Jim_Iain - Live - comparison of Oceania Regatta - Vista Suite to Celebrity Millennium Royal Suite

[Norwaylady]

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Alexandra -   I'm sure the flight would be long but Alaska is amazing if you have never been.    What is incredible is when you visit the area of Alaska that cruise ships go to you realize it is only the very small tip of Alaska.     It is such an amazing state.

We have sailed in Alaska👌🏻

Really enjoyed it. 
it’s a great place to visit😎

 

We really want to go back and see more. 
As you say, you only see a minimum part of Alaska on a cruise. 
It feels like home, but you have all the threes🌲🌲🌲🌲😂

 

Im having a big debate inside myself of a new Alaska adventure…. As a b2b type ish. 
northbound-land holiday from Seaward/HAL stop… touring around in Denali, Anchorage etc… southbound back to Vancouver😇 (but not the cruise+land deal from the cruise line) 

[Justpackingmybags]

So I haven’t been on the boards for a couple of days - life can intrude on CC Boards sometime! And here I am catching up to page 5 already. It’s always good to see a @Jim_Iain adventure starting; you know you’re going to have some good reading and lovely photos.

Bon Voyage guys!

[Alcairns]

10 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I use Travel Animation Pro

Thank you lots. I make my own private trip videos and have been looking for something like this for ages. Have a great trip. 

[TPCRUISER22]

Always enjoy your ventures Jim! Hope the two of you have a great cruise!

[Lena11033]

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Hope you are feeling better.   I was off line for a day to visit my daughter and came back to a bunch of messages.  

 

 

Thanks, yeah my husband made a curry and something he put into it made me sick (he was fine). Not the route I wanted to go for weight loss 😆

[CruseKrazy]

Looking forward to this.  We have 5 Oceania cruises in including on Regatta.  Have 4 Celebrity cruises in with 3 future booked on Millennium.  We abandoned O several years ago mostly due to the price point.  Maybe you could compare this.  Ciau!

[Jim_Iain]

21 hours ago, canderson said:

Suites in general seem to be becoming scarce.  Have recently looked at several X itineraries only to find no RS+ cabins.  As noted elsewhere, looking at more cruises on Silversea's newer ships.

 

I've been finding that if you check right after Final Payment many Upper Suites open up.   I was just noticing for the Silhouette TA in November-  last week all suites were available including a Penthouse Suite.   They Penthouse has been picked up but currently there are 2 RS, 1 CS, 1 Horizon and a bunch of SS.    Will be a great cruise for upgrades.   I somewhat regret booking a RS but the price is now $2,500 more expensive to what we paid so I guess it all balances out.

[Jim_Iain]

21 hours ago, chemmo said:

One of my friends cruised on Oceania last year. When they met their room attendant they were just putting in the bin the unopened pack of four crunchie bars that had clearly melted beyond redemption on the journey (she is a chocoholic)….

 

On returning from dinner that evening there was a  little plate of chocolate covered honeycomb pieces waiting for them. What a nice touch! 
 

Jim, I do hope this is the sort of ‘attention to detail’ that a smaller ship can offer you. As my next cruises are with the next generation I can’t see me cruising Oceania any time soon but perhaps I could be persuaded…or more importantly they could…

 

Would it be possible for you to comment at some stage on your trip about rooms suitable for three adults (our minimum on X has been RS with some PH)? Also if the ambiance may suit a 40ish couple as well as Mum?

 

I will report back.  I do know that a number of cabins do have capability of a third.   I did notice that when searching you can designate the number of guests and I believer it will show you which cabins can take 3 guests.    I will confirm once on board.

[Jim_Iain]

21 hours ago, C 2 C said:

Supposedly Mark Twain said: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

 

Here in central/southern Canada the temperature now is 83 degrees.  Enjoy the wet coast.

 

I heard that same quote.     It's not quite that cold but can tell you shops have a good business in Sweat Shirts for tourists.   

 

The Bay Area has so many micro-climates.   We are only 30 miles south of San Francisco and in the Summers we will get in the mid 80's to 90's and San Francisco can be down int the hit 50's to low 60's.  

 

One thing nice about the micro climates is you can choose the type temperatures you want to live in and still commute to work. 

 

We are also in the High 80's today but temperatures are suppose to drop to the low 70's this weekend as the Low moves in.    I believe that is the reason the temps on this cruise will shift to cooler wetter conditions.

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, haynesra said:

Jim can't wait to follow along for your comparison. Interesting that you mentioned no app for Ocenia. So I guess that means you have no menus available for pre-cruise planning. But to clarify, do you mean no app available at all or just no pre-cruise app availability? Seems really odd that there is no app at all in 2024. I know I would be lost without one 😁

 

That is true.... but .... Via my sources I was able to get PDF's of the 14 day rotation of the MDR menus as well as the two specialty restaurants.   I will be posting the on the Live thread on Oceania Board.    I will say they are impressive and exciting.

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, Oville said:

Have a GREAT cruise. We didn’t love Oceania but everyone has their own opinion.  Our biggest beef was our butler but not everyone is perfect.

Loved the speciality restaurants and ate there most nights.

 

Sorry to hear.    I'm hoping we get a great butler.   We really don't use a butler a great deal but it is always nice to have on like our housekeeper that just knows how to surprise us and intuitively knows how to make us feel special.

 

Regatta only has 2 Specialties and we have 4 nights pre-booked.   We have a tradition of doing a Specialty on the first night of all of our cruises.   Usually the first night is a mess as the wait staff and passengers get settled in and understand the process. 

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

O has no app.  Would be nice, but I do not think it is a priority right now.

 

It is interesting how different lines embrace technology.   Ponant has an app but nothing worked in it so was useless.

 

I understand that Cunard doesn't have a stand alone App but have a URL web based app only available once on the ship. 

 

I have to say that I have really enjoyed the app on Celebrity.    It has come a long way from when it was first released but like you I would be lost without it.

[Oville]

10 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Sorry to hear.    I'm hoping we get a great butler.   We really don't use a butler a great deal but it is always nice to have on like our housekeeper that just knows how to surprise us and intuitively knows how to make us feel special.

 

Regatta only has 2 Specialties and we have 4 nights pre-booked.   We have a tradition of doing a Specialty on the first night of all of our cruises.   Usually the first night is a mess as the wait staff and passengers get settled in and understand the process. 

I’m sure you’ll have a great time.  We too don’t use the butler often but this guy was just plain weird sticking his nose into our business where it didn’t belong.

[Lastdance]

I was just reading on social media about another Alaskan cruiser who saw the Northern Lights and took gorgeous photos.  Sure hope that is a possibility for you, even if just a small percentage💚 

[Jim_Iain]

15 hours ago, helen haywood said:

Our last E Class sailing was Beyond in a Sunset Veranda…after IVs on Edge, Beyond and Apex.  I figured we’d see if a true balcony could help us enjoy E Class…but we decided that class just isn’t for us.  Much prefer S Class!  

 

I think many agree with you.    In suites we have always had balconies but surprisingly they eliminated the outdoor Jacuzzi in all of the upper suites.   The balcony for the Royal Suite is the standard size but they took the other half and made a sun room extension on the already huge living room.    It would have been nice if they at least put an infinity window in that place instead of solid glass walls. 

 

Our remaining 2 Celebrity bookings are both in S Class so looking forward to that.

[Jim_Iain]

12 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

We have sailed in Alaska👌🏻

Really enjoyed it. 
it’s a great place to visit😎

 

We really want to go back and see more. 
As you say, you only see a minimum part of Alaska on a cruise. 
It feels like home, but you have all the threes🌲🌲🌲🌲😂

 

Im having a big debate inside myself of a new Alaska adventure…. As a b2b type ish. 
northbound-land holiday from Seaward/HAL stop… touring around in Denali, Anchorage etc… southbound back to Vancouver😇 (but not the cruise+land deal from the cruise line) 

 

What you might enjoy is to do a pre or post cruise land trip.    We did the one to Denali and was incredible.    As an aside, you get the same number of points per day as the room you book. 

 

 

[canderson]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I've been finding that if you check right after Final Payment many Upper Suites open up.   I was just noticing for the Silhouette TA in November-  last week all suites were available including a Penthouse Suite.   They Penthouse has been picked up but currently there are 2 RS, 1 CS, 1 Horizon and a bunch of SS.    Will be a great cruise for upgrades.   I somewhat regret booking a RS but the price is now $2,500 more expensive to what we paid so I guess it all balances out.

We've seen a little bit of that, too, but hoping for a cancellation is a heck of a way to plan a vacation!  Would be possible to get shut out of alternatives by waiting that long, and with all suites being NRD, that would be annoying to leave on the table.

 

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, Justpackingmybags said:

So I haven’t been on the boards for a couple of days - life can intrude on CC Boards sometime! And here I am catching up to page 5 already. It’s always good to see a @Jim_Iain adventure starting; you know you’re going to have some good reading and lovely photos.

Bon Voyage guys!

 

I was away much of the day yesterday and was in the same situation as you.   Had lots of catching up to do.   

[Jim_Iain]

8 hours ago, Lena11033 said:

 

Thanks, yeah my husband made a curry and something he put into it made me sick (he was fine). Not the route I wanted to go for weight loss 😆

Ugh... that is not nice.   I guess he has a stronger stomach than you.   Hope it doesn't put you off on curry.

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, CruseKrazy said:

Looking forward to this.  We have 5 Oceania cruises in including on Regatta.  Have 4 Celebrity cruises in with 3 future booked on Millennium.  We abandoned O several years ago mostly due to the price point.  Maybe you could compare this.  Ciau!

 

I will show a comparison of prices.    As you know there are so many things to compare trying to do a proper head to head comparison. 

 

More on this later.....

[Jim_Iain]

9 minutes ago, Oville said:

I’m sure you’ll have a great time.  We too don’t use the butler often but this guy was just plain weird sticking his nose into our business where it didn’t belong.

 

Wow... that's not good.    Most of the butlers know how to be seen but not intrusive.

 

I will have to share a story---

 

We were on a warm weather cruise and had been out touring all day.    I guess the butler had been in the room refreshing the ice.    When I got back I stripped down to take a shower and was sitting in the living room stark ass naked.    The door opened and I thought it was Iain.   Come on in Big Boy.... The butler had not knocked thinking we were still out.     I'm not sure who was more embarrassed as he instantly closed the door and fled.  He later apologized and we all laughed about it.

 

We still joke about that and laugh our heads off.

[George C]

12 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I think many agree with you.    In suites we have always had balconies but surprisingly they eliminated the outdoor Jacuzzi in all of the upper suites.   The balcony for the Royal Suite is the standard size but they took the other half and made a sun room extension on the already huge living room.    It would have been nice if they at least put an infinity window in that place instead of solid glass walls. 

 

Our remaining 2 Celebrity bookings are both in S Class so looking forward to that.

We did penthouse on edge on one of the first cruises after covid, the only thing I disliked was no outside area balcony had no sunlight completely covered , but we were really close to outdoor retreat and a few feet from Luminae.

[Jim_Iain]

14 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

I was just reading on social media about another Alaskan cruiser who saw the Northern Lights and took gorgeous photos.  Sure hope that is a possibility for you, even if just a small percentage💚 

 

It is really a treat to see the Northern Lights.    There is a site that shows the projection of seeing them.   I looked yesterday and there is only a slight possibility

 

We were on an Alaska cruise a number of years ago and the Captain came on the PA in the rooms at 11:00 at night to advise they were visible.    I have to say they were incredible.   The only problem is they are hard to photograph as most of the colors turn to green when photographed. 

 

One of my most memorable experience with the Northern Lights was from an airplane.   I use to Commute from San Francisco to Dublin monthly.   On one flight in the middle of the night over Greenland they were visible and I watched memorized for about 2 hours before they faded.   In all my flights I've only seen them 2X from a plane.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

19 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

As a result of many complaints about the menu they recently updated their menus.   Unfortunately most of our favorites were removed and replaced some disappointing substitutions.    Also their desert menus are now so overly loaded with chocolate items.

 

The best desert they had -- Chef B's Raspberry Vacherin (my personal favorite) with what many call the Chocolate Dog Poop. 

 

I definitely agree with your dessert comment!  That was also my favorite.  The chocolate pill is BORING.

[Jim_Iain]

22 minutes ago, canderson said:

We've seen a little bit of that, too, but hoping for a cancellation is a heck of a way to plan a vacation!  Would be possible to get shut out of alternatives by waiting that long, and with all suites being NRD, that would be annoying to leave on the table.

 

 

I could be wrong but i believe you can still book a Refundable Suite but the deposit is 10% plus the Refundable Fare is also about 20% higher.  

 

Just did a mock booking --- for a CS on Hawaii cruise in 2026 - on a 11,000 price the none refundable fee was

 

 

 

I think what many do is pay the Change Fee prior to final payment instead of paying the obscene Non-Refundable add on price

 

Edited Friday at 05:52 PM by Jim_Iain