babysteps

Happy to help! The french fries at Waves were gluten free in December 2023 on Insignia. The fries didn't used to be gluten free, but they are now (or were in December...). Not sure about any other fried food onboard being GF...I might have to ask about that! I think Italy has the second highest incidence of celiac in Europe after Finland. Who knew, right?

I am celiac and will be doing our 13th cruise on O this June. I hope I can put your mind at ease. The gluten free adjustments are generally quite similar to the non-gluten-free original menu item. You can choose anything you like from the menu - rarely (but not never) they have told me they can't accomodate my selection in a gluten free way. That said, I have not ever (for example) selected the tempura so can't promise that everything is available. Yes in Terrace you may end up becoming friendly with the chef! On some voyages they will start to recognize you and take you on a mini-tour and even come up with special dishes. On other voyages the servers will simply head to the back to ask if a given item is GF... Bread/rolls/pancakes/pizza are all available gluten free. GF pancakes might only be available in main dining room and you may have to reassure your server that they are indeed available GF. GF pizza takes some pre-planning (not just 'on the spot') - haven't been on Vista yet but assume GF pizza is out of Terrace and not the pizza oven at Waves in the evening?? Breadth of GF availablity at tea in Horizons has in the past varied by ship/voyage but it's been many years since I was met with the equivalent of a shrug when asking for GF options at tea. Also occasionally if I choose a side dish in the dining room the availability will have changed, eg asparagus no longer available, would green beans be ok? For the "I'd never go to a country where I don't speak the language", there are free to download & print gluten free travel cards that explain in local detail what gluten free requirements are. I understand this may still not be your idea of relaxing travel, but in case you find yourself in a bilingual city - say Montreal - and want some additional resources something like these cards could come in handy! Some countries are easier than others, but we managed to spend several days in Thailand last year without my getting glutened thanks in part to the cards. English was more widely spoken than we expected at least in large cities especially at hotels and restaurants. For GF dining, even France is much easier now than it was 5 or 10 years ago. Italy is actually quite easy thanks to regulations and demand.

So I got curious - for Vista's visit to Santorini on June 22, 2024 there are 6 different private tour options. 3 vehicle classes, each available half day (4-1/2 hours) or full day (8-1/2 hours). Can't tell from the descriptions where the pick up is (ferry dock or top of cable car or...) Every port is different, but here's the pricing Private Car, capacity 2 people, $899 half day or $1199 full day Mini bus, capacity 12 people, $1399 half day or $1699 full day Van, capacity 6 people, $1099 half day or $1399 full day Most ports I'm assuming this is waay more expensive than DIY, but if you have SM credit and hate group tours, it might make sense for some folks in some situations. If you're traveling with a group a mini-bus might not be a bad price pp option, but it would still mostly make sense ONLY if you had SM to burn. Note that only 1 person reserves the private car, so only 1 person's SM can be applied.

We did Capri on our own in August 2022. October should be a bit less crowded! It is a charming island. There are many different ferry lines but they are not quite as separate as you might guess. Departing from Sorrento when we pick up our ticket next time we will ask which boat/slip we are headed to. I didn't, and dragged DH to end of pier - right company, wrong boat. Walked all the way back to other end of embarkment for the correct boat, we were in the last 10 people to board lol. Our return ferry was cancelled last minute but we were able to (as directed) exchange our tickets for a different line's boat that was scheduled to leave just before the one we'd been aiming for. All worked out fine but very grateful we didn't cut it too close!

Ok here's my worth just 2 cents recap, What is the answer to a special request? mass market "no" premium "yes" *if* it's someplace onboard and isn't already an extra cost luxury "yes" even if they have to make a special purchase ashore to make it happen No this doesn't apply in all circumstances. Yes there are additional differences between the categories. Yes we can all agree to disagree as to whether we see the $ value of a given category compared to any other category Yes the conversation as we agree to disagree is engaging!

Hopefully someone who has been in Istanbul will reply! We will be embarking there in June, all the research I've done suggests you are best off arranging a car service to pick you up at the port

I assume "There may be lines for the cable car during the busy summer season." implies cable car both ways? Many tours that end in Fira don't include this language, even though it seems highly likely that's the main way to get back to the ship. My hopeful **guess** is that the disclaimer applies to tours that take the cable car up and down (so could delay tour) vs those that tender to the dock that buses can access near Oia. Equally likely explanation is that the descriptions are not super-comprehensive or accurate. We should be on Santorini this June on Vista. I double checked and there are at least 5 ship's tours including winery visits - we're doing one the "Santorini Wines at Venetsanos Winery" & I'll report back here. This particular tour doesn't have the disclaimer, but I'm guessing that the tour ends at Fira. I'm hoping it starts at the dock served by buses

We love taking local transportation and often reply on Citymapper app - but I just checked and it says Tokyo is in beta. Guessing there's some other similar app that is fully launched that covers Tokyo? Citymapper is amazingly helpful in a strange-to-you city, it handles mixed-mode very well, reminds you when your stop is near, guides you through transfers, suggests best spot on platform etc etc.

We were in a regular Veranda cabin and did this in 2019 in NYC where we had an overnight. Worked with I think it's called "special services" at O. The process took a bit and was done well ahead of sailing (a couple of months?) . For a fee we were able to host our guest at dinner.

@TRLDif you could expand a bit on how O is not a good fit for you, I think that could help other folks considering the line for the first time. Thanks for taking the time to share your viewpoint!

There are lectures on every O cruise. Most are quite good but some not so much. Little ships (R class) generally 1 lecturer per cruise with an almost-daily presentation. Larger ships usually have 2 lecturers but still typically 1 lecture per day except sea days. One reviewer called dismissed them as too "academic' but I would describe as well-documented entertainment. Once in a while you get someone who knows their stuff but isn't such a great presenter. Yes they usually have destination-focused topics. Everyone feel free to correct me, it was 4 cruises ago since we were on a 'big' ship - looking forward to trying Vista this year

From the printed brochure, following cruises offer the "free" (read, no additional cost) 1 night pre-cruise hotel stay. There may be more, this is just what was in this particular brochure - the direct mail code was c4 03/21/24 2025 01 12 Riviera 15 days Singappore to Hong Kong 2025 01 27 Riviera 18 days Hong Kong to Tokyo 2025 02 14 Riviera 24 day sTokyo to Singapore 2025 03 10 Riviera 11 days Singapore to Hong Kong 2025 03 21 Riviera 11 days Hong Kong to Tokyo 2023 03 23 Insignia 22 days Singapore to Taipei 2025 04 09 Regatta 15 days Singapore to Tapei 2025 04 13 Riviera 12 days Tokyo to Tokyo 2024 11 14 Regatta Singapore to Aukland 2024 12 08 Regatta 14 days Aukland to Sydney 2025 01 25 Regatta 16 days Sydney to Sydney 2025 02 10 Regatta 14 days Sydney to Aukland 2025 02 24 Rregatta 14 days Aukland to Sydney 2025 03 10 Regatta 20 days Sydney to Singapore 2025 03 26 Nautica 22 days Aukland to Singapore 2025 05 04 Insignia 24 days Perth to Aukland 2025 01 14 Marina 12 days Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro 2025 01 26 Marian 21 days Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires 2025 02 16 Marina 18 days Buenos Aires to Santiago de Chile 2025 03 06 Marina 18 days Santiago de Chile to Buenos Aires 2025 03 24 Marina 12 days Buienos Aires to Rio de Janeiro there were also 7 itineraries without the free one-night hotel offer

Not sure any of us have clarified yet - Yes you can book excursions with a no-cabin-yet-assigned guarantee booking on O

Got the O brochure touting free pre-cruise hotel in yesterday's mail - but it does not have prices. Of course Regent brochures also don't have prices these days... I guess this could mean that O has decided that little/no change in price combined with a hotel room and one extra shuttle is better for profit margins and/or branding than reducing prices would be?

Red seems to be the "up to 40% off" price. For cruises where lower categories are not in red, I assume the lower categories are sold out or wait listed. There are some interesting juxtapositions. Our latest such brochure had 4 cruises with red (sale) prices out of was it 13 total? Many different combinations of which categories were or were not on sale. Have fun shopping and Comp sent everyone!