. We rarely turn our tv on. When we do so it’s often without sound. Therefore our neighbors not hearing anything has nothing to do with adequate sound proofing. I further believe that some guests are so inconsiderate that there is no amount of sound proofing that would be adequate. If awake at 04:00, they’ll turn the tv on full blast at 04:00. That’s who they are and what they do. No number of 04:01 calls to the front desk will slow them down. A lot of technological ways to handle, but Oceania probably didn’t invest in it. In my aunt’s assisted living facility, operations can control sound/volume individually or collectively , from the front desk, for all TVs in each room . After 21:00, max sound output on all TVs are dropped significantly. Additionally , between set hours, all the insomniac has is closed captioning. Technology would/could alleviate about 95% of this problem on the ship.

I typically find the service to be very good. There are always glitches, but those happen anywhere. We are able to avoid many of those by not eating at prime time, particularly in the Terrace. For any reason, if the Terrace is slammed for either lunch or dinner, beverage service can become painfully slow. Never starving, We therefore wait until at least 7:15-7:30 to go to the Terrace. This gives the SLL and early crowd a chance to eat and clear out. Then services improve remarkably. Service in the Specialties is often excellent. Exception being when they sometimes overload the restaurant, for unexplained reasons , for which they are not staffed for. Fortunately, those times are the exception and not the norm.

I like to order a “ double Knob Creek old fashion “.! 😜. By ordering the double it either (1) counts as both drinks on the 2 for 1, or (2) I can get the second one for the price of one. While my DW prefers option 1 for me, I occasionally go for the gusto! 😎🍹! Moral is , since Knob Creek is on the included bourbon list. Go for it!