Trieste to Athens June 1 2024

[maxamize]

This is a long review. I always enjoy reading about other people’s experiences on cruisecritic so the least I can do is also write a review myself. We love to cruise and it’s a great privilege to be able to travel in such luxury. Oceania offers a very good product. I hope you find this review helpful. 
 

Last year I took my mother on a cruise on Oceania Vista. My mom and I had a fantastic time and being able to make so many memories together is something I cherish. Vista itself was brand new in the summer of 2023 and a beautiful ship. But although that cruise was good, it didn’t exceed expectations. I wrote a long review then and decided to give Oceania Vista another try with my fiancé as a pre-honeymoon trip from Trieste to Athens. The main reason for choosing this trip was the Penthouse Suite with a large balcony overlooking the stern. Would Vista exceed expectations this time??

Booking 

We have a great travel agency. It's a luxury cruise and land travel advisor who specializes in wine and food cruises. We got a good deal and they were great all the way. I highly recommend them. We even got a welcome bottle of bubbles in our room. 

 

Pre-departure package

Happy to report that the pre-departure booklet is back in the mail. A nice keepsake and the luggage tags are a nice addition. It’s less personalized than in the past but compared to last years nothing, this is a huge improvement. When spending so much money on a trip it’s nice to get something in the mail that helps build the anticipation and that you can keep after the cruise. 

 

Trieste 

We departed for Trieste a day early just to have a relaxing travel experience and our hotel was only a few steps away from the ship on the day of embarkation. 

We stayed at the Savoia Excelsior Palace Trieste that is across the street from where the cruise ship docks. It’s an old world hotel kept in pristine condition. We had a large room with a dining table, sofa, marble bathroom and a balcony overlooking the port. Service was good and we had room service for dinner, since the restaurant was completely full. Early next morning while my fiancé was still dreaming I was up early and looked from the balcony as Oceania Vista docked at the pier. I could hardly wait to board! 

 

We checked in as requested at 11:30 and that was a quick experience. The x-ray machines took the longest but nothing to complain about. I have to get into my wedding suit in a couple of months so I’m (for the first time in my life) working out and paying attention to what I eat. Not great on a cruise for foodies. This was going to be a challenge. We went straight up to Aquamar Kitchen for a healthy lunch. We shared the Cancun chicken quinoa salad, tuna tacos and poke bowl. Shout out to sommelier J who was a delight to talk to. A great first impression. 

Then one deck up to Baristas for an espresso. I noticed that Illy Coffee had been replaced by an unknown brand (unknown to me anyway). Was Illy replaced as a cost cutting measure or to supply issues as the barista informed me? Still good coffee made by excellent and friendly baristas. Vincenzo and Olga always had a smile and knew our preferences within a day. 

 

After that I showed my wife (soon to be) around the ship. Spa, restaurants, bakery, the most beautiful library at sea and the pool. We grabbed a lounge bed and waited for our stateroom to be ready. At 13:00 our category was called and we proceeded down to deck 7. 

 

I was lucky enough to secure a PH with an extended balcony. We had this exact same stateroom on Riviera 9 years ago and my fiancé decided then that she would only accompany me on a cruise if I was able to get a stateroom with a large balcony. It took me quite a few years… 

 

The Penthouse Suite on Vista is modern and looks stunning. A heavenly bed, couch, table with chairs, a small table with another chair, desk with chair (enough chairs!) and nice artwork and design details. I still miss the walk-in closet and the separate tub, but apparently I'm in the minority here. I do prefer the standard veranda suite layout on Seabourn but the Vista Penthouse is very pretty and the extended balcony is the best. It gives you the choice of sitting by the pool (if you can find a lounger not reserved by chair hogs) or enjoy the privacy of your private balcony with 2 padded loungers and a table with 2 chairs. 

 

I was disappointed that the luxury Aqua

di Parma Blue Mediterranean shower products were replaced by the lesser and same old Bvlgari bath amenities that I got on my first cruise with my parents more than 15 years earlier. Instead of green now white. Slightly different fragrance. 

 

Our sweet and hard working stateroom attendants Suparno and Mercy told me there was a supply issue but made sure that we had a few bottles the next day. (Supply issue or cost cutting?) 

The AC control has a display and you can link it to your phone. I tried but failed. After getting it connected with a QR code, the app kept loading the room settings and then it would fail to connect. It never gave me control but it didn’t bother me. What was bothersome is that during the night the cabin got warmer. We think the system automatically runs on a different setting during the night. 

The room itself is very similar to the verandah staterooms in layout. Just more space, more closets and a double sink in the bathroom. No separate water closet, no bath, no walk in closet. But the room is very nice and all the furnishings are top quality. I would have loved a mood light setting. The led-lights are very white and bright and I miss a somewhat more romantic/evening option for the lighting. The blue night light in the room and night lights in the bathroom are way too bright. We used the mirror light set on the lowest setting to find our way during the night. 

 

The do not disturb and make up my room options are handy and the AC does a very good job. This room is slightly smaller than the other Penthouse Suites but the balcony makes up for that. If you are sensitive to motion be aware that you feel the engine and maneuvering when docking. You can also feel the vibration when sailing. We had to put our water bottles and serving tray with glasses on the floor because it was making too much noise. On the positive side you wont need an alarm clock in the morning. The noise and vibrations will wake you up early. 

 

Another point to keep in mind is that on the Vista the aft elevators don’t go to the lowest decks. You will have to take the forward stairs or elevator and walk back through Martinis to access reception and restaurants Red Ginger and Ember. A strange design flaw but since we walk a lot it is not a problem for us. 

 

The Penthouses on deck 7 are also far from the restaurants on 12 and 14 and the executive lounge on 11 so getting a cup of tea is a bit of a walk. We can’t bring ourselves to just order a tea from room service so we would walk to deck 12 or 14 for tea and coffee . 

I would have liked to have a kettle and a Nespresso machine in the room. 

 

Butler

Our butler Himanshu was very friendly and engaging. A huge difference from my experience last year. We don’t use the butler services. We can pack and unpack ourselves. Our butler did made sure we had sparkling and soda water in our fridge but couldn’t get any additional reservations for us in one of the speciality restaurants. He did get us a bowl of piping hot fries one evening when we had a craving. We ate it on the balconyand it was so good.

 

Toscana 

On the other ships Toscana was always our favorite restaurant but on Vista last year the food and service didn’t impress us. Would it be different this year? Happy to report it was almost back to the good old days. Toscana is very tastefully decorated and a huge step up in design (like the rest of Vista). We were seated at a table all the way aft overlooking the wake of the ship. Service was perfect, wine (Chianti Classico) was of a decent quality and the food very good. The caprese was tasty with excellent tomato and fresh soft mozzarella. The Melanzane alla Ghiotta was very well made. I could have eaten two more portions (but I have to wear that suit). Calamari Fritto was also crispy. Lobster as a main was a nice portion and although the pasta tasted slightly bland and was overcooked I was happy with my choice. The lobster was good. My fiancé had the plant based penne with asparagus and black truffle. I tried to convince her to switch for regular penne pasta, but she wanted to try the plant based. It was also very good. And yes we also ordered dessert. The mini versions of the 4 most popular desserts, called the Toscana Quintet. Tiramisu was fine, apricot tart was excellent and the sabayonne with peach rich and a very satisfying experience. 

 

Polo Grill 

The design team of Vista delivered a true gem with Polo Grill. The restaurant is stunningly elegant. It’s such a wonderful space with white paneled walls, soft lighting, great artwork and the tables are set with crisp white table cloths, nice glassware and a small table lamp. It is the classiest restaurant on the ship. Service was great. We dined here twice. We had foie gras (sorry! I couldn’t resist), beetroot carpaccio, lobster bisque, pork belly, tuna tartare, beef sliders, grilled lobster and the lobster Wellington. Everything was delicious but I wouldn’t order the lobster Wellington again. It was nice but the puff pastry was a little soggy and the filling was a somewhat bland tasting mousse with a few pieces of chewy lobster tail. The sauce was flavorful but the dish itself wasn’t as impressive as I imagined when ordering it. The side dishes were great, especially the Truffle Mac & Cheese. We ordered baked Alaska for dessert. A nice modern twist on a classic. The chocolate fudge brownie with ice cream and the apple crumble. Very rich and nice. And the 7 layer chocolate cake. Good also. Back to the gym to burn those calories. 

 

Terrace Café

Lovely spot that can get really crowded. Dining outside on the terrace with the sun setting is a magical experience. 

Food is good, the grill station has lobster tails, shrimp, lamb chops, steaks and almost everything is made to order. Very well executed. There is a wok station, pasta station and the center counter  has made to order salads and desserts. I do think the variety of dishes is slowly being reduced. The same seafood salad and mussels every day of the cruise. Pasta at the pasta station is all pre-made. For example the ‘made to order’ Mac and Cheese had no cheese on or in it and was ready in 2 minutes. 
 

But the buffet still has many choices and I can't imagine not finding enough you like, but on a longer cruise the offerings feel repetitive and some lunch and dinner menus are a tad uninspiring. That wasn’t the case in the past. 

The furniture inside is very nice but the chairs outside are only functional and don’t do anything for the atmosphere. They have such nice furniture at Aquamar Kitchen and Waves and even the stateroom balcony’s that this is a very boring design choice. Tables are also very close together so watch out when walking around with your plate not to bump into other people getting up or navigating between chairs and tables. 

Pool 

The pool area is pretty but gets crowded and does not have enough shaded options. The enlarged pool area is visually very impressive but also the reason that most of the loungers are so close to each other that it doesn’t feel very upper premium. When every bed is taken or reserved by chair hogs (especially those with shade) you feel like walking around in an overcrowded holiday resort. The loungers are nice and padded with covers and fluffy towels. The higher deck also has loungers but also lacks shade. This really is a design flaw. 

 

Aquamar spa deck 

Beautiful place with multiple jacuzzis, showers, loungers and comfortable chairs. It gets crowded and also you won’t be able to find shade here. It gets very hot on a sunny day. Inside you will find a very nice sauna, steam room and shower. You can get massages. Really good massages but extremely expensive. You can’t use your Simply More credits for this. 

 

Gym 

Not large but a good set up with the latest generation Technogym equipment and lovely sea views. Towels and hygienic wipes are provided as are different types of water. I have a Technogym account but couldn’t pair my Apple Watch or phone with the equipment to load my profile. This setting was turned off. 
 

Library 

This is such a brilliantly designed area. It’s the prettiest library I have ever seen on a ship. Beautiful artwork, seats, lighting and of course a great selection of books. I would walk past the library to get to baristas just to see this space. 

The Bakery 

Another great addition to the culinary offerings on board. Pastries and fresh fruit during breakfast time, brioche with chicken, roast beef or tuna salad during the lunch and afternoon and delightful filled beignets (everyday another flavor), chouquettes and financier cakes. You can’t walk past it without getting a small piece. Decor, tables and chairs are very nice. 
 

Afternoon Tea

Classical music played in front of your eyes, trolleys filled with sweet and savory delicacies. It all feels very old world ocean liner and British. The scones are good, the sandwiches good although a little too big and the tea is not of the highest quality. I’m nitpicking now. I know… On the other hand people were wearing shorts, sloppy t-shirts and flip flops, ordering glasses of coke and beer instead of tea and the worst was a gentleman loudly calling on FaceTime while walking around for everyone to ‘enjoy’ and asking staff to sing happy birthday for whomever he was calling. He even went up to the musicians and had them play Happy Birthday. The call took as long as the entire afternoon tea. I gave a few looks but that didn’t impress the phone guy. 

 

Aquamar Kitchen

We really like this “healthy" addition to the restaurants on board. I wouldn’t call all options healthy but there are good salads, poke bowls, tuna tacos and a fantastic chicken burger. That last one isn’t without calories but it’s so worth it. A point of criticism goes to the juices and smoothies. Most of them are made with pre-made juices and those are made from concentrate. They contain high amounts of sugar and no vibers. Aquamar Kichen gives the impression these juices are made with fresh healthy ingredients but most of those juices aren’t that good for you at all. 

 

Red Ginger

A favoriete with a great menu of all sorts of Asian inspirerend dishes. The room is beautifully designed and service was excellent. We were seated on the light side of the room. We prefer the dark side. Pun intended. The chandeliers now had a dimmer on them. Last year the lights were set so bright that it took away all the atmosphere but this time around they had a softer setting and it was a great dining experience. They offer you a choice of chopsticks. Nice gimmick. We had calamari, tuna tataki, salmon and lobster tartare, soft shell crab and Korean steak. Everything was flavorful. For dessert the steamed cake with cardamom ice cream. Loved our evening at Red Ginger. 

 

Waves Grill

Good place for a relaxed early morning breakfast and burgers, hotdogs and other bbq specialities. Great ice cream and milkshakes.Tables and chairs are beautiful but placed very close together and when it's busy it gets very crowded and warm. It lacks airflow. In the evening this venue turns into a pizzeria. Only a handful of tables are occupied during dinner time. I think this area could work for evenings if they change the menu. Instead of just big pizzas (not that special) do some tapas and mezze a paella or bouillabaisse. Make it more of a Mediterranean venu and it will work guaranteed.

 

The Grand Dining Room

A beautiful large restaurant. Stunning modern design but it can get noisy with lot’s of large tables and not many tables for 2. We prefer to dine together so it was hard to get a good table.  Menu is nice with choices from culinary legend Jacques Pepin. On Marina and Riviera they feature ‘his’ French restaurant Jaques but Oceania decided not to include that on Vista. We miss it but a dish from Jacques is on the menu each evening in the Grand Dining Room. I also got the impression that Oceania is slowly reducing the amount of more expensive ingredients form the menu’s in this restaurant. There is enough choice but offerings with lobster, filet mignon, scallops, caviar are now a lot harder to find.  
 

Ember 

The replacement for Jacques. I gave this restaurant another shot after a disappointing experience last year. We went in with a positive mindset. Our waiter was extremely friendly and made recommendations. We went with the crab cake (very good), breaded shrimp (nothing special), the porcini dusted bone in ribeye steak (very good), shrimp tacos (totally underwhelming), loaded baked potato (nothing to write home about), lemon broccoli (overcooked) and for dessert chocolate brownie (nice), fried beignets (okay) and apple tart (okay). Our starters arrived within 5 minutes after ordering and as soon as we finished our starters, the entrees already came out. From entering the restaurant to having our main courses on the table took less than 20 minutes. That’s not a fine dining experience at all. I don’t want to send food back for it to sit under a heating lamp or for the staff to throw away but we didn’t enjoy being served so fast. I’m on a cruise. The main event for us is dinner. If I want to eat that fast I can load up my plate at the terrace cafe. We were out of Ember in under 40 minutes. 
 

The restaurant looks nice, but it’s not the trademarked finest cuisine at sea. It’s nice fast food but not a replacement for the French restaurant Jacques found on Marina and Riviera. It’s much cheaper to operate and the ingredients are simpler and cheaper compared to the French inspired menu at Jacques. If we ever sail on Vista (or Allura) we will give our reservation to guests who enjoy this type of food and service. There are already so many casual options on board (burgers for lunch and pizza at night at Waves, Terrace Café, room service and The Grand Dining Room) that we don’t understand the menu at ember and won’t return for a third time unless the menu and service get an upgrade. 

 

Simply more 

This is the program introduced some time ago and we aren’t big fans. Simply More costs simply more for the guests and offers wine and beer during lunch and dinner and shore excursion credits. We are very moderate drinkers but more importantly we never use organized tours. We explore on our own and are now stuck with a large amount of credits that can only be used for Oceania organized shore excursions. We can’t use those credits for anything else. Not for gratuities for the staff or for let’s say a cooking class on board or a massage. To us it's useless Monopoly money we paid for but can’t use on anything we like.  
 

Another strange thing is that we sometimes both had to give our sail and sign cards to the wine stewards at the end of lunch or dinner. Apparently they can’t look up that 2 people sitting at a table for 2, are in the same stateroom and are both on the Simply More program. Some wine stewards wanted both cards while others needed just one. 

Other personal quirks 

 

We totally understand and appreciate that the crew is training for emergency situations. That’s great and needed to ensure safety but maybe not do a drill before 10 am on the first day the clocks also just went ahead one hour. With in room announcements and alarms blasting before 10 am (9 am the day before) there is no relaxing at all during the drill. 

 

Oceania offers Vero Water to reduce the use of single use plastics and bottles. You are provided with fairly useless non-insulated water bottles that you can fill everywhere on the ship. A great idea. Only negative is that we don't particularly like the taste of this water and it’s served lukewarm. It’s not bad but I prefer the taste of Evian, Pelegrino and Perrier. 

 

Oceania has an excellent and dedicated team that work on their ships. They make way too long and way too many hours but although overworked and sometimes overwhelmed they are always friendly even to the most demanding and rude guests. I can’t believe how arrogant some guests think they should behave. 

I noticed a lot of very young new employees. They are as friendly as the more experienced crew but could use a little bit more training. Same with the ‘sommeliers’. Some have very limited knowledge about the wines (no problem we know the wines we like but then not let them play the act of sommelier). Instead of pouring, some just dump the wine in your glass and almost fill it up to the rim. Also here a little bit more training world benefit all involved. 

 

Ship size 

Vista due to its size often needs to dock in the bigger industrial ports with shuttle buses needed to get guests to the city center. We had some ports that had 2 shuttles. One to exit the port and one to go to the city or town. The size of Vista does ensure all those wonderful dining options and gorgeous public spaces but it is something to consider.

 

Announcements 

I can’t remember ever hearing so many early announcements in our cabin. It was probably due to the location and that of the speakers in the hallway but the early announcements about tours, tenders and shuttle buses would wake us up. 

 

Cost cutting 

After sailing Oceania for so many years you can see subtle and less subtle cost cutting throughout the operation. From more simplified menu’s, lesser quality and quantity of higher end ingredients to eliminating and replacing a French bistro restaurant with a lower quality fast paced restaurant with a very simple menu. Replacing illy coffee with a lower quality coffee, even the iced coffee is different from last year. Instead of full coffee flavor it was now overly sweet. Same with shampoo, shower gel and the list goes on. Oceania offers a good product but if management thinks guests don’t notice costs cutting while prices increase… we do notice. 

 

Recap.

A very good cruise and service and food preparation improved greatly compared to last year. Vista is a beautiful ship. Staff is excellent. Pool and spa lack shade and it is something Oceania should solve asap. Some areas get really crowded especially on sea days (pool area, terrace cafe) Cost cutting is noticeable. 

 

Simple More isn’t our cup of tea due to the fact that credits need to be spent on shore excursions that we don’t want or use. It’s a waste of money for us. 

The spa is fantastic but prices for a massage are outrageous. 

 

Barista’s and the Bakery are great! Polo Grill and Toscana are wonderful. Red Ginger also stays on our list of favorite restaurants afloat. Ember again failed to impress on a line that registered The Finest Cuisine at Sea as their trademark. The library is beautiful. Oceania went above and beyond in designing the ship and the loungers, towels and large round sun-beds are wonderful. 

 

The hard working crew and great food make Oceania still stand out. Oceania is attracting new customers and that is good. Guests who have sailed Oceania for years will notice cost cuts. Oceania has fierce competition from Seabourn and newcomers like Explora Journeys. They also offer a very competitive experience. It will be interesting to see new developments at Oceania with even more new ships on the horizon. 

We had a great cruise and depending on itinerary and price we would sail O again

[Vallesan]

Thank you for a comprehensive and very interesting review.

 

Reading through I started to wonder about Ember replacing Jaques, the introduction of the ‘not quite as healthy as it seems’ Aquamar kitchen together with Waves becoming a ‘pizza parlour’ in the evenings. These together with the reduction in ‘high end’ foods just makes me wonder if Oceania is moving towards a new and different demographic.

 

Maybe the next generation of cruisers are not looking for ‘fine dining’ experiences preferring the familiar ‘fast foods’? Maybe there is no stomach for ‘adventure’ and people are happier to have ‘organised’ trips? I don’t know I’m just surmising.

 

I can’t believe that Oceania would introduce SimplyMore and reduce the quality of food purely as a cost cutting exercise. At the end of the day no business wants to alienate ‘repeaters’ just in the ‘hope’ of enticing new cruisers. The ships are full through autumn so maybe at the moment the strategy is working. Time alone will tell!
 

Anyway, I’m glad that you enjoyed your cruise overall because that’s the most important thing.

[lilybug]

Enjoyed your review, thank you!

[Wynterwynd]

Good review, thank you!  We are on Vista in November (‘24) and looking forward to it.  I’m sure we will miss Jacques, but maybe we can get an additional reservation at Red Ginger.  If not, we won’t starve, lol!

[maxamize]

16 minutes ago, Wynterwynd said:

Good review, thank you!  We are on Vista in November (‘24) and looking forward to it.  I’m sure we will miss Jacques, but maybe we can get an additional reservation at Red Ginger.  If not, we won’t starve, lol!

You will have a great cruise on a beautiful ship and Red Ginger is very nice. We called the reservation desk at 08:00 am and they were accommodating which extra reservations. 

[the mice]

On 6/17/2024 at 4:51 AM, Vallesan said:

Maybe the next generation of cruisers are not looking for ‘fine dining’ experiences preferring the familiar ‘fast foods’? Maybe there is no stomach for ‘adventure’ and people are happier to have ‘organised’ trips? I don’t know I’m just surmising.

 

Another thought.  I have read a lot about the age groups sailing on O, with many comments mentioning 70 and up, as well as comments about passenger mobility or lack thereof.  And more comments on the number of repeat cruisers.   So perhaps right now SM suits this demographic well.  
I don't know either and I'm just surmising as well.  

[Iamthesea]

"What was bothersome is that during the night the cabin got warmer. We think the system automatically runs on a different setting during the night."

 

Your experience pretty much mirrored ours on the Vista in March. 

 

I mentioned the same thing about the air conditioning, and some nay-sayers on here disagreed.  DH and I would wake up very early in the mornings having hot flashes.  As you said, the air was fine during the day (as long as the card was in the slot), but the room got hot during the night.  During my nightly trip to the bathroom, I got in the habit of taking the room card out of the slot, and then replacing it when I came out of the bathroom.  It seemed to reset the air conditioning and we got a couple of hours more sleep. 

 

We were not big fans of Terrace Cafe, although did enjoy eating outside.  Our biggest disappointment was that there was not a good salad bar.  Very little, if any, toppings for lettuce.  The carving station was nice for topping my lettuce off with some proteins, however.  The grill was also nice, but crowded.  I had a wonderful grilled salmon to top my salad off with.

 

Ember was our least favorite restaurant.  Had the same experience with service being too fast (once we received service) and the meal was just mediocre.  We picked the wrong food items.  I understand that the scallops are outstanding, so will try those the next visit.

 

Thanks again for the review!

[maxamize]

2 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

"What was bothersome is that during the night the cabin got warmer. We think the system automatically runs on a different setting during the night."

 

Your experience pretty much mirrored ours on the Vista in March. 

 

I mentioned the same thing about the air conditioning, and some nay-sayers on here disagreed.  DH and I would wake up very early in the mornings having hot flashes.  As you said, the air was fine during the day (as long as the card was in the slot), but the room got hot during the night.  During my nightly trip to the bathroom, I got in the habit of taking the room card out of the slot, and then replacing it when I came out of the bathroom.  It seemed to reset the air conditioning and we got a couple of hours more sleep. 

 

We were not big fans of Terrace Cafe, although did enjoy eating outside.  Our biggest disappointment was that there was not a good salad bar.  Very little, if any, toppings for lettuce.  The carving station was nice for topping my lettuce off with some proteins, however.  The grill was also nice, but crowded.  I had a wonderful grilled salmon to top my salad off with.

 

Ember was our least favorite restaurant.  Had the same experience with service being too fast (once we received service) and the meal was just mediocre.  We picked the wrong food items.  I understand that the scallops are outstanding, so will try those the next visit.

 

Thanks again for the review!

Thank you. We agree completely and share your sentiments about Terrace Cafe and Ember. And concerning your air conditioning tips. That makes so much sense. I wish I’d been that smart. When we came in it would get cold and than during the night get warmer and warmer. I never thought of removing and inserting the key card. I’ll put it on our list for next time. Thanks for sharing! 

[maxamize]

22 hours ago, the mice said:

Another thought.  I have read a lot about the age groups sailing on O, with many comments mentioning 70 and up, as well as comments about passenger mobility or lack thereof.  And more comments on the number of repeat cruisers.   So perhaps right now SM suits this demographic well.  
I don't know either and I'm just surmising as well.  

Does sound logical. SM must be a succes. 

[dock]

Thank you @maxamize.

We sail on Vista in a few weeks.

Our first O cruise, so we’re looking forward to it. 
Did you go to a Reservations desk to book first night at Toscana or present to the restaurant. We hope to also get an extra reservation at any of the Specialties on night 1? ( well except Ember).

 

Do you think if we tell  the waiter  not to rush our food it would slow things down at Ember or is it your impression that this is the “mo” so to speak of Ember?

Thank you. 

[maxamize]

1 hour ago, dock said:

Thank you @maxamize.

We sail on Vista in a few weeks.

Our first O cruise, so we’re looking forward to it. 
Did you go to a Reservations desk to book first night at Toscana or present to the restaurant. We hope to also get an extra reservation at any of the Specialties on night 1? ( well except Ember).

 

Do you think if we tell  the waiter  not to rush our food it would slow things down at Ember or is it your impression that this is the “mo” so to speak of Ember?

Thank you. 

You will love your cruise! The first night I had booked. Sort of tradition. But my other extra reservation was done through the reservation desk near reception.

 

I’m sure telling the waiter will help although a faster service is part of the Ember concept. 
 

Vista is beautiful and you will enjoy O without a doubt. 

[basor]

4 hours ago, dock said:

Thank you @maxamize.

We sail on Vista in a few weeks.

Our first O cruise, so we’re looking forward to it. 
Did you go to a Reservations desk to book first night at Toscana or present to the restaurant. We hope to also get an extra reservation at any of the Specialties on night 1? ( well except Ember).

 

Do you think if we tell  the waiter  not to rush our food it would slow things down at Ember or is it your impression that this is the “mo” so to speak of Ember?

Thank you. 

We told our Ember's waiter we were not in a hurry and wish to enjoy a leisurely dinner and the timing was perfect.  If someone wants another delicious palmer dinner role at Embers, the waiters are happy to bring more... 

[Iamthesea]

I knew there was something else about Ember that we did not like.  We never received our rolls!😁

[basor]

15 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

I knew there was something else about Ember that we did not like.  We never received our rolls!😁

Now that is something to be upset about - those rolls are so delicious.  The one place we change our order from no bread, thank you to "you bet" we will take one of those!!