Vineyard View

That is a good champagne. Does anyone know if Toronto Guy experience of having a bottle delivered (with ultimate package) to the room is standard practice? Would be lovely to have on the balcony

Thank you. I appreciate this. Years past we enjoyed B,L,D there when we were on the ship. All were really enjoyable. Times change with everything.

Why would the lunchtime service be so much better than the dinner at PG? Not challenging, sincerely curious.

Thank you richwmn for posting the full menu. That is really helpful. If you “Have it all” then any drinks listed at $15 or under would be included, correct? The dry-aged Delmonico was, while not necessary, probably a nice upgrade Are upcharges also occurring in the MDR?

Might be a great way to use excursion credit for those who DIY…..

I can understand why certain sailing regions would be more attractive to aft. AK would make complete sense to me.

We haven’t sailed HAL for a long while, but Pinnacle Grill was an excellent restaurant. Not Michelin….that does not exist on cruise lines, regardless of their tag lines nor claims. I read recently that HAL introduced additional charges for certain items on their menus, in specialty as well as MDR. That would be a big change. Maybe played into the original posting, but it isn’t mentioned.

As pf the end of last year, they are limiting number of pax from cruise ships to 4k per day. Hoping that holds. It is such a beautiful port/place to explore. I hope that Vista is able to adjust offerings for this port. We loved Kotor. We loved Dubrovnik. Glad to hear that all are okay after this electrical wake up and hope all is repaired quickly for all of you. Not a great way to wake up.

Thank you for taking the time to itemize these differences. That seems crazy to me, and if I wasn’t prepared upfront with all the advertising, it would be a huge turn off….(choosing appropriate wording on this one). I sincerely hope HAL doesn’t gain too much control over the SB product. What you describe with HAL sounds more like Carnival.

We’ve sailed them several times pre-C. Since start up, their prices pp/pd are higher than SB and other ‘luxury’ lines. Their one included excursion per port is sold heavily. We don’t do excursions, so started looking around. Ended up at SB last year, currently looking at a few lines for next - itinerary and time of year are important. Will be interested to see how Viking’s IPO will affect the product. Regarding food. I don’t expect Michelin - on any ship. I would expect a difference between Carnival etc and Oceania - or premium/luxury lines. It’s a huge selling point of O, so it should be better - but not Michelin.

But there is spare money to order new ships…….plus past is the past regarding that.

That is what I read on a blog, which is actually how I learned about them! Enjoy!

With their new all inclusive (other than specialty restaurants, high end liquor, and excursions) what is left to charge you for? Haven’t sailed them for years, but they sure are promoting their new inclusive model.

I have not, but I will! Thank you very much!

Thank you Mike B. These pictures are quite helpful. Looks like that verandah was indeed deeper with more seating options. Was that furniture in place, or did you need to request the loungers? I am surprised to see both. We would definitely enjoy that. We are still looking at both options. One is more attractive than the other, with more unvisited ports. We have not sailed HAL in a long time. These two itineraries and another on a different line are our top three choices for next year.

I think we are cross texting at the same time. So the ‘empty space’ between the cabins in my latest scenario is not actually empty. I appreciate all the clarification. In summary, our original itinerary had two awesome options that I started this thread about. The updated itinerary we are more interested in does not have these cabins available. The two that may be most quiet that it does have are not up against blank/quiet space, but against another cabin. Thank you all for your input. It’s truly been really helpful.

Thank you. We had the opportunity in the past, years ago, on the original Ryndham, to experience Neptune. It was awesome. What confused me was the space between the available cabin and the aft verandah beside the Neptune. I would guess if this is working/storage space it should be quiet except for during AM/PM refresh.

Sorry. I was referring to this space showing between 7143 or 7134 before the last aft cabins of 7154 or 7142. Looks a bit different than the screenshots that you are all so much helping me to understand.

Thank you. So basically all the verandah cabins are 216 sq ft? Including balcony?

Thank you all very much for all of these responses! I sincerely appreciate your experienced input. Sounds like both options are true winners in their different ways! I am now in a new quandary. Found another itinerary DH and I like better ( both are next year, first one is E Med and this new one is W Mediterranean) so cabin selection is not quite as attractive and a higher cost (not surprising). Is there an advantage to 7143, 5178….furthest side aft, but appears to have a ‘blank’ space before the next cabin that is true aft. Does this provide a quiet area without an adjacent cabin? Thank you again very much!

I agree with this logic. I had to question why there wasn’t an option that didn’t include keeping things the way that they are. Or, One of the main differences between SB and other luxury lines is the lack of included excursions, or the baked in cost to cover some excursion credit. That is a huge difference. The scenarios as I recall included ‘x’ amount of excursion credit, or included excursions. A key differentiating factor wasn’t in A or B.

Thank you all for additional responses. The aft is on deck 7 so I would hope soot isn’t a problem. From experience, are these cabins on the smaller sq ft size? ‘the expended balcony is next to crew staircase so it’s actually extended in both in length (1 1/2 vs normal) width and depth. That caught my attention. It’s over the ‘blank area’ of the MDR, so I wonder if that is the kitchen and could be noisy later.

Thank you for your feedback. I would think that the dining room would be quiet during the night, more so than other venues, but this is a valid point to consider. ‘With the steep prices in all cruises, it’s a bit more challenging than it used to be. Years back a Neptune we sailed in was a real pleasure, and not as painful as it is now. In today’s retirement dollars it is a different lens we are viewing through, so I looked at the Signature - again, a great point to consider that you are mentioning!

It’s being discussed on other social media sites as well as here. Seems to be same consensus as here. Since CC is purportedly such a crazy small population of pax on cruises, I sincerely doubt that the generalized topics discussed here from the survey, rather than actual specifics of the survey will catch HQ attention. It it does, then they pay more attention to CC than is presumed based on lack of response from SB on this site. Surveys that truly seek customer needs and expectations can be valuable tools of that data is implemented in marketing strategy. Surveys that are ambiguous and without clear definition can be marketing ploys to say a survey gathered data, only to justify what they already are planning to do. I sincerely hope it was for the first and not second reason.