Vineyard View

Sounds like an incredible price….and if itinerary match, bonus round! Hoping you have a great voyage!

I am surprised you are sailing on SS again. I was under the impression from your posts that you don’t feel very enamored with them in the first two. I hope you have a great trip.

I believe HAL and Princess are the two tops for Alaska….so if you want into places (ie: Glacier Bay) that many others cannot enter, then these two reign due to their longevity in the market. It I were thinking about that age range, and a good percentage were younger, I believe Princess may be a better fit…,Anne more activities and wider demographic range. But wow…..45 people! That said….good for you putting this together in honor of your father! What a beautiful way to honor him. One of my parents most treasured sailing locals was Alaska. For you gather so many people, and reach out for input….class act! I hope that what you decide is absolutely as perfect as it can be.

Thank you for this feedback. Too bad, because they used to be a decent line to sail on. Sounds like they have a lot to fix. While production shows aren’t a draw for us, understaffing, accounting issues, and logistics issues can sure put a damper on a vacation. Enjoy your land vacation. Sounds lovely.

Right there with you re excursions and independent travel. Have a fantastic trip. Did you also live blog when you recently sailed HAL? We haven’t sailed on them for years since they got rid of their small ships.

Thank you. That is what I was concerned with….having an R ship shower size. I would think that they have to be taking the space from someplace to have both though. We would be happy with shower only, so I don’t think it would matter either way for us, but it is good to know.

Okay. I was not aware that there was a charge for waters. Maybe I need to look into the retreat cabana for a day! I drink a lot of water! Ha! Thank you

Were all of these waters included in the elite drink package?

So……do we think then that the symbol designates separate tub and shower? If so, since Marina verandah bathrooms will not be upgraded, is this layout the same size bathrooms as those with shower in the tub? If so, does this make for a small shower? Thanks again

This is a Spring 2025 sailing. I was just curious what the symbol meant!

I was looking to see what cabins were available in a few different Verandah categories on an itinerary we are discussing. So I used the ‘booking as a guest’ feature. When I clicked on a category, the available staterooms populated. Under the category there is a link you can click onto to ‘view deck plans’. Really helpful of you have a screenshot of cabin numbers available and simultaneously look at location. This is where I found this symbol that is not in the legend.

It is directly from the booking website. I cannot get the file to download, so I took another full screen this time.

Thanks again Cherie. This is actually a much larger ship than we have sailed for a long time. The itinerary is really grabbing us.

It is post #4 with picture. This is for Marina, which will not be getting bathroom remodels below PH, which this cabin is below.

Thank you very much Cherie! I sincerely appreciate this!

Helps a lot! Thank you. The cabin on deck 4 is not aft that I was referring to. It is an extended (depth and width) balcony verandah. Not sure if that makes a difference in your deck 4 opinion? We’ve never been on Oosterdam.

This is what I am seeing. Full bath and separate shower makes sense. If so, would that make the shower small?

Quick question please. I am looking at an itinerary on Marina. Cabins starting aft at 9133 and 9126 respectively have symbols that I cannot locate on the legend. I do not see them on any other decks. They almost look like two waves…..not the same as the connecting cabin legend shows as an equal sign. Would someone please let me know what this designates? Thank you

I am back again with yet another similar question to my topic. On this second itinerary that caught my eye, Oosterdam, deck 8, verandah can in 8145 - it’s under the pool area. That seems maybe a bit dicey from a sound standpoint? The extended balcony in 4166 is also available on this sailing. Western Mediterranean. Thank you once again for input. I appreciate it

I hope that is the case for you! Let us know what you might find out Mary_

We took a side trip last year to Rovinj off our SB cruise. Our biggest mistake - it was one of two excursions we booked because of distance. We would have loved to spend a full day….or more, in that beautiful spot! It was storybook for sure. Great way to end your trip on Vista! Thank you again for all the time you took posting your journey for all of us!

thank your for clarifying. I appreciate this. We haven’t been on HAL for years, and it seems to me that PG lunch was only open on sea days? I may have that wrong. Regardless, most every port day we DIY, eat in port, and don’t worry about lunch on ship. I really do appreciate your perspective!

We were in Venice last May 4 nights prior to a cruise. It was lovely mornings and after 4 - evenings were magical. Late morning to 4 - time to wander away from central Venice. Even then you could find back streets in the shade, or a shop/restaurant/gelato bar to enjoy time. We went back into the city on our last day (was a RT itinerary) and it was crazy busy. We chose a restaurant on the canal, and spent several hours there. It was quite perfect. We were to go to Santorini next month on O before medical required canceling. I had booked a ‘private yacht’ via excursions using SM. It sounds similar to JL87. Was a 1/2 day, and we figured we would play by ear going back via cable later in the day if we chose to…..because of the number of ships in port that day. For me that is a different scenario from Venice…..only one option to get out off Santorini and the long line in the heat.

Have you noticed that having one included in the HIA fare is making it difficult to make additional reservations if you wanted to? When you say that you wouldn’t go more than included, is that because of food/dining experiences you have had there in the past?

Happy to hear Hank that you are enjoying your first Oceania cruise. I continue to appreciate the good and not so good being shared. It truly helps with expectations for someone considering their first voyage….and I imagine it likely is for those who know Oceania well. Like you, we are DIY travelers. Your Santorini excursion was exactly why we are! Reading that your Dubrovnik experience was good, and likely due to size of the group, also reaffirms our thinking. Was this one of the higher end excursions with limited numbers (can’t remember what those are called), or just luck of the draw?