Nashna

I'm afraid you are correct. It is the cheapest and the worst one on the market. We might just bring a six pack of decent non-alcoholic wines with us. It's about time cruise lines upped their game as far as non-alcoholic spirits go.

Thank you for posting. I am curious about your impressions sailing an older ship vs. the Edge Class. Our last three sailings were on Edge Class ships, and we are about to put down the deposit on the Eclipse. You did mention you preferred the dining choices on the Edge Class. Were there any other differences between the ships that you noticed?

Yes, you can. But, last year it was only Fre...and that is the bottom rung of Alcohol-free wines.

We did miss the vibe on Oceania that we experienced on Celebrity. We missed the Martini Bar entertainment and the great musical choices in the evening. O's after dinner choices were a pianist or a string quartet.

Good to hear that it's back on the menu. We were very disappointed in the quality of the meat as well as the thin steaks. We were on the Edge and Apex for a total of 19 days. The menu was set for 7-days and didn't vary. We just sailed on the Vista and really missed the lively Celebrity vibe. That is why I've been hoping that things improved since 2023.

Our last two Celebrity cruises in January 23 we felt the line had gone downhill. We then booked Oceania, Azamara and Viking. I occasionally come back to this site to see if things have changed. It appears that they have. Two questions...is prime rib back on the menu? Is lobster a surcharge? Are chair hogs still and issue or is Celebrity doing anything about them? We enjoyed the entertainment on Celebrity and miss that on other ships. We would love to go back if things are better...especially the menus.

We will be on Azamara's Onward's 12-Day Intensive Ireland cruise in July. While in Belfast, we intend to take the Black Taxi Troubles Tour and will reserve the Titanic Museum with the Discovery option. The museum has timed entries. Does anyone know how long we should allow for the museum? Can we wait until closer to the sailing to make these reservations?

Thank you for offering to do the hard work. Your spreadsheet is really helpful. I would like to bid on an upgrade if it is offered on our July 1st sailing. I will be following your spreadsheet closely for the next few months.

I'm so sorry to hear that Covid struck you both. Hopefully, it was a mild case. We are continuing our quest for a new favorite cruise line.

Is the golf cart transportation available to all guests or just the Residences? We also have sailed in the Yacht Club and enjoyed that perk. I would like to think that the food experiences on Explora on the island would be upgraded from what is regularly offered on MSC to their regular passengers. I recall sailing on Seabourn to Carambola and being treated to caviar, champagne, and a delicious lobster bbq.

Noggins... We are scheduled to sail on Explora II next January. I have read all eight pages of your post and have enjoyed reading about your experiences. Since you were not in one of the higher-priced staterooms, did you encounter any situations that might make you feel like a steerage passenger? When you mentioned having passengers arrive after you and be processed before you, is it possible that was due to their higher stateroom level? We sailed in MSC's Yacht Club and enjoyed that experience. However, there were times when we felt a bit too entitled.

ThThank you. Sadly, Nina, the concierge who was so helpful, had her contract shortened during our sailing and left the ship when we did. I also felt that there was something a little off on the Vista. I was surprised at the level of service in the Terrace Cafe. We took a sunset sail in Antigua and planned to eat outdoors in the Terrace as the excursion returned at about 7:00pm and we were dressed casually. At 7:00 pm, half the tables were not set, and the staff appeared rushed. We waited thirty minutes for our wine, then proceeded to the buffet. There were about ten people around the grill, waiting for their orders. We were told to come back for our order in 15 minutes. We opted to go back to our room and order room service. Seriously, it was like McDonalds with better food. When we got back to the table, our wine had arrived. We took our glasses and headed back to our room. We met the F & B Manager in the elevator, who asked how our meal was. When he heard about our experience, he asked for our room number and had a head waiter deliver the food and two bottles of wine to our room. He salvaged our dinner. We had a delightful meal on our patio sailing out of Antigua. If the buffet food isn't ready, O. should have waitstaff serving meals to the table instead of inconveniencing guests. The Terrace Cafe was visibly understaffed. The only other time we witnessed poor service was in Polo...again, the issue appeared to be understaffing.

Oceania doesn't do official Meet & Greets. I was told nothing could be arranged until we boarded. When checking in, the concierge was waiting for me and set up an appointment that afternoon to arrange the event. She informed me that they had been following our roll call and noticed the large number of attendees (56). They arranged snacks, sent out invitations, and arranged for a portion of Horizons to be blocked off for our group. The General Manager and Food & Beverage Manager attended. There were no official announcements...just a group of new friends getting together. Amazingly, most folks had been following the roll call, but not participating. I originally expected about ten people to meet casually...we had 56. I was impressed to learn that Oceania follows CC roll calls.

Thank you for those kind words. Yes, we are on the 24th as well. It will be another great adventure. We must be sure to set up to meet on day one or two...hopefully, someone else will set up the group Meet & Greet! We are finalizing the cruise with our TA on Monday.

Hi David, AKA Walter! We enjoyed sailing on Vista and meeting you and many friendly CC folks. However, I thought the service slipped in certain areas. In particular, The Terrace Cafe and pool bar service. I was also unhappy about O. allowing the pool chair hogs to take over the lounges. Plus, I think they missed the mark in the design of the theatre. I'm on the EJ site because we have booked a January sailing on EJ II. We enjoyed sailing in YC Class on MSC. However, their itineraries have not worked for us. We are hoping that EJ is our new home.