Celebrity Loyalists on their First Oceania Cruise, Vista July 23- Aug 02

[dock]

I had planned on doing this review once we got back home,but we still have two weeks of traveling and with the extra down time in Bodrum and now Marmaris, I thought I’d spend some time doing short intro. 
 

We’re from Canada. I’m 60 ( feel like 40) and DH is 62. 
 

We’re trying out other lines as we now travel less with our adult sons and their families. 
Celebrity had been out main cruise line of choice over the last 3 decades. 
 

Prices on X, we like Retreat are becoming outrageous. 
Our X, Ascent   Feb  7 day Carribean cruise cost 40% more than this 10day Med Cruise on Vista.

 

In addition on X, we had to pay for all Specialty Dining( altho grats were included).

 

Boarded on Athens, arrived the night before. Stayed at Elektra Palace. Great location, perfect for one night. 
Good 4 star. 
Great view from the Rooftop. 
Would recommend. 
We’ve stayed at Grande Bretagne and the Hilton ( now under renovation) and preferred this location. 
For a longer stay, Im not sure as rooms albeit very clean, did look rather tired. 
 

We ambled the area, tried Leukemades, had an early dinner(8pm) and then relaxed in our Rooftop Lounge. 
 

Used Welcome Pick Ups for transfer to hotel and to port. 
We have used them before but not sure I would again. 
Both times on this trip they sent taxis. 
No issue with sitting in a taxi, but the inconsistency in the calibre of can drivers ( some drive like crazy ) has resulted in me opting for private transfers. 
 

As luck would have it, our guy from airport to hotel , drive like a bat of h- -l. 
Arrived nauseated to Hotel.

 

If anyone is interested, we both had a foot massage(€39pp) and  I had a wash and blow dry €20). With the oppressive heat on the 22 and 23rd in Athens our puffy feet and my sweaty head were very grateful lol. 
Place was called Coco and it was 2 mins away in the Plaka are. Tip not expected. 
Across my hotel is another hair salon - similar price point. 

 

In contrast blow dry on ship $89 plus 20% tip. But I’ll leave the inevitable Spa story for later 😀.

Boarded around 1pm and in great time. Gorgeous ship but definitely not Ascent, which is just beautiful. 
Design aesthetic on E class is way more bold. Lots more art work( it is a bigger ship) and a lot more greenery. 
Vista reminds me of a 4Seasons property. 

 

In a Penthouse cabin. Our cabin was ready on check in. 

Met both the room steward and Butler within half an hour of getting to cabin. 

Dropped stuff off and headed to Terrace cafe. 
It’s a small buffet but food was excellent .

Much tastier than X. 

Tablecloths on the table. Yep I’m easily impressed lol. 

Waves grill was open as well. Haven’t tried it yet. 
It’s our plan for lunch today. 
 

Demographic is surprisingly very varied. Many multigenerational families. 
We’ve seen at least 3 babies and many strollers with toddlers. All the kids have been very well behaved.

Still most guest  above 70.

Very friendly. Everyone greets it smiles. 
 

A fair number of mobility impaired guests, which we expected. Kudos to them for continuing to travel. I hope to have the stamina to do so. 

 

[dock]

Sorry, submitted early but is my first attempt at adding pics. 
 

I won’t divulge cabin number, but so far no issues. Our neighbors ate very quiet. No noise problems and we are trying to always talk in our inside voices! 
I won’t be able to chide my DH for sure lol! 
 

We stopped at reservations desk soon after boarding and asked for any available Specialty Dining. We got a reservation at PG. Table for 2. 
Lovely decor. 
Great service and lovely ambiance. 
 

Unfortunately we had the privilege of a blogger at the table  behind us. 
Needless to say it was a long process ordering , filming everyone placing their orders and so on. 
They didn’t talk in inside  either. 
If it happens again, we’re going ask to move to another table. 
 

Bread was divine. All breads on board have been delicious. 
Food was good. Lobster was well cooked. I just felt it lacked seasoning. 
My DH had Surf and Turf , it was nice . 
Chocolate cake for dessert was pedestrian. 
DH baked alaska was tasty. 

We have another reservation later in the week so will try other things. 
 

Overall though, food has been far far superior to X. Luminae( Retreats own dining room) is actually really not good at all when compared even to the buffet  imo, on Vista. 

 

[dock]

Day 2 Santorini

Booked an excursion through O so we could eliminate the need to line up for the cable car. 
Day at Perivolos : lovely black sand beach. Loungers and Palapa included.

Sand gets very hot so bring sandals.

Pebbly beach so beach shoes would be perfect.( forgot ours off course 😅).

Had a quick lunch at Perivolos Beach Tavern - grilled calamari and 2 sodas.  €34. 

 

Thereafter ambled Fira , bought some sandals and around 2.36 joined the line up

for the cable car. 
Finally on the car at 3.32. Im  told this was great timing as the day before some people waited 2 hours. 
 

This was our 4th time in Santorini. Once wA a land tour. Moving forward I’ll consider it a sea day. It just was not pleasant waiting in the heat. 
 

Dinner at Terrace Cafe . Watched the sunset. We’re not usually buffet people but this was the perfect port to eat Al fresco. 
 

Breakfasts: not really huge brekkie people.

Had room service once as we had an early tour. Delivered as ordered. 
Once in Aquamar. Nice not to have to get stuff oneself. Juices were lovely. 
Avocado toast and Shrimp toast were nice. Had to be seasoned and the bread was way too hard imo. 

Terrace Cafe: great options. 
O and X are same with respect to the buffet options, but of  course on a larger ship, it’s a much bigger presentation and fancier presentation. Eg : carved fruit at the fruit station . 

 

Having multiple venues with a good variety of menu options though,crowding in the buffet. 

I much prefer Luminae for Breakfast. I like sitting down and placing my order. 
In fairness, we have not tried the GDR for breakfast as yet. Food quality for breakfast is the same but pastries on O , far superior.

The crispness of the croissants and the layers in the dough , is just amazing.

Baristas and the bakery - divine pastries , small sandwiches if one returns late from a tour and needs a snack. All coffees , Capps , Lattes etc included. 

Edited July 27 by dock

[ronrick1943]

Nice review, thanks so much for taking the time.  Look forward to reading more.

[K Cross]

Thank you for the review. Looks like you are having a great time. 

 

Like many I am also a defector from Celebrity. Elite Plus and have always stayed in suites. X pricing has gotten out of hand so we are trying other cruise lines. With O it looks like we can book what looks like a better cruise in a PH for less than a X suite. Currently we have three cruises booked with O (Vista & Allure with the first one in Dec) and one with Seabourn. With the help of CC and all the folks who post their experiences we should be able to find a line that suits our needs. 

 

Thanks again to all who post. 

[asnaleah]

We are in the same boat, so to speak. We are elite plus on X but decided to move on. We sailed Regent earlier this month and have 2 cruises on Vista planned for next year. Many thanks @dock for your detailed review. Much appreciated, especially the comparison to Retreat on X.

[JRWLOBO]

My spouse and I are also Elite Plus with Celebrity and have chosen to move on.  We have an Oceania cruise booked in June 2025 on the Vista.  We are looking forward to the change.  Like others on this board, Celebrity just does not live up to the prices they now charge, especially for the suites.  Love the reviews we are reading about Oceania.

[Lastdance]

@dock

Thanks so much for sharing, as we are elite+ on Celebrity and doing our first O cruise next May, a TA to Lisbon because we want to stay in Algarve.  Love hearing the comparison between Retreat and PH, as that is us too.  We have Ascent booked for TA from Barcelona in the fall, so I will have a great comparison of TA’s.  We have other cruises booked, but want to experience O before we book for 2026.  However, we do our own excursions, so that may be a factor for our next O cruise, as we booked before excursions were included.  The extremely high pricing on X has made us wanting a more reasonable and varied ship experience; we do not cruise the Caribbean, but love other venues throughout the world, especially Europe.

Edited July 27 by Lastdance

[Kay S]

I think I missed it, but are you on the Vista?

[dock]

@Sthrngary, thank you for your reviews and comments , I’ve learnt a lot from you. 
 

@Kay S, yes currently on Vista.

 

Day 3 : Booked the Archaeological Museum  tickets online ourselves and also booked a Private Heraklion Cultural and Tasting tour through TripAdvisor. 
At C$116 pp , I’m not sure it was worth it for a 2 hour ,as Heraklion is very compact and easy to amble independently. 
 

It was lovely meeting a local and learning about the city, sitting and chatting  over coffee and pastries and then ending with a cheeseboard at a local deli. For those who eat meat , it would be a charcuterie board. 
 

Day 4: Bodrum . Our Gulet tour was cancelled. We only found out about  this  an  hour before so we just ambled the town, did some shopping and had a snack at a local spot. It turned out to be a great chill day. Back onboard we hung out at the pool. 
The pool is quite deep. 
I’m only 1.62cm and not a good swimmer and I could not  touch bottom in the pool. 
Not sure if this was a deliberate decision, but a major design flaw imo. 
 

The Aquamar Terrace  pool is just not a good sub for a regular pool especially in a hot climate. Perfect for Alaska. 

Who needs a warm pool in 28 C plus weather!!! We popped up twice for a few minutes but the water’s  too hot and the deck has minimal loungers in  the shade and all were always occupied when we went up there, so just had a quick dip in the thallasotherapy pool.

 

X pool decks on E class are far superior imo. 
Shade over the jacuzzis, cabanas for hire if you so choose and enough umbrellas on Retreat deck. All pools have great depth for different levels of swimmers.  The Solarium is also a great concept on X. 

Vista pool deck is sorely  lacking in shade. Chair  hogging is visible but not pervasive. We were able to find two loungers in the shade after a couple of walk abouts whenever we wanted some pool time. 
 

Dinner: Toscana

Excellent food , service and presentation. 
Perfect Sunset view from our table. 
It was DH birthday and I assume our TA alerted the cruiseline as I did not. 
 

We had made our 4 SD reservations prior to boarding, but on meeting our Butler he informed us that he would be making an additional one at whichever was available on DH’s birthday. 

At this point we have 4

confirmed SD , 1 additional we booked for Day 1 on  embarkation and now another that we had not anticipated . No complaints on our end. But we have not tried GDR as yet!

At 630 pm, our Butler arrived to escort us to dinner. We were quite taken aback, but impressed is an understatement. 
I’ve never had that happen on X, even for our 35th anniversary cruise.

 
Day 5: Marmaris - we did not clear the Waitlist for our O excursion. 
It was a scorcher of a day. 38C with no breeze to speak of .

 

The port provided a shuttle into town, which was quite efficient . 
Take note of the times as between 12-1pm there’s apparently  a lunch break during which shuttles are not available.

We literally spent an hour ambling the town and got back onboard. 
It’s a more laid back town than Bodrum, but unless you have a tour, personally I felt there wasn’t much to do. 
 

We got back onboard , chilled at the pool.

Mexican Lunch at Terrace Cafe which imo looks impressive but lacked flavour. 
Mexican should be bold, vibrant flavours .

The fajitas were meh!

Guac - mushy.

Salsa had no oomph and the churros cold, doughy and  a watery caramel sauce. I will not call it Dulce de Leche.
Disappointing across the board. 

 

Yep I know, I said the food thus far was superior to X, but this lunch was just not a good representation of Mexican food. 
Im hoping dinner at Red Ginger is going to wow me . 
 

The Humphrey Slocombe Icecream has been great whenever we’ve tried it and service has always been on point. 

         

Pics: Heraklion Walking Tour 

        Bodrum 

        Toscana 
Didn’t bother with lunch pics. 

 

 

Edited July 27 by dock

[dock]

@asnaleah, how was Regent? 
We’re booked on a Grandeur Panama

Canal cruise. 
Thanks. 

[Lastdance]

1 hour ago, Kay S said:

...but are you on the Vista?

OP is on Vista!  Sorry, I missed where it was answered above, but unable to delete so...to not just waste this post...

 

@dock How were you able to get the double photos on your pictures, instead of just one beneath the other etc?

 

Edited July 27 by Lastdance

[ORV]

36 minutes ago, dock said:

We got back onboard , chilled at the pool.

Mexican Lunch at Terrace Cafe which imo looks impressive but lacked flavour. 
Mexican should be bold, vibrant flavours .

The fajitas were meh!

Guac - mushy.

Salsa had no oomph and the churros cold, doughy and  a watery caramel sauce. I will not call it Dulce de Leche.
Disappointing across the board. 

Absolutely agree. It's sad that Royal Caribbean has better Mexican food than Oceania. Maybe they just don't have the right chefs(cooks) for good Mexican. Any number of our local Mexican restaurants do a much better job. And I'm in the middle of the USA, but I see authentic Mexican restaurants in pretty much every place I go in the US. It's almost like they all have the same menu. 

[asnaleah]

@dock, we loved Regent, we were on Splendor, round-trip Reykjavik. Great crew, beautiful ship, tons of storage. We had a concierge D. I was sorry not to have a butler, but otherwise a good cabin choice for us. We booked again. Also Panama Canal but not until January 2026. We have two cruises booked on Vista for 2025.

[lorimay]

It’s funny how subjective things are. We are on the same cruise and are Elite with Celebrity. I thought the Mexican lunch yesterday was far more authentic and much better quality than any Mexican I’ve had on Celebrity. Also, I think the pool deck is far nicer than the E class ships. Much more shade on the sides in the “cabana areas” and I don’t have to pay extra. 
 

we never knew there was a shuttle to town in Marmaris. Did Julie say that in the announcement? I must have missed it. We ended up taking a taxi. I agree, not much there. 
 

I'm enjoying your review. We have two cruises booked on Celebrity next year including a trans Atlantic that we got for really prices, but we don’t do suites. However, I think that might be all for us on Celebrity. 

[dock]

@Lastdance, I have an app called Layout. 
I arrange my pics in a collage and then select which I like to create a picture. 
 

Saves space in my album and also I’m not dumping a whole lotta pics when I want to post. 
 

Pre Dinner: Martinis -  the place was busy. 
Great live Music. 
 

Red Ginger for dinner- fabulous decor, ambiance , food and service. 
No complaints. 
We shared a few items. Everything was on point. Too busy eating, I forgot to take Main Course and dessert pics. 

This morning : room service coffee and then prep for another O excursion. 
 

[dock]

@lorimay, overall so far O has been a far superior cruise experience.

 

We won’t switch over completely to any line moving forward but will be choosing now based on itinerary .

 

We have  Royal with our family booked for the Greek Isles next summer. The littles need a kiddie pool which even X does not have. 
 

Later in summer ‘25 NCL Prima,Iceland and Norway. It’s the only line I can find with both places on one cruise. Have never done NCL, but happy to try it. 

Thereafter ,Regent Panama Canal. 

 

We won’t be booking a future booking onboard, but O will be the first we look at moving forward. 
 

I still want to try Beyond. People seem to love that ship. Noise and all lol. 

Won’t abandon X completely as it’s still for us very comfortable when we have the entire family along. 

[dock]

It’s been a bit somber after the incident today, but we’re on our way to Antalya. 
 

I won’t go into the details of what transpired but it’s been a rather eventful day. 
 

I hope the young lady and her family are doing okay. 
 

Limassol Cyprus: Being that it was Sunday, we chose to book an O excursion. 
I have not chosen OE excursions as I get carsick in smaller vehicles especially if I sit in the middle. 
 

Both O excursions we’ve done have been small groups. The Perivolos excursion , had maybe 18 people and today’s excursion into the countryside and to the monastery had 13 people. 
We’ve been in normal size buses and did not feel crowded . 
 

Breakfast at Waves today. It’s been great trying out the different venues. Service was great as usual. 
 

Excursion was very interesting . Lunch at a local home was very simple. Salad, artisanal cheeses and doughnuts. 
Great Greek coffee. 
Guide was awesome. 
Other passengers were friendly. 
Divine homemade bread. 

Afternoon Canapes wonderful. A far cry from X’s dips and sweet treats. 

Re: kids on this cruise, which seems to be an aberration for O.They ones we’ve encountered have been well behaved and honestly not an issue for us. I’m okay with having families onboard as I’m not sure if I’d like  seeing only an older demographic. 

 

Dinner: Polo Grill , didn’t take pics except for the tuna tartare. Was not in the mood after witnessing the events unfold this afternoon from our balcony. 

Dinner was good. 

Tuna Tartare

Caesar Salad 

DH had Ribeye

I had the Roast Chicken - tender, moist with crispy skin.

Shared Key Lime Pie for dessert. 

 

I’ve  read reviews which commented on the ship being quiet after 10pm, but this has not been our experience. Horizons  is busy every evening from 10.30 and it’s great to see people dancing and enjoying themselves. 
 

Dress Code: The attire is generally casual with some people being very well put together. 

Comedian tonight was good.
 

 

 

 

Edited July 28 by dock

[FetaCheese]

@dock

Thanks for posting your "Live From".  Really enjoying reading your positive impressions and seeing your photos, and for taking your valuable vacation time to bring us along.

Edited July 28 by FetaCheese

[sweetpk]

Thank you!

[emd138]

Great share so far!  I have to laugh, but not really, when you say inside voice.  I have worked in loud manufacturing plants for over 25 years, so I have a REALLY hard time with that, being used to trying to be heard by a group over the equipment.  I try, I really do!  We will be on Insignia in about a month, and I will have to keep that in mind.

[dock]

We’re heading to Kusadasi - expecting 40C again so plan on taking umbrellas with us. 

 

This is the last of our 3 SM tours.

The 2 were great so hopefully this one works out as well.

 

Yesterday Antalya:

We took the ships shuttle into the city. 
Waited about 40 mins for the shuttle.Not pleasant in the heat. 

Ambled the Old Town , saw Hadrians Gate and ruins and a mosque within the old town. 
The beach area looked amazing.
 

Stopped at Citr Balik for a Fish Sandwich( had seen it on a blog). 
You order what type of fish you want and then there’s a salad bar and sauces to add on top.

Fish was very lightly battered and bun was huge and crusty. 

Delicious.
C$15 for 2 sandwiches and 2 pops. 

So far we’ve enjoyed seeing the Turkish Riviera and would consider a land tour and drive around for a week or so.

The coastline and beaches are very similar to Croatia.

 

We took a cab back to the port €16.

 

Made our regular stop at Baristas once back on board for coffee and a pastry to share. Yesterday the Praline Beigmet. It didn’t disappoint lol. 

 

We found the last 2 loungers in partial shade at the pool deck and spent sailaway reading. 
 

Chair hogging  has not been a major problem unlike X, where we booked cabanas twice on main pool deck as it was just impossible to get a lounger in shade on sea days.
 

I do  however find it annoying and have noticed it very often, that couples will occupy the middle 2 of a row of 4 loungers, leaving 1 empty on either side of them .

This is just rude. 
While we have found a set for us, if we ever need two, we will have no issue, occupying one on either end of them.
It’s been the same two couples that I’ve observed over the cruise. 

Crew are very personable, some very new to the industry,but all very efficient.

 

Dinner: Toscana

Our second visit.
Our favourite so far. We’ve only got GDR and Ember left to compare so I’m assuming this opinion won’t change. 
This time we were offered Parmesan chunks. We were not the first time.
We love the Sweet and the Intensivo OO and the Moderna Balsamic. 
Bread Basket again divine. 
All pastries and bread in all venues have been outrageously good. 

 

Artichoke 

Insalata 

Giadas Lemon Pasta - app portion 

Cioppino- app portion (surprisingly has pasta in it)

Lobster Diavolo 

Branzino 

Food and service was  sublime. 

 

Dessert:

Culinary Centre for a dessert class.
Great fun. 
Lovely ambiance. Would recommend.

 

Ended the evening at Martinis listening to music. 
 

We are not show people, except for Comedians or we hear a particular show is outstanding. Have seen enough song and dance shows over our years of cruising and it had lost its appeal. 
 

I have tried to upload a video. Not sure if it worked. 

Relaxing on pool deck until a snack before we leave for our tour. 
Yep, I spend a lot of time eating or thinking of eating lol. I do get in a lot of steps though😂. 
 
 

 

 

 

Edited July 30 by dock

[bbqoug]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

I am especially enjoying the food pictures. They have given me a lot of daydreaming material for our upcoming O cruise.

[dock]

Sea Day Today: Was supposed to be Bozcaada. Port canceled due to heavy swells .

In over 30 years of cruising  this is our first cruise where we had an Excursion canceled( Bodrum)port days and/or time changed ( Marmaris, Antalya and Kusadasi) and now a port canceled. 
There’s a first for everything, but all in one cruise 🤷‍♀️. 
Seems like this is on brand for O and we had anticipated changes so it’s not impacted us too much. 
 

All 3 of our excursions though O have been great. Once again, not a full bus on our tour to Ephesus imcluding Terrace Houses. We could spread out comfortably.

Tour guide was great. 
Our last visit here was 20 years ago. 
We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and survived despite the intense heat. 
I suggest a hat and take an umbrella.

Lots  of Water and Gatorade or some rehydration fluid would be prudent. 
We were given cold towels on entry into the terrace houses and they were soo needed. 
 

Tour was great, but off course the  inevitable carpet store stop. 
We were not in the market for carpets, but some of the group were. After the spiel, a few of us opted to leave. Safety in numbers lol, so it wasn’t difficult running the gauntlet.😂😂. 
I felt overwhelmed when the demo ended and what felt like 20 men all swarmed into the room! 

I had warned my DH , don’t ask 1 question cos if you do become embroiled in a discussion about rugs, I’m leaving you in there all alone! 

 

They were very polite and didn’t press when we said no from the outset. 
 

Dinner at  GDR: our first time here, was okay. 
It’s a beautiful room , great service. Food very corporate in taste and presentation. 
Scallops in phyllo - oily 

Chicken Tajine- disappointing flavours 

DH: Steak - okay. 
Souffle- okay , no legs and quite flat. 
 

We didn’t finish our plates so later headed up for pizza. Asked chef to make a smaller one than usual. Pizza was good, not delicious. Base could be cooked more. 
It hit the spot though. 
 

Personally, we prefer Terrace cafe for dinner as opposed to GDR. Options seem to be the same as GDR,but far more selections. 

Relaxing on the pool deck.

Have Ember booked for dinner, have not been there before but chatting to people, it does not seem to be a must do. Indian Buffet in Terrace tonight, so will scope it out before and then decide. 
 

The dreaded luggage tags arrived, but we are considering self walk out as our pick up is at 730 am. 

 

Will start packing later today.

Tomorrow Istanbul. Booked Private Walking and Tram Tour. 

 

Edited July 31 by dock

[Jim_Iain]

@dock thank you for posting your well written and documented live post.   I only discovered it today and just finished.

 

It is really interesting seeing all the Celebrity participants participating.   We are also Celebrity Refugees and will be taking our first Oceania Cruise in 45 days on Regatta.  

 

I hate to admit we just hit Double Zenith and after 24 years of exclusively sailing Celebrity we are jumping ship.    Celebrity and Retreat are just not what it use to be.   We still have 2 cruises booked with them but this year have booked 2 Oceania, 2 Cunard, 2 Silver Sea and 1 RSS.

We fully know it will not be the same but can tell you we are more excited than we have been in year. 

I also plan on doing comparisons of Celebrity, Cunard and Oceania.